Treasure Distribution Cliff

The Primordial Violet Qi Chen Song had thrown out traced a graceful arc through the air. It even seemed a little dazed as it spun several times in midair, then...

As if sensing the utterly nonthreatening, "kind-hearted" aura radiating from a certain "honest man," it abruptly changed direction. With a whoosh, it shot straight into Ancestor Hong Yun's body under his astonished gaze!

Hong Yun: "???"

He only felt warmth spread through his entire body as an unfathomable strand of violet qi appeared within his primordial spirit, leaving him completely dumbfounded. I... I just... got a windfall—no, a heavenly opportunity?

The entire place fell silent again.

Everyone looked from Chen Song, who was patting his chest with the expression of someone who had finally tossed away a troublesome burden, to Ancestor Hong Yun, who was still dazed and apparently had yet to understand what had happened.

Jieyin and Zhunti beat their chests and stamped their feet in anguish. "What a waste! What a waste! Such a saintly opportunity was treated so... so frivolously!"

Kunpeng stared at Hong Yun, the resentment in his eyes nearly solidifying. Him again! Why did all the good fortune fall into his lap?!

Zhenyuanzi hurriedly grabbed the still-befuddled Hong Yun, his expression grave.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun gave Chen Song outside the palace a deep, inscrutable look. He said nothing further about who the Primordial Violet Qi belonged to and merely stated, "The sermon has ended. Conduct yourselves wisely."

With that, his figure dissolved atop the Cloud Bed like ripples on water.

Outside the palace gates, the atmosphere did not ease after the sermon ended. Instead, it became even more treacherous.

Ancestor Hong Yun stood there, sensing the warm yet weighty Primordial Violet Qi within his primordial spirit. The confusion on his face gradually turned into the panic of someone suffering from indigestion. He looked pleadingly at his close friend Zhenyuanzi beside him. "Brother Zhenyuanzi, wh-what should I do?"

Zhenyuanzi's expression was so grave it seemed water could drip from it. The phantom of the Earth Book, the Heaven and Earth Treasury Mirror, flickered behind him as he seized Hong Yun's wrist and said in a low voice, "Leave this place at once!"

He could already feel the gazes coming from every direction, like starving wolves eyeing a piece of meat—especially Kunpeng's nearly tangible resentment and the undisguised greed of the Two from the West.

Jieyin and Zhunti stared at Hong Yun longingly, feeling as though their hearts were bleeding.

Zhunti pounded his chest, his voice trembling with sobs. "Bitter! Senior Brother, how bitter! Our West... our West was ultimately just a little short on karma!" Jieyin also wore an expression of utter misery, as though someone had just stolen all the assets needed to revive the West.

Di Jun and Taiyi exchanged a glance, each seeing resolve in the other's eyes. The Saint Position had to be fought for! Hong Yun might be a breakthrough...

Just as the undercurrents surged and the situation was about to erupt into a full-scale brawl—

"Buzz!"

With a soft hum, the chaos qi beside Purple Cloud Palace suddenly churned violently. An incomparably massive cliff appeared out of thin air, radiating countless treasure lights and piled high with innumerable innate materials! Treasure qi soared into the heavens, auspicious radiance stretched in a thousand streams, and the phantoms of spiritual treasures of every shape and attribute floated and flashed within it, so dazzling that no one could keep their eyes open!

Treasure Distribution Cliff!

The Dao Ancestor's indifferent voice rang through the chaos once more, brief and to the point. "In my early years, I contended with Demon Ancestor Luohu and fought a battle at Mount Sumeru in the West."

The great powers were shaken and immediately pricked up their ears. This was an ancient secret of the primordial world!

"That Luohu," the Dao Ancestor said without a trace of emotion, as though discussing some trivial matter unrelated to him, "was capable as well. The God-Slaying Spear was unmatched in sharpness, and the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation could not be broken without four Saints. At that time, I invited Yang Mei, Yin-Yang, Qiankun, and several fellow Daoists to go with me..."

An image immediately formed in everyone's minds: four of the primordial world's strongest powers forming a party to challenge the ultimate dungeon boss, "Demon Ancestor Luohu."

