Six Saints Visit

Outside Pangu Hall on Buzhou Mountain.

Six figures descended. Laozi called out, "Fellow Daoist Wu Ming, I am Taiqing. I have come with several fellow Daoists to pay you a visit."

Before long, the hall doors opened, and Wu Ming slowly stepped out. At the sight of the six outside, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.

"Rare guests—truly rare guests. Why have you all found the leisure to visit my Buzhou Mountain today instead of cultivating quietly in your respective Dao fields?" Wu Ming asked calmly.

After leading them into Pangu Hall, Wu Ming looked at the group and said, "May I ask what brings you all here today?"

Upon hearing this, the Three Pure Ones, Jieyin, and Zhunti all turned their gazes toward Nuwa without prior agreement.

The meaning could not have been clearer: it was your proposal, so you open your mouth.

Feeling their gazes, Nuwa silently grumbled, A bunch of grown men, yet they only know how to make a weak woman like me step forward and show her face.

Her expression remained unchanged as she met Wu Ming's gaze. "Fellow Daoist Wu Ming, I shall not beat around the bush."

"We have come uninvited today to ask you for guidance: how, exactly, should one comprehend Hongmeng Purple Qi?"

Wu Ming merely chuckled and shook his head. "How to comprehend Hongmeng Purple Qi? How would I know?"

"Dao Ancestor never bestowed Hongmeng Purple Qi upon me."

"You are all carrying Hongmeng Purple Qi. When it comes to understanding this thing, you should have the most right to speak. Why are you instead asking me?"

He spread his hands, his face plainly saying, "You have come to the wrong person."

Nuwa's expression did not change as she continued, "Why must Fellow Daoist Wu Ming evade the matter like this?"

"If you say that you know nothing at all about Hongmeng Purple Qi, I absolutely cannot believe it."

"In the matter of Fellow Daoist Hong Yun back then, if not for your guidance, how could he have so easily yielded Hongmeng Purple Qi to Kunpeng and dissolved that karma?"

"Moreover, as far as I know, you mentioned this matter before our teacher bestowed the Primordial Purple Qi at the Purple Void Palace."

"Fellow Daoist, I fear you had long ago foreseen who Hongmeng Purple Qi would belong to, hadn't you?"

A thought turned in Wu Ming's mind. As expected, Nuwa was sharp-minded.

Wu Ming gave nothing away on his face and neither confirmed nor denied it. "What if I knew? What if I did not?"

The moment those words left his mouth, all six people in the hall were shaken.

Sure enough!

He had known all along!

Nuwa continued, "We have come today in the hope that Fellow Daoist will generously offer us instruction and tell us how to comprehend Hongmeng Purple Qi. For this, we... are willing to pay the corresponding price."

She put slightly heavier emphasis on the words "the price," making their sincerity and resolve clear.

At the mention of "the price," Wu Ming's heart stirred slightly.

He looked at Nuwa, then swept his gaze across the other five, feigning puzzlement as he asked, "There is something I find rather strange."

"Why are you all in such a hurry to comprehend Hongmeng Purple Qi?"

"Why are you even willing to pay a price just to learn the method?"

"This is the foundation of becoming a saint, unfathomably profound. Would it not be better to comprehend it slowly and quietly await your opportunity?"

Wu Ming's words struck directly at the heart of the matter.

The instant he said this, Nuwa fell silent.

What could she say? That the Demon Race was growing powerful, that her Elder Brother Fuxi was caught up in it, and that she was desperate to become a saint in order to protect herself and gain a voice? If she said that before the Wu Clan, would that not be needlessly weakening her own momentum—and perhaps even giving Wu Ming something to hold over her?

Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a glance, likewise hearing that something was amiss in Wu Ming's words.

That was right—why were the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa in such a hurry?

They had even gone so far as to bring the two martial brothers into this.

Previously, they had been too excited at the prospect of comprehending Hongmeng Purple Qi together with the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa to think deeply about it. But these four, especially the Three Pure Ones, were so proud—why would they lower themselves and take the initiative to invite the two of them?

One had to know that the two-man group from the West was quite unwelcome in the East.

As if by agreement, the two also cast questioning looks toward Nuwa. Clearly, they too wanted to know the true reason behind all this.

For a time, the atmosphere in the hall congealed.

