Chapter 148: The Concluding Curtain of the Investiture of the Gods

"May the Sect Leader's divine martial arts shake the world, may your immortal blessings last forever, and may the Divine Music enjoy eternal peace!"

In the grand hall of the Western Teaching, occupying the seat formerly belonging to Zhunti, Ran Deng sat comfortably, basking in the flattery of the crowd below.

By now, well over seventy percent of the disciples in the Western Teaching had chosen to submit to him through a mixture of intimidation and temptation. The small minority who refused had naturally been dealt with using his own methods.

It could be said that the entire Western Teaching now belonged to him entirely!

The position of Sect Leader—a seat that had once seemed just within reach yet infinitely distant—had finally fallen onto his shoulders.

When he first declared the establishment of the Demonic Cult, Ran Deng's heart had actually fluttered with anxiety. He was deeply worried that the mysterious figure might have been deceiving him... If Zhunti had not truly fallen from his Saintly status by then, would he still have a way out?

After all, he did not flatter himself that he could escape with his life from beneath the palm of a Saint.

However, as time drifted on, Ran Deng's worries gradually dissolved.

By now, it was practically certain that the man had not lied to him!

After all, Saints could manifest instantaneously anywhere within the Primordial World—this was already an open secret.

Ran Deng refused to believe that so much time had passed without Zhunti discovering his usurpation of the Western Teaching...

Since Zhunti had noticed yet failed to appear at the very first moment, there was only one possible explanation: Zhunti had truly lost his Saintly status!

"It seems I really placed the right bet this time..."

Murmuring silently to himself, Ran Deng looked down at the crowd below, a smile inevitably blooming across his face.

This was what he had truly desired!

***

Within the chaotic void, a human figure materialized out of thin air. It was Hongjun, who had already merged completely with the Heavenly Dao.

"Demonic?"

Gazing through the boundless expanses of space at the scene unfolding within the Western Teaching, Hongjun could not help but frown slightly.

Yet a moment later, he shook his head.

To a certain extent, the Hongjun of the present was no longer the original Ancestor of Dao, Hongjun, but rather the Heavenly Dao's Hongjun—the concrete consciousness manifestation of the Heavenly Dao itself.

He, the Heavenly Dao, and the entire Primordial World shared a unified destiny: when it prospered, he prospered; when it withered, he withered.

"So be it."

With a soft sigh, Hongjun's figure began to slowly dissolve into nothingness.

Had he still been the old Ancestor of Dao of the Xuanmen sect, his very first reaction upon witnessing the rise of entities bypassing the Immortal Dao would have been to eradicate them utterly. Yet viewed from his current perspective, whether Immortal Dao or Demonic Dao, both were simply paths of cultivation for all living beings... essentially no different at all.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Hongjun seemed to perceive something. His dissipating form instantly solidified, flickered slightly, and vanished beyond the chaos.

"Such is time, such is fate."

Descended slowly, gazing at the black-robed figure before him, Hongjun could not help letting out a soft sigh.

"Who is it?"

The black-robed figure startled, spinning around.

Upon seeing a plainly dressed figure resembling an ordinary mortal elder walking slowly toward him, he fell into a momentary daze.

After all, he certainly did not believe an ordinary mortal could appear soundlessly directly behind him.

Hongjun looked at him, instantly perceiving his identity, and shook his head slightly.

"Speaking of which, you and I share master-disciple affinity, and one of the Saintly seats should have rightfully belonged to you. Pity that the ways of the world are unpredictable..."

A Saintly seat?

The black-robed figure froze. Then, realizing the true identity of this person, his pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively stepped back.

"You are Hongjun?"

"Indeed."

Hongjun nodded, then turned and vanished from the spot.

Naturally, facing someone who had returned from the lands beyond the realms, it was impossible for him to do nothing at all.

It was simply done with utmost subtlety, leaving no one the wiser.

To prevent the man from overthinking, before departing, Hongjun left behind a sentence rich in the philosophy of the Great Dao, profound and unfathomable:

"The Great Dao is solely myself. Regardless of Dao or Buddha, the heart is the foundation, free and untethered in self..."

