"On your way."
Those three words fell lightly, without the slightest trace of worldly fire.
Yet they chilled the hearts of the dozens of Western Teachings disciples, grinding their last shred of hope into nothing.
By his master's edict, he had come to sweep the Nine Provinces clean.
His master?
An innate mighty being as proud and aloof as Kong Xuan, with origins that defied the heavens, actually had a master?
And it was his master who had ordered him to come and sweep them away.
A chill shot up Bodhisattva Randeng's spine, straight to the crown of his head. The Buddhist heart he took such pride in was sealed by fear at that moment.
He immediately thought of the Mysterious Being who had dared to rebuke even Dao Ancestor Hongjun in public and forced him to retreat with a single jade talisman.
The master of the Ruined Temple whom Sect Master Tongtian and the Human Emperor of Great Shang respectfully addressed as Master.
So Kong Xuan had entered that Ruined Temple too.
That realization plunged them into greater despair than being trapped by the Five-Colored Divine Light itself.
It meant that they faced far more than Kong Xuan alone.
They also faced the will of that mysterious Ruined Temple.
"Fellow Daoist Kong Xuan, this is a misunderstanding! All of this is a misunderstanding!"
Bodhisattva Randeng forcibly suppressed his fear, mustered a smile uglier than tears, and pressed his palms together as he called out loudly.
"We are willing to withdraw from the Nine Provinces immediately and never again lay a finger on Humanity's fortune."
"Please leave us a way out, fellow Daoist, for the sake of our having both been guests in Purple Heaven Palace."
He tried to cling to that meager connection.
But Kong Xuan merely regarded him