Seeing Nuwa's troubled expression, Tongtian Sect Master understood her concerns as well.

The relations between the Demon Race and the Wu Clan were tangled beyond measure.

Nuwa was a Great Power of the Demon Race, so naturally she did not wish Wu Ming to learn that the Demon Race was deducing the peerlessly lethal formation known as the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array—an affair of utmost secrecy.

But Tongtian had no such reservations.

Thus, he declared loudly, "To be frank with Fellow Daoist Wu Ming, Di Jun of the Demon Race is joining forces with Fellow Daoist Nuwa's Elder Brother Fuxi to deduce a peerlessly lethal formation known as the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array!"

"Once this array is completed, it will be able to draw upon the power of the stars throughout the heavens. Its might will be boundless, enough to destroy heaven and earth!"

"When that time comes, the Demon Race's strength will surely surge. The Primordial World may well be plunged completely into war."

"Left with no other choice, we are urgently seeking to comprehend Hongmeng Purple Qi and attain the Dao to become saints, so that in the Great Calamity to come, we may possess at least some means of self-preservation."

Tongtian laid out the entire reason in one breath, his tone carrying undisguised worry.

"What?!"

Jieyin and Zhunti cried out on the spot, their expressions changing drastically.

"The Demon Race... the Demon Race is actually deducing such a terrifying grand array?" Zhunti's voice trembled slightly.

The West was already barren to begin with. They had finally obtained Hongmeng Purple Qi and hoped to use it to turn their fortunes around. If the Primordial Wilderness fell into chaos, their meager foundation would likely vanish into smoke in an instant.

For a time, the misery on their faces deepened, and their hearts were filled with anxiety.

After hearing Tongtian's words, Wu Ming's brows furrowed slightly. He muttered under his breath, "What's going on? They're already starting to deduce the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array?"

"That shouldn't be. According to the original course of events, wasn't this thing supposed to be created only after the first Witch-Demon Great War, when the Demon Race suffered a loss and, chastened by pain, resolved to change?"

"Could it be... because the Wu Clan is too powerful now, putting them under immense pressure, so they brought it forward?"

"Do you really have to be this cowardly, Di Jun, Taiyi?"

Though his voice was quiet, which of those present was not sharp-eared and clear-sighted?

Every single one of them heard him perfectly.

The crowd was instantly shocked!

He even knew about the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array!

And what was this "first Witch-Demon Great War"?

Would the Wu Clan and the Demon Race truly erupt into an all-out war?

Just how many secrets unknown to them did this Wu Ming know?!

Tongtian Sect Master reacted the fastest. He suddenly turned to Wu Ming. "Fellow Daoist Wu Ming! What did you just say? What Witch-Demon Great War?"

Wu Ming came back to himself, his expression still as calm and unruffled as ever. "Nothing. I was merely sighing with feeling."

He swept his gaze across the group, a knowing smile appearing on his face.

"No wonder all of you are so anxious to attain the Dao and become Sages."

"So you fear that once the Demon Race gains the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array and grows powerful, they will come to seize the Hongmeng Purple Qi in your hands."

Those words struck directly at their sore spot.

Though none of them said it aloud, each of them harbored more or less the same concern.

The struggle for Saint Positions was incomparably cruel!

Wu Ming thought to himself: Since they were this desperate and had delivered themselves to my door, this was a fine opportunity.

Even if he said nothing, they would eventually feel their way to the answer. It was merely a matter of sooner or later.

Such was the great trend of the Heavenly Dao: Nuwa would create humanity and become a Sage; the Three Pure Ones would Establish Sect and become Sages; Jieyin and Zhunti would make Great Vows and become Sages. These were all fixed fates.

He might as well take this chance to exploit the information gap and secure some tangible benefits for the Wu Clan.

At that thought, Wu Ming looked at the crowd, the corner of his lips curving into a meaningful smile.

With that in mind, Wu Ming looked at everyone. "Just now, Fellow Daoist Nuwa said that all of you are willing to pay a price in exchange for a method of comprehending Hongmeng Purple Qi from me."

"Then, what sort of price... are you willing to pay?"

The moment those words fell, the six future Sages within Pangu Hall instantly sank into silence.

What price would they have to pay to satisfy Wu Ming while obtaining the crucial method for becoming Sages?

For a moment, each harbored their own thoughts.

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