A night perfect for murder, a gathering in Treasure Master’s earthen cave.

In a secluded forest to the southeast of the Central Divine Continent, within a mystical cave hidden between the fabric of space and time, several Daoist masters were staring at each other intently. They had all arrived here following jade talismans’ guidance, entering the earthen cave created by Treasure Master Dao Person’s divine abilities, gathering according to his instructions…

Yet not only were the latecomers puzzled, but even the Treasure Master himself felt rather bewildered.

‘Didn’t Junior Brother Long Geng say we were going to eliminate a great threat to the Dao Sect?’

Muttering thus in his heart, Treasure Master frowned as he looked at the immortals before him. Apart from the two from the Enlightenment Sect, the others were all old fellow disciples.

From the Enlightenment Sect came True Person Tai Yi and Cloud Dweller. The former was known for his formidable verbal abilities, while the latter was famous as a Fortune Golden Immortal, with pure foundations and deep karmic blessings.

From their Severing Sect, besides himself as First Senior Brother, there was Sister Gold Spirit and Brother Zhao Gongming. Cloud Maiden and Jade Maiden were still on their way, due to arrive after some time…

Just as Treasure Master was about to speak, he sensed five-colored divine light flashing across the horizon – it was the Phoenix Tribe’s mighty one, Kong Xuan, who had also arrived and entered one of the cave entrances.

‘A great threat to the Dao Sect?’

Treasure Master’s eyes brightened, and then he drew in a sharp breath as a bold conjecture arose in his heart!

Could they be planning to ambush the Western Sect’s Minor Sage?

If Senior Brother Xuandu were to appear later, accompanied by treasures like the Taiji Diagram, today’s assembly would truly have significant implications!

Treasure Master’s dao heart, which had been dormant for many years, suddenly began to flutter with excitement.

He looked around, calculating their side’s experts, roughly deducing Junior Brother Long Geng’s arrangements for today…

First, True Person Tai Yi would speak with veiled sarcasm, provoking the Sage to act, then seize the opportunity to accuse this Minor Sage of bullying the weak, thereby setting the tone for today’s events.

Then Cloud Dweller would step forward, either pretend or genuinely suffer a palm strike from the Sage, preventing Second Uncle Master from showing favoritism to the Western Sect!

And after that…

Yes, Junior Brother Long Geng’s Grand Dao of Universal Balance was the key. Wasn’t this dao he had comprehended meant to intimidate the Sages?

Looking at Long Geng’s current cultivation progress, with Great Uncle Master’s protection; once Long Geng reached Senior Brother Xuandu’s dao realm, who else could his Balance Dao equilibrate?

He couldn’t possibly use the Balance Dao to lower his strength during combat.

Thinking carefully, this matter was likely long prepared by Junior Brother Long Geng.

When they engaged that Honorary Uncle Master, the Primordial Sect’s treasures would strike, Severing Sect’s experts would fight with their lives, and he would deploy his treasury, willing to sacrifice thirty percent of its contents!

Then Kong Xuan’s miraculous Five-Colored Divine Light would flash repeatedly, Brother Gongming’s Sea-Stabilizing Divine Zhenzhus would exert their space-time power to suppress, their own master would secretly point a finger, Great Uncle Master would appear in the clouds, and send Sage Jie Yin flying with one palm…

From today onwards, the Primordial World will have Five Stages!

And they would be the Sage-slayers, their names echoing through the ages and across all heavens!

Heh heh, heh heh heh heh…

“First Senior Brother? First Senior Brother?”

Zhao Gongming’s call from the side brought Treasure Master back from his reverie, and he coughed twice, raising his hand.

True Person Tai Yi kept his hands in his sleeves and smiled, “Long Geng called us all here but hasn’t shown himself. Tsk, he’s indeed becoming more and more like a senior expert.”

Zhao Gongming hurriedly said, “You shouldn’t say that. Long Geng isn’t one to put on airs. He must be making other arrangements. We might as well wait here a while longer, as others might still arrive.”

“Others…”

Gold Spirit Holy Mother showed slight dissatisfaction and said coolly, “I feel Long Geng doesn’t quite trust any of us individually. Who knows who we’re eliminating this time? He only mentioned a great threat to the Dao Sect.”

Beside her, Treasure Master, who believed he had guessed the answer, showed a smile that was both slightly simple and slightly smug.

Cloud Dweller was participating in such an event for the first time—only because True Person Yu Ding had gone to ‘supervise’ Yang Jian’s training. Since True Person Tai Yi going out alone would likely result in him getting beaten, they had requested Cloud Dweller to come along with Li Long Shou’s permission.

