Sitting by the Door to Listen to the Lecture

On this day, the Great Primordial World trembled, and all living beings lifted their heads in anticipation.

News that Dao Ancestor Hongjun would preach the Primordial Great Dao at Purple Cloud Palace had long since spread throughout the cosmos. At this moment, across every corner of the Great Primordial World, countless streams of light shot toward the lands beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens like a meteor shower flying in reverse, each racing ahead of the others! Great powers displayed their divine abilities—riding auspicious clouds, mounting beasts, transforming into rainbow light, or tearing through space—all exerting every ounce of strength to seize the initiative and hear the Saint's Great Dao.

Yet the overwhelming majority of living beings were doomed to return empty-handed, perhaps even facing the danger of perishing in body and Dao.

Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens lay no peaceful land of the Great Primordial World, but a place ravaged by violent Chaos Qi and biting Nine Heavens Gale. Chaos Qi wore down magical power and corroded the primordial spirit; the Nine Heavens Gale was sharp as blades, slicing through all things. Those below the cultivation of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, unless protected by an Exotic Treasure, would be torn apart by the gale or assimilated by the Chaos Qi within mere moments of entering, dying with both body and Dao extinguished.

Even if one or two individuals carrying Exotic Treasures, or blessed with heaven-defying luck, happened to pass through the gale zone, they would be utterly lost amid that boundless, directionless sea of chaotic clouds and mist, unable to find even a trace of Purple Cloud Palace. Only by condensing a Da Luo Dao Fruit and undergoing a qualitative transformation of Spiritual Sense could one sense, in the unseen depths, the Da Luo Divine Sense coordinates that guided the way—and thus behold that ancient, majestic Purple Cloud Palace floating beyond the heavens.

The palace gates stood wide open, revealing the sight within. The space inside seemed small, yet contained boundless profundities. Three thousand cushions of varying colors, each emanating a faint Dao aura, had been arranged in orderly tiers.

Under the Heavenly Dao, nine was the ultimate number. The number three thousand corresponded precisely to the saying that the Great Dao had three thousand paths. This meant that only these three thousand destined beings possessed the opportunity to hear the Dao this time!

Yet the positions of those three thousand cushions held mysteries of their own. At the very front, directly below the Dao Ancestor's cloud bed, were only six purple cushions. Their material was extraordinary, their Dao aura the densest, and they seemed faintly linked to the fortune of the Heavenly Dao. Li Cha needed only one glance to understand—these were the seats of the future Six Saints, ordained by Heaven!

Karmic fate had already been set; to force it would invite backlash. Thus, even though Li Cha saw that the six cushions had not yet all been occupied—only the Three Pure Ones had arrived so far—he had no intention of going forward to join the commotion. Bringing along Mo Ran, whose aura was concealed and who had transformed into the appearance of a Daoist attendant, he went straight to the inner side of Purple Cloud Palace's gates. He found an unobtrusive corner, leaned against the doorframe, and sat down with easy composure, as though he were merely a spectator there to watch the show.

Not long afterward, Fairy Wang Shu entered the palace with Xi He and Chang Xi. Her gaze swept through the hall, and when she saw Li Cha sitting against the gate, a knowing smile appeared on her cool face. She led the two women over and sat down beside him.

"Fellow Daoist Wang Shu, aren't you going to contend for one of those seats up front?" Li Cha asked teasingly through voice transmission, signaling with his eyes toward the still-empty purple cushions.

At this, Wang Shu curled her lips slightly and replied through voice transmission as well, her tone carrying a trace of disdain. "No. Sitting there may look honorable, but in truth, it means being branded by the Heavenly Dao from that moment onward. In the future, one would inevitably become a chess piece beneath its workings. How would that be any different from a slave? But you, Fellow Daoist Li Cha—you possess profound cultivation and peerless mastery of formations. Why do you not contend for one?"

Li Cha gave a soft laugh. His gaze passed over the six cushions before turning toward the churning chaos beyond the palace. His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable detachment. "Ha ha, the Heavenly Dao? It cannot order Li Cha around."

