He thought that once he had listened to the Saint's teachings and become a Saint himself, he would be able to take revenge on those villains from the West—even Yuanshi Tianzun, and that damned blabbermouth Hong Yun!
Kunpeng fixed his gaze on Hong Yun. That blabbermouth was truly detestable. If Hong Yun and Yuanshi Tianzun had not interrupted, perhaps he could have held on a little longer.
Hong Yun was, after all, a mighty figure of the primordial world, so he naturally sensed Kunpeng's gaze.
He cupped his hands toward Kunpeng, expressing his admiration for Kunpeng's self-sacrifice.
Yet in Kunpeng's eyes, Hong Yun's gesture became one of mockery and ridicule.
Kunpeng was so furious that his eyes nearly turned red. He had already developed killing intent toward Hong Yun.
Just as Kunpeng was preparing to confront Hong Yun, a sound suddenly came from directly above the great hall.
"Buzz!"
A green lotus suddenly bloomed atop the azure cloud floating in the depths of Zixiao Palace.
At some unnoticed instant, a white-haired elder clad in coarse hemp robes appeared above the azure cloud and sat upon the lotus.
An aura of pressure belonging solely to a Saint swept over everyone like ocean waves, causing the Grand Unity Golden Immortals present to pale.
Even beings as powerful as the Three Pure Ones and Fuxi could only lower their heads before this overwhelming pressure.
Hongjun's Teachings
If they still could not guess who this elder was, then these Grand Unity Golden Immortals might as well give up thinking altogether.
"Greetings, Saint!"
Whether it was Fuxi and the Three Pure Ones seated on meditation cushions or the Grand Unity Golden Immortals seated on the ground, all of them bowed to Hongjun.
Who else in the primordial world could receive the obeisance of three thousand Grand Unity Golden Immortals but Hongjun?
"Mm."
Hongjun merely responded with a faint "Mm," and the entire hall fell into absolute silence.
Hongjun was quite satisfied with the respect shown by the Grand Unity Golden Immortals present.
But when he saw one figure seated upon a meditation cushion, his brow suddenly furrowed slightly.
A Saint's powers of deduction and perception were immensely formidable.
As early as after Hongjun attained the Dao, he had foreseen that six more Saints would emerge in the primordial world, with two possibly arising in the West.
Guided by this premonition, Hongjun had placed six meditation cushions in Zixiao Palace.
Basically, only the six people with the greatest fortune—the six who could become Saints—would be able to sit on those cushions.
Yet when he arrived at Zixiao Palace, he discovered that among the visitors from the West, only Jieyin had claimed a cushion.
The Heavenly Secrets had changed.
Without a word, Hongjun began counting on his fingers as he examined those seated on the cushions.
Nuwa bore immense Opportunity and possessed fortune that soared to the heavens. It was understandable for her to occupy one cushion.
The Three Pure Ones originated from Pangu's Primordial Spirit, so it was only natural for them to occupy three cushions.
As for Jieyin, his fate was closely bound to the land and heavens of the West, so naturally he could take a seat above.
That only left Fuxi.
But what astonished Hongjun was that he could not calculate Fuxi's fate at all. This person's destiny was as elusive and hazy as clouds and mist.
A variable. This Fuxi was a variable that even the Great Dao could not calculate!
Hongjun's fingers were nearly red from pinching them together, yet he still could not determine Fuxi's fate.
Hongjun had no choice but to give up.
A mere Grand Unity Golden Immortal—even if his fate was elusive—as long as he did not bring disaster upon the primordial world, everything else could be discussed.
Thus, Hongjun stopped his deductions. Looking down upon the three thousand Grand Unity Golden Immortals in the hall, he said calmly:
"I have opened Zixiao Palace to expound the Great Dao. How much each of you comprehends will depend on your own fortune and Opportunity."
"Since the meditation cushions already have owners, do not force the matter. During future teachings, no one may fight over them."
"Boom!"
With a pinch of Hongjun's two fingers, the gates of Zixiao Palace closed on their own with a tremendous boom.
From then on, any Grand Unity Golden Immortals who arrived later would be unable to enter Zixiao Palace and would lose their chance to hear the Saint's teachings.
"Heaven and earth have their natural order, while the Dao lies hidden within nature. My teachings shall follow the progression of your realms, beginning with Grand Unity, followed by Quasi-Saint and the Saint Dao."
"The teachings shall be divided into three sessions, one realm per session, each lasting three thousand years. Remember this well."
"Today, I shall explain to you the wondrous Dao of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal."
Once Hongjun began speaking, no one in all of Zixiao Palace dared make another sound.
Even the hot-tempered Grand Unity Golden Immortals of the Demon Clan and the Witch Clan had to sit obediently like schoolchildren before a great Saint such as Hongjun and listen.
Seeing that all the Grand Unity Golden Immortals in the hall were watching him with rapt attention, Hongjun began his first lecture.
"The Dao of Grand Unity contains countless Dao rhythms. Though the Dao of Grand Unity may seem as shallow as a stream, it is more intricate than all living things."
"The Great Dao transforms heaven and earth into a furnace, refining all living beings. All creatures and all beings possess the Opportunity to attain the Dao."
A Saint's teachings were not merely simple discourse on the Great Dao. They revealed the essence of the Great Dao through heaven and earth themselves.
