Chapter 475: The Curtain Rises

What is a realm? This is exactly a realm!

In a single sentence, it might seem heavy-handed, but it’s the plain truth, simply stating a fact that everyone knows.

Yet, in this moment, in this place, under these circumstances, with that slightly dazed tone delivering the fact that “saints also have strengths and weaknesses”...

When it comes to sarcasm, Taiyi Zhenren never disappoints!

Li Changshou couldn’t help but admire it.

In the art of sarcastic speech, Taiyi Zhenren is unmatched in the Honghuang world!

Everyone has their expertise. As a common minister in the Heavenly Court, he just sticks to reasoning, presenting facts, and a bit of clever debate to make a small, insignificant contribution to today’s events.

Although Taiyi Zhenren had been aggressively leading the charge earlier, now that their side had strong reinforcements and the upper hand, his perfectly timed sarcastic remark fundamentally shifted the entire situation!

Zunti Shengren found himself in a difficult position, forced to step forward and respond to Tongtian Jiaozhu's challenge.

This is the charm of a great artist of language in the Honghuang world!

This is the true strength of the second-generation disciples of Chanism!

Hmm, from now on, it’s better to have Lingzhuzi spend more time in the Heavenly Court. Otherwise, I should remind him to minimize the times he goes out alone with his master, Taiyi Zhenren.

That child’s reincarnation might end up being affected by his master’s honeyed words that have gone past their expiration date...

Li Changshou finally believed it—living beings’ words can indeed make someone so angry they spit blood.

Looking at the situation, Zunti Shengren's dharma form showed no clear emotion, but the Western Sect's disciples were all flushed with anger, yet they had no way to retort.

Tongtian Jiaozhu narrowed his eyes and smiled lightly, saying calmly:

"If you don't want to, let your senior brother handle it."

"Ah..."

With a long sigh, the dharma form of the saint at the Reincarnation Tower gradually dissipated. The clouds in the sky quickly cleared, and the towering tower with its 360 levels shimmered with a faint glow, its connection to the Heavenly Dao completely severed.

An old Daoist sat cross-legged on auspicious clouds, slowly flying out from the top of the tower. His face was gaunt, his gaze dim and emotionless.

The old Daoist replied:

"In that case, we shall go beyond the heavens."

Tongtian Jiaozhu raised an eyebrow, tossed his Qingping Sword forward into the clouds, then stood up tall, locking eyes with Zunti Shengren in his old Daoist form.

The Great Dao tensed, and the world fell silent!

The very fabric of heaven and earth seemed to solidify. All the saint disciples present felt their own Daos trembling slightly.

It was as if a lush forest had suddenly sprouted two massive ancient trees that blocked out the sky...

"Humph!"

Zunti Shengren left behind a half-snort of cold disdain, while Tongtian Jiaozhu left a faint laugh.

Just as Li Changshou wondered if the saints' confrontation had ended, the two saints' figures flashed and vanished mysteriously!

No aura lingered, no fluctuations remained—as if they had never been there at all!

In the next instant!

The Great Dao trembled, the heavens shook, the Blood Sea was nearly flipped upside down, and the Underworld saw countless spirits shattered into true spirits!

All the saint disciples here turned pale, and those with weaker cultivation directly lowered their heads and vomited blood...

In everyone's hearts, fragments of the saints' battle appeared, to varying degrees.

What Li Changshou saw in his mind:

That dashing young Daoist stood with his left hand behind his back, his right hand forming a sword finger. With a smiling and spirited expression, he unleashed sword energy for eighty thousand li, severing the void, stirring the winds and clouds, and constantly shattering the chaotic qi at the edge of the void.

As for the sixth saint, Zunti Daoist, who was often quietly mocked, he now manifested a golden body thirty-six zhang tall. Innumerable arms extended from his back, surrounded by layers of illusions, wielding treasures like the Divine Pestle and Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree from all sides. For a time...

Zunti Shengren was merely being pushed back by the sword energy, not directly broken, and he blocked all of Tongtian Jiaozhu's attacks!

Jokes aside, the power of a saint is truly extraordinary.

Such a battle between saints is rare in the world, likely the first time since the ancient era when the Six Saints successively attained their positions, erupting within the perception of all beings.

The two saints quickly rushed out of the void, distancing themselves from the Honghuang world, and the impact on it rapidly faded...

Li Changshou felt these Dao fluctuations and truly felt like a small, drifting boat on a stormy sea.

Fortunately, Yunxiao Xianzi arrived in time, using her own Dao rhythm to share most of the pressure for Li Changshou. Meanwhile, Zhao Gongming, Duobao Daoist, Yuding Zhenren, and Jinling Shengmu all raised their hands, enveloping the nine immortals together.

