Investiture of the Gods: I am Bigan, the Master of Conspiracy

Chapter 244 Hongjun compromises and admits defeat!
At this moment, Heavenly Dao revealed its greatest trump card, the Heaven-Opening Axe. However, Yin Ziyu also devised his own countermeasure, rendering the Heaven-Opening Axe completely ineffective.

Yin Ziyu's compass is primarily used for treasure hunting. Although he did not obtain the Chaos Pearl, he was able to open the Chaos Pearl's chaos and temporarily escape from this world.

This rendered the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe helpless, even though it was locked on.

As long as you are in this Great Chaos, no matter where you run, you will be annihilated in an instant. This is the Chaos Treasure that created the Primordial World. It is only a thought away for Hongjun to destroy the Primordial World!
At this moment, Hongjun remained silent for a moment, then a hint of joy flashed in his indifferent eyes as he fixed his gaze on the Chaos Compass above Yin Ziyu's head.

At this moment, the Great Dao maxims flowing on the Chaos Compass faintly echoed some mysterious existence deep within the chaos.

Hongjun's expression turned solemn as he spoke: "So, the core purpose of condensing this treasure at the origin of the Great Dao was to find a trace. It seems that even the remaining fragments of the Jade Disc of Creation were part of your plan?"

Yin Ziyu nodded frankly: "Nothing can be hidden from the Dao Ancestor. The first is to use the compass to find the trace of the Chaos Pearl and use its power to enter the independent Chaos World. The second is to use this treasure to deduce the trajectory of the remaining fragments of the Creation Jade Disc and see through the shackles of the Great Dao!"

After listening, Hongjun nodded slowly. The tense atmosphere had disappeared. After Yin Ziyu revealed his trump card, Hongjun had begun to think.

"In that case, even if I were to use the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe to unleash the Blade of Annihilation once more, I still wouldn't be able to harm you."

Yin Ziyu smiled, and a ripple of transcendent power emanated from his body: "If the Dao Ancestor could find the Chaos Pearl's true form and sever my connection with this treasure, he could naturally defeat me. Unfortunately, the Chaos Pearl is outside the Three Thousand Great Daos, and even the Heavenly Dao cannot pinpoint its location."

Hongjun shook his head helplessly, a trace of melancholy appearing in his eyes for the first time: "Where exactly is the Chaos Pearl? I have been searching for it for several eras, hoping to find a way to transcend life, but I have never found it. I never expected that you would discover the secret."

Yin Ziyu shook his head: "I have not found the original body of this treasure either!"

Yin Ziyu frankly continued, "However, with the help of the compass, we can temporarily enter that world that is independent of the primordial chaos."

Hongjun remained silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet: "In any case, that world is independent of the Great Dao's jurisdiction, and can truly be considered a glimmer of hope for transcending the cycle of reincarnation. This battle is unnecessary!"

"teacher!"

The Primordial Celestial Venerable was the first to exclaim in surprise, and the auspicious clouds of the heavens shook violently.

"Nine Phoenixes and Yin Ziyu have defied the laws of Heaven. If they are not suppressed, they will surely cause great disaster in the future!"

Jieyin and Zhunti quickly echoed, and the twelve-petaled golden lotus and the seven-treasure tree lit up at the same time, clearly unwilling to give up.

Hongjun glanced at the three of them, then waved his hand, his eyes remaining indifferent: "No need for further words. The cycle of Heaven's Dao has long been in a dead end. Forcibly suppressing it will only accelerate the collapse of the era."

Laozi gazed thoughtfully into the depths of chaos, and after a moment slowly nodded, clearly understanding Hongjun's intention.

Tongtian and Nuwa exchanged a glance and breathed a sigh of relief. The malevolent aura of the Four Swords of Zhuxian and the Map of Mountains and Rivers were all put away by them.

Yin Ziyu smiled faintly, his transcendent power and the light of the Chaos Compass complementing each other.

This essentially resolved the conflict, and Hongjun was bound to choose compromise.

