Resurrection of the Devil Ancestor Luohu

He was not lying.

The current peak Quasi-Saint realm of Duobao and the others was likely the eternal goal of his Chan Jiao Twelve Golden Immortals!

The gap between people was truly that immense.

Yuanshi wanted to complain, but he didn't even know what to say!

Tongtian shook his head.

"If Senior Brother can persuade Jinling, then I have no objections."

"I will not hinder my own disciple from having a better path."

Yuanshi was overjoyed and quickly struck while the iron was hot: "It's a deal!"

If Jinling could take charge of Chan Jiao, it would be a win-win situation.

Why was Tongtian willing to let his own disciple be poached?

If Jinling wanted to take a step forward, she had to face one situation: gather Merit and Luck, find her own Dao, and break through to the Hunyuan realm!

Tongtian knew that once Jinling reached Hunyuan, that would be the moment she attained the Dao.

Jinling was certainly not lacking in Primordial Violet Qi!

What she lacked was this opportunity.

Tongtian was also willing to give Jinling this opportunity.

Likewise, if Jinling could attain the Dao within Chan Jiao, the Luck of Chan Jiao would inevitably increase significantly.

A place where a Sage was born would surely be protected by unparalleled Luck, and the disciples of Chan Jiao would have a much greater possibility of advancing further on their paths.

This was a win-win situation.

Yuanshi was very satisfied; he wanted to summon Jinling right now to settle this matter properly.

Tongtian chuckled in spite of himself.

"Senior Brother, let's discuss this later. Jinling is currently playing with a fellow Daoist!"

Huh?!

Yuanshi was stunned into speechlessness.

If Tongtian had said that Jinling was in seclusion meditating on the Dao or something similar, he wouldn't have found it strange at all.

But playing with a guest? What kind of thing was that?

Yuanshi could not understand what Tongtian was thinking.

Tongtian added: "All eight of my true disciples are keeping him company!"

Hiss!

Yuanshi gasped.

Eight peak Quasi-Saints acting as companions?

What kind of divine guest was this?

He asked calmly: "What is the origin of the other party?"

Tongtian smiled: "Penglai Immortal Island, a disciple of Senior Lin Dong."

Yuanshi paused abruptly.

After realizing who it was, he immediately said: "They should keep him company!"

That was Great God Lin Dong of Penglai Immortal Island!

The axe of Tongtian, the Earth Splitting Chisel of Duobao, the boundless Merit of Pingxin, all of these were the handiwork of Great God Lin Dong.

If such an honored guest wasn't worth keeping company, then who was?

Yuanshi naturally expressed his understanding.

Tongtian turned his head and said to Nuwa: "This fellow Daoist actually has some connection with Junior Sister."

Nuwa was suddenly startled.

Tongtian explained: "Do you all remember the Monkey that appeared some time ago?"

"He is the disciple cultivated by Senior Lin."

Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa suddenly realized; it was actually that Monkey who had the cultivation of a Quasi-Saint the moment he was born!

To be honest, these Sages of the Mystic Gate were all innate divine beings, but when they first took form and appeared in the world, they definitely did not have the cultivation of that Monkey.

It was merely a Golden Immortal.

The current cultivation of the Sages was all obtained through diligent enlightenment and arduous practice.

How could anyone be like the Monkey, who was a Quasi-Saint the moment he was born?

Since the creation of the world, no one else had ever possessed such opportunities as the Monkey.

Previously, they had been curious about the Monkey's origins, But now, they were completely at ease.

So, he turned out to be a disciple of that great deity from Penglai Immortal Island.

It would have been abnormal if he weren't extraordinary!

Nuwa clapped her hands and laughed, "Then he truly has a connection to me!"

The Monkey's origin was the five-colored stone left behind when Nuwa mended the heavens in the past.

In a sense, the Monkey could be considered a creation of Nuwa!

Yuanshi said with great envy, "Junior Brother, your relationship with that great deity is truly enviable."

With such a great deity providing guidance, there was no need to worry about encountering problems on the path of the Dao that one could not see through!

He suddenly felt curious, "Junior Brother, what is the purpose of Fellow Daoist Monkey's visit?"

Tongtian's gaze suddenly became extremely serious.

"This is the reason I invited you all here."

He casually disrupted the Heavenly Secret to ensure his words would not be overheard by others.

The three Sages suddenly felt a sense of foreboding; was Tongtian being too serious?

Tongtian sighed.

