Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Hong Yin stood frozen in place, gazing up at the despairing spectacle in the sky.

The thunderous roar of lightning was awe-inspiring, and the deep, massive sound echoed between heaven and earth.

The black hand that blotted out the sky slowly descended. Although the movement was slow, in Hong Yin's eyes it was so fast that he couldn't even blink.

An invisible pressure gripped his heart, making even breathing difficult.

Despair enveloped him, and he even lost the courage to manipulate the four dials and cast spells.

Because nothing has any meaning anymore.

Space, time, the auspicious and inauspicious interactions of the four elements? The Nine Palaces magic... everything, before absolute power, is as absurd and laughable as trying to find a sword by marking the boat.

The world-destroying thunder from the sky had not yet fully descended; only the residual force at its edge affected it, yet the thousand-armed statue he had created with the merits of sandalwood had already crumbled.

The whole process was like a candle flame encountering a strong wind, not even having the chance to flicker.

Fear gripped him, and he looked around in despair. Apart from Zhang Tianshi, there was no one else around him.

"Master Zhang!"

He muttered unconsciously, his gaze fixed on the tall figure in front of him.

Faced with this ultimate despair, the powerful figure, who had been forcibly elevated to a divine status by his subconscious, unexpectedly chose to fight back.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, gripping the Greatsword of the East Wind, soaring into the sky, roaring:

"I possess a sword that can slay gods and demons!"

The greatsword in his hand, named "East Wind," suddenly burst forth with a divine light that shot into the sky!
A sharp, dark golden sword beam tore through the sky, fiercely piercing towards the colossal hand that blotted out the sun!

A single sword strike pierces the sky, and the world changes color.

"Master Zhang... Senior Brother Zhang..."

His Adam's apple bobbed, and without realizing it, he uttered the name he hadn't used in decades.

He recalled the time when he first met his senior brother Zhang in Northeast China.

I was seventeen that year and stood like a minion.

Seventy years old this year, still a nobody.

In a daze, he felt that it was all so unreal, yet so real.

The illusion is of oneself who has mastered the Heavenly Arts of Qimen Dunjia, of oneself who has pacified the world, of oneself who has been crowned National Master or Celestial Master...

The real me is someone who stands like a lackey, while the real Senior Brother Zhang is as tall and imposing as a god reaching to the heavens...

"What is real? What exactly is real?"

His head felt like it had exploded.

Immediately afterwards, he saw Zhang Tianshi rushing towards the extraterrestrial demon god, his sharp blade that could cleave the sky was obliterated by the demon god's lightning.

Moreover, the blade of the Dongfeng Greatsword was covered with cracks and looked as dull as scrap metal.

But Zhang, whom he considered a god-like figure, rushed into the giant palm of the extraterrestrial demon.

then……

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no magnificent brilliance; it was silently extinguished.

The whole scene... was as tragic and powerless as a mayfly trying to shake the blue sky.

“How…how could this be…” Hongyin’s voice was dry and weak.

His last reliance, his god-like senior brother Zhang, was gone.

Now, in this world, only that god-like extraterrestrial demon god, and... himself, remain!

He also wanted to rush forward like his senior brother Zhang, even if it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot or a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

But he couldn't do it; the pressure was too strong, and he could barely move a finger.

He could only watch helplessly as the colossal, sky-covering hand crashed down.

The mere electric serpents emanating from the edge of his palm swept across the earth, triggering a terrifying dust explosion that blotted out mountains and rivers and a towering inferno that devoured everything!
Forests turned to scorched earth, rivers evaporated and dried up, houses and fields vanished in an instant, and countless creatures on the earth fled in despair, only to be quickly wiped out in the ensuing calamities...

In the dark sky, a huge black body appeared and disappeared.

Hong Yin stared blankly at the scene, her palms covered in cold sweat, a sense of despair rising in her heart. Some things cannot be stopped by fighting with all her might.

True despair is not hysterical screaming, but the numbness that prevents even the thought of struggling from arising.

A massive black hand had already pressed down on their heads, carrying lightning powerful enough to crush souls.

Under this powerful hand, his proud and vast Qimen formation, which covered the entire Wudang region, cracked open like a fragile eggshell, revealing countless fine cracks!
This was not caused by an attack, but rather by being squeezed and crushed by that supreme pressure!
He, the "king of the game," is now like an ant being squeezed in the palm of a hand, and even the game itself has shattered.

What was shattered was not only the Qimen Dunjia formation, but also his state of mind, his lofty aspirations, and his thirst for mastering the Daoist art of Tiantong Qimen.

The black hand drew closer and closer until he could no longer see its outline; all he could see were countless surging lightning bolts, and his vision was filled with intense, fiery light.

