BOOK 2: CHAPTER 419: STORY’S END, BROKEN PROMISES

Vol 2 Chapter 419: Story’s End, Broken Promises

When Xuanding admitted his mistake, Zheng Fa’s heart trembled.

To be fair, as things have developed, the Four Sects actually had little they needed to hide in this matter:

It’s not that the Four Sects made no mistakes, but everything they did had reasons that didn’t require concealment.

From his perspective, the Four Sects never pretended to be paragons of virtue;

sometimes they were just plainly domineering when they were wrong.

They never really cared about the opinions of the Xuanyi Realm cultivators.

So why did the Heavenly River upheaval become such a taboo in the Xuanyi Realm?

The answer was clear—the Four Sects had done things far worse than before, things so atrocious they could not be spoken of.

“Wrong?” The voice of the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor rang out during the live broadcast.

But Immortal Xuanding remained silent.

He stared at the white light on the Three Lives Stone, his gaze losing focus.

After a while, he finally spoke: “When we discovered that the Demon Ancestor was also hunting the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor, we knew we had been deceived.”

Zheng Fa almost couldn’t hold back.

This Nine Nether Demon Ancestor was truly pitiful.

Just as he was about to unite the Xuanyi Realm with his close Daoist friend, the Tianhe Venerable, and accomplish an immortal feat for the ages,

the Tianhe Venerable suddenly disappeared without explanation.

As the heir to the world’s greatest force, the Heavenly River Sect, the sect itself rebelled.

He was hunted by both the righteous and demonic factions, left with nowhere to hide in Xuanyi for tens of thousands of years before daring to appear again. 𐍂𝘢NóʙÊṤ

His fate was a brutal rollercoaster, plunging from heaven to hell.

If Zheng Fa had encountered this, he might have wanted to slaughter the immortal sects too.

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor fell silent for a long time.

When he spoke again, his tone was like crashing waves, filled with barely concealed anger:

“You realize you were wrong, so what now?”

The response to this fury was silence once more.

After a long pause, Lady Nishang spoke:

“Once the anomaly was discovered, the Four Sects immediately held discussions.”

“It was... Lu True Immortal of Haori Mountain who said, ‘It has come to this.’”

The white light on the Three Lives Stone flickered again, confirming the truth of her words.

“Lu Mo? What does ‘it has come to this’ mean?”

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor murmured softly.

He seemed somewhat unfamiliar with the name.

It was clear that in that era, Haori Mountain was not the main player in Xuanyi:

After all, on the surface, the founder of Haori Mountain was only a True Immortal.

But Zheng Fa frowned.

The terror of Lu Mo lay in this:

In terms of talent, he could rival the Tianhe Venerable;

his Dharmakaya Method was profound and broad.

In terms of origin, Lu Mo could compete with the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor and might even be older.

Yet from the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor’s reaction, he barely remembered Lu Mo.

Perhaps even the Tianhe Venerable hadn’t noticed Lu Mo’s uniqueness?

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor continued: “What does ‘it has come to this’ mean?”

Zhizhong and the others fell silent after hearing this.

Previously, they had subtly backstabbed one another, but now they tacitly closed their mouths.

However, the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor had understood.

He coldly said:

“Let the mistake become the truth?”

“Either do it or don’t?”

“Even... ally with the Demon Ancestor?”

Zhizhong and the others sank into silence.

Immortal Yun’s face reddened as he spoke:

“Is this really the decision of our Haori Mountain Sect? The founder only made a suggestion.”

“Remember, it was Taishang Dao that issued the Dao decree together with the Four Sects.”

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor then asked, “What Dao decree?”

Immortal Xuanding’s expression immediately darkened.

Zhizhong and the other three were already unable to resolve this prisoner’s dilemma;

their few words only exposed the contradictions among the Four Sects.

Lady Nishang was subtly blaming Lu Mo.

Immortal Yun was now trying to drag Taishang Dao into it.