Jiufeng was puzzled and secretly asked, "Ziyu, why is that? Why did Hongjun stop fighting once he found the trace of the Chaos Pearl?"

Yin Ziyu's divine sense carried a hint of understanding: "Nine Phoenixes, Hongjun, as the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao, knows the rise and fall of all eras. He is already tired of being annihilated along with the eras and has been searching for an opportunity to break the cycle of reincarnation. The Chaos Pearl is that opportunity, and I have found its trace, proving that transcending reincarnation is real. Therefore, he is unwilling to fight anymore. He needs this glimmer of hope and needs someone to verify whether this path is feasible."

Jiufeng instantly understood: "So that's how it is, I get it. He's not admitting defeat, but trying to secure a chance for himself to survive the end of the era!"

Yin Ziyu explained, "Hongjun gained some initiative in the Heavenly Dao during the Journey to the West calamity. This battle between the two of us is because you and I want to seize control of the prehistoric world. Hongjun, representing the Heavenly Dao, naturally took action. My revelation of the whereabouts of the Chaos Pearl made Hongjun willing to relinquish the Heavenly Dao in order to pursue the opportunity to transcend the era!"

Why did Hongjun immediately announce the descent of the primordial source into the prehistoric world and the descent of saints into the mortal realm not long after the end of Journey to the West? The essence is that Hongjun originally could not control the Heavenly Dao, and was a representative, or legal person.

After the Great Tribulation of Journey to the West, Hongjun benefited and changed from a legal person to a shareholder. Therefore, during the legal person period, Yin Ziyu's disruption of the Heavenly Dao had nothing to do with Hongjun, since he only benefited when the Heavenly Dao was weak.

However, after becoming shareholders, Yin Ziyu and Jiu Feng's existence instantly became the biggest variable in Hongjun's control of the Heavenly Dao, so suppression became what Hongjun had to do.

Yin Ziyu and Jiufeng's attainment of Dao instantly became the root cause of the current loss of control over the Heavenly Dao in the Primordial World. Therefore, Hongjun will inevitably have to fight to determine the outcome.

However, when Yin Ziyu directly revealed that he could enter the Chaos Pearl with this treasure, Hongjun had an even more important matter to attend to: he could not perish with this end of the era, but could go to the Chaos Pearl to find a glimmer of hope and escape this end of the era.

Since there are more important matters to attend to, there is no need to contend for the Heavenly Dao.

If the Journey to the West had not been victorious, then the Heavenly Dao would have fought to the bitter end. However, now that Hongjun is in charge of the Heavenly Dao, he has his own ideas and it is impossible for him to truly become an intelligent entity like the Heavenly Dao!

In other words, no matter how the primordial world evolves, there will inevitably come a day when the era is destroyed. This is unavoidable, and it is understandable that Yin Ziyu would try to change the course of the primordial world.

If Hongjun enters the chaotic world of the Chaos Pearl after the destruction of the era, then he has achieved his own transcendence.

In other words, Yin Ziyu offered a temptation even greater than the Heavenly Dao, and Hongjun immediately stopped fighting. Since Hongjun stopped fighting, there was no possibility for the others to fight either.

This great battle of the primordial world is not necessarily a matter of life and death, with swords drawn and bows drawn, but rather a matter of human relationships and worldly wisdom!

The root of conflict is contradiction, and the root of contradiction is interest. Replacing current interests with higher interests is also a means of resolving contradictions.

When the interests of both parties become irreconcilable, it becomes a matter of life and death. Now that Yin Ziyu has presented an unsolvable opportunity for transcendence, it would be foolish for Hongjun to continue fighting.

This is a question of the true self. Even if this era ends and the next era begins, these people will still exist. Do their true selves still exist? Even if they still exist in the future era, so what?

Even now, Hongjun views his past self from the previous era as nothing more than a passerby.

Only by living into the next era can one be considered successful, and this is the first step in glimpsing the eternal realm of the Great Dao!
That's right, the eternal realm of the Great Dao was something Pangu never achieved during his countless creations of the world, but Yin Ziyu offered a sliver of opportunity, and Hongjun would not give up on this opportunity.

