NOVPUBIn the Primal Chaos Realm, the God Honors who exist either have the backing of grotto heavens sacred ground with roots in the Upper Realm Tao Doctrine and can plead with the clerks of the Immortal Officials Division, being the typical "well-connected in the Upper World,"
or the vast majority of other God Honors, who are most often born local deities and received their divine position by imperial decree from the Heavenly Court before they became gods.
After thousands and millions of years of devoted cultivation, they were eventually promoted by the Heavenly Court Canonical Gods during the divine path assessment.
This is the most conventional way to achieve the status of God Honor, but there is also another method, which is the most difficult: to fill in a divine name into a blank Heavenly Court Decree and then complete the decree by incense offering—a step that elevates one to God Honor.
Heavenly Court Decrees are hard to find across the worlds, and the difficulty of finding a blank Heavenly Court Decree is, in fact, a hundred times harder than directly asking a Heavenly Official for the position of God Honor. Such blank decrees almost only exist in legends.
The thoughts of Giant Mountain Divine Venerable wavered as his gaze swept over the local deities in the hall without a trace.
With so many canonical gods present, there was absolutely no way to keep this blank Heavenly Court Decree, unless he was willing to take action and kill all the Incense Offering Canonical Gods.
At this thought, a hint of killing intent rose in the eyes of the Giant Mountain Divine Venerable, but it was gone in a flash.
The many Incense Offering Canonical Gods present were part of the Donghuang Divine System, and although they were under his rule, they were, in fact, still subordinate to the Eastern Glory Divine Monarch.
Killing so many Incense Offering Canonical Gods would inevitably expose issues, and when that happened, fleeing the Donghuang Divine System would be the only option.
He had already obtained the position of God Honor, so although this blank Heavenly Court Decree was precious, it was not to the extent that he must obtain it at all costs, and it was completely unnecessary to pay such a huge price.
Putting aside his thoughts, Giant Mountain Divine Venerable, holding the blank Heavenly Court Decree, turned his gaze to Yu Ke.
He had originally thought that Yu Ke was just a once-proud figure who had fallen from a high position, but now Yu Ke actually produced a blank Heavenly Court Decree, forcing him to take the other’s words seriously.
After pondering for a moment, the Giant Mountain Divine Venerable spoke in a cold voice,
"This blank Heavenly Court Decree is indeed valuable, and I will relay your request to His Majesty the Divine Monarch."
"Speak! Who do you wish to kill?"
Yu Ke respectfully bowed, his usually stoic face finally showing some emotional fluctuations.
Hate, fear, and confusion interwove across his face as his trembling lips slowly parted:
"I wish to request the Eastern Glory Divine Monarch to take action and suppress the Falling Clouds Taoist!"
Not a hint of surprise showed on the face of Giant Mountain Divine Venerable, but rather an expression as if he had anticipated this.
As he stroked the blank Heavenly Court Decree, the Giant Mountain Divine Venerable said with profound meaning,
"Seeing your earlier calmness, I thought you had truly given up on taking revenge on that Falling Clouds Taoist.
It seems now that you are not willing to let it go!"
Seeing that Yu Ke was unmoved, Giant Mountain Divine Venerable suddenly changed his tone and said,
"However, His Majesty the Divine Monarch is currently in retreat. A mere blank Heavenly Court Decree is not enough to compel His Majesty the Divine Monarch to break from seclusion and take action against the Falling Clouds Taoist. You’d better go back!"
Even though he said this, Giant Mountain Divine Venerable had no intention of handing over the blank Heavenly Court Decree; instead, he actively stored it in his storage space.
Inside the side hall, the ardent light in the eyes of the Incense Offering Canonical Gods dimmed slightly as the blank Heavenly Court Decree was put away.
Seeing this, Yu Ke’s voice grew low as he questioned,
"The Falling Clouds Taoist has appeared in Huayu County, where he killed the seated Huayu Mountain God and took the Time Exotic Treasure that had fallen there.
"Facing such provocation by the Falling Clouds Taoist, does the Donghuang Divine System really not wish to suppress him and maintain the dignity of the Divine System?"
Laughter emanated from the mouth of Giant Mountain Divine Venerable, filled with disdain,
"A clumsy attempt at sowing discord."
"If that Falling Clouds Taoist were merely a Loose Cultivator, my Donghuang Divine System would certainly not mind taking back the Time Exotic Treasure.
"But don’t forget that Little Clarity Void Grotto Heavens was the first to seek revenge against the Falling Clouds Taoist, and it was you who chose to give up later.
"Why would my Donghuang Divine System offend the Daoist hidden lineage just for the sake of a mere Incense Offering Canonical God?"
