Chapter 564: Erlang Smashes the Mountain, Taibai Protects; Ultimately Obeys Orders, Not Proclamations

Li Changshou's main body was hidden on the Golden-Winged Great Peng, with his avatar concealed within his sleeve.

Li Changshou's hidden main body silently rubbed his forehead, then glanced at the fierce Yang Jian, letting out a quiet sigh. It seemed he had been too cautious then, unwilling to damage his Innate Dao Body, and had consequently missed out on something good.

Still, he shouldn't think that way. Firstly, it was unlikely that the Heavenly Dao would allow him to obtain an omniscient divine eye. Heavenly Eyes varied in power, just like Saints. If his Dao of Equilibrium were combined with a Heavenly Eye like Yang Jian's, capable of perceiving the essence of the Heavenly Dao, he feared a destructive Heavenly Tribulation would follow, with Grand Dao Ancestor himself appearing, chuckling and saying, "My mistake, my mistake, this child is actually an Outer Realm Demon!"

Secondly, in this Primordial World, the Heavenly Dao had secretly priced all benefits gained by living beings. Obtaining this Heavenly Eye meant establishing a direct connection with the Heavenly Dao. From now on, Yang Jian was destined to work tirelessly for the Heavenly Dao, becoming a future War God of the Heavenly Court... Hmm, whether Yang Jian could reverse his public image as a 'Heavenly Court Civil Official' would depend on how much damage he could inflict on Spirit Mountain today!

Li Changshou cast aside distracting thoughts, fully focused, and observed every move of the old Daoists on Spirit Mountain. The Golden-Winged Great Peng was already hovering high in the sky, directly in front of Spirit Mountain. Today, he was here to be Yang Jian's support. More precisely, it was the Heavenly Court, which he represented at this moment, that was providing Yang Jian's support.

Why did Li Changshou insist on coming as a paper avatar? In fact, he harbored a bit of self-preservation, wanting to give the opponents the illusion that he was merely a paper figure, and striking him would be pointless.

Yang Jian, having just awakened his Heavenly Eye, advanced with his spear, his 'native' eyes still closed. The Western Cult experts frowned deeply, somewhat intimidated by Yang Jian's Heavenly Eye at this moment... However, most of the old Daoists present had the strength to fight Yang Jian. Although he had opened his Heavenly Eye, Yang Jian had not yet fully absorbed the essence blood of Ancestral Witch Di Jiang. His combat power was strong, but still far from that of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal. Even without core disciples like Ksitigarbha, Maitreya, or Akashagarbha, or secret unit experts like Wen Jing, there were still many old Daoists present who could defeat Yang Jian. At this moment, what they feared was merely the Golden-Winged Great Peng behind Yang Jian, and the old man seated upon it.

Grand White Star Lord.

"Star Lord, what is the meaning of this?" An old Daoist, seemingly unable to bear it any longer, took a step back and hid among the crowd, pointing obliquely at Li Changshou and scolding: "Grand White Star Lord, do you perhaps think our Western Cult disciples have no temper? You have repeatedly come to Spirit Mountain to humiliate us. We have repeatedly conceded out of consideration that you are the one orchestrating the tribulation, but now you actually protect the Jade Emperor's nephew as he comes to smash, burn, and loot, intending to defame the good name of our Spirit Mountain! This is simply... outrageous!"

Li Changshou remained silent, merely lowering his head to watch Yang Jian's relentless advance. The old Daoists exchanged glances. Immediately, one of them stepped half a pace forward, gathered myriad golden lights in their palm, and struck a blow at Yang Jian. As their sleeves fluttered, Yang Jian's advance was instantly halted.

"Halt!" the old Daoist who had made the move said coldly. "Don't presume upon your complicated identity to act wildly here! You demand that we return your father and brother's lives; who are your father and brother?"

Yang Jian tightly pursed his lips, slowly raising the long spear in his hand. The golden light barrier before him began to flicker continuously, with faint cracks appearing. "My father is Yang Tianyou, my mother Yunhua, and my elder brother Yang Jiao!"

"What does the matter of Immortal Yunhua have to do with our Spirit Mountain?"