"That battle shattered the Western earth veins and scattered its spiritual essence." The Dao Ancestor's tone remained calm. "Fellow Daoist Yang Mei injured his foundation and retreated into seclusion; Fellow Daoist Yin-Yang merged with the Great Dao; Fellow Daoist Qiankun... suffered the destruction of body and soul. In the end, I barely won by half a move. Luohu perished and established the demonic path with his body, which could be considered another kind of sainthood."

The great powers' scalps tingled. Four against one, and three of them had nearly been killed in return? In the end, only Hongjun survived? What kind of monster had Luohu been?!

The Dao Ancestor paused, seemingly recalling something, then added, "After the battle, I saw those ownerless treasures scattered across the West. It would have been a pity to let them gather dust, so I casually gathered some up. Today, I have placed them upon this cliff. Each of you may rely on your own fortune; what you obtain depends entirely on your own destiny."

The great powers: "!!!"

What a "casually gathered some up"! What a "pity to let them gather dust"!

Dao Ancestor Hongjun, did you loot all the gear from both your teammates and your enemies through tears, then hold a charity auction—no, a destiny giveaway now?!

In an instant, the Primordial Violet Qi and the struggle for Saint Positions were all temporarily forgotten! Everyone's eyes turned red, their breathing grew heavy, and they stared fixedly at Treasure Distribution Cliff, where treasure light shot into the sky!

"Grab them!"

No one knew who shouted it, but it was like lighting the fuse of a powder keg!

The three thousand guests of Purple Cloud Palace surged toward Treasure Distribution Cliff like floodwaters bursting through a dam, like locusts that had gone hungry for three days, transforming into streaks of multicolored light!

"Treasure! Here I come!" Tongtian was the most excited. With a long howl, he transformed into sword light and charged ahead! The Shangqing Immortal Light swept toward several sword-shaped treasure lights atop the cliff that radiated the fiercest killing intent.

Yuanshi had a clear target. Yuqing Immortal Light formed into a giant hand that reached directly for the phantom of a colossal chaos-colored banner radiating the aura of creation—the Pangu Banner!

Laozi was the calmest, yet he was not slow either. The phantom of a golden bridge from the Taiji Diagram flashed, already pinning down a scroll encircled by Yin-Yang Energies at the summit of the cliff—the Taiji Diagram! This treasure accorded with his path of non-action and was clearly destined for him.

Empress Nuwa stirred her creation qi, drawing a spiritual treasure shaped like an embroidered ball and a scroll toward herself...

Di Jun and Taiyi performed the Golden Crow Rainbow Transformation, charging toward several spiritual treasures that radiated imperial auras...

Zhenyuanzi could not afford to care about anything else. Dragging along the still-dazed Hong Yun, with the Earth Book protecting them, he also rushed into the treasure light, hoping to find one or two protective treasures for his old friend.

The scene completely descended into chaos. Immortal light, demonic qi, and monster winds crisscrossed everywhere, and small-scale clashes had already begun over the spiritual treasures.

And what about our protagonist, Chen Song?

He had originally wanted to hide behind his Master and Martial Uncle to watch the excitement. After all, he had just thrown away a hot potato and wanted to keep a low profile.

But the foolish dog Big White beside him saw all those glittering treasures flying through the sky, and its eyes instantly turned starry as drool poured from its mouth. "Woof! Boss! So many bones... no, so many shiny things! Charge!"

Before Chen Song could stop it, Big White was already howling as it dragged Chen Song headfirst into the treasure-grabbing crowd with its bizarre jumping ability and speed!

"You stupid dog! Get back here! That isn't food!" Chen Song staggered from being dragged along and nearly fell into a fiercely contested cluster of treasure light. Terrified, he quickly brought out the Five Elements Illusory Spirit Fan and instinctively swept it with Five-Colored Divine Light—

"Huh?"

A thing radiating a dense innate aura was swept down into his hand. It looked like... a barbecue rack? No, like an alchemy furnace, though one that was more ancient and rough-hewn. Its body was covered in flame dao patterns, and it felt warm in his hand.

"What is this thing?" Chen Song froze. Before he could inspect it closely, a streak of black light and a streak of golden light shot toward him at the same time, clearly seeking to seize it.