Although Hongjun remained perfectly still as he spoke, all manner of strange phenomena appeared throughout Zixiao Palace.
From Hongjun's mouth, lotuses of every color drifted down from above the hall, while purplish-red clouds rose from the ground.
The Great Dao that these Grand Unity Golden Immortals normally had to painstakingly comprehend was drawn directly into Zixiao Palace by Hongjun, where he profoundly analyzed and demonstrated it.
When Hongjun expounded the Dao of fire, blazing flames ignited throughout Zixiao Palace, yet they harmed no one.
When Hongjun expounded the Dao of the sword, countless swords of varying lengths and sizes flew through the air of Zixiao Palace.
Every Grand Unity Golden Immortal became immersed in the profound principles of the Great Dao that Hongjun expounded.
Hongjun seemed to know everything about the Great Dao, and every sentence brought immense insight to those present.
Every Grand Unity Golden Immortal focused their spirit and attention to the utmost, afraid of missing even a sentence—no, even a single word—spoken by Hongjun.
One day in a cave, a thousand years in the world.
Hongjun's teachings never ceased, continuing for a full thousand years.
After a Saint taught for so long, even stubborn stones could sprout flowers from listening, much less a group of Grand Unity Golden Immortals.
Almost everyone in Zixiao Palace gained some insight from Hongjun's teachings and benefited greatly.
For some Grand Unity Golden Immortals with exceptional comprehension, the bottlenecks that had remained loose but unbroken for tens of millions of years were shattered in one stroke after hearing Hongjun's teachings.
Of course, not everyone gained such abundant rewards.
For example, the Grand Unity Golden Immortals of the Witch Clan.
Though they possessed strong bodies containing the essence blood of Great God Pangu, they were born without primordial spirits and had dreadful comprehension. They truly found it difficult to understand what Hongjun taught.
If everyone else's gains were a book, then theirs might have been a single sheet of paper—and a blank one at that.
The ones they envied most were naturally the Three Pure Ones and Fuxi, who were still listening intently to Hongjun's teachings.
Thanks to the formidable comprehension provided by Pangu's Primordial Spirit, along with the assistance of the meditation cushions beneath them, they gained enormously from Hongjun's teachings.
Naturally, Fuxi gained no less than the Three Pure Ones, because he too had obtained Pangu's Primordial Spirit, which had greatly enhanced his comprehension.
Moreover, the system had made Fuxi's late-stage Grand Unity Golden Immortal cultivation incomparably solid. Thus, in terms of comprehending Hongjun's teachings, Fuxi's gains might have been even slightly greater than those of the Three Pure Ones.
Everyone could see that the multicolored lotuses falling from the air were converging upon those seated on the meditation cushions, while the purplish-red cloud vapors rising from the ground swirled around them.
Above each of the four people's heads bloomed three plain Flowers of the Great Dao. Dao aura poured from the flowers into their bodies like three waterfalls.
Meanwhile, Nuwa and Jieyin beside them had lower cultivation and weaker comprehension. Their gains could only be called decent, though they were still far greater than those Grand Unity Golden Immortals without cushions behind them.
Yet a thousand years was merely the time of a few blinks to this group of Grand Unity Golden Immortals, and the remaining two thousand years passed amid Hongjun's unceasing teachings.
Once the three-thousand-year period arrived, Hongjun's words abruptly stopped.
The Grand Unity Golden Immortals in the hall realized that the teachings had ended and could only open their eyes, awakening from that mystical state.
With someone guiding them, their understanding of the Great Dao had progressed rapidly. Such a life was more joyful and satisfying than eating spiritual roots and precious herbs or drinking immortal brew every day.
Therefore, when Hongjun's teachings ended, their gazes toward him were filled with reluctance.
Refusing Apprenticeship
A Saint's teachings were an Opportunity rarely encountered even in tens of millions of years.
The Grand Unity Golden Immortals in Zixiao Palace only wished Hongjun would continue teaching forever, ideally until they became Saints.
Yet if a Saint said three thousand years, then he would not teach even one more day. That was the rule set by a Saint.
Though their gazes toward Hongjun were filled with longing and pleading, Hongjun treated them as though they were nothing.
Fuxi also awakened from his state of comprehending the Dao.
Three thousand years of hearing the Dao had brought him immense benefits.
The system's reward had elevated his cultivation to the late stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, while Hongjun's teachings had made his cultivation even more stable and steadily refined.
A Saint's teachings truly were extraordinary. Over these three thousand years, he had heard countless true words of the Great Dao. His mind was now filled with insights, waiting for him to integrate and transform them into his own strength.
Hongjun sat cross-legged atop the green lotus and said, "My teachings of the Great Dao follow the destinies of heaven and earth. The three-thousand-year period has ended, and the Dao of Grand Unity has been fully explained."
"During these teachings, I wish to accept six disciples to inherit the Great Dao and ascend to the Saint realm."
Upon hearing the first half of Hongjun's words, the expressions of the many Grand Unity Golden Immortals fell.
Although Hongjun had fully explained the Dao of Grand Unity, they naturally could not have completely heard, understood, and absorbed it all.
Now that the Saint's teachings had ended, they could only painstakingly seek enlightenment in the elusive Great Dao during the days to come.
But when the Grand Unity Golden Immortals heard the latter half of Hongjun's words, they all straightened up, some even crying out in excitement.
Before you continue