As the Taiqing Talisman was deployed, the three faint projections of the Sanqing before the Lingxiao Treasure Hall immediately stirred. The spectral image of Taishang Laojun clutched a carrying pole, his feet resting on a Wind-Fire Wheel. A single chime echoed, and the hazy, indistinct Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda erupted from above the Taishang Laojun projection, scattering droplets of Profound Yellow Qi to shield his body. Taishang Laojun surged forward, bringing the carrying pole down in a fierce strike against Brahma.

Brahma cried out in alarm. Several protective artifacts on his body were shattered by the single blow of the pole, and his body was sent flying back as if struck by a leather ball.

Even though they were mere projections of Saints, retaining only a wisp of their residual aura here, Brahma and the others were as weak as ants before these spectral figures. Saints were beings who had transcended the conventional understanding of power and realm; under the Heavenly Dao, they were practically omnipotent.

The faint Profound Yellow Qi scattered by the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda enveloped the beheaded disciples from Kunlun and Zhongnan. Their physical bodies rapidly merged and healed, and their shattered souls were miraculously pieced back together by a potent force. As Taishang Laojun uttered an incantation, the five souls were instantly restored.

The figure of Yuanshi Tianzun let out a soft hum, drifting effortlessly toward the Lotus Nine Palaces Array. With a casual wave of his hands, countless minuscule lotus seeds shot forth from his palms. These tiny seeds spun wildly in the air, rapidly blossoming. To the naked eye, they appeared no larger than sesame seeds, yet perceived through divine sense, each lotus was vast, spanning a hundred li.

Innumerable streams of Yuqing Divine Thunder erupted from these tens of thousands of miraculous lotuses, showering down bolts of purple-green lightning that threw the formations of the Protector Devas into chaos. Warriors from tribes such as the Celestials, Demons, Great Pengs, and Serpents, as well as the Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Rakshasas, and Yakshas, were instantly reduced to ash amidst the lightning. The power of this thunder was absolute; even those at the peak of the Daluo Jinxian realm could not leave behind a trace of their residual soul within its embrace.

The most straightforward display came from the projection of the Tongtian Cult Master. With a sweep of his sleeves, four sword shadows soared into the sky, their killing intent permeating all thirty-three heavens. Wind and clouds churned in the void, massing overhead. Under the resonance of the four sword shadows, they transformed into four-colored longswords that rotated slowly above the heads of the masses. A single rotation of these swords instantly sent heads rolling among the millions of elite warriors brought by the Protector Devas; at least half the host was decapitated.

The killing aura lingered, ensuring that the severed warriors’ souls were eradicated along with their bodies; even facing the Three-Link City directly offered no possibility of reprieve.

Taishang Laojun, expressionless, struck Brahma away with his carrying pole, then delivered a stinging slap across Shiva’s face, sending him tumbling out, his teeth spewing out through his nostrils. Following that, he drove a foot toward Vishnu. Remarkably, Vishnu attempted to block the kick with the Vivid View Fire Wheel held before his chest.

Yet, with a faint ringing sound, the Vivid View Fire Wheel ignited like mere flame, exploding into a shower of sparks and dispersing into countless wisps of fire. Taishang Laojun’s enormous foot slammed down onto Vishnu’s face, driving his high nose deep into his facial bone structure. Vishnu shrieked under the impact, sent flying backward an immense distance until his form vanished into a thin cloud cover.

While unleashing the torrent of Yuqing Divine Thunder against the defending heavens, Yuanshi Tianzun moved swiftly to the side of Xuandu Grand Master and the others. With a casual wave, he flicked the great Naga serpent and the nine-headed white elephant away with a mere point of his finger, sending them hurtling millions of li without the slightest resistance.

Yuanshi Tianzun touched the nine golden lotuses within the Lotus Nine Palaces Array, causing them to instantly decay and wither. The vast demonic power painstakingly gathered by the Three-Link City erupted, transforming into three streams of multicolored light that shot skyward, flowing into the talismans embedded in the chests of Xuandu Grand Master, Yunzhongzi, and Zhao Gongming.

The power of these talismans was immense. Although Sanlian City had converted the power of the ancient demon gods into its unique Brahminical demonic energy, the three talismans flashed once, and this massive force was forcibly transmuted into the pure Taiqing Immortal Power, Yuqing Immortal Power, and Shangqing Immortal Power.

As Xuandu Grand Master, Yunzhongzi, and Zhao Gongming received this pure and massive influx of power, their figures blurred momentarily. A celebration cloud rose above their heads, upon which their three-corpse primordial spirits sat. Their primordial avatars were exceptionally clear and defined compared to their usual state. Their forms began to grow indistinct at the edges, as if a drop of ink were diffusing in clear water, slowly spreading out.

Three dragon-roar-like cries pierced the heavens. Aided by this Immortal Power, the three felt refreshed, with strands of pure, clear energy constantly entering and exiting their every pore. Each cycle of this energy made their connection to the surrounding void tighter, bringing them into closer resonance with it.

