Martial Arts Crossover: The Sweeping Monk of Wudang? That's our patriarch!

The Celestial Immortal of Tianshan raised the corners of his lips, his smile full of certainty: "Hahaha! Lin Daochen, this time you can't clear your name even if you jump into the Milky Way! One hundred thousand heavenly soldiers have perished here, and the Heavenly Emperor is furious. Let alone ten years, even if you burn out your life lamp, you still won't be able to atone for this heinous crime!"

He laughed loudly, as if he could already see Lin Daochen kneeling on the execution platform, his head falling to the ground.

Before the laughter subsided, a commotion suddenly broke out below—the 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals stood perfectly still, their armor intact, their hair perfectly styled, and not even a single corner of their clothes lifted.

"What? This can't even hurt him?"

Before the immortal from Tianshan could finish speaking, his face suddenly froze, and his pupils contracted sharply—a terrifying thought flashed through his mind: Could this chaotic situation before him be a carefully orchestrated smokescreen from beginning to end? Was it a fake show that Lin Daochen deliberately put on for him?

The thought had barely formed in his mind when he realized: Yes, this was nothing but an illusion created by Lin Daochen! The thought of being completely deceived made his temples throb with anger, and his fury surged to the top of his head.

"You scoundrel Lin Daocheng! How dare you play tricks on this immortal! This score will be settled with the Heavenly Court, one by one—you may escape today, but you can't escape tomorrow! I never imagined you were so cunning!"

The Heavenly Mountain Immortal ultimately underestimated Lin Daochen. He originally thought the other party was just a reckless young man, but he did not expect that this carefully laid plan was already firmly established and irreversible.

He looked up and saw a violent bombardment that tore through the sky crashing down, but Lin Daochen stood still, his clothes unrumped, and none of the 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals around him were injured—that attack was clearly a bluff!

The immortal from Tianshan felt a chill run down his spine: Lin Daochen had never intended to fight back; he had been waiting for this moment from the very beginning.

Almost simultaneously, Lin Daochen roared to the sky, his voice booming like thunder:

"Heavenly Emperor! You must be watching! Are you really going to sit idly by and let this person run rampant, killing innocent people indiscriminately? I don't trust such leniency, and I don't condone such a lack of moral judgment!"

At this moment, in the Lingxiao Palace, the Heavenly Emperor's Eyes and Ears of the Wind and Eyes of a Thousand Miles were looking down upon the mortal realm. As the Heavenly Emperor's eyes and ears, no movement in the mortal world could escape their notice. Every move of the Heavenly Mountain Immortal was being watched closely.

Before the words were finished, a golden light suddenly cleaved through the clouds in the sky, and a powerful and undeniable voice rolled down—it was the Heavenly Emperor himself.

He watched the whole thing with a cold eye, fully aware of the Heavenly Immortal's scheme: to use someone else to do his dirty work, to use the lives of 100,000 heavenly soldiers as bait, and then to crush Lin Daochen into dust under the pretext of "dereliction of duty".

The Heavenly Emperor's fear of the Heavenly Mountain Immortal was not due to his abilities, but rather because of the Ziwei Emperor behind him—a person of equal rank to the Heavenly Emperor, and the Heavenly Mountain Immortal was his descendant who had fallen to the mortal realm.

This matter was kept extremely secret, and no one dared to mention it. The higher-ups in the Heavenly Court were tacitly aware of it, while the cultivators in the lower realms had never heard of it. Even if a word were to leak out, it would be extinguished instantly—those who leaked it would either die on the spot or be cast into the cycle of reincarnation, to be hunted down for countless lifetimes.

Legend has it that a rogue cultivator once inadvertently revealed the truth, and as a result, he was pursued by the Heavenly Mountain Immortal for eight lifetimes: in each reincarnation, as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the immortal standing before his bed, ready to strike him down. This went on for eight lifetimes, with seventy-nine soul-severing attempts, until the eightieth time, when the Heavenly Mountain Immortal finally stopped and let him go.

Such methods were enough to silence all cultivators. Who would dare to oppose him? Who would dare to even glance at him?

But Lin Daochen refused to give in. He met the piercing gaze of the Heavenly Mountain Immortal without yielding an inch, showing no fear whatsoever—no matter how powerful his backing or how sinister his origins, he was determined to accept this challenge today.

