In 2023, atop Mount Wuyi, dark clouds gathered amidst lightning and thunder. A young man sat leaning against a boulder, gasping slightly, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth. A dozen figures in Daoist robes slowly closed in around him. One of the leaders smiled and said, "Tongtian, give up resisting. Jiejiao should have ceased to exist long ago. As long as you swear a Daoist oath to leave Jiejiao and join Chanjiao, I can call the shots and wipe the slate clean of all past grievances."
The young man on the ground chuckled softly. "Wipe the slate clean? How laughable. Red flowers, green leaves, white lotus roots, the Three Sects are originally one family. Grandmaster, do you see this? These are your ancestral teachings. After the God-Conferring Tribulation, disregarding cause and effect, the Three Sects are still one family. Hahahaha."
"Shut your mouth! Jiejiao should have perished long ago. You remnants overestimate yourselves and still dare to preach. Today, I see that you are destined to have your body and soul destroyed," said a Daoist nearby. Instantly, a chorus of agreement rose all around. "Exactly, exactly."
With that, the group slowly stepped forward, pointing their weapons at Tongtian. Tongtian coughed up another mouthful of blood, a smile on his face. "Even in this Age of Dharma Decline, you Chanjiao folks are still hounding us of Jiejiao. Truly good dogs. Since it's like this, let me open a new heaven for all fellow practitioners in the world, and let you witness Jiejiao's Ascension formation. Isn't this what you wanted? In the Age of Dharma Decline, spiritual energy is extinct, and you desperately want to ascend to the Earthly Immortal Realm. Little do you know, this Ascension formation was tailor-made by my Jiejiao for this Age of Dharma Decline. Activate formation!"
Suddenly, a blinding white light flashed, enveloping Tongtian. Lightning cracked within the dark clouds above, and an unfamiliar aura blanketed the mountain peak. "Heavenly Tribulation? Not good, it's the Heavenly Tribulation! Everyone, retreat quickly!" At that, the dozen people turned pale with fright and panicked.
Tongtian said slowly, "It's useless. Under the Heavenly Tribulation, not a blade of grass survives. You still dream of ascending? That ship sailed long ago. Spiritual energy is extinct, and our connection with the Earthly Immortal Realm was severed ages ago. Ascension is nothing but a scam. We have been abandoned by the Earthly Immortal Realm. A bunch of fools, still hunting down my Jiejiao—a bunch of idiots! You are all abandoned people. This realm was forsaken long ago. Burn to ashes with me under the Heavenly Tribulation. Hahahaha!"
Just as his voice fell, thunder roared. Amidst the flashing lightning, the mountain peak was razed to barren white ground.
After the lightning passed, the rain cleared and the sky turned blue. A gentle breeze blew across the peak of Mount Wuyi, as if nothing had happened, leaving only a wisp of fine ash drifting away with the wind.
After the God-Conferring Tribulation, Jiejiao was shattered. Disciples died or betrayed the sect. The Taoist Tongtian swallowed the Saint-Slaying Pill and was imprisoned in the Zixiao Palace. Beneath Tongtian, of the four personal disciples, the eldest disciple Duobao was transformed into Tathagata Buddha, ceasing forever to be an immortal of Jiejiao; Guiling and Jinling died in battle; Wudang went into hiding. Of the four outer disciples, Zhao Gongming was on the God-Conferring List, while the three Goddesses of Sanxiao suffered two deaths and one suppression. The grand spectacle of ten thousand immortals paying homage was no more.
As times changed, Chanjiao unexpectedly showed no mercy, relentlessly hunting down members of Jiejiao. To keep their teachings alive, members of Jiejiao had no choice but to adopt assumed names and live the fugitive life of recluses. Yet, under the ceaseless kalpas, the Primordial World ultimately shattered, and many fragments of the Primordial World transformed into individual worlds. A descendant of Jiejiao sacrificed themselves, using the remnant diagrams of the Myriad Immortals Formation to conceal a fragment as the stronghold of Jiejiao. Still, Chanjiao caught the scent and pursued them. In the end, the few remaining second-generation disciples used great divine power to sever the connection between the small world and the Primordial World. From then on, Chanjiao's trackers and Jiejiao's survivors waged a great war in this realm. Ultimately, relying on a tenuous, half-severed connection to secure supplies, Chanjiao occupied this world.
However, Jiejiao's efforts were not in vain. Eventually, the connection was completely cut off, proving that ascension was nothing more than a joke. Through endless battles and a world continuously shattering, they finally drifted into the Age of Dharma Decline. Tongtian was the last descendant of Jiejiao; hiding his identity and cultivating to the Golden Core Realm, he was nevertheless discovered. Fighting and retreating all the way, he was finally cornered at Mount Wuyi, leading to the scene at the beginning.
The Ascension formation was developed by Jiejiao after they discovered the world's degradation and the extinction of spiritual energy, and during the Song Dynasty, it had successfully established contact with the upper realm, known as the Earthly Immortal Realm. But the world's degradation was irreversible, and the Ascension formation also lost its connection to the upper realm. Yet Chanjiao's frantic hunt for Jiejiao was all for this sliver of hope—to break the seal and return to the upper realm before the final arrival of the Age of Dharma Decline. This was Chanjiao's obsession, but in the end, it was not to be. Ultimately, the last cultivators perished alongside the lightning.
The story of Tongtian on Earth came to an end, but the Tongtian of the Primordial World was about to begin a new story.