Primordial Violet Qi Entered His Body, and the Divine Realm Expanded to Three Thousand Li!

Inside the Ruined Temple.

Sect Master Tongtian bowed down and touched his forehead to the ground.

This bow was not offered to the Heavenly Dao's saintly throne.

It was offered to a path that could keep the Interception Sect alive.

The three sticks of ordinary incense had burned past their halfway point.

Their blue smoke did not disperse. Instead, it hovered before the Divine Statue, condensed into a strand of dark-yellow vow power, and slowly sank into the Primordial Purple Patterns.

It was the desire to seek the Dao from the depths of a Saint's Dao heart.

The Primordial Divine Realm intercepted it.

And transformed it into karmic ties of Dao transmission belonging solely to Gu Changqing.

Guanjiangkou.

Deep within the Main Temple.

Gu Changqing slowly opened his eyes.

The incense offerings from a Saint seeking the Dao were surging back along the incense anchors.

The next instant.

The ten billion years of cultivation returned by the system crashed into his body!

Boom!

The entire Primordial Divine Realm shuddered.

Ten billion years of cultivation entered his body.

Had it fallen upon an ordinary immortal, the accumulated magical power alone would have been enough to propel them all the way to Great Luo perfection, with power to spare.

But Gu Changqing did not rush to break through.

The path he walked had never been the Mystic Gate's method of severing corpses.

Nor was it the path of a Heavenly Dao Sage.

What he sought was the path of a primordial godfiend.

The twenty godfiend acupores within his body trembled together, like twenty godfiend furnaces that had lain dormant for ages, beginning to devour and refine the torrent of cultivation.

Boom!

The twenty-first acupore lit up.

Immediately afterward, his five viscera thundered, and his bones and blood shone.

The twenty-second acupore.

The twenty-fifth acupore.

The twenty-eighth acupore.

Until the thirtieth godfiend acupore was fully opened deep within his brow!

In that instant.

The thirty godfiend acupores resonated with one another.

Within each acupore, a hazy phantom of a chaos god-demon seemed to sit cross-legged.

Primordial Purple Patterns flowed between the acupores, linking together into a Dao diagram within his body.

The aura of Gu Changqing's physical body surged to a new height.

If his body had previously been strong enough to clash head-on with a quasi-Saint.

Then now, within the Primordial Divine Realm, he was confident he could withstand a Saint head-on, provided that Saint relied only on physical strength and magical power rather than invoking the Heavenly Dao's authority.

And that was merely the change brought by ten billion years of cultivation.

Next.

Sect Master Tongtian's complete insights into the Saint Dao principles began to merge into his divine soul.

Listening to the Dao at the Purple Heaven Palace.

Founding the Interception Sect.

Attaining Sainthood.

Comprehending the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords.

Extrapolating the Immortal Slaying Formation Diagram.

Countless traces of the Great Dao unfolded one by one within Gu Changqing's sea of consciousness.

At that moment, it was as though he had personally walked Tongtian's path.

The "severance" of the Interception Sect.

The "slaughter" of immortal slaying.

The "entrapment" of the formation diagram.

The "annihilation" of the four swords.

Every insight was dismantled, absorbed, and reconstructed by the Primordial Purple Patterns, becoming part of Gu Changqing's own foundation.

Under the concealment of the Primordial Divine Realm, he could even briefly borrow the slaughtering origin of immortal slaying to manifest a strand of Saint sword aura resembling Tongtian's.

If he laid a formation with that strand of sword aura, it would be enough to trap and kill a Great Luo.

Finally came that wisp of pure primordial violet qi.

The moment the violet qi entered the Divine Realm, it merged with the Primordial Purple Patterns on Gu Changqing's brow.

Hum-

The Divine Realm shook.

The Primordial Divine Realm, which had originally covered a hundred li in every direction, began expanding wildly.

Two hundred li.

Five hundred li.

One thousand li.

Only when it reached three thousand li in every direction did its expansion slowly stop.

Within the Divine Realm, every incense anchor was tempered anew.

Its ability to conceal heavenly secrets had grown more than tenfold.

Gu Changqing even had a premonition.

Even if Hongjun's saintly consciousness descended upon Guanjiangkou, he would struggle to see through the karmic ties in the deep layer of the Divine Realm at a glance.

"Great Luo perfection."

