As the story goes, when Fairy Yunxiao deployed the Nine-Bend Yellow River Array, Duobao and the others willingly conceded defeat, voluntarily handing over the top spot. Yet, they themselves also wanted to seize this opportunity to test their skills against one another.
Naturally, they opted for a literary contest—it simply wouldn't do for fellow disciples to engage in bloody, violent combat.
Duobao produced a treasured sword with the characters "Immortal-Slaying" inscribed upon it.
With a smile, Duobao said, "Let's see if this elder brother's artifact-crafting skill has improved." As it turned out, this was a counterfeit replica Duobao had crafted himself.
Duobao had originally taken form from the fortuitous chance encounter of the Xiantian spiritual treasure Duobao Pagoda, possessing an innate attraction to magical treasures as well as a deep fondness for them—a mutual attraction. The more treasures there were, the stronger Duobao became; the stronger Duobao became, the stronger the treasures grew as well. Any treasure that entered the Duobao Pagoda could receive enhancement. Though the progress was slight and slow, the Primordial World was never short on time. Coupled with Duobao's passion for artifact crafting, who knew how many treasures he possessed by now? Even the self-detonation of an inferior-grade Houtian spiritual treasure could match the full-force strike of a Golden Immortal.
Wudang and the others passed the sword among themselves, offering praise upon praise. "What fine craftsmanship by our senior brother! This sword already possesses a trace of the spiritual charm of Master's Immortal-Slaying Sword, placing it at the level of a superior-grade Houtian spiritual treasure. If you were to forge the Extermination Sword, the Trapping Sword, and the Slaughter Sword as well, wouldn't you practically be able to piece together a low-profile version of the Immortal-Slaying Sword Array?"
Duobao smiled without a word, though the joy between his brows was impossible to conceal. Wudang and the others understood: their senior brother had likely already succeeded in forging them all. Truly terrifying.
Wudang, Jinling, and the others possessed formidable combat prowess and accordingly showcased their respective divine powers, drawing wave after wave of cheers and applause from the crowd.
Seeing this, Tongtian thought that these disciples truly refused to play by the rules; a proper competition had somehow turned into a fellowship gathering. Yet it was also apparent that the bonds among these disciples were exceptionally good—they had no desire to resort to heavy-handed violence and harm their mutual affection. Tongtian felt quite gratified.
With an imperceptible wave of Tongtian's hand, Duobao and the others were squeezed out of the small world, which promptly vanished into thin air. Its mission had been fulfilled. Upon emerging, Duobao and the rest hurriedly bowed to Tongtian. Tongtian nodded and said, "You lot..." Duobao and the others jumped in fright, fearing they had displeased their master, but Tongtian's ensuing words set them at ease: "With all this brotherly affection and camaraderie among you, it makes your master look cold and unfeeling, insisting that you must vie with one another for superiority. Not bad, not bad."
Duobao chuckled awkwardly and said to Tongtian, "Master, this competition was quite successful nonetheless. Many Jiejiao disciples have truly distinguished themselves, and our Jiejiao is indeed brimming with talent. However..."
"However what?" Tongtian asked.
"Many disciples of our Jiejiao carry heavy karmic burdens, neglect virtue and self-cultivation, run amok in the outside world, and act imperiously, riding on the prestige of Jiejiao to do whatever they please across the Primordial World. They have caused public grievances to mount throughout the realm, and our Jiejiao's Qi fortune is steadily draining away. Your disciple fears..." Duobao replied.
Hearing this, Tongtian smiled with gratification. This eldest disciple of his was truly exceptional. He knew that voicing these concerns might incur his master's wrath—after all, his own Dao was to teach without discrimination, striving to intercept a sliver of a chance of survival for all living beings. Thus, he turned no one away; anyone who had listened to his lectures could call themselves a Jiejiao disciple. Yet outwardly, Tongtian remained entirely impassive, fixing his gaze unwaveringly on Duobao.
Cold sweat beaded on Duobao's forehead, but he pressed on regardless. "Disciple fears we will follow in the footsteps of the Wu and Demon races!" With that, he dropped directly to his knees before Tongtian.
Tongtian's face darkened, and he remained utterly silent. Chang'er Dingguangxian suddenly chimed in, "Senior Brother Duobao, watch your words! Master teaches without discrimination, a principle that has spread far and wide. Who in the Primordial World does not respect Master, and who does not hold our Jiejiao in awe?"
