Zhou Xingdou's lips curled up. In this way, his efforts were not in vain. Looking at Wan Tianzhou, who was supported by the Thirty-Six Saints, he showed a fatherly smile of satisfaction.
But the Ninth Ancestor of the Universe did not stop speaking, holding the decree and looking at the Holy Mother of the Universe, who had just begun to smile:
"The Holy Mother of the Universe has been illegally seizing the fruits of the Dao of the Universe to create beings and vying for power and profit. She should be stripped of her Holy Mother status and imprisoned in a forbidden area for a thousand years of ascetic cultivation."
The Holy Mother of the Universe's expression changed, but the Ninth Ancestor of the Universe's subsequent words relieved her:
"But considering her years of hard work, pitying the plight of her and her child, and her outstanding performance during the catastrophe, her merits and demerits are offset, so she is allowed to retain her position as the Holy Mother and assist the new Holy Lord."
The Holy Mother of the Universe immediately bowed in gratitude. For her, this was the best outcome, as she had neither done anything wrong.
After all, regardless of anything else, the fact that she had intercepted the Dao Fruit of the Universe with the Holy Lord of the Universe was a capital offense. Now, she naturally had no complaints, but was instead moved to tears of gratitude.
At this moment, the Ninth Ancestor of the Universe, seeing the true words reappear on the decree, his face darkened, his breath hitched, but he had no choice but to read it aloud:
"Wan Shenyan, the Ninth Ancestor of the Universe, has failed in his duty to guard the Holy Land of the Universe. He was easily deceived by Wan Huaze and attacked the Young Marshal Ziwei."
He was stripped of his position as the ninth patriarch and punished by being made a protector of the new Holy Lord Wan Tianzhou, assisting him in handling the affairs of the Holy Land.
As the decree was read aloud to him, Wan Shenyan, the Ninth Ancestor of the Universe, twitched at the corner of his mouth, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Others were either greatly rewarded or their merits and demerits were balanced out, while he alone was punished. Moreover, he was directly stripped of his position as the Ninth Ancestor and demoted to the position of Protector of Wan Tianzhou.
This punishment is much more severe than it appears. There are only nine seats in the Universal Ancestral Position, excluding the Emperor Ancestor. They are not simply ranked by age and cultivation level, but rather by those who have made great contributions to the Universal Holy Land.
Becoming one of the Nine Ancestors, even the lowest of the Nine Ancestors, brings immense benefits, as this is a position determined by the Universal Emperor Ancestor and the Universal Great Dao.
Although the Ninth Ancestor position does not enhance one's cultivation strength, it allows one to occasionally peek into the origin of the Great Dao of the Universe for cultivation, and occasionally receives lectures from the Emperor Ancestor. Countless elders covet his position as the Ninth Ancestor.
This is also one of the reasons why he was unwilling to revive the other eight ancestors. In fact, it was not entirely because the demon had methods targeting the universe. If the other eight ancestors were alarmed, his position as the ninth ancestor would come to an end.
He originally thought that since Qin Ming and Zhou Xingdou, the young master of the Zhou family, were present, and he had some acquaintance with Qin Ming, he could use Zhou Xingdou's influence to help the Universal Holy Land safely overcome this calamity.
Who knew that he still couldn't escape the Emperor's discerning eye, and he still couldn't keep his position as the Ninth Ancestor.
Zhou Xingdou raised an eyebrow, not because of Wan Shenyan's punishment, but because of a sentence in the decree that mentioned attacking the young emperor Ziwei, which piqued his curiosity.
He was addressed by many names: Master Zhou, Young Master Zhou, Young Emperor Zhou, etc., making it almost impossible to use a single one. Now, the title "Young Marshal Ziwei" had also appeared, leaving him somewhat bewildered.
The Zhou family and the name Ziwei are indeed closely related. For example, their family's traditional martial arts technique is called the Ziwei Taihuang Scripture, and the purple pagoda in their ancestral home is called the Ziwei Taihuang Pagoda.
Tianjizi claimed to possess the blood of the Purple Star and the essence of immortality.
What is the meaning of "Young Marshal Ziwei" now? It comes from the mouth of the Emperor Ancestor of the Universe, and is by no means a joke.
The young marshal is naturally the son of a marshal. Could it be that his father, whom he has never met, is some marshal somewhere who has left him an army?