In the ensuing chaos, the tense atmosphere gradually dissipated.

The Heaven-Opening Axe slowly disintegrated, the Chaos Bell, the Taiji Diagram, and the Pangu Banner returned to their respective places, and the light of the Creation Jade Disc also diminished considerably.

The conflict on the chaotic battlefield gradually subsided, and Hongjun and Yin Ziyu stood facing each other, their auras of the Great Dao becoming more peaceful.

Hongjun looked at Yin Ziyu and slowly asked, "Now that the great war has ended, what are your thoughts on the future of the Primordial Heavenly Dao?"

Yin Ziyu's gaze was deep as he said in a deep voice, "The prehistoric world has gone through countless calamities, including the Dragon-Han Calamity, the Witch-Demon Calamity, and the Investiture of the Gods Calamity. These causes and effects are intertwined and have long become the shackles on the development of the prehistoric world. They must be sorted out one by one."

Hongjun nodded slightly: "You don't need to hold a few sages accountable. This is the will of Heaven, and the sages of Heaven are merely carrying out the will of Heaven. Now that I am in charge of Heaven, there is no need for me to dwell on the past events of the Great Primordial Calamity. I can make this promise, can you make the same promise?"

Hongjun didn't say much, but instead attributed everything from the past to the Heavenly Dao.

There's no need to investigate each issue individually; instead, the blame should be placed entirely on the Heavenly Dao. This demonstrates Hongjun's sincerity.

In other words, the responsibility for the karmic consequences of past kalpas lay with the Heavenly Dao, not with sentient beings. Therefore, sentient beings had the right to seek karmic compensation from Hongjun!
For example, the Dragon Tribulation caused the three races to accumulate karma, and the three races bore the consequences of the tribulation. However, now Hongjun has promised that the responsibility lies with the Heavenly Dao, which is the Heavenly Dao that extracted the source, causing the three races to fight each other. He also plotted against Rahu to instigate the tribulation. Therefore, the three races can reasonably seek retribution from the Heavenly Dao.

Yin Ziyu understood. Since Hongjun had shown sincerity, Yin Ziyu immediately said, "I can agree to the Dao Ancestor's request to search for the Chaos Pearl together!"

Hongjun was very satisfied after hearing this. Searching for the Chaos Pearl together was to search for a glimmer of hope to transcend the era. This was an alliance to overcome the final days of the future!
The other sages watched the two talk, some understanding but others not. Laozi could guess a thing or two, but the other sages were somewhat bewildered.

Because without achieving true primordial chaos, that is, without attaining a certain degree of freedom, one cannot see through these things.

For example, the goal after attaining the Primordial Chaos is to transcend the cycle of reincarnation and attain the eternal Great Dao, while the current goal of a sage is to achieve Lao Tzu's Three Corpses United Realm!

Different pursuits lead to different understandings of nature.

At this moment, Jiufeng could not contain her anger and stepped forward to question, "Then why destroy the West? Why destroy Mount Buzhou? Are these also part of the will of Heaven?"

Hongjun looked at Jiufeng and said calmly, "If the Primordial World is not perfect, then the Primordial Chaos cannot be formed. The will of Heaven was to lower the restrictions of the Primordial World to allow the Primordial Great Luo Golden Immortals to appear, while restricting the formation of the Human Dao and the Earth Dao due to the improvement of the Primordial World. The barrenness of the West can encourage the migration of living beings. The Primordial World is not perfect. The collapse of Mount Buzhou can weaken the pressure left by Pangu, and the loss of innate spiritual energy makes it even more difficult for living beings to grow."

Yin Ziyu nodded: "If there had been no Dragon-Han Calamity, and if we had been given some more Yuanhui, the Primordial World would have naturally given birth to a Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal. If there had been no Wu-Yao Calamity, Dijun and Taiyi would have been close to attaining the Dao. When Buzhou Mountain collapsed, the Dao Ancestor had just attained the Dao. I know that this was the will of Heaven, not the Dao Ancestor's original intention."

