The Reason Hong Yun Gave Up His Seat

Buzhou Mountain, Pangu Hall.

Thirteen figures tore through the void and landed steadily before the hall.

They were Wu Ming and the Twelve Ancestral Witches, returning from Purple Cloud Palace.

"Whew... home is still the most comfortable!" Zhu Rong said boisterously.

"After staying in Chaos for so long, I was suffocating." Gonggong shook his head, dispersing the aura of Chaos that clung to him.

Wu Ming said nothing and headed straight for the Depths of Pangu Hall.

At the center of the great hall stood a figure that had long been waiting in silence, the Dao rhythm around him drawn inward. It was Zhou Ming.

"Daoist Friend." Wu Ming stepped forward and gave a slight nod.

Zhou Ming nodded in return. "You've worked hard, Daoist Friend."

Wu Ming stepped forward and shared in full everything he had seen and heard while listening to the Dao at Purple Cloud Palace, along with his own insights.

Zhou Ming listened quietly, his expression as still as an ancient well.

Through his connection with Wu Ming's primordial spirit, he already knew the general outline of these matters. Yet hearing Wu Ming recount them personally made the details far clearer.

After listening, Zhou Ming pondered briefly before making his decision.

"Though Hongjun's preaching is the Mystic Gate Immortal Dao, the three thousand Great Daos all lead to the same destination by different paths."

"You shall enter Seclusion with me."

"Combine the essence of the immortal Dao Hongjun taught with the Law Great Dao inherited by our Wu Clan. Let them verify one another, drawing inferences from one thing to comprehend another."

"Yes, Big Brother!" the Twelve Ancestral Witches answered in unison.

Pangu Hall fell silent once more. Only invisible fluctuations of laws intertwined, collided, and sublimated within the hall.

At the same time, the innate Great Powers who had returned to various parts of the Primordial Land—such as the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Di Jun, Taiyi, and the rest—also chose to enter Seclusion.

That declaration—"Beneath a Sage, all are ants"—was like a massive hammer striking every heart, stirring an unprecedented fervor for cultivation.

For a time, the Primordial Land saw fewer conflicts and gained a rare measure of peace.

The years flowed by, and in the blink of an eye, ten thousand years passed.

Within Pangu Hall on Buzhou Mountain.

One powerful aura after another awakened, shaking the void.

Wu Ming and the Twelve Ancestral Witches emerged one after another from their places of Seclusion.

Their ten thousand years of Seclusion had yielded immense gains!

By mutually verifying the profundities of Hongjun's immortal Dao against the Law Great Dao they controlled, all of them had made tremendous progress in cultivation.

All Twelve Ancestral Witches had stepped into the peak realm of Grand Unity Golden Immortals. Laws swirled around them, and their auras were more than a notch stronger than they had been ten thousand years ago.

Among them, Di Jiang and Zhu Jiuyin had even faintly touched that threshold of mystery upon mystery. They were only one step away from becoming Quasi-Sages.

Wu Ming's own realm had likewise stabilized at the peak of Grand Unity Golden Immortal, and his understanding of the Law of Strength had grown ever deeper.

At the same time, the Great Powers in Seclusion throughout the Primordial Land also awakened one after another.

After ten thousand years of digesting their gains, everyone's cultivation had advanced greatly, and the Primordial Land became lively once again.

Some Great Powers chose to continue their Seclusion and strive for higher realms; others began roaming the Primordial Land in search of opportunities, or visiting Daoist Friends to discuss and verify the Great Dao together.

On this day, two figures crossed endless mountains and rivers before arriving at the foot of Buzhou Mountain.

They were Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun.

After ten thousand years, Hong Yun seemed to have emerged from the disappointment of losing his Cushion. A little of his former easygoing manner had returned to his face.

"Daoist Friend Wu Ming, Daoist Friend Hong Yun, I trust you have been well." Wu Ming personally came out to receive them, with the Twelve Ancestral Witches following behind him, their auras restrained.

"Daoist Friend Wu Ming's bearing remains as impressive as ever—indeed, it surpasses the past." Zhen Yuanzi returned the salute with clasped hands, his gaze sweeping across Wu Ming and the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

Hong Yun also smiled and clasped his hands. "Sorry to trouble you, Daoist Friend."