With this surge of power, their divine senses enhanced to an unprecedented degree. Their senses spread in all directions, instantly sweeping across the entire Thirty-Three Heavens Palace, then piercing through the mortal realm, finally reaching the netherworld of the Yellow Springs. Eight or nine tenths of everything in the Three Realms fell under the shroud of their primordial spirits. They were only a hair's breadth away from achieving the divine sight of a Saint—the ability to survey the Three Realms in a single glance.

The three burst into triumphant laughter. Under their feet, red, green, and white lotuses manifested respectively. Laughing heartily, they pointed approvingly at the seven Kunlun and Zhongnan disciples, including the young Daoist Zhang and the orthodox Daoist, who stood respectfully to the side. They announced loudly, "You have endured humiliation and borne a heavy burden; you have rendered immense meritorious service. We shall remember this loyalty."

The projections of Taishang Laojun and Yuanshi Tianzun parted, shielding Xuandu Grand Master and the others as they ascended slowly toward the Lingxiao Treasure Hall.

Brahma, Shiva, and Indra, along with the other Protector Devas, were left reeling from the attacks of the residual auras of the three Saints. Only now did they manage to clear their heads. They roared in fury, brandishing their weapons and charging toward Xuandu Grand Master and the others. Even facing the avatars of Saints, they could not afford to hesitate any longer.

Prompted by the ascetic immortal manifested by Gu Xiechen, they had realized that the young Daoist Zhang and the others had broken free of Vishnu's control and were setting up an ambush for the Daoists. In the end, it was they who had suffered the greater loss, and they could not swallow this insult.

Even if they could swallow the insult, the Lingxiao Treasure Hall was right before them—the legendary representative of the Heavenly Dao, holding the immense authority over the Three Realms. For such a colossal prize, they absolutely could not let this group of Daoists escape. Forget facing mere avatars of Saints; even if the true Saints were present, they would still charge forward fearlessly with their weapons. Men die for wealth, and birds perish for food; cultivators, too, can sacrifice everything for the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

Taishang Laojun and Yuanshi Tianzun did not spare Brahma and the others a single glance, continuing their swift journey with Xuandu Grand Master and the rest. The Tongtian Cult Master, manifesting four massive sword shadows, moved to intercept the Protector Devas. This faintly visible form of the Tongtian Cult Master chastised in a low voice, "You Protector Devas have committed grave sins; why do you not turn back? Must you only find peace in annihilation?"

Gu Xiechen’s primordial spirit, merged with the ascetic immortals, immediately transformed into a wisp of pure energy upon the appearance of the Sanqing avatars, soaring into the sky ahead of them toward the Lingxiao Treasure Hall. A faint aura of the innate essence of the Hall Guardian Spirit Official radiated from him. He executed a hand seal that controlled the various restrictions of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, effortlessly passing through every barrier until he stood before the main gate.

Turning back to glance at the fierce battle raging behind him, Gu Xiechen made his form invisible at the entrance to the Lingxiao Treasure Hall. He left only a trace of his consciousness within one of the ascetic immortals to listen to the Tongtian Cult Master’s reprimand of the Protector Devas. As he listened, Gu Xiechen had a sudden realization.

Even the Protector Devas’ rebuilding of the Three-Link City, the destruction of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Celestial Realm, and their seizure of the vast demonic power from the ancient demon gods had all been meticulously calculated by these Saints! If the Protector Devas wished to enter the Thirty-Three Heavens to seize the Celestial Palace, the Three-Link City would surely be a crucial artifact. To unleash the full potential of the massive Three-Link City required immense demonic power for support. Therefore, the Protector Devas had to destroy the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths and seize the power of the ancient demon gods.

And the destruction of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths indeed constituted an immeasurable sin. Consider the sheer number of living beings in those realms—aside from accomplished immortals, there were countless ordinary mortal cultivators, birds, beasts, and crawling things. The shattering of the Celestial Realm meant the complete obliteration of these lives—a sin so vast it defied description. Under the Heavenly Dao, the Protector Devas were doomed to the destruction of their lineage.

Conversely, this immense power was miraculously beneficial to Xuandu Grand Master and the others. Their cultivation was only a narrow margin away from attaining the Saint realm; with this influx of power, they truly possessed the potential to prove the Dao through sheer strength. Coupled with the protective presence of the Sanqing avatars, provided they secured the pivot point controlling the Three Realms within the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, they stood a very high chance of establishing themselves as Saints. Those aspiring to sainthood naturally could not commit excessive slaughter, lest the Heavenly Dao reject them.

Hence, Xuandu Grand Master and his companions had maintained a passive watch, waiting for the Protector Devas to seize the vast demonic power sealed within the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths before cleverly siphoning it from them. They committed no slaughter themselves, yet reaped enormous rewards from the affair. Calculated thoroughly, the Protector Devas had merely served as gowns for others to wear.