Hongjun was very satisfied with Yin Ziyu's words and nodded, saying, "After the Journey to the West calamity ended, I was able to completely control the Heavenly Dao after you changed the overall situation and injured it. Everything before the Journey to the West calamity had nothing to do with me, but everything after the Journey to the West is inseparable from me."

What happened after the Great Tribulation of Journey to the West was the descent of the Origin and the descent of the Sage, which ultimately forced Yin Ziyu and Jiufeng to attain enlightenment.

It's understandable that Hongjun wanted to suppress Yin Ziyu and Jiufeng, but for all living beings, this was the first great opportunity in all of history.

Hongjun's pressure on Yin Ziyu and Jiufeng was similar to nuclear fusion; only with sufficient pressure could they attain enlightenment, and without sufficient pressure, it would be difficult to do so.

Yin Ziyu turned to Laozi and the other four sages and said with a calm smile, "The collapse of Buzhou Mountain is inextricably linked to these sages, isn't it? As soon as Buzhou Mountain collapsed, Yuanshi Tianzun didn't even ask if it could be restored, but hurriedly refined it into the Fantian Seal. Such behavior seems a bit hasty!"

Upon hearing this, the Primordial Celestial Venerable angrily retorted, "You brat, stop talking nonsense!"

Upon hearing this, Jiufeng was even more furious: "You destroyed Buzhou Mountain, yet you pinned the blame on the Wu Clan, making them bear the infamy for ten thousand years. How despicable!"

Hongjun sighed softly, "Now that I hold the reins of Heaven, the karma of the Wu Clan can be eliminated. There is no absolute right or wrong in a sage carrying out the will of Heaven. Ziyu, tell me your views on the future!"

Regardless of the circumstances, the Heavenly Saints are all part of the Heavenly Dao's fighting force, and Hongjun, who governs the Heavenly Dao, naturally has to protect them!

Yin Ziyu's expression turned solemn: "In the future primordial world, I hope that the three paths of Heaven, Earth, and Man will take shape and become more stable. The Goddess Nuwa will be in charge of the Man path, the Goddess Houtu will be in charge of the Earth path, and the Heaven path will be supplemented. When the three paths are complete, the world will be at peace and all living beings will be blessed."

Hongjun had anticipated this and nodded in agreement, saying, "It is possible. However, the Heavenly Dao's origin is currently insufficient, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is scarce. It will be difficult to support the three paths to be complete."

Yin Ziyu stretched out his hand, and a sapling radiating vitality and containing the aura of primordial chaos appeared in his palm. It was the world tree, Jianmu.

Yin Ziyu said, “It’s alright. I attained Hunyuan because of all living beings in the primordial world, so I must repay the karmic debts of all living beings in the primordial world. In the past, the Heavenly Dao caused countless calamities to restrict the emergence of Hunyuan, and it has been completely overturned since then. Repairing Buzhou Mountain is of utmost importance. This is Jianmu, which is enough to replace Buzhou Mountain and allow the innate spiritual energy to fill the primordial world again.”

Hongjun looked at Jianmu, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "The World Tree? This originated from the source of the Great Dao?"

Yin Ziyu nodded: "Exactly. This way we can repay the Primordial World, allowing it to escape the degradation of the world caused by the several great calamities and embark on a new path of growth."

Hongjun sighed, "After the 31 billion yuan meeting, everything will come to an end. What's the point of all this fuss?"

Yin Ziyu stared directly at Hongjun: "Is this the reason why the Heavenly Dao wants to destroy the Primordial World this time? The Heavenly Dao believes that everything will eventually come to an end, and all these beings will be annihilated. Even if the Primordial World is improved, it will be meaningless. And the sages who seize the Primordial World's fortune probably also believe that whether the beings of the Primordial World cultivate immortality or not is irrelevant!"

Upon hearing this, all the sages present looked ashamed, and the chaos fell silent once more, with only the faint green light emanating from the Jianmu tree.

(End of this chapter)