"Tao's Way Great Exalted One's actions are completely out of character for the Almighty Three Pure Ones, and the All-Worlds Luotian Convention seems irrelevant to this game of competition,"
"But in fact, the All-Worlds Luotian Convention is the key to this competition that has been maintained for countless ages!"
Shen Yuan's gaze turned contemplative, his index finger slowly traced arcs on the surface of the Luotian Tao Hall, outlining complex Taoist symbols.
"The All-Worlds Luotian Convention is a world transformed by the Supreme Tao Ancestor's transmission of dao, where Tao's Way Great Exalted One's Tao Achievement resides.
Far from targeting the supreme beings, on the contrary, nearly all beings within the All-Worlds Luotian Convention are suppressed to an almost equal level.
Even the Highest Heaven Exalted Ones inside the Luotian Realm would be confined to the Tao Harmony Stage, and everything is decided through discussions of dao—this is the order evolved from Tao's Way Great Exalted One with his own Tao Achievement.
Below the Tao Achievement, even the supreme being who half steps into the Tao Achievement cannot escape suppression.
It is this that provides me with an opportunity to face the supreme being on equal footing, and this is precisely the key to breaking the stalemate!"
As the intricate Taoist symbols broke through the air and traveled to a place within eternal space-time, the sound of an ancient bell rang out, echoing across all worlds.
"Transmitting Dao!"
The grandiose sound swept across the heavens like a tidal wave.
In worlds decrepit and chaotic, both the powerful cultivators struggling to awaken and the fallen beings lifted their heads to gaze at that place in eternal space-time.
At this moment, their identities differed, but one thing was the same—they had all set foot in the All-Worlds Luotian Convention ten thousand years ago.
After ten thousand years, as the grand sound of Tao transmission sounded once again, the beings from all worlds stepped into that realm once more.
The familiar historical mysteries once again appeared before Shen Yuan's eyes, and he found himself back in the Land of Supreme Tao Impartation.
Wherever his gaze landed, Shen Yuan could clearly see nine Tao Achievement's Great Seats shrouded in mist.
But different from the past, the area beyond the Tao Achievement's Great Seats that should have been teeming with Eternal Golden Immortals and Highest Heaven Exalted Ones, now lay empty and silent.
Above the nine Tao Achievement's Great Seats, where the Supreme Tao Ancestor had once sat in high repose, was nothing but a quiet Tao Hall now.
His gaze upon the Great Seats, only the sixth position remained unclaimed, the rest were already taken.
During Shen Yuan's last visit here, he had identified the Southern Pole Longevity Emperor on the third Tao Achievement's Great Seat, and Zhen Yuanzi, the Earth Immortal Ancestor, who had arrived at the Tao Hall with him, on the seventh seat.
His sight piercing through the mist of history, Shen Yuan could see the Southern Pole Longevity Emperor on the third seat, withered and skeletal, with vigorous vitality bursting forth from that decaying body, barely maintaining the balance between life and death.
And on the seventh seat, Zhen Yuanzi, his yellow Taoist robe covered in blood, his horsetail whisk already broken, his eyes gone from his skull, leaving only dark, empty sockets.
Not just Shen Yuan's two acquaintances, but the powerful experts on the other seats were in similar straits.
An elder in a Taoist robe, once exuding an aura of sageliness, now had missing arms and a gaping hole in his chest where his incomplete heart could be seen still struggling to beat.
A skeletal figure in armor sitting crossed-legged on a cushion, with an imperial bearing as if he were an Emperor, surrounded by the starry Universe.
Almost no one on the many Tao Achievement's Great Seats remained intact.
And when Shen Yuan's gaze moved to the first Tao Achievement's Great Seat, layers of historical mystery unfurled, revealing a twilight Great Sun that seemed to have witnessed the decay of all worlds.
Shen Yuan's heart trembled without doubt, the person atop the first Tao Achievement's Great Seat was the supreme being who half stepped into the Tao Achievement!
Suddenly, behind that twilight Great Sun, a pair of closed eyes trembled as if about to awaken from their slumber and cast a gaze upon this Land of Supreme Tao Impartation.
Shen Yuan immediately stepped onto the sixth Tao Achievement's Great Seat and sat down slowly.
Just as he had experienced in the All-Worlds Luotian Convention ten thousand years ago, that grand voice from the ancient Primordial Region once again rose by his ear.
