Black, white, red, and purple beams of light pierced through the thirty-three heavens, with the four great disciples standing beside the four swords, each commanding a territory. Under this overwhelming killing intent, they hovered in the air, looking down upon all beings, causing even gods to retreat.
Qiu Shou Xian flew up and unfurled a formation diagram, named the Immortal Slaying Formation Diagram.
The formation diagram landed at the foot of Jie Pai Pass. Countless Great Dao killing patterns blazed, connecting with the Immortal Slaying Four Swords, and a killing formation rose before the Immortal Conferment Great Dao of the Chan Teachings, blocking the path of Primordial Heavenly Venerable.
Four sword gates, connecting heaven and earth, bisected east and west. Ancient killing demons forcefully severed the good fortune of the Chan Teachings and the destiny of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Master Tong Tian roared again, "Disciples of the Jie Teachings, set up the formation!"
"Yes!" It was as if the heavens were shaken by the voices of millions of Jie disciples. Echoes of countless Jie disciples reverberated through heaven and earth, as if this very world was protesting their dissatisfaction with the Heavenly Dao, declaring war upon it!
Wu Yun Xian, wielding the Hun Yuan Hammer, smashed it against the nine heavens of Qian Kun, tearing apart the void and summoning the Hun Yuan Great Array.
Jin Guang Xian let out an angry roar towards the sky, and all the corpse spirits in the world returned, illuminating with golden light and exuding a killing intent that awed even immortal dragons, establishing the Golden Light Great Array.
Ling Ya Xian gathered the waters of the three rivers, five lakes, and four seas, and holding the Jade Chime of the Nine Heavens, summoned clouds from all directions to erect the Nine Heavens Profound Yin Kan Water Great Array.
...
The seven attendant immortals each set up a formation. The four great disciples then established the Myriad Treasures Great Array, Myriad Stars Great Array, Myriad Void Great Array, and Myriad Swords Great Array. Formation upon formation, seven formations merged into the four great arrays. Beneath them lay the Nine Luminaries, the Twelve Yuan Chen, and the Twenty-Eight Mansions, the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and countless other large and small formations. Ultimately, all were consolidated under the augmentation of the Myriad Immortals Formation Diagram into four arrays, merging into the four swords of the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation.
Jie disciples flew through the skies and burrowed through the earth, their myriad Dao techniques as brilliant and dazzling as fireworks. Dao formations, preserved for thousands of years, were slowly erected: spirit formations, great formations,绝阵 (Jue Zhen - absolute formations), killing formations, trapping formations. Ten thousand formations arose, embodying the Dao of ten thousand Daoists.
They stood at the intersection of the Human and Heavenly Dao, before the great momentum of heaven and earth, before the beings, the Daos, and the Sages of all realms.
They were once ants, incapable of standing here. But today, Tong Tian led them to defy the heavens together, to slay immortals together, to intercept heaven and use it, to expound the teachings of Jie, and they would have no regrets even if they died!
Beneath the Immortal Slaying Formation, the Myriad Immortals stand. The Immortal Slaying slays the heavens, and the Myriad Immortals walk the Dao.
The Immortal Slaying Sword Formation, one of the three ultimate formations of the Primordial World, stood as one with the premier formation of the Jie Teachings. The Immortal Slaying Sword Formation was also the Myriad Immortals Sword Formation, and the Myriad Immortals Sword Formation was also the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation.
The two formations at this moment were, in fact, one. They could be called the Myriad Immortals Immortal Slaying Sword Formation.
However, what kind of formation it truly was, no one knew.
This was because it was the first time such a formation had appeared in existence, outside the Heavenly Dao, and it was an anomaly.
Primordial Heavenly Venerable's expression grew somber. "Are you intending to settle this with one battle?"
Tong Tian removed Qing Ping from his back and declared loudly, "Since you have seen through it, why ask me?"
Though he was unwilling for this scene to occur, it did not mean he was ignorant.
Tong Tian was a Sage, a Sage who could not be stopped by the endless river of time. If Nu Wa could forcefully summon her prime form from endless spacetime, how could Tong Tian not pierce through the past and future?
The future, in relation to the present moment, was not fixed. Everything was possible. Even with billions of possibilities, Tong Tian could find the one he desired most from those billions!
Sages knew the past and future, but the future they saw was not a single possibility; it was billions of possibilities. For each possibility, Sages would use their calculations to deduce and decide its impact. They would then choose a few, or a few hundred, possibilities to make their move and realize these futures.