The Heavenly Emperor nodded inwardly, admiring Lin Daochen's courage. However, the Heavenly Rules were ironclad, and truth and falsehood could not be confused. Even though he admired him greatly, his stance could not waver: if the Purple Star Emperor were to personally come to question him, he would also be held responsible.

"Lin Daochen, I know the fault lies with the Celestial Immortal of Tianshan. But he is, after all, a powerful immortal who governs a region, and should not be easily humiliated. How about this—I will compensate you for all the losses this time. From now on, let's call it quits and not cause any more trouble."

Upon hearing this, Lin Daochen's brows immediately furrowed, and his face darkened—good heavens, he had exhausted all his efforts and traversed three thousand miles of snow and ice to find this place, and now he was expected to abandon it? No way! Her eyes turned icy, and her voice suddenly rose:

"Heavenly Emperor, isn't your judgment far too hurtful? If everyone were to shirk responsibility like you, what right would the Heavenly Court have to command the Three Realms?"

Before the words had even finished, the Heavenly Emperor was instantly enraged. For a thousand years, who had dared to openly rebuke his inappropriate behavior? Now, a mere mortal cultivator dared to point a finger at him and question him—it was like a knife scraping his face and fire burning his throat!

As the supreme saint of the Nine Heavens, who has been in charge of the laws of heaven for ten thousand years, how could he allow such an insignificant person to humiliate him in public?

"Hmph! You ungrateful wretch! I advised you out of consideration for your arduous cultivation; since you insist on hitting a wall, then so be it—I'm too lazy to mediate for you any longer, and I won't utter a single word to exonerate you!"

As the words faded, the Heavenly Emperor's oppressive aura abruptly vanished. But at that very moment, atop a distant mountain, the Heavenly Mountain Immortal's lips curled into a sinister smile.

"Hahaha... Lin Daochen, no matter who you are, in the end you still have to bow down and help me, right? Since you've chosen to oppose me, don't blame me for personally dragging you into this doomed trap!"

"Remember this—from this day forward, I will pursue you to the netherworld, haunt you through countless reincarnations, until death do us part! I only hope you won't one day kneel and beg me to stop!"

After saying that, he turned to leave, but before he could even move his heels, a cold, iron-like laugh appeared behind him.

Connections? Ha, even in this desolate desert beyond the heavens, such parasites who live off the land can emerge? Since they've already thoroughly understood the rules, why should I bother to abide by them?

"You so-called immortals are nothing but a bunch of worthless rotten wood draped in cloud robes! I used to think that those who cultivate the Tao were all pure and detached from desires, walking only the path of the Great Tao. But seeing you today, it truly chills me to the bone!"

"You love to play favorites? You love to be unfair? Fine! I'll show you what real injustice is!"

His gaze swept over the celestial soldiers and generals arrayed around him, his smile growing colder. Since the Heavenly Emperor had already turned ruthless, why should he bother to reason with him, putting on that hypocritical facade? Might makes right, and aggression speaks louder than words.

A low roar suddenly exploded, silencing the heavens and earth! The entire sky seemed to be gripped tightly by a giant hand, trembling violently. The Heavenly Emperor's figure, which had already faded from the clouds, was forcibly pulled back by this overwhelming killing intent.

Lin Daochen's robes fluttered in the wind, his brows sharp as blades, and his entire body radiating a murderous aura that seemed capable of tearing the void apart—the Heavenly Emperor's throat tightened, and he ultimately dared not utter the word "punishment" again, only letting out a long sigh, his tone revealing a hint of weariness:

Why are you doing this? It's pointless for you, but have you considered this—

"Behind the Heavenly Immortal stands the Purple Star Emperor! With a single stomp of his foot, the four seas boil and the heavens change color! You have offended him today; in this vast world, is there even a place for you to stand?"

Lin Daochen remained calm and composed, the wind ruffling his sleeves, undisturbed, as if the warnings were nothing more than grains of sand passing by his ears.

He didn't want to fight this battle; but if he couldn't even get a fair word, then he would overturn the table with a clear conscience and turn the world upside down!

"Alright... Since you're determined to venture into this den of dragons and tigers, I won't stop you." The Heavenly Emperor paused, his voice slightly deep. "I'll go to the Ziwei Palace and deliver a message for you—I can't guarantee your safe escape, but at least, I'll get him to temporarily back down and not personally eliminate you."

