Taoist Master Xuanhuang

"What chips?"

Are they trustworthy?

"..."

They've already taken photos in secret; what else are these sacred beings incapable of doing?

Moreover, this was his previous behavior; now that he's fallen into demonic possession, he's even less trustworthy.

"They said that if we agree to do one thing for them, they promise never to reveal the secret, and they swear it in the name of the Dao Lord," said the Grand Alliance Leader.

"what?"

"this?"

Although everyone was bundled up tightly, beneath the heavy coverings, each person was deep in thought, their brows furrowed.

Making an oath is not impossible, especially an oath in the name of the Dao Lord, which is the greatest guarantee.

Even if they swear an oath in the name of their realm's origin, it wouldn't be as effective.

Over the years, I have sworn an oath in the name of the Dao Lord and have never missed one.

Especially in recent decades, after the Dao Lord advanced to the fourth-order True King, the oaths made in the name of the Dao Lord are truly terrifying.

So far, no one has escaped punishment for breaking their oath.

It feels as if the entire world is against you, and you are subjected to the oppressive will of the omnipresent universe, with all sorts of disasters and misfortunes lining up to come knocking on your door.

None of them survived for more than seven days. Once they broke the oath they had taken in the name of the Dao Lord, they would all perish within seven days.

It exists like a law of cause and effect, leaving no place to hide or escape.

To be fair, if it weren't for the Dao Lord's presence, and the ability to swear an oath in his name, this world would be even more chaotic.

This inescapable vow is a crucial element in maintaining the operation of the cultivation world.

Rumor has it that those who break their vows don't even have the chance to be reincarnated, and the ghost cultivators in the underworld say this is true.

Even a first- or second-tier cultivator, once they die under the oath, will truly be reduced to ashes, without even the chance to be reincarnated and start over.

Very scary.

"Is the same true of holiness?" someone asked.

The Dao Lord's oath works for them because no cultivator can live without the Dao Lord's teachings.

Whether they are true cultivators or ordinary cultivators, they all cultivate under the protection of the Dao Lord. Therefore, they cannot escape the consequences of violating the oath made in the name of the Dao Lord.

But is the same true of the sacred?

"This is what I'm worried about. After all, no saint has personally demonstrated it. But apart from swearing an oath in the name of the Dao Lord, I don't trust the origin of the realm even more," said the Grand Alliance Leader.

It's a matter of perspective; they don't understand that oaths made in the name of Xuanhuang have the same effect on the sacred as they do on them.

These secrets may be known to those at the highest levels of true cultivation, but they are not among them.

Those at the top level who are true cultivators understand the secret of the Dao Lord's advancement and the sacred kneeling.

Moreover, the two top-level realms, the Temple of Literature and the Temple of Martial Arts, both conveyed the guidance of Heaven, and the Lord of Xuanhuang Dao was equivalent to the Heavenly Dao.

This is the sacred secret passed down to Him from the highest realm.

This point was naturally conveyed to the Confucian and Martial Arts Alliances by the deities of the two temples of literature and martial arts, and the deities of Buddhism and Taoism also mentioned it.

After all, top-level saints and true cultivators also interact and engage in some transactions and secrets.

It also needs an anchor that everyone can agree on.

Do not underestimate the significance of such oaths and pledges; they are an important foundation for global stability.

Some worlds have such divine positions, and they are very high ones, such as the God of Contracts and the God of Oaths.

On the eastern side, oaths are made in the name of certain Dao Ancestors or Heavenly Venerables.

This is the ability that forms the basis of existence and the foundation for reaching agreements.

It is a very important ability.

Especially those who swear an oath with their own Dao heart using the Xuanhuang oath, which represents unchangeability and absolute authority.

Once such an unchangeable vow exists, the world will have far fewer troubles.

There will be far less chaos.

Two powerful figures, two major forces, evenly matched and equally strong, how can they follow their common mission and coexist peacefully without eliminating one side?

In a world without oaths, there is no other way but to kill the other party.

In a world where experiments can be conducted, one can make vows based on one's moral convictions, which avoids a lot of trouble.

Even though I can't kill you, you wouldn't dare break your vow.

There will be far less unrest.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is the foundation for survival.

"But what other options do we have besides this? Don't forget, they are the butcher and we are the fish on the chopping block. We have no choice but to agree..."

The Grand Alliance Leader said, "I have been thinking about why they did this for several days, and I can give you some insights. You may all listen and see if what I say is correct. If there is anything wrong, fellow Daoists, please do not hesitate to point it out as soon as possible. This is for everyone's benefit."