Taiyi Zhenren, whose realm was not much higher than Li Changshou's, quietly walked to Yuding Zhenren's side. Glancing at Li Changshou, who was protected by Yunxiao Xianzi, he sighed:

"It's still not enough, always not enough."

"Mm," Yuding Zhenren replied with a slight warm smile, holding his bronze mirror as he stepped over to Li Changshou's side, joining the others in discussion.

Taiyi Zhenren: ...

Duobao Daoist laughed: "Our master isn't using any treasures, so he's at a bit of a disadvantage."

Jinling Shengmu said calmly: "Don't worry, our master isn't being overconfident."

"A battle of saints," Huanglong Zhenren said with full emotion, hands behind his back and sighing, "Such spectacles probably only appeared occasionally in ancient times. Who would have thought we'd see it now."

Li Changshou wouldn't forget the "major event" at hand. He took a bronze mirror and continued his live commentary inside it.

"...Everyone, as you've seen, the battle of saints has erupted. The situation's direction now depends on when the saints return.

Since this place is under the Blood Sea, maintaining this artifact requires a huge amount of immortal power. I'll temporarily shut it off and share more when necessary.

As for the debate on the incense fire divine kingdom, it ended much shorter than I expected. They had no preparation to defend themselves; their intent to bully with force was all too clear.

How could the Western Sect be so arrogant? Ah...

I am Li Changeng, the Heavenly Court recorder, bringing you to witness the history of the Honghuang world as a dedicated and joyful immortal god."

With that, Li Changshou sealed the restrictions on the bronze mirror.

His sigh echoed throughout the Heavenly Court, sparking heated discussions from the Tianmen Gate to the Yaochi Pond, from the Water God Mansion to the celestial kingdoms.

A battle of saints!

The debate on the incense fire divine kingdom!

The second reincarnation!

Taiyi's sharp tongue!

The Water God was handling so many major affairs out of sight, working tirelessly for the stability of the heavens and earth!

Especially Bian Zhuang, who had previously speculated a bit about why the Water God chose their Tianya Pavilion as the bridgehead for the anti-Western immortal alliance.

Perhaps the Water God valued the environment of their Tianya Pavilion, and with the great poison expert Lü Yue residing there—it was one part official business, two parts...

Heh-heh.

But now, Bian Zhuang suddenly realized that the gap between him and the Water God wasn't about realm, cultivation, or vision.

It was a difference in the very level of existence!

Ao Yi, tempered by the Steady Scripture, had already begun pondering how many layers of deeper meaning his elder brother, the Dragon King, had hidden in this live broadcast.

Ao Yi could only think of five layers, but he felt there were far more...

In the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, the Jade Emperor paced back and forth in front of his jade desk, while Mu Gong and the other upright gods below kept their heads down, not daring to speak.

The Jade Emperor's incarnation, Qin Tianzhu, had gone to the Water God Mansion to ask if there was anything the Heavenly Emperor could help with, but Li Changshou hadn't met him...

The Jade Emperor was afraid that distracting Li Changshou might affect the major events there, so after hesitating, he decided not to let his incarnation disturb him and waited for his beloved minister Changeng to seek aid.

Back to the scene under the Blood Sea.

The nine experts centered around Li Changshou had now sat down cross-legged, quietly waiting for the outcome of the saints' battle.

The group of Western Sect saint disciples and hidden experts guarded the Reincarnation Tower...

Although Tongtian Jiaozhu had severed the tower's connection to the Heavenly Dao, Zunti Shengren's earlier action had still protected the tower itself.

—That move of the saint's dharma form hadn't grasped at nothing.

Duobao Daoist laughed: "Changeng, why didn't you just scold them for three full shichen earlier?

Sister, don't misunderstand; I mean no harm. I just hope you two can get along well."

"Thank you, senior brother," Li Changshou replied openly, then glanced at Yunxiao Xianzi beside him.

Their gazes touched briefly before quickly shifting away. Yunxiao appeared utterly calm, but her sitting posture was a bit less relaxed.

Li Changshou sighed: "They had no way to counter, so the matter is what it is. It's hard to drag out the scolding for that long."

Huanglong Zhenren asked curiously: "Changeng, when did you gather so much evidence?"

"During my ten years at the Moon Palace," Li Changshou said. "His Majesty the Jade Emperor was punishing me for assisting him during his mortal tribulation, so he made me the head instructor for the three hundred Chang'e maidens.