Even the restrictions outside the Celestial Palace were foreseen by the Saints before they departed this universe. Based on the nature and inherent disposition of the Protector Devas, combined with certain intentional guidance planted by the Saints within them, they had calculated that the Protector Devas would act precisely as intended.

Therefore, they left behind restrictions within the Celestial Palace that were devastatingly powerful but could be easily broken by a few talismans—all designed to trick the Three-Link City into yielding its vast demonic power. If this power had remained within the Three-Link City, even the Saints’ avatars could not have seized it without the personal intervention of a true Saint.

But in order to break these immensely powerful restrictions, the Protector Devas willingly moved the demonic power out of the Three-Link City and into the nine golden lotuses. This was tantamount to handing the power over, transforming it directly into the cultivation of Xuandu Grand Master, Yunzhongzi, and Zhao Gongming!

Thus, all the benefits accrued to the three old Daoists, while the immense slaughter—enough to ensure the destruction of the Protector Devas’ entire lineage—was borne by them!

That is why the avatar of the Tongtian Cult Master sternly reprimanded the Protector Devas, ordering them to immediately lay down their arms and obediently submit to the Sanqing lineage. With three new Saints born, they could potentially look after these fallen forces, allowing them time to accumulate merit and eventually wash away their boundless sins.

Gu Xiechen, hidden at the entrance of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, simultaneously released countless celestial soldiers, divine generals, and immortals who once guarded the palace, while clearly hearing the Tongtian Cult Master’s admonishment. Alas for the Protector Devas; they were utterly trapped by calculation.

In a flash, inspiration struck Gu Xiechen. The spiritual consciousness of his main body, combined with the soul power of his three primordial spirit avatars, converged into a dazzling bright pearl, allowing him to clearly calculate the complex causality unfolding before and behind him.

It should not have been only Xuandu Grand Master, Yunzhongzi, and Zhao Gongming who arrived at the Thirty-Three Heavens Palace. Moonlight Bodhisattva and the Arhats of Subduing Dragons and Subduing Tigers should have been present as representatives of Buddhism. The ones achieving sainthood today should not have been just three old Daoists, but three old Daoists and three monks—a perfect half-and-half split between the Daoist and Buddhist sects!

In the battle at Huiyan Great Snow Mountain, the mysterious old monk and the monks Langyue and Biyue had deployed the Zhunti Daoist’s Seven Treasures Tree and taken away all the Buddhist cultivators who favored the dual Buddhist Saints. However, Moonlight Bodhisattva and the Arhats of Subduing Dragons and Subduing Tigers had adopted a posture of fighting to the death—not fleeing with the Buddhist cultivators unable to oppose the Protector Devas, but making a show of steadfast resistance.

If Gu Xiechen hadn't struck them down, causing Moonlight Bodhisattva and the Arhats of Subduing Dragons and Subduing Tigers, who were only feigning a fight, to actually perish at the hands of the near-mother Durga, the force before the Lingxiao Treasure Hall would not have consisted solely of three old Daoists, but would have included three great monks who pretended to defect to the Protector Devas with countless Buddhists in tow, flattering them to great satisfaction, and ostensibly attacking to break the restrictions set by the dual Buddhist Saints!

This colossal demonic power was originally meant to be shared between three Daoists and three monks, not solely benefit Xuandu Grand Master and his companions! This was the calculation of those Saints as they departed this universe; this was their design!

The lineages of Dao and Buddhism were each supposed to have three trusted disciples ascend to sainthood, thereby filling all the vacant Saint positions in this universe. Among the six future Saints, there should have been one designated for the lineage of the Nuwa Saint. But since Nuwa Saint never established a sect or took disciples, she relinquished this new Saint position in exchange for retaining a complete avatar on the Human Source Star!

The other Saints left nothing behind but a mere trace of aura awaiting at the Lingxiao Treasure Hall. However, Nuwa Saint left behind a complete avatar on the Human Source Star! This must have been the agreement reached between Nuwa Saint and the other Saints after she ceded her claim.

The only question remaining was why the inheritors left behind by the dual Buddhist Saints were Moonlight and the Arhats of Subduing Dragons and Subduing Tigers under Amitabha’s banner? Logically, the three old monks from the Abyss of No Return should have been present here, not Moonlight Bodhisattva and the Arhats of Subduing Dragons and Subduing Tigers.

Gu Xiechen’s intellect sparked, and he nodded inwardly. It seemed that a rift had occurred between the forces represented by the ancient Buddhist lineage of the Jieyin and Zhunti Saints and the lineage represented by Amitabha, the Buddha of the Present Age.

Gu Xiechen even dared to speculate that the influence of the ancient Buddhist faction, represented by Jieyin and Zhunti, had been lost within Buddhism, while the faction of the Present Age Buddha, represented by Amitabha, was currently ascendant. Thus, the mysterious old monk and his two junior brothers retreated to the Abyss of No Return, while Moonlight Bodhisattva and the Arhats of Subduing Dragons and Subduing Tigers, much like Xuandu Grand Master’s group, were engaged in widespread scheming. Gu Xiechen exhaled and released the connection between his main body and his three primordial spirit avatars.

