Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 987 - 722 Mystic Sect Internal Strife

Chapter 987: 722 Mystic Sect Internal Strife

Reflecting on the past, the opportunity to achieve the Tao was right before his eyes, easily graspable, but Haotian said to give it up and so he did, always disregarding it.

The loftiness of his aspiration was evident.

The Mystic Sect lacked neither great transcendents with divine abilities nor those with extraordinary talents; among them were many true seekers of the Tao, and not a few who harbored a genuine concern for the welfare of all under heaven.

These beings held to their own principles, disdaining to covet the fate of the Human Race.

And it was these individuals who, whenever a great calamity erupted between Heaven and Earth, would step forward, using their own might to contend against the Heavenly Earth Catastrophe, performing the noble deed of salvation, single-handedly trying to save the falling sky!

Just like at this very moment, as the tides of destruction surged mightily, hurtling towards the Three Realms, with Heaven and Earth on the brink of danger, those great transcendents with a heart for the world could sense it and left their retreats to stand by the Jade Emperor’s side, facing together the tumultuous, rampaging tides of destruction.

"Huang Jiao has gone too far!"

By the Jade Emperor’s side, the highly esteemed Immortal Zhenyuan gazed at the advancing destruction tides, his face full of solemnity.

Zhen Yuanzi, the progenitor of Earth Immortals, be it the Quantitative Calamity of witch and demon, or the Enshrinement Calamity, he had acted, using the Earth Book to suppress the Earth Veins of Prehistoric World. Although he did not prevent the fragmentation of Chaos World, he nonetheless curtailed further deterioration of the land, saving countless living beings.

He had contributed greatly to Heaven and Earth and shown profound benevolence to all beings, thus he was revered as the progenitor of Earth Immortals, enjoying a revered status under heaven and earth. Although not a Saint, he could be considered as having endless good fortune, meeting saints without bowing.

Even Saints, upon seeing him, have to address him respectfully as Zhen Yuan, not daring to be presumptuous.

In times of peril for the Three Realms, Zhen Yuanzi certainly would not stand idly by. Beside him, many other major characters from the Mystic Sect had also shown up.

However, these individuals were enveloped in a mysterious light that made it impossible to clearly see their figures, or even to distinguish their gender.

This light was the light of seeking the Tao, the light of pursuing the Way; it possessed no offensive or defensive power. Its sole purpose was to isolate the inside from the outside, completely cutting off the beings within from the external world to achieve detachment from cause and effect.

These transcendents were different from Zhen Yuanzi; Zhen Yuanzi followed the path of engagement with the world, whereas they followed a path of disengagement from it.

To step out of the mundane world, untainted by worldliness, unattached to cause and effect; as they say, a carefree existence. Freed from ties to Heaven and Earth, they were naturally more likely to leap forth and transcend.

As a result, these great transcendents rarely showed themselves in Prehistoric World, and even their names were not known amongst the beings between Heaven and Earth, let alone their deeds.

They were like invisible entities within the world, appearing only when great calamities struck to perform acts of salvation, then hastily departing afterward, leaving no traces behind.

Disengagement did not mean they truly disregarded everything; when Heaven and Earth were in trouble, they still had to step forward. Otherwise, how could they repay the grace of being nurtured by Heaven and Earth?

"Indeed, it was excessive. To contrive against the Human Race is one thing, but why self-destruct? In doing so, he may have found relief, but he left us to deal with the trouble." A mysterious transcendental being spoke, the tone of dissatisfaction with Huang Jiao evident, seemingly somewhat disdainful of his actions.

"Say a little less, will you? The man is gone; at least let’s grant him some dignity," another transcendental being beside the speaker interjected, suggesting restraint.

"Hmph, dignity is something one earns, not something given by others. As a senior, to take action against a junior is already reprehensible. That aside, he didn’t even win in the end, and was in fact counter-slain by the junior, a disgrace beyond measure."

"If only that were all, it might be forgivable, but this fellow, even in his downfall, couldn’t let others be at peace, choosing instead to self-destruct. And in doing so, he intended to drag his opponent down with him, nearly resulting in an unparalleled disaster."

"Hmph, it’s a good thing he’s already perished, otherwise I would never let the matter rest," Haotian muttered through clenched teeth, his heart filled with extreme discontent towards Huang Jiao.

If anything truly happened to the Three Realms, it would be he who bore the greatest responsibility and the consequences would be severe, possibly even severing his path to Primordial Chaos. With such grave potential repercussions, how could Haotian not resent Huang Jiao?

"Alas, Huang Jiao was blinded by his fervor to achieve the Tao; he should not have self-destructed. This act was truly self-defeating and of no benefit to others."

"If the Three Realms suffered mishaps because of his self-destruction, then even if he acquired the Human Race’s fate, what of it? Burdened by such a massive karmic debt, he likely would never achieve the status of a Daluo Jinxian of the Primordial in this life," Zhen Yuanzi said, shaking his head, indicating his incomprehension of Huang Jiao’s actions, which indeed harmed others without benefitting himself.

"Freeze!"

As they spoke, their actions did not cease. Above the Jade Emperor’s head, the Haotian Mirror quietly emerged, bursting forth with myriad glows, seeking to immobilize the tides of destruction.

The Haotian Mirror, one of the top ten pinnacle Innate Spiritual Treasures of the Prehistoric World, was granted as a protective artifact to Haotian by Honjan Daizu, capable of monitoring all of heaven.

It was said that within Prehistoric World, save for the Taoist fields of Saints, no place could escape its surveillance, earning it the title of the foremost spying Divine Artifact.

