Li Fan, who had once shared an intimate encounter with Senior Sister Zhao within the pages of a forbidden text, recognized her voice instantly.
One Mind... is it the embodiment of the principle of heaven and earth she defied?
Why has she appeared in person?
Thoughts raced through Li Fan’s mind in the span of a heartbeat.
Before he could sort through the shock and doubt, Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind’s voice rang out once more.
“The original agreement was made with the Dao Teacher. I’m here now, but where is the Dao Teacher?”
Her voice was clear and resonant, echoing across heaven and earth.
Throughout Tianling Province, cultivators exchanged bewildered looks.
Among the Myriad Immortals Alliance, it was common knowledge that the Heavenly Venerable Dao Teacher had long since withdrawn from worldly affairs, showing no interest in mortal concerns. Most believed he was enjoying his freedom, too aloof, or too lazy, to involve himself in such matters.
But the fact that he existed was beyond any doubt.
So what did Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind mean?
Where was the Dao Teacher?
A dreadful thought surfaced unbidden in everyone’s minds.
“No... that can’t be.”
Uncontainable horror gleamed in their eyes.
“Where is the Dao Teacher?” Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind asked again.
Her voice fell like a thunderclap, reverberating throughout Tianling Province, threatening even to pierce the White Mist Barrier and spread into the neighboring provinces.
In the sky, threads of green light emerged and rapidly wove themselves into a vast net that intercepted the sound.
Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind’s voice gradually faded.
“Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind, please withdraw,” Ji Hongdao spoke once more.
His expression was cold as frost, devoid of emotion.
“And if I refuse?” Senior Sister Zhao’s voice replied, laced with faint amusement.
Below, several thousand cultivators of the Five Elders Council took a unified step forward.
Ji Hongdao drew in a slow breath. “After a Heavenly Venerable establishes their Axiom, they should no longer involve themselves in mundane disputes.
“This was the agreement established between the Heavenly Venerable Dao Teacher and the Heavenly Venerables of the Five Elders Council.”
He turned his gaze upward.
“Do you truly intend to violate it now?”
Boom!
The several thousand cultivators of the Five Elders Council, standing in perfect formation, took another unified step forward; an unmistakable display of Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind’s resolve.
“Very well. In that case...” A flicker of hesitation passed through Ji Hongdao’s eyes.
But it vanished in an instant.
What remained was an icy resolve.
Ji Hongdao raised his gaze to the heavens, then bent at the waist and bowed deeply.
Above the firmament, strands of green light appeared one after another.
They spread rapidly outward from a central point, weaving together in the blink of an eye into a colossal net that enveloped all of Tianling Province.
Ji Hongdao straightened, then bowed a second time.
The green radiance intensified, staining the sky a sinister, aberrant hue. [1]
Ji Hongdao bowed a third time.
From the immense net overhead, countless densely packed green threads descended, shooting toward the earth like torrential rain.
In an instant, Tianling Province was transformed into a nightmarish spiderweb.
"Wait, how is this possible?!"
Aboard the Dust-Crossing Boat, the cultivators finally witnessed the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array reveal its true power.
Yet not a trace of exhilaration appeared on their faces. Only horror.
Horror even greater than when Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind herself had descended upon the battlefield.
Because the target of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array was not the Heavenly Venerable barring the Myriad Immortals Alliance's path, nor were they the invading cultivators of the Five Elders Council.
They were every single Myriad Immortals Alliance cultivator currently within Tianling Province.
Each descending green thread marked the fall of a life.
High above the heavens, twisted death phenomena formed a chaotic, kaleidoscopic tableau.
Dao... da—ao... d... ao...
Dis—per... sss... shh...
Re—turn... tu—un... rrr...
Heh... ven... va—nn...
Dao... dao... daaa...
sss... per... per...
re... re... re...
he... he... he...
Countless voices overlapped and intertwined, their meaning utterly unintelligible—nothing more than a torrent of warped syllables echoing endlessly.
They merged into a vast, distorted symphony of celebration.
Whether it was the young array masters frozen aboard the Dust-Crossing Boats, or Li Fan, observing from several provinces away, all were struck dumb.
For the sight before them had already surpassed the limits of comprehension.
The Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array, meant to deter the Five Elders Council, had instead unleashed indiscriminate slaughter upon the cultivators of the Myriad Immortals Alliance itself.
As they stared at the dense web of green threads filling sky and land alike, no one doubted that, in this single moment, every cultivator in Tianling Province below the Dao Unity realm was already dead.
Why?
Boundless confusion surged within Li Fan's heart.
He had originally thought that the Myriad Immortals Alliance would silence the array masters who built the Soul-Locking Array to ensure its structural secrets would not be leaked.
Yet, he had never anticipated that the array's target would be all cultivators within Tianling Province.
This makes no sense at all. Has the Myriad Immortals Alliance gone mad?
He analyzed possibility after possibility in his mind, but could find no motive for the Alliance to act in such a way.
Just as he was lost in thought, unable to grasp the reason behind it all, heaven and earth suddenly began to quake.
It not only affected Tianling Province, but also Tianpan Province where he currently stood.
Li Fan’s heart slammed violently against his chest, as though he had brushed against some mortal danger. He shot to his feet, his expression dark and solemn as he stared up at the sky.
This is...
An indistinct, thunderous roar, its meaning impossible to discern, rolled faintly down from the heavens. The entire world shuddered in response.
At that moment, every living being in the Xuanhuang World instinctively raised their head skyward.
An overwhelming terror bloomed in their hearts.
A suffocating sense of doom, of having nowhere to flee and no way to resist, surged through all hearts.
The tremors persisted for a long while before finally subsiding.
Only then did the beings of the world exhale in unison, faces filled with the relief of having narrowly survived some unseen calamity.
Yet not a single one of them understood what had just occurred.
***
Tianling Province.
Before the survivors could fully recover their wits, Ji Hongdao’s voice rang out once more.
“Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind, please withdraw.”
Silence followed.
“Hahaha... Haha... How interesting. Whose idea was this, I wonder?
“Staying in the Myriad Immortals Alliance is a waste of your talent. Why not join me instead?”
Senior Sister Zhao’s laughter echoed through the heavens as her figure manifested, her gaze filled with keen curiosity.
Her appearance was identical to the image Li Fan had once seen in the forbidden text, and precisely the same as the likeness circulated throughout the world.
Dressed in flowing white robes, her figure was enchanting, alluring, and utterly unreal.
Ji Hongdao immediately closed his eyes, not daring to meet her gaze.
“I beg the Heavenly Venerable to withdraw!”
Sweat streamed down his forehead, yet his voice remained firm and unwavering.
Senior Sister Zhao studied him for a moment. Then she lifted her head, glancing toward the sky.
“Quite bold.”
Before the final syllable had fully faded, her form vanished without a trace.
The instant Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind disappeared, the thousands of golden rays she had been holding in suspension fell simultaneously.
Every cultivator of the invading Five Elders Council force was slaughtered on the spot.
Strangely, not a hint of fear appeared on their faces in the moment of death. Even more unsettling, none of the usual phenomena that accompanied a cultivator’s demise manifested above.
“Eternal Heavenly Venerable One Mind...”
Ji Hongdao stared in the direction she had departed, murmuring softly to himself.
After a moment, he turned around.
His expression had returned to perfect composure as he looked toward the array masters gathered on the deck of the Dust-Crossing Boat.
“Let’s go,” he said calmly.
“The spectacle is over. Now, it’s time we had a proper talk.”
1. If anyone watches Dr Stone, I’m imagining this to be the same colour as the Medusa’s power ☜