He had not lied.
Duobao and the others were now Peak Quasi-Saints. That might well be the lifelong goal of Yuanshi's Twelve Golden Immortals!
The gap between people was simply this enormous.
Yuanshi wanted to complain, yet did not even know where to begin!
Tongtian shook his head.
"If Senior Brother can persuade Jinling, then I have no objection."
"I will not stand in the way of my disciple having a better path."
Yuanshi was overjoyed and hurriedly sealed the deal. "It's a promise!"
If Jinling could take charge of Chan Jiao, it would be a win-win situation.
Why was Tongtian willing to accept his own disciple being poached?
If Jinling wanted to take another step forward,
she would have to gather Merit and Luck, find her own Dao, and break through into the Hunyuan realm!
Tongtian knew that once Jinling reached Hunyuan, it would be the time for her to attain the Dao.
Jinling did not lack Primordial Violet Qi!
What she lacked was merely this opportunity.
Tongtian was also willing to give Jinling this opportunity.
Likewise, if Jinling could attain the Dao within Chan Jiao, Chan Jiao's Luck would surely rise dramatically.
The birthplace of a Saint would inevitably be protected by unparalleled Luck.
Chan Jiao's disciples would have a far greater chance of advancing further on their Dao paths.
This was a win-win situation.
Yuanshi was extremely pleased. He wanted to summon Jinling over immediately and settle the matter properly.
Tongtian laughed.
"Senior Brother, let us discuss it later. Jinling is accompanying a Fellow Daoist for some fun!"
Huh?!
Yuanshi was so shocked that he stood dumbfounded.
If Tongtian had said Jinling was in seclusion comprehending the Dao or something,
he would not have found it strange in the slightest.
But accompanying a guest for fun? What was that supposed to mean?
Yuanshi could not understand what Tongtian was thinking.
Tongtian added, "All eight of my true disciples are accompanying him!"
Hiss!
Yuanshi sucked in a sharp breath.
Eight Peak Quasi-Saints keeping him company?
Just what kind of divine guest was this?
He calmly asked, "What is his background?"
Tongtian smiled. "A disciple of Senior Lin Dong from Penglai Immortal Island."
Yuanshi suddenly froze.
After recovering, he immediately said, "Then they should accompany him!"
That was Great God Lin Dong of Penglai Immortal Island!
Tongtian's axe, Duobao's Earth Splitting Chisel, and Pingxin's boundless Merit—
all of them were Great God Lin Dong's handiwork.
If such an honored guest was not worth accompanying, then who was?
Naturally, Yuanshi expressed his understanding.
Tongtian turned to Nuwa and said, "This Fellow Daoist does have some connection with Junior Sister."
Nuwa was startled.
Tongtian explained, "Do you all remember the Monkey who emerged not long ago?"
"He is the disciple cultivated by Senior Lin."
Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa suddenly understood. It was that monkey who had possessed Quasi-Saint cultivation the moment he was born!
To be honest,
they Mystic Gate Saints were all innate divine beings, but when they had first taken form and entered the world, they absolutely had not possessed cultivation like Monkey's.
They had merely been Golden Immortals.
The cultivation of the Saints today had all been earned through diligent comprehension of the Dao and arduous cultivation.
How could they be like Monkey, emerging as a Quasi-Saint from the very start?
Since the creation of heaven and earth, no one else had ever possessed an opportunity like Monkey's.
They had previously been puzzled by Monkey's origins.
Now, they were completely at ease.
So he was actually the disciple of that great god from Penglai Immortal Island.
If he had not been extraordinary, that would have been abnormal instead!
Nuwa clapped her hands and laughed. "Then he truly does have a connection with me!"
Monkey had been born from the five-colored stone left behind when Nuwa repaired the heavens.
In a sense, Monkey could be considered Nuwa's creation!
Yuanshi was rather envious. "Junior Brother, your relationship with that great god is truly enviable."
With such a great god offering guidance, there was no need to worry about problems on one's Dao path that one could not see clearly!
He suddenly found something strange. "Junior Brother, why has Fellow Daoist Monkey come here?"
Tongtian's expression abruptly turned exceedingly solemn.
"This is precisely why I invited all of you here."
With a casual gesture, he disrupted the Heavenly Secret, preventing his words from being overheard.
The three Saints suddenly had an ominous premonition. Tongtian was being far too serious.
