The two Sages cursed at each other back and forth, unable to stop. The entire Great Desolation shook with the resonance of their argument.
All sorts of ugly words, even terms like ‘old fossil’ and ‘wicked ghost,’ were used. They cursed until the sky darkened and the sun and moon lost their glow.
This shouting match lasted for three days and three nights without pause.
Jieyin and Zhunti were discussing the Dao at Western Spirit Mountain when their heads started to throb from the noise.
Jieyin frowned. “What’s wrong with those two now?”
Zhunti performed a calculation and said speechlessly, “Yuanshi says Tongtian robbed his treasury, and Tongtian says Yuanshi is framing him. They’re in the middle of a screaming match…”
“They’re bringing up a whole bunch of old grievances, too…”
Nuwa was pinching clay figures in Wa Huang Palace when the noise caused her hand to slip. The little clay man she had just finished suddenly had a crooked mouth.
Nuwa sighed. “…Tsk, can these two ever give it a rest?”
Fuxi, Shennong, and Xuanyuan, the Three Sovereigns, were originally playing chess, but the noise was unbearable.
Fuxi held his forehead. “Here they go again…”
Xuanyuan sighed. “They repeat these dusty old matters over and over again.”
Shennong silently pulled out a handful of sunflower seeds and watched the show.
In Bajing Palace, Laozi slightly opened his eyes. Hearing the argument between his two junior brothers, his brow furrowed slightly.
He wanted to intervene, but on second thought, he decided to wait and see.
He was also somewhat in the wrong here. If the two of them turned around and started cursing at him together, it would be bad.
He pondered for a moment and then summoned the Yellow Turban Strongmen who had delivered the treasures.
“The Hunyuan Jindou—you indeed delivered it?”
The Yellow Turban Strongman said respectfully, “Reporting to the Sage, it was personally handed over to the Guarding Celestial Official.”
Laozi fell into deep thought.
From the time he seized the Hunyuan Jindou and sent it to Yuxu Palace to the time Yuanshi returned and discovered the treasury was stolen…
The time window was extremely short, but it was indeed enough for Tongtian to act.
Moreover, Tongtian had a motive. The Three Xiao Sisters had just died, and the Hunyuan Jindou had been taken. It was originally his treasure. Seeing it in the hands of Yuanshi Tianzun, it was perfectly logical that in his rage, he would take the opportunity to ransack Yuxu Palace as revenge.
Laozi shook his head and sighed.
He couldn’t interfere in this matter.
With the Sages shouting at each other, the disciples below naturally noticed. For a time, rumors spread throughout the Great Desolation.
Chan Sect disciples: “The Sect of Interception is truly shameless! How dare they steal our sect’s treasury!”
Sect of Interception disciples: “Bullshit! It was clearly your own people who stole it and now want to frame us?! It’s obvious you’ve gone too far, bullying the young as elders and having no shame!”
For a time, rumors were flying everywhere, and the drama was more than anyone could keep up with.
***
In the Xiqi Military Camp, Su Fu was listening to various rumors with great interest.
And it wasn’t just rumors among disciples. Shen Yan was broadcasting the argument between Yuanshi and Tongtian word for word.
It made Su Fu suspect that Shen Yan itself wanted to enjoy the drama and was using public resources for personal gain.
“Tsk tsk, this drama never ends…”
She commented while cracking sunflower seeds.
Yuanshi thought Tongtian had robbed his home, Tongtian thought Yuanshi was framing him, Laozi thought Tongtian had a motive, and everyone else was just enjoying the spectacle…
Meanwhile, she had simply waved her sleeve and hidden her contribution and fame!
‘Grandmaster Tongtian, I’ve vented this anger for you. No need to thank me!’
Now, who would even care about who stole the treasures?
Chesia was stuffed with gossip. After a tsk of admiration, she asked with some confusion:
“Grandmaster Tongtian lost so many disciples; how can he still stay still? Does he really just shout for a bit and let it go?”
She thought they would at least start a real fight, but they just yelled for three days?
“I truly don’t understand. If my disciples were killed one after another by an opponent—especially since the opponent personally intervened despite being an elder—I would definitely go down the mountain and kill a couple to vent my anger no matter what!”
Hearing this, Su Fu shook her head and explained:
“How should I put this? Grandmaster Tongtian is certainly angry, but he can’t truly break off relations yet.”
“The Investiture of the Gods agreement was signed by all three sects. In his eyes, although Yuanshi isn’t following the rules, he is different; he follows the rules.”
“Moreover, he had long ago cautioned his disciples: ‘Keep the cave doors closed, quietly recite the Huangting, and do not descend the mountain to face the tribulation.'”
“Yet Zhaogongming and the Three Xiao Sisters still wouldn’t listen and insisted on getting involved in the War of Investiture.”
“Now that they’ve died and are on the list, Tongtian feels that, to some extent, they brought it upon themselves.”
Upon hearing this, Chesia was speechless. “So he just values his promises too much.”
“And he’s been brainwashed into actually believing this is destiny?”
“Even I can see that only disciples of the Sect of Interception are dying. What kind of destiny is this?!”
Su Fu looked at her with appreciation. “Indeed, even you can see it.”
Chesia: “…”
She felt like something was wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what.
Su Fu thought to herself, ‘How could Grandmaster Tongtian not be angry?’
Four of his elite disciples, each a genius with hope of stepping into the realm of Sages, were personally killed by Yuanshi Tianzun and sent to the Investiture of the Gods. From then on, they would be constrained by the Heavenly Court and lose their freedom.
How could he not be furious?
Right now, the Great Ancestor Hongjun was still overseeing the Investiture of the Gods, and the agreement signed by the three sects constrained the Sages’ actions. Grandmaster Tongtian had not yet broken that bottom line.
