Chapter 158 The grand scheme has only just begun.

Bingjing's words not only stirred up a storm in Bitao's mind, but also stirred up a storm of public opinion throughout the entire Nine Heavens Silver River.

"Elder Lei of the Ancient Immortal Clan leaked information about the competition venue before the competition, which is cheating. What's the point of the competition if it's like this?! Why bother going through the motions? We, the merit-based immortals and wild spirits, might as well just disperse our spirits and descend to the mortal realm as ordinary people, and let the Ancient Immortal Clan monopolize the entire Nine Heavens!"

"I really laughed. Before, you colluded with the Star God to murder Bi Tao Xuanxian, and now you're doing it right, just revealing the competition venue before the competition even starts! Why don't you three Thunder Fighter Divisions just openly show your names and write down who you want to kill!"

"Zhu Mingxian has personally gone to the Thunder Department to arrest the person, but I really can no longer believe in the fairness of this competition."

"Where is the Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Realms? Why hasn't it stopped the competition yet?"

"The Heavenly Dao of Myriad Realms went to the Shangqing Realm, presumably for the sake of the competition. Didn't you see that the Immortal Lord Dongjun and the Supreme Origin God Zhen of the Shangqing Realm were also in the competition star realm? I think everyone should not overturn the entire competition based on the Ice Mirror True Immortal's one-sided statement."

"Let's wait for the verdict of Elder Lei from Chief Zhu Mingxian's side."

"I think this competition is fine. The first competition tests the faith of the people, the second competition tests the merits of the immortals themselves, and the third final competition tests who among the immortals is whose believer. It's very reasonable. This competition selects generals for the Nine Heavens. Having the faith of the people is not a skill, nor is having great personal merit. Only when the subordinates they are about to lead are willing to send them to heaven can they be truly respected by all."

"Besides, what's the point of revealing the competition venue beforehand? Ice Mirror True Immortal has no followers in this realm. Among the banished immortals, they would rather tear each other's stomachs apart the moment they meet. Where are you going to find five spirits with different elements to willingly sacrifice themselves for her and send her to heaven?"

"As for killing five people to force their way to heaven, that's just the obsession and delusion of these banished immortals. Even if the contestants really ascended in this way, the Heavenly Dao would not recognize such an immortal position!"

"If there really is a problem with the competition venue, why haven't the many immortals who accompanied the competition shown up? The Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Realms and the Azure Nether Emperor discovered that the immortal positions in the competition were placed in the wrong star realm, so it's impossible that they would ignore it."

"Let's see what Bi Tao Xuanxian will do. Among the immortals competing in the lower realm, only Bi Tao Xuanxian has so many banished immortals under her control, making them believe in and follow her... Now that Bing Jing Zhenxian has told her how to ascend to heaven and prove her position, it shouldn't be difficult for so many people to gather enough of the five elements to help her ascend, right?"

...

After Bingjing left, Bitao didn't rush out, but sat down on a chair.

He reached for the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup of tea that had gone cold.

She shuddered as she drank a mouthful of cold tea, the chill starting from inside her chest.

Ice Mirror wouldn't lie to her.

Bitao was willing to take the blame for Binglun in the Heavenly Realm in order to win over Bingjing.

Bingjing possessed the virtues of a hermit, was of noble character, and would rather die than persecute those who had shown her kindness.

Although her words cannot be entirely trusted, Bitao was able to win her over by using her character. The ancient immortal clan had nurtured her for many years, so how could they not understand her nature?

Perhaps she herself didn't realize that she had become a mouthpiece for others.

You've misunderstood; Bitao completely misunderstood before.

The person behind it all, through the Ice Mirror, clearly wanted to tell Bitao the method of ascension.

However, what Bitao cared about was that Bingjing said this place was an ancient abandoned immortal site.

Then everything that had been puzzling Bitao, including Jichunjun's unusual behavior and words, was explained.

These two completely unrelated things, and the words spoken by two completely unrelated people, fit together perfectly in Bitao's mind like a mortise and tenon joint.