The situation seemed clear, but lacking sufficient data, he could not analyze the full scope of the causal links. Even at his near-Saint realm, he could not fully decipher the shifts that occurred among those ancient Saints.

Nevertheless, the scheme involving Buddhism and Daoism was truly profound, while the Protector Devas were tragically naive. They believed they had escaped Buddhist control by faking their demise, unaware that for so many years, they had been puppets manipulated entirely by the Buddhist and Daoist factions, allowed to act purely by design. Pitiable, utterly pitiable.

Shaking his head lightly, Gu Xiechen cast two spiritual spells, restoring control of all posts and positions within and around the Lingxiao Treasure Hall to their original holders. The Hall was now ninety-nine percent under his command. Only the fear of other potent arrangements hidden within prevented Gu Xiechen from forcing his way in immediately.

Taishang Laojun and Yuanshi Tianzun escorted Xuandu Grand Master and the others as they approached the Lingxiao Treasure Hall. The journey was entirely devoid of worldly dust, enveloped only by purple energy stretching for three thousand li above their heads—a true manifestation of the profound nature of Saints.

The Tongtian Cult Master stared expressionlessly at the ashen-faced Brahma and the others. The four-colored sword shadows spun wildly, and inexhaustible killing intent constantly carved deep bloody gashes across the bodies of these unfortunate Protector Devas. This was the Immortal-Slaying Sword Qi emanating from the imprint of the Tongtian Cult Master’s primordial spirit—the qi renowned as the foremost killing formation in the Three Realms, which even Brahma and Shiva could not withstand. Brahma looked up at the Tongtian Cult Master and roared fiercely, "We have been toyed with by you all along?"

The Tongtian Cult Master looked down upon Brahma from above. After a long pause, he said calmly, "Under the Heavenly Dao, all living beings are ants. If you do not become Saints, you can only be controlled by us. However, the Heavenly Dao is merciful; you still have a sliver of hope. Seek refuge under our Sanqing lineage, and you may still enjoy eternal bliss!"

Brahma slowly raised his natal artifact, the Trident. He spoke in a low voice, "We would rather die than concede a greater opportunity. Gentlemen, the situation is now clear. We have allowed others to reap all the benefits, but I refuse to accept it!" Brahma roared, "I refuse!"

Shiva’s long hair suddenly whipped upward, and the several venomous snakes coiled around his neck hissed sharply. Shiva raised his Bow of Destruction and shouted fiercely, "Come, let us slay these three avatars of the Saints! Kill them, kill Xuandu Grand Master, kill Yunzhongzi, kill Zhao Gongming! Just as we killed those three bald asses, the Moonlight Bodhisattva!"

Shiva cried out, "The facts are plain before our eyes! If we kill these three bull-nosed ones, their calculation will completely fail, and we can still obtain what we desire!"

Brahma and Shiva bellowed, preparing to charge forward with their core followers, when Indra called out coolly, "The Saintly positions are limited. If we fight desperately, even if we kill the three Saints' avatars, hehe..."

Brahma and Shiva paused, exchanging a look. Brahma said coldly, "I swear upon my very essence: if we seize the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, we only require three Saint positions. The other three are up for grabs among the capable!"

In the original plan conceived by Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu, the six vacant Saint positions left by the Sanqing, the dual Buddhist Saints, and Nuwa were perfectly divided among themselves—one each—with their three wives each taking the remaining three positions. This was the most agreeable arrangement.

But now, with Indra and the others needing to fight desperately, Brahma had no choice but to swear by his essence, yielding three Saint positions to the leaders of the Protector Devas. Since there were more monks than porridge bowls—only six bowls of porridge available—Brahma and Shiva had secured half, leaving the rest for Indra and the others to compete for fairly. In essence, Brahma and Shiva had adopted an attitude of non-interference, allowing open competition for the remainder.

The expressions of Indra and the others immediately improved. They drew their weapons and roared, looking toward the Tongtian Cult Master.

Defeating this avatar formed from a mere wisp of aura, striking down the avatars of Taishang Laojun and Yuanshi Tianzun, and killing Xuandu Grand Master and the others—the objective was still attainable! There were only a dozen of them, and while the Protector Devas had suffered terrible losses, the remaining elite force still numbered in the millions!

The situation was still highly favorable!

Brahma opened his mouth wide, and a ball of red lotus fire, enveloped in flames, soared out.

Countless scintillating, transparent streams of multicolored demonic light shot out, infusing the bodies of Shiva, Indra, Pāpīyān, and the other Protector Devas.

Pāpīyān cried out in anger, "Venerable Lord, did you not say that our sealed essence power had not yet been fully unlocked?"

After being forcibly subdued by the dual Buddhist Saints, the Protector Devas' most powerful essence forces had been sealed away. Consequently, although their magical power and cultivation had multiplied many times over the years, their actual combat strength had paradoxically decreased.