"You have both come from afar. Please, come inside." Wu Ming turned sideways and led the way.

Within Pangu Hall, host and guests took their seats.

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After fragrant spirit tea was served and they exchanged a few pleasantries, they came straight to the point.

A discussion of the Dao began.

Wu Ming and the Twelve Ancestral Witches expounded on their understanding and application of laws.

With the Earth Book, transformed from the Earth Mother Membrane, as his foundation, Zhen Yuanzi spoke of his Dao of Thick Virtue Carries All Things, of peerless defense.

Hong Yun, meanwhile, shared his insights into following nature freely and possessing profound blessed fortune.

The Mystic Gate Immortal Dao and the Wu Clan's Dao of laws clashed, merged, and verified one another here.

At times, laws manifested; at times, Dao rhythms filled the air.

This discussion of the Dao lasted a full thousand years.

A thousand years later, the discussion of the Dao came to an end, and both sides had gained immensely.

The atmosphere in the hall grew even more harmonious as a result.

Wu Ming lifted the warm spirit tea before him.

Wu Ming raised the spirit tea before him, took a sip, then slowly set it down.

He looked at Hong Yun, his tone calm.

"Daoist Friend Hong Yun, there is something I do not understand, something I have kept buried in my heart. Now that we have thoroughly enjoyed our discussion of the Dao, I dare to ask. I hope Daoist Friend will tell me the truth."

Hong Yun set down his teacup, a trace of puzzlement on his face. "Daoist Friend Wu Ming, ask away. So long as Hong Yun knows, I will certainly not conceal it."

Zhen Yuanzi also looked toward Wu Ming, wondering what he intended to ask.

"In Purple Cloud Palace, the matter of that Cushion." Wu Ming spoke slowly, his tone utterly flat. "Why did Daoist Friend yield the Cushion to Zhunti?"

The smile on Hong Yun's face instantly froze, and the hand holding his teacup paused slightly.

The atmosphere in the hall seemed to turn cold all at once.

"Daoist Friend should remember that I warned you then—the opportunity tied to that Cushion was of tremendous importance, and you must not yield it lightly." Wu Ming continued pressing him, leaving Hong Yun no chance to evade the matter.

"I could sense that when Daoist Friend gave up the Cushion, your heart was filled with struggle and reluctance."

"Yet in the end, Daoist Friend still chose to give up the seat."

"Why?"

Hong Yun's expression shifted, and the fingers gripping his teacup tightened slightly.

That scene in Purple Cloud Palace was an indelible pain in his heart.

Over ten thousand years, he had thought he had gradually let it go. But now that Wu Ming had asked him about it face-to-face, that regret, that unwillingness, and that deep confusion surged back into his heart once more.

Watching his friend from the side, Zhen Yuanzi gave a soft sigh but did not speak.

He knew that this question had to be faced sooner or later.

After a long silence, Hong Yun raised his head, his face filled with bitter helplessness.

He set down his teacup, his voice somewhat dry.

"To be honest with Daoist Friend Wu Ming... sigh..."

"I did take Daoist Friend's warning to heart at the time. I also knew that Cushion was no trifling matter, that it concerned my future Dao Path."

"At first, I had indeed made up my mind that I would never yield it."

"But... but when Jieyin and Zhunti wept and pleaded, especially when they cried so miserably, each sob like blood from the heart, speaking of the barrenness of the West and the hardships of seeking the Dao..."

"My... my heart could not help but soften."

"I admit that my temperament truly is... sigh, I cannot bear to see others suffer."

Zhen Yuanzi added from the side, "Daoist Friend Hong Yun's heart is kind; he has always been this way."

"That was only one reason." Hong Yun shook his head, a trace of fear and an even deeper confusion appearing on his face. "More importantly, at that time... an intense sense of danger rose within me for no reason at all!"

"Somewhere in the unseen, there was a voice—or perhaps a kind of intuition—frantically telling me..."

"If I did not give up that seat, then I would be seizing a great opportunity that was never mine to begin with, and in the future... in the future, a monstrous calamity would surely descend upon me!!"

"That feeling came without reason, yet it was incomparably clear, incomparably real! It was as though the heavens themselves were warning me!"

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