Zhizhong then stabbed again: “The Heavenly River Method was forbidden.”

“All cultivators are prohibited from practicing the core Heavenly River Sect’s great method.”

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor’s voice turned cold.

“Forbidden to practice the Heavenly River Method? Heavenly River wasn’t a sectarian narrow-minded man. Back then, many who followed him were taught the Heavenly River Method—just that I know of, there were over a thousand.”

Immortal Xuanding lowered his eyes in silence.

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor seemed to realize something:

“Outside the Heavenly River Sect, many practiced the Heavenly River Method!”

“Do the Four Sects not have any?”

“How can you ban it?”

Zheng Fa’s mind jolted;

he finally understood what the Four Sects considered taboo and tried desperately to hide:

The Tianhe Venerable was more magnanimous than he imagined.

The issue of banning the Heavenly River Method was extremely serious.

If the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor’s words were true, the Tianhe Venerable had always cooperated with the Four Sects and had not begrudged sharing the Heavenly River Method.

Instead, he had passed it on to others.

Given the Tianhe Venerable’s prestige, there must have been many followers back then.

Many cultivators in the Four Sects practiced it.

Perhaps at first, the Four Sects’ Dao Fruit cultivators were deceived.

But the moment they learned the truth, their choice was not to turn back but... to purge.

A purge unprecedented in the Xuanyi Realm, affecting even within the Four Sects.

Such a dark history was not something the Four Sects cared about face-wise externally, but internally it had to be kept utterly secret.

The Yang Spirit Method, the Dharmakaya Method, and the Heavenly River Method were not necessarily mutually exclusive.

But only the Heavenly River Method was hidden in history.

This concealment was partly because that history was soaked in blood and partly because the Heavenly River Method was the ultimate taboo.

Immortal Xuanding raised his eyes and looked at the Three Lives Stone: “Who isn’t afraid of the Tianhe Venerable’s resurrection?”

The Three Lives Stone shone dazzlingly.

This statement could not be truer.

Zheng Fa fell into deep thought.

He even seemed to tune out the quarrels of Zhizhong and the others.

Listening now, the Heavenly River upheaval was from beginning to end an almost irreversible tragedy:

The Tianhe Venerable’s practice of the Heavenly River Method, his mountain-breaking and temple-destroying acts, and the fear and suspicion they caused were the root cause of this event.

No matter what else happened afterward was secondary and not the fundamental contradiction.

As for rumors that the Tianhe Venerable colluded with the Demon Sect or went mad, without this premise, they would have little impact.

Even without those rumors, a conflict between the Tianhe Venerable and the Four Sects was inevitable.

When the Tianhe Venerable perished, the contradictions he had suppressed finally exploded.

Zheng Fa was eighty percent sure Lu Mo was the mastermind behind it all:

Though he didn’t understand what was going on with Lady Nishang’s spiritual deity Lingxi,

Lu Mo’s identity as the original Demon Ancestor was too suspicious.

Only the initial reason remained unclear:

What made the Tianhe Venerable break mountains and temples, and ultimately disappear?

...

“If it really was Lu Mo, then the most terrifying thing about this matter isn’t that he spread false information but that... he truly calculated the Four Sects.”

In the Jiushan Realm, Senior Sister Zhang coldly commented.

The Heavenly Emperor body nodded solemnly: “Letting the Four Sects find out that the Demon Sect was hunting the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor...

“This was likely a deliberately exposed truth.”

Xie Qingxue suddenly looked up, her worldview deeply shocked: “Deliberately?”

“Lu Mo predicted the Four Sects’ reaction, and the Four Sects didn’t disappoint him.”

In the Heavenly Palace, Senior Sister Zhang and the others fell silent.

After a while, Uncle Pang sighed:

“Put yourself in their shoes. If I were one of the Four Sects, knowing I misunderstood the Tianhe Venerable and harmed his disciples and heir, what would I choose?”

