Primordial Era: Taibai, the Poison Master of Yaochi, drives a Sage insane!

The vow, once made, has become an unalterable judgment of destiny.

These words caused an uproar throughout the hall. Countless cultivators felt a sense of relief and were moved by the Emperor's fairness and magnanimity. No one knew that this oath had already sealed the great cause of Xiqi for ten thousand years.

Seeing this, Tian Shou's eyes flashed with a hint of understanding, but his face remained respectful and polite. He immediately turned to look at Kong Xuan, who was overseeing the battlefield, and made a suggestion.

"General Kong Xuan, the Holy Emperors have already sworn an oath in public, and Heaven bears witness. We, the border soldiers, have fulfilled our duties and have given our dues to both superiors and subordinates. There is no need to continue this stalemate and obstruction. Why not lift the siege and let them pass, thus ending this dispute?"

Kong Xuan pondered quietly for a moment, and his mind was now clear about the entire situation.

At this moment, the Human Emperor has made a public oath, with Heaven as witness and all people as witnesses, fulfilling all legal and human sentiments. If we continue to forcibly obstruct him, it would be an open defiance of the ancient traditions of the human race and a violation of the Holy Emperor's oath. Not only would we fail to capture Ji Chang, but we would also be branded as disrespectful to our ancestors and disrupting the traditions of the human race, resulting in more harm than good and only adding to the trouble.

After weighing the pros and cons, Kong Xuan stopped insisting, nodded slightly, and solemnly issued the order.

"Yes, convey my order: immediately lift the encirclement and allow Ji Chang to leave the pass!"

Military orders are like mountains, spreading instantly throughout the three armies. The Shang generals who had been besieging the four sides all withdrew their troops and disbanded their formations, and the murderous aura that filled the sky instantly dissipated.

Tian Shou followed closely behind, solemnly issuing orders that resonated throughout the army.

"Issue my order! Remove the barriers and restrictions, open the passage, and allow Marquis Ji Chang of Xibo to leave immediately!"

The face-to-face maneuvering at Sanshan Pass and the guarantee from the Human Emperor completely unfolded the complex dynamics of the entire Investiture of the Gods calamity. From then on, the tug-of-war and clashes between various parties would no longer be a straightforward linear progression, but would be filled with checks and balances and traps, making the situation instantly intriguing.

It can be said that the core of Li Bai's plan this time is exactly the same as the unsolvable predicament of the Nine-Turned Intestines, leaving no room for compromise or easing.

If the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were unwilling to publicly vouch for Ji Chang's lifelong loyalty, in the eyes of the myriad immortals of the primordial world, it would be tantamount to assuming that Ji Chang harbored rebellious intentions. Even the Human Emperor, who transmitted the Daoist lineage, would not dare to endorse his character. The imperial court's arrest warrant could then be issued legitimately, and Tian Shou and Kong Xuan could directly join forces to capture Ji Chang on the spot, rendering the Chan Sect's centuries-long plan to create a god useless.

However, if he were to publicly swear an oath to guarantee Ji Chang's right to do so, he would be putting an eternal shackle on Ji Chang. In this life, he would have no legitimate reason to wage war against Shang or to fight for the human kingship. If he were to make any move, he would be betraying the oath of the human emperor. His reputation as a sage would instantly turn into a stain that deceived the ancient sage emperor, and he would no longer be able to offer any righteous cause of punishing the tyrannical and bringing peace to the people.

Two paths lie before us. No matter which one we choose, the core foundation of the Chan Sect's secret scheme will be damaged. There is no perfect solution.

Ji Chang seems to have successfully exited the pass, escaped the encirclement of the Three Mountains Pass, and temporarily avoided capture. Inside the Jade Pool Wonderland, Li Taibai looked at the slowly dissipating barriers and restrictions in the lower realm, feeling relaxed and unable to hide a smile on his face.

"We never expected that the emperors would actually agree to this guarantee and oath. This situation has already fallen into the trajectory we anticipated."

