Outside the Jade Void Palace, a single "Enough" had suppressed the Jade Void Glazed Lamp in Guangchengzi's hand, snuffing it out.
The wisp of Yuqing true fire on its wick was forced back inside the lamp.
Dead silence fell over everyone.
Guangchengzi's fingers tightened, and the jade lamp trembled faintly in his palm.
He looked up toward the depths of the Jade Void Palace, his eyes revealing a shock he could not conceal for the first time.
Master was actually letting Yang Jian enter?
This junior, who had just shattered the phantom of the Heaven-Flipping Seal before the mountain gates, had actually been granted an audience with a Saint?
On either side of the Mountain Gate, not a single Chan Sect disciple dared speak.
Taiyi Zhenren wore a complicated expression.
As Yu Ding Zhenren watched Yang Jian, even stronger emotions surged through his heart.
That should have been his disciple.
Yet now, Yang Jian had ascended Kunlun without needing anyone to clear a path for him.
Yang Jian withdrew his fist, first using primordial violet qi to stabilize Yao Ji and Yang Chan.
Then he cupped his hands and bowed toward the depths of the Jade Void Palace.
His courtesy was impeccable.
His edge remained undiminished.
"Mother, Chan'er, wait for me here."
Yao Ji's eyes were filled with worry.
"Jian'er, be careful in everything you do."
Yang Chan clutched her sleeve and whispered, "Brother, I'll wait for you to come back."
Yang Jian nodded.
The next moment, he stepped into the Jade Void Palace.
Boom!
Beyond the palace doors, heaven and earth abruptly changed.
The immortal light, the sounds of the Dao, the mountain gates, and the disciples outside all disappeared.
Beneath Yang Jian's feet was no longer a jade floor, but a boundless expanse of lesser chaos.
Stars were born and extinguished in the distance.
The laws of the Great Dao stretched across the void like chains.
Every wisp of their aura was heavy enough to crush an ordinary golden immortal primordial spirit.
The instant Yang Jian entered, the primordial god-demon power within him sank violently.
His strength god-demon acupoint trembled madly, only then enabling him to withstand that Saintly might.
At the far end of the chaos, a cloud couch hovered above the myriad Daos.
An indistinct figure sat upon it.
His face could not be seen clearly.
Neither could his robes.
Yet one glance was enough for Yang Jian to know who he was.
The Saint of the Chan Sect.
Yuanshi Tianzun.
"This junior, Yang Jian, pays his respects to Senior Martial Uncle."
Yang Jian cupped his hands and bowed, his voice steady.
Upon the cloud couch, the Saint's manifestation did not move.
But a voice fell directly into Yang Jian's divine soul.
"You will not kneel?"
In an instant, all the laws of the Great Dao within the lesser chaos pressed down together.
Yang Jian's shoulders sank.
Ripples of chaos exploded beneath his feet.
Yet his back remained straight.
"A Saint deserves respect, and an elder deserves a bow."
Yang Jian raised his head, Primordial Purple Patterns flashing in his eyes.
"But on this path of mine, having knelt before my parents and my master, I will never again bow my head to fate."
The lesser chaos fell silent for a moment.
The laws of the Great Dao drifting in the distance seemed startled by those words, all coming to a halt.
Yuanshi Tianzun's voice sounded again.
"To have taught such a Dao heart, the one behind you has made me all the more curious."
Yang Jian's heart tightened slightly.
Master had indeed drawn the Saint's attention.
But he did not answer.
Even the Heavenly Court, Zhunti, and Hongjun could not divine his master's origins.
He certainly would not utter a single word more.
Yuanshi Tianzun did not pursue the question.
"What do you seek by coming to Kunlun?"
Yang Jian did not hesitate.
"I ask for three things."
"Speak."
Yang Jian cupped his hands.
"First, I ask Senior Martial Uncle to permit my mother and younger sister to cultivate in peace on Kunlun, beyond the Heavenly Court's pursuit and the entanglements of the tribulation."
Yuanshi Tianzun neither agreed nor refused.
Yang Jian continued, "Second, I originally had a heaven-ordained bond of master-disciple karma with the Chan Sect. I acknowledge that karma, but I will not repay it by taking a master."
"During the tribulation, I will provide the aid the Chan Sect is due."
"But I will not accept the place of a pawn."
