Amidst the sky, when the illusory image of the Procuress, supported by the twin temples, along with Gu Xiechen and others, were choked into immobility by the terrifying aura leaking from the lightning, the colossal ball of lightning, spanning a hundred miles in diameter, had morphed into a sphere of chaotic, half-black, half-white thunder.

“Taiji (Taiji Tremor Thunder)!”

Gu Xiechen stared blankly at the sphere of lightning, cold air erupting from every pore of his body.

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable initially frowned. The slowly rotating, black-and-white, Taiji-diagram-shaped sphere of lightning seemed intensely familiar, yet he could not place it. He had certainly never encountered such lightning before. As soon as Gu Xiechen uttered the words, "Taiji Tremor Thunder," Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable’s body went weak, and he slumped onto the floor of the cloud carriage.

The Taiji Tremor Thunder: The ancient Great God Fuxi derived the ultimate principles of the cosmos, utilizing the Eight Trigrams to deduce the Four Phenomena, and the Four Phenomena to reverse-engineer the Two Poles, nearly returning to the origin, thereby uncovering the grand mystery of the universe's creation. He then infused the power of heaven and earth's initial separation into this thunder magic divine ability.

The single character Zhen (Tremor) perfectly encapsulated the nature of this thunder technique: deterrence. All things under heaven and earth, all beings in the Three Realms, are held in awe by this thunder. Only those who have transcended the Three Realms, who do not belong to the Five Elements, and possess the divine ability to create a small world of their own, would be immune to the calamity of this lightning.

Alternatively, one would be spared this thunderous tribulation if protected by innate treasures like the Five Directions Five-Colored Flags, the Haotian Pagoda, the Haotian Mirror, or the Pangu Banner.

Having grasped the origin of this lightning, Gu Xiechen subtly turned his head, stealing a glance at Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable. It was no wonder Gu Xiechen was acting disloyal; this newly acquired backer seemed destined for sacrifice. Relying on his few ultimate treasures, Gu Xiechen was confident he could escape the Taiji Tremor Thunder, which possessed the terrifying power to obliterate a world with a single strike. But Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable? Let him perish!

Or perhaps, he could strip some treasures from Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable’s corpse? The Venerable must possess a few innate objects on hand, right?

Hmm, this was a flawless method to kill without drawing blood.

Leaking the location of the Human Source Star to the Great Overarching Golden Immortals of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, revealing the star chart of their arrival on Earth—and whoosh—he could simply wait for those Great Overarching Golden Immortals to march willingly to their deaths!

Taiji Tremor Thunder! Gazing at the half-black, half-white sphere of lightning, Gu Xiechen took a deep breath. The Li Di Flame Light Flag and the Plain Colored Cloud Boundary Flag within his body were already stirring restlessly. Furthermore, the chaotic airflow transformed from the Pangu Banner had surged to his lips, ready to be exhaled to shield his entire body. Naturally, the Haotian Pagoda and the Haotian Mirror, already refined to the point of merging spirit and will, were poised to rush out of his body.

It happened in a flash. Just as the Procuress’s illusory image was about to bring the Taiji Tremor Thunder down, Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable scrambled to the floor and began knocking his forehead against the cloud carriage floor like a pile driver—thump-thump-thump-thump—while repeatedly shouting the sacred titles of the Procuress Clan and Fuxi’s lineage.

“May the Sages have mercy! The Holy Mother is most compassionate. Forgive this humble immortal’s sincere pursuit of the Dao, and grant me but a sliver of salvation amidst this great calamity.”

“Have mercy on this humble immortal’s sincere heart! After enduring countless hardships, I finally located the Human Source Star. May the Holy Mother recognize my earnest yearning for the Dao. This humble immortal swears upon my original primordial spirit: upon entering the Human Source Star, I shall harm not a single person, beast, insect, feather, blade of grass, or speck of dust. Should I violate this oath, may heaven and earth jointly condemn me, may my soul scatter, and may I never re-enter reincarnation!”

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable knelt on the ground, incessantly muttering oaths and vows, repeatedly flattering the Procuress for her boundless compassion and praising the Sages for their ceaseless protection of junior cultivators seeking the Dao. He continued to swear that once he entered the Human Source Star merely to seek an opportunity for enlightenment, he would never dare to damage a single blade of grass or a single grain of dust on it, nor harm the life forms residing there—not even a single hair. As Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable prayed, the Taiji Tremor Thunder in the Procuress’s illusory hand slowly dissipated. However, even after more than half of the thunder dissipated, the remaining sliver of lightning persisted, and the immense pressure remained fixed upon them.