Yaochi stood to the side, quietly looking down at the human territory below, her heart still filled with disbelief!

Li Bai's current understanding of the art of diplomacy is simply too profound; he has completely grasped the essence of things.

Li Taibai smiled and said, "The time left for the Holy Emperors of Huoyun Cave to deliberate and weigh the options is already very limited. At this moment, the entire prehistoric world is filled with the eyes of reclusive great powers, rogue immortals, and various sects, all of whom are focused on the sky above Sanshan Pass. Every move they make is under the watchful eyes of thousands. The situation is out in the open, and there is no room for prolonged hesitation or delay."

"If he refuses to vouch for Ji Chang on the spot, we will not need to do anything. All living beings in the world will naturally believe that Ji Chang has long harbored rebellious intentions. Kong Xuan holds the seal of the Great Shang Commander and can directly arrest him according to the document of accusation against rebellion. The human sages that the Chan Sect has painstakingly cultivated will become prisoners on the spot, and all the preparations will be reduced to nothing."

"After weighing the pros and cons, the Emperor and his entourage had no choice but to swear an oath on the spot. However, they would then use the oath to bind only Ji Chang and support Ji Chang's sons to raise an army and start a rebellion, thus avoiding the constraints of the oath made today."

Yaochi frowned slightly, a layer of doubt arising in her heart, and asked softly.

"But the guarantee that the Emperor made in public today only applies to Ji Chang himself; Ji Chang's descendants are not included in the oath. Can this really avoid all the drawbacks?"

Li Taibai shook his head slightly: "Nominally, the oath is only bound to Ji Chang. His descendants are not bound by the written word, but the blood ties cannot be severed. When people see Xiqi raising an army, they will naturally regard the father and son as one. Since it is Ji Chang's descendants who raise an army, they are inherently carrying an indelible shortcoming. People will remember that the true leader of Xiqi has long been bound by the oath of the Emperor to not cause trouble. Now, raising an army is just a decision made by the younger generation. It can no longer generate the spontaneous and righteous momentum of the people to punish the tyrannical."

"Furthermore, we deliberately left this gap, which was part of our strategy of surrounding three sides and leaving one open. If we completely blocked the entire path for Xiqi to raise an army, the Chan Sect would lose Ji Chang as a pawn and would only waste resources to select a new human representative and make new arrangements, which would create more uncontrollable variables and would not benefit our plans. Leaving a loophole for the other side to exploit, forcing them to rely on Ji Chang's offspring to act, will make all their actions inherently flawed. In the long run, this is beneficial to both the Heavenly Court and the Jie Sect."

Yaochi sighed softly after hearing this, her eyes filled with admiration.

"Taibai can see through all the choices and sacrifices in people's hearts, and calculate all the advantages and disadvantages of heaven and earth. He is truly infallible. After the incident at Sanshan Pass, Ji Chang, this pawn carefully crafted by the Chan Sect, has completely lost its original value and can no longer bear the heavy responsibility of the core of the war against Shang."

Li Bai nodded slowly, his words revealing Ji Chang's current awkward situation.

"That's right. In the eyes of the Chan Sect, Ji Chang is now just a piece of chicken rib that's neither tasty to eat nor a pity to throw away. It would be too much of a waste to discard the hundreds of years of building momentum and laying the groundwork, but keeping him with the oath guaranteed by the Human Emperor means he can no longer play his original role in building momentum. He's a hindrance from both sides."

Upon hearing this, Yaochi couldn't help but chuckle softly, her brows and eyes relaxing.

"Pfft... Taibai's assessment is truly insightful. The word 'chicken rib' perfectly captures Ji Chang's current predicament. Now that the situation has reached this point, how should we proceed with our established plans?"

Li Bai lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, sorting out the subsequent plan in his mind, and slowly stated the next move.

