Dharma Transmitter Jiang pondered for a moment. Without much hesitation, he exited the Alliance headquarters and headed straight toward the gods and demons wreaking havoc across the realm.
Even knowing that what awaited him might still be death, he did not hesitate in the slightest.
After all, as the First Dharma Transmitter, he had long lost count of how many times he had "died."
Fortunately, however, there were the means left behind by the venerable Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable.
As long as Xuanhuang was not destroyed and the Heavenly Venerable's Fixed Principles remained unaltered, he, existing by attachment to the Heavenly Venerable, would never truly perish.
His state was frozen forever at that original point in time; whenever he wished, he could undergo [Reversion to Origin] at any moment.
This applied not only to him, but also to the Guixu Realm where he resided.
This was an insurance policy left for the Xuanhuang Realm by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable.
It allowed him to resolve all kinds of problems that might arise in the Xuanhuang Realm without fearing death. Furthermore, through continuous deaths, his coping abilities and experience steadily increased, allowing him to handle affairs with ever-growing ease.
And if he encountered something he truly could not handle, he would use his own body as a vessel to carry it back into the Guixu Realm.
Relying on the forced restoration of state during [Reversion to Origin], he could achieve its complete eradication.
The power of [Reversion to Origin] in the Guixu Realm had been comprehended by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable after attaining the Dao, when his spirit journeyed beyond the heavens for nearly a millennium around the time he re-established the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
The Heavenly Venerable had once told him that even the peril of True Immortal seal characters could be neutralized into nothingness through cycle after cycle of [Reversion to Origin].
"For not even a trace of information to be left behind... this situation has only occurred twice before."
"It seems that behind this turmoil lies either True Immortal seal characters as well, or..."
Dharma Transmitter Jiang cast a glance toward the eastern borders of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Snorting coldly, he continued on his way.
Upon encountering a rampaging god-demon, Dharma Transmitter Jiang immediately subdued it.
Then, he separated a wisp of divine sense and drilled into it.
A moment later, that ferocious-looking god-demon detonated with a boom.
Dharma Transmitter Jiang frowned slightly. "Only an empty husk remains? They fled fast."
Afterward, Dharma Transmitter Jiang tested over a dozen more god-demons, and every single one was identical.
"Clearly victorious, yet still so cautious..."
"What on earth is their goal?"
This unknown opponent caused Dharma Transmitter Jiang to feel a pressure in his heart that he had not experienced in a long time.
He seemed to see a dense, dark cloud slowly drifting in from the horizon, threatening to blot out the entire sky of the Xuanhuang Realm.
"Never mind. Better to deal with these monstrosities before me first."
"Once they show their hand again, I can deal with them accordingly."
"If there truly is no other way..."
"Then I can only seek aid from the Heavenly Venerable."
Thinking this, Dharma Transmitter Jiang crushed another god-demon to pieces.
After that, he did not continue to act personally. Instead, he returned to the Guixu Realm and issued an order to the Alliance headquarters to thoroughly exterminate all the god-demon monstrosities across all lands.
With god-demons running rampant, the Alliance's grassroots defenses were almost entirely paralyzed. Resolving the trouble thoroughly and swiftly required a powerful, heavyweight figure to step forward and take charge of the matter.
As the First Dharma Transmitter, Jiang naturally would not appear in person.
After asking around among the other Dharma Transmitters, only a scant few were willing to take on such a thankless task.
Ultimately, after deliberate consideration, Dharma Transmitter Jiang decided to put Dharma Transmitter Feng in charge of the matter.
First, Dharma Transmitter Feng had previously left a favorable impression on him. Second, Jiang believed that this relatively young Dharma Transmitter needed more opportunities to temper himself.
"If the second Guixu Realm is completed, he might well be considered as a successor—provided he can pass the trial," Dharma Transmitter Jiang thought.
Meanwhile, Dharma Transmitter Feng—none other than Mo Rubin, Dharma King of the Profound Heaven Sect—accepted the command and began issuing directives one by one.
With the official orders from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, the Soul Formation and Dao Integration cultivators who had previously holed up and looked only after their own lives were now forced to step forward and take the initiative in purging the rampaging god-demons.
Coordinating with the black-robed cultivators from the Era, they quickly went about slowly destroying the million god-demons, which had lost their master control and had their combat strength greatly reduced.
As the saying goes, illness strikes like an avalanche, but departs like drawing silk.
From its sudden outbreak to engulfing the entire Alliance, the god-demon catastrophe took barely more than half a day. Yet for the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals to slowly purge these god-demons, it took more than half a month.
Once the god-demon avatars were all eliminated, the real dilemma emerged.
What was to be done with the possessed vessels of the god-demons—the cultivators whose minds had been bewitched?
With the god-demon avatars wiped out, nearly all these cultivators had been reduced to mindless imbeciles.
Logically speaking, simply slaughtering all these cultivators would resolve the disaster cleanly.
However, orders from the highest decision-making tier of the Alliance declared that no one was permitted to harm the lives of these cultivators without authorization.
Those who killed some of these cultivators out of spite were severely punished.
"Even if they are guilty, until their crimes are sentenced, they remain members of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals."
"Harming them is a violation of the laws of the Alliance."
With matters put so bluntly, naturally no cultivator dared risk outrage to slaughter those mindless cultivators who had lost all ability to resist.
They merely followed orders, escorting all of them to the Alliance headquarters to await judgment.
This process lasted a full ten-odd days.
The god-demon catastrophe was finally brought to a complete end.
The surviving cultivators marveled at the Alliance's benevolence and righteousness.
And as a reward for the cultivators who contributed during the suppression of the disaster, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals surprisingly and generously bestowed quite handsome sums of contribution points upon them.
The figures far exceeded ordinary missions, and the breadth of the rewards went beyond everyone's expectations.
One did not even need to have actually fought; even those who had merely provided intelligence on the locations of the god-demons received vast amounts of contribution points.
This left the cultivators who had previously chosen to look on with folded arms stamping their feet and beating their chests in endless regret.
The cultivators who had received their rewards and suddenly become flush with wealth flocked into the Heavenly Profound Mirror to pick out the items they needed.
Right at this time, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals issued another announcement, stating that the cause behind the outbreak of the god-demon catastrophe had been determined.
Those cultivators had almost all harbored resentment because cultivation technique prices were too exorbitant and they could not afford the techniques they desired.
Over time, as this resentment accumulated, they were ultimately bewitched by an evil ancient ferocious god, becoming its lackeys.
To prevent such tragedies from recurring, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals reflected deeply upon its painful lesson and decided that, starting today, the prices of all cultivation techniques sold in the Heavenly Profound Mirror would be reduced by one-third across the board.
Once the news came out, it immediately stirred up colossal waves.
One had to know that a one-third price reduction was no small sum.
Especially for more expensive techniques, the contribution points saved were all the greater.
With their pockets suddenly brimming, the cultivators instantly went wild. Paying no further heed to ordinary supplies, they directed all their attention toward the countless cultivation techniques.
Chapter 972