After guarding the gates for a hundred years, I drove the Heavenly Saint to madness.

The four Heavenly Saints transformed into streams of light and vanished into chaos, finally causing the immense, overwhelming pressure that had pressed down on the Jiepai Pass for millennia to recede like a tide.

The sky returned to its clear state, and the late autumn sun pierced through the clouds, shining once again on the majestic fortress riddled with holes.

Seeing the several completely vanished wisps of energy, Xiao Wuji, who had been standing with his hands behind his back, suddenly relaxed his taut, iron-like back.

He let out a barely perceptible long sigh, the breath he had been holding in his chest for so long. A fine layer of cold sweat had seeped from his palms, which were hanging in his sleeves.

"fine."

Xiao Wuji secretly broke out in a cold sweat.

Although he had great confidence in the Primordial Pure Land produced by the system, this was, after all, his first time facing a true Heavenly Sage.

The power of the sage was simply too outrageous. The power to create and destroy countless worlds with a single thought left him completely unsure of the opponent's destructive limits.

If I really push that old madman Yuanshi Tianzun to the edge and he throws a tantrum, flipping the table and using some forbidden, self-destructive method to forcibly cleave the light barrier open, then I'll truly be done for today.

Fortunately, the system remained resilient, and Yuanshi Tianzun ultimately failed to break through this absolute defense, and could only retreat in resentment.

"Good lad!"

A hearty laugh came from beside me.

The Tongtian Sect Leader strode forward, carrying the Qingping Sword, his eyes filled with admiration and curiosity as he looked Xiao Wuji up and down.

"What kind of divine object is this light barrier? It can even withstand the primordial power of that bastard Yuanshi, and even force the four sages to return empty-handed?"

Faced with his master's question, Xiao Wuji composed himself, bowed deeply to apologize, and looked respectful.

"Master, please forgive me. This item was obtained by chance, and it involves many things. I really cannot explain its origin to you."

He naturally couldn't reveal the existence of the system.

Upon hearing this, the Tongtian Sect Leader waved his hand dismissively and smiled nonchalantly.

"It's alright! Every cultivator in the primordial world has their own secrets and opportunities."

"Now that it's in your hands, that's your skill. If you don't want to talk about it, I naturally won't ask any more questions."

After laughing, the Tongtian Sect Leader's expression turned serious.

He glanced at the faint light enveloping Jiepai Pass and said in a deep voice, "Wuji, your peculiar light barrier is indeed strong, and its defense is nothing short of heaven-defying."

"But Yuanshi, Laozi and the others retreated today only because they couldn't see through the true nature of this light barrier, and they still had reservations and didn't want to waste their source power in vain."

"The methods of a sage are endless. If we let them go back and deduce the solution, they might find a way to break the deadlock. This light barrier might not be able to hold indefinitely."

"You should come back to Jin'ao Island with me."

Listening to the Tongtian Sect Leader's advice, Xiao Wuji smiled noncommittally and declined again.

"I appreciate your kindness, Master. But Jiepai Pass is my foundation and the gateway to the Great Shang Dynasty."

"If I retreat, the soldiers and civilians in this city will have no way to survive." Xiao Wuji's tone was calm, but it revealed an unwavering determination.

Seeing Xiao Wuji's stubbornness, a hint of helplessness flashed in the eyes of the Tongtian Sect Leader, but more than that, he admired Xiao Wuji's backbone.

"Fine!"

The Grand Master of Heaven declared with boundless pride, "Since you are unwilling to leave, then I will grant your wish!"

"The Ten Thousand Immortals Formation is nearing completion. I originally planned to set it up at Tongguan or Chuanyun Pass. However, since your Jiepai Pass possesses such absolute defense, in a few days, I will lead the immortals of the Jie Sect to relocate the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation directly here!"

"At that time, with your grand array's light barrier as a shield and my Myriad Immortals Array as a spear, the two will complement each other. I want to see what those four sages will use to break through!"