"Continue to advance the previously established plan. Instruct Tian Shou to secretly support another human force, find suitable candidates to accumulate strength, and raise an army together to rebel against the Shang in the future. This time, the Three Mountains Pass has caused such a great disturbance. Su Daji, who is in Chaoge and is in charge of the harem and stirring up the court, will definitely regard Tian Shou and his seven companions as a thorn in her side and the biggest obstacle on the road to Xiqi. She will try every means to suppress and eliminate them. This is exactly the perfect opportunity that we can take advantage of."

Upon hearing this, Yaochi was startled and instinctively exclaimed in surprise.

"Should we personally support a force to rise up against the Shang Dynasty?"

Li Taibai raised his eyes and looked towards Chaoge, his tone resolute as he spoke of the general trend of the human race.

"The collapse of the Shang dynasty's fortune and its inevitable demise were predetermined by the Great Tribulation. Rather than simply watching Xiqi dominate, we should support the human forces under our control to launch simultaneous military campaigns. With two forces fighting against the Shang in parallel, they can complement and check each other. This way, we can take more control over the future direction of the human world and prevent it from falling entirely into the control of the Chan Sect."

Yaochi pondered for a moment, then pressed for details.

"If we want to support the human race in raising an army, where should we choose as our base?"

Li Taibai did not answer immediately. His gaze returned to the Three Mountains Pass below. He was now certain that all his deductions had come to fruition as expected. Yuanshi Tianzun must be furious at this moment, and there would be no shortage of questioning and disputes in the Jade Void Palace.

As events unfolded, they perfectly matched all of Li Bai's predictions.

At the Three Mountains Pass, the Emperor made his vow. Inside the Jade Void Palace, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable's Daoist aura surged, unable to suppress his overwhelming rage. The atmosphere inside the hall was extremely tense and chilling.

The Antarctic Immortal, Guang Chengzi, and all the core second-generation disciples of the Chan Sect returned to the Jade Void Palace, standing with their heads bowed on either side of the main hall, not daring to utter a sound.

The Primordial Celestial Venerable was filled with rage and had nowhere to vent it. He was filled with resentment, and this plan to create gods could be described as a failed attempt to steal a chicken and losing the rice instead.

The complete set of hexagram principles of the Sixty-Four Hexagrams was originally deduced and perfected by the Primordial Celestial Venerable. He specially entrusted it to the Antarctic Immortal to pass on to Ji Chang. By using the name of the origin of the Eight Trigrams of Fuxi, he created a human sage revered by all people. Relying on this chess piece, he controlled the human order after the end of the Investiture of the Gods and firmly grasped the right to speak in the human world.

Who could have predicted that all the groundwork laid out would be completely exposed during the confrontation at Sanshan Pass? Not only did it fail to perfectly portray Ji Chang as a sage, but it also handed over the merits and reputation of the Sixty-Four Hexagrams to Fuxi, allowing the Human Emperor to use this set of hexagram principles to win over the hearts of the people, while the Chan Sect ended up with a lot of trouble.

Although Yuanshi Tianzun and Nuwa had already secretly cooperated, and Fuxi used this opportunity to consolidate the human race's lineage, which was not a bad thing in the short term, hundreds of years of hard work had been wasted, and a carefully planned scheme had unexpected changes halfway through. No one could calm their frustration.

The Old Man of the South Pole was the first to step out of the line, bowed deeply and took the initiative to apologize, his tone full of remorse.

"This disciple is guilty. When I taught the Sixty-Four Hexagrams, I only gave a superficial explanation of the methods of deduction, without carefully dissecting the origins of the hexagrams and the way to respond to situations. As a result, Ji Chang only learned the surface and did not understand the core. At the Three Mountains Pass, he was questioned by Tian Shou in public, which exposed huge flaws and led to the current unmanageable situation. I beg Master to punish me."

Yuanshi Tianzun held Antarctic Immortal in high regard, knowing that Antarctic Immortal was calm and reliable. This oversight was purely a momentary lapse. If any other disciple had made such a mistake that ruined the entire plan, they would have already been severely punished.

