"..."
At this moment.
Inside the Chaos Purple Firmament Palace, a deathly silence suddenly fell.
Tongtian's sudden, unprovoked outburst left Hongjun utterly bewildered.
Amid his shock and horror, he could not help feeling a wave of lingering fear.
His Daoist robe was instantly soaked through with cold sweat!
Why was his right eyelid twitching so violently?
"Investiture of the Gods!? That Tongtian... no, how did that Houtu find out in advance?"
"Who the hell told her?!"
"Who... exactly is she?!!"
"This is bad!"
As thoughts surged wildly through his mind, cold sweat began pouring down Hongjun's forehead. A sense of ominous unease suddenly seized his heart.
One had to know.
The Witch-Demon Calamity had yet to be settled.
If Tongtian had learned the Investiture of the Gods Script in advance, Hongjun did not even dare imagine what variables might arise next, or what the Witch-Demon Calamity might become. He did not dare think about it at all!
"What's wrong with Tongtian? Why is he suddenly losing his mind? What Investiture of the Gods? What signing? This is ridiculous!"
"Tongtian, you useless fool, what are you dawdling for? Why haven't you laid down the Immortal-Slaying Formation and slaughtered those ancestral witches? Are you trying to defy Master's orders? Hurry the hell up! Why are you standing there like an idiot?!"
Taiqing frowned in confusion, while Yuanshi kept urging him on.
Although they had already attained sainthood and could perceive the present, past, and future in a single thought, even altering the destinies of all living beings with a thought—
They had long since obtained the script in which both sides perished in the Witch-Demon Calamity.
As for Investiture of the Gods?
It was still the era of the Witch-Demon Calamity, and it had not even ended yet. Even they only knew bits and pieces, with no clue what it was about.
Furthermore, with anomalies emerging in the Primordial World, the heavenly secrets had grown increasingly muddled and obscure. Everything remained unknown.
Taiqing and Yuanshi knew even less!
They merely thought Tongtian had snapped for no reason. That was all.
Looking at Tongtian again, rage was blazing in his heart. His three corpses were practically jumping in fury, and he was so enraged that his chest heaved violently. He even wanted to kill someone!
Especially when Yuanshi kept yammering in his ear, Tongtian grew increasingly irritated.
He simply could not let it go!
And for a long time, he could not calm down!
The future fate of the Jie Sect was simply too tragic!
Tragic beyond measure!
Tragic beyond all reason!
Too horrible to look at!
Fuck—!!!
Especially when he thought of...
His two elder brothers joining forces with those two shameless bastards from the West, colluding with outsiders to scheme against him and the myriad disciples of the Jie Sect, then breaking the Immortal-Slaying Formation together?
How the fuck was he supposed to endure that?!
If even an uncle could endure it, an aunt sure as hell could not!
As all sorts of thoughts churned within him.
Tongtian could no longer hold himself back. Grabbing the "Investiture of the Gods" storybook in his hand, he hurled it straight at Yuanshi Tianzun's face.
Then, eyes wide with fury, he shouted, "Yuanshi Tianzun, what a fine Yuanshi Tianzun you are! Take a good look at this!!"
The moment his words fell.
With a sharp slap, the "Investiture of the Gods" storybook smashed directly into Yuanshi's face, striking him across the face again and again!
"⊙∀⊙!!!!"
"?????"
Yuanshi was stunned. The blow left him completely dumbfounded. Then he instinctively looked at Taiqing beside him. Amid his shock and horror, the aggrieved look in his eyes seemed to say—
Big Brother, look at this bastard Tongtian! He actually dared throw a book at me!!!?
Yuanshi froze on the spot.
Taiqing was likewise dumbfounded by Tongtian's sudden act of insolence.
Suppressing a trace of anger, Taiqing slowly stepped forward, picked up the storybook, and swept it with his divine sense.
It would have been better if he had not looked. The moment he did, he was thoroughly shocked!
Moments later, after finishing it, Taiqing's eyes suddenly widened until they nearly split apart. His old face turned livid one moment, then flushed red the next.
He was utterly shocked and horrified!
The entire sect destroyed, countless disciples dying miserably, their true spirits bound within the Investiture of the Gods and enslaved by the Heavenly Court for eternity, even reduced to mounts for the West...