Yang Jian stepped forward, and the golden light before him shattered with a 'ping'. But before he could charge forward and launch an attack, several golden lights suddenly shot from left and right, transforming into ropes that coiled around Yang Jian, temporarily binding him in place. Although Yang Jian wanted to dodge, his movements were always half a beat too slow.

Seeing this, Li Changshou sighed inwardly... Yang Jian was handsome after awakening his Heavenly Eye, but his strength was still no match for the second-generation disciples of the great sects. To defeat these old Daoists of the Western Cult, Yang Jian still needed to cultivate diligently, advancing his Eight-Nine Arcane Art by another major level, and practicing more combat techniques to compensate for the shortcomings of primarily cultivating his physical body. Otherwise, he could only serve as a humanoid sandbag with excessively high defense.

From afar, seeing Yang Jian restrained, Duke Dongmu immediately sent a voice message to several generals, leading one hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to rush towards Spirit Mountain. They were not too far away and had already attracted attention from all sides. At this moment, the old Daoists of Spirit Mountain had restrained Yang Jian but dared not recklessly harm him. For a time, they were in an awkward and immensely stifled position. The Heavenly Court was not to be provoked, and Chan Sect dared not be provoked; Grand White Star Lord was unpredictable, and their core disciples wouldn't budge.

Yang Jian, however, had no reservations and was no longer thinking about getting out alive. He struggled continuously, experiencing his newly acquired power. Seven-colored radiant light surged around him, and the immortal ropes had already begun to loosen. However, the old Daoists of Spirit Mountain still did not take Yang Jian seriously.

An old Daoist, looking perplexed, cursed, "Immortal Yunhua was originally captured by the Heavenly Court, and Yang Tianyou died at the hands of the Heavenly Court. What did our Spirit Mountain do?"

A middle-aged female Daoist stood out from a corner, looking at Li Changshou in the air, her eyes filled with sorrow and indignation: "Yes, our Spirit Mountain did have many improprieties in its previous actions, and you, Li Chang Geng, have repeatedly targeted us, causing us to bear many slanders! But you can't blame all unsolved injustices on our Western Cult! Grand White Star Lord wishes to use our bodies and souls to fill the tribulation of the Great Calamity; this matter is known throughout the Three Realms. But at the very least, you should use more sophisticated schemes. Such methods are truly too dirty! Our Western Cult's actions are not even half as dark-hearted as yours, Grand White Star Lord."

Li Changshou slowly said, "Has this humble Daoist ever wantonly killed innocents? Or resorted to unscrupulous means to achieve something? Or has this humble Daoist ever used any underhanded methods?"

The middle-aged female immortal was speechless, then coldly snorted, "Who can truly know, and who can truly understand these things?"

"The Heavenly Dao." Li Changshou said lightly, causing the female immortal's brows to furrow slightly.

An old Daoist with a gaunt face, unable to contain himself, immediately rushed several steps forward, pointed at Li Changshou, and cursed: "You audacious Water God, Grand White Li Chang Geng! Today, this humble Daoist hereby makes a Heavenly Dao oath: if the death of Yang Jian's father and brother is directly related to our Western Cult, then let the Heavenly Dao send down Heavenly Punishment! This humble Daoist is willing to bear the responsibility!"

CRACK!

The old Daoist's words had barely fallen when the heavens and earth within a ten-thousand-mile radius suddenly darkened. A purplish-red lightning bolt descended from high in the sky, instantly engulfing the old Daoist's form! Without explanation, without allowing evasion! Streaks of electric arcs splashed in all directions, causing the old Daoists of Spirit Mountain to stagger back repeatedly. Heavenly Punishment! Purple Cloud Divine Thunder!

When the Heavenly Punishment disappeared, the struck old Daoist lay on the ground, unable to get up, his breath faint as a silken thread. His injuries were neither light nor heavy. Just as he tried to crawl up, a cold light suddenly flashed from his side...

