My brother is so cunning

Chapter 1182 Conflict of Rules
Inside the command center, Wen Rui's eyes flashed with understanding upon hearing this.

He raised his hand, transmitting the conversation between Tongtian and Yuanshi through the nano clouds throughout the Three Realms—whether in mortal towns or immortal temples, everyone could clearly hear their conversation, Tongtian's sincere persuasion, and Yuanshi's unquestionable refusal.

"What? The Primordial Celestial Venerable actually rejected such a heartfelt and righteous piece of advice?"

"Even the Tongtian Sect Leader has spoken so earnestly, yet he still insists on war. Isn't he determined to kill us all? Is he a devil?"

"If Heaven has eyes, open them and see! Is this the saint you acknowledge? Is this the Grand Master of the number one Taoist sect in the Three Realms, whose doctrine is to expound the Way of Heaven?!"

At the temporary resettlement site in Liberty City, a woman holding her injured child wiped away tears, her voice choked with sobs: "What kind of Heavenly Venerable of the Chan Sect is he! The Tongtian Sect Leader has already said all this, yet he still insists on fighting! My house was destroyed by the chaotic energy, and my child is injured. He only cares about his own 'orthodoxy' and doesn't care about the lives of us mortals at all!"

An elderly demon man leaning on a cane sighed and shook his head, saying, "Back during the Investiture of the Gods, I heard that the Chan Sect used 'divine mandate' to oppress people, saying that our demon race deserved to die without any basis. Now it seems that it was indeed true! The Tongtian Sect Leader was willing to give up his incense offerings and even preserve the name of his Chan Sect. He offered a high enough way out, but he insisted on going down a dark path. Isn't this a determination to create karma?"

Beside the town ruins, the ordinary laborers who were clearing rubble stopped their work and began to discuss among themselves: "We're working ourselves to the bone to save our compatriots, and the Chan Sect is still pushing their sword formation forward! In that communication just now, Yuanshi Tianzun said 'Wenrui must be eliminated,' but Wenrui Tianzun is saving us! Is he going to wipe us all out as well?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't let the immortals of the Chan Sect hear you!" someone hurriedly reminded them, but their tone was full of fear and dissatisfaction.

"You call them immortals? They're more like demons!"

"Don't insult demons! What have we demons done to deserve this?"

"Sorry, brother, I was just angry and said the wrong thing. I really can't think of anything to say to curse those Chan Sect bastards!"

……

These discussions, propagated through the nano-clouds, were clearly heard within the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation.

The disciples of the Chan Sect listened with shame and unease on their faces. Many of them began to tremble slightly as they held their magical weapons. They had always thought they were "defending the orthodoxy of the Heavenly Dao," but in the eyes of all living beings, they had become "evil people who create karma." Not only were the demon race cursing them, but many more humans were also cursing them.

Even the pure-blooded human groups in many human autonomous regions were cursing even more vehemently: "We finally had a chance to live the blissful life of citizens of Free City, and these damn immortals just inexplicably want to destroy Free City? Explaining the will of Heaven? I'll smash your grandma's leg! If you're so bored and have nothing better to do, go die! Don't come and ruin our wonderful lives!"

The face of the Primordial Celestial Venerable turned ashen instantly, and the aura of a sage around him began to become disordered—only then did he realize that he had fallen into the perfect trap set by Wen Rui and Tongtian!
That's despicable! That's shameless!

You old bastard with thick eyebrows and big eyes, who looks like a loyal and virtuous man, have gone bad after not seeing him for hundreds of years!
Under the joint witness of Heaven and all beings in the Three Realms, he rejected the "plea for peace" from his fellow disciples and the "peace conditions," and personally pinned the villainous charges of "ignoring advice, killing the innocent, and creating karma against Heaven" firmly on himself and the Chan Sect!
Just as he had accused the Jie Sect of "indulging its disciples, harboring filth and evil" and "defying the way of heaven and supporting the tyrannical King Zhou," the other party followed suit and presented him with the same accusation.