Tongtian sighed.
"Senior Lin ordered Fellow Daoist Wukong to deliver a message to me."
"On the day Minghe reincarnated and became Sakyamuni, another mighty being was born within the Boundless Sea of Blood."
"You may not have met this mighty being, but you have certainly heard his name!"
Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa's expressions changed drastically. They could not believe it!
The primordial spirits of Saints were entrusted to the void of the Heavenly Dao. They were everywhere and nowhere.
Even within the Boundless Sea of Blood, if something truly happened, they should have known.
Yet on the day Minghe reincarnated, none of them had received this news.
That greatly astonished the Saints!
Tongtian said each word distinctly.
"This mighty being is the former Lord of the Seven Kills Oath, the leader of the Original Demon Cult, Demon Ancestor Luohu!"
What?!
The three Mystic Gate Saints—Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa—cried out in shock!
Demon Ancestor Luohu had actually been resurrected?
How was that possible?!
Had Demon Ancestor Luohu not been slain by Dao Ancestor Hongjun?
Even his corpse had been refined into the Immortal Slaying Sword Diagram—no, the current Immortal Slaying Sword Diagram had been formed from the primordial spirits, essence, and portions of the corpses of the Three Thousand Great Dao Demon Gods!
But the three Saints were certain of one thing.
Luohu had definitely perished. Even his Law of Demon had been absorbed into the Three Thousand Great Daos laws of the Heavenly Dao...
It could be said that Luohu had already vanished into the river of history.
How could he return from the void, be born in the Boundless Sea of Blood, and even emerge on the same day as Minghe's reincarnation?!
Tongtian added another sentence.
"Luohu's cultivation is... Peak Dao Integration Realm!"
Hiss!
Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa's faces turned green!
How could this be?!
A mighty being at the Peak Dao Integration Realm?
Why had they not sensed the slightest thing?
Yuanshi said with a dark expression, "Junior Brother, this is no joking matter. It is one thing that we did not know Luohu had returned, but how could even Dao Ancestor not know?"
Hongjun had immense Karma with Luohu.
How could Hongjun not know that he had been reborn?
Tongtian revealed a strange expression.
"That is the strange part. Dao Ancestor does not know of Luohu's resurrection. The Four Saints of the Mystic Gate and the Two Sages of the West do not know either, but Fellow Daoist Pingxin of the Six Paths of Reincarnation knows."
"She is the ruler of the Netherworld Realm, so naturally she investigated Luohu's true cultivation and discovered the purpose behind his return."
Hmm?!
The three Saints all frowned deeply.
At first, they truly had not cared about Luohu's resurrection.
When Luohu had fallen, he had only been a Hunyuan.
A Hunyuan of the same realm had no advantage against a Saint.
But...
when Luohu's cultivation suddenly became Peak Dao Integration Realm,
the trouble became enormous!
Each realm was a whole different heaven.
If the gap in cultivation was too great, even Saints could do nothing.
Just like on the Investiture of the Gods Battlefield,
Yang Mei was a mighty being at the Peak Dao Integration Realm.
No matter that Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa were Heavenly Dao Realm Saints, they were still no match for Yang Mei.
Now that Luohu had returned from the void, the Mystic Gate Saints would be the ones facing him directly.
How could they not be nervous?
Nuwa hurriedly asked, "Did Fellow Daoist Pingxin say what Luohu's purpose is?"
Tongtian answered straightforwardly.
"Senior Lin sent word that Luohu himself said he was deeply dissatisfied that Mount Sumeru had been occupied by others. He intends to return to Mount Sumeru and raise the banner of the Demon Sect once more."
"Then, he will settle his Karma with Dao Ancestor!"
"He will begin a second Dao-Devil War!"
The Mystic Gate Saints looked at one another, all feeling that this was strange.
At this moment, Hongjun was pushing for the Rise of the West. Who could have expected that an unsurpassed Demon Ancestor would awaken within the Boundless Sea of Blood?
Thinking of Dao Ancestor's words, it all felt rather ironic!
Yuanshi calmly asked, "Is Demon Ancestor going to unleash a heaven-and-earth killing calamity?"
Tongtian shook his head. "Not necessarily, but one thing is certain: Demon Ancestor intends to subdue the Western World!"
He could not help glancing at Nuwa.
Nuwa was baffled by Tongtian's gaze. "Senior Brother, why are you looking at me like that?"