Wudang scolded with a dark expression, "Shut your mouth. You have no place speaking here." Having said that, she knelt down beside Duobao as well. "This disciple shares Senior Brother Duobao's view." Following her lead, Guiling, Jinling, Yunxiao, Zhao Gongming, Wuyunxian, and the Hoop Immortal all knelt and spoke in agreement. Chang'er Dingguangxian's face flushed alternately red and white. Seeing that neither Wuyunxian nor the Hoop Immortal supported him, he retreated back to where the rest of the immortals stood. Those few immortals remained tight-lipped, yet they all... none of them were particularly good sorts; it was blatantly obvious that the group Duobao was referring to were those who took the human race as food, laden with enough karmic debt to nearly take human form themselves.
They watched Tongtian. Although they could not read his expression, seeing that Tongtian had remained silent for so long, they figured they must be in the clear. Their boldness surged once more.
They chimed in one after another, "Senior Brother Duobao, your words are mistaken. Those two races, the Wu and the Demon, failed to understand the heavenly mandate and lacked a Saint, so they deserved to be wiped out. But our Jiejiao has Master the Saint above, and ten thousand immortals paying court below—who in the Primordial World is our match?"
Upon hearing this, Tongtian almost failed to restrain himself from executing them on the spot. These few were truly ungrateful wretches who could never be tamed. They did not regard Jiejiao as a home at all; they merely treated it as a sanctuary they could discard and replace at any moment.
Wuyunxian roared angrily, "Shut up! Weren't we originally part of the Demon race ourselves? Even though we joined Jiejiao, His Majesty Donghuang treated you well back then, and you..."
Seeing that the two sides were on the verge of shouting match, Tongtian spoke up, "Silence. We shall discuss this matter at another time. For now, distribute the rewards." With that, he dropped the rewards and vanished.
The disciples looked at one another in dismay, one faction carrying lingering resentment while the other looked immensely smug.
Tongtian took it all in. He understood that his Jiejiao was far from monolithic, nor was it truly of one heart against a common foe. Acting like this—if you don't end up on the Investiture Gods list, who will? Tongtian realized that not every effort yielded a return, nor was everyone worthy of your devotion. Although Jiejiao and Chanjiao harbored a sea of blood feuds, still...
Tongtian fell into a prolonged contemplation.
Seeing that the Daoist Tongtian had vanished, the rest of the disciples were left in utter bewilderment. As it turned out, the preceding scene had only been visible to these core disciples; everyone else had no inkling of what had transpired.
Duobao steadied himself, stepped forward to pick up the treasures left behind by Tongtian, and distributed them according to the rankings to the top performers of each tier. The pills were likewise handed out as previously agreed. He then announced that the grand competition of Jiejiao had concluded and that the disciples were free to disperse. As his voice trailed off, streaks of light flashed across the sky one after another, and within moments, the ten thousand immortals of Jiejiao had all departed.
Yet Tongtian had not left behind the rewards for the Taiyi Golden Immortals and Daluo Golden Immortals. Looking ashamed, Duobao said to Yunxiao and Masui, "Junior Sister Yunxiao, Junior Brother Masui, you have been implicated because of me." Yunxiao replied, "Senior Brother need not take it to heart. With the Hunyuan Golden Diug and the Nine-Bend Yellow River Array in my possession, a single spiritual treasure is of little consequence." Masui slowly added, "I have my golden hoop, and that is enough." The others chimed in to comfort Duobao.
Chang'er and his cohorts departed without a word.
Bixiao, meanwhile, was holding back a fit of laughter off to the side. Catching sight of this, Qiongxiao stepped forward, grabbed Bixiao by the ear, and chided, "What are you laughing at? Is it that funny?" Only then did the others notice Bixiao. Yunxiao's brow furrowed tightly as she prepared to discipline her third sister, but Bixiao wriggled free, rubbing her ear as she said, "No, no, no, I was wrong! I was just secretly peeking at Master. When Senior Brother Duobao was offering his admonition, Master was clearly smiling—it's just that none of you saw it." Hearing this, the others were struck by bafflement.
Suddenly, Bixiao let out an "ouch" as a large bump sprouted on her forehead. The group heard Tongtian's voice transmit into their minds: "Come to Biyou Palace to see me." As it turned out, Tongtian had flicked Bixiao right on the forehead. Utterly mortified and thoroughly infuriated, Bixiao charged into Biyou Palace.