Deep within the lesser chaos, Jade Purity Immortal Light stirred faintly.
Yang Jian's voice grew steadier.
"Third, I ask Senior Martial Uncle to test my Dao with a wisp of Yuqing Fortune."
"If I can withstand it, Yang Jian will repay this karma during the tribulation to come."
His three requests rang out.
The entire expanse of lesser chaos seemed to be pinned in place.
The stars being born and extinguished in the distance stopped for half a breath.
The laws of the Great Dao descended soundlessly, all pressing toward Yang Jian.
Anyone else would already have fallen prostrate, not daring to raise even their divine soul.
Yet Yang Jian stood where he was.
Utterly motionless.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
Asking a Saint for protection.
Negotiating karma with the Chan Sect.
Borrowing fortune from Jade Void.
Any one of these three things would have been enough for the mighty figures of the Primordial World to denounce his arrogance.
But he had fought his way from Guanjiangkou to Peach Mountain, then climbed from Peach Mountain to Kunlun. He had never survived by bowing his head.
A long while passed.
Yuanshi Tianzun spoke.
"Granted."
Yang Jian's gaze flickered.
The Saint's next words followed.
"Provided you are worthy."
As those words fell.
The chaos before Yang Jian slowly parted.
A black stone stele, half a person's height, rose from the chaos.
The stele bore neither patterns nor words.
Yet the instant it appeared, Yang Jian felt some power fix its gaze upon his divine soul.
It was not killing intent.
It was something more terrifying.
Fate.
Yuanshi Tianzun said indifferently, "This is the Heavenly Dao Stone. Within it lies a sliver of a Heavenly Dao origin fragment."
"It reflects your predetermined fate trajectory."
"If you can behold it without losing yourself and forge your own path through it, all three requests will be granted."
"If you sink into that fate trajectory, you will remain in the Jade Void Palace, become Yu Ding's disciple, and return to the path you were originally meant to walk."
Yang Jian looked at the Heavenly Dao Stone.
He understood.
This was the Saint's test.
It did not test his magical power.
Nor did it test his divine abilities.
It tested whether his Dao heart could withstand the fate the Heavenly Dao had given him.
Yang Jian slowly exhaled.
Then he extended his divine sense into the Heavenly Dao Stone.
Boom!
Everything before his eyes abruptly collapsed.
Yang Jian's consciousness was dragged into a vast, surging fate trajectory.
There, he saw another version of himself.
That version of him was hunted by the Heavenly Court, driven into a dead end, and became Yu Ding's disciple before reaching Peach Mountain.
He cultivated the Eight-Nine Arcane Art.
He practiced the Jade Purity Immortal Method.
He split the mountain to save his mother.
Yet the outcome of that rescue was an even deeper agony.
He saw his mother perish under Heavenly Court law.
He saw himself don the Divine Armor, ascend to the Heavenly Court, and become the Judicial Heavenly God who presided over punishment and law.
He saw himself, in another stretch of fate, drag his younger sister into even crueler karma with his own hands.
He saw himself fight in every direction for the Chan Sect during the Investiture of the Gods War, earning illustrious military honors.
He also saw that behind that mighty reputation lay compromise after compromise, shackle after shackle.
True Lord Erlang, the Manifest Sage.
Revered and feared throughout the Three Realms.
Answering military summons, but not court summons.
Boundless glory.
Yet on that path, there was no true freedom.
No peace for his mother.
No carefree life for his sister.
Nor any place for Yang Jian himself.
The fate trajectory within the Heavenly Dao Stone erupted with an invisible pull.
That power wound its way along Yang Jian's divine soul, seeking to drag him onto the path already written for him.
Yang Jian's gaze began to grow dazed.
He seemed to have truly become that cold, indifferent Judicial Heavenly God.
Seated high within a divine hall.
Holding the decrees of law.
Looking down upon all living beings.
And looking down upon his own suffering.
Just as his consciousness was about to sink into the fate trajectory-
Boom!
The strength god-demon acupoint within him suddenly blazed with light.
That tremor pierced through his primordial spirit from the depths of his flesh.
Primordial violet qi surged like a raging tide, shaking apart the fate chains wrapped around his divine soul, inch by inch.
Yang Jian's gaze instantly cleared.
He stared at the vast Fate Trajectory before him.
He stared at that imposing, indifferent True Lord Erlang, the Manifest Sage, clad in Divine Armor.