Tongtian paused before saying,
"Senior Lin has a conjecture regarding Demon Ancestor Luohu's resurrection."
The three Saints hurriedly listened closely.
"Senior said that after the Desolate Beast Heaven-Opening Calamity, the Primordial Era was divided into two."
"The east was controlled by the Three Dragon-Han Clans, while the west belonged to Demon Ancestor Luohu's Demon Gate!"
"After the Dao-Demon War, only Mount Sumeru in the Western World remained suitable for cultivators. Everywhere else was still a Demon Kingdom."
"This time, Dao Ancestor Hongjun is forcibly promoting the Rise of the West... and Demon Ancestor Luohu was thus born in response to fate!"
Hmm?!
Nuwa suddenly said, "The Yin-Yang balance Dao Ancestor spoke of? The eastern Mystic Gate is immortal, while the Western World is demonic? Immortals and demons stand opposed yet are also utterly unified, forming the Yin-Yang balance?!"
Taishang and Yuanshi looked at Nuwa in surprise.
Some time ago, when the Saints had discussed the Rise of the West together in Zixiao Palace, Nuwa had already voiced this argument.
At the time, the Three Pure Ones had merely thought Nuwa was making things difficult for Hongjun.
But they had never expected
that Nuwa had truly thought this way!
What they had not expected even more was that the great god of Penglai Immortal Island shared the same view as Nuwa.
Luohu had been born in response to fate!
What fate?
The Rise of the West!
The Mystic Gate Saints suddenly understood why Luohu had returned from the void.
They even understood why Luohu had appeared within the Boundless Sea of Blood!
They understood even more clearly why, apart from Fellow Daoist Pingxin, none of the Mystic Gate Saints had sensed Luohu's birth.
Yuanshi took a deep breath.
"We were wrong from the very beginning!"
"If the West was to rise, then it naturally had to rise in its own way."
"The orthodoxy of our Mystic Gate is the Immortal Dao, but in the West, that would be the Demon Sect!"
"What we consider a rise would be called a devastating blow in the West."
"Dao Ancestor Hongjun forcibly pushed through this decision, never expecting to anger the true Heavenly Dao!"
"The Heavenly Dao wanted to bring about the West's true rise. It wanted to balance the yin and yang of the Primordial Era."
"That was why it brought Luohou back from time and space, even granting him the cultivation of the Peak Dao Integration Realm."
In just a few words, Yuanshi had deduced most of what had happened.
"As for us... we all agreed to Hongjun's proposal for the rise of the West in Zixiao Palace."
"In the Heavenly Dao's eyes, we Saints are also on Dao Ancestor Hongjun's side."
"Therefore, when Luohou was born, we received no news whatsoever."
"But Fellow Daoist Pingxin is different. She never attends any gatherings at Zixiao Palace."
"Thus, the news of Luohou was never concealed from her!"
At this point,
Yuanshi suddenly frowned.
"Fellow Daoists, what is Hongjun's true plan?"
"Could it be that he truly cares only about the rise of the West?"
Within Zixiao Palace in the Thirty-Third Heaven, Hongjun sat high upon the Heaven and Earth Cushion.
His expression was solemn as he carefully considered matters. This concerned the path he would take from here onward.
"After the Western Teachings changed their name to Buddhism, they finally broke free of their previous constraints!"
The name Western Teachings sounded weak the moment one heard it.
It inherently confined itself to the Western World.
The Western World had only the countless billions of people on Mount Sumeru. It could not even select enough cultivators.
How could it possibly rise?
Changing the name was good!
Buddhism was far better than the Western Teachings.
Although the Western Teachings' core doctrine remained unchanged—they still saved others and cultivated for this life while seeking the next—
it was no longer the name of some small regional faction.
When their disciples spread the teachings,
it would be much easier as well.
Hongjun was extremely satisfied with Minghe, whom Jieyin and Zhunti had chosen.
He truly deserved to be one of the three greatest Quasi-Saints in the Primordial Era.
His heart was ruthless enough.
He had actually cast half of Buddhism's disciples directly into reincarnation!
Under the pretext of repairing their Dao Hearts, he forced them to spread the teachings in the Human Realm.
Those were all Grand Unity Golden Immortals!!
