Chapter 38: The Sacred Seal of the Three Pure Ones
"Hmm?"
Lin Jun felt a momentary tension, but without hesitation, he followed his disciples. He stepped onto the pedestal belonging to the Yuqing Palace, the seat of the Yuqing Heavenly Venerate, and headed straight for the battlefield beyond the heavens.
Standing atop a puppet beast belonging to the Yuqing Palace, he looked at the vast array of colossal puppet beasts from other palaces surrounding him. The air around him was thick with a primal, savage aura, as if he had been transported back to the ancient past.
...
"Charge!"
On the battlefield beyond the heavens, Lin Jun, clad in black armor, surged with a power of unknown cultivation. He was the strongest warrior in this celestial conflict. Surrounded by a group of disciples, he tore through the ranks of the demons.
Behind him loomed a massive golden "Deity-Demon Avatar"—a divine statue in the front and a demonic one in the back. Combined, they functioned like a meat grinder, radiating infinite power and crushing the endless waves of demons that dared to approach.
"Victory!"
"We’ve won!"
"Long live the Sanqing Sect!"
"Long live the Yuqing Palace!"
Watching the endless tide of demons flee in defeat, the members of the Sanqing Sect, nearly all of them drenched in blood, cheered and roared. This war, which had raged for nearly a century, had finally come to an end!
"Tell the Heavenly Court: in this battle, our Sanqing Sect is supreme!" shouted his eldest disciple, Dao Wusheng, standing atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, holding the severed head of a demon god aloft in pride.
His second disciple, Zhan Wuji, and third disciple, Xin Wunian, stood beside him, full of high spirits! As their master, Lin Jun watched this scene with great comfort, finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish dream from reality.
...
"Oh no! The demon army is rising from the ashes!"
"Urgent report! The demon army that retreated has reappeared, and their numbers are growing!"
"What should we do? Is this a conspiracy?"
"No matter what, we must not let these evil spirits break through the Heavenly Pass of our Sanqing Sect. Disciples, follow me and fight!"
"Charge!"
"With the Sanqing Sect here, no demon shall cross the Heavenly Pass!"
The Sanqing Sect had barely caught its breath when, in the midst of the chaos in the command tent, Lin Jun led countless disciples into battle once more!
"Charge!"
"Charge!"
...
On the battlefield, Lin Jun seemed to lose consciousness. He did not know how long he had been killing, but the demons surrounding him seemed inexhaustible. Gradually, his divine power began to wane, and he grew weary...
"Hahaha, Master! Second, Third, I can’t hold on any longer. I’ll go first—let us meet in the next life!"
Suddenly, a resonant voice rang out from nearby, followed by a thunderous boom. Lin Jun’s body trembled; it was the voice of his eldest disciple. He... he had self-destructed!
"Master, I can’t hold on either. I’ll go first!"
Boom!
"I’m leaving too! Master, I have no regrets in this life for having been your disciple!"
Boom, boom, boom!
The sound of one explosion after another echoed around him, leaving Lin Jun in a daze. Everywhere he looked, there were only the hideous faces of extraterrestrial demons. Gradually, Lin Jun, too, was swallowed by the endless sea of monsters...
In the final moments before the sky was sealed, he saw the firmament turn blood-red, as if the heavens themselves were weeping blood...
"What has happened..."
In the instant he lost consciousness, Lin Jun felt as if he had returned to the Sanqing Sect, the place where he had lived for decades. Yet, his existence felt strange; he could not feel his own body, as if he were observing from some ethereal perspective. Finally, he saw a colossal finger descend from the heavens, crushing the entire Sanqing Sect he had called home for decades into dust!
Rumble!
Watching everything turn to ash, Lin Jun felt a boundless agony in his chest, yet he could not utter a single sound.
Then, the scene shifted. He appeared in a corner filled with ruins; a deathly silence hung in the air.
"Cough, cough..." A decrepit old man sat on a stone, nearing the end of his days.
"Master, you’ve come," the old man said, slowly raising his head. Faintly, one could still discern traces of his former dashing elegance. It was his eldest disciple, Dao Wusheng!
Lin Jun’s body shook, as if he suddenly understood. Everything from the past flashed through his mind. Comparing the high-spirited Dao Wusheng of the past to this disheveled, skin-and-bones old man with a flickering aura, Lin Jun felt a heart-wrenching pain.
"You..." Lin Jun realized he was not his true disciple, yet as he tried to speak, his voice caught in his throat.
"Master, I am fine. I have held on until now just to wait for this day."
As he spoke, Dao Wusheng tremblingly reached into his robe with withered hands and pulled out a small dharma seal. Looking at Lin Jun, his eyes filled with hope. "This... this is the Sanqing Sacred Seal. Once you possess this seal, you possess everything of our Sanqing Sect..."
Dao Wusheng used his last ounce of strength to press the seal into Lin Jun’s hand. Lin Jun knew he was not his real disciple, but he did not refuse. In his dreams, the memory of teaching this disciple was vivid and clear.
Seeing this, Dao Wusheng managed a difficult smile. For a fleeting moment, it allowed Lin Jun to see the dashing figure he once was.
Suddenly, his expression turned dark, and his body began to blacken, as if an endless resentment were about to erupt, yet he forced it back!
"Master, your disciple must go..."
Looking at Lin Jun, the remnant soul of Dao Wusheng offered one last smile before dissipating like drifting sand in a cold, dark wind. Only his lingering reluctance remained, echoing by Lin Jun’s ears.
Lin Jun’s eyes grew moist. He reached out to grasp, but he could grasp nothing at all...
...
He did not know how long he had been awake, but a faint melancholy still lingered in his heart. After a long while, Lin Jun went to the side hall, took up a brush, and painted several portraits. With a sigh, he hung them on the walls of the Great Dao Sect.
The portraits depicted the three disciples from his dream, vivid and lifelike. Standing before these three images, Lin Jun toyed with the small dharma seal in his hand, the emotions in his heart refusing to fade...
...
During these days, within the Great Dao Sect, Ye Zhetian, relying on his extraordinary "dog luck," had already recruited a group of sycophants who had come to pledge their loyalty. These people had turned into lapdogs, insisting on holding a coronation ceremony for Ye Zhetian!
In the days that followed, the "Black Emperor" faction, led by Ye Zhetian, sent out invitations far and wide, inviting others to observe the sect. In the blink of an eye, the day of Ye Zhetian’s ascension as Sect Master of the Great Dao Sect had arrived!