Li Changshou's eyebrow twitched. The old Daoists of Spirit Mountain were all shocked, their eyes filled with disbelief. The Three-Pointed, Double-Edged Spear was unsheathed, and a charred head flew into the air, its eyes still wide open. Yang Jian, who had somehow broken free from his bindings, took half a step forward. His Heavenly Eye on his forehead opened, shooting out a purplish-golden beam of light that easily pierced and shattered the hidden primordial spirit within the head...

Spirit Mountain instantly fell silent. Killed? He killed him? He killed a Saint's disciple in a Saint's Daoist sanctum? Is there no Saint left, is there no Saintly law left?!

"Yang Jian! You deserve death!" An old Daoist roared in anger, and several old Daoists, with enraged expressions, lunged towards Yang Jian.

Li Changshou sighed, his movements unhurried. First, he pointed a finger from afar at Yang Jian, and the illusory image of the Mysterious Yellow Pagoda appeared above Yang Jian's head, sprinkling a bit of mysterious yellow aura. Another banner disappeared from Li Changshou's sleeve, tearing through space and appearing behind Yang Jian. Flames surged from it, causing all incoming treasures and divine abilities to dissipate into nothingness! A supreme-grade innate spirit treasure of the Human Cult, the Blazing Light Flag!

Yang Jian's figure was protected by the flames emanating from the flag. He unleashed his Eight-Nine Arcane Art, like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, and lunged fiercely at the group of old Daoists. This scene caused many powerful beings observing the area to watch with gleaming eyes. On Spirit Mountain, mere scolding might have been acceptable, but directly killing a Saint's disciple...

On the back of the Golden-Winged Great Peng, Li Changshou sensed the Peng's eagerness and secretly shook his head. "Go ahead and cause trouble, go ahead and fight. At worst, it would just mean tricking Chan Sect and the Western Cult into an early war, and the Dao Sect could also clear away many hidden dangers."

Looking at Yang Jian again, now protected by the precious banner, he was in his element, incomparably mighty, fiercely pursuing and attacking the group of old Daoists whose cultivation realms were not low; relying on the sharp edge of his Three-Pointed, Double-Edged Spear, he chased these old Daoists all over the mountain. The old Daoists tried to block Yang Jian with formations, but found that the precious banner was immune to all evils and unbreakable by all methods; they then tried to jointly suppress Yang Jian with great magical power, but Yang Jian's figure flashed rapidly, and a stream of Yin-Yang qi enveloped him, causing his speed to increase explosively, making him as fast as an illusion. The old Daoists were momentarily at a loss on how to respond.

Yang Jian swung and slashed fiercely with his long spear, his eyes revealing a murderous glint, intent on killing another person to avenge his father and elder brother! "Who dares to fight!" Yang Jian roared loudly in anger, but the group of old Daoists all fell silent. "If you have the guts, take off the Blazing Light Flag and then fight!"

As for those powerful figures who had the strength to suppress this precious banner, they merely hid in the shadows, each frowning as they watched this scene, waiting for the moment they would hear a Saint's voice transmission. —The precious banner was merely exerting its power on its own, not being actively controlled by Yang Jian, and thus had many inherent weaknesses. In such circumstances, it was indeed difficult for a Saint to directly intervene; and as soon as they showed their faces, they would be noticed by Grand White Gold Star.

The old Daoist who had just been killed proved two things with his life... Firstly, Heavenly Dao oaths should not be made lightly; they can be fatal! Secondly, the Yang family tragedy was indeed caused by their Western Cult. The old Daoist just now clearly hadn't received the news and was overly confident. It must be admitted that the old Daoist had just taken a gamble. He then lost the gamble, lost his life, and might even become the fuse for a war between great sects. As the saying goes, the Daoist can run, but the temple cannot.

Yang Jian charged wildly, protected by the precious banner. Although he only inflicted light injuries on a few old Daoists, he caused temples, spiritual pools, and other buildings to collapse with a crash, leaving pits and holes everywhere. —Spirit Mountain was the Daoist sanctum of two Saints; usually, even the mountain protection array wasn't activated, let alone the defensive formations of individual buildings. For this, Li Changshou could only thank the old Daoist who had just sacrificed his life to backstab his own side,