Chapter 33 The Sage's Preaching, Tongtian's Worries

Kunlun Mountain, Yuxu Palace.

The Great Hall was deathly silent.

Yuanshi Tianzun sat upon the cloud bed, his expression as dark as a collapsing sky.

At his feet, the Twelve Golden Immortals—Guangchengzi, Chi Jingzi, Taiyi Zhenren, and the others—all presented a miserable sight, with their Primordial Spirits dimmed and their Dao foundations shattered.

The once-unreachable Grand Unity Golden Immortal aura now flickered like a candle in the wind, threatening to extinguish at any moment.

"Useless."

Yuanshi Tianzun slowly uttered these two words.

The sound wasn't loud, yet it exploded like a thunderclap in the ears of the Twelve Golden Immortals.

Guangchengzi's body shook violently, his forehead pressed against the ground in a state of shame and indignation, suppressed sobs escaping his throat.

"Revered Master... this Disciple... is incompetent..."

"Your skills are inferior, yet you still go out to make fools of yourselves." Yuanshi Tianzun didn't spare them a second glance, merely waving his sleeve gently.

Buzz!

The space within the entire Yuxu Palace froze instantly, and the originally steady flow of time was forcibly distorted.

The Saint's pressure spread like a tide, forcibly isolating this part of the world from the Great Desolation.

"From this day forth, the mountain is sealed."

Yuanshi Tianzun formed a hand Seal, with the mystic light of creation flowing from his fingertips as he struck it into the bodies of the Twelve Golden Immortals, forcibly repairing their shattered Dao foundations.

"Within a thousand years, if you do not cut away that damned obsession and step into a higher Realm, you need not come out."

As the sound of the Saint preaching echoed within the hall, it carried the Dao charm containing the ultimate principles of heaven and earth.

It began to be forcibly poured into the bodies of the Twelve Golden Immortals, attempting to rebuild the Dao Hearts that Gu Ziyuan had shattered with a single move.

At this moment, the fire of the Chan Sect's revenge was quietly ignited within the silent Yuxu Palace.

...

Unlike the oppressive atmosphere of Kunlun Mountain, Jinao Island was currently immersed in revelry.

"Junior Brother Gu's 'Tianyuan' move was truly a stroke of genius! My scalp was tingling as I watched!"

"What is the Xuanmen Orthodoxy? I'll remember the sight of those twelve guys kneeling on the ground and admitting their mistakes for a lifetime!"

Outside Biyou Palace, the ten thousand immortals of the Jie Sect were discussing fervently, their eyes filled with fanaticism and worship as they looked at Gu Ziyuan.

On Siguo Cliff.

Gu Ziyuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the churning sea of clouds in the distance. His expression was calm, with a faint, almost imperceptible curve at the corner of his mouth.

"Junior Brother Gu, you're truly amazing." Bixiao leaned in close to him, the stars in her eyes almost overflowing.

"You can even scheme against a Saint. Tell me, in the future, will our Jie Sect be the one in charge of the Great Desolation?"

Gu Ziyuan smiled and didn't respond, merely playing gently with the black chess piece in his hand.

Yunxiao stood not far away, her gentle gaze tinged with a hint of worry.

She looked at Gu Ziyuan, feeling that the gentle, jade-like quality about her Junior Brother seemed to have been stained with a sharp edge called 'arrogance'.

"Junior Brother, although we won this battle decisively... you have ultimately moved the Saint's chessboard," Yunxiao said softly in warning.

"Yuanshi Tianzun will not let this go."

Gu Ziyuan turned his head to look at Yunxiao, his tone indifferent.

"Eldest Sister, once the game has begun, there is no turning back. So what if he is a Saint? This world is unjust, and the Heavenly Dao is heartless. Just because they are Saints, do I have to kneel?"

"Once my, Gu Ziyuan's, piece is played, it will never be taken back."

These words were spoken with such passion that Bixiao's blood boiled as she nodded repeatedly.

But Yunxiao's heart sank.

She vaguely felt that Gu Ziyuan had changed.

That arrogance of 'all things are but chess pieces' was like a seed, taking root and sprouting in his heart.

...

Deep within Biyou Palace.

Sect Leader Tongtian sat cross-legged, his Sword Qi restrained.

An invisible Divine Thought pierced through layers of Chaos and entered his Sea of Consciousness. It was Nuwa's voice, cold and serious.

"Tongtian, that Disciple of yours is too sharp."

"Although he has great talent, a Heart Demon has already been born. He thinks he has defeated a Saint, but he doesn't realize that it was a gamble between Saints; he was merely a variable that happened to be there."

"If he doesn't grind away that 'the world is in my grasp' arrogance, he will surely die when the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation begins."

Nuwa's consciousness dissipated.

Sect Leader Tongtian slowly opened his eyes, a flicker of complexity passing through his deep gaze.

He looked toward Siguo Cliff. With a Saint's perception, he could clearly see Gu Ziyuan's current state.

It was an extreme self-confidence, even... a contempt for heaven and earth.