There was not the slightest trace in his words of the reverence ordinary cultivators held for the Heavenly Dao. Instead, there was a faint, barely perceptible... contempt. In his eyes, this supposedly supreme Heavenly Dao was not something worthy of looking up to.

It appears utterly impartial, operating all things, and in the end it even unifies with Hongjun to complete itself. Li Cha sneered inwardly. But I, who know the "future," understand perfectly well that this thing is fundamentally a selfish, self-serving little man—and an incompetent one at that!

The Heavenly Dao was born only because Great God Pangu created the world and transformed his body into all things. But look at how it treated Pangu's descendants. Of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, aside from Houtu, who transformed herself into reincarnation and was imprisoned forever, which one met a good end? They either died in battle or were plotted to death! The Three Pure Ones were Pangu's Primordial Spirit, the closest of brothers, yet it turned them against one another, split their household and established sects, until in the end they had no choice but to swallow that humiliating 'Saint Demise Pill' just to cling to life! Nuwa, mother of the Human Race, creator of the spirits of all things, was forced into a position where she could scarcely interfere in Human Race affairs—holding the title of Saint yet possessing no real power...

In short, the Heavenly Dao wanted to control everything in the Great Primordial World, yet could not do anything properly. It governed in a complete mess, Tribulations of Calamity erupted again and again, and in the end it needed the Saints beneath it to work for it and repay the karmic debts left by its own incompetent operation! Ultimately, it could not even hold on to the Great Primordial World's own foundation!

In Li Cha's view, beginning with the Witch-Demon Tribulation of Calamity, the Great Primordial World had originally possessed a chance to enter a new stage: to halt its endless internal strife, allow the Earthly Dao that represented the authority of the land to awaken smoothly, and then rouse the Human Dao that embodied the will of all living beings. With Heaven, Earth, and Human Daos standing side by side, they could have jointly supported a complete, healthy, sustainably developing Great Primordial World. The later plight of dwindling spiritual qi would never have come to pass.

But after unifying with the Dao, whether it was the Heavenly Dao's own will or that idiot Hongjun acting on his own initiative, it actually went all out to suppress the newly sprouted Earthly Dao and forcibly seal the newborn Human Dao! This left the Great Primordial World with only the Heavenly Dao's single-plank bridge to sainthood, causing the world's rank to decline rather than rise, spiritual qi to grow thinner by the day, and the world to ultimately become a mundane land that others despised—falling from a vast great world into a mere small world! With such "achievements," what is it if not trash?

As Li Cha inwardly scorned it, more and more people filled Purple Cloud Palace. The six purple cushions in front were also occupied one after another:

The first to arrive were the Three Pure Ones—Grand Pure One Laozi, Yuqing Yuanshi, and Shangqing Tongtian—who took three of them.

Afterward, the graceful and noble Nuwa arrived, and with Fuxi's help, took the fourth seat.

The fifth was occupied by the famously good-natured Old Ancestor Hongyun.

The sixth was seized by Beiming Kunpeng through his extreme speed. Though his cultivation was only at Late Da Luo, making him somewhat inferior among the gathered peak great powers, he had arrived first.

Just as the people within the palace were about to reach the full count of three thousand and the gates were on the verge of closing, two slightly bedraggled, travel-worn figures barely rushed in. They were none other than Jieyin and Zhunti, who had come all the way from The West!

The moment the two entered, their gazes fell upon the six most honored cushions before the Dao Ancestor's desk. Seeing that all six were already occupied, Daoist Zhunti's face instantly filled with boundless grief. Without warning, he dropped to the ground with a thump, beat his chest and stamped his feet, and began wailing at the top of his lungs. His cries were so mournful that all who heard them would "shed tears":

"Senior Brother! Why is The West so cursed by fate? The distance is great and the journey arduous, while heaven and earth are barren, living beings are withered, and resources are scarce... After all our hardships, we finally reached Purple Cloud Palace, only to find that we do not even have a place to set foot! Sob, sob, sob... When will the living beings of The West ever hear the Great Dao and escape their suffering? The Heavenly Dao is unjust—how utterly unjust!"