At this moment, no matter how much he tries to justify himself by saying it's "for the sake of the orthodox way of Heaven," or how much he accuses others of "disrupting the order by hearing auspicious omens," no one will believe him. What all living beings see is that he disregards the lives of ordinary people and insists on starting a war; he refuses peace and stubbornly insists on dragging the three realms into the flames of war.

Inside the Zhuxian Sword Formation, Yuanshi Tianzun suddenly felt the pressure of the Heavenly Dao coming from above, and for the first time, he felt a sense of unease. This was the first time since he was conferred a sainthood.

You should know that even when he stormed into the Zhuxian Sword Formation and his name was written on the Six Soul Banner by the Tongtian Sect Master, he never felt the slightest danger.

Yuanshi Tianzun looked at his uneasy disciples, listened to the clamor outside, and felt the sword energy in the Chaos Domain becoming unstable due to the increasing karmic debt. He finally realized that there might be a possibility that he was really wrong this time.
But how could he be wrong?

He was a sage, a sage who expounded the Way of Heaven; his words were the will of Heaven. Yet, his inherent pride prevented Yuanshi Tianzun from bowing his head.

He gripped the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi tightly and shouted sternly at the disciples of the Chan Sect, "What's the panic! These are just the opinions of ordinary people! Today, we will surely destroy Freedom City! Anyone who dares to waver again will be punished as a traitor!"

On the "Causality" computer screen, the karmic debt value of the Chan Sect was climbing at an alarming rate. Every time the chaotic sword energy swept across the outskirts of Freedom City, every time a geological disaster affected mortal villages, the numbers were jumping wildly—

[Current total debt value of Chan Sect: 300000]

[Conditions for triggering the Heavenly Tribulation: Met]

[Lightning Tribulation Status: Pending Activation]

The target has been met! The corporate debt value has exceeded 300,000, reaching the preset threshold!

The researcher in charge of monitoring the data exclaimed excitedly, pointing out the window, "Your Majesty, look! The celestial phenomena have changed!"

The big data model established by Wen Rui theoretically set the threshold of 300,000 for creating karma that would bring divine retribution. This was originally just a reference indicator calculated by computer simulation using a complex chaotic formula, but unexpectedly, it was quite accurate. When the threshold reached 300,000, strange phenomena indeed occurred.

Everything can lie, but math can't!

Wen Rui looked up and saw that the golden lightning in the sky was becoming more and more intense. The originally thick dark clouds began to rotate, forming a huge vortex. The center of the vortex was as black as ink, yet it faintly exuded an aura of destruction.

Ordinary people looked up, their eyes filled with anticipation—they were waiting for the Heavenly Dao to send down a tribulation of lightning to punish the Primordial Heavenly Venerable who had wreaked havoc on the Three Realms.

One minute, two minutes, ten minutes passed. The vortex continued to spin, and the lightning continued to flash, but the tribulation lightning that was powerful enough to destroy a saint did not fall.

"what happened?"

Wen Rui frowned, his fingers rapidly moving across the control panel, bringing up the "Causality" computer's in-depth analysis report. A line of glaring red text popped up on the screen:

[Warning! Conflict of Heavenly Rules detected! The target (Yuanshi Tianzun) is a Dao-Merging Sage, whose karmic actions have triggered both the "Sage Privilege" and "Heavenly Punishment" mechanisms, causing a self-contradiction in the rules and temporarily halting the tribulation release process.]

"Rules conflict?"

Wen Rui was stunned, then realized—the Heavenly Dao had been "bugged"!
For anyone else, a karmic debt of 100,000 would have resulted in being struck by lightning and reduced to ashes. However, Yuanshi Tianzun is a sage, an existence that coexists with the Dao of Heaven.

His actions, in essence, are "part of the Heavenly Way" harming "all beings protected by the Heavenly Way." It's like the Heavenly Way is fighting with its left and right hands, wanting to impose punishment on one hand, while being bound by the rule that "saints are indestructible for countless eons," thus falling into a stalemate.

(End of this chapter)