Gu Xiechen blinked, then suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: “Venerable Sir, there are still the two Immortal Lords, and so many other esteemed friends—they must swear oaths too!”

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable looked in horror at the remaining Taiji Tremor Thunder, which could still annihilate him hundreds of times over. He hurriedly shouted at the few hundred disciples left beside him: “Quickly! Quick! Plead with Holy Mother, quickly, quickly!”

Miaoguang and Miaochen’s divine souls immediately rolled onto the ground. They issued their primordial spirit oaths, swearing solemnly never to touch the Human Source Star in the slightest.

Thus, the sky-borne Taiji Tremor Thunder dissipated further, leaving only a mass of lightning several yards in circumference.

The several hundred Taiyi Golden Immortals of the Yuanluo Palace who had fortunately survived hurriedly knelt in the void and hastily swore their oaths. Following their vows, the Taiji Tremor Thunder gradually shrank until it dispersed into countless specks of purple light, vanishing into the void. The surrounding immense pressure disappeared. The Procuress’s illusory image gave Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable one stern look before finally transforming into a ray of purple light and vanishing.

Witnessing all this, Miaohua sent a telepathic message to Siren: “Didn’t you say her aged incarnation was resting due to excessive exertion?”

Siren also looked at the dissipating image of the Procuress with great confusion. After a long while, she replied: “That’s women for you! Hmm, unless you are natives like us, who originated from the human race, anyone else wanting to enter the Human Source Star—hehe!”

Penghua let out a few strange, chuckling laughs and cast a meaningful look over the sweat-drenched Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable.

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable knelt on the ground, nearly exhausted, gasping for breath for a long time. He finally struggled to his feet. The bulk of the Taiji Tremor Thunder’s power had locked onto him; the pressure he endured was at least a million times greater than Gu Xiechen’s. The physical pressure was manageable, but the despair of imminent death, so close he could almost reach out and touch it, had nearly driven him insane.

Once he managed to steady his mind, Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable looked dazedly at his scattered and battered retinue. Though the elites of the Yuanluo Palace were largely intact, the Golden Immortals were almost entirely wiped out. Now, the Yuanluo Palace resembled a peacock that had once displayed boundless glory, but had all its magnificent tail feathers plucked, exposing a bare, white backside.

Though the peacock remained a peacock, the sight was utterly humiliating. If Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable were to retreat shamefacedly with a few hundred Taiyi Golden Immortals back to the Myriad Immortal Star, back to the Yuanluo Palace lair in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, the sneers and ridicule from the other Great Overarching Golden Immortals alone would drown him.

He took a deep breath, so deep it stirred a localized storm within a hundred-mile radius of the sky.

Just as Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable was about to vent this breath along with the indignation in his heart, Gu Xiechen suddenly stepped forward, then pointed at the surrounding storm with a look of 'alarm': “Venerable Sir, the oath you just swore cannot involve harming a single blade of grass or tree on the Human Source Star!”

A bizarre sound, like a hen laying an egg—gegege—erupted from Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable’s throat. The peak of the Great Overarching Golden Immortal realm was nearly choked to death by his own breath. Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable sheepishly swallowed the breath back down, glanced at Gu Xiechen with deep gratitude and lingering fear, and waved his hand without daring to speak.

The Yuanluo Palace immortals, who had arrived in dazzling splendor, sheepishly retracted their radiant auspiciousness and cautiously flew toward the surface of Earth. Xiechen intentionally landed them in the sparsely populated Australia, where only kangaroos hopped and venomous snakes slithered.

Having had part of their vitality restored by the Procuress, the Earth’s spiritual energy was now rich, greatly increasing the probability of living creatures developing sentience or monstrosity. Furthermore, perhaps due to the nourishing effects of the Xirang soil, those venomous insects and beasts had become exceptionally robust and alarmingly toxic.

As the line of immortals landed looking utterly dejected under Gu Xiechen’s guidance, over a dozen Australian native venomous snakes, thick as water vats and colored in vibrant patterns, reared up from the tall grass that towered several feet high, baring their fangs and spitting streams of poisonous gas at Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable and his company. The leading snake was about two meters thick, stretching for over a li in length, and two strange horns had even sprouted on its head, making it resemble a Flood Dragon rather than a mere serpent.