With nothing else to do, I let my incarnations travel through the three thousand worlds."

Yunxiao nodded in deep agreement and said softly: "You enjoy scheming and planning; it's indeed tough for you to stay in one place for so long."

Zhao Gongming chuckled and turned away, stroking his beard.

Taiyi Zhenren muttered: "Xianzi, were you serious just now?"

Yunxiao looked a bit puzzled.

Li Changshou calmly replied: "If the heart is rippled, so are the eyes; if the heart has no improper thoughts, so do the eyes."

"This poor Daoist is just an ordinary person," Taiyi Zhenren laughed. "I truly admire your self-control, junior brother."

Li Changshou laughed: "Actually, I admire you more, senior brother. One sentence from you tops half a day of my talking."

"Ah, don't mention it!"

Taiyi Zhenren raised his hand to rub his brow and sighed: "I don't know if it's the influence of the Jie Yun, but lately, my words come even faster than my thoughts."

Kong Xuan asked: "Is it a divine ability?"

"Of course not," Taiyi Zhenren laughed. "It's just that I often see things I can't stand and can't speak out directly, so I think about how to mock them.

Over time, I've developed this skill in speech."

Duobao Daoist laughed: "Taiyi junior brother, may I test you?"

Taiyi Zhenren sat up straight.

Lose or win, he couldn't back down when it came to his "specialty."

He represented the image of Chanism's second-generation disciples!

Though the Chanism disciples might not want him to.

Duobao Daoist said: "Let's treat this as a joke to test your real skill, junior brother.

If you can say something that makes me feel particularly stifled, I'll give you a treasure that's especially useful. How about that?"

Taiyi Zhenren frowned: "Hearing you say that, I suddenly feel that high cultivation and high wisdom really have no connection.

Who asks for a scolding and offers a treasure in return?"

Duobao Daoist's face darkened, then he laughed and scolded, pulling a wooden shuttle from his sleeve and sending it over with immortal power.

Taiyi Zhenren quickly refused: "Senior brother, I didn't agree to this."

Duobao Daoist's face darkened even more: "Consider it for those two sentences you said to the saint earlier!"

Taiyi Zhenren tried to refuse again, but Li Changshou calmly intercepted the shuttle midway and placed it in Taiyi Zhenren's hand.

If they kept going, it might turn into a fight.

Li Changshou laughed: "Taiyi senior brother, you really should refine this shuttle properly."

Taiyi Zhenren's mouth twitched slightly, and he muttered: "You sly guy, you must have invited me here with ulterior motives."

"Ah," Li Changshou sighed, "This matter is crucial; I just invited all the experts I trust.

Senior brother, don't misunderstand. Though I had other considerations when inviting you, it wasn't mainly because I wanted to invite Yuding senior brother."

Taiyi Zhenren glared, gesturing to hit him from across Kong Xuan.

Li Changshou chuckled lightly, pretending to dodge to the side, taking the chance to get a bit closer to Yunxiao Xianzi.

The chatting atmosphere here was quickly livened up by Li Changshou.

Even Jinling Shengmu, who was meditating and preparing for battle, opened her eyes and joined the conversation.

In contrast, the Western Sect disciples were gloomy, with many huddled together discussing strategies.

Dizang and Tingting stood alone near the Reincarnation Tower, with no one greeting them or inviting them to join the discussions.

Seeing this, the Daoist side began talking about this master-servant pair.

Duobao Daoist asked: "Changeng, you've targeted that Western Sect's Dizang multiple times. Why not find a chance to kill him?"

Li Changshou pondered for a moment and voice-transmitted to the other eight: "He's always careful, never giving me an opportunity.

Besides, Dizang and I are just on opposing sides; we have no deep grudge. Compared to him, I want to eliminate his mount more."

Taiyi Zhenren said: "Didn't you basically ride Tingting right in front of Dizang?"

"It was just Tingting sensing my killing intent," Li Changshou shook his head. "To be safe, later, even if I don't kill it, I need to force Tingting to make a Great Dao oath or cripple its divine abilities."

Zhao Gongming laughed: "I heard from Old Bai that Tingting is quite adaptable; no need to worry."

"Now that our Daoist sect is in the ascendant," Li Changshou said seriously, "we can't let our guard down for the day we might fall from power."

The Daoist saint disciples were all touched by this, each showing some thought.

Kong Xuan laughed: "With Changeng around, it's difficult."

Li Changshou's smile at that moment seemed a bit forced.

He lowered his head and sighed lightly, closing his eyes in concentration, unusually silent.

Even Kong Xuan wondered if he had said something wrong.

