One day in the heavens is a year in the mortal realm.
Back when the Primordial Heavenly Venerable was drafting the Investiture List, he had carefully set things in motion: using Li Jing of Chentang Pass as the entry point, he embedded the reincarnated Spirit Pearl into the Li family. His grand plan? To support Wu Wang's campaign against King Zhou, then grant Li Jing ascension into the ranks of immortals—thus forging the future backbone of the Heavenly Court.
Even the conflict between the Dragon Clan and Nezha had been deliberately orchestrated by him. It was a calculated step meant to bring about Nezha's nirvanic rebirth, granting him his Lotus Body and the fearsome Three Heads and Six Arms form.
That's right—Nezha was a key figure in the entire Investiture Plan.
And yet, he never could have imagined... that such a vital character would vanish from the Fengshen List without a trace.
He simply couldn't fathom—who had the power to defy the heavens and rewrite fate to such a degree that even a divinely decreed name could be erased?
Beside him, Taishang Laojun also frowned. Even he had never expected that someone could tamper with the Fengshen List itself.
After all, unless the culprit possessed a treasure even more powerful than the Fengshen List, it should have been impossible to erase the fate and fortune of the entire Li family.
"Hahaha! You two Saints plotted and schemed, trying to undermine me, the Tongtian Cult Master… but you didn't see this one coming, did you?"
This was the first time Tongtian had ever seen the usually composed Primordial Saint and Taishang Laojun so rattled. Their pale, ashen faces were absolutely delightful.
Still, even Tongtian was inwardly shocked.
Who… could possibly possess such terrifying power—power enough to erase names from the Fengshen List itself!?
Not even he, the mighty Tongtian, could achieve that. To help his disciples defy the heavens to such a degree, he'd likely need to retrain the Five Elements—water, fire, wind, lightning, and earth—and open up an entirely new universe!
"Tongtian! Don't let me find out you're behind this!" the Primordial Saint growled, eyes cold and sharp. Taishang Laojun's gaze also turned frosty.
Outwardly, the Three Saints appeared cordial—but in truth, they were locked in a never-ending struggle. It was kill or be killed.
Tongtian merely shrugged in response. Without saying a word, he transformed into a stream of divine light and vanished—gone without a trace, as if he'd never been there.
No sooner had the Tongtian Cult Master disappeared than the Primordial Saint tucked the Fengshen List into his sleeve and began calculating furiously—desperate to uncover who had interfered.
Taishang Laojun took a deep breath. He said nothing, but stood quietly to the side, lost in thought.
Since the birth of the Mythic World, there had already been two great tribulations—the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation and the Witch-Demon Tribulation. These cataclysms had all but wiped out five ancient races: the Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, Kirin Clan, Wu Tribe, and Demon Clan. Their former glory was now little more than history.
After the Witch-Demon Tribulation, Nüwa molded humans from clay. Through hardship and strife, humanity had risen to become the rightful protagonists of the world, founding kingdoms like the Yin-Shang Dynasty.
Now, with the Fengshen Tribulation looming, the Saints had once again gathered.
All three knew very well: every major catastrophe in this world was a divine reshuffling of power—a cleansing of outdated forces to usher in the new.
After the last calamity, the Tongtian Cult Master had accumulated an overwhelming number of powerful demon cultivators beneath his banner. His Penglai Immortal Island had earned the title "The Court of Ten Thousand Monsters"—a testament to his staggering influence.
So Taishang Laojun had approached the Primordial Saint. Together, they'd planned to seize this Fengshen Tribulation as a chance to divide Tongtian's forces and bolster their own sects. Hence the "joint discussion" over the Fengshen List…
But to Taishang Laojun's utter shock, even this carefully orchestrated scheme had been disrupted.
Nezha, Li Jing, and their kin were meant to be pivotal pieces—the keystones of the new Celestial Army.
And now… gone.
Just as Taishang Laojun was wrestling with his thoughts, the Primordial Saint suddenly staggered, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Startled, Laojun rushed forward to support him, preventing a truly undignified fall.
"N-No… This can't be…" gasped the Primordial Saint. "I tried to calculate Nezha's fate, but… it's completely beyond my grasp."
His voice remained calm, but that single sentence sent a tsunami of dread crashing through Laojun's heart.
He can't divine it!?
He knew full well the level of the Primordial Saint's power. For even he to be unable to deduce something… then the one responsible must possess a level of destiny beyond their comprehension.
What that meant—
No one understood it more clearly than Taishang Laojun.
"We must find out who this person is," said the Primordial Saint, gritting his teeth. "Otherwise, this entire Fengshen Tribulation—our entire scheme—will be for nothing!"
"Yes!" Laojun nodded heavily. He understood all too well what was at stake.
Meanwhile, while the other Saints were immersed in deduction and panic, the Tongtian Cult Master had already returned to his Penglai Immortal Island.
He immediately summoned his disciples and ordered them to scour the world for information—to find out who could possibly possess the power to erase names from the Investiture List.
Even now, he was still in shock.
Who could do this!?
Could this be the secret hand of the Heavenly Dao's incarnate—Hongjun himself?
No… that didn't seem likely.
Regardless, Tongtian had made up his mind.
Whoever this mysterious force was—he must win them over, even if it meant calling them brother. No price was too high.
Because he refused to let decades of painstaking cultivation and empire-building go up in smoke just like that.
At the same time, while the Saints hid away in their divine realms—scheming, deducing, and panicking—on the shores of the East Sea, within the majestic East Sea Dragon Palace...
A series of delightful system prompts echoed through the air:
[System Notification]
Congratulations! You have used the Mountains and Rivers Society Fate Map to steal Taiyi Zhenren's fortune!
Your personal fate has increased!
Your Dao Attainment has increased by 523 years and 23 days!
Your Dragon Clan's fortune has increased! +3 points!
[System Notification]
Congratulations! You have used the Mountains and Rivers Society Fate Map to steal Li Jing of Chentang Pass's fortune!
Your personal fate has increased!
Your Dao Attainment has increased by 482 years and 23 days!
Your Dragon Clan's fortune has increased! +3 points!
...
Seated upon his dragon throne, Ao Qing's eyes gleamed with wild delight as the wave of prompts filled the air like heavenly music.
The smile on his lips grew broader by the second.
The moment he'd returned to the Dragon Palace, he had wasted no time in unleashing his newest treasure—the Mountains and Rivers Society Fate Map, now evolved into a Quasi-Chaos Treasure.
He'd used it to directly absorb the fate of Taiyi Zhenren and others.
And to his satisfaction, the treasure's power had exceeded expectations—it had cleanly stripped away their fate and fortune, devouring it whole!