Seeing that everyone nodded, the Grand Alliance Leader continued:
"The reason we swore an oath in the name of the Dao Lord is because it is an oath that we all agree on. And the reason we do this is to show that the Holy One truly wants to accomplish something, rather than simply persecuting us. Do you all agree with this?"

That's indeed the case, as the Grand Alliance Leader said.

These deities truly wanted to accomplish something; otherwise, there would have been no need for them to swear an oath in the name of the Dao Lord. The oath was meant to protect them and to bind the deities.

It is not hard to see from this that the saints are serious.

"After all, a fight to the death would not benefit them at all. To put it bluntly, even if they expose us, they still need to consider whether the true cultivators care. To put it bluntly, although we are... we are not really taken seriously by the true cultivators. Perhaps even if we are exposed, the true cultivators will just laugh it off. Just like an ant trying to scheme against us, we are not worth laughing at."

This statement is heartbreaking, but it's the truth.

Everyone suddenly realized, "That's right, even if we fall out, it's not necessarily the worst outcome."

One should not overestimate one's influence in the true cultivation realm.

You can imagine yourself to be very noble, but you can't take it seriously; just treat it as a dream.

If you can't distinguish between dreams and reality, then you're a fool.

Damn, this is really painful.

This is such an awkward position.

"I suppose the Holy Ones have also considered this, which is why they won't pressure us excessively; they genuinely want to cooperate with us."

Seeing that no one objected, the Grand Alliance Leader shared his insights from the past few days.

"Alas, but Grand Alliance Leader and fellow Daoists, we really don't want to continue cooperating with the Holy One! It seems they're serious, but we don't want to be serious either!"

"I'm wrapped up very tightly," sighed one of the vice-leaders.

This is the crux of the matter.

Regardless of whether the divine intervention is genuine or not, I really don't want to get involved anymore, and I don't want to be associated with the divine.

"How about we just expose ourselves? We'll say we were threatened and deceived by those 'saints' before, and that we were blinded by greed. Later, we learned that these 'saints' had fallen into demonic possession, so we immediately stopped contacting them. What do you think of informing the true cultivators like this?"

"Ahem, there's no need for that, no need at all. Doing so is too risky, there are too many unknowns."

Immediately, some people raised objections.

Self-disclosure is one method, but it's not the only one. We can't gamble on the attitude of genuine cultivation. What if genuine cultivation becomes serious?

Wouldn't I be back to square one?

These are all forces that have been passed down for countless years, and they dislike being manipulated like this, without any ability to resist. "Gentlemen, Grand Alliance Leader, let's not talk about this for now. We still don't know what the Holy One wants us to do."

A man in black interrupted.

After all this time, they still don't know what they're supposed to do.
"Hmph, it's definitely not a good thing, it's something we don't want to do."

"Yes."

The reason they weren't in a hurry to ask what it was about was because they all knew it was something they themselves didn't want to do.

There's no need to guess, so the specifics are irrelevant.

"That's right, the saints are terrified of being hunted down by the true cultivators, I guess that's it, so they plan to block the true cultivators and make the strange the king! They need our cooperation."

"That's what the Grand Alliance Leader said."

"See, I knew it was all things we didn't want to do."

After all, they are descendants of powerful forces and are quite intelligent; they understood as soon as the Grand Alliance Leader spoke.

To divert attention from genuine cultivators, isn't the goal to kill those who have fallen into demonic possession?
We...we may not be able to resist, but we can create trouble and give you new opponents.

The supernatural must be more evil than us. We're at most half-demons, but the supernatural is a pure demon.

"To be specific, it is difficult for a true king of the strange to be born within the realm. The suppression of the realm's origin makes it very difficult for them to be born. Therefore, they will hand over the strange with potential within the realm to us, let us bring them to the main world, and then let the strange become kings. Once a true king of the strange is born, the true cultivators will probably change their minds. This is a way to save themselves."

"That's what the Grand Alliance Leader said."

It has to be said that it's a good plan.

However, this shows that the true cultivators are even more powerful than they imagined.

They used to be so arrogant and self-important, but now it seems so ridiculous.

The holy beings they wanted to rely on were all being hunted down by true cultivators and were frantically trying to find a way to survive; they were simply incomparable.

They were disappointed, but they had already disappointed enough today, so they weren't too upset anymore. They've become immune to setbacks after being hit so many times.

"To do it or not?" the Grand Alliance Leader asked.

"this?!"

Everyone was silent.

