Divination of Destruction

About ten million kilometers away from the Heaven Sword Sect, within a dark and eerie palace hall, ten peak Tribulation Transcendence Realm powerhouses sat in silence. The air was heavy with tension. Suddenly, the ancient doors creaked open, and all ten stood up at once, feeling an overwhelming pressure sweep through the hall.

The one who entered was none other than one of the strongest Heavenly Demons in the High Heavenly Dao World—a terrifying existence who had left countless sects in ruins. Standing at the half-step Human Immortal Realm, just a minor step beyond peak Tribulation Transcendence, his strength was already enough to suppress all ten of them combined without effort.

Yet, shockingly, fear was etched into the face of this legendary Heavenly Demon.

A command had descended directly from the Immortal World itself. The ancestor of his sect, a true Human Immortal Realm existence, had personally ordered him to trigger a Demonic-Orthodox War. There was no explanation, no reasoning—just a decree that could not be questioned.

The Heavenly Demon knew refusal was impossible. Defiance would incur the wrath of the Immortal World. Even if those Immortal World powerhouses descended with their cultivation suppressed to half-step Human Immortal, their mastery over laws and their immortal weapons would still render all resistance futile. Against them, even his unrivaled strength would be meaningless.

With no choice, the Heavenly Demon summoned all the major demonic sects to prepare for the inevitable Demonic-Orthodox War.

Meanwhile, far above, within the Immortal Great Dao World, lay a sacred land famous for divination and fate cultivation—a place where the most profound users of the Law of Fate gathered.

Inside this land, an ancient elder sat alone, playing chess against himself. Yet his gaze wasn't on the board, but instead pierced through countless layers of heavens, looking directly into the lower realms.

Suddenly, the old man sighed, his voice calm yet carrying the weight of heaven-shaking prophecy. "Junior Shen, are the preparations complete? I have sensed it—a great calamity is approaching, rushing toward our Immortal World."

Even with his mastery over fate, frustration flickered in his eyes. "Something is obscuring the fate lines, deliberately hiding the source. All I could confirm is that it originates from the High Heavenly Dao World—but no matter how I calculate, I cannot narrow it down further. Any attempt to peer deeper causes my life energy to drain rapidly, and even the Great Dao itself warns me through thunder tribulation for disrupting the law of order."

He traced invisible lines across the chessboard with his fingertips. "There are 350 High Heavenly Dao Worlds… but fate refuses to reveal which one. If this calamity invades the Immortal World, tracking its origin will become nearly impossible. By then, the cost will outweigh the benefit."

The old man's gaze sharpened. "That is why I leave the preparations to you. I don't want our sect to directly intervene, but I have already glimpsed numerous sect destructions woven into future fate lines. Go to the sects I name, and order them to command their subordinate sects within the High Heavenly Dao Worlds to unleash chaos. Use the chaos to expose the hidden calamity. Such a terrifying existence capable of threatening the Immortal Great Dao World won't be able to hide if the world itself is set ablaze."

With that, the elder returned to his chess game, though his thoughts clearly lingered far beyond it.

Without hesitation, he descended upon the Soul Devouring Sect. This sect stood in a unique position—neither fully demonic nor orthodox—yet its fearsome cultivation methods granted it significant status in the Immortal World. Upon arrival, Shen Tianyi immediately requested an audience with the Sect Master.

Standing before the Soul Devouring Sect Master, Shen Tianyi spoke calmly: "My senior, Mu Qingran, the Great Elder of the Heavenly Fate Pavilion, has divined an ominous fate. The future destruction of your Soul Devouring Sect originates from one of the High Heavenly Dao Worlds. The threat is already approaching. There is no need to search for its precise location—the most effective method is to trigger large-scale warfare."

"Order your subordinate sects across all High Heavenly Dao Worlds to ignite large-scale destruction. The more chaos you create, the faster these hidden threats will be forced to either die in the chaos or expose themselves. Once they are revealed, eliminate them immediately."

"This method does not violate the law of order, for the Heavenly Dao itself favors conflict—it thrives on war to forge the strong. So long as this war forces the hidden calamity into the light, the Heavenly Dao will view it as necessary balance. Your sect will gain unimaginable benefits, the Heavenly Dao will fulfill its role, and the Immortal World will avert disaster."

The Soul Devouring Sect Master's expression turned grim. Without any delay, he summoned all elders and initiated the sect's ancient secret ritual—The Cleansing.

The Cleansing was the Soul Devouring Sect's core cultivation method, a terrifying yet ingenious technique. By triggering deaths through indirect manipulation, they accelerated the reincarnation cycle. Normally, when souls enter reincarnation, the Heavenly Dao purifies them, erasing emotions and memories before sending them into new lives. This process was slow and burdensome to the Heavenly Dao.

However, in times of large-scale war, billions of lives were lost in a short period, overwhelming the Heavenly Dao with negative emotions and grievances. Left unattended, this buildup could eventually tear open a rift to the Abyss Realm itself.

The Soul Devouring Sect's role was to intercept these negative emotions, directly devouring them before they could corrupt the reincarnation cycle. In doing so, they comprehended the Law of Emotion, greatly accelerating their cultivation while easing the Heavenly Dao's burden. This earned them rare Golden Merit, which aids cultivators in comprehending laws, improving their cultivation, and enhancing their overall foundation.

This mutually beneficial system was ancient and deeply intertwined with the Heavenly Dao's operations, but it had one fatal flaw—whenever a Divinity Master of the Fate Dao, recognized across all sects, detected a world-ending crisis, the Immortal World's survival took precedence. All sects, whether orthodox or demonic, were duty-bound to unite under the Ancient Sect Survival Pact, forged after multiple near-extinction events in ancient history.

Shen Tianyi knew the Soul Devouring Sect had no choice but to comply—especially with Mu Qingran's name attached to the prophecy. Mu Qingran's divinations had never failed.

Faced with no options, the Soul Devouring Sect Master ordered the Cleansing to begin across all their subordinate sects. Like sparks lighting a prairie fire, the order spread. Chaos would soon engulf countless worlds, and through this chaos—the hidden calamity would have nowhere left to hide.