Leaving Kunlun, the Sneaky Hongjun

Kunlun Mountain. Yuqing and Shangqing were cheerfully absorbing the pure energy of the world, strengthening their origins, hoping to take form and be born into the world as soon as possible.

Taiqing, however, sat cross-legged to the side, his brow deeply furrowed.

"Just as I thought. During a Tribulation, cultivation cannot advance. Or rather, is this the work of the Heavenly Dao? Suppressing all living beings, preventing breakthroughs. Waiting for Hongjun to preach and harvest the Destiny of all living beings?"

Taiqing had sat in stillness for an entire Eon. During this Eon, he had cultivated the Nine Revolutions Primitive Technique inherited from Pangu Father God. Yet after an Eon, his cultivation had made no progress at all. When he first emerged into the world, he was at the peak of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm. After healing his injuries for several Eons and then bitterly cultivating for another, he was still at the peak of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm. Neither his Magic Power, nor his Primordial Spirit, nor his Laws had advanced in the slightest.

He could sense that within heaven and earth, there existed a tremendous shackle of rules, restricting living beings from breaking through.

"No. I must break through to the Golden Immortal of the Origin realm before Hongjun attains sainthood. Otherwise, from now on, I will truly have no choice but to cultivate the Path of Severing the Three Corpses. Cultivating the Path of the Three Corpses will only cause me to fall completely into Hongjun's Heavenly Dao scheme."

Unable to break through his realm, a sense of urgency and crisis welled up in Taiqing's heart. If he could not break through to Golden Immortal of the Origin before Hongjun attained sainthood, then most likely, he would never be able to do so in the future and walk the Law Path to Sainthood. After Hongjun became a Saint, he would collude with the Heavenly Dao to scheme against the entire Primordial World.

As descendants of Pangu, the Sanqing and the Twelve Ancestral Witches would naturally bear the brunt of this. The Sanqing were transformed from Pangu's Primordial Spirit, blessed with profound Destiny and fortune. In particular, the Merit of World Creation obtained by the Sanqing was regarded by the Heavenly Dao as something already in its pocket. At that time, even if the Three Brothers did not go to the Purple Cloud Palace to listen to Hongjun's sermons, under the invisible influence of the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun, a Saint, they would unknowingly go to listen.

Once they listened to Hongjun's sermons, what path the Three Brothers wished to cultivate would no longer be within their own control. The might of the Heavenly Dao and a Saint was not something a mere Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal could contend with. They could invisibly influence the thoughts and consciousness of all living beings below the Saint realm. 'All living beings below Saints are but ants'—that was the truth. And this saying was not merely reflected in offensive power.

As for the Path of the Three Corpses, that was an even bigger pitfall, a bottomless pit! Looking back through the history of the Primordial World, among all who cultivated the Path of the Three Corpses, only that fellow Hongjun had managed to merge the Three Corpses into one. And even he only succeeded with the help of the Heavenly Dao. No one else had ever achieved the unity of the Three Corpses. Even the one known as the strongest Saint, the Lord of Morality, Taiqing, had only severed his Three Corpses, never merging them.

This was only one aspect of the pitfall of the Path of the Three Corpses that Taiqing knew of. There were others. For example, cultivating the Path of the Three Corpses would cause that fellow Hongjun to continuously drain one's own Destiny. As the creator of the Path of the Three Corpses, Hongjun naturally understood it best. The creator of a path had the privilege of absorbing the Destiny of those who came after. This was information Taiqing had inherited from Pangu Father God's legacy.

Destiny was of utmost importance. The Three Brothers would absolutely not go to the Purple Cloud Palace to listen to sermons and have their Destiny drained by Hongjun. Nor would they fall under the manipulation of Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao, ultimately ending up imprisoned in the Purple Cloud Palace. To change all this, the most urgent task was to find a place that could evade the suppression of the Heavenly Dao or the influence of the Tribulation, to break through to the Golden Immortal of the Origin realm and walk the Law Path to Sainthood.

