Tongtian deeply missed those days of listening to the Dao at Purple Cloud Palace.
A single lecture at Purple Cloud Palace made three thousand years pass in an instant.
A single lecture at Jade Void Palace made five hundred years feel like ten thousand.
"Big Brother, Second Brother, let's set off quickly!"
Tongtian said excitedly to Laozi and Yuanshi. He had never before been so eager to hear a lecture.
"This time, let Nan Ji accompany us Three Pure Ones."
Laozi said to the two of them.
Yuanshi raised his head and looked toward the boundless chaos, lost in thought. Then he said, "Disciple, are you willing to accompany us to Purple Cloud Palace and hear the Dao Ancestor teach the Dao?"
Seeing Tongtian's miserable expression, Nan Ji could not help but shudder. Then he said, "This disciple is willing."
Yuanshi nodded after hearing this and said, "On the way to Purple Cloud Palace, chaotic currents run rampant, but they are also where opportunities lie."
Laozi also understood Yuanshi's intentions and added, "You were born lacking in some respects. Now that your cultivation has reached the middle stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, you can take this opportunity to use the chaotic currents to temper your body."
As Nan Ji listened, he instinctively wanted to argue. He was, after all, the first Spiritual Crane...
Fine. Compared to the great powers who had listened to the Dao at Purple Cloud Palace, such as the Three Pure Ones, he really was lacking by more than a little.
"This disciple will follow Master's arrangements!"
Nan Ji nodded as though he understood.
"Mm. This jade talisman will guide you to Purple Cloud Palace. Hurry and come."
After Yuanshi spoke, he tossed a jade talisman to Nan Ji, then instantly departed with Laozi and Tongtian.
Nan Ji held the jade talisman and opened his mouth. In an instant, he understood.
Th-this... so they were making him go alone.
Nan Ji opened his mouth, yet in the end, he said nothing.
Thinking of Duo Duo, Nan Ji had intended to give her some instructions, but after searching around, he found only the voice transmission she had left behind.
"Big Brother, I'm going to cultivate too! Don't worry about me!"
Nan Ji said helplessly, "Well, well, everyone's leaving me behind."
But the chance to hear the Dao at Purple Cloud Palace was not something everyone could obtain.
Thus, holding the jade talisman Yuanshi had left behind, Nan Ji flashed forward, transformed into his true form as an immortal crane, and flew toward Purple Cloud Palace.
Nan Ji had originally been a flying creature of the Great Desolation. Once he transformed into his true form, his speed was naturally not slow.
Gradually, Nan Ji sensed that the spiritual energy was becoming increasingly thin, and even quite a few spatial rifts appeared.
Before long, he arrived at the membrane of heaven and earth.
When he passed through the membrane of heaven and earth and entered chaos, Nan Ji felt streams of chaotic air slash toward his feathers.
His body, tempered by Pangu's heart, had already become extraordinarily sturdy, yet it still ended up covered in wounds.
Fortunately, the pain remained within a tolerable range.
There were no changes of sun or moon in chaos. Afraid of arriving too late, Nan Ji could only endure the pain and continuously flap his wings.
Just then, Nan Ji discovered another giant bird ahead of him.
That bird had wings black as ink and an enormous body. It stood directly in Nan Ji's path.
Since this was Nan Ji's first time going to Purple Cloud Palace, and that giant bird was also heading there, Nan Ji simply slowed down and traveled alongside it.
I wonder which great power this is. If I get the chance, I should go say hello.
Thinking this, Nan Ji could not help speeding up.
Just then, the giant bird glanced sideways and noticed Nan Ji accelerating.
Then Nan Ji discovered that the giant bird had directly blocked his path.
When Nan Ji sped up, the giant bird sped up. When he slowed down, the giant bird slowed down.
After this happened several times, Nan Ji suddenly understood what the giant bird meant.
This was blatantly blocking him.
Of the three thousand guests at Purple Cloud Palace, not many ultimately survived.
