The urgent military intelligence from Iron Wall Pass was like a massive stone thrown into the not-yet-completely-calm lake of the Three Realms. Inside the Alliance council hall, the atmosphere was as heavy as iron. Voices advocating for war were loud, believing that the Sun Radiance God Clan was taking advantage of their weakness and must be met with a head-on strike, otherwise national dignity would be lost and endless trouble would follow. Those advocating for peace were also numerous, worried that the Central Plains had not yet recovered its vitality, and starting another war might shake the foundation—they proposed sending envoys to negotiate and investigate the true situation.
Amidst the endless debate, Tang Xiaoqi made a decision that surprised everyone, overruling all objections.
"There is no need to mobilize a large force." He stood up from the head of the council, his voice calm but carrying an undeniable decisiveness. "I will travel west alone to meet this commander of the Sun Radiance God Clan."
This statement shocked the entire hall.
"Temple Master, please reconsider!" an elder from a human sect hurriedly dissuaded. "The Sun Radiance God Clan is fierce and barbaric by nature, with one hundred thousand troops surrounding them. You going alone would be like a sheep entering a tiger's den! If something happens to you, the Three Realms will be shaken, and the consequences will be unimaginable!"
"Yes, True Lord! At least bring an elite guard to demonstrate our Alliance's might!"
Xiao Qi's gaze swept across everyone as he slowly said: "How many people would be considered enough? If they truly harbor ill intentions, what difference would it make to have thousands or tens of thousands accompanying me within their hundred thousand troops? This journey is not for slaughter, but for deterrence and to gauge intentions. Too many people would only show my lack of confidence and give them leverage."
He paused, then continued: "The demonic tribulation has just passed, and the Three Realms urgently need rest and recovery. Unless absolutely necessary, a large-scale war should not be started. If my journey can overwhelm them with power and subdue the enemy without fighting, that would be the best strategy. If things cannot be resolved peacefully, I have my own methods of escape."
Seeing his mind was made up and his reasoning sound, though still worried, everyone could no longer strongly object. Senior brother Mu Qingfeng knew deeply that Xiao Qi's current cultivation was unfathomable, and he was not a reckless person. He said gravely: "In that case, Temple Master, please be careful in all things. The Alliance here will make all necessary preparations for contingencies."
Once the decision was made, Xiao Qi did not delay. He refused any ceremonial procession or attendants, and alone, transformed into a barely perceptible streak of green light, silently leaving Tian Shu City and speeding toward the west.
With Late Nascent Soul cultivation fully unleashed, his speed was terrifying. Mountains and rivers rapidly retreated beneath his feet. In less than half a day, that desolate region known as the "Endless Western Desert" came into view. After about another hour, on the distant horizon, a massive pass shimmering with cold metallic light in the blazing sun, winding like a dragon's spine, appeared. This was the western gate of the Central Plains—Iron Wall Pass.
And at this moment, outside Iron Wall Pass, on that stretch of Gobi that should have been empty and desolate, banners blocked out the sun and camps stretched endlessly as far as the eye could see. Countless Sun Radiance God Clan warriors, clad in bright silver armor and wielding strange weapons, their bodies radiating intense light and heat energy, stood like statues within the camps. A soaring killing intent and scorching energy fluctuation could be clearly sensed even from dozens of li away.
Xiao Qi did not go directly to Iron Wall Pass. Instead, he descended on a solitary peak about ten li from the alien army's camp. He stood with hands clasped behind his back at the peak's summit, his dark Daoist robes flapping in the dry western wind, his gaze calmly fixed on that massive military camp, especially the largest main commander's tent in the center, decorated with golden sun emblems.
He did not deliberately hide his presence, but he also did not fully release it. He simply stood there quietly, as if he had merged with the mountain beneath his feet and this entire heaven and earth.
However, a cultivator at the great perfection of Late Nascent Soul, especially one bearing the Green Lotus origin and possessing a clear Dao heart—his very existence was like a lighthouse in the darkness, impossible to truly conceal.
Almost the instant he landed, from deep within the alien military camp, several overwhelmingly powerful divine consciousnesses suddenly reached out like tentacles, carrying surprise, scrutiny, and a barely detectable trace of shock, all locking onto the peak where he stood.
Immediately following, a low horn sounded in the military camp, and the originally silent formation showed signs of agitation. Countless gazes, carrying shock and vigilance, turned toward that solitary peak, toward that figure at the summit who seemed small yet made all their hearts inexplicably tighten.
Moments later, the curtain of the main commander's tent was lifted, and several figures flew out rapidly. The leader was an extremely tall and muscular middle-aged man wearing magnificent golden armor, with a dignified face and a natural sun pattern on his forehead. His entire body radiated a scorching, domineering aura like the noon sun—he was clearly a cultivator with strength comparable to the middle Nascent Soul stage! This was the commander of the Sun Radiance God Clan's eastern expedition army—Flame Sun King, Apollo Sol.
Behind him followed several god clan generals whose presence was equally impressive, at least at the early Nascent Soul stage, as well as several elderly figures in priestly robes holding staffs, their eyes deep and profound.
