Hongjun: My Opportunity Was Hijacked?

In the Primordial World, there was a mountain named Jade Capital.

Within a cave dwelling sat an old Daoist, white-haired and white-bearded, a broken jade plate hovering above his head.

As the Daoist cultivated with eyes closed, purple aura permeated the space around him, and a Golden Wheel of Merit slowly revolved behind his head.

The Daoist was cultivating steadily when suddenly his heart stirred. He opened his eyes, raised a hand, and began to calculate with his fingers, his brow furrowing deeply.

"Why is this so? It seems some opportunity of mine has been lost. Strange indeed."

An opportunity lost out of thin air was truly infuriating.

Yet what puzzled the Daoist even more was that an opportunity should have given him prior warning. This time, there had been no premonition at all—only a sudden alert, the first such occurrence.

He calculated with his fingers again and again, but found no trace of heavenly secrets leaking out.

After some time, the old Daoist seemed to give up, slowly lowering his calculating hand.

Sitting on his cattail cushion, he felt a trace of helplessness in his heart.

"Very well. If this is the case, dwelling on it will only bring more vexation. I should hasten to attain the Dao, unify this Primordial World, and prove my own Great Dao."

"I, Hongjun, shall be the first Saint of this Primordial World!"

The old Daoist was none other than Hongjun.

He sat there, closed his eyes, and prepared to continue his contemplation, striving to become a Saint as soon as possible.

Yet somehow, his heart could not calm down, and a reminder from the Heavenly Dao kept echoing within him.

"What is this? Just a lost opportunity, yet it leaves me unsettled for so long?"

"The Heavenly Dao itself has stepped in. Could it be related to achieving Sainthood?"

With no other choice, he mobilized the Jade Plate of Creation above his head, forcibly steadying his emotions.

Then he resumed his calculations. The broken jade plate above him emitted a Seven-Colored Divine Light, which surged into Hongjun's hands.

Hongjun felt something was off. The more he calculated, the less he could discern.

All he saw was a hazy blur, as if the heavenly secrets were obscured by something.

Yet an alarm bell rang in his heart, and he did manage to calculate some things related to this matter.

It was indeed connected to achieving Sainthood—but not his own opportunity for Sainthood.

His own opportunity had long been obtained. Yet under his calculations, it seemed this matter pertained to events after becoming a Saint.

What exactly it was, he could not calculate.

He was momentarily stunned, then let out a sigh.

"Boy Servant, come here."

At his call, a young boy appeared outside the cave dwelling, standing respectfully.

"Master, what is your command?"

Unable to calculate the matter, Hongjun naturally needed to ask, so he spoke directly.

"Has anything happened in the Primordial World recently?"

The boy servant thought for a moment. Aside from two powerful beings born on the Sun Star, and twelve barbarians near Mount Buzhou who did not cultivate their Primordial Spirits and called themselves the true lineage of Pangu, there seemed to be nothing else.

But the master already knew of these matters.

It seemed nothing major had occurred.

"Nothing major has happened in the Primordial World recently."

Nothing major?

Hongjun pondered back and forth. Asking the boy servant was probably a waste of time—after all, they were both recluses. If he himself didn't know, the other likely had no clue what was happening either.

He waved his hand, dismissing the boy servant.

Sitting on his cattail cushion, Hongjun felt somewhat uneasy.

This disturbance in his heart, and the Heavenly Dao's inability to calculate the cause—

It must be something significant.

A matter of Heavenly Dao significance. If a flaw appeared, he would have to mend it after becoming a Saint.

That meant it would still be his work. He sat there brooding for a long time, and a hint of anger began to rise within him.

"Whoever it was that stole my opportunity—once I become a Saint and recalculate, this karmic debt will be settled. Then, I will exact retribution!"

He ground his teeth, but at this moment, he truly had no recourse.

He wanted to mobilize the Heavenly Dao for help, but alas, he was not yet a Heavenly Dao Saint.

But this opportunity could be great or small. If he lost it, he might regret it bitterly later.

"Heavenly Dao, can you lend this poor Daoist a hand? Since you know of this matter and even alerted me, it cannot be trivial. If this matter is delayed, it would be most unfortunate."

As he finished speaking, a massive rift tore open beside Hongjun.

Within it, a pair of emotionless pupils appeared before him.

Hongjun watched the Eye of the Heavenly Dao appear, his body trembling slightly.

As if grasping the Heavenly Dao's intent, he furrowed his brow, then waved his hand and said, "This Seat's Three Corpses are not yet unified—how can I attain sainthood? Unacceptable, unacceptable."

The Heavenly Dao glanced at the Golden Wheel of Merit behind Hongjun's head and vanished from the spot.

Hongjun's expression was far from pleasant.

Just now, when the Heavenly Dao appeared, its demand was for him to become a saint.

If Hongjun were to attain sainthood at this moment, it would presumably reveal the reason behind it all.

But Hongjun harbored his own ambitions.

Becoming a saint now wasn't impossible—he could use the merit he possessed, along with the Primordial Violet Qi granted by the Heavenly Dao.

Yet he had no desire to ascend so easily.

He wanted to perfect his method of the Three Corpses; if he could unify them, even as a saint, his realm would not be too low.

Only then would the ambitions in his heart stand a greater chance of realization.

The Heavenly Dao refused to help, and Hongjun was furious.

It was like knowing you'd lost money but being unable to recall where.

In the end, he could only sigh.

"Let this be noted. The day of reckoning will come."

For now, he had no choice but to commit the matter to memory.

With a wave of his hand, a wrathful figure stepped out from within Hongjun's body.

This figure was no different from Hongjun, but his robe and beard were black, exuding a faint sense of gloom.

Hongjun looked at him and spoke directly, "This matter requires your trouble, Fellow Daoist. Go to the Primordial World and see if there are any clues."

The Black-Robed Hongjun nodded, then waved his hand and said, "You and I are one; you are the original. No need for such formality. This is also my duty. I'll make the trip."

Hongjun nodded. Though he didn't know exactly what had been lost, sending his Evil Corpse to investigate should yield some leads.

The Evil Corpse turned and left, vanishing into Jade Capital Mountain.

Hongjun closed his eyes and continued to contemplate his own Great Dao.

The restless thoughts in his heart were all suppressed.

Yet a thorn remained, constantly reminding him.

Someone had snatched a piece of his fortune from his grasp.

For the first time, Hongjun understood what it meant to endure for peace, only to grow more furious with every step back.

But there was nothing he could do—he couldn't deduce a thing, so he had to rely on his Evil Corpse to investigate.

The Evil Corpse left Jade Capital Mountain, glanced around casually, picked a direction, and flew off.

Since he had no idea what had happened, he'd just search randomly—maybe he'd stumble upon something.

For now, he could only drift like a headless fly, with no other option.