After speaking, a flash of golden light appeared, and the figure vanished without a trace. The desert returned to deathly silence, the wind whipping up yellow sand that lashed at Lin Daochen's face. He stood silently for a long time, without uttering a word.

He didn't necessarily want to be stabbed in the face of blood and die on the spot. All he ever wanted was a just response.

If even this sound is too precious to be granted, then today, he would rather overturn the entire chessboard of Heaven—so that no one can sit back and watch the game unfold.

"Alas... in the end, it's no use trying to persuade him. With Lin Daochen's temperament, he probably wouldn't even blink if a lightning tribulation struck him on the head. Now, his conflict with the Heavenly Mountain Immortal is irreconcilable. If the conflict intensifies further, the Ziwei Emperor will lead his army, with three thousand divine armored warriors pressing in, and the Heavenly Court will likely be stained with blood at the Southern Heavenly Gate..."

The Thousand-Mile Eye and the Wind-Following Ear, who were standing nearby, immediately narrowed their eyes and frowned – they had sensed that things were going badly, but they hadn’t expected them to have deteriorated to this extent, and their hearts sank.

"Your Majesty, what should we do now? Should we just let this fellow run rampant and act with impunity?"

The Heavenly Emperor slowly shook his head, his voice low yet carrying immense weight: "Of course we cannot sit idly by. Even though the situation is as dire as a broken string, we cannot simply wait to die; we must fight back."

"How about this—since the battle between Lin Daochen and the Heavenly Mountain Immortal is unavoidable, let's set up a fair arena. By leveraging their momentum, we might be able to turn this deadlock into an opportunity."

"If we allow them to tear each other apart in private, not only will the Heavenly Court lose face, but if things get out of control, it may overturn the foundation of the Three Realms."

"The Great Emperor Ziwei... It's been many years since I last saw him. I wonder what he's been busy with deep within the Star Enclosure lately. He's probably already forgotten about this old man."

The Heavenly Emperor sighed softly and stopped thinking about it. As the ruler of the Heavenly Court, he had mountains of memorials piled up on his desk, so he couldn't afford to dwell on any one matter for long.

The Heavenly Court quickly fell silent, and the Heavenly Emperor had already decided on his course of action regarding Lin Daochen.

Lin Daochen, far away outside the Cloud Cliff, was completely unaware of this. His eyes burned as he stared intently at the Heavenly Mountain Immortal before him, his killing intent almost tangible, just one opportune moment away from tearing the man to pieces on the spot.

"What, junior, do you really intend to draw your sword here?" The immortal from Tianshan sneered, his sleeves fluttering slightly. "Did you hear the Heavenly Emperor's decree just now? If you touch me now, you will be defying the laws of Heaven and disobeying orders—when the heavenly army arrives, you won't even have a place to cry for justice."

Lin Daochen merely smiled faintly, turning his head to the side, his gaze sharp as a blade: "Dare or not? Ha... In this world, there is no such thing as 'dare or not', only 'worth it'."

Over the years, he has comprehended the great Dao, seeing through the fact that this world is nothing more than a grand illusion. So-called good and evil, right and wrong, black and white are merely footnotes written by the strong. Where profit lies, rules can be changed; where power reaches, history can be rewritten.

Too lazy to waste any more words, he simply stared at the other person, his tone calm to the point of being almost cold:

"You've committed countless evils, and I know you have powerful backers and deep roots, so I can't do anything to you right now. But the damage is done, and there's no going back. I don't ask you to be brought to justice, I only ask that you publicly bow to those mortals you've trampled on and apologize—can you bear that weight?"

The immortal of Tianshan threw his head back and laughed, his laughter filled with mockery and arrogance: "Ha! You want me to bow down to ants? Do you know they are not even as good as the dust under my feet? With a flick of my finger, not even ashes remain!"

"You expect me to bow down? You expect me to admit my mistakes? Do you even have any respect for the phrase 'Immortal of Tianshan'? We stand atop the clouds, not to kowtow to lowly mortals!"

Before he finished speaking, a murderous aura surged like a cold tide. His eyes flashed with ferocity, and he wished he could immediately massacre the Heavenly Gate—he had long found those heavenly soldiers and generals an eyesore, and if it weren't for the Heavenly Emperor guarding the palace, he would have burned the Lingxiao Palace to the ground long ago.