Just as the old patriarch forced me to my death, I achieved the unity of Dao and fruition.

Shangyuandao City.

This ancient Taoist city, hidden behind mountains and the gates of the Heart and Mind, was once shrouded in mist, with melodious bells tolling. On its long blue-brick streets, disciples could be seen discussing the Tao everywhere.

Between the various Taoist palaces, cranes and colorful deer, transformed from the mind's image, passed by on clouds.

This place symbolizes the orthodoxy of the nine branches of Taoism and is a sacred place in the hearts of countless spiritual practitioners.

But today, the entire Dao City is eerily silent.

Numerous corpses lay scattered haphazardly on both sides of the street.

There were disciples from Shangyuan Prefecture, elites from various sects who came to participate in the Zhenwang Division, and twisted bodies that had been smashed.

Fresh blood flowed down the cracks in the bluestone.

In some places, reality was torn apart by the power of the mind; countless eyes grew on the walls, and the cries of babies echoed from the ground.

And at the very heart of Dao City, in front of the Shangyuan Hall.

Of the twelve guardian spirits that originally protected Dao City, only three remain, and they are covered in cracks, as if they could collapse at any moment.

Inside the main hall, two groups of people were facing off.

The Celestial Master of the Upper Realm stood at the very front.

His face was bluish-purple, and black blood kept seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Each time the power of the mind is circulated, wriggling gray lines will appear under the skin.

It is clear that it has been poisoned by some kind of twisted poison.

Behind him were the remaining leaders, elders, and disciples of Shangyuan Prefecture from the nine branches of the Daoist sect.

Many people were seriously injured, and two cultivators at the Thousand Phases Realm were left with only half of their bodies, clinging to life only by the power of their mental energy.

On the other side of the main hall stood two people.

The Celestial Master of Xiayuan Prefecture and Xie Wuwang.

One is the head of the Zhenwang Division.

One is the leader of the Rebel Truth Society.

These two people, who should have been mortal enemies, are now standing side by side.

Behind the Celestial Master of Xiayuan Prefecture were the Thousand-Phenomenon Realm Elders of Xiayuan Prefecture, as well as the Hundred-Phenomenon Realm cultivators who originally controlled various action teams in the Zhenwang Division.

There are also many people from other lineages.

These people had clearly already secretly switched sides.

On the other side were the cultivators of the Reverse Truth Society.

Most of them still retain a normal human form, only their skin is covered with varying degrees of twisted patterns.

Further back stood a row of gray, twisted apostles. These beings had lost most of their humanity, but still retained simple wisdom and were able to obey commands.

As for those twisted beings who only know how to kill, they were deployed throughout Dao City to clean up any that escaped.

No one expected that the first large-scale operation after the re-establishment of the Zhenwang Division would be a complete trap.

The nine branches of Taoism handed over their elite forces to the Celestial Master of the Lower Realm for command, preparing to encircle and annihilate the Rebellious True Society.

But as soon as the two sides engaged in battle, the people of Xiayuan Prefecture suddenly turned against them.

The elite troops of the Nine Meridians were attacked from both sides, and within half a day, almost all of them were killed or wounded.

Immediately afterwards, the Celestial Master of Xiayuan Prefecture led the Rebel True Society all the way into Shangyuan Dao City.

The city's protective formation, patrolling disciples, and elders all had no time to react.

By the time the Celestial Master of Shangyuan Prefecture realized something was wrong, the entire Dao City was already a river of blood.

A Taoist sect leader stared intently at the Lower Yuan Celestial Master, trembling with rage.

"Why? You are the Celestial Master of the Lower Yuan Palace!"

"Throughout history, the Lower Yuan Prefecture has taken it upon itself to vanquish evil and suppress falsehoods!"

"How dare you betray the Daoist sect and join forces with a wicked scoundrel like Xie Wuwang?"

An old Taoist priest standing nearby cursed angrily.

"The hundreds of elite soldiers in the Zhenwang Division obey your orders only because they trust you!"

"You led them into an ambush! You personally annihilated the entire younger generation of the nine lineages of Taoism!"

"How dare you stand here?"

The Celestial Master of Xiayuan Prefecture remained calm, as if the mountains of corpses and seas of blood outside had nothing to do with him.

The Celestial Master of Shangyuan Prefecture did not curse.

She just looked at him, her eyes filled with an extremely complex expression.

When he was young, the Celestial Master of Xiayuan Prefecture had cultivated in Shangyuan Prefecture for ten years.

The very foundation of the Way of Mind and Image was personally laid by him.

Later, the other party took over as the Celestial Master of the Lower Yuan Prefecture, and the two of them suppressed the Rebellious True Society together, experiencing countless life-and-death situations together.