The Protector Devas had entrusted all their sealed essence power to Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu, allowing them to temper it using the Flames of the Three Rules—Creation, Protection, and Annihilation—to gradually erode the seal of the dual Buddhist Saints. However, all this time, even when they were repeatedly defeated in clashes in the Spiral Star Domain, Brahma and the others claimed the seal remained unbroken.

But now, Brahma finally returned these essence powers to the Protector Devas.

All traces of the Buddhist sealing aura upon the primordial power were utterly gone! It was clear that Mahabrahma, Shiva, and Vishnu had long ago dissolved the seal, yet they had continued to manipulate the fundamental power of the Dharma Protectors. Even to avoid provoking a backlash from these protectors, over the years, despite suffering defeats and embarrassments directly before Gu Yuchen, they never once deployed their own innate powers!

They concealed it flawlessly! Demon Kings like Pārasura were infuriated, their eyes blazing red; Heavenly Gods like Indra gripped their weapons tightly, their gazes flickering only over the backs of Mahabrahma and Shiva. All the gods and demons who had reclaimed their primordial power began to swell rapidly.

Waves of demonic energy, palpably and visibly a thousand, even ten thousand times stronger than before, surged upwards, signaling the Protectorate's power climbing at an astonishing rate. "Roar!" Indra bellowed toward the heavens. Having reclaimed his innate authority over the Law of Lightning as the Heavenly Emperor Indra, half of his body had already transformed into pure energy.

His form became a dazzling cascade of electrical light, and boundless thunderous forces surged toward him from the void, making his electrical aura ever more formidable. Behind the Sun God Surya, a rainbow radiance shot toward the sky, unleashing scorching waves in all directions. Behind the Moon God Soma, a cool blue light illuminated the surroundings, casting pale moonlight across the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Next were the Gods of Fire, Wind, and Wealth, as well as Demon Kings like Bakasura, Ravana, Bali, and Valaya—all manifesting their most formidable aspects. Having regained their primal strengths, coupled with the immense magic and cultivation gained from years of ascetic practice and continuous sacrifice, the cultivation levels of these Dharma Protectors suddenly increased tenfold. In terms of actual combat effectiveness, however, their might had elevated by at least a thousandfold.

Among this multitude of gods and demons, the transformation of Shesha, the ancient Dragon King of the Naga serpent race and intimate companion and mount of Vishnu, was the most astonishing. Upon regaining the primordial power restored by Mahabrahma, Shesha, whose body was already ten thousand li long, suddenly expanded. In the blink of an eye, he swelled to a length of ten million li.

His thousand heads lifted high, and upon each head rested a crown forged from gold, crystal, and countless other jewels. The majestic and sacred Dragon King Shesha appeared before them in his full glory. A slight tremor of his body caused the stars in the heavens to tremble in response.

In the understanding of the Dharma Protectors, the Dragon King Shesha resided in the lowest realm of the Earth, and the crown upon his head supported the entirety of the world. He was the true anchor of the Earth, the symbol of power representing stability and peace in this universe. Among the Dharma Protectors, the status of the Dragon King Shesha was equivalent to the Wheel of Balance within Gu Yuchen’s own body!

At the perceived moment of universal destruction recognized by the Dharma Protectors, the Dragon King Shesha would float upon the boundless Sea of Darkness, with Vishnu, fallen into nirvana, sleeping upon him, silently awaiting the start of the next cycle. Shesha’s immense transformation not only captivated the Grandmaster of Heaven (Tongtian Jiaozhu) but drew the gaze of every single Dharma Protector. Suddenly, Shiva muttered sternly, "Where is Vishnu?

Where did he go?" The Dharma Protectors vaguely recalled that Vishnu had been kicked flying by the Supreme Elder Lord (Taishang Laojun) moments before. However, Mahabrahma and Shiva had only sustained minor injuries, and Vishnu didn't appear gravely wounded—so how could he have vanished without a trace? Mahabrahma glared angrily at Shesha: "Where is Vishnu?" Shesha’s thousand heads gazed back innocently at Mahabrahma and shook his head: "I do not know." Before Shesha could finish speaking, the Grandmaster of Heaven struck with his sword.

Sword energy roared like a vast river, severing three of Shesha's heads. Blood sprayed toward the heavens as the three massive heads crashed heavily onto the ground. Yet, Shesha merely chanted an incantation, and three lotus flowers instantly sprouted where his necks had been cut.

His severed heads regenerated immediately. The killing power of the Immortal Slaying Sword Qi was terrifying; one strike could destroy all things. But the serpent Shesha possessed astonishing vitality.

This avatar of the Grandmaster of Heaven had only drawn upon a wisp of the Immortal Slaying Sword Qi and had not unleashed the true Immortal Slaying Sword Formation. Thus, while Shesha’s heads could not withstand the sword energy, the Grandmaster of Heaven could not truly kill him either. Mahabrahma and Shiva watched Shesha’s heads rapidly regenerate, then suddenly cried out with manic joy: "Charge!