"Senior Lin ordered Fellow Daoist Wukong to deliver a message to me."

"On the day Minghe reincarnated into Sakyamuni, a powerful being was also born within the Boundless Sea of Blood."

"You may not have seen this powerful being, but you have certainly heard his name!"

Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa's expressions changed drastically, and they could not believe it!

The primordial spirits of Sages are entrusted to the void of the Heavenly Dao, existing everywhere and at all times.

Even if something had happened within the Boundless Sea of Blood, they should have known about it.

However, on the day of Minghe's reincarnation, none of them had received this news.

This greatly surprised the Sages!

Tongtian said word by word, "This powerful being is none other than the former Lord of the Seven Kills Oath, the leader of the Original Demon Cult, the Devil Ancestor Luohu!"

What?!

Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa, the three Sages of the Mystic Gate, cried out in shock!

Could it be the resurrection of the Devil Ancestor Luohu?

How is this possible?!

Wasn't the Devil Ancestor Luohu slain by Dao Ancestor Hongjun?

Even his corpse was refined into the Immortal Slaying Sword Diagram—no, wait, the current Immortal Slaying Sword Diagram was formed from the primordial spirit essence and parts of the corpses of the Three Thousand Great Dao Demon Gods!

But the three Sages were certain, Luohu had definitely perished, and even his Law of Demon had been absorbed into the three thousand Great Dao laws of the Heavenly Dao...

It could be said that Luohu had vanished into the long river of history.

How could he possibly return from the void, be born in the Boundless Sea of Blood, and on the very same day as Minghe's reincarnation?!

Tongtian added another sentence, "Luohu's cultivation is... at the Peak Dao Integration Realm!"

Hiss!

The faces of Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa turned green!

How could this be?!

A powerful being at the Peak Dao Integration Realm?

Why did they not have the slightest intuition about it?

Yuanshi said with a dark face, "Junior Brother, this is no laughing matter. If Luohu has returned, it is one thing that we do not know, but how could even the Dao Ancestor be unaware?"

Hongjun had a massive Karma with Luohu.

If he had been reborn, how could Hongjun not know?

Tongtian revealed a strange expression.

"The peculiarity lies here: Luohu has been resurrected, yet the Dao Ancestor is unaware, and neither we, the Four Saints of the Mystic Gate, nor the Two Sages of the West know of it. However, Fellow Daoist Pingxin of the Six Paths of Reincarnation does."

"As the master of the Netherworld Realm, it is only natural for her to investigate Luohu's true cultivation level and discern the purpose behind his return."

Hmm?!

The three Sages frowned simultaneously.

At the very beginning, when Luohu was resurrected, they truly hadn't paid it much mind.

When Luohu fell, he was merely at the Hunyuan level, after all.

A Hunyuan of the same realm holds no advantage against a Sage.

But...

When Luohu's cultivation suddenly surged to the Peak Dao Integration Realm, the trouble became immense!

Each realm is a world apart.

If the gap in cultivation is too great, even Sages are helpless.

Just as on the Investiture of the Gods Battlefield, Yang Mei was a mighty figure at the Peak Dao Integration Realm, and even though Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa were Heavenly Dao Realm Sages, they were no match for Yang Mei.

Now that Luohu has returned from the void, it is the Sages of the Mystic Gate who must face him directly.

How could they not be nervous?

Nuwa hurriedly asked, "Did Fellow Daoist Pingxin say what Luohu's purpose is?"

Tongtian replied quite bluntly, "Senior Lin sent word that Luohu claims to be quite dissatisfied with Mount Sumeru being occupied by others. He intends to return to Mount Sumeru and raise the banner of the Demon Gate once more."

"And then, he intends to settle his Karma with the Dao Ancestor!"

"He will ignite the second Dao-Demon conflict!"

The Sages of the Mystic Gate looked at each other, all feeling that it was bizarre.

At a time when Dao Ancestor Hongjun is pushing for the Rise of the West, who could have expected that a supreme Devil Ancestor would be reviving within the Boundless Sea of Blood.

Thinking back to the Dao Ancestor's words, it carried a rather ironic tone!

Yuanshi said calmly, "Does the Devil Ancestor intend to stir up a great calamity of heaven and earth?"

Tongtian shook his head, "Not necessarily, but there is one thing: the Devil Ancestor intends to conquer the Western World!"

He couldn't help but glance at Nuwa.

Nuwa was baffled by Tongtian's gaze, "Senior Brother, why are you looking at me like that?"