"It seems it's time to travel the Primordial World and seek a method to break through to Golden Immortal of the Origin."

Taiqing opened his eyes and looked at his two younger brothers. At present, Yuqing and Shangqing's origins were already extremely condensed. It seemed that in at most ten Eons, they would be able to take form and be born.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, I need to go out for a while to seek a method that concerns the fate of us three brothers. Cultivate well here, and take form and be born as soon as possible. As one entity, we three brothers will have the strength to protect ourselves in this Primordial World."

After instructing his two younger brothers to diligently absorb pure energy and cultivate, Taiqing immediately prepared to set out.

"Elder Brother, wait!"

Yuqing and Shangqing spoke in unison, stopping Taiqing. Then, the golden Chaos Bell and the gray Pangu Banner floated toward Taiqing.

"Elder Brother, I and Third Brother cannot help you—you must keep these two supreme treasures by your side. If you encounter danger, these treasures can protect you."

Yuqing Yuanshi's voice was filled with worry.

Though not yet born into the world, they knew that in the present Primordial Era, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans were locked in a struggle for supremacy over the land.

The three clans fought until the sun and moon lost their light, leaving the Primordial World scarred and battered.

Their elder brother was venturing out alone to seek the fate that would determine the Sanqing's destiny. They could not stop him, so they could only gift him their birth-bound treasures for his protection.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, these treasures are your birth-bound companions—they must remain by your sides to guard you. How could I take them away? Do not speak of this again. I have the Taiji Diagram and the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda to protect me. Nothing will happen."

Taiqing would never agree to take the Chaos Bell and the Pangu Banner.

These two supreme treasures had to remain to protect Yuqing and Shangqing.

"Elder Brother, please take them. I and Third Brother are protected by the Innate Great Formation. Moreover, we Sanqing are blessed with deep fortune, inheriting the Merit of World Creation. Before we are born, no living being in the Primordial World can harm us. But you, Elder Brother, are going out alone—I and Third Brother are truly worried. Let our birth-bound treasures accompany you."

"Yes, Elder Brother, Second Brother speaks truly. If you refuse to take the Chaos Bell and Pangu Banner, then I and Second Brother will force an early birth and accompany you on your journey through the Primordial World."

With that, Yuqing and Shangqing prepared to forcibly take form and emerge ahead of time.

Taiqing had no choice but to hastily stop his second and third brothers.

He absolutely could not let Yuqing and Shangqing be born early and damage their origin Dao.

Otherwise, even if he found a way to walk the Law Path to Sainthood and break through to Golden Immortal of the Origin, he would still have no chance in the future to defeat Daoist Hongjun, let alone the Heavenly Dao.

Though he had previously absorbed some of his brothers' origin, he had also severed and given them his own origin in return.

In the end, it balanced out to no loss.

An early birth was not so simple—it was an injury to the origin Dao, not easily healed.

"Enough, Second Brother, Third Brother—stop at once. Do not act rashly. I will take the Chaos Bell and Pangu Banner. But you must not be so impulsive again. If you are born early, we Sanqing will have no future. Second Brother, Third Brother, cultivate well. I am leaving."

Taiqing accepted the Chaos Bell and Pangu Banner, calmed his brothers, and departed from the Innate Great Formation.

"Second Brother and Third Brother are guarded by the Innate Great Formation and protected by the Merit of World Creation. Even the Heavenly Dao would not dare to do anything to the unborn Sanqing. There should be no great danger."

He glanced back at the Innate Great Formation.

As the place that nurtured the Sanqing, this formation could not be broken even by a Golden Immortal of the Origin.

Still, taking the Chaos Bell and Pangu Banner was the correct choice.

No sooner had Taiqing left than a furtive figure appeared on Kunlun Mountain.

The figure looked like an immortal, with the bearing of an old sage.

But its sneaky, underhanded manner was utterly mismatched with that celestial aura.

This furtive figure was none other than Daoist Hongjun.