"Sigh."

Sect Leader Tongtian let out a long sigh and vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, he appeared at Siguo Cliff.

Gu Ziyuan was arranging a chess game. Sensing the aura behind him, he turned and bowed: "Revered Master."

Sect Leader Tongtian didn't speak, merely watching him quietly with a gaze like a torch, as if trying to see through him.

Gu Ziyuan met his Revered Master's gaze calmly, with a composed expression and no hint of avoidance.

"Ziyuan," Sect Leader Tongtian finally spoke, his voice so calm that no joy or anger could be heard.

"Do you think you won this battle?"

"I won," Gu Ziyuan answered cleanly and decisively.

"The Chan Sect's Twelve Golden Immortals' Dao Hearts are shattered, Yuanshi Tianzun's face is lost, and the Jie Sect's Luck has surged. Does this not count as winning?"

"And what if Yuanshi Tianzun disregarded his dignity as a Saint, even risking the backlash of the Heavenly Dao, to forcibly erase you at that moment?"

Gu Ziyuan was silent for a moment, then smiled.

"He wouldn't. Because he's afraid; he's afraid of Revered Master Tongtian's Immortal Slaying Sword Formation, and even more afraid of the variables behind that chess game."

Sect Leader Tongtian's brow furrowed, and his gaze became sharp.

From Gu Ziyuan's answer, he heard a chilling logic—he was not only calculating against his enemies, but even calculating the Saint's bottom line.

"Ziyuan, you are too confident."

Sect Leader Tongtian stood with his hands behind his back, his robes rustling.

"You think you control everything, and you think you stand outside the board, but you forgot that this Great Desolation is itself a much larger chessboard. And you have only just touched the edge of the pieces."

"Revered Master, this Disciple does not understand."

Gu Ziyuan bowed slightly, and though his tone was respectful, his eyes still flickered with a refusal to yield.

"Do not understand?"

Sect Leader Tongtian suddenly smiled, a smile that was somewhat helpless and somewhat resolute. "Fine, then let me ask you."

"What is the Dao?"

Gu Ziyuan didn't hesitate and spoke immediately.

"The Dao is the rules. My heart is the heart of heaven, and my will is the rules. Within the chessboard, I am the Great Dao."

The smile on Sect Leader Tongtian's face vanished instantly.

He looked deeply at Gu Ziyuan, as if looking at a lost traveler about to fall into an abyss.

"My heart is the heart of heaven... What a 'my heart is the heart of heaven'."

Sect Leader Tongtian's voice suddenly rose, carrying an unquestionable authority.

"If you truly believe you can control the Heavenly Dao, then go and experience what it means for 'all living beings to suffer, and the Heavenly Dao to be heartless'."

Gu Ziyuan's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up at his Revered Master.

He saw Sect Leader Tongtian raise his right hand, a brilliant green light condensing at his fingertips.

"Ziyuan, your talent is peerless, and your Comprehension Ability is unique across the ages. But your Dao Heart is too brittle. A little setback can make you frantic, and a little victory can make you swell with pride."

"Today, I shall have you undergo Shijie and be reincarnated."

"Go walk through the Mortal World; be a Mortal, experience birth, old age, sickness, and death, feel what it means to be powerless, and see what else exists beyond your 'chessboard'!"

"Revered Master?!"

Gu Ziyuan's expression changed; he hadn't expected Sect Leader Tongtian to make such a decision.

"This is a tribulation you must experience."

Sect Leader Tongtian's expression was cold and stern, brooking no argument.

"If you do not enter the Mortal World to reshape your Dao Heart, you will surely die in the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation in the future!"

Boom!

As the words fell, the green light at Sect Leader Tongtian's fingertips turned into a rune and instantly entered Gu Ziyuan's forehead.

It was not a killing move, but a Seal.

It sealed his cultivation, his memories, and all his Way of Chess Divine Abilities.

Gu Ziyuan felt the world spinning before his eyes, and all his power receded like a tide.

He wanted to struggle, to use the System, but that Saintly power directly cut off all his connections with the System.

"Go."

Sect Leader Tongtian's voice echoed in his ears, carrying a hint of hidden pity.

"When you truly understand what 'Dao' is, this Seal will naturally undo itself."

Gu Ziyuan's figure slowly faded on Siguo Cliff, finally turning into a speck of light that fell into the rolling Mortal World of the Great Desolation.

Siguo Cliff returned to silence.

Sect Leader Tongtian watched the direction where the light had disappeared, standing with his hands behind his back, his gaze distant.

"Only after losing does one know how to cherish; only after despairing does one know what hope is."

"Ziyuan, do not blame your Revered Master."

"This game is the final path to life that I have laid out for you."

The sea breeze blew, and Jinao Island's waves still surged.

The Jie Sect's ten thousand immortals were still cheering, but no one knew that the 'chess dao killing god' who had shaken the Great Desolation had already left.

And deep within the Mortal World, in an unknown tribe, the cry of a baby pierced the silence of dawn.