A Grand Unity Golden Immortal was a Grand Unity Golden Immortal. Even one whose Dao Heart was on the verge of collapse was still a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
But Rulai did not care.
In his view, disciples were valued for quality, not quantity.
Besides, Buddhism still had a full three thousand disciples remaining, and all of them were Grand Unity Golden Immortals.
Though they could not compare to Biyou Palace, they could still firmly suppress the Human Sect and Chan Jiao. That was enough!
Hongjun also greatly admired Rulai's talent.
He had put forth a saying: "The sea of suffering is vast, and the Buddha Dharma is boundless!"
Hongjun had nearly applauded him for it!
Even the Saints of the Mystic Gate could not refute those words.
Buddha was Dao, Dao had no end, and the Buddha Dharma was boundless.
It was simply perfect!
Hongjun did not mind in the slightest that Minghe had taken advantage of the Mystic Gate's Luck.
He even secretly wielded the Authority of the Heavenly Dao, causing Buddhism's momentum to grow ever stronger.
In his eyes, the smoother Buddhism's propagation of the teachings went, the better!
Only if Buddhism spread its teachings smoothly
could Buddhism rise.
Then Journey to the West would follow as a matter of course.
The Karma he owed the Primordial Era would then be fully repaid!
Simply perfect!
By then, neither the Mystic Gate nor Buddhism would matter.
They could fight however they wished; Hongjun would not interfere in the least.
Of course, the prerequisite was... slaughtering the Saints!!
A fierce glint flashed through Hongjun's eyes.
Yet it came quickly and vanished even faster!
He could not rush. He needed to find a good excuse!
Hongjun naturally wished he could slaughter all the Saints in one sweep.
Before the Investiture of the Gods Calamity,
he would absolutely have been confident in doing so!
But after the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, that confidence had completely vanished.
The reason was Tongtian.
Great Immortal Yang Mei, the Peak Dao Integration Realm puppet he had painstakingly arranged to control the Heavenly Dao,
had actually been slain by Tongtian with a single axe strike.
Yang Mei's death had doubled the spiritual energy of the Earth Immortal Realm!
It had disrupted Hongjun's plans in an instant,
and filled him with deep regret!
When Tongtian had abolished his own Saint position, why had he not slain Tongtian then?
The reason had been ready-made: defying the Heavenly Dao's order and abolishing his own Saint position!
Hongjun had not acted at the time.
He had considered many things.
For example, after Tongtian abolished his own Saint position, it would be nearly impossible for him to attain the Dao again.
Thus, Tongtian would not pose much of a threat to him.
For example, after Tongtian abolished his own Saint position, he was no longer a Saint but merely an ordinary Hunyuan, which served Hongjun's interests!
That had been Hongjun's thinking.
But how could he have known that Tongtian's cultivation would advance so explosively?
In the blink of an eye, he had gone from the Seventh Heaven of the Heavenly Dao Realm straight into the Twelfth Layer of the Heavenly Dao Realm.
In another blink, it became even more unbelievable—he had leaped from the Twelfth Layer of the Heavenly Dao Realm directly to the Eleventh Heaven of Dao Integration Realm!
What was especially terrifying was
that, combined with Tongtian's nameless axe, so extremely similar to the legendary Pangu Sky-Opening Axe,
he could even kill Yang Mei and damage Hongjun's Innate Bamboo Staff!
From that moment onward, Hongjun knew that if he wished to slaughter the Saints, Tongtian was an obstacle he could not bypass!
No matter what, he had to eliminate Tongtian!
But how could eliminating Tongtian be so simple?
He was indeed an Incarnation of Heavenly Dao, but merely an Incarnation of Heavenly Dao. He was not the Heavenly Dao itself!
If Hongjun wanted to eliminate Tongtian, he had to find Tongtian a proper crime!
Otherwise, it would be especially easy to provoke resistance from the other Saints,
and the losses would outweigh the gains.
In truth, Hongjun had no real confidence against Tongtian's axe.
Otherwise, why would he go to such lengths?
And the rise of the West—even Journey to the West—was a perfect opportunity.
Hongjun had ordered the Saints not to involve themselves in it.
If any Saint dared disobey...
Hongjun looked toward the Great Red Gourd hanging before the hall. Inside it lay the means by which the Heavenly Dao punished the Saints—the Saint-Slaying Pill!
As long as the Saints dared violate their oath, he could strike without any reservations.
Before you continue