Jiang Ye's eyes flickered, and he secretly clicked his tongue.
Golden light continued to flash in the ancient hall.
Jiang Ye had originally intended to put away the stele and leave.
Suddenly.
Beneath the altar, deep within the earth, ancient rhythms seemed to emanate once more.
“This... is the Qi of the Great Path!”
Jiang Ye’s Divine Soul stirred, and the Eternal Immortal Body within him seemed to be subtly activated, operating automatically. An invisible force pulled him, drawing him deeper into that profound Realm.
Boom!
The moment his Divine Soul resonated with the Dao.
His vision blurred, and he felt as if he had been swept into an endless golden world.
The heavens and earth were void, with only the Qi of the Treasure Manipulation Great Path reverberating in all directions.
At this moment, Jiang Ye had entered a peculiar state of Dao Epiphany.
In the Void Realm, countless mysterious inscriptions could vaguely be seen circulating.
Treasures suppress the heavens and earth, Qi merges with the Origin of Dao.
With a single thought, the heavens and earth collapse.
With a single thought, all laws fall silent.
The inscriptions continuously evolved, sometimes transforming into divine weapons spanning the sky, then shattering and dispersing, turning into Chaos Origin, profound and unfathomable.
Jiang Ye's Divine Soul bathed in this light of Dao, vaguely hearing ancient whispers.
“Treasures have spirits, the Dao is formless...”
“Spirits move, the Dao follows...”
“Spirits are silent, the Dao perishes...”
Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, his Divine Soul seemed to be constantly cracking, reshaping, and then sublimating.
Strands of the Qi of the Treasure Manipulation Great Path transformed into golden patterns, branded onto his Divine Soul body, quietly strengthening Jiang Ye’s Divine Soul foundation... Outside.
On the Dao Debate Platform.
The golden ancient hall in the sky still stood, its golden light long and undiminished, like a rising sun, dazzling and brilliant.
Many Elders and Prodigies of the academy showed surprised expressions.
“Divine Son Jiang... he’s been in there for over ten days, hasn’t he?”
“Why hasn’t this ancient hall dissipated yet? Could it be... he obtained an even greater Opportunity?”
Fifteen full days had passed in the outside world.
During this period.
The Heavens were continuously shaken, with major events occurring frequently.
First and foremost was the sudden large-scale internal purge within the Jiang Clan.
The clan thoroughly investigated, rooting out many hidden traitors, and behind these individuals were shadows of top-tier Dao Lineages.
They were now being dealt with one by one.
The scale of this action had already affected many ancient and immortal Dao Lineages.
Empress Hongye, during this time, even sent out many Clones, leading Jiang Clan powerhouses to demand accountability and an apology.
These major forces, which had been called out, seeing the Jiang Clan's strong stance and firm resolve to settle accounts, and with irrefutable evidence.
Knew they were in the wrong.
They could only pay a considerable price and bow their heads in apology.
Secondly, there was the destruction of the Hidden Killers Pavilion.
The Jiang Clan mobilized powerhouses from the Tiangang Immortal Palace, taking swift action to search for Hidden Killers Pavilion branches across the Heavens.
At the same time, they also utilized the intelligence agency of the Disha Immortal Palace, expending some of the clan’s foundational resources, to pinpoint many long-hidden secret strongholds of the Hidden Killers Pavilion.
All were uprooted completely.
However, Tian Yin Louzhu (Tower Master of Heavenly Shadows), the mastermind behind it, never appeared from beginning to end.
During this period.
The Jiang Clan's actions were truly too extensive.
Causing many Dao Lineages in the Heavens to be overwhelmed.
Some watched the show.
Others were in a state of panic, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Aside from the hostile Dao Lineages already at odds with the Jiang Clan.
There were also some forces that were outwardly friendly but inwardly treacherous.
In this unprecedented large-scale investigation, all were exposed, blacklisted, and their pretense completely torn, making them openly hostile to the Jiang Clan.
Since the end of the Dark War, after Empress Hongye emerged.
Many Dao Lineages, and even previously neutral forces, feared and dreaded the Jiang Clan, wanting to unify the entire Heavens.
After all... since the birth of the Jiang Clan's first Great Emperor.
The Jiang Clan had always prospered, a situation that had continued for countless epochs.
And now.
Empress Hongye was even more overbearing and ruthless.
That’s why they chose to stab them in the back in secret, precisely to restrain the Jiang Clan’s development.
But they never expected.
The Jiang Clan’s investigation this time would be so sudden and decisive, and its scale unprecedented.
Catching everyone off guard.
The secret pawns and agents painstakingly deployed over the years were exposed one after another in these few days, all annihilated, suffering heavy losses.
And the Jiang Clan’s attitude was exceptionally firm, allowing no room for compromise.
Coupled with Empress Hongye personally overseeing the situation, the atmosphere became even more tense.
Undercurrents brewed.
A storm was coming.
It seemed a major war could break out at any moment.
