Hongjun's Life of Conduct: Only Seeking Openness and Integrity!

At this moment...

Inside Purple Cloud Palace...

Faced with the questioning of the cultivators, Old Ancestor Hongjun kept responding.

Although his tone was calm...

His words made it seem as though he had been wrongfully accused...

Utterly aggrieved!

It gave the impression that these Primordial Wilderness Cultivators had betrayed his good intentions and wronged him, Hongjun!

And in truth...

This was indeed something Old Ancestor Hongjun had deliberately said.

After all, following Xuan Yang's previous Sermon...

Old Ancestor Hongjun's reputation had already begun to steadily decline.

If he did not think of a way to clear his own name...

Then all the prestige he had painstakingly accumulated in the Primordial Wilderness over countless years would be rendered worthless.

That was absolutely not something he wished to see.

Thus, Old Ancestor Hongjun had no idea how many years in advance, or how many times, he had deduced before coming up with this speech.

And it had to be said...

Old Ancestor Hongjun's words were indeed remarkably effective at this moment!

After hearing his words, the resentment many cultivators held toward him visibly dissipated. They felt that what Old Ancestor Hongjun had said made some sense.

Of course, some cultivators were not so easily fooled.

Thus, they asked Old Ancestor Hongjun again, "But... why did you not explain things clearly before, Old Ancestor Hongjun?"

Old Ancestor Hongjun merely replied blandly, "Wasn't there not enough time?"

"Since there was not enough time, it could only be divided into three sermons."

"It just happened to end there. The time agreed upon beforehand happened to end there as well. There was nothing I could do."

Old Ancestor Hongjun added, "Furthermore... you fellow Daoists have actually failed to notice something else."

"That is, the path to Chaotic Origin is not easy to walk."

"To be honest, it is not as though I, Hongjun, have never walked this path before."

"But only after truly attempting it did I learn how incomparably rugged the road was."

"Moreover, within the Primordial Wilderness, Heavenly Dao Saints will always surpass Chaotic Origin Golden Immortals by a measure!"

Old Ancestor Hongjun spoke with impassioned fervor:

"Undying and indestructible, able to freely wield the power of the Primordial World..."

"As long as one remains within the Primordial Wilderness, a Heavenly Dao Saint will be far stronger than a Chaotic Origin Golden Immortal."

"Furthermore, cultivation is much easier as well."

Old Ancestor Hongjun continued:

"This humble Daoist does not intend to deny the content of West Emperor's previous Sermon, for everything West Emperor said was true."

"But what this humble Daoist wishes to say is that although we cultivators cultivate by defying Heaven, we must still seek truth from facts and keep our feet on the ground."

"Otherwise, why was there only one great Pangu in the entire vast Primordial Wilderness?"

"You all know that opening Heaven through force and attaining the Dao of Chaotic Origin is the strongest path."

"But do you truly believe that you can surpass great Pangu? That all of you should walk great Pangu's path?"

"It is not that this humble Daoist looks down upon you. This humble Daoist merely wishes for you to keep your feet on the ground, accumulating your strength slowly, one step at a time."

"Therefore, this humble Daoist opened the Saint Path for all living beings of the Primordial Wilderness."

"Those without the aptitude to attain the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm may walk the Saint Path."

"Those without the aptitude of a Saint may walk the Quasi-Saint Path."

"And after becoming Saints, should you still wish to advance and reach a higher realm... you may continue deducing and seek another path."

"By then, you will all have become Saints. Could your horizons possibly still be inferior to what they are now?"

"First become Saints! As for what comes afterward, discuss it afterward!"

"Otherwise, if you wish to attain the Great Dao from the very beginning, yet cannot take even a single step no matter what, remaining only a mere Grand Unity Golden Immortal... what use is there in thinking so much?"

Old Ancestor Hongjun continued speaking.

Relying on his Silver Tongue.

For a time, he truly managed to fool many Primordial Wilderness Cultivators.

At the same time, he was continuously hinting at Nuwa and Tongtian.

And not just those ordinary Primordial Wilderness Cultivators...

To put it bluntly, even Nuwa, Tongtian, and the others...

Had it not been for their Diary Instance, they nearly would have fallen for it as well.

Thus, even though every one of them had long regarded themselves as Hongjun's enemies...

At this moment, they could not help but sigh inwardly.

Hongjun really was a smooth talker...

And Hongjun's speech had not yet ended.

After that, he explained some of the flaws of Heavenly Dao Saints.

Since the specific details had already been exposed by Xuan Yang before, Hongjun did not conceal them.

Instead, he directly began sophistry.

What he said was that everyone was a living being of the Primordial Wilderness, and serving the Primordial Wilderness and the Heavenly Path was perfectly justified!

After all, they had been born and raised by this world. Could they truly be unwilling to pay even this small price?

Would that not make them disloyal and unfilial?

Once those labels were pinned on them.

Even serving the Heavenly Path instantly became righteous and proper.

All the cultivators were left speechless by Hongjun's words.

They no longer felt the same dissatisfaction in their hearts toward what Hongjun had done.

Instead, they gained a little more understanding of his actions.

And this was precisely what Hongjun most wished to see.

Now that he saw the first goal of this sermon—recovering his reputation—had been achieved...

Hongjun smiled smugly within.

Afterward, he directly began the next part.

Hongjun continued speaking:

"Enough. Some matters are pointless to discuss further."

"This humble Daoist has conducted himself throughout his life only seeking openness and integrity! Only seeking a clear conscience!"

"Therefore, whether or not you understand, I, Hongjun, dare say this: I have not wronged the Primordial World, nor have I wronged the living beings of the Primordial Wilderness! That is enough!"

He spoke again, "Now, back to the matter at hand."

"In this sermon, aside from resolving your doubts..."

"I will also grant you an opportunity to become Saints!"

With a flick of his finger, seven streams of purple qi appeared before Hongjun's fingertip.

Like ribbons, they rolled and swam through the void.

The gazes of all the cultivators gathered upon those seven streams of purple qi.

Hongjun then said calmly:

"This is Hongmeng Purple Qi!"

"It can help you become Saints!"

"There are nine positions for Heavenly Dao Saints. The final Saint will not appear unless the Primordial World faces an Immeasurable Great Tribulation."

"Therefore, this humble Daoist still has seven streams of Hongmeng Purple Qi in his hand!"

The moment those words were spoken...

The gazes of the cultivators within Purple Cloud Palace became even more fervent as they looked at the seven streams of Primordial Purple Qi.

At the same time, they no longer harbored even the slightest suspicion toward Old Ancestor Hongjun!

Because Old Ancestor Hongjun was not spouting nonsense!

He had even brought out Hongmeng Purple Qi!

Thus, if they had cultivated according to his Dao Methods back then, the seven most outstanding among them would all have had the possibility of becoming Heavenly Dao Saints!

For a time, all the cultivators waited for Old Ancestor Hongjun to speak again.

They all wished to see how he would distribute the seven streams of Hongmeng Purple Qi!