Thus, Duobao and the others pondered even deeper.

The aftershocks of the saints' battle continued endlessly. Tongtian Jiaozhu, without using treasures, seemed to have completely suppressed Zunti Daoist, but for now, no clear winner emerged.

Yunxiao turned to glance at Li Changshou's slightly helpless profile and lightly tapped his hand with hers before withdrawing.

This meant she had figured out the key point.

And this was the second major reason Li Changshou had invited these Chanist and Jiejiao experts today.

The great calamity had arrived, and the Western Sect was showing signs of defeat. Due to Li Changshou's constant maneuvering, the Heavenly Court and the Daoist sect had grown closer, and the Heavenly Emperor held no major grudges against the Daoist disciples.

But there was a very real issue...

Even if their Daoist sect wiped out the Western Sect and turned all its saint disciples into Jie Hui, could that resolve the great calamity?

Li Changshou had calculated that, based on the original story of the Fengshen he knew, the answer was: no.

The Daoist sect would still need disciples from the great teachings to become Jie Hui, to scatter their cultivation and become puppets on the Fengshen List.

As Yuding Zhenren had lectured in the back hall of the Anshui City Sea God Temple that day, both Chanism and Jiejiao were established with human qi, yet they hadn't done much to educate humanity, especially Jiejiao.

Jiejiao lacked a treasure to suppress its sect's destiny. Tongtian Jiaozhu's Qingping Sword for attaining the Dao, and the gifts from Hongjun Daozu—the Zhuixian Four Swords and the Zhuixian Sword Formation diagram—were all treasures of slaughter, useless for suppressing destiny.

The rift between Jiejiao and Chanism was unavoidable; the two would eventually clash.

Even if Li Changshou tried to mediate, he couldn't produce enough experts to fill the calamity's quota.

These words weren't suitable to say directly, so Li Changshou remained silent, letting them ponder.

They were all clever immortals and roughly grasped the key.

Well...

"Changeng junior brother," Huanglong Zhenren said seriously, "don't feel too much pressure; your senior brothers and sisters all support you."

Li Changshou could only force a smile and rally his spirits.

Another one on the edge of "withdrawing from the group."

Duobao laughed and changed the topic: "Changeng, are we just going to wait like this? While our master and Zunti Shishu are sparring in the Chaos Sea, we could..."

As he spoke, Duobao Daoist made a fist-clinching motion with his hand.

Fortunately, there weren't many female Western Sect disciples here, or it might have been misunderstood.

Li Changshou glanced at the tower and voice-transmitted: "Let's wait a bit longer. If there's any change later, we'll act immediately and seize that Reincarnation Tower."

"Oh?"

The faint golden light around Jinling Shengmu brightened considerably. "So, there's going to be another battle today?"

Li Changshou continued voice-transmitting: "They didn't expect me to know so much about their incense fire divine kingdom's details, so we easily gained the upper hand for now.

But this is probably within the Western Sect's calculations.

The one who planned this must be a saint; we can't underestimate them.

There's another hurdle coming: they'll release a massive number of mortal souls to flood the Underworld and the Blood Sea, clogging the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk and forcing us to back down and establish a second reincarnation.

So, seizing this Reincarnation Tower is key!

When they release those souls, we'll immediately go for the tower!

If we can take it, establishing a second reincarnation today won't be a problem. We can directly incorporate this tower into the Underworld, resolving everything and even gaining Heavenly Dao merit!"

The immortals' eyes lit up at this.

Zhao Gongming praised: "Brilliant."

Yunxiao asked softly: "Why didn't you tell Niangniang Houtu about this?"

"I actually did," Li Changshou spread his hands and said warmly: "Just do our best.

This requires adapting on the spot; that's all I could say at the time."

A smile appeared at the corners of Yunxiao's mouth. Duobao thought of the treasures he had given away earlier and felt a bit resentful, about to complain to Li Changshou...

Suddenly!

Buzz—

A faint Dao rhythm fluctuation rippled through the Blood Sea, leaving the immortals surprised and uncertain.

Was it happening just like that?

Li Changshou closed his eyes, and two scenes appeared in his mind, both from his paper Daoist.

Above the Blood Sea, cracks in the universe crisscrossed, with streams of dim light orbs surging out like a flood!

Over Fengdu City, smoking "comets" hurtled toward the city's core, shattering layers of grand arrays like paper!

These comets were aimed at...

The Reincarnation Immortal Island, the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk!

"Seize the tower!"

Li Changshou suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze flashing with green light as his figure turned into a faint afterimage.

Removing the fuel from under the cauldron—that was the true way to break the deadlock!