“If the Tianhe Venerable were resurrected, my sect and loved ones would face his revenge.”

“I might make the same choice.”

Senior Sister Zhang suddenly looked at Zheng Fa with concern in her eyes.

If this really was Lu Mo’s doing, it was not good news for Zheng Fa—

That person’s plot didn’t seem subtle at all.

But looking back, everyone caught in this was making the choices they believed right.

...

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor on the live broadcast was silent for a long time, seemingly sorting out the entire sequence of events.

Suddenly, Li Sanxian spoke: “Lu Mo is the original Demon Ancestor!”

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor was stunned.

“What?” His voice was even more surprised than before. “Lu Mo is only a True Immortal;

how can he be the original Demon Ancestor?”

On the live broadcast, Zhizhong and Immortal Yun’s faces darkened.

“Who slanders my Haori Mountain founder!”

Immortal Yun shouted angrily.

They couldn’t hear Li Sanxian’s words clearly, but they heard the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor’s doubt.

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor seemed to come to a realization and said: “If you say you’re not, come before the Three Lives Stone.”

Immortal Yun remained still.

The answer was obvious.

Li Sanxian seemed to understand that the Haori Mountain people were denying him and hurried to say:

“Jiushan Sect’s Sect Leader Zheng can testify. When he reached Nascent Soul stage, Lu Mo once blocked the path using the Dharmakaya Method.”

“Lu Mo practiced the Dharmakaya Method?”

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor glanced at the Tongjian device and straightforwardly asked Immortal Xuanding: “Are you sure about this?”

Immortal Xuanding nodded:

“After the Heavenly River upheaval, we realized we’d been deceived but didn’t know by whom. We’ve been investigating.”

That was normal.

Taishang Dao and the others were selfish but not stupid.

Of course, they would investigate the cause.

“The Dao Venerable’s decree said Lu Mo was extremely suspicious, but at that time, Lu Mo had already gone to Leiyin Temple.”

“Later, when Zheng Fa proved the Dao and Lu Mo reappeared, we cleared up some of the facts.”

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor coldly asked:

“Is Lu Mo the original Demon Ancestor?”

Zhizhong and another remained silent.

Silence meant acknowledgment.

The Creation Jade moved, and the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor even asked it a question.

At that moment, Zheng Fa was off the hook: “If Li Sanxian says it is, then it is.”

After all, he had no solid evidence.

“Haori Mountain, Leiyin Temple...”

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor muttered softly.

It was clear Li Sanxian successfully shifted blame.

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor likely had already fixed his suspicion on the two Haori Mountain factions.

Zheng Fa looked at Zhizhong’s grim expression and chuckled inwardly.

At first, the blame for the Heavenly River upheaval seemed to fall mainly on Taishang Dao and Yaochi.

After all, one piece of news came from Taishang Dao,

another from Yaochi.

It was obvious some arrangements were deliberate.

But Zheng Fa’s crossing of the Nascent Soul Tribulation inadvertently exposed a bit of Lu Mo’s true identity.

This became the Achilles heel of Haori Mountain and Leiyin Temple.

The two Taishang Dao factions certainly did nothing good.

But whether or not Lu Mo was the original instigator of the Heavenly River upheaval,

his identity as the original Demon Ancestor was already dirty enough.

In the Jiushan Realm, the Heavenly Emperor body looked toward the Three Enclosures and Four Symbols, seeing Jiushan Sect disciples discussing heatedly.

In the live broadcast, the Four Sects’ disciples looked even more shocked than them, especially the Haori Mountain disciples, who were panic-stricken.

“Haori Mountain, one of the Four Sects, a top immortal sect, has suddenly become a demonic sect?”

Especially the Haori Mountain disciples beside Immortal Yun.

They looked at him, yearning for a denial.

But Immortal Yun’s silence made them even more desperate.

Yet now, neither Immortal Yun nor Zhizhong from Leiyin Temple seemed willing to speak, gritting their teeth.

