As Tongtian's words were spoken, the disciples of the Jie Sect, like a swarm of locusts, surged towards various immortal mountains and spiritual lands. Zhao Gongming occupied the Luofu Cave on Mount Emei, while Lu Yue, Wang Mo, Yang Sen, Gao Youqian, Li Xingba, and other outer disciples took over large islands in the overseas territories, including Jiulong Island. Wang, Yang, Gao, and Li proclaimed themselves the Four Saints of Jiulong Island.
Furthermore, Yu Yuan went to the Penglai Realm, also known as the Western Kunlun plane, Luo Xuan to Fire Dragon Island, and Shi Ji to Skeleton Mountain...
The disciples of the Jie Sect scattered in all directions. Today, they each returned to their own domains; in the future, it would be a grand assembly of ten thousand immortals before Biyou Palace.
On Mount Kongtong, Xuandu, ignoring the shock of the others, reached out to grasp the Kongtong Seal.
To his surprise, as his spiritual hand spread out, the Kongtong Seal dissolved into a myriad of spiritual lights and scattered away.
Xuandu's expression tightened slightly, and he murmured, "An illusion?"
Beneath his feet, a large Taiji fish eye suddenly appeared, its yin and yang spinning to form primordial qi. Primordial qi could then transform the heavens and earth, determining purity and turbidity. The illusory mirror around him abruptly dissipated.
However, before his eyes lay a scene of the end of the human race, where countless humans were being brutally slaughtered by demons. They cried out, "Save us! Please save us!"
Emaciated children, terrified women, and frail old men, thousands upon thousands of hands reached out to him. The despair on their faces mingled with the sole glimmer of hope that appeared upon seeing him. They were all pleading with Xuandu, begging him to bestow a kind heart.
Upon witnessing this scene, Xuandu's heart stirred. So this was the tragic fate that befell the human race.
Countless humans knelt on the ground, begging him, the high and mighty Xuandu. Tears and cries, fear and hope, mingled as the misery, pain, and despair of humanity were vividly displayed before Xuandu.
He, too, was a human!
Yet, Xuandu remained unmoved. He sighed softly, "Though my heart is kind, I possess only one. If you are to save yourselves, it must be through everyone's own good heart. I will impart to countless humans in this world the heart of supreme goodness, like water."
As his words fell, the countless pleading humans plunged into utter despair. A giant insect tail swept across, instantly decapitating hundreds of thousands of humans.
The scene fell silent.
Then, a ceaseless barrage of "bang, bang, bang, bang" echoed.
Countless human corpses knelt before him, their heads gone, their severed heads scattered on the ground. There was no hatred, only despair. Innumerable eyes of despair watched Xuandu from the headless bodies and the fallen heads. Among them were boys and girls no older than eight or nine, pregnant women, elderly people as fragile as willow catkins, and young men and women in their prime. They possessed infinite futures, all of which had ended today, ending in despair.
Countless eyes watched Xuandu. The headless corpses, neatly arrayed like an army, and the heads on the ground impacted Xuandu's very soul. No one blamed him for not intervening. Everyone looked at him, yet no one saw him as a person.
Xuandu felt his breath catch. He was human, even one of the progenitors of humanity, yet his own kind did not see him as such. Xuandu's mind became chaotic. He recalled the time of the ancient Demon Court, when the human race was in peril and his kin had come to ask for his aid, but Xuandu had refused.
Because he could not intervene. He represented Laozi, the stance of the Grand Pure Sage. To act would be to pit the Three Pure Ones against the demon race.
Therefore, he did not go.
From then on, humanity never approached him again, this progenitor of their race.
A voice echoed in his heart: He could never represent his own stance. He could only ever live by Laozi's stance. He would never have Xuandu's stance!
As this thought arose, Xuandu was greatly alarmed. He quickly stabilized his mind and kept his heart as one. However, some thoughts, once born, would not cease to grow.
Within Xuandu's heart, it was as if another demon was trapped, screaming from the depths of his being. Every word it uttered was what his reason most wished not to hear, the thoughts his emotions involuntarily gravitated towards. The image of the Taiji diagram beneath Xuandu instantly shattered, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
For the first time since cultivating the Way, he erupted in anger. Xuandu struck out with his palm. The void rippled, and space-time shattered. Xuandu forcefully broke through the illusion.
However, Qi had already grasped the Kongtong Seal in his hand. He looked up and gazed at Xuandu with a blank expression.
In that gaze lay all of Xuandu's illusions.
Xuandu instantly felt a sense of dread towards this person. In a single glance, he could capture all the human heart's will to live and die, all its sorrow and fear. His understanding of the human heart far surpassed his own.
This matter was already a thorn in Xuandu's heart, and today, Qi had used his venomous gaze to expose it, deeply piercing him.
However, he did not know that even after being removed, the Luo Sheng Eye would still retain a trace of its influence, namely, the influence of illusions on the mind, as it was a seed grown in the heart, having taken root.
Therefore, disciples of the Hall of All Beings, even if they could not learn the Luo Sheng Eye, would all learn a spiritual pupil illusion divine ability, which proved remarkably effective when used unexpectedly.
Qi coldly glanced at Guangchengzi. Guangchengzi, terrified, quickly closed his eyes. He had just witnessed how even his senior brother Xuandu had been wounded in spirit by a mere glance. How could he possibly resist it?
Qi surveyed everyone present and said coldly, "All of you, stop! The Kongtong Seal now belongs to our Hall of All Beings."
Gui Ling and Jin Ling immediately ceased their attacks, and Kong Xuan also withdrew his hand, as these two were truly not individuals that one could easily contend with.
In later generations, Jin Ling Sheng Mu would fight against three Great Immortals, along with her three mounts, who were her own junior brothers, and with the Sage Yuanshi observing from the side, she could still fight on equal footing.
Even though she was ambushed and killed by Randeng, he used all twenty-four Ding Hai Divine Pearls to strike her down. In the hands of someone like Randeng, these twenty-four Ding Hai Divine Pearls could unleash their full power, far surpassing Zhao Gongming. Even a peak mighty being would be severely wounded by a surprise attack from them.
But now, Zhao Gongming did not possess twenty-four Ding Hai Divine Pearls, only twelve. Whether Randeng could kill Jin Ling Sheng Mu with them would be a matter of luck.
Kong Xuan retreated behind Qi, while Bei Xu and You also stood behind Qi, recuperating. The five Immortals of the Daoist sect gathered behind Xuandu, forming a standoff between the two sides.
Guangchengzi, standing beside Xuandu, felt a measure of security. He shouted, "Senior Ba Qi, although you are a mighty being who has taken a treasure by brute force, this Kongtong Seal is a supreme treasure of the human race. You are thus plundering it within human territory? What face do you give to our human fellow cultivators? What face do you give to the Heavenly Emperor and Earthly Emperor?"
Qi's icy gaze swept over Guangchengzi, causing the latter to shiver and immediately stop speaking.
Qi said coldly, "Face is earned. Humans were once subjects of my demon race, and I was once a demon god ruling the four realms under the Demon Court. As for the faces of the two Emperors, the Heavenly Emperor was once Xi Huang of the demon race, and we are kin and subjects, far more intimate than your relationship. As for the Earthly Emperor, he is my junior nephew. Even if I take the treasure, it is not for you to dictate."