Tongtian paused for a moment before saying, "Senior Lin has a conjecture regarding the resurrection of the Devil Ancestor Luohu."

The three Sages leaned in to listen intently.

"Senior says that ever since the Great Calamity of the Desolate Beasts at the creation of the world, the Primordial Era has been divided into two."

"The East was governed by the Three Dragon-Han Clans, while the West was the domain of the Devil Ancestor Luohu's Demon Gate!"

"Since the Dao-Demon conflict, only Mount Sumeru in the Western World has been suitable for cultivators; everywhere else remains a Demon Kingdom."

"This time, as Dao Ancestor Hongjun forcefully pushes for the Rise of the West... the Devil Ancestor Luohu has emerged in response to this destiny!"

Hmm?!

Nuwa suddenly said, "The Yin-Yang balance that the Dao Ancestor spoke of? The Eastern Mystic Gate represents the Immortals, while the Western World represents the Demons? The opposition and ultimate unity of Immortals and Demons is what constitutes the Yin-Yang balance?!"

Taishang and Yuanshi looked at Nuwa in surprise.

Some time ago, when the Sages were discussing the Rise of the West in Zixiao Palace, Nuwa had put forward this very argument.

At the time, the Three Pure Ones merely thought Nuwa was making things difficult for Hongjun.

But they never imagined that

Nuwa had truly been thinking this way!

What they could never have expected was that the great deity on Penglai Immortal Island shared the exact same thought as Nuwa.

That Luohu had indeed emerged in response to destiny!

What kind of destiny?

The Rise of the West!

The Sages of the Mystic Gate suddenly understood why Luohu had returned from the void.

They even understood why Luohu had appeared within the Boundless Sea of Blood!

And they understood even better why, apart from Fellow Daoist Pingxin, none of the Sages of the Mystic Gate had sensed Luohu's emergence.

Yuanshi took a deep breath:

"We have been wrong from the very beginning!"

"If the Western World is to flourish, it must naturally flourish in its own way."

"The orthodoxy of our Mystic Gate is the Immortal Dao, but if placed in the West, that is the Demonic Sect!"

"What we perceive as flourishing would be considered a devastating blow in the West."

"Dao Ancestor Hongjun forcibly pushed this resolution, never imagining that he would anger the true Heavenly Dao!"

"The Heavenly Dao intends to promote a true rise of the West; it wants to balance the Yin-Yang of the Primordial Era."

"That is why he allowed Luohou to return from time and space, and even bestowed upon Luohou the cultivation of the Peak Dao Integration Realm."

Yuanshi deduced the general situation in a few moments, "As for us... we all agreed in Zixiao Palace to Hongjun's plan regarding the rise of the West,"

"In the perception of the Heavenly Dao, we Sages are all in league with Dao Ancestor Hongjun."

"Therefore, when Luohou was born, we received absolutely no news of it."

"But Fellow Daoist Pingxin is different; she does not participate in any Zixiao Palace gatherings,"

"Thus, the news of Luohou was never hidden from her!"

Speaking to this point, Yuanshi suddenly frowned, "Fellow Daoists, what is Hongjun's true plan?"

"Could it be that he truly only cares about the rise of the West?"

In Zixiao Palace of the Thirty-Three Heavens, Hongjun sat high upon the Heaven and Earth prayer mat, His expression was solemn as he carefully deliberated, for this concerned his future path, "After the Western Teachings changed their name to Buddhism, they finally broke free from their previous constraints!"

The name Western Teachings sounded weak the moment one heard it.

It inherently limited itself to the Western World.

The Western World only had the billions upon billions of people on Mount Sumeru; it was impossible to even select enough cultivators.

How could it possibly flourish?

Changing the name was a good move!

Buddhism was far better than Western Teachings.

Although the fundamental doctrines of the Western Teachings remained unchanged—still focused on saving others and cultivating the present life to seek the afterlife—

It was, at the very least, no longer the name of a small, regional gang.

When the disciples went out to preach, It would be much easier for them.

Hongjun was quite satisfied with the Minghe chosen by Jieyin and Zhunti.

This individual was truly worthy of being one of the top three Quasi-Saints in the Primordial Era, His heart was sufficiently ruthless.

He actually sent half of the Buddhist disciples directly into the cycle of reincarnation!

Under the guise of repairing their Dao Hearts, he forced them to go to the Human Realm to preach.

These were all Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals!!