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable watched these reptiles daring to spew venom at him, his eyebrows twitching furiously with rage. His long beard stood up stiffly like steel needles. With a wave of his hand, a palm-sized, double-edged jade axe was about to be unleashed. But Gu Xiechen, inwardly delighted, grabbed Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable’s wrist: “Venerable Sir, you absolutely cannot strike! Even if they bite you, you must endure it!”

His face darkened, the muscles twitching, Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable forced a smile at Gu Xiechen and, suppressing his fury, reluctantly retracted the jade axe.

He glared viciously at the dozen or so venomous snakes spewing toxic mist. “Fine, fine, fine. I will not harm them. Elder Xie Long, perhaps you could—”

Gu Xiechen rubbed his hands together, glancing back at Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable. After a moment, he nodded: “This will suffice, too.”

“If we encounter any more blind reptiles like these, we will deal with them.” Gu Xiechen then swept his sleeve, batting the dozen venomous snakes away. He frowned and asked, “But, Venerable Sir, why can’t you see the Human Source Star? Why can we enter and exit freely?”

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable remained silent for a while. Thoughtfully, he raised his head to look at a wisp of white cloud drifting across the sky. After a long pause, he slowly nodded: “This… there is a reason for it. Although we originated from the Mortal Realm, once we enter the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, we are no longer considered part of the Three Realms. Although we have transcended reincarnation and death, we are also no longer fully accommodated by Heaven and Earth.”

The immortals of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths are not accommodated by Heaven and Earth? Gu Xiechen and the others shuddered at the news. Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable, however, was unwilling to elaborate further on this topic. He merely promised that once Gu Xiechen visited the Yuannuo Palace in the Dongyuan Huaying Celestial Heaven, he would lend him ancient texts stored there, which would reveal nearly everything about the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

Putting on a look of delight, Gu Xiechen thanked Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable. The information he received from the Venerable about the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths did not entirely align with some details from the memories of True Lord Taiyin. He wondered if this binding force was ineffective for beings of True Lord Taiyin’s stature, or if this constraint was imposed upon the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths later on.

Gu Xiechen and his group acted as the vanguard, proceeding toward a high mountain ahead.

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable and the other immortals, however, were constantly harassed and humiliated. Venomous insects and fierce beasts incessantly jumped out to attack them, yet they dared not resist. They could only meekly dodge these assaults while shouting for Gu Xiechen and the others to return and rescue them.

Whether it was Mohe or Miaohua deliberately trying to vex the immortals, while clearing a path forward, they triggered a hornet’s nest over a hundred feet in diameter. Tens of thousands of strange, venomous bees, the size of children’s fists with pitch-black bodies and inch-long stingers, flew out with a massive buzzing sound.

Gu Xiechen silently enveloped himself in a layer of protective Gang Qi, allowing the venomous bees to crash against him without ever touching his body. Penghua and the others also possessed their own miraculous protective methods. Although these bees were almost sentient, their bodies were as hard as metal and stone, and their flight speed surpassed that of ordinary sword light, they could not inflict the slightest harm.

But for Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable and his followers, this was an absolute disaster.

Raised high above, when had they ever dealt with mere little monsters that hadn't even achieved the Golden Core realm? They had no idea how to counter these venomous bees mutated by the spiritual energy fluctuations. Worse still, they had just sworn oaths, meaning they absolutely could not harm these bees in the slightest.

They couldn't use magic treasures to defend themselves, as the backlash from the treasures would easily kill all the bees.

They couldn't use restrictive formations either, as their favored formations were too powerful; even a minor formation would obliterate every bee.

Not to mention using flying swords or various arrays—the weakest remaining immortal from the Yuanluo Palace was a Taiyi Golden Immortal. Even a mere breath from them could shatter stars and extinguish the sun. These fragile venomous bees simply could not withstand their power.

When the bees thrust their stingers toward them, Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable and the others could only stand there stunned. They didn't even dare to use instantaneous teleportation, fearing the momentary blast of wind generated would tear the bees’ bodies to shreds. They dared not fly away either, because their habitual speed was too high; they couldn't consciously slow down. The wind generated by their rapid flight would slice the bees in half.