Gu Changqing spoke softly.

He had not severed any corpses.

Nor did he intend to enter the Mystic Gate's quasi-Saint system.

He compressed all the power in his body into the thirty godfiend acupores.

His realm remained Great Luo.

But his combat strength had long since surpassed the limits of Great Luo.

Within the Divine Realm, he now had the confidence to contend with a Saint head-on, so long as that Saint did not invoke the Heavenly Dao's authority.

Gu Changqing's gaze shifted slightly, settling once more on the Ruined Temple outside Chaoge City.

Tongtian had already bowed his head.

But that was not enough.

A Saint recognizing the fatal deadlock was only the first step.

Showing him how to break it was the true move on the board.

Outside Chaoge City.

The Mass Burial Grounds.

Inside the Ruined Temple.

Sect Master Tongtian slowly straightened.

Volume One of the Mythic Great Luo Technique was being branded into the depths of his Saint soul.

The more he comprehended, the more shaken he became.

This technique did not borrow from the Heavenly Dao.

It did not sever the three corpses.

It did not seek merit.

It used only one's own heart as a furnace, condensing a transcendent status from one's own Dao.

This path actually seemed faintly aligned with his Way of Severance.

The Interception Sect seized a thread of hope for survival.

The Mythic Great Luo Technique refined that thread of hope into the foundation of one's own eternal, indestructible existence.

If one day he condensed his own transcendent status through the Way of Severance, he would no longer be merely a Heavenly Dao Sage.

Only then would he truly become Mythic Tongtian.

But...

Tongtian quickly suppressed the fire in his eyes.

He could cultivate it.

But there were still the Ten Thousand Immortals on Golden Turtle Island.

His disciples differed in innate origins, dispositions, and cultivation.

How could he lead them onto this path as well?

He was just about to speak.

When that detached voice sounded from within the Divine Statue first.

"I know what is on your mind."

Tongtian's spirit tensed, and he immediately lowered his head.

"Please guide me, Senior."

The Primordial Purple Patterns on the Divine Statue's brow glimmered faintly.

"You are wondering how to let those Jie Sect Disciples whom the orthodox Mystic Gate scorns embark upon this path of transcendence as well."

Tongtian replied solemnly, "Exactly."

"Though this disciple has received your technique, Senior, the Ten Thousand Immortals of the Interception Sect have diverse origins. If I alone survive, the Interception Sect still cannot be said to have broken the deadlock."

The Divine Statue fell silent for a moment.

Then its voice sounded again.

"Mythic Great Luo"

"Technique values transcendent status over innate origins."

"Innate origins are bestowed by the Heavenly Dao."

"Transcendent status is forged through your own battles."

Tongtian's gaze abruptly sharpened.

The Divine Statue continued, "The Chan Sect prizes virtue and merit, birth, and destinies ordained by heaven."

"The Interception Sect is different."

"The Interception Sect has ten thousand immortals paying homage, the flames of countless lives, and innumerable beings unwilling to be crushed beneath destiny."

"Their innate origins may fall short of those of the Chan Sect Golden Immortals."

"But their experiences, obsessions, battle records, and legends can all become resources for condensing a mythic status."

Within the Incense Burner, the remaining ashes rose without wind.

Violet light traced one figure after another amid the ashes.

The Three Xiao.

Zhao Gongming.

Duobao.

Jin Ling.

Wudang.

Gui Ling.

And countless other Jie Sect Disciples.

The voice within the Divine Statue slowly pressed into Tongtian's Dao heart.

"The Three Xiao wield the Primordial Golden Dou. If the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation truly enters the tribulation, it will be enough to strip away all three flowers crowning the Chan Sect Golden Immortals."

"That sharp edge of their formation Dao is the root from which they can condense their mythic status."

"Zhao Gongming wields the Sea-Calming Pearl. The Dao of wealth, the seas, and warfare can all become part of his legend."

"If he can suppress the Chan Sect Immortals single-handedly, that renown will be enough to forge the beginning of his myth."

"Duobao inherits the great fortune of your Interception Sect. If others do not lead him away, he can become the first gateway anchoring the sect's fortune."

"Jin Ling governs slaughter and the stars. If she can escape the restraints of the Investiture of the Gods List, she may yet establish a star myth of her own in the future."

"Wudang can preserve the seed of the flame."

"Gui Ling can suppress hidden tribulations."