But it was close. The grudge had already been planted.
Now, all it needed was a spark.
Once Guangchengzi visits Biyou Palace three times and personally belittles the Sect of Interception as those ‘with fur and horns, born from moisture and eggs,’ Grandmaster Tongtian will finally snap and set up the Immortal-Slaying Array.
Once the array is set, the war of Sages will officially begin.
And right now, this was the final calm before the storm.
This period was also her final harvest season.
Now that the Three Xiao Sisters were dead, the next events were the death of Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong and the descent of Yin Jiao and Yin Hong from the mountain, carrying heavy treasures like the Heaven-Turning Seal and the Yin Yang Mirror.
She couldn’t help but sigh. “It’s harvest season!”
When Yin Jiao and Yin Hong descended the mountain, they were originally ordered by their masters to assist Zhou in attacking King Zhou of Shang. The two of them were filled with a sense of justice, vowing to avenge their mother and restore the state.
But as soon as these two got down the mountain, they were persuaded to defect by Shen Gongbao.
Su Fu & Chesia: ‘You guys are something else!’
Shen Gongbao had merely said something about how a son shouldn’t attack his father, that it was a matter of human ethics and righteousness, and that he was their father after all. They were moved by that.
And the two of them immediately turned their spears around and defected to the Shang army.
Su Fu & Chesia: ‘Now he’s your father?’
When King Zhou tortured and killed your mother, Queen Jiang, and even wanted to kill you, where were these ethics and righteousness then?
If it weren’t for Guangchengzi and Chijingzi saving you, teaching you Godly Power, and granting you treasures, you would have died 800 times over by now.
And now, you’re using the treasures given by your masters to turn around and fight your masters?
They truly deserved their miserable ends later.
However, for Su Fu, this was a good thing.
Yin Jiao held the Heaven-Turning Seal, and Yin Hong held the Yin Yang Mirror. These two treasures were extremely powerful, driving Jiang Ziya’s side into continuous retreat. Even Nezha and Yang Jian were helpless.
Chijingzi personally descended the mountain, intending to clean his house, but ended up being dazzled by his own disciple Yin Hong’s Yin Yang Mirror. He fled in a state of panic and embarrassment.
It was a total reversal of heaven and earth.
A dignified Golden Immortal was scared off by his own disciple. It was an embarrassment that echoed through the Great Desolation.
In the end, he had no choice but to borrow the Taiji Diagram from Laozi before finally capturing Yin Hong and turning him into fly ash.
And Su Fu was waiting for this exact moment.
The Taiji Diagram—this was a top-tier treasure of the Great Desolation.
Personally refined by Laozi in the chaos, it was an innate supreme treasure, known for ‘unrivaled defense.’
In the Immortal-Slaying Array, Laozi relied on the Taiji Diagram to withstand Grandmaster Tongtian’s Immortal-Slaying sword qi.
In addition, there was a separate world within the Taiji Diagram. Anyone sucked into it would be reduced to ash.
If she held the Taiji Diagram in the future, no matter how the opponent attacked, they wouldn’t be able to harm her in the slightest.
The point was, it could even defend against a Sage’s attack. It was truly the strongest shield.
If she encountered a powerful enemy, she could simply sacrifice the Taiji Diagram and suck them inside to be destroyed forever.
Such a supreme treasure was fated to be hers.
As for the Heaven-Turning Seal and the Yin Yang Mirror?
Ahem, since they were already there, they might as well stay behind together.
Su Fu enjoyed her tea leisurely in the Hundred Grasses Hall, waiting for the plot to progress.
Soon, news came from the Xiqi Military Camp that the Twelve Golden Immortals had returned.
After all, Jiang Ziya’s side was winning one victory after another, and the opponent had no worthy rivals. It was already a total suppression.
One by one, the Twelve Golden Immortals returned to their respective caves, only to find that their worlds had collapsed!
“Where is my Taoyuan Cave of Nine Immortals Mountain? Where are all my treasures?!” Guangchengzi stood in his empty treasury, so angry his head was steaming.
“Who plucked all the Spirit Medicine from my Mount Taihua?” Chijingzi fainted on the spot when he saw the medicine fields where even a layer of soil had been dug away.
“My magic treasures! My ancient texts! The celestial cranes I’ve raised for 3,000 years!” Master Huanglong wailed toward the heavens.
“God damn it! They even made off with my meditation mat?! Is this thief not picky at all?!”
It turned out that it wasn’t just Yuxu Palace that had suffered. The caves of the Twelve Golden Immortals had all been ransacked.
In short, everything had been stolen.
The Twelve Golden Immortals were jumping in rage and cursing ancestors. For a time, the entire sect was filled with indignation, and everyone cursed the Sect of Interception for being despicable.
Thus, the excitement peaked again. Numerous disciples from the Chan Sect and the Sect of Interception engaged in a massive brawl of words, accusing and arguing with each other.
Su Fu listened to the news, enjoying the drama to her heart’s content.
Until one day, news arrived that Wen Zhong had died in battle.
Su Fu’s eyes lit up, and she immediately stood up. “Then, Yin Jiao and Yin Hong should be descending the mountain!”
In other words, it was time for Brother Bao to exert his strength.
According to the plot, the first to descend would be Yin Hong. She immediately rode her Somersault Cloud to Mount Taihua.
Su Fu chose a place with beautiful scenery—lush mountains and clear, gurgling streams. It was a good spot for persuasion.
With a shake of the Huntian Ling, she tossed Shen Gongbao out.
Shen Gongbao tumbled onto the grass and woke up with a start. His first reaction was to look around warily.
“Beautiful scenery… good, good, it’s not Biyou Palace!”
Su Fu said with a smile, “Brother Bao, don’t be afraid.”
“This time, you just need to do what you do best!”