However, thinking about these things now is like trying to catch the moon in a well—it's utterly meaningless.
As Zhou Xingdou's thoughts raced, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Wan Shenyan, the former Ninth Ancestor of the Universe:
"Congratulations to the Ninth Ancestor, oh no, I mean, Protector Wan! It's truly enviable that you've been able to break free from your ancestral position and regain your freedom."
Zhou Xingdou didn't actually have much of an emotion towards Wan Shenyan; in fact, he even vaguely found the man quite interesting. But that didn't stop him from kicking a man when he was down and mocking him.
Wan Shenyan's face was ashen, as if he had swallowed a fly, but upon hearing Zhou Xingdou's mockery, he did not become angry, only managing a forced smile:
"Indeed, indeed, Zhou Zunzi is right. I am so happy to be free."
As he spoke the last few words, Wan Shenyan's teeth were practically ground to powder, and he looked like he wanted to cry but couldn't.
Buzz!
The decree in Wan Shenyan's hand emitted a buzzing sound, its shimmering light blending together to transform into a holy radiance that shot straight toward Zhou Xingdou.
Zhou Xingdou originally wanted to tease Wan Shenyan a bit, but upon seeing this strange phenomenon, he immediately reached out with his palm, grabbed the incoming light, and with a swift movement, a pure white token with golden threads appeared in his hand.
The supremely vast and radiant celestial music of the Universal Emperor Ancestor resounded from the token:
"Young Marshal Ziwei has aided our universe, and we should repay you with kindness and guidance. This is the ancestral decree of the universe, which grants you a position comparable to that of an elder. I hereby bestow it upon Young Marshal Ziwei and grant you permission to enter the forbidden area of the universe to comprehend the laws of the universe when you reach the Great Sage realm."
The moment the sound fell, everyone was shocked.
Their position is comparable to that of a clan elder, which is quite high. Take Wan Shenyan for example. Even though he was stripped of his position as the ninth ancestor, he is still a clan elder. In the future, after the Holy Mother of the Universe abdicates, he will also obtain the position of clan elder.
The elder of the clan, though not as powerful as the Holy Lord, is second only to the Ninth Ancestor in status.
Zhou Xingdou remained calm. He knew perfectly well that the title of "elder" was merely equivalent to that of an elder, without any real power; it was just a title.
However, allowing him to enter the forbidden land of the universe to comprehend the laws of the universe when he becomes a Great Sage is a decent compensation.
After all, this is the exclusive law of the Holy Land of the Universe, and no one in the Holy Land except the Holy Lord, Holy Mother, Holy Son, and Grand Elder is qualified to comprehend it.
It is absolutely one of the most powerful laws in the world.
Wan Tianzhou also recovered from the shock of succeeding to the position of the Holy Lord of the Universe, but there was not much joy on his face.
Because the Emperor's decree directly sent the Holy Lord of the Universe into reincarnation, it almost extinguished his hope of resurrecting the Holy Lord of the Universe in the future.
Even though the Holy Lord of the Universe was utterly astonished, in Wan Tianzhou's eyes, that man was ultimately the father who gave him his soul.
Moreover, the Holy Lord of the Universe was corrupted by misfortune, which led him to do such a foolish thing, and he realized his mistake and returned to the right path on his deathbed.
Zhou Xingdou naturally noticed Wan Tianzhou's emotions. After putting away the Universal Ancestral Token, he walked towards Wan Tianzhou and smiled:
"Congratulations, from now on you will be the master of an immortal force."
Wan Tianzhou shook his head with a wry smile:
"Boss, please stop teasing me. If it weren't for your position as the thirty-sixth Holy Lord of the Universe, it wouldn't be my turn."
Wan Tianzhou knew very well that among the many former Holy Lords who had become Elders in the Universal Holy Land, it would be safer to recall any one of them to temporarily assume the role of Holy Lord than to do it himself.
Moreover, if it weren't for Zhou Xingdou, he would have been obliterated by Du Buhui's indestructible soul long ago, turning into nourishment for the indestructible soul.
Now that he has succeeded as the Holy Lord, it can be said that nine-tenths of the credit goes to Zhou Xingdou, and one-tenth to his identity as the incarnation of the Dao Fruit of the Universe.
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