Kill him! An avatar is just an avatar; it doesn't hold true power! Ha, we must not be paralyzed by the mere title of Sage!" Activating their innate powers of creation and destruction, the actual strength of Mahabrahma and Shiva instantly surpassed the Primordial Chaos level, granting them magical power comparable to a Saint.

They immediately stepped onto lotus blossoms, revealed their true forms, and charged toward the Grandmaster of Heaven, enveloped in roaring flames. The other Guardian Deities shouted in unison and charged toward the Grandmaster of Heaven, unleashing their strongest powers. Leading the charge was the serpent Shesha’s fiery blast.

All one thousand of his heads simultaneously spewed black flames containing countless tiny grains of sand, which impacted the Grandmaster of Heaven like falling meteors. The avatar of the Grandmaster of Heaven was forced backward repeatedly by the impacts. Sword light of the five colors circled around him, yet it failed to repel the desperate onslaught of so many Guardian Deities.

Sharp light shot from the Grandmaster of Heaven's eyes as he swept his hands, and points of piercing sharpness materialized in the void. He let out a low roar, and countless shards of sharpness shot out in all directions. Mahabrahma, Shiva, Indra, Pārasura, and the other leaders of the Guardian Deities swiftly utilized their divine abilities to evade the counterattack, but the ordinary gods and demons could not escape!

Every single shard of sharpness carved trails of blood hundreds of li long. Wherever the shards passed, gods, demons, and beings from all other factions suffered catastrophic casualties. Even the great serpent Shesha and his kin—hundreds of thousands of large serpents, each over ten thousand li in length—were pierced by the shards until their bodies resembled sieves.

In contrast, the avatar of the Grandmaster of Heaven, aside from a slight blurring of his form and some expenditure of magical power, showed no other changes. Mahabrahma roared in fury and yelled at Shiva: "Hurry, kill him!" The Supreme Elder Lord and the Heavenly Venerate of Primordial Beginning were already escorting Xuandu Grand Master and the others, floating across the plaza toward the gate of the High Heavens Palace (Lingxiao Baodian). Shiva snorted, lowering his Sky-Shattering Bow, and instead drew out an iron disc shining with mystical light.

He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the disc. Then Mahabrahma also sprayed blood onto the disc, followed by the great powerhouses among the other Guardian Deities, who all contributed their blood. Instantly, a bizarre, black-red inferno erupted from the disc, nearly incinerating Shiva’s hair and beard.

Durga roared and leaped forward. Shiva casually handed the iron disc to Durga and commanded fiercely, "This disc has gathered half the magic power of all of us. Durga, use it to strike down the avatars of the Three Pure Ones, quickly!" Durga took the disc and began to spin wildly, screaming like a madwoman.

After spinning for several thousand cycles, Durga’s body transformed into a black, destructive whirlwind. She channeled all her strength, using the momentum of her rapid rotation, and hurled the iron disc forcefully at the avatar of the Grandmaster of Heaven. Gu Yuchen’s divine sense swept over the iron disc, and he was startled to find it imbued with a terrifying destructive energy.

Moreover, this energy had formed an incomplete Wheel of Law within the disc. This Wheel of Law was filled with the aura of destruction and looked exactly like one of the Wheels of Law he had seen on the perfect body in the projection space. However, within this Wheel of Law, the most crucial part—the three balanced elemental law spheres at the core—was missing one sphere: the sphere of Karma.

The runes for Creation and Destruction were present, but the Guardian Rune Sphere, representing Vishnu’s primordial power, was absent. Although this Wheel of Law gathered the power of so many individuals, its might was incomplete. Lacking Vishnu's power, the Wheel of Law could unleash, at most, about one ten-thousandth of its potential destructive force.

Since he was committed to seeing things through, Gu Yuchen decided to assist further. He used his own divine sense to draw a portion of Yin Origin Qi and completed the Wheel of Law within the iron disc. Since only one rune sphere was missing, containing only a few dozen runes, the replenishment was not difficult.

As Gu Yuchen’s divine sense acted, the iron disc thrown by Durga suddenly erupted with ten thousand zhang of flames and emitted a terrifying white light that nearly turned the entire Three Pure Heavens into a mere shadow. The intensely hot white light enveloped the nearly energy-saturated iron disc, shooting like a beam of light toward the Grandmaster of Heaven. The four-colored sword shadows surrounding the avatar of the Grandmaster of Heaven converged and struck the iron disc violently.

With a tremendous crash, Durga spat blood and was flung backward, every bone in her body shattered. Blood gushed out like a tide from her fractured flesh. In a single strike, recoiling from the Grandmaster of Heaven’s backlash, Durga was critically injured.

Even her soul's origin was shaken by the Grandmaster of Heaven. If this were not just an avatar formed from a wisp of energy, and if the Immortal Slaying Sword Qi were slightly stronger, Durga would have been utterly annihilated by that one strike. The Grandmaster of Heaven was also forced back several hundred li by the iron disc.