This is a choice: to cooperate or not to cooperate.

Those who cooperate are getting deeper and deeper into trouble, while those who don't cooperate are facing the crisis head-on, afraid to gamble on how Zhenxiu will deal with it.

too difficult.

Since it's already been set up, don't even think about betting on both sides; it's impossible.

The fact that the saints have made their vows to the Lord of the Way means that they can no longer hedge their bets.

For example, on the one hand, he agrees to cooperate with the divine, and on the other hand, he tries to make amends by secretly informing the true cultivator that the divine wants to cause trouble and wants to induce the birth of the true king.

That's impossible.

Once an oath is made in the name of the Dao Lord, any hedging on both ends will be severed.

If you go against this, what's the difference between that and courting death?

"Sigh!" Everyone sighed in frustration.

I regret my previous actions. Why cooperate with the divine? Why did I do that?

If we hadn't done this before, we wouldn't be in this state of unease now.

"Gentlemen, I have another idea, but I don't know if I should say it."

The Grand Alliance Leader thought the longest and considered the most; his character was not one to sit idly by and wait for death, as were those present.

It's just a matter of time. I don't have time to think about more things. I have more time to think about things on my own, so I have more ideas.

However, he is not arrogant enough to think that he is the only smart one; he still needs to rely on the wisdom of others.

“At this point, what is there that can’t be said? Just say it,” the crowd said.

We're all in the same boat, what can't we say?

If they can truly escape this situation, and the Anti-Heaven Alliance continues to exist, they are all willing to have the Grand Alliance Leader as the new leader.

"We are all insignificant supporting characters, or even less. We are just some insignificant little people who have been helplessly caught up in this storm. Only by fighting with all our might can we have a chance to survive. We are personally involved in the game, hoping to win against fate. If we want to do this, we cannot be confined to our predicament... We must step out and look at it from the perspective of someone who is not in the game."

“The gods pressure us, and the true cultivators look down on us, but we must understand that the gods also have enemies, and the true cultivators are not without threats either; they also have enemies.”

"hiss!"

To survive, everyone is fighting desperately, their brains working at full speed. If they don't use their brains now, are they supposed to wait until they die to use them?

“I guess the Holy Ones are forcing us to not hedge our bets and secretly cooperate with the True Cultivators, but we can cooperate with subordinate cultivators and even divine cultivators. The dynasty established by the True Cultivators is collapsing before our very eyes. It is said that the next era will be the era of subordinate cultivators. We can turn to subordinate cultivators and rely on the divine lords.”

The Grand Alliance Leader finally revealed his plan.

This was the only way he could think of to avoid death after thinking about it for so long.

It's not that there's no risk, but at least there's a glimmer of hope.

Everyone present was shrewd, and they immediately understood the plan after the Grand Alliance Leader finished explaining it.

This is a situation where one has to turn to a third party, offending both sides.

They didn't want to offend either side, but neither side was giving them a way out.

They can't defeat the saints, and they can't defeat the true cultivators either.

Both sides have the ability to easily destroy themselves.

It's never safe to entrust your safety to anyone else.

True cultivators look down on themselves, while the divine utilizes them; in both cases, they are dispensable.

Whether you attach yourself to the divine or to true cultivation, you are completely offending the other party.

These two sides can't do anything about each other, but eliminating their own traitor is all too easy.

"The Grand Alliance Leader is right about one thing: the True Cultivation Dynasty is visibly collapsing, as evidenced by the split of the Four Superpowers. And all of this is due to the rise of subordinate cultivators. It is an inevitable trend. Once we can pledge allegiance to the various God Lords, even if we are insignificant, the God Lords will still spare no expense to buy us a share. After all, this is the beginning of the God Lord era, and we can be considered as half of the meritorious subjects who have followed the dragon."

They sorted it out.

This is the only feasible solution.

Since both sides want me to die, then I'll offend both of them.

They were tied to the chariots of the subordinate monks.

Once you're tied up, it's not just about your own life; it's also about the dignity of all the gods.

When it comes to matters of honor, neither true cultivators nor saints dare to exterminate them all, because doing so would be tantamount to slapping the faces of the great gods.

My own life and death are minor; the dignity of you divine beings is of utmost importance.

The only thing I need to overcome is my own pride.

The descendant of a top-tier power in a minor world is about to completely abandon his pride and become a subordinate cultivator.

All that effort was for nothing.

It means completely cutting ties with the past, which is a psychological barrier that you need to overcome on your own.

But what is more important than life?
No.

...(End of chapter)