"At the dawn of time, who imparted the Tao?
With heaven and earth yet unshaped, how can this be discerned?"
"Taoist, it's time to go to the Great Tao Debating Ceremony!"
Within the study, Shen Yuan slowly awakened from the grand voice expounding the origins of the Tao.
Looking to his side, a Green Ox that was both familiar and strange to Shen Yuan stood by his side, addressing Shen Yuan with respect:
"Taoist, if we do not depart now, we will miss the Great Tao Debating Ceremony."
The Great Tao Debating Ceremony...
Memories began to surge within Shen Yuan's mind, finally connecting with the historical process of the Luotian Realm.
In the last All-Worlds Luotian Convention, the Hundred Schools scholars held a Great Tao Debating Ceremony, where Shen Yuan ascended to Tao Achievement's Great Seat and was given the identity of a Taoist among the scholars to take part in the Great Tao Debating Ceremony.
However, before the commencement of the Great Tao Debating Ceremony, the All-Worlds Luotian Convention ended, and Shen Yuan returned to the Primal Chaos Realm, concluding his last journey in the Luotian Realm.
After sorting out the information in his memories, Shen Yuan's gaze became serious, realizing that the upcoming Great Tao Debating Ceremony was of utmost significance.
That Supreme being who had already occupied the first Tao Achievement's Great Seat would certainly intervene in the Great Tao Debating Ceremony, which was Shen Yuan's only opportunity to confront this Supreme being on equal footing.
"If that is the case, then let's set off!"
With this thought in mind, Shen Yuan softly replied.
Taking steps out of the study, Shen Yuan's eyes swept across the courtyard and he was instantly taken aback.
There, in the courtyard, was a familiar figure in a Taoist robe, none other than Saintess Qing Yu of the Little Clarity Void Grotto Heavens.
Qing Yu seemed to have just finished sorting through her memories of the last All-Worlds Luotian Convention and hurriedly bowed to Shen Yuan, saying:
"Qing Yu pays respect to the Master!"
In her voice, a hint of surprise flickered through Qing Yu's eyes.
The memories of the All-Worlds Luotian Convention could not be taken to the outside world, and would only resurrect upon re-entering the convention; by now she realized that this honorable Taoist was indeed Shen Yuan.
If this had been before the incident with the Exalted One impostor, Qing Yu might have harbored doubts about Shen Yuan, but after witnessing the acts of the impostor Exalted One and Shen Yuan's millennia-spanning arrangements, only admiration remained in her eyes.
Shen Yuan nodded slightly, his gaze then moving past the other people in the courtyard.
During the last All-Worlds Luotian Convention, Shen Yuan had traded a personal disciple's spot for the Luotian Realm's special Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, from which he deciphered the essence of the Supreme Tao Ancestor's Tao Achievement and gained many benefits.
Including Saintess Qing Yu and Ji Zhaoyang, several individuals became disciples of Shen Yuan, and some even hail from beyond the Primal Chaos Realm.
Yet, as the ages changed, only four remained in the face of the desolation invading all heavens led by the Dusk Realm.
Jian Qingyun of the Qingming Great World still barely managed to maintain his purity from contamination, whereas Jiang Wuji's great chiliocosm had long fallen; the Dusk Realm's corruption had seeped deep into the True Spirit.
An Eternal Golden Immortal's True Spirit can remain lucid after enduring corruption, maintaining reason like Great Black Sky and Moonlight Bodhisattva, but beings below the level of a Golden Immortal simply cannot resist the taint and will eventually succumb to corruption.
However, in the environment of the Luotian Realm, Jiang Wuji's reasoning seemed to have partially returned, instinctively bowing with the others to Shen Yuan.
"Greetings, Master!"
Shen Yuan nodded in acknowledgment, stepping out of the courtyard, as the Green Ox had already prepared the carriage by the side.
Stepping into the carriage, it began to move slowly.
The seemingly dilapidated carriage traveled along the road, bearing the emblem of the Taoism, one of the Hundred Schools; scholars from the academy and the elite families stepped aside, while the common people looked on with respect.
The carriage proceeded towards the city center, entering the Jixia Academy.
The surrounding buildings grew scarce, and the accompanying crowd came to a halt, as a grand Tao Hall finally appeared before them.
As Shen Yuan's Taoism carriage appeared, chariots representing the Hundred Schools converged from all directions into the Tao Hall.

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