Before this, the world only knew of the monitoring abilities of the Haotian Mirror, but at this moment, in the hands of the Jade Emperor, the power emanating from the Haotian Mirror caught the attention of many Great Divine Transcendents. It was too strong; the raging and overwhelming tide of destruction was actually being held firmly in place by the light of the mirror.

"The strength of the Jade Emperor is somewhat terrifying," they thought. "He may not be far from becoming a Daluo Jinxian of the Primordial."

Zhen Yuanzi and other Great Divine Transcendents felt a shock in their hearts when they saw this scene. They were stunned by the Jade Emperor’s strength and had not expected that the Jade Emperor, who was always under the control of the Saints, could be this fearsome.

No one believed that this was the full extent of the Jade Emperor’s power; it was certain that he was holding back. It wasn’t just he who was saving the world; the Jade Emperor was not foolish. There was no need to risk everything by going all out. He had to keep his cards close to his chest to prevent others from seeing his true capabilities.

It was precisely because people knew he was concealing his strength that they were shocked. Even while holding back, he demonstrated such terrifying power. If he were to fight with all his might, it would be unimaginable—he was likely not far from the level of a Daluo Jinxian of the Primordial.

"The Jade Emperor has hidden quite deeply!" With this thought, the others also made their move.

The power of the tide of destruction was too strong, and since the Jade Emperor did not exert his full strength, he could only hold it still for a moment but could not keep it contained indefinitely. Thus, at this time, the help of everyone was needed.

Whoosh~~

The Earth Book flew out from Zhen Yuanzi’s hands. The yellowish-brown aura surged out, expanding constantly and gradually transforming into a vast continent hovering above the tide of destruction, suppressing it forcefully.

The Earth Book, transformed from the membranes of the Earth’s womb, was also one of the top ten Innate Spiritual Treasures of the Prehistoric World. It could evolve the most ancient land of the Prehistoric World and was known for having the strongest defense in the Prehistoric World.

There had been rumors that, standing upon the Earth with the Earth Book, one would be innately undefeated. Even holding an Innate Treasure, one would not be able to break its defense.

The truth of the rumors was uncertain, but it showed the power of the Earth Book, with might close to that of the Innate Treasures.

Following Zhen Yuanzi, the rest of the Great Divine Transcendents also took action, each displaying their abilities. In just a few shichen, they sealed the tide of destruction, forcing it to reverse and shrink into a mass, turning into a vast lake of destruction within the void.

"This should be sufficient. Once the tide of destruction returns to calmness, it will transform into Chaos Qi. Then, as time passes, this destructive qi will dissipate on its own, turning into pure Innate Yuan Qi and flowing into the Three Realms, which will also benefit the living beings of the Three Realms to some extent."

"In this way, our friend Huang Jiao has also done a good deed."

A few joined hands to lay down seals around the Lake of Destruction, stabilizing it completely. They then breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.

At the end of destruction comes nothingness, which then breeds Chaos Qi. In turn, the operating rules of the Three Realms can transform Chaos Qi into pure Innate Spiritual Energy.

By the time they assimilate this Lake of Chaos, the Three Realms might welcome an era of prosperity for cultivation.

In this sense, the self-destruction of Saint Huang Jiao was not without benefits for the Three Realms. As for Jiang Chen, no one mentioned him because everyone knew that Jiang Chen was not dead.

The fall of the Human King would be a devastating event for the Human Race, and it would not happen without any signs. Yet, at the moment, the fate of the Human Race showed no disturbances and remained as usual. This indicated that nothing had happened to Jiang Chen.

Unharmed yet unseen, it was clear that he was plotting something. These Great Divine Transcendents had no interest in getting involved in the disputes between the Mystic Sect Transcendents and the Human Race, naturally they would not interfere out of idle curiosity about what Jiang Chen was doing and simply acted as if he didn’t exist.

"Let’s go, let’s go, this matter is not over yet."

"Huang Jiao has caused such a huge problem, yet those Taoists have not shown themselves until now and are still secretly sealing the Fire Cloud Cave. This shows their determination; for the sake of attaining the Tao, they are truly desperate."

"At this rate, who knows what they might do next; they might even dare to destroy the Three Realms."

"We need to find more Taoists to have a good talk with them, to get them to restrain themselves. The events of today, no matter what, must not happen again."

"Otherwise, don’t blame us for disregarding the camaraderie amongst sects and allied with the Human Race to either expel them from the Prehistoric World or directly seal them away."

After sealing the tide of destruction, the Jade Emperor turned to the few Great Divine Transcendents beside him and suggested they talk to another group of Great Divine Transcendents together.

They had to talk; today it was Saint Huang Jiao who self-destructed, but what about tomorrow? Perhaps another Great Divine Transcendent would self-destruct. The current Three Realms could not withstand such turmoil.

The Three Realms were on the brink of collapse, yet those Great Divine Transcendents were still sealing the Fire Cloud Cave with no intention of stopping. Their attitude was truly disheartening. It was apparent that in their eyes, even sacrificing the Three Realms was worth it to attain the Tao.

And this amounted to standing in opposition to the Jade Emperor. Ruining the Three Realms was blocking the Jade Emperor from attaining his path, an enmity that could not exist under the same sky. Even if one could bear a lot, they could not bear such an affair.

"It should be so."

Everyone nodded in agreement, not wanting to see the Three Realms destroyed. They called upon friends and went to negotiate with those Great Divine Transcendents.

ps: I’ll update one Chapter first.