Within the territory of the Great Yin Imperial Dynasty, there are many divine systems and grotto heavens sacred grounds standing in great numbers, but amidst such powerful forces, the Donghuang Divine System is one of the few that can claim a domain.
In fact, the power of the Donghuang Divine System is not the most top-notch, but to be able to develop to its current size, naturally, the Donghuang Divine System has its own way of survival.
As early as the establishment of the divine system, the Eastern Glory Divine Monarch made a promise to the Mortal Emperor that the Donghuang Divine System would not step out of the Donghuang Domain.
For the Great Yin, eliminating the Donghuang Divine System would only lead to more and stronger divine systems and sects taking its place. If the Eastern Glory Divine Monarch could keep his promise and allow it to develop within the Donghuang Domain, it might not be such a bad thing.
The Donghuang Divine System had come into a period of development that lasted for thousands of years, its influence permeating the entire Donghuang Domain, compelling even the Great Yin to be mindful.
However, even so, the Donghuang Divine System still abided by past promises and had not expanded their power in the slightest.
For a Divine System that could occupy an entire region, what mattered most was not the dignity of the Divine System and a penchant for vengeance but understanding how to weigh the pros and cons.
Clearly, the advantages of killing Falling Clouds Taoist were far outweighed by the disadvantages it brought.
Yu Ke said coldly, "The name of the Falling Clouds Sect is only perceived from the Taoist scriptures and is not confirmed by any evidence.
Furthermore, even hidden Taoist lineages need cultivation resources and must interact with the outside world, which will inevitably leave traces.
Yet the Falling Clouds Sect seems to have never existed at all, with no evidence to prove its existence."
Giant Mountain Divine Venerable’s eyes narrowed slightly at Yu Ke’s words, but he did not retort.
Seeing this, Yu Ke continued to speak:
"I have enough evidence to prove that the disappearance of Falling Clouds Taoist these three years is related to the space-time turbulence incident.
It’s very likely that the 10 Realms Soul Pursuit altar couldn’t track him due to the influence of the space-time disturbance."
Giant Mountain Divine Venerable’s expression twitched, but he remained as immovable as Mount Tai.
Finally, a sense of urgency appeared on Yu Ke’s face.
He hesitated, his expression grave as he clenched his teeth and said:
"I also have information about Falling Clouds Taoist that may be of assistance to Giant Mountain Divine Venerable."
As he spoke, Yu Ke looked around at the Incense Offering Canonical Gods who were all ears.
Giant Mountain Divine Venerable understood the other’s intention and with a wave of his large hand, he directly drove the thoughts of all the Incense Offering Canonical Gods out of the side hall.
"Now you can speak."
Yu Ke stepped towards Giant Mountain Divine Venerable’s shrine seat, saying solemnly:
"The item Falling Clouds Taoist obtained from the space-time turbulence is very likely related to that Heavenly General Great Divine Power, Rebounding Wind Returning Fire!"
Giant Mountain Divine Venerable’s eyes went round, and his massive body rose from the shrine seat, towering over Yu Ke oppressively.
"Is that truly the case?"
"I am willing to make a grand oath on the Human Path. If there is any falsehood, may I fall into the City of Wrongful Death, never to reincarnate for all eternity!"
"Good!"
Giant Mountain Divine Venerable’s face revealed wild joy, and then his sky-obscuring hand, carrying the weight of a myriad of forces, suddenly descended upon Yu Ke.
In an instant, Yu Ke’s figure was completely crushed, his Spirit Soul and True Spirit were annihilated under the power of the Divine Path.
After doing all this, Giant Mountain Divine Venerable stepped out of the side hall, his angry voice echoing throughout the entire Donghuang Divine Palace.
"Falling Clouds Taoist dares to kill my Donghuang Divine System’s Incense Offering Canonical Gods, this is simply intolerable!"
The next moment, his enormous body shrank, transforming into a Flight of Light that shot into the cloud firmament.
The vast side hall fell into silence, with the dust from the crushed Yu Ke swirling in the air.
After a while, those particles suddenly converged towards the spot where Yu Ke’s body had fallen, as if time was flowing backward. The barely perceptible dust rapidly reconstituted into a physical body.
The Spirit Soul, too, was restored through the reversal of time, and Yu Ke returned from the dead.
"So this is what death feels like?"
Yu Ke looked somewhat startled, subconsciously looking down at his chest covered by his black robe, where a black and gold authority token was inlaid.
If Shen Yuan were here, he would certainly realize that the material of the black and gold token was almost completely identical to the Heaven’s Decree Secret Order, except that the token was not engraved with a colossal hand destroying a heavenly pillar, but a fish swimming upstream.
In the center of the token, two large Taoist characters were written.
Dragon Gate!