Tai Yi at least had this much self-awareness.

Cloud Dweller stroked his beard and asked softly, “Do any of you know who Long Geng is targeting this time?”

Several gazes immediately turned to Zhao Gongming, then followed his gaze to Treasure Master, who showed a faint smile:

“We’ll know when Long Geng arrives. It will certainly surprise us all! Fellow Daoist Kong Xuan has arrived, let’s welcome her.”

Just as Zhao Gongming finished speaking, Kong Xuan flew in from one side of the earthen cave with five-colored divine light, landing before everyone. Gold Spirit Holy Mother’s eyes lit up, while Zhao Gongming and Treasure Master showed admiration.

True Person Tai Yi wanted to speak but instinctively closed his mouth, raising his hand as if to cough.

[Mouth: Suddenly classifying yin-yang affiliations, there could be some room for criticism.

Hand: No, you don’t want to.]

Looking at Kong Xuan’s current appearance, her face was dignified and beautiful, with long phoenix eyes perfectly matching her aquiline nose. Her willow-leaf eyebrows accentuated slightly coquettish eye corners, her face appeared softer than her last appearance, and her skin had become much fairer, naturally having a jade-like quality.

Today she came in response to Li Long Shou’s summons, to support that man’s junior brother’s presence, and had specially dressed up.

Her five-colored long dress was only wing-thick, with a pure white inner collar adding several degrees of elegance. Her slender neck wore a light golden chain, below which hung a supreme-grade green spirit stone that had become extinct and unseen since ancient times.

Her arrival truly added much color to this earthen cave, each having its charm alongside Gold Spirit Holy Mother.

Kong Xuan slightly bowed, then turned to meditate in a corner. With Li Long Shou absent, she naturally didn’t want to say much to others.

The immortals waited a while longer until Cloud Maiden and Jade Maiden flew in together, each paying their respects before quietly waiting.

True Person Tai Yi observed the cave’s situation with interest, noting that without Li Long Shou present, the various experts weren’t actually of one mind.

Soon after, Li Long Shou appeared together with a middle-aged man wearing golden armor and a large red cape.

“Uncle Master Jade Emperor?”

Treasure Master muttered, having wondered why Li Long Shou brought an immortal with an unfamiliar face, but now everyone remembered this first appearance of the Jade Emperor’s avatar.

Li Long Shou maintained his young Daoist appearance, bearing three to four parts resemblance to his true form, showing some respect to the big shots who came to help today.

It wasn’t because Cloud Maiden was here!

After he arrived at the earthen cave with this golden-armored, red-caped Heaven Court Marshal, he first smiled in acknowledgment to Cloud Maiden, who slightly nodded in response.

Then Li Long Shou took the initiative to introduce:

“Senior Brothers and Sisters, Fellow Daoist Kong Xuan, this is Heaven Court General Quan Tong, who has come specially to assist us.”

This middle-aged general smiled and clasped his hands in greeting. The immortals smiled, all appearing not to understand Quan Tong’s background.

Trying their best to cooperate with this enthusiastic ruler of the Heaven Court.

Quan Tong smiled, “Please proceed with your discussion. This humble general is just here to join in.”

Li Long Shou had already taken out a scroll from his sleeve. After first verbally expressing his thanks to the big shots for appearing to help, he spread the scroll in mid-air, pressed it down, and invited everyone to look.

“This is the first plan for this operation, also the strategy with the highest success rate and least likely to produce accidents. Today’s matter prioritizes secrecy; we cannot leave the Western Sect any pretext…”

Hearing this, Treasure Master raised an eyebrow and wanted to speak but held back.

How could they not leave any pretext?

Knocking a Western Sect Sage from their position—surely that couldn’t be kept secret?

Then Li Long Shou continued:

“I’ve already asked Master to help, locking down the target’s whereabouts. Right now he’s hiding somewhere in the deep South Sea cultivating, with seven or eight Western Sect experts beside him.”

Great Master Tai Qing took action?

Treasure Master’s heart settled back into his slightly protruding belly. That settled it—today they had nothing to fear, just go for it!

Breaking the Western Sect’s pattern of dual Sages would be equivalent to breaking their opportunity for great prosperity, making the Western Sect unable to cause any waves in the upcoming Great Tribulation of Investing Gods.

It must be said that although Junior Brother Long Geng acted cautiously, he truly dared to think and act.

Hmm? Why did Long Geng’s subsequent words seem somewhat… off in flavor?