The group hovered in the air before the peak where Xiao Qi stood, confronting him. Flame Sun King Apollo's gaze was like lightning as he tightly stared at Xiao Qi, shouting in a loud voice with a heavy foreign accent: "Who are you? State your name! How dare you spy on my god clan's military camp—you have great audacity!"
Xiao Qi's gaze calmly swept across them, appearing not to notice the several Nascent Soul generals subtly forming an encirclement or the energy they were secretly gathering. He did not answer the question, but instead asked: "Sun Radiance God Clan, stationing troops at my Central Plains border—what are your intentions?"
His voice was not loud, but it clearly entered the ears of every alien warrior, carrying a strange penetrating and calming power that actually steadied the minds of many god clan warriors whose breathing had become agitated from nervousness.
Flame Sun King's brow furrowed—the other party's attitude of ignoring his question and turning the tables displeased him, and even more, he felt a sense of indignation at being slighted. He snorted coldly: "The Central Plains is rich in resources, yet you have just experienced internal chaos (referring to the demonic tribulation) and your strength is greatly diminished, no longer able to protect this wealthy land. My god clan, inheriting the glory of the Sun Radiance God, is destined to manage this land—this is the mandate of heaven!"
"Oh? Mandate of heaven?" A faint, almost mocking arc appeared at the corner of Xiao Qi's mouth. "With just... your hundred thousand troops?"
The instant his words fell, his always-contained aura suddenly awakened like a dormant volcano!
Not a full eruption—just a trace!
But this single trace contained the vast pressure of Late Nascent Soul great perfection, and even more so, carried the origin Dao resonance of the World-Purifying Green Lotus that purified all things, transcending above ordinary energy!
"Om—!"
Centered on the solitary peak where he stood, an invisible yet immensely powerful imposing force suddenly spread out like mercury pouring across the ground, like an invisible tsunami!
The clouds in the sky seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand, instantly churning and retreating. The sand and stones on the Gobi below silently turned to powder. That soaring killing intent and scorching energy field condensed by the hundred thousand Sun Radiance God Clan warriors began to violently fluctuate, twist, and then... steadily retreat before this pressure containing the meaning of supreme purification!
Countless god clan warriors' faces instantly went pale, feeling a trembling and suffocating sensation from the depths of their souls gripping them, the light and heat energy in their bodies running sluggishly, almost forcing them to their knees. Even those Nascent Soul stage generals were severely shaken, their eyes showing disbelief and terror as they had to fully circulate their cultivation techniques to barely withstand this terrifying pressure that seemed capable of purifying the very source of their power!
Flame Sun King Apollo, bearing the brunt, let out a muffled groan as the sun-like radiance around him suddenly dimmed. He felt as if he were facing a truly pure and flawless green sun that yet contained destructive power! The other party had revealed only a trace of his aura, yet it made this middle Nascent Soul cultivator feel unable to resist, even wanting to bow down in worship!
What... what level of power was this?! How could there be such a terrifying expert in the Central Plains?! Wasn't it said that their top forces suffered heavy losses in the demonic tribulation?
Fear, like a cold venomous snake, instantly coiled around the heart of every Sun Radiance God Clan leader.
Xiao Qi took in everyone's reactions, then slowly withdrew that trace of released aura. The suffocating pressure between heaven and earth suddenly disappeared, as if everything just now had been an illusion. But the cold sweat on the backs of all the god clan warriors and their still-frantically beating hearts proclaimed the reality of what had just occurred.
He still stood with hands clasped behind his back, his tone as calm as ever, looking at the Flame Sun King whose expression was rapidly changing between shock and uncertainty, and slowly said: "Now, can we properly discuss the matters of troop withdrawal... and a peace treaty?"
Flame Sun King Apollo opened his mouth, looking at that unfathomable figure on the peak, then turning to look at his army whose morale had already been shattered. Finally, all his arrogance and ambition turned into a sigh filled with endless bitterness and lingering fear.
He knew that this time, the Sun Radiance God Clan had kicked an iron plate—an iron plate they absolutely could not shake, one that might even bring about their destruction.
Before absolute power, any schemes and ambitions seemed so pale and powerless.
Not long after, under the shocked and ecstatic gazes of countless Iron Wall Pass defenders, the Sun Radiance God Clan commander Flame Sun King Apollo Sol, representing the Sun Radiance God Clan, signed a thousand-year peace treaty with the Central Plains Three Realms Alliance representative, World-Purifying True Lord Tang Xiao Qi, before the two armies, promising never to invade the Central Plains border and opening some trade routes.
After signing the treaty, Flame Sun King gave Xiao Qi a deep, complicated look, then led his hundred thousand troops away like a receding tide, disappearing beyond the horizon of the western desert.
Tang Xiao Qi stood alone at the peak, gazing at the receding dust, his vision distant.
The deterrence had been achieved, the border crisis temporarily resolved.
But he knew that the potential crises in this world were far from over. His road was still long. And the compilation of the "World-Purifying Dao Canon" needed to be accelerated.