A Zenith Heaven is a Zenith Heaven; even a Zenith Heaven whose Dao Heart is on the verge of collapse is still a Zenith Heaven.

But Rulai did not care.

In his view, disciples should be valued for their quality, not their quantity.

Moreover, the remaining disciples of Buddhism numbered three thousand, all of whom were Zenith Heaven.

Although they could not compare to Biyou Palace, they could firmly suppress the Human Sect and Chan Jiao, and that was enough!

Hongjun also particularly admired Rulai's talent, He had proposed the phrase, "The sea of suffering is vast, the Buddha-dharma is boundless!"

Hongjun even wanted to applaud him for it!

This statement was something even the Sages of the Mystic Gate could not refute.

Buddha is Dao, the Dao is endless, and the Buddha-dharma is boundless.

It was simply perfect!

Hongjun did not mind in the slightest that the Luck of the Mystic Gate was being taken advantage of by Minghe, He even secretly utilized the Authority of the Heavenly Dao to make the momentum of Buddhism grow ever stronger.

In his view, the smoother the spread of Buddhism, the better!

As long as the spread of Buddhism went smoothly, Buddhism would be able to flourish.

When that time came, the Journey to the West would follow as a matter of course.

The Karma he owed to the Primordial Era would finally be repaid!

It was simply perfect!

By that time, it wouldn't matter what the Mystic Gate or Buddhism did.

They could fight however they wanted, and Hongjun would not interfere in the slightest.

Of course, the prerequisite was... the slaughter of all the Sages!!

A flash of fierce light flickered in Hongjun's eyes.

But this fierce light came quickly and vanished even faster!

He could not be impatient; he needed to find a good excuse!

Hongjun certainly wished he could slaughter all the Sages in one fell swoop.

If it had been before the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, he would have absolutely possessed that confidence!

But after the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, that confidence had completely vanished.

The reason lay with Tongtian.

The Peak Dao Integration Realm puppet, Great Immortal Yang Mei, whom he had spent a long time laying out to control the Heavenly Dao, had actually been slain by Tongtian with a single axe strike.

The fall of Yang Mei had caused the spiritual energy of the Earth Immortal Realm to double!

It had disrupted Hongjun's plans in an instant, and it had made Hongjun regret it deeply!

Back when Tongtian had voluntarily renounced his Sage position, why hadn't he just killed him?

The reason was ready-made: defying the orders of the Heavenly Dao and renouncing the Sage position!

At the time, Hongjun had not taken action, and he had had many thoughts, such as that after Tongtian renounced his Sage position, it would be basically impossible for him to attain the Dao.

As such, he would not pose too great a threat to him.

Or that after Tongtian renounced his Sage position, he would no longer be a Sage but merely an ordinary Hunyuan, which served his interests!

These were Hongjun's thoughts.

However, how could he have known that Tongtian's cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds?

In the blink of an eye, he had gone from the Seventh Layer of the Heavenly Dao Realm straight to the Twelfth Layer of the Heavenly Dao Realm.

In another blink, even more incredibly, he had gone from the Twelfth Layer of the Heavenly Dao Realm to the Eleventh Layer of the Dao Integration Realm!

What was particularly terrifying was that, coupled with that axe of Tongtian's—which had no name but was extremely similar to the legendary Pangu Sky-Opening Axe—

he could even slay Great Immortal Yang Mei and destroy his own Innate Bamboo Staff!

From that moment on, Hongjun knew that if he wanted to slaughter the Sages, Tongtian was the hurdle he could not bypass!

No matter what, he had to get rid of Tongtian!

But wanting to get rid of Tongtian, was it really that simple?

It was true that he was the Incarnation of Heavenly Dao, but he was merely the Incarnation of Heavenly Dao, not the Heavenly Dao itself!

If he wanted to get rid of Tongtian, he had to find a proper crime to charge him with!

Otherwise, it would be very easy to provoke resistance from the other Sages, and that would be more trouble than it was worth.

In reality, Hongjun truly had no confidence when it came to that axe of Tongtian's.

Otherwise, why would he go to such great lengths?

And the Rise of the West, or even the Journey to the West, was an excellent opportunity.

He, Hongjun, had ordered the Sages not to participate in it.

If any Sage dared to defy this...

Hongjun looked at the Great Red Gourd hanging in front of the hall; inside it were the means for the Heavenly Dao to punish the Sages—the Saint-Slaying Pill!

As long as the Sages dared to break their oaths, he could take action without any scruples.