Lightning bolts rained down from the sky, enveloping him in a blue-white light. The intense heat of the lightning instantly incinerated his body, turning him into a ball of fire.

Strangely, he could see the world-destroying lightning, and behind it, a black shadow larger than heaven and earth.

The colossal black shadow stood in the pitch-black universe, and when he looked over, it looked back at him.

As they locked eyes, Hong Yin discovered that the face of the giant black shadow had completely transformed into the likeness of Zhang Tianshi.

The next instant, that enormous hand, seemingly traversing time and space, ignored the destructive lightning and gently... yet incredibly heavily... pressed down on his head!

A majestic voice resounded in his mind: "Above and below heaven, I alone am supreme!"

This statement is often mistakenly interpreted by the public as an arrogant declaration of power.

In reality, this is not about praising oneself, but about advising all beings to let go of their attachment to the illusory self and return to their inherent, complete nature, which is the true meaning of "sole supremacy".

This is to completely free Hongyin from the inner vision.

These words resonated in his mind, and Hong Yin's knees went weak, almost causing him to kneel down. He was completely overwhelmed by that majesty, which was not the majesty of an emperor, but the majesty of a god.

But he couldn't kneel down; his head was being held up by that large hand, suspended in mid-air, and he couldn't kneel down even if he wanted to.

Hong Yin could even clearly sense that the deepest thoughts that constituted this inner illusion were melting away silently like ice and snow, as if even the very foundation of this world was crumbling.

In the process, he seemed to have forgotten some things, some things.

What was that thing? He tried to think.

But as soon as this thought arose, he seemed to see the black figure of a god who could rival the heavens appear in his mind.

The figure slowly extended a hand towards him.

That hand blotted out the sky and stretched across the heavens and earth, its palm brewing endless storms and lightning.

Hong Yin was terrified and cried out, clutching her head, "I won't dare anymore, I won't dare anymore! No matter what it is, I dare not think about it anymore, ahhhhh..."

On the other side, Zhang Zhiwei nodded. Just now, he only deleted Hong Yin's memories of Tiantong Qimen.

Then, he tested Hong Yin's reaction by testing her ability to recall her memories, knowing she had lost them. He was very satisfied with the result.
Given Hongyin's level of cultivation, he clearly wouldn't dare to overstep that level of fear in that situation.

But if he can truly overcome the shadow he left behind and forcefully recall his lost memories...

His level of attainment must be extremely high.

With such a high level of attainment, the mere entry-level of Tiantong Qimen is simply insignificant.

Upon realizing this, Zhang Zhiwei had a sudden thought and woke up Hongyin.

Then, Hong Yin's spirits lifted, as if he had broken through some extremely mysterious boundary, and the surrounding scenery gradually became clear.

Before he could figure out what was going on, he felt weak, his pores opened up, cold sweat poured down his face, and he collapsed as if he had collapsed.

Someone helped him up. He sat in a bright cave with his senior brother Zhou Sheng and junior brother Zhou Meng in front of him, and a huge shadow beside him.

He looked up into the shadows, and the figure was extremely burly, more than a head taller than him. Continuing upwards, the moment he clearly saw the figure's face, he blurted out without hesitation:

"Master Zhang!"

He paused for a moment before speaking. He recognized Zhang Zhiwei, of course, but why had he called him Zhang Tianshi just now? The current Tianshi was in his prime, while the junior Tianshi hadn't even become a Tianshi yet.

"Xiao Hong, are you alright?!"

"Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Zhou Sheng and Zhou Meng asked with concern, one after the other.

"Strange?" Hong Yin gasped for breath, speaking weakly, "Didn't the big monkey send us to his cultivation cave to teach us the Heavenly Connection Mystic Arts?"

He looked at Zhou Sheng with a puzzled expression and said, "You haven't even taught me yet. I just meditated, but why do I feel so tired? My head is throbbing!"

“Senior Brother Zhang, this…” Zhou Sheng looked at Zhang Zhiwei, unsure how to answer.

Zhang Zhiwei blurted out, "Cultivation has certain requirements. The big monkey just gave you a test, and you weren't qualified enough. Not only could you not cultivate, but you also suffered from qi deviation. It's a good thing I came to Wudang to attend Master Sun's ascension ceremony, otherwise you would have been in big trouble."

For various reasons, he did not completely delete the incident, but made some reasonable modifications.

"Really? My aptitude isn't good enough?!" Hong Yin murmured to himself. He was disappointed that he couldn't get the chance with such methods.

At the same time, he felt a strange sense of relief, a bittersweet feeling. He didn't know why, but he didn't subconsciously investigate it further.