They watched helplessly as the bees flew close and stung their bodies, watching with wide eyes as the inch-long stingers pierced their flesh, the insects comfortably injecting all the venom from their sacs into the immortals’ bodies.

One Taiyi Golden Immortal lost control. He cautiously deployed the weakest formation he knew, enveloping himself in a golden light. The air density around his body instantly became more than ten thousand times greater than steel. Three bees, unable to pull their stingers out in time, were trapped in the golden light and instantly crushed into powder.

Simultaneously as the three bees vanished, that Taiyi Golden Immortal also dissolved into a wisp of green smoke and floated away.

Silently, invisibly, without a trace—even Gu Xiechen’s innate divine sense detected no unusual energy fluctuation. This Taiyi Golden Immortal had violated his oath not to harm any living thing on the Human Source Star. The Laws of the Heavenly Dao had directly erased all traces of his existence.

After about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable and even Gu Xiechen’s memories of this immortal began to grow faint. Everyone remembered that this event had occurred, but what the unfortunate immortal’s name was, his origin, and how he died—all these details gradually faded from their memories.

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable and the others turned ashen-faced with terror. They let the venomous bees sting and pierce them, yet dared not move an inch.

Complete erasure—what power was this? A Taiyi Golden Immortal vanishing like that—what power was this!

Their bodies trembling, Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable and the others waited until the venomous bees had wreaked havoc before exchanging worried glances. They lowered their heads and slowly ascended their cloud heads, following behind Gu Xiechen and his group.

Gu Xiechen maintained a stern expression, saying nothing, but he somehow produced a stick of specially made incense designed to repel mosquitoes and insects. He lit it and placed it on the head of Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable’s cloud carriage. A faint, delicate fragrance drifted everywhere, driving away all poisonous insects like hornets and leeches.

As the insects were repelled, the Flood Dragon-like snake from before slithered back. It curiously eyed the immortals standing on the cloud heads, then slowly drifted over on a strange gust of wind. It gently opened its massive mouth and swallowed a Taiyi Golden Immortal whose face had turned green.

Being swallowed by the snake wouldn't kill these immortals, nor would sealing them inside a mountain harm them permanently.

But this particular Taiyi Golden Immortal had just managed to get out. Before he could figure out a way to escape without harming the snake, he could only squat inside and stare blankly.

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable numbly watched the devoured disciple, urging Gu Xiechen to hurry the pace with tears he dared not shed. He resigned himself to fate; it was better for this disciple to spend a few days inside the snake’s belly than for him to suffer a similar fate. To avoid such misfortune, Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable urgently called for Gu Xiechen to lead them toward the distant mountain range.

Half a day later, the group arrived beneath the high mountain. Penghua found a cavern, and everyone settled inside.

Because they had sworn an oath not to damage even a single particle of the mountain body, the originally modest cave had to be expanded several times by Gu Xiechen’s efforts to accommodate so many people. This was likely the most humble dwelling Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable and his disciples had ever occupied. But at least there were no strange creatures inside; at least it was quiet. Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable was quite satisfied.

Eagerly inviting Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable to sit on a large rock inside the cave, Gu Xiechen was about to say something when Miaoguang and Miaochen’s faces suddenly contorted in horror.

“Master, the surrounding heaven and earth seem to be devouring our divine consciousness! Our consciousness can now only spread less than ten thousand miles!”

“Master, our immortal power is rapidly dissipating, and our divine abilities are—”

Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable was shocked, initially thinking this was a lingering effect of Miaoguang and Miaochen losing their physical bodies and being harmed by the Yellow Springs’ malignant energy affecting their primordial spirits. Just as he was about to comfort his two disciples, he suddenly gaped open his mouth—wide enough to fit two goose eggs. His own divine consciousness could not spread far either, only circling within a ten-thousand-mile radius around the mountain.

His immortal power, too, flowed out like a tide. In just a few breaths, the leaking magic power even formed a halo of bright purple light around Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable. The purple light seeped into the surrounding void, and Yuanluo Heavenly Venerable trembled violently, soon collapsing softly onto the ground.

The Taiyi Golden Immortals fared even worse; they had already slumped to the ground, all their cultivation entirely drained away, not a trace of magic power remaining.

Gu Xiechen was momentarily surprised, a flash of murderous intent in his eyes.

Penghua suddenly opened his mouth wide, revealing four golden fangs.