Thinking of this, Nan Ji felt stifled, but he was no longer angry.
He could only honestly "follow" behind the giant bird and continue flying.
After an unknown amount of time, Nan Ji discovered that a glimmer of light had suddenly appeared in the originally foggy chaos.
Immediately afterward, Nan Ji saw an ancient palace floating within chaos. A great number of cultivators had already gathered before its gates.
After the giant bird arrived before the palace, it transformed into a man dressed in black robes.
Then, after giving Nan Ji a disdainful glance, he sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and cultivated.
Nan Ji also transformed into human form. He had originally wanted to find the Three Pure Ones, but he discovered that at least several thousand cultivators had gathered before the hall entrance, completely clogging the area.
Just then, Nan Ji discovered that the tightly shut hall doors were slowly opening.
Two young attendants stood on either side of the hall doors and said, "The Dao Ancestor is about to begin his lecture. Please take your seats quickly."
After Haotian, the Dao Ancestor's attendant, finished speaking, the crowd surged densely into the hall. Nan Ji could only follow everyone inside at a slow pace.
Given Nan Ji's speed, he should have arrived at Purple Cloud Palace early.
It was only because the man in black had deliberately blocked him along the way that he arrived so late.
And because the man in black had deliberately obstructed Nan Ji, he had also arrived late.
Nan Ji could understand it. After all, he had his own concerns.
Keeping some distance was better. If he followed the Three Pure Ones and got too close to Hongjun, he might expose his identity as a transmigrator.
When Nan Ji reached the side of the hall doors, he looked at Haotian and Yaochi, who appeared to be children barely over ten.
Sure enough, they were still just kids!
"Hello!"
Nan Ji smiled warmly at the two of them. After all, if nothing unexpected happened, he would become the Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole in the future, and they would become colleagues.
Haotian and Yaochi were slightly stunned by Nan Ji's smile, seemingly not expecting anyone to pay attention to them.
However, though Haotian was young, he politely nodded at Nan Ji and said, "Hello."
Yaochi was somewhat shy. She glanced at Nan Ji, then bashfully lowered her head.
Nan Ji searched all over himself before realizing that he had nothing to give the two of them.
Slapping his forehead, he simply took out two Wine Crystals brewed by the Twelve Ancestor Witches. "Here. This stuff packs quite a kick, but it has a unique flavor."
Nan Ji thought that courtesy never hurt. After all, the two before him might become his "direct superiors" in the future.
Don't think Nan Ji was cowardly.
Was Hongjun truly fair?
Then why had he given the position of Heavenly Emperor to his own attendant?
So what if the Six Saints were powerful? After the Investiture of the Gods, were they not still locked away in a little dark room?
Moreover, Nan Ji himself had no interest in power. The Heavenly Emperor's path might seem prestigious, but in truth, was it not just working for the Heavenly Dao?
After Haotian accepted the Wine Crystal, he glanced at the situation inside the hall and reminded Nan Ji, "Fellow Daoist, hurry inside!"
After Haotian finished speaking, the two prepared to close the hall doors.
Nan Ji looked into Purple Cloud Palace and discovered that its interior was not as large as he had imagined, nor was there any hidden world within it as others had described.
The creatures of the Great Desolation sat packed tightly together.
Because Nan Ji had spoken with Haotian and Yaochi, he discovered upon entering that the crowd had already filled the hall all the way to the doors.
The very last person was precisely the man in black from before.
Nan Ji thought that since he had already arrived at Purple Cloud Palace, it would be better not to attract the Dao Ancestor's attention and to keep a low profile.
But he could not possibly sit on the threshold of the hall doors. Nan Ji quietly said to the man in black, "Senior, sorry for the trouble, but could you make room for a seat?"
Hearing Nan Ji's voice, the man in black could not help but sneer. "Since all the seats are taken, come again next time. If not for me, you probably would not even have found the doors of Purple Cloud Palace."
Before you continue