Both of his arms had vanished, and half of his torso dissipated into green smoke amidst the disc's flames. The expressionless Grandmaster of Heaven snorted coldly, and four-colored sword energy coalesced again, striking fiercely at the iron disc chasing him. Just then, Mahabrahma, riding a swan, charged rapidly toward the Grandmaster of Heaven.

As the four-colored sword energy and the iron disc collided with a deafening sound, Mahabrahma chanted a Sanskrit spell. Raising his trident with his right hand, seven mysterious Wheels of Law revolved around him as he thrust the trident with all his might into the Grandmaster of Heaven avatar's brow. Gu Yuchen instantly sensed that within the projection space, the dozens of Wheels of Law within that incomparably vast, perfect body began to spin rapidly.

An immense surge of Yin Origin Qi transformed into tidal waves of magic, descending remotely and injecting into Mahabrahma's body, coalescing into a ball of crimson flame upon his trident. This giant body resembled an inexhaustible energy reactor, and the chant Mahabrahma recited acted as the key to unlocking it. He activated this colossal energy core, borrowing power nearly equivalent to the full force of the genuine Immortal Slaying Sword Formation to strike into the Grandmaster of Heaven’s avatar.

With one blow, the avatar of the Grandmaster of Heaven was annihilated. Black blood flowed slowly from Mahabrahma’s seven orifices. Gu Yuchen’s divine sense scanned Mahabrahma’s body and found no abnormalities.

However, in the projection space, the main body’s divine sense left by Gu Yuchen noticed a shadowy image shaped like half a heart slowly integrating into the projection space. Mahabrahma had used half his heart as a sacrifice to achieve such a ferocious blow—one that destroyed a Saint’s avatar in a single strike. If Mahabrahma had not mastered certain laws of creation, sacrificing half a heart would have been enough to collapse his physical body.

"Truly ruthless!" Gu Yuchen murmured in praise. A furious roar echoed from behind. Shiva, carrying the Bow of Destruction, strode forward heavily, gripping the blazing iron disc with both hands.

As Shiva ran wildly, he chanted spells, and seven Wheels of Law flashed across his body as well. With a sharp cry of pain, Shiva’s left arm and left leg instantly vanished, and his left eye turned to ash in a flash of firelight. By sacrificing his left leg, left arm, and left eye through demonic arts, Shiva exchanged for a massive influx of demonic power injected into the iron disc from that giant body in the projection space.

With his right hand, he threw with all his might, hurling the disc fiercely toward the distant Primordial Heavenly Venerate and the Supreme Elder Lord. Little Daoist Zhang and Daoist Zhengyi cried out in terror and despair. The iron disc was still hundreds of li away, yet the aura of absolute destruction contained within it nearly shattered their bodies and souls.

An instinctual certainty told both Little Daoist Zhang and Daoist Zhengyi that as soon as the disc approached, they would instantly be burned to ash and scattered soul and spirit. Xuandu Grand Master, Yunzhongzi, and Zhao Gongming glanced back at the menacing iron disc. The lotus blossoms beneath their feet instantly sped up, carrying Little Daoist Zhang and the others rapidly toward the High Heavens Palace.

The Supreme Clarity Talisman shimmered over them, causing every restriction along the path to open instantly, offering no hindrance to their passage. The avatars of the Supreme Elder Lord and the Primordial Heavenly Venerate stopped where they were, turning to face the incoming iron disc. Both avatars raised their hands simultaneously, causing countless white lotuses to bloom in the void.

Countless Yuqing Divine Thunders roared out from the white lotuses, shooting rapidly toward the iron disc. A massive Taiji Diagram slowly manifested behind the white lotuses, its soft yet dense Taiji energy swirling, causing the surrounding wind and clouds to churn. With a massive boom, the thunder and lotuses were pulverized.

The iron disc smashed heavily against the Taiji vortex. A vicious glint flashed in Shiva’s right eyeball. He punched his own body fiercely, and the left half of his torso suddenly vanished.

The iron disc, which had already slowed, suddenly blazed with intense light, as if something had given it a heavy shove from behind. The disc tore through the Taiji energy with a shrill whistle and struck the two avatars heavily. The avatars of the Primordial Heavenly Venerate and the Supreme Elder Lord shattered simultaneously, transforming into countless wisps of clear energy shooting rapidly toward the void.

The avatar of the Grandmaster of Heaven also transformed into countless streams of clear energy shooting toward the void after being shattered. The clear energy formed by the three purified manifestations swirled and condensed in the void, suddenly taking the shape of a hazy, indistinct calamity cloud spanning several li across. A faint flash of lightning streaked through, followed by a thunderous roar that seemed to erupt from the depths of the earth like a tsunami.

What had been far in the distance suddenly reached everyone’s ears, shaking the Dharma Protectors, including Mahabrahma and Shiva, causing them to tremble uncontrollably and collapse onto the ground, unable to move. Endless streams of cyan-purple lightning roared down from the calamity cloud, falling like rain upon the heads of the Dharma Protectors. A Heavenly God struggled, twisted, and howled madly within the lightning; demons turned into green smoke amid the thunder; the countless heads of the great serpent were blasted into bloody pulp by the lightning; and Garuda, amidst the deafening thunder, lost the courage to fight the sky, his feathers ripped to tatters before he was pounded into bone and flesh paste.