As soon as Bitao landed in the mortal realm for the competition, she briefly lost consciousness and was captured. Bitao deduced that the ancient immortal clan was desperate and would stop at nothing to kill her.

But Bitao knew she had no right to have her entire clan, who inherited the power of the ancient gods, prepare such a magnificent "tomb" for her at least four thousand years in advance.

Bitao initially believed that the problem with the yin-yang gnomon in the celestial rotation caused so many banished immortals to be sent to this world.

Their third competition was chosen to take place in this astral realm so that, like the first two competitions, they could find a solution under the watchful eyes of the accompanying immortals. Then, they could ascend back to the celestial realm, which would constitute victory.

According to the theory that five people from the Ice Mirror Sect could exchange one person for ascension, their final ascension competition was based on the unwavering support of the believers in the Immortal Realm, which is quite reasonable.

Since the yin-yang sundial has such a problem, Qingming, the emperor who oversees the sundial, will definitely be held accountable.

This also indirectly proves why it was the Heavenly Dao of Myriad Realms that sent them down to the mortal realm in the third competition, rather than the Azure Emperor.

The Shangqing Realm and the Taiqing Realm are mutually supervising realms. Since such a huge blunder occurred in the Taiqing Realm, the Azure Nether Emperor will inevitably be questioned. When they descended to the mortal realm for their third competition, the Azure Nether Emperor should have been in the Shangqing Realm.

But looking back now... the problem with the yin-yang sundial didn't just start in the last few hundred years.

Instead, they were unaware that thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago, the celestial rotation and yin-yang sundial had already been casting the positions of disgraced immortals into this realm, turning this place from a place of discarded immortals into a "slaughterhouse" where those behind the scenes eliminated dissidents.

How many ancient immortals like Ji Chunjun, who couldn't remember things and wasted thousands of years in this place, are still alive, and how many have died silently in places where no one will ever notice?

As long as the "disobedient" immortals commit crimes and are punished by being sent to this world to be tormented for three to five hundred years, they will obediently submit.

If you refuse to listen and join us, you'll never be able to go back.

Having come to this realization, even though Bitao had seen all the wickedness in people's hearts, she couldn't help but feel a chill.

Based on this, we can speculate: where did the life force extracted from mortals go, and to whom did it nourish, given that the phenomenon of short lifespans began at least four thousand years ago?

If the yin-yang sundial malfunctions, then... is it just this one star realm that's having problems?

Over these countless years, how many immortals were banished to the mortal realm and then "submitted" to heaven?

Or rather, how many celestial positions in the heavens have not been cleansed by them?

With such long-term planning and such cruel methods of subjugation, their intentions are self-evident.

As for why the problem with the Starry Sky Rotating Yin-Yang Sundial wasn't discovered until the third competition?

Naturally, it is only logical to hold the Azure Emperor accountable for this!

Once the Emperor is held accountable or even convicted, wouldn't it be natural for the ancient immortal clan to unite as one and elect a new, qualified Emperor?

The overturning of the heavens would no longer be a delusion or a joke.

Bitao and everyone else participating in the third competition were just pigs and sheep sent to the slaughterhouse by the person behind them.

They even went so far as to throw their own juniors down here. They might be able to salvage a few, but how many of the ancient immortals, unaware that they were being thrown down as burial offerings, would die here? They probably didn't care at all.

Five people of different spiritual backgrounds can ascend to heaven by voluntarily offering sacrifices, but what if these people change their minds halfway through?

What will happen to the person who ascends halfway?

As for Bingjing's claim that he forcibly captured five people with different spiritual attributes and threw them into the formation to achieve their positions in heaven, Bitao was certain it was impossible.

The consciousness of the Heavenly Dao is not even the Heavenly Dao of the myriad realms. When Bitao ascended, she dispersed her spirit within it and knew that it was a consciousness derived from heaven and earth, not under anyone's control. She would not allow such a depraved person to ascend to immortality.

Bitao could never understand why a mere Star God could so easily "select" someone to ascend to immortality.