The lingering echoes reverberated, refusing to disperse for a long time.

******

Meanwhile, Zhunti was still on his journey rushing back to the Western Teaching.

Although he still retained his Saintly realm, having been stripped of his ability to mobilize the power of the Heavenly Dao, he no longer possessed the capital to look down upon all living beings from above.

He was even incapable of instantaneous movement, forcing him to fly back toward the Western Teaching inch by inch.

Yet the West was vast; even though his speed was a hundred times that of an ordinary Quasi-Saint, it would still take him at least several months to reach the Western lands.

Several months was merely the snap of a finger.

Yet for Zhunti at this moment, this journey was undoubtedly an excruciating torment.

For countless years, when had he ever experienced such a plight?

As he pondered this, Zhunti's resentment toward Ran Deng grew even deeper.

He regretted it bitterly—how could he have ever nurtured such an ungrateful wolf?

Simultaneously, he knew that lurking behind this incident must be the shadow of another individual.

conjuring the image of that black-robed figure in his mind, Zhunti's eyes darkened instantly with absolute gloom.

"I should have guarded against him from the very beginning!"

Zhunti cursed his own lack of foresight, regretting his past actions with every fiber of his being.

Alas, there was no medicine for regret in this world. At this very moment, all he desired was to burst into the Western Teaching as quickly as possible and choke that petty villain Ran Deng to death!

While Zhunti hurried westward, the affairs of the Conferment of Gods were also proceeding methodically.

Without the assistance of the disciples of the Jie Sect, facing the ever-growing might of the Xiqi army, Shen Gongbao naturally found himself completely at his wits' end.

As Xiqi grew stronger, numerous wavering lords and nobles naturally surrendered and defected to Xiqi's banner one after another.

Consequently, not long after, the Xiqi army marched right up beneath the walls of Zhaoge City.

True to history, upon the breaching of the city, Di Xin suddenly awakened to his reality.

Realizing that the grand势 had vanished beyond recovery, his heart turned cold and dead, and he prepared to immolate himself in the Star-Catching Tower to secure a dignified end.

Regrettably, he lacked the good fortune recorded in history.

Before he even had the chance to complete his self-immolation, the Xiqi army broke through, and he was skewered through the head by Nezha's spear, obliterating both body and soul instantly...

As for the country-ruining Nine-Tailed Fox, she was naturally captured by the Xiqi army and executed on the spot.

Before her execution, the Nine-Tailed Fox was filled with extreme reluctance and even attempted to reveal that she had been acting under the direct instigation of the Heavenly Court in order to preserve her life.

However, before she could utter those words, Li Tian had already perceived her intent and struck directly, snuffing out her life force...

Naturally, Li Tian also sent down an edict to the Underworld, instructing them to treat the Nine-Tailed Fox favorably. As expected, it would not be long before the Nine-Tailed Fox could be reincarnated as a human.

This could be considered compensation for her; after all, regardless of the circumstances, she had been his own operative...

Not long after, under the counsel of his ministers, Ji Fa held a grand grand ceremony of sacrifice to heaven, proclaiming that the Zhou Dynasty would henceforth replace the Shang as the new ruler of the human race.

From that moment on, this tragic war was officially declared concluded.

Haoyao and Yaochi also stepped out from behind the scenes to begin the Conferment of Gods.

Leaving aside the minor and secondary positions, the three hundred and sixty-five primary positions could essentially be divided into two tiers, the highest being the Lords.

For instance, Jiang Ziya was enfeoffed as the Emperor of Eastern Florescence, Laozi's lay disciple Antarctic Immortal was enfeoffed as the True Lord of the Antarctic, and other fallen second-generation disciples of the Jie Sect were similarly granted titles ending in "Lord," corresponding to the Lordships of the Heavenly Court.

Others, such as Nezha and Yang Jian, belonged to the secondary tier, corresponding to the Marquisate positions of the Heavenly Court.

Overall, the outcome was quite satisfactory.