Even Tongtian, the sect leader himself, would eventually be force-fed the Saint-Slaying Pill and confined forever within Zixiao Palace!
How was this a storybook?
It was clearly a series of tragedies!
Who could possibly accept this if it happened to them?!!
No wonder Tongtian was so furious!
"This... this..."
For a moment, Taiqing did not know what to say. He casually handed the storybook to the dumbfounded Yuanshi.
With curiosity and confusion, Yuanshi accepted the storybook and began reading it with his divine sense.
The expressions on Yuanshi's face as he read were no less colorful than Taiqing's.
What?
What the hell was written in this storybook?!
How had all his inner thoughts been laid bare on its pages?!!
Several breaths later, perhaps out of shame and anger, or perhaps because he wanted to conceal the truth, Yuanshi Tianzun tore the "Investiture of the Gods" storybook to pieces in a fit of rage.
He roared repeatedly, "Slander! This is nothing but slander!"
"Third Brother, you don't actually believe this, do you? The bond between us Three Pure Ones has always been unbreakable. We share the same roots and branches. Though we sometimes argue, our relationship is excellent! This was definitely fabricated by that bitch Houtu!"
"Yes, that's right, it must be made up! The purpose is to drive a wedge between the Three Pure Ones and sow discord among us. Her intentions are vile, utterly vile!!"
At that moment, Taiqing also recovered and hurriedly echoed, "That's right, Third Brother. You must not believe such slander and fall into the villains' trap!"
"I could write a hundred or ten thousand storybooks like this whenever I pleased, each with a different ending!"
As soon as he said that, it indeed had an effect.
After hearing this, Tongtian gradually calmed down. He instinctively looked toward "Houtu," unable to make up his mind for a moment.
Truth and falsehood were far too difficult to distinguish. Difficult—simply too difficult!
"Fellow Daoist Houtu, was this storybook... fabricated by you?"
"Or is it a true account of the future?"
Suddenly, Tongtian asked from the depths of his soul.
Chen Xuan smiled calmly and said in an unhurried manner, "I swear upon the Great Dao that the contents of the 'Investiture of the Gods' storybook are absolutely genuine, completely true!"
"Otherwise, may my soul scatter and my body perish. May I sink forever into an abyss of endless tribulations, beyond all redemption, and die a miserable death!"
Rumble—
Upon hearing that, Tongtian felt as though he had been struck by lightning. His pupils trembled, and he stood frozen in place, utterly at a loss.
An oath upon the Great Dao had already been made. How could it be false?
Then Tongtian looked again at his two elder brothers, truly not knowing what to do.
Conflicted... hesitant... wavering... unwilling...
Countless emotions surged through him at once!
Seeing this, Chen Xuan felt the same and sighed inwardly.
At this point, he had already done all he could.
What happened next depended entirely on Tongtian's choice and his own fortune!
In the end, Tongtian was simply too loyal and placed too much importance on relationships. Otherwise, when the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation came, he would not have fallen into such a state!
Alas, what a tragedy!
"Tongtian, why are you still standing there like an idiot? Don't tell me—don't tell me you actually believe it?"
"Are you a pig? Anyone can tell this storybook is fake at a glance!"
"Stop wasting time. Quickly lay down the Immortal-Slaying Formation and settle this battle. Afterward, I still need to go back and refine artifacts. I don't have time to waste here with you!"
Just as Tongtian was caught between the bond of the Three Pure Ones and the future of the Jie Sect, unable to decide what to do, Yuanshi's arrogant and sharp-tongued nature flared up again.
Every word rang in his ears, every sentence pierced his heart!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Before long, four crisp and resounding sword cries shot into the heavens and echoed throughout the universe.
The Immortal Slaying Formation Diagram descended, spilling boundless divine radiance.
The Immortal-Slaying Formation was laid!
Woohoo~
The Witch Clan was finished this time!
Just as all the saints of the heavens, including Hongjun, rejoiced and grew wildly excited—
Who would have expected it?
Tongtian suddenly turned against them in the midst of battle. Sword in hand, he pointed it at Yuanshi Tianzun as boundless killing intent burst forth, his rage surging like a tidal wave!
Something was terribly wrong—Tongtian was going to turn against them?!!
Hiss—
Before you continue