Therefore, Sages made infinite moves, leading to infinite futures. Even those at the peak of power could be said to know the future, to know a few of the infinite possible futures. But even a Sage could not definitively declare that the future would be one specific outcome.
Tong Tian had chosen this possibility: the possibility of the Jie Teachings' victory. He fought with his back against the wall, facing the potential arrival of four Sages. With his own strength, he confronted the calculations of the four Sages, striving for even a sliver of a chance, however slim. With the augmentation of his Sainthood and the backing of millions of Jie disciples, how much could this chance of survival be amplified?
Tong Tian stepped into the formation. The majestic four sword gates rumbled mightily, and the myriad immortals and formations hummed in unison. Thousands of killing intents enveloped all realms. The Primordial World turned blood red, like a hell for killing demons. How many elders dreamt of the ancient past, of the era of the Three Clans, where blood flowed like rivers and corpses piled like mountains?
Yet, amidst this killing intent, a clear and fresh Dao sound rang out. It was the masters of each formation within the Myriad Immortals Formation declaring war upon the Heavenly Dao, declaring war upon the Heavenly Dao that sought to destroy their Jie Teachings.
Tong Tian entered the formation, ascended the platform, held Qing Ping, stood with his hands behind his back, looked up in all directions, and said, "Please enter the formation!"
Millions of Jie disciples roared in unison, "Please enter the formation!"
Their voices were like collapsing mountains, their momentum like a tidal wave, carrying the eternal killing intent of Zhu, Jue, Xian, and Lu, declaring war upon the Chan Teachings and their disciples. In this moment, they were immortals and demons, immortal beings walking the Dao, and demons who drew their swords to protect the Dao.
Such a Jie Teachings was terrifying. Such a heterodox path of immortals and demons was unprecedented. Yet, no one dared to utter the phrase "acting on behalf of heaven" anymore, for they were afraid.
Ran Deng recalled the terrifying era of slaughter during the Three Clans when he had just taken form, and recalled the lord of the demonic path who had slain his way across the world. Millions of beings bowed down, endless mountains and rivers were stained with blood, and the master of the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation retreated.
The Twelve Golden Immortals had never experienced the fear of being enveloped by such an ancient killing intent. They were born at the end of the Witch-Demon era, and under the protection of their Sage master, they had never directly faced such a widespread bloody battle.
However, no one would mock the Chan Teachings, because even the disciples of the Jie Teachings would be unable to withstand facing such demonic intent. It was just that today, they were the masters of this eternal killing intent!
Primordial Heavenly Venerable's expression turned cold, then he smiled faintly. "My former master once said that the Immortal Slaying Four Swords could only be broken by four Sages. Today, I shall test whether this sword formation lives up to its name!"
Primordial Heavenly Venerable descended from the clouds and stepped into this great formation of immortals and demons shrouded in infinite killing intent. Alone, he faced millions of immortals and demons, smiling calmly and fearlessly, for he was a Sage.
Tong Tian remained silent, drew his sword, and all four swords were drawn. The Immortal Slaying Sword resonated, the Trapping Immortal Sword resonated, the Slaughtering Immortal Sword resonated, and the Absolute Immortal Sword resonated. Four sword gates, piercing the heavens and reaching the underworld, struck out with four swords, converging in the sky to form a primordial sword light. This sword cut through space and time, faster than fate, its edge fixing heavenly will, unstoppable, and slashed towards Primordial Heavenly Venerable.
Primordial Heavenly Venerable's expression changed. With a flick of his sleeve, he wielded the Pangu Banner, and a primordial sword qi severed eternity, clashing with the primordial sword light.
At that moment, time stood still, as if the primordial chaos trembled. The four seas, the eight directions, and all the myriad realms shook and mountains collapsed because of this single sword, causing all beings to tremble in fear.
Lao Tzu quickly extended a finger towards the sky, and the Tai Chi Diagram transformed into a golden bridge connecting heaven and earth, stabilizing the Primordial World.
The Two Sages of the West also quickly stabilized the void of the Hengsha Worlds, not daring to be careless.
A group of great figures trembled, realizing this was the power of a Sage.
However, Tong Tian and Primordial Heavenly Venerable had no intention of diverting their attention to stabilize the world, for since the battle had begun, a victor must be determined.
Nu Wa, in her Wa Palace, saw this scene and could no longer sit still.