At this time.
A piece of news suddenly emerged, drawing all attention back.
It was rumored that an innate immortal liquid spiritual pool had appeared in the Ancient Immortal Domain.
Although the source of the news was unclear, and its veracity unknown.
However, no one could resist such a rare treasure of heaven and earth.
In addition, after the recent destruction of the Hidden Killers Pavilion, many documents and files seized in various Great Dao domains were exposed. The contents almost all consisted of evidence of secretly antagonizing the Jiang Clan.
Both true and false.
But the root of all problems seemed to point to the Ancient Immortal Domain.
For a time, Dao Lineages from all the Heavens and Myriad Worlds dispatched powerhouses to investigate.
As the news of the innate immortal liquid spiritual pool's emergence gradually spread.
The increasingly tense situation also gradually calmed down... Ancient Xuanwu Kingdom, Wen Clan.
Back mountain ancestral land.
National Ruler Wen Jian’s eyes were bloodshot. After receiving news of Wen Sang's death, he rushed to this place, seeking support.
“Wen Sang was the Crown Prince of my Ancient Xuanwu Kingdom!”
“If the Crown Prince is killed and we sit idly by, the outside world will think my Primordial Royal Clan Wen Clan is weak and easily bullied!”
Several figures stood by, silent.
Among them were three Quasi-Emperor powerhouses.
No one had ever fully understood the Jiang Clan's true foundation since ancient times. Just one Empress Hongye was already more than they could handle.
The Great Old Ancestor frowned tightly and said in a deep voice: “You are the National Ruler, you should know one thing: a dead Genius is no longer a Genius. A Crown Prince... can be replaced just the same!”
Wen Jian’s expression froze, somewhat unwilling: “Previously, Wen Jingxuan was just a princess, but now that the Crown Prince has been killed, if we still don’t respond, where will the Ancient Xuanwu Kingdom’s face be?”
The Old Ancestors looked at each other, also in a difficult position.
“Wen Jian, you should also be aware of the Jiang Clan’s actions recently. This is clearly a warning to the Various Great Dao Lineages of the Heavens, both a threat and a warning.”
“Among them are some top-tier immortal Dao Lineages. Look at the fate of the Heavenly Dao Academy!”
“Even if we Old Ancestors support you, what can you do?”
“Moreover, that junior Wen Sang proactively provoked Jiang Ye, and even you didn’t know about it beforehand. What qualifications does such an ignorant and foolish person have to be Crown Prince?”
Wen Jian was momentarily speechless.
The root of the problem stemmed from the Wen Clan having no Great Emperor powerhouse to protect them.
Everyone was aware of this.
Even if they had more dissatisfaction with the Jiang Clan, they could only swallow their anger.
“Old Ancestor, if our Wen Clan’s dead Crown Prince is no longer a Crown Prince, then if the Jiang Clan’s Divine Son dies, they can also replace him!”
The Old Ancestors gasped.
The Great Old Ancestor pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice: “You want to secretly attack Jiang Ye?”
Wen Jian’s tone was resolute: “That’s right!”
The Great Old Ancestor’s face showed anger, and he said: “Didn’t you say this concerns the Ancient Xuanwu Kingdom’s face? What’s the point of a secret attack? Can it restore our face?”
“Let this matter drop. I warn you, do not provoke Jiang Ye!”
“That Jiang Ye is Empress Hongye’s only son. If you kill him, Empress Hongye will retaliate at all costs!”
Wen Jian felt deep pain in his heart.
“Are we really just going to let it go like this?”
“Jiang Ye must have an Emperor Talisman of Empress Origin power protecting him. Do you think you can send a Great Emperor powerhouse to act?”
“Even if we want revenge, we’ll have to wait until the Golden Great Era, when we Old Ancestors advance to Great Emperor, to have even a sliver of a chance!”
“Also, the Jiang Clan’s actions have been too extensive recently, and I don’t know what Empress Hongye’s intentions are. She might be planning to start a war...”
“At this time, all forces are observing. We cannot be the first to attract trouble!”
Wen Jian’s heart sank, and he said with some doubt:
“The matter of the innate immortal liquid spiritual pool in the Ancient Immortal Domain... is probably a step down deliberately released by the Jiang Clan, right?”
The Great Old Ancestor said: “Possibly! But it’s definitely not just that...”
“The Ancient Immortal Domain has indeed been quiet for a long time. After all, it is a place of Origin. Now that the Golden Great Era is about to emerge, some rare items might appear...”
“In fact, no one in the Heavens truly dares to openly wage war against the Jiang Clan. Secretly restraining the Jiang Clan’s development is merely a stopgap measure.”
“Now that the matters of the Ancient Immortal Domain and the Hidden Killers Pavilion have been laid bare, other Dao Lineages in the Heavens have also realized that the Jiang Clan might be using this to remind the Various Great Dao Lineages that things are not peaceful outside the Heavens either...”
“Everything must be handled with caution...”