My brother is so cunning

Chapter 1195 Let the tiger return to the mountain
The Tongtian Sect Leader took in Wen Rui's changing expression, and even more keenly noticed his clenched fist and the fleeting ruthlessness in his eyes—this kid was determined to kill him while he was still weak.

At this moment, Wen Rui's mind was racing: the quantum heavenly cannon had run out of energy, and the phase space lock's binding force on the seriously injured saint had greatly decreased. The only thing that could be guaranteed to harm Yuan Shi was the heavenly tribulation triggered by the will of all living beings.

However, that move requires a perfect match of timing, location, and people to be effective. It is extremely difficult to replicate. Other technological means are like scratching an itch through a boot in the face of the sage's essence, far less effective than the Heavenly Dao and Heavenly Punishment, which directly strike at the root.

He stroked the Six Soul Banner in his sleeve, sighing inwardly: his youthful version of the Six Soul Banner was far inferior to the original version refined by the Tongtian Sect Master back then. At most, it could only restrain the primordial spirit of a Golden Immortal; to think of suppressing and killing a Saint was pure delusion.

The Tongtian Sect Leader had his own plans: when he refined the Six Soul Banner, he originally intended to kill Yuanshi. If it weren't for Chang'er Dingguangxian's betrayal on the spot, the Chan Sect would have been severely weakened.

But he couldn't make a move at this moment—the Immortal-Slaying Pill of Hongjun Daozu was the first shackle, and killing Yuanshi would inevitably trigger the pill's poison.

More importantly, although he hated Yuanshi for joining forces to plot against him back then, he ultimately thought of their camaraderie and couldn't bear to kill his seriously injured senior brother.

But the thought that Wen Rui, this good grandson of the saint, was being targeted by the saint's oath and would never have a peaceful day in the future filled him with conflicting emotions.

After pondering for a moment, Tongtian suddenly realized: this was Wen Rui's own karma, and he could only bear the consequences, whether it was a blessing or a curse.

If they cannot survive this ordeal, it is their fate; if they can overcome this hurdle, the Jie Sect may be able to produce another saint!
Since the Investiture of the Gods, the Primordial Purple Qi has been limited, and the position of the Sage has long been fixed. However, Yuanshi's oath of "unforgivable enmity" seems to have pushed the two of them onto the battlefield of heaven and earth. It is not certain that Wen Rui will perish, but Yuanshi may die and his Dao will dissipate. That Primordial Purple Qi may instead become Wen Rui's opportunity.

Thinking of this, Tongtian quickly stepped forward and, before Wenrui could make a move, blocked his way. He then pretended to "admonish" Yuanshi Tianzun: "Senior brother, why be so angry? Today's matter is just a misunderstanding. Why not let it go for now and discuss it further later?"

He said this both to Yuanshi and as a veiled reminder to Wenrui to stop while he was ahead.

Yuanshi Tianzun glanced coldly at Tongtian. Although he couldn't fathom Tongtian's true thoughts, he knew it was not the right time to get entangled. He snorted coldly, forced himself to stand up, picked up the broken Three Treasures Jade Ruyi from the ground, and wanted to pick up the Zhuxian Formation Diagram, but Wen Rui beat him to it and stepped on the diagram.

"Grandmaster Uncle, this thing is ominous. Why did you pick it up?"

Wen Rui's tone was slightly sarcastic: "If you pick them up again, will you get struck by lightning if you try to form the Immortal Execution Sword Formation with some random cats and dogs next time?"

Yuanshi Tianzun gritted his teeth and withdrew his hand, giving Wen Rui one last deep look before staggering toward the direction of the Chan Sect, leaving behind only a resolute back view and the lingering hatred in the air.

"Tsk, this old dog got off easy. Letting the tiger return to the mountain today, I'll never be able to sleep soundly at night again."

As Wen Rui watched Yuan Shi's figure disappear into the distance, he couldn't help but frown and mutter, his tone tinged with resentment.