Yuanshi Tianzun suppressed some of his anger, and spoke slowly with a hint of weariness in his voice.

"Well, Ji Chang is just a mortal with a shallow foundation, making it difficult for him to comprehend the complete principles of the Great Dao. It is my fault that others could see through his shortcomings at a glance."

Changing his tone, Yuanshi Tianzun frowned, casting aside his greatest question.

"There is one thing that I still don't understand: why did the Yaochi lineage specifically send people to guard the pass and intercept Ji Chang halfway, deliberately exposing this plan?"

Now that the Investiture of the Gods has begun, the secrets of the entire primordial world are shrouded in layers, making it difficult for any force to deduce or see through its deep schemes. Even after several calculations, the Primordial Celestial Venerable could not fathom the true purpose of the Heavenly Court's actions.

The Antarctic Immortal lowered his head in thought. "Master, the seven people of Tian Shou guarding Qinglong and Kong Xuan guarding Sanshan Pass did not start now. According to my speculation, these people were deployed to the key routes of the human race a long time ago. They probably planned this decades in advance and foresaw that we would choose Xiqi."

Upon hearing this, Yuanshi Tianzun frowned even more deeply and quickly deduced the past.

"Now that Jiufeng is stationed at Jiepai Pass, and Yaochi has sent people to guard Qinglong Pass, they must have foreseen our choice of Xiqi!"

Guang Chengzi stood to one side and asked a question.

"Master, could it be that this standoff at Three Mountains Pass is merely a pure coincidence?"

Yuanshi Tianzun shook his head slightly: "It was not a deliberate trap set up against Ji Chang. In this light, it was a case of using someone else's strength against them. This matter may be inextricably linked to Tongtian."

Guang Chengzi's expression tightened, and he quickly pressed for more information.

"If this is the case, could it be that all the changes today were secretly planned and arranged by Uncle Tongtian?"

The Primordial Celestial Venerable immediately raised his hand, his fingertips calculating the Great Dao, constantly deducing all the causal threads of the past, present, and future. After a long time, he slowly shook his head, denying this conjecture.

"I have repeatedly deduced the cause and effect, and there is no trace of any prior planning or calculation in what happened at Sanshan Pass. Furthermore, apart from myself and my core disciples, no one else knew about supporting Ji Chang as a sage of the human race. Outsiders only regarded Ji Chang as an ordinary human sage. This matter was a spur-of-the-moment decision!"

"If you had allowed Ji Chang to return directly to Xiqi, none of this would have happened. However, you were caught off guard and gave them an opportunity to use their strength against them!"

Guang Chengzi was filled with confusion upon hearing this.

"So, is today's upheaval that destroyed the plan to create a god truly just a coincidence?"

"You have acted far too carelessly and negligently."

The Celestial Lord of the Beginning spoke with a hint of reprimand: "Ji Chang relied on his reputation as a sage to pass through the first four checkpoints smoothly, which made his followers complacent. They did not consider the hidden variables at the checkpoints, which gave the other side the opportunity to seize their weaknesses and launch an attack."

None of the disciples inside the main hall knew that the whole thing was just something Li Taibai decided on a whim and did on a whim.

On that day, upon observing that Ji Chang and his entourage were heading straight for Sanshan Pass, and knowing that the Seven Sisters of Tianshou happened to be stationed there, they seized the advantage of timing, location, and popular support. They immediately sent out a jade talisman to transmit their message, using the existing situation to set up this unsolvable open scheme.

This scheme was devoid of any prior planning; it was a matter of seizing an opportunity and striking immediately. The resulting balance of power was something even Li Bai himself had not fully anticipated.

The whole thing wasn't a matter of decades of long-term planning; all the conditions for the variables to arise were indispensable.

The earliest plan was to send people to guard Qinglong Pass, but guarding Qinglong Pass was nothing special, because all the immortals and gods of the Three Realms had gone there at that time.