At that very moment.
The two suddenly sensed something through their divine thoughts and noticed a familiar figure.
It was the number-one good man of the Great Desolation—Hong Yun!
Seeing Hong Yun appear, Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a glance.
"Senior Brother, isn't that Hong Yun? He's the number-one idiot... ahem, the number-one good man of the Great Desolation!"
"Junior Brother, Hong Yun gave us a great opportunity last time, but we failed to seize it. This time, we must make him compensate us!"
With that, the two flew straight toward Hong Yun.
"Hmm?"
As Jieyin and Zhunti sensed Hong Yun, Hong Yun sensed them as well.
In terms of the strength of their divine thoughts, the two were far inferior to him.
Seeing them fly toward him, Hong Yun remained calm, already calculating how to trick the pair.
After all, Jieyin and Zhunti had brought him benefits many times.
The first time he tricked them was over the Purple Cushion.
Because of it, he obtained the Great Dao Cushion and embarked on the path of power.
The second time was when he incited them to compete for Eastern Prince Gong's opportunity to become leader of the Ten Thousand Immortals.
In the end, the two were punished by Hongjun, while he obtained the Mythical Grand Unity Method.
If the Great Dao Cushion had helped him shed his good-man persona and embark on the path of strength,
then the Mythical Grand Unity Method was the cornerstone of the road to supremacy.
Once mastered, his future achievements would surpass the Saints, surpass the Heavenly Dao, and even surpass the Great Dao.
In Hong Yun's eyes, these two from the Western Lands were like mobile treasure vaults.
Every time they met, he was bound to gain something!
"Hahaha, isn't this Fellow Daoist Hong Yun!"
"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Hong Yun. How have you been lately?"
Jieyin and Zhunti flew up to him and clasped their hands in greeting.
In their eyes, Hong Yun was likewise an opportunity bestowed by Heaven.
Every time they met him, they found a chance to change their fate.
The first time had been the dispute over the Purple Cushion.
It could have made them Hongjun's disciples, giving them hope of becoming Saints in the future.
The second time had been the authority to command the Ten Thousand Immortals.
It could have let them control all the immortals of the Great Desolation and revive the Western Lands.
Unfortunately, they had failed to seize it, allowing Eastern Prince Gong to get there first.
This was not Hong Yun's fault.
The two even felt grateful toward him.
After all, Hong Yun had never deceived them.
Hongjun truly had intended to establish a leader of the Ten Thousand Immortals.
They could only blame their own incompetence.
"Why aren't the two of you cultivating in the Western Lands? What brings you here?"
Hong Yun was curious when he encountered Jieyin and Zhunti in the Great Desolation.
The two were still at the peak of the Grand Unity realm. Why were they wandering around instead of entering seclusion to break through to the Quasi-Saint realm?
"Fellow Daoist Hong Yun, you may not know this, but for the revival of the Western Lands, the two of us have been exhausting ourselves!"
Zhunti shook his head and sighed when he heard this.
They had indeed suffered during this period.
They had hurried back and forth between the Great Desolation and the Western Lands, managing only to fool a few minor clans into moving to that barren land.
"Ahem..."
Jieyin coughed twice and glared at Zhunti, seemingly reminding him not to stray from the subject. He then turned to Hong Yun.
"Fellow Daoist Hong Yun, we failed to seize the great opportunity you gave us last time!"
"Sigh, it was all because of Eastern Prince Gong. Otherwise, the position of leader of the Ten Thousand Immortals would have long been ours. Why would we have to toil away like this?"
Zhunti added, not daring to blame Hongjun and directing all his anger at Eastern Prince Gong instead.
"You two even failed to seize such an opportunity? I'm quite disappointed!"
Hong Yun laughed inwardly, but put on a serious expression.
"Fellow Daoist Hong Yun, we are currently working hard to revive the Western Lands. Since we missed that opportunity last time, those seven gourds of yours..."
Jieyin was still thinking about the seven gourds Hong Yun had obtained at Buzhou Mountain, and spoke bluntly.
"Exactly, Fellow Daoist Hong Yun. You dislike fighting, so what use are so many treasures to you? Why not give those seven gourds to us?"
"The Western Lands are barren, and we are suffering terribly. Just look at these clothes of ours—they're completely tattered."
Zhunti sighed mournfully, tears glimmering at the corners of his eyes.
"If you have any other surplus treasures or cultivation resources, you could also support the Western Lands. We won't be picky!"
Jieyin chimed in.
After finishing their complaints, the two gazed at Hong Yun with eager anticipation, hoping he would generously open his treasury.
They thought that Hong Yun was a good man. After making their plight sound so miserable, how could he refuse them?
Back at the Purple Cloud Palace, he had even been willing to give up the Purple Cushion, which represented an opportunity to become a Saint