Suddenly, he laughed.
His laughter was quiet.
Yet it carried an edge he could not suppress.
"Is this the path the Heavenly Dao has laid out for me?"
"Glory, authority, renown."
"But those were never what I wanted."
Yang Jian slowly raised his right fist.
Primordial violet qi coiled around his knuckles.
The Strength God-Demon Acupoint thundered at its utmost intensity.
"I'll save my mother myself."
"I'll protect my sister myself."
"And I'll forge my own path with my fists!"
The next instant.
He unleashed a punch.
"Shatter!"
Boom!
The projected Fate Trajectory reflected by the Heavenly Dao Stone was blasted in half by that punch.
The phantom of True Lord Erlang, the Manifest Sage, clad in Divine Armor, shattered on the spot.
Countless fissures split the great river of fate.
The Jade Purity Immortal Method, Judicial Divine Authority, his status as a Chan Sect Disciple, his Divine Position in the Heavenly Court-every predetermined image exploded into fragments of light.
Outside.
Within the Lesser Chaos of the Jade Void Palace.
The black Heavenly Dao Stone suddenly shuddered.
Crack!
A distinct fissure split open across the stone stele's surface.
The Lesser Chaos sank with it.
Yuqing Fortune surged.
Outside the Jade Void Palace, a chill struck the hearts of all the Twelve Golden Immortals at once.
Guangchengzi abruptly looked up.
Yu Ding Zhenren's expression changed sharply.
Taiyi Zhenren murmured, "What happened in there?"
No one answered.
Within the cultivation ground in the chaos.
Yang Jian opened his eyes.
Primordial Purple Patterns flared in his eyes, and the aura around him sharpened to the extreme.
This was not a surge in cultivation.
Rather, his Dao heart had passed a true trial.
From this day onward, the Heavenly Mandate could weigh him down.
But it could never again make him follow a predetermined path.
Upon the cloud couch, Yuanshi Tianzun's Dharma manifestation faltered slightly for the first time.
He looked at Yang Jian.
And at the cracked Heavenly Dao Stone.
After a long while, the Saint let out a soft sigh.
"Good."
"What a punch-to shatter fate itself."
Yang Jian cupped his hands and quietly waited for him to continue.
Yuanshi Tianzun slowly spoke.
"I grant the three things you seek."
"Behind Kunlun Mountain lies a Yuqing Grotto-Heaven called the Purple Cloud Palace. From this day onward, your mother and sister may cultivate there in seclusion and shelter from tribulation."
"Half of your karmic ties with the Chan Sect shall be settled today."
"Henceforth, you shall not belong to the Chan Sect, but you may borrow Yuqing Fortune to escape a portion of your tribulations."
"During the Tribulation, whatever must be repaid will be repaid."
As his words fell.
A vast stream of Yuqing Fortune descended from above the Lesser Chaos and flowed into Yang Jian's body.
Yang Jian felt his entire body grow lighter.
Some of the karma that heaven and earth had pressed upon him seemed to have been temporarily screened off by the Jade Purity Immortal Light.
The Strength God-Demon Acupoint trembled faintly.
That strand of Yuqing Fortune did not suppress his Dao. Instead, the primordial violet qi drew it into his body, turning it into nourishment with which to validate his own path.
Yang Jian bowed.
"Thank you, Martial Uncle."
Yuanshi Tianzun did not respond immediately.
His gaze passed beyond the Lesser Chaos, pierced Kunlun Mountain, and turned toward Guanjiangkou.
Yuqing Dao light flashed in his eyes.
But the web of karma had barely appeared before a layer of Primordial Purple Mist swallowed it.
Even the Saint's gaze could not truly discern the origins within.
Yuanshi Tianzun fell silent for a moment.
Then he raised his hand and waved.
"Go."
The scene before Yang Jian abruptly changed.
A breath later, he was already back outside the doors of the Jade Void Palace.
Yao Ji and Yang Chan immediately hurried toward him.
"Jian!"
"Brother!"
Yang Jian was just about to reassure them when Yuanshi Tianzun's final transmitted message resounded deep within his Divine Soul.
The voice was very soft.
Yet it shook him to his core.
"Give your master my regards."
At that same moment.
The strand of Yuqing Fortune within Yang Jian trembled softly.
For an instant, it actually bowed low toward Guanjiangkou.