Elder Tai of Xuantian, flushed with shame and anger, furiously denounced and attacked Fusheng Dijun, using all manner of baseless speculation and malicious slander to paint him as a sinister, despicable, selfish, and utterly wicked villainous traitor.
To this, Fusheng Dijun offered no defense. He merely replied with a dismissive tone, "I have said what needed to be said. Whether you believe it or not is for each of you to decide."
With that, Fusheng Dijun fell silent.
Seizing the opportunity, Elder Tai quickly addressed the assembled Ancestral Patriarchs: "Everyone, you must not listen to the slanderous words of Fusheng Dijun! He is fearmongering, inciting everyone to abandon the suppression of the Divine Sense and Demonic Will within You Di. This is tantamount to making us give up our best chance to protect the Great Dao. His goal is to make us all sit idly by and wait for death! He wants us to fight You Di to a mutual standstill, so he can seize the opportunity to let his own Hunyuan Dao dominate heaven and earth!"
"Opportunity knocks but once! Once lost, it is gone forever! Such a simple principle, I believe you all understand it! In this great Calamity where no one knows the answer, we must turn passivity into initiative to seize the advantage. Only by seizing the advantage can we protect the Great Dao!"
"Watching and waiting is the same as sitting idly by, waiting for death. When that time comes, forget about protecting the Great Dao—even we ourselves will be at the mercy of others!"
"Fellow Daoists! Wake up!"
Elder Tai once again tried to persuade the assembled Ancestral Patriarchs with what he called heartfelt words.
Unfortunately, the effect was far from ideal.
Fusheng Dijun's words had not only made the wavering Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs hesitate, but even those who had already decided to support Elder Tai of Xuantian were now beginning to waver.
Indeed, before this, all the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs present believed Elder Tai's proposal to first suppress the Divine Sense and Demonic Will attached to You Di was the correct choice for the Great Dao. But after hearing Fusheng Dijun's words, everyone began to doubt whether they should continue supporting Elder Tai.
They didn't know whether to believe Elder Tai or Fusheng Dijun.
Elder Tai's character, though rigid and pedantic, was known to all—he had devoted his entire life to the Great Dao and was absolutely loyal to it. Since the onset of the Original Sin Cataclysm, with the Dao of Heaven and the Dao of Saints remaining absent, only Elder Tai and the Xuantian Nine Immortals had been tirelessly working behind the scenes. It was clear he wanted to protect the Great Dao more than anyone.
If there was anyone among the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs willing to pay any price, including their own life, to protect the Great Dao, Elder Tai was definitely one of them. No one doubted this.
This time, he took the lead in proposing that everyone suppress the Divine Sense and Demonic Will on You Di. Although the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs present all knew Elder Tai must have his own selfish motives—perhaps coveting the Divine Sense and Demonic Will of the Three Great Overlords, or perhaps coveting that of the Ancient Clan—regardless of what Elder Tai was scheming, it wasn't important. What mattered was that Elder Tai was willing to pay any price to protect the Great Dao. That was enough. Moreover, which of the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs present didn't have their own selfish motives?
The answer was certain: everyone had their own selfish motives.
As for Fusheng Dijun's character, even less needed to be said. If one claimed he was a despicable, sinister, selfish person, no one would believe it. If one claimed Fusheng Dijun would frame the Three Thousand Great Daos for his own selfish desires, just to let his Hunyuan Dao dominate heaven and earth, that was even more impossible.
Not to mention those Ancestral Patriarchs who understood Fusheng Dijun, even those who didn't know him well understood he was not such a person.
What made the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs even more distraught was that upon careful consideration, they found both Fusheng Dijun's words and Elder Tai's words reasonable.
If one sentence were to summarize Fusheng Dijun's meaning, it would be: live in the present. Do not let unknown 'what-ifs' become shackles in your heart. Do not, for the sake of unknown 'what-ifs', knowingly attempt the impossible.
Elder Tai's meaning, however, was: if you live only in the present, it is tantamount to sitting idly by, waiting for death. Precisely because the 'what-ifs' are unknown, you should not sit idly by. Only by taking the initiative can you seize the advantage in the unknown. Even if you know it's impossible, you must force it to happen.
Fusheng Dijun said only by living can one protect the Great Dao.
Elder Tai's meaning was the opposite: only by protecting the Great Dao can everyone live.
Fusheng Dijun was more conservative; Elder Tai was more radical.
Should they choose conservatism or radicalism?
The Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs present pondered left and right. The more they thought, the more confused they became; the more they thought, the more lost they felt; the more they thought, the more hesitant they grew. It was as if they stood at a crossroads in life, not knowing which path to choose, nor which path was right or wrong.
Elder Tai of Xuantian watched the wavering Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs, his face as ugly as it could be. He did not continue to try to persuade them.
Because he knew Fusheng Dijun's words had already begun to spread in the minds of the Ancestral Patriarchs. No matter how he tried to persuade them, he could not dispel their hesitation in a short time.
Fusheng Dijun's influence was too great. His words were like a seed of karma, taking root and sprouting in the hearts of the Ancestral Patriarchs.
What to do?
For a moment, Elder Tai of Xuantian also didn't know what to do.
If the Ancestral Patriarchs from the various Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands did not support him, relying solely on Taiji Boundless and the Xuantian Nine Immortals—even adding Tai Xuan, Tai Miao, and the Old Immortal—to go suppress the Divine Sense and Demonic Will on You Di, Elder Tai had no confidence at all. Not only did he lack confidence in suppressing the Divine Sense and Demonic Will on You Di, he even lacked confidence facing the Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs who also coveted the Divine Sense and Demonic Will on You Di. Moreover, besides them, there were also the powerful Original Sin variables protecting You Di: Lady Wuyue, Demon Emperor Ren Tianxing, Carefree Great Emperor Mo Wentian, Bai Chou, Qiongqi, and others.
At this moment, Elder Tai of Xuantian wished he could charge forward and tear Fusheng Dijun to pieces!
Of course, he could only think about it.
Looking across the entire assembly, whether among the Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs or the Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs, whether among the Great Dao Mandates or the Great Dao Overlords, whether among the Tribulation Response Constants or the Original Sin Variables, no one dared claim they could tear an existence like Fusheng Dijun to pieces. Not to mention tearing him to pieces, even defeating Fusheng Dijun—probably no one dared guarantee that.
In the distance, within the void, Thousand-Leaves Immortal King watched the hesitant Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs, glanced at the furious Elder Tai of Xuantian, and finally looked at the composed and unperturbed Fusheng Dijun. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then stopped, her expression exceedingly complex, as if wearing a bitter smile.
Earlier, when Changfeng Great Emperor openly declared he did not support Elder Tai, it had nearly scared her to death. But what Thousand-Leaves Immortal King never expected was that Peacock Great Emperor also did not support Elder Tai. Even Fusheng Dijun did not support him. Not only did he not support him, he even bluntly stated that Elder Tai's proposal to suppress the Divine Sense and Demonic Will on You Di was the wrong choice. This was tantamount to completely negating Elder Tai.
"Changfeng," she asked, "Fusheng Dijun said the Divine Sense and Demonic Will on You Di cannot be touched, that whoever touches it dies. Is that true?"
"This... I don't know either."
Changfeng Great Emperor pondered for a moment, then added, "However... based on my understanding of Fusheng Dijun, if he says whoever touches the Divine Sense and Demonic Will on You Di dies, then it's likely true that whoever touches it dies."