Outside Gu Changqing's cave abode.
The disciples stood dumbfounded.
The Witch and Demon Clans would both be utterly annihilated?
That was simply inconceivable.
"Impossible! Junior Brother Changqing must have had too much to drink. He's spouting drunken nonsense!"
"Exactly! The Witch and Demon Clans are absolute overlords, second only to the Saints' Lineages!"
"If both clans were wiped out, it would be an upheaval that shook heaven and earth!"
"Junior Brother Changqing probably just doesn't want to lose face before the goddesses, so he's making these alarmist claims."
As everyone saw it, one clan had inherited Pangu's blood essence, possessing profound foundations and unparalleled strength.
The other had perfected Quasi-Saints such as Di Jun and Taiyi at its helm, commanding countless trillions of beings of the Demon Race.
How could such enormous powers be destroyed so easily?
Gu Changqing's words were sheer nonsense.
Tongtian, too, seemed displeased as he rebuked him in a low voice:
"Disciple, mind your words!"
Gu Changqing paid no heed to everyone's doubts or Tongtian's rebuke.
He glanced at them through bleary, drunken eyes and took a sip of wine before laughing, seemingly in self-mockery:
"Heh, too much to drink..."
"Others laugh at me for being too mad; I laugh at them for failing to see through it all."
"Then just take it as drunken rambling..."
With that, Gu Changqing lazily reclined inside his cave abode again.
Yet he continued murmuring to himself.
"Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a mortal hell..."
"The Heavenly Dao settles its accounts, and all living beings are merely pawns."
"Everything will perish, fade into oblivion..."
Gu Changqing's voice gradually dwindled, as though he had passed out drunk once more.
Seeing this, Tongtian sighed helplessly.
"As you two goddesses have seen for yourselves."
"This disciple of mine behaves strangely. You needn't take his words to heart."
Tongtian spoke to Xihe and Changxi.
But at his words, Xihe and Changxi remained silent, lost in thought.
Was it merely drunken rambling?
The two women were doubtful.
But as Gu Changqing began to snore, it was clear they could get nothing more out of him.
Left with no choice, Xihe and Changxi could only bid farewell to Tongtian and the others, then turn and leave.
As Tongtian watched Xihe and Changxi depart, however, his expression grew somewhat strange.
"The Heavenly Dao settles its accounts..."
He gazed deeply at Gu Changqing, unable to suppress the shock in his heart.
As a Saint, Tongtian knew perfectly well that this so-called reckoning of the Heavenly Dao truly existed.
The reason was simple!
The karmic sin between heaven and earth would not dissipate on its own.
Over time, it would accumulate to a terrifying degree.
And a measureless calamity was, in essence, the Heavenly Dao's great reckoning for the Primordial World.
Only when a measureless calamity ended could that vast karmic sin be resolved.
What puzzled Tongtian, however, was how Gu Changqing had learned such a closely guarded secret.
This was a heavenly mystery that even Duobao could not reach.
It seems the status of a mere Outer Sect disciple no longer suits my disciple Changqing...
Tongtian was now certain.
Gu Changqing's constant drunkenness was nothing more than a disguise.
Everything he kept hidden was undoubtedly enough to rival a Personal Disciple.
With these thoughts in mind, Tongtian sank into contemplation.
Meanwhile, outside Golden Ao Island.
Xihe and Changxi also looked somewhat downcast.
"Sister, it seems we made this trip for nothing!"
"The Heavenly Mandate is far too mysterious. Even Fellow Daoist Changqing can't help us..."
Changxi spoke, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
Hearing this, Xihe pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
"Oh? Who said we came for nothing?"
"We've already received the answer we wanted from Fellow Daoist Changqing."
A faint smile graced Xihe's face, her beauty unrivaled beneath heaven.
Her words left Changxi stunned and even more confused.
Xihe continued:
"We must refuse this so-called heavenly marriage!"