"Every disciple under you has their own Dao."

"What they lack has never been innate origins."

"What they lack is a method that can refine their own Dao Fruit into a mythic status."

Tongtian's breathing grew slightly heavier.

At that moment, it was as though an old lock in his heart had been cleaved open.

All this time, he had thought only of protecting his disciples.

Of keeping them clear of the slaughter.

Of having them descend the mountain less, face the tribulation less, and take fewer places on the list.

But he had never considered this.

This tribulation could also be turned to his advantage.

Those placed on the list were bound by their divine positions, their true spirits subject to the commands of the Investiture of the Gods List.

If the Interception Sect wished to transcend, it could not entrust its survival to the list.

They would not seek godhood conferred by the Heavenly Dao.

They would seek only to become myths themselves!

The sword light in Tongtian's eyes grew ever brighter.

The Divine Statue's voice continued.

"The first thing you must do is not let them fight recklessly."

"It is to bring your disciples under control."

"Investigate their karmic ties."

"Revise the Interception Sect's precepts."

"Sever the hidden threads of outside doctrines."

"Then choose those who truly possess resolve, courage, and the Dao, and pass down the foundations of myth."

"Let them forge their names amid the slaughter, rather than fill the list in vain."

Tongtian abruptly raised his head.

Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal.

Shen Gongbao.

Randeng.

The Two Sages of the West.

Names and karmic ties flashed through his mind, one after another.

He finally understood why the senior had repeatedly warned him of a "dead end."

The Interception Sect's downfall was not merely because its enemies were too strong.

It was also because its disciples were too loosely governed.

Ten thousand immortals paying homage was a source of fortune.

It was also a vulnerability.

If he continued letting his disciples descend the mountain out of loyalty and enter the tribulation in anger, a single Investiture of the Gods List would ultimately reap them all.

Tongtian drew a deep breath.

At last, he compressed the fury that had raged within his Dao Heart into the coldest of swords.

"This disciple understands."

He bowed to the Divine Statue once more.

"This disciple will return to Golden Turtle Island at once, investigate the karmic ties within the sect, and reestablish the Interception Sect's precepts."

"I will choose disciples to inherit the foundations of myth."

"I will let them forge their names amid the slaughter, rather than fill the list in vain."

The purple marking between the Divine Statue's brows flickered gently.

Gu Changqing's voice rang out one final time.

"Go."

"Remember, from the moment you step beyond this temple's doors, the Mystic Gate's old bonds can no longer protect the Interception Sect."

"If you still entrust your survival to the bonds between the Three Pure Ones, Golden Turtle Island will surely fall."

The sword intent in Tongtian's eyes condensed.

Those words carried more weight than any warning.

He had once revered Taishang.

He had once trusted Yuanshi, too.

But the senior had already laid the future before him.

The Myriad Immortals Formation shattered.

The Four Immortal-Slaying Swords lost their positions.

The Six Souls Banner failed.

His disciples entered the list.

Golden Turtle Island's fortune was severed.

He was taken from the Primordial World by a decree from Purple Heaven Palace.

He would never let such a future come to pass again.

"This disciple will keep it firmly in mind."

Tongtian slowly rose.

He took one last look at the Divine Statue.

There was no probing in that gaze.

Only solemn resolve.

In the next breath, he turned and walked out of the ruined temple.

The instant he crossed the threshold, countless profound black sword patterns emerged on his azure Daoist robe.

That was not demonic qi.

It was the Interception Sect's tribulation of slaughter, which he had compressed into his Dao Heart.

A Saint's overwhelming pressure flashed from him and immediately receded, then was suppressed entirely within his body by the Immortal Slaying Sword intent.

At that moment, the Interception Sect's fortune behind him split off a sharp edge from the Mystic Gate's overarching momentum, quietly pointing toward another path.

The name Shangqing remained.

But from this moment onward, he was, first and foremost, Tongtian, the Jie Sect Leader.

He was also Tongtian, who would fight for the lives of ten thousand immortals.

He took one step.

His figure vanished from the Mass Burial Grounds.

Above the East Sea, Golden Turtle Island's fortune suddenly trembled.

Outside Biyou Palace, ten thousand immortals raised their heads in unison.

And deep within the crowd.

A wisp of golden light from the Western Religion suddenly quivered inside Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal's sleeve.