He turned his head to look at his left and right sides. To his left was Xiao Lu, and to his right was Xiao Fang.

Xiao Fang lowered his head, closed his eyes, and was drowsy.

Xiao Lu held his head high and opened his eyes, but the pupil of one eye was pointing upwards and the pupil of the other downwards, making him look somewhat senile and sickly.

“Zhang…Senior Brother Zhang…Xiao…Lu and…Xiao…Fang…what…is going on?” Hongyin stammered.

"Didn't I say before?" Zhang Zhiwei said, "He wasn't talented enough and went into qi deviation."

Upon hearing this, Hong Yin's face showed worry, and she quickly said, "Please, Senior Brother Zhang, save them!"

“Of course!” Zhang Zhiwei nodded, then placed his hand on Xiao Fang’s head.

Hongyin and Xiaofang's "treatment" was carried out simultaneously; when Hongyin's treatment ended, Xiaofang's naturally ended as well.

He followed the same procedure, made some modifications to Xiao Fang's memory, and then, as if on cue, woke Xiao Fang up.

"Ah..."

Xiao Fang screamed and fell backward. Zhou Sheng and Zhou Meng quickly helped him up, asked him with concern, and brought out the same story Zhang Zhiwei had just told him.

Xiao Fang sighed and accepted the fact that he was not qualified and could not learn it.

Then, they all looked at Xiao Lu.

"Senior Brother Zhang, when will Xiao Lu be better?" Zhou Sheng asked.

Zhang Zhiwei had a sudden thought. He communicated with the "Imperial Advisor" and said, "Just a quarter of an hour more!"

“That will be soon!” Zhou Sheng said.

Then, everyone looked at Xiao Lu nervously.

Compared to Xiao Fang and Hong Yin, Xiao Lu's reaction was particularly intense.

He slumped there, his body seemingly crushed by an invisible burden, his eyes twitching strangely up and down.

Through those eyes, Zhou Sheng, Zhou Meng, and the others seemed to "see" an inner abyss that devoured souls, where illusory light and shadow twisted into venomous snakes, tightly binding Xiao Lu's soul.

Inside, Xiao Lu was grinning foolishly, howling, hooting, and gesturing wildly at them.

They all shuddered, remembering what Zhang Zhiwei had said earlier: that this incident would leave an indelible impression of fear on them, something they would never want to think about again, dare not recall, and even want to actively forget...

They couldn't help but wonder what terrible scenes Xiao Lu had experienced inside.
In fact, it wasn't just them; even Zhang Zhiwei was thinking about it.

He was only responsible for dealing with Hong Yin and Xiao Fang; Xiao Lu was handled by the "national advisor."

His approach was simple and direct: to crush all of his psychological defenses with overwhelming force.

Sometimes, even the most flawless and intricately planned schemes are powerless.

Only the highest and most virtuous power can most simply and directly touch the depths of the soul.

If not, it only means that the power is not high enough.

The power that Zhang Zhiwei implanted in the interior scene was undoubtedly beyond what was expected for Hong Yin and Xiao Fang.

As for the "Imperial Advisor"...

In fact, it originated from Zhang Zhiwei, and its strength has been rising along with Zhang Zhiwei over the years.

If we only consider Xiao Lu, its power is also supreme, and it can end the "treatment" as easily as Zhang Zhiwei.

But the "Imperial Advisor" is not a person who likes things to be simple and straightforward.

As a sinister and treacherous inner demon, once it falls into its hands, it will naturally be thoroughly dealt with.

Seeing Xiao Lu's pained and bewildered appearance, Zhang Zhiwei couldn't help but recall the scene when he first clashed with the "National Preceptor" in the inner realm. It was truly like an old sow leading the way, one trick after another.

While it may not offer the same level of direct and simple emotional impact as his approach, it has a greater lasting effect.

It's like watching a deeply ingrained horror movie in your childhood.

Perhaps when we watch it later, we'll find that the movie has a clichéd plot, sloppy makeup and costumes, unclear logic, and all sorts of other problems.

But it terrifies you so much that you become afraid of the dark, suspicious when walking at night, and afraid to keep your eyes closed while showering...

It can still achieve the same effect as Zhang Zhiwei, and in some ways, the effect will be even better.

Finally, the "national strategist's" "treatment" came to an end.

The asymmetrical eyes under Xiao Lushan suddenly straightened and shrank abruptly. Then, he suddenly stood up, clenched his fists tightly, his face filled with terror, and let out a shrill scream.

Zhou Sheng and the others tensed instantly, but Zhang Zhiwei remained calm. He pressed a hand on Zhou Sheng's forehead, made him sit back down, and then deleted what needed to be deleted. (End of Chapter)