"Damn it! Do you people have no shame?!" Chen Song cried out strangely as Five Elements Divine Light swept forth again. At the same time, he stepped through an enigmatic footwork technique and narrowly avoided them. As he dodged all manner of open and hidden attacks, he instinctively swept the Five-Colored Divine Light everywhere.

And honestly, his Innate Five Elements Divine Light, said to sweep away anything, was not yet powerful enough under his current cultivation. But in such a chaotic setting, it was practically a divine skill for snatching things on the sly!

"Whoosh!" A treasure material containing sharp metal qi was swept away by him.

"Smack!" A spiritual pearl radiating Wood Essence Qi fell into his hand.

"Crash!" Several refining materials that appeared to be Phoenix feathers were swept away by him.

He was like someone in an all-you-can-eat buffet. He did not care what he grabbed; whenever he saw treasure light that no one was paying attention to, or that was not being fiercely contested, he swept it with divine light and swiftly stuffed it into his storage space.

Mine! It's all mine!

During this time, he also saw Martial Uncle Tongtian laughing madly as he collected four killing-intent-filled treasure swords and a Formation Diagram. Martial Uncle Yuanshi obtained the Pangu Banner, Master Laozi took the Taiji Diagram, and Nuwa obtained the Red Embroidered Ball and the Map of Mountains and Rivers...

The Two from the West displayed astonishing efficiency at "forming karma." Daoist Jieyin wore a miserable expression, but his hands never stopped moving as treasures such as the Twelve-Petaled Merit Golden Lotus and the Green Treasure Lotus Banner fell into his hands one after another.

Daoist Zhunti swung the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree so wildly it became a blur, sweeping away silk cords, pendants, canopies, flower garlands, banners, golden bows, the Fish-Gut Sword, and a great pile of other treasures. All the while, he muttered, "This treasure has karma with our West! It is meant to prosper our West!"

Chen Song's mouth twitched. "Good heavens, did these two come here to stock up?"

Amid the chaos, he even felt that his Five-Colored Divine Light had swept up a faint, extremely concealed wisp with specks of golden light... perhaps a scrap of Primordial Violet Qi? Or some kind of merit qi? He had not seen clearly, but he stuffed it into his pocket anyway.

After who knew how long, the treasure light on Treasure Distribution Cliff gradually dimmed and thinned out. Most spiritual treasures had already found owners, while the remaining lower-grade ones no longer interested the Big Bosses.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun's figure faintly appeared again. With a sweep of his sleeve, the massive Treasure Distribution Cliff slowly sank into the chaos and vanished.

"Karma has run its course. Return to your respective dao fields."

After leaving behind those words, the Dao Ancestor's figure disappeared completely.

Those who had obtained treasures beamed with joy; those who had failed to seize major treasures sighed endlessly; those who had made enemies during the scramble glared furiously at one another.

Chen Song looked at the huge pile of miscellaneous "spoils" in his storage space, most of which he could not even name. Then he looked at Big White, which was still licking its lips and glancing around greedily, and scratched his head.

"Seems like... I didn't get anything particularly amazing, did I? Other than this furnace that looks like a barbecue rack..." He weighed the ancient furnace in his hand and tried feeding it a thread of magic power.

"Buzz!"

The furnace trembled, and a phantom of chaos-colored flame flashed past. Even the surrounding chaos qi was scorched into a faint distortion.

"Huh? This seems... kind of interesting?" Chen Song's eyes brightened slightly.

At that moment, the Three Pure Ones gathered around him as well. Laozi looked at the furnace in Chen Song's hand, and his gaze shifted slightly. "This is the embryonic form of the Eight Trigrams Furnace. It contains a thread of Chaos Fire Source. Nurture it carefully, and it may become an Innate Spiritual Treasure in the future. It will be of great benefit in alchemy and artifact refinement."

Chen Song was delighted. "Thank you for your guidance, Master!" Alchemy? Artifact refinement? No! This was clearly the ultimate tool for future outdoor barbecues!

Tongtian had gained the most and was glowing with delight. He patted Chen Song's shoulder. "Senior Disciple Nephew, how were your gains? You didn't lose out, did you?"

Yuanshi also looked over. Though he said nothing, his eyes held a question.

Chen Song chuckled. "Not bad, not bad. I picked up a few scraps. Enough, more than enough."

The Three Pure Ones nodded and did not ask further.