The more the Tongtian Sect Leader spoke, the more he felt the plan was feasible, and his eyes gleamed with fighting spirit.

He turned his head and gently instructed Yunxiao to rest and recuperate here, and not to act rashly again.

Then, in a great hurry, it transformed into a towering sword beam and headed straight for Jin'ao Island in the East China Sea, clearly to gather its forces and prepare for relocation.

Watching his grandmaster's departing figure, Xiao Wuji opened his mouth.

He wanted to say that with the Primordial Pure Land in existence, there was no need for the Myriad Immortals Array to be superfluous. But in the end, he didn't say it.

He knew very well that in the eyes of the Tongtian Sect Master, the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, which gathered all the fortune of the Jie Sect, was the only means to fight against the Four Sages. Forcibly stopping it would only make his grandmaster suspicious.

"Fine, let them move in then."

Xiao Wuji thought to himself, "Anyway, with the Hunyuan Pure Land as a safety net, Jiepai Pass is as solid as a rock."

If the myriad immortals of the Jie Sect were truly gathered here, with this invincible shield protecting them, they would at least not be slaughtered by the four saints unilaterally as they were destined to be.

After seeing off the Tongtian Sect Leader, only Xiao Wuji and his disciple Yunxiao remained on the city wall.

Xiao Wuji turned around and looked at Yunxiao, who was dressed in white and whose face was still somewhat pale. His eyes softened instantly.

"Master, you have suffered greatly at Qilin Cliff. Now that the crisis has been temporarily resolved, let me take you to the back room to rest." Xiao Wuji stepped forward, wanting to help you up.

"Master, you have suffered greatly at Qilin Cliff. Now that the crisis has been temporarily resolved, let me take you to the back room to rest." Xiao Wuji stepped forward, wanting to help you up.

Yunxiao gently shook her head, stopping him.

Her eyes, as clear as autumn water, gazed silently at the young man before her, a torrent of complex emotions churning within them.

"Being a teacher is not tiring."

Yunxiao said softly, her voice revealing a hint of relief at surviving a disaster.

"Wuji, come with me for a walk. What exactly happened in the outside world during these days of suppression? You have so much to tell me."

"Okay." Xiao Wuji nodded in agreement.

The two walked down from the city wall and came to the secluded pavilion in the backyard of the general's mansion.

Xiao Wuji brewed a pot of immortal tea made from Huangzhong plums, and the steam rose gently.

Under Yunxiao's watchful gaze, he recounted in detail everything that had happened since the defeat of the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation and her imprisonment at Qilin Cliff.

From rescuing Grand Tutor Wen at Jue Long Ridge to retreating to Jie Pai Pass;

From setting up a formation to block Xiqi, to angrily beheading Taiyi Zhenren on the battlefield;

From capturing Puxian alive and displaying him on a flagpole, to the later interference of the demon master Kunpeng and the assassination attempt by the Taoist Ran Deng, and finally to the earth-shattering battle that forced the four saints to retreat just now.

These incidents, one by one, made Yunxiao's heart pound with fear.

She was furious at the shamelessness of the Golden Immortal of the Chan Sect, and even more astonished that her disciple, who was originally of mediocre talent, had actually unleashed such potential in such a desperate situation.

But after all the shock and anger subsided, what remained in Yunxiao's heart was only a deep sense of pity.

No one knew better than her the terrifying pressure and danger a third-generation disciple would have to endure facing the might of a saint in this perilous Investiture of the Gods.

Every step is like dancing on a knife's edge; the slightest misstep could lead to utter ruin.

A thin layer of mist rose in Yunxiao's eyes.

She slowly extended her slender, white fingers, across the stone table, and very gently smoothed out a crease on the collar of Xiao Wuji's black Taoist robe.

The movements were gentle, yet they conveyed an indescribable warmth.

"Wuji" (无极).

Yunxiao's voice trembled slightly, and his gaze did not seem to be looking at a powerful being who shook the primordial world, but rather at a close relative who had suffered greatly.

"You've suffered these past few days."