"Otherwise, we will only end up buried alongside the Demon Court, perishing in the measureless calamity!"
Changxi was startled.
"Sister, you believe what Fellow Daoist Changqing said? You think the Witch and Demon Clans will both be destroyed?"
Changxi could not understand why Xihe trusted Gu Changqing so deeply.
Even Tongtian and the others had dismissed it as drunken rambling, yet Xihe believed it without a shred of doubt?
Xihe offered no further explanation, merely nodding solemnly.
"That's right!"
"Everything Fellow Daoist Changqing said will surely come true!"
Perhaps even Xihe herself could not explain why she trusted Gu Changqing so much.
But at that moment, she had already made her decision.
At the very instant Xihe secretly made up her mind.
Within Wa Huang Heaven.
Nuwa's expression shifted slightly as she sensed something.
"The Heavenly Mandate has changed. Why?"
"Xihe actually dares to refuse the heavenly marriage?"
Indeed!
Just moments earlier, Nuwa had sensed a change in the unseen Heavenly Mandate.
And the cause was precisely Xihe's decision to refuse the heavenly marriage.
Nuwa immediately began her divinations, seeking to discover exactly what had happened.
A moment later, her heart stirred sharply.
"The Interception Sect's Wine Sword Immortal?!"
"Who is he? Why did Xihe and Changxi become so adamantly opposed to the heavenly marriage after leaving the Interception Sect?"
Saints were all-knowing and all-powerful; her divinations revealed every step of Xihe and Changxi's earlier journey.
She also heard the two women's words outside Golden Ao Island when they had asked to visit the Wine Sword Immortal.
But this only deepened Nuwa's confusion.
Throughout the endless ages, she had never heard of this so-called "Wine Sword Immortal."
Still, since he was on Golden Ao Island, he must be a Jie Sect Disciple.
Moreover, Nuwa was certain that Xihe and Changxi's swift decision was inextricably linked to this Wine Sword Immortal.
At that thought, Nuwa's expression darkened slightly, anger stirring in her heart.
If the heavenly marriage failed, Nuwa would also lose her opportunity to obtain merit.
After a moment's consideration, Nuwa immediately sent a divine-sense transmission to Di Jun in the Demon Court, informing him of the matter.
"The Interception Sect has a disciple called the Wine Sword Immortal!"
"This fellow has sabotaged the heavenly marriage. You may go to the Interception Sect and question him!"
As a Saint, Nuwa naturally could not personally step forward to interrogate a Jie Sect Disciple.
Having Di Jun, Taiyi, and the others handle it was therefore the most suitable choice.
Besides, the heavenly marriage also determined whether the Demon Race would reach the height of its prosperity.
Di Jun and the others would not simply stand by and watch the heavenly marriage fall through.
And events unfolded exactly as Nuwa had expected.
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.
The Demon Court.
Di Jun, Taiyi, Kunpeng, and the other supreme experts of the Demon Race had gathered.
An atmosphere of harmony and joy filled the Demon Court.
The reason was simple!
Nuwa had already told Di Jun that once the heavenly marriage was established, the Demon Court's fortune would flourish and its merit would be boundless.
Everyone was rejoicing over the approaching heavenly marriage.
Yet at a certain moment, Di Jun received Nuwa's divine-sense transmission.
He froze at first, then his expression abruptly darkened.
"Bastard!"
Di Jun could not restrain his furious shout.
At once, Taiyi, the Ten Demon Saints, Demon Master Kunpeng, and the others all turned toward him, startled and uncertain.
"Brother, why are you so furious?"
Taiyi asked quietly.
Hearing this, Di Jun swept his gaze over their puzzled faces before speaking in a grave voice:
"Saint Nuwa sent a message!"
"My heavenly marriage has actually been sabotaged by an obscure disciple of the Interception Sect."
At those words, the Demon Court erupted into an uproar.
The faces of the gathered Demon Race experts also turned exceedingly grim.
Before you continue