His performance was flawless, every word and gesture brimming with emotion, painting the desolation of The West and his own "grievance" in the most vivid colors.

Old Ancestor Hongyun, seated on the fifth cushion, had always been known throughout the Great Primordial World as a kind-hearted good man, soft-hearted and easily swayed. Hearing Zhunti's sobbing plea and seeing Daoist Jieyin standing beside him with a face full of sorrow, silently shedding tears, he could not help but feel pity and deep sympathy. He thought that he occupied this seat only because he had arrived earlier, nothing more; better to fulfill another's wish. Thus, he stood and cupped his hands toward Zhunti and Jieyin. "You two have traveled far and suffered greatly. Do not grieve. This seat of mine shall be yielded to you."

With that, he voluntarily left the fifth cushion.

Seeing this, Zhunti's crying stopped at once, and a flash of delight passed through his eyes. His mouth repeatedly said, "How can this be? How can this be?" Yet his body was not the least bit polite—he immediately moved to take the vacated cushion.

However, his gaze then slid toward Kunpeng, seated on the sixth cushion. Kunpeng had the lowest cultivation and was not part of the Mystic Gate's orthodox lineage, making him, in Zhunti's eyes, easy to bully. He exchanged a glance with Jieyin, who immediately understood and secretly employed a technique. An invisible pressure abruptly descended upon Kunpeng.

Kunpeng had been slightly distracted by Hongyun yielding his seat. Caught off guard, he was shoved by that force and actually rose involuntarily from his cushion!

The instant he stood, Daoist Jieyin moved as if prepared all along. With a flash of his figure, faster than lightning could cover one's ears, he firmly took the sixth cushion!

"You!" Kunpeng was shocked and enraged. After steadying himself, he pointed at Jieyin and Zhunti, trembling all over with fury. "Shameless scoundrels! How dare you behave so!"

Zhunti had already taken the fifth cushion. At his words, he immediately snapped back, his face full of "indignation." "Why does this fellow Daoist say such things? Fellow Daoist Hongyun was compassionate enough to yield his seat of his own accord; that is a virtue. My senior brother saw an empty seat and sat upon it—what is wrong with that? Could it be that Purple Cloud Palace is your personal Daoist ground?"

Jieyin remained seated on his cushion, eyelids drooping, palms pressed together, looking as though, having taken his seat, he would simply settle into it. He paid no heed whatsoever to Kunpeng's rage.

Kunpeng was alone and outnumbered. Faced with the shameless conduct of the two from The West, he was just about to continue arguing when Primordial Lord of Heaven, sitting on the second cushion, suddenly gave a cold snort. His tone brimmed with undisguised scorn:

"A mere egg-born creature, covered in fur and bearing horns—are you worthy of sitting here alongside us, Pangu's True Lineage? Being permitted to enter Purple Cloud Palace is already the fortune of your life. Why have you not withdrawn?"

Primordial Lord of Heaven's words were like the final straw that broke the camel's back, deeply piercing Kunpeng's proud yet sensitive heart. He glared fixedly at Primordial Lord of Heaven, then swept his hateful, venomous gaze across Jieyin and Zhunti, who had already settled into their seats, as well as Old Ancestor Hongyun, who had "meddled in others' business." He etched the faces of all four firmly into his heart.

Kunpeng would remember today's humiliation!

Thus, the three thousand guests of Purple Cloud Palace had gathered, and the six cushions symbolizing the Opportunity for Sainthood were completely fixed: Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti. A great karmic entanglement with far-reaching consequences was planted from this moment on. Behind Li Cha, the palace gates slowly closed, sealing off the clamor and chaos outside. Dao Ancestor Hongjun's figure silently appeared upon the cloud bed. His indifferent gaze swept across the living beings below, and his first preaching of the Dao was about to begin.