The calamity cloud lasted only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea; after all, the Three Pure Ones had used only a wisp of energy to form their three avatars, and the magical power contained within them was not immense. But in that short time of relentless bombardment, the Dharma Protectors were left weeping and screaming. Fewer than a hundred of the ascetic immortals surrounding Mahabrahma remained; the ghostly demons near Shiva were almost entirely wiped out; Indra’s guards suffered heavy casualties; and the elite troops brought by the other Guardian Deities were reduced to only a handful.

The bitter losses made the Dharma Protectors cry out in agony, nearly fainting from grief. Gu Yuchen's expression shifted, and he nearly cried out in joy. Although the lightning beneath this calamity cloud was overwhelmingly powerful, it had not completely annihilated the souls of the Dharma Protectors.

In the void, countless motes of soul essence, invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by the divine sense of ordinary immortals, drifted about. But these faint sparks of spiritual light were on the verge of dissipating. Without time to hesitate, almost instinctively, the Chaos Primordial Spirit of Gu Yuchen manifested the Chaos Bell above its head, which shot out a beam of Chaos Spirit Light, drawing all these soul origins into the Chaos Bell for safekeeping.

Under the control of the Chaos Primordial Spirit's thought, the Chaos Spirit Qi within the Chaos Bell gradually differentiated into Yin and Yang Origin Qi, forming a Taiji Diagram identical to the vast, immense one in Gu Yuchen’s sea of consciousness. Attracted by this Taiji Array, the source souls of the millions of captured experts from the Dharma Protectors slowly attached themselves to it. Subsequently, Gu Yuchen shifted his hand seals, and this Taiji Array suddenly turned toward an entirely opposite aura, transforming from a Taiji Array pregnant with vitality and the power of evolution into one filled with sharp killing intent and the aura of devouring.

The source souls of these Dharma Protectors gradually decomposed within the Taiji Diagram, and countless insights into the laws, closely resembling the Wheels of Law Gu Yuchen was currently comprehending, continuously emerged from these decomposing souls, gradually imprinting upon Gu Yuchen's soul and transforming into his Heavenly Dao comprehension. In the span of just fifteen minutes, after absorbing the law insights from these millions of souls, Gu Yuchen suddenly grasped the complete mysteries of the three hundred and seventy-three Wheels of Law on that massive, perfect body. This comprehension achieved in a quarter of an hour was equivalent to thousands of years of arduous cultivation for Gu Yuchen.

Gu Yuchen suddenly realized: If he killed all the Guardian Deities and seized all the Heavenly Dao aura from their source souls, he would master the entire mystery of the Wheels of Law upon that body. The slaughter and karmic debt incurred by the Dharma Protectors through their massacre of countless beings across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths would now be settled by Gu Yuchen's hands. A flash of clarity appeared in Gu Yuchen’s heart, and he nodded slightly, a smile touching his lips.

Up ahead, where the wind stirred, Xuandu Grand Master, Yunzhongzi, and Zhao Gongming had already rushed to the gates of the High Heavens Palace. Xuandu Grand Master pointed a finger, sending out a streak of light that caused the gates of the High Heavens Palace to open instantly. Gu Yuchen darted in before them.

The group of old Daoists rushed breathlessly into the palace, with Mahabrahma, Shiva, and the other Dharma Protectors fiercely pursuing them at full speed. Despite the heavy casualties, the High Heavens Palace was within reach. The Dharma Protectors cast aside their grief and sorrow, throwing themselves toward the palace with all their remaining strength.

As the ten old Daoists entered the High Heavens Palace, they immediately rushed toward the supreme throne situated atop the nine-layered cloud platform at the far end of the great hall. But a flash of seven-colored light cut through the void, and the Goddess Lakshmi (Jixiang Tiannü) and Vishnu suddenly appeared before the throne. Vishnu turned back to look at Xuandu Grand Master and chuckled lightly, "Apologies, sirs; we beat you to it!" As he spoke, Vishnu reached out and grabbed a great seal suspended in mid-air on the altar before the throne.

The faces of Xuandu Grand Master and the others turned ashen—they had been just a fraction of a second too late! That great seal was the core artifact that the Heavenly Emperor Haotian used to control the Thirty-Three Heavens Palaces. To hold the seal was to hold the Thirty-Three Heavens in one's hand.

Before the words were finished, Vishnu had grasped the seal and rapidly input a thread of spiritual consciousness into it. Goddess Lakshmi suddenly burst into triumphant laughter, shaking uncontrollably. "Mahabrahma, Shiva, and you pack of mangy Daoists, none of you are escaping today!" She laughed until she almost choked.

Here is the first update of the day, with brief explanations for some preceding issues. I’ll eat something, drift for a while, and then start writing Chapter Two, hoping to update it later!