Although they were not formally master and disciple, they were practically like half a master and disciple, and were also old friends who had known each other for decades.

He had considered that some of the Nine Lineages might have defected to the Reverse Truth Society, and even suspected the Xuanzhen Temple and the Shouzhen lineage, as well as some young sect leaders with weak wills.

He never doubted the Celestial Master of Xiayuan Prefecture, a man who was both his disciple and friend.

Give me a reason.

The Celestial Master of Shangyuan Prefecture had a hoarse voice.

"What exactly do you want?"

The Celestial Master of Xiayuan Prefecture finally spoke.

"The world is limiting us."

The Celestial Master of Shangyuan Prefecture was taken aback.

"What?"

"We are the Heart-Mind Cultivators."

The Celestial Master of the Lower Yuan Prefecture raised his head, and for the first time, his eyes showed a flicker of emotion.

"The mind is inherently boundless; what it thinks can become reality, and what it desires can become tangible."

"But why is it that after nine thousand stages, there is no path forward?"

"Why is it that even though we've already reached a higher level, the world keeps weakening us?"

Why is it that a cultivator who has reached the pinnacle of spiritual cultivation is ultimately trapped in an aging and decaying physical body, turning into withered bones after a hundred years?

He slowly opened his arms.

"That's not right."

"It's not that the path of the mind is wrong."

"It is this world that has locked us in."

The Celestial Master of Shangyuan Prefecture's expression changed drastically.

"So you've joined forces with the Reverse True Society?"

"To lay down eighteen twisted pillars, sacrifice the entire world, and use extraterrestrial pollution to break through boundaries?"

"That's not a breakthrough! That's dragging billions of people into a distorted realm!"

"That force isn't restricting us, it's protecting the world!"

Xie Wuwang stood to the side, a faint smile on his lips.

He had been fighting with the Celestial Master of the Upper Realm for many years, and had heard these words countless times, so he was too lazy to refute them now.

The Celestial Master of Xiayuan Prefecture did not argue; he simply closed his eyes slowly.

next moment.

An indescribable shadow rose from behind him.

It is neither a single mental form nor a body of nine thousand forms.

That shadow seemed to contain all the fears of the world.

Even the mind itself is afraid of its own existence.

At that moment, all the mental images in the main hall bowed their heads simultaneously.

The cultivators of the Hundred Phases Realm immediately knelt down, and the mental domains behind several Thousand Phases Realm sect leaders collapsed without even lasting a moment.

Xie Wuwang's eyes narrowed slightly.

Even he had to admit it.

The Celestial Master of the Lower Yuan Prefecture is a person born for the purpose of understanding the mind and form.

With only one step left, he could overpower the Celestial Master of the Upper Realm with his Nine Thousand Forms.

Now, we break free of our shackles with the power of distortion.

They actually took that step.

The Celestial Master of Shangyuan Prefecture gazed at the shadow that shrouded the Dao City, his lips trembling slightly.

"All phenomena..."

The Celestial Master of the Lower Yuan Prefecture did not answer.

The myriad phenomena themselves are his answer.

The world says this path is blocked, so he tears the world apart.

The Daoist school says that distortion is wrong, but distortion allowed him to enter the realm that all cultivators of the mind-body realm dream of.

Does it even matter who is right and who is wrong?

The terrifying realm of myriad phenomena continues to spread.

The space inside the Shangyuan Hall began to distort.

Many Taoist priests were already seeing their most fearful visions.

But at that moment, the anger on the face of the Celestial Master Shangyuan suddenly disappeared, replaced by an unprecedented fear.

As if sensing something, he staggered backward and then fell to the ground with a thud.

"How could this be...?"

"How could it be so fast..."

Everyone was stunned.

The Celestial Master of Xiayuan Prefecture frowned slightly, and Xie Wuwang's smile faded a bit.

The Celestial Master of Shangyuan Prefecture was not a weak person.

Even when Dao City was breached, the elite of the Nine Meridians were wiped out, and he even witnessed the Lower Yuan Celestial Master step into the Myriad Forms realm, he was only filled with anger and shock.

He shouldn't have lost his composure like that.

The Celestial Master Shangyuan completely ignored the gazes of the crowd.

He braced himself on the ground with both hands, staring intently out of the main hall.

It's as if you can see the changes happening all over the planet Earth through layers of space.

"You started a long time ago? You started a long time ago!!?"

His voice trembled, as if he had learned something extremely terrifying.

"Damn it! You weren't preparing for a sacrifice, but... but the eighteen twisted pillars... had already been laid out long ago?"

Xie Wuwang remained silent, as did the Celestial Master of the Lower Yuan Prefecture.

But this silence says it all.

The last trace of color vanished from the face of the Celestial Master of Shangyuan Prefecture.

"It's over."

"It's all over!"