The Tongtian Sect Leader stepped forward and patted his shoulder, whispering, "My dear grandson, this is all the help I can give you. You still need to strive harder. You are on the path of merit-based sainthood, and your current efficiency in accumulating merit far surpasses that of the merit saints of Nuwa's generation. All you lack is a strand of Primordial Purple Qi. The Primordial Oath of the Saints, though seemingly a death calamity, is actually an opportunity—if you can win when the oath is fulfilled, his Primordial Purple Qi will be yours; if you lose, it can only be said that it is your fate."

Wen Rui repeatedly pondered the words of the Tongtian Sect Leader. Although he still felt frustrated by the "releasing the tiger back to the mountain," he understood that this was the best solution at present. He shook his head, temporarily suppressing his worries about Yuanshi—rather than worrying about the impending revenge, he should seize the time to accumulate merit, after all, merit was the strongest "protective charm" in the primordial world. He raised his hand and opened the ecological monitoring panel of the quantum computer. Instantly, a dense array of red alerts popped up on the screen, reporting the areas affected by the recent battle. His brows furrowed again.

From the foot of Kunlun Mountain to the heart of the Central Plains, the trajectory of the chaotic sword energy was like a hideous black scar. Wherever it passed, towns collapsed, fertile fields were destroyed, and even mountains were cut in half.

The once "city of dreams," Liberty City, has been completely reduced to ashes, with not a single intact building remnant to be found.

“Perfect, repairing these damages would be a tremendous act of merit.”

A glint rekindled in Wen Rui's eyes, and he immediately raised his hand to summon—based on past experience, all that was needed was to send nanobots to clean up the wreckage and engineering robots to build modular structures, and Liberty City would be revitalized in less than half a month.

However, when the first batch of nanobots arrived at the area where the chaotic sword energy was tracing, the data stream on the screen suddenly became abnormal.

Wen Rui leaned closer and saw that the green light representing the nanorobots was rapidly extinguishing. The accompanying monitoring data showed: "Encountering unknown corrosive energy, the atomic stability of the robot structure has decreased and it is disintegrating..." His heart sank, and he immediately controlled a surviving robot to collect a sample. The analysis results that were transmitted back made his expression even more solemn.

This substance, tainted by the chaotic sword energy, actually carries a special "corruption" effect.

It is not a simple physical destruction, but can penetrate to the atomic level and spread continuously like rust on iron—the atomic structure of normal matter will be forcibly distorted, gradually lose stability, and eventually transform into free chaotic particles.

The outward manifestations are that the ravaged lands have completely lost their vitality, the soil has hardened like iron and stone, and not only can crops not be grown, but even weeds cannot take root; the originally rich spiritual energy has dissipated, replaced by a terrifying chaotic aura, and in many areas the ground has begun to show fine cracks, obviously developing in the direction of material disintegration.

“If left unchecked, this ‘corruption zone’ will grow wider and wider, and within a century, the entire Central Plains may be transformed into a chaotic dead zone.”

Wen Rui muttered to himself, his fingertips rapidly sliding across the controller, trying to recall previous solutions for dealing with energy pollution, only to find that all technological means were ineffective at this moment—nanobots would be corrupted, and energy shields could not prevent particle diffusion.

The Tongtian Sect Leader also noticed the anomaly. He walked to Wen Rui's side, gazing at the gray, corrupted area in the distance, and condensed a wisp of azure spiritual energy at his fingertips to probe it. As soon as the spiritual energy touched the edge of the corrupted area, it quickly turned black like ink thrown into clear water, and then vanished without a trace.

Wen Rui suddenly realized why Yuanshi Tianzun was struck so badly by lightning. It turned out that he had indeed committed a heinous crime, and it was already quite merciful of Heaven not to strike him dead.

When the Jie Sect set up the Zhuxian Sword Formation, they strictly controlled the chaotic sword energy of the formation to prevent it from overflowing, ensuring that it would not damage the flowers and plants in the mortal world. As a result, they only used less than three-tenths of the ten-layer power, which allowed the Four Sages to break the formation with ease.

Otherwise, by deploying a sword formation to cover the Zhou army attacking King Zhou and then sweeping through Xiqi City, there would be no need to fight the Four Sages head-on. The Jie Sect version of the Investiture of the Gods war could be completed quickly, and there would be no follow-up where everyone in the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation was sent to their deaths.

(End of this chapter)