It's not hard to explain now that this Xu Xingshen is probably the "eyes and ears" of those who want to overthrow the heavens, a puppet to manipulate the winds and clouds for them.

Bitao finally understood why, when she first descended to the mortal realm, those ancient immortals, who were clearly able to seize her consciousness, did not simply kill her.

This even allowed her to successfully build her own faction and rise to her current position as the leader of the Immortal Alliance.

She had a smooth journey with no powerful forces standing in her way.

Because she was just a facade from beginning to end.

In the first two competitions, the Ancient Immortal Clan may indeed have wanted to kill her, this upstart "heretic".

But in this third competition, they deliberately brought Bitao to the forefront to attract everyone's attention.

Bitao's role was at best that of a "clown." The person they really wanted to kill this time was not her, but the ruling clan of the Nine Heavens—the Golden Crow Clan!

This wasn't even a conspiracy, but a brilliantly executed open scheme.

Bitao was only glad that they had set up such a big scheme and played a shocking, open conspiracy.

This at least shows that they haven't "cleaned up" all the celestial positions yet. Under the watchful eyes of the Nine Heavens and all the immortals, they dare not rebel.

With the will of Heaven above them, they, like treacherous officials and rebels in the mortal world, dare not bear the infamy of treason and rebellion. Even if they were to send troops to rebel, they would do so under the guise of "serving the emperor."

In other words, they wouldn't use a sneak attack to kill the "Celestial Prince".

This means that Mingguang is safe, at least for the time being.

Bitao eagerly poured the entire pot of tea from the table into her cup.

Then, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and forcefully suppressed all her turbulent emotions into her amorous peach blossom eyes.

She calmly left the cabin, ordered the furnaces and the leader to be put away, and returned to Elder Qingwen's spirit boat.

At the same time, Taiji was summoned, and he was given a bottle of pills, instructing him to take people to the town from earlier in the day to help the dying young mother.

Looking at Tai Chi, Bitao smiled and reached out to pat his head, saying, "I always thought that if you had both parents and you were so smart, you would definitely grow up to be a carefree little devil."

Having both parents alive is not only Bitao's expectation for Tai Chi, but also a warmth that she could never piece together no matter how hard she tried.

Bitao said to Taiji, "That child is about the same age as you were when you were young. I know I can't take care of everyone, but let's save this one first."

Taiji nodded: "The fairy is right!"

Tai Chi never understood any grand principles of becoming an immortal. He simply followed Bi Tao step by step to where he is today, revering her as a towering mountain and following her example without ever making a mistake.

“Go ahead. You know everything about the human body. Take a good look at that woman and see what’s wrong with her. All deaths come from disease. Even a centenarian who seems to die without illness, upon closer examination, will die because some organ in his body malfunctioned.”

Bitao said, "Please try to find the root of the problem. If you can find the right medicine, that would be best. If not, just give her this pill and at least delay it for a year or two."

"When that child grows up a bit more, even without his parents, he can at least work for others to survive."

Taiji always obeyed Bitao's orders. Soon, he carried a small cloth bag with some commonly used medicines and led his men back to the town.

After Taiji left, Bitao searched the entire main spirit ship but couldn't find Mingguang.

Just as Bitao was about to lose control of her trembling, she looked down from the spirit boat and saw Mingguang being pulled by the sleeve of a mortal boy not far from the bow of the spirit boat.

Even though Mingguang was such a clean person, he didn't struggle. He took a broken toy from the little boy and started fixing it for him.

Bitao almost tore her meridians apart. The violent spiritual energy that surged out of her body slowly, like a giant beast at the bottom of an abyss, retreated the moment she saw Mingguang's figure.

She leaned on the railing, looking at the bright light, repeatedly reminding herself in her heart.

calm.

wait.

Do not show any abnormality. Wait until the normal rest time, cut off the Silver Net, and then explain everything to Mingguang.

She bit a small opening in the tip of her tongue.

Use pain and bloodshed to force yourself to calm down.

There's still time! The game has only just begun. She and Mingguang together will surely be able to come up with a way to break the deadlock!