"What crime have I committed?"
As Sect Master Tongtian's question fell, the silence stretched to its limit between heaven and earth tore open.
High in the sky, the Purple Heaven Palace Phantom shuddered.
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, Chaos Divine Thunder rolled across the heavens. Countless purple lightning dragons ripped through the void, only to be bound deep within the clouds by a will higher above, lingering without descending.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun's face was indistinct, revealing neither joy nor anger.
Yet the Heavenly Dao Laws surrounding him had already grown violent enough to crush the minds of All Spirits.
"You defied Heaven's Will and obstructed the Investiture of the Gods."
Hongjun spoke, and as his words fell upon the Primordial World, the myriad Daos bowed low.
"You slaughtered your fellow disciples and harmed Sages, bringing ruin to the Heavenly Dao Order."
The pressure above Jiepai Pass continued to descend. The shattered mountains and rivers let out a low groan, unable to bear the weight.
"You severed your own Sage seat and opened another Dao Path, vainly seeking to break free of the Heavenly Dao and shake the foundations of the Primordial World."
As the last sentence fell, the million miles of space shrouded by the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation had been compressed to the brink of collapse.
Glassy cracks surfaced in the void. The slightest touch would bring the whole expanse crashing down.
Outside the formation, Taishang Laojun and Daoist Jieyin lay prostrate among the rubble, crushed by the residual might. Even pushing themselves upright had become an extravagant hope.
Only now did they truly see the chasm that lay between a Sage and the Dao Ancestor.
The Tribulation Count could no longer be measured.
What stood between them was a sheer cliff at the end of the Dao Path.
Sages