Only the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor suddenly laughed: “None of you lied. I am satisfied. Keep moving forward, and you will exit the Slaying Immortal Sword Formation.”

...

Zhizhong suddenly looked up, surprised.

He clearly hadn’t expected the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor to keep his word.

Even Zheng Fa was baffled.

Being the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor, he should hate the Four Sects deeply.

If he truly spared the Four Sects, Zheng Fa thought the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor might as well stop wiping out the immortal sects and just become the Buddha of Leiyin Temple.

It was obvious this person was still alive.

The four True Immortals in the live broadcast were all hesitant.

But the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor said again:

“I swear by the name of the Heavenly River, once you cross this bridge, you will leave the Slaying Immortal Sword Formation.”

“I will also never kill you.”

Hearing this, not only Zheng Fa but even Zhizhong’s face showed more trust.

Black and white light suddenly surged from the bridge before them, the stone bridge flickering as if about to vanish.

The Four Sects’ cultivators grew anxious.

Before Zhizhong could speak, several Taishang Dao disciples surged forward.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment and also stepped forward.

He wasn’t too afraid of trouble. Aside from the little favor brought by the Yin-Yang Fish jade pendant, the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor still needed him for the broadcast.

Even now, he didn’t understand why the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor was broadcasting live.

Even if the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor was truly mad, Zheng Fa was confident he wouldn’t kill him... cough, at least not until the end.

Once Zheng Fa moved, the Haori Mountain disciples followed.

Zhizhong seemed to understand as well;

although moving forward might not be a real way out, it was better than the dead end behind them.

They decided to try the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor’s offer.

The group flew toward the opposite shore, with the Taishang Dao disciples moving fastest.

Just as they flew over the river, several suddenly fell, as if someone grabbed their ankles and dragged them into the water.

“Master!”

The remaining Taishang Dao cultivators hurriedly stopped and shouted.

Zheng Fa looked toward the river and saw the disciples’ flesh peeling off as they touched the water, leaving only a few hundred bones drifting slowly downstream.

Similar scenes appeared in the other three locations in the live broadcast.

The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor’s voice came again: “This river is called Wangchuan—no flying bird can cross.”

His tone held an unhidden delight.

“Cross the bridge!”

Zhizhong shouted coldly, leading several Leiyin Temple disciples onto the bridge.

The others naturally followed.

As they first stepped onto the bridge, their faces tensed.

Even Zhizhong’s expression was cautious.

The Wangchuan River killed invisibly;

the bridge was surely no ordinary object.

But to everyone’s surprise, the bridge seemed ordinary. A group crossed safely and reached the opposite shore.

Zheng Fa was also surprised and suspicious. He turned to look back at the bridge and froze:

The bridge, Wangchuan River, and Three Lives Stone all disappeared.

It was as if everything just now had been an illusion.

Zhizhong did not look back but gazed ahead.

Before them was the Heavenly River Sect.

The sect leader’s main hall, the Scripture Hall, and tiers of pavilions were clearly in sight.

At the foot of the mountain was a large city, home to Heavenly River Sect disciples and their relatives.

But it wasn’t really the Heavenly River Sect.

The spiritual energy on the mountainside was completely blackened;

chilling winds blew through the valley. All palaces and pavilions were closed and shuttered.

There was not a sound in the city, as if no living person remained.

The ground beneath their feet was wet and muddy, reeking of blood.

Zhizhong’s face darkened;

he seemed unsurprised but sneered coldly: “The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor is truly faithless!”

“Faithless?” The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor’s figure suddenly appeared on a distant mountain peak, looking down on Zhizhong and the others, his aura deep as an abyss and severe as a prison.

“I said I would let you out of the sword formation. You are no longer inside it;

how is that faithless?”

Zhizhong shouted loudly: “Then where is this place?”

Zheng Fa heard two familiar place names:

“Yin Mountain, City of the Wrongfully Dead.”