During the Great Tribulation of Investiture of the Gods, when Jinling Shengmu pursued the Three Great Masters of the Chan Sect in the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, Ran Deng, the Chan Sect's deputy leader, ambushed and killed her with the Sea-Calming Pearls. Later, when Jiang Ziya bestowed titles upon the gods, she became Doumu Yuanjun. After her fall, Tongtian Jiaozhu, enraged after fighting the Four Saints, sought to shatter the primordial world and reshape its elements of earth, wind, water, and fire, returning the world to chaos to avenge her.
Jinling Shengmu felt deeply wronged. She had been holding her own against three opponents, only for that shameless Ran Deng to launch a sneak attack. If he hadn't ambushed her, how could she have died and been placed on the list of gods? Even becoming Doumu Yuanjun couldn't dispel her resentment. At first, she thought her uncle-master Yuanshi had ordered her death, but later she learned that he had never intended to wipe out the Jie Sect. Yuanshi had indeed given an order, but it wasn't to leave no Jie Sect disciples alive. Those of good character were to be spared, while the rest were to be killed. The Jie Sect's direct disciples were to be captured alive, not killed. It was only because Ran Deng, Jiliusun, and the Three Great Masters had already betrayed the Chan Sect that the Jie Sect suffered such a crushing defeat.
Tongtian Jiaozhu didn't care that they had lost the Great Tribulation of Investiture of the Gods. What filled him with resentment was that Yuanshi had disregarded their bond as members of the Three Pure Ones and brought in Jieyin and Zhunti to break the formation; that Yuanshi had thought so little of his disciples that he killed his beloved Jinling; that their teacher had ordered him to mend his relationship with Laozi and Yuanshi, forbidding him to avenge Jinling; and, most of all, that Haotian and Yaochi had altered Jinling's memories and made her their puppet. Yet his deepest resentment was directed at himself: why hadn't he protected Jinling? Why had he only realized his feelings for her at the very last moment?
Theme: Tongtian is reborn and spoils his disciple without restraint