“…This time we can’t use our treasures and need to conceal our dao rhythms. I’ve already set up several formation discs for space-time transfer. After capturing him at location A, we need to fly to location B and enter the formation in the shortest time possible, using only the flight speed that ordinary Golden Immortals would have. I will simultaneously create five or more disturbances in space-time to confuse their perception. To be safe, after we capture this Western Sect disciple, we must maintain our concealment throughout. Even if he escapes, he won’t know who acted against him or how to seek revenge.”

Gold Spirit Holy Mother asked, “Wouldn’t it be better to kill him directly?”

“Keeping him alive has great use,” Li Long Shou opened his right hand, and streams of black qi condensed into a roaring fierce beast. “This is a divine ability I’ve been working on recently, Dao Heart Demon Planting. This is a demon seed refined from Outer Realm Demons, which, when placed in his dao heart, will effectively lock his dao realm. The Outer Realm Demon need only hook onto the cracks in his dao heart, causing it to lose defense, and he will inevitably be under our control. Of course, I’ve prepared other methods, such as Primordial Spirit Shackles and Soul Control, which might be used on him simultaneously later, ensuring he serves our purpose in protecting the Dao Sect’s plans. If he would rather die than submit, we can fulfill his righteous spirit.”

Dao Heart Demon Planting…

Refining Outer Realm Demons…

Treasure Master frowned, “Long Geng?”

“What is it, Senior Brother?”

“Aren’t we going to fight a Sage today?”

The earthen cave instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Li Long Shou looked at Treasure Master with confusion, letting out a question from the depths of his soul:

“Senior Brother, why would we go fight a Sage?”

“This…”

Treasure Master was suddenly at a loss for words.

Zhao Gongming smiled from the side, “Then, Long Geng, you gathered all of us here, being so mysterious about it—who are we dealing with?”

Li Long Shou also inexplicably lost some confidence, saying softly: “The Western Sect’s Xu Puti… ah.”

The earthen cave fell silent again until a light chuckle suddenly came from the side—Immortal Kong Xuan had been amused by Li Long Shou’s words.

True Person Tai Yi tucked his hands into his sleeves and muttered, “I feel like you’re mocking our poor cultivation abilities.”

“This Xu Puti is no simple character,” Zhao Gongming stroked his beard and said, “Everyone, don’t be careless. Even Great Master Tai Qing has taken action—this fellow might be hiding some formidable divine abilities.”

Cloud Maiden spoke softly from the side, “Even a hawk uses all its strength to catch a rabbit. If we want to capture a Western Sect Sage’s disciple without exposing our movements, we indeed need multiple experts working together.”

“Correct,” Cloud Dweller said, “We should approach this with caution… Long Geng, what has this Xu Puti done to warrant such treatment?”

Li Long Shou pondered for a moment before saying:

“There’s no need to detail his crimes—one basket couldn’t hold them all.

The urgent need to act against him is because he has interfered with a major matter that will have far-reaching effects on the Dao Sect.

Recently, he’s been trying to set the Enlightenment Sect against the Heaven Court, thereby pushing the Enlightenment Sect to completely ally with the Western Sect… This matter is rather inappropriate.”

Cloud Dweller nodded in understanding, and several Severing Sect immortals also showed solemn expressions.

If the Enlightenment Sect completely allied with the Western Sect, it would indeed cause great trouble for the Severing Sect. They couldn’t show any negligence.

True Person Tai Yi gave a light laugh, holding back from saying more.

False crime: Sowing discord between the three sects, attempting to disrupt the Dao Sect.

True crime: Adding unauthorized drama.

Li Long Shou took out two more scrolls from his sleeve and smiled, “Let’s discuss a few more plans. Master’s divine ability is keeping a close watch on him, so we needn’t rush this moment.”

In a secret realm somewhere in the South Sea, that old Daoist who was sitting in meditation suddenly shuddered twice, as if sensing something.

…

‘Why is my spirit so unsettled?’

Xu Puti opened his eyes and looked at the beautiful underwater scenery outside the cave, but couldn’t help frowning slightly.

This secret realm was built on a large coral reef near an island, serving as an important foothold for the Western Sect outside Spirit Mountain, mainly used by fierce beasts and great demons to lay low.

Xu Puti was here preparing to continue closely monitoring the Yang Jian matter in the Three Thousand Worlds.

If he could accomplish this task, making Yang Jian cause trouble in the Heaven Court and thereby create conflict and opposition between the Enlightenment Sect and Heaven Court, he would achieve great merit, compensating for his failure in the Immortal Alliance matter.

Recently, First Senior Brother suddenly appeared and engaged the Water God, suffering a great loss and being slandered as Kun Peng’s primordial spirit—truly laughable.

Why insist on directly confronting the Water God?

Did he think he could outmaneuver him?

Xu Puti didn’t think he was much cleverer than Earth Store, and after suffering one major setback, immediately changed his approach, doing everything while avoiding the Water God.

Now, he was scheming against a third-generation disciple of the Dao Sect. At most, this would only draw True Person Yu Ding’s pursuit. If done discreetly, there shouldn’t be any major problems.

Today’s scenery was quite nice.

Xu Puti walked out of his hidden cave-dwelling, moving through the seawater as if on solid ground, hands behind his back, amusing himself by teasing the fish.

The longer one cultivated, the more one understood how difficult it was to endure monotony.

Thus, Xu Puti usually paid attention to cultivating his temperament and developing some hobbies. Seeing the sun’s rays penetrating the water bottom, the light blue seawater, the fish playing among the coral…

His poetic inspiration surged, and he recited:

“The bright sun shines on a beautiful scene,

Red coral and green grass between.”

Then, feeling it was marvelous, he stroked his beard and laughed lightly, his form rising toward the sea surface for some fresh air.

Walking along the beach with its azure waters, blue sky, and white sand, Xu Puti’s thoughts were somewhat complex.

The internal strife in their sect had been suppressed recently. Previously, it had reached the point where they needed to petition their two masters to establish a First Senior Brother, but now with Maitreya’s return, the chaos had temporarily subsided.

Xu Puti didn’t want to compete for these things, but being within the sect, some things were unavoidable.

Take Earth Store from before—his prominence was excessive and he was too favored by the masters, clearly about to become the Western Sect’s First Senior Brother…

Fortunately, the then-Water God Star Lord Tai Bai’s methods were excellent, directly declaring:

‘Earth Store is my brother.’

This fully exploited the masters’ suspicions, giving fellow disciples an excuse to move against him.

Later, Earth Store’s desperate struggle before the Reincarnation Tower was rather tragic. He had considered helping at the time but ultimately decided to remain silent.

Helping him would have brought no benefit.

As long as the Western Sect had their two masters, they wouldn’t fall. The only difference lies in reputation and prestige.

Like now, with the Western Sect’s prestige greatly diminished, unable to do more than silently rage at Star-Lord Tai Bai who had smashed their mountain gate—they only suffered damage to their face, remaining fundamentally safe.

“Ah…”

‘This Great Tribulation of Investing Gods, what direction will it take, and how much will it affect them?’

Xu Puti gazed at the ocean, his dao heart slightly stirring.

Thinking back to those years when he first entered Spirit Mountain, carrying reverence for his two masters and yearning for the dream of immortality.

Later, when he truly stepped into immortality, his mindset underwent subtle changes;

He remembered that at first, he truly thought about making the Western Sect prosper and helping his two masters solve their difficulties…

When did such thoughts begin to seem somewhat laughable even to himself?

What was this so-called prosperity? The flourishing of living beings?

“Ah.”

Xu Puti sighed again, completely unaware of what was happening behind him.

Space silently split open into a crack, and beneath Xu Puti’s feet, two ghostly figures quietly approached, getting within a hundred zhang of him as the yin-yang energies around them silently dispersed.

At this moment, Xu Puti sensed the faint disturbance behind him and turned around, startled to see the spatial crack that had appeared behind him.

But he had no time to react…

Poof!

With a light sound, Xu Puti looked down at his chest in bewilderment, where a sword had pierced through, its blade pressing directly against his primordial spirit’s neck.

Another burst of pure primordial spirit force exploded forth. Completely unable to fight back at this moment, Xu Puti could only allow his primordial spirit to be directly knocked unconscious by this powerful yet unfamiliar primordial spirit force!

At this point, the two figures finally appeared behind Xu Puti, their exact features unclear—one holding the sword that had pierced Xu Puti’s dao body, the other pressing sword fingers against Xu Puti’s back.

They simultaneously kicked out nimbly, kicking Xu Puti into the spatial crack, their forms flashing inside as the spatial crack simultaneously vanished.

Along with this, a hundred li away, that concealment illusion formation silently dispersed.

After about two breaths, the sky seemed to gain a pair of giant eyes, staring intently at this beach;

Two streams of Sage divine consciousness instantly swept across a hundred thousand li, and the two old Daoists deep in Spirit Mountain immediately frowned.

They broke through the tribulation’s obstruction and immediately used the Heavenly Dao’s power to calculate Xu Puti’s whereabouts, but after each calculated for a while, their brows only furrowed deeper.

It wasn’t that they had discovered an enemy they couldn’t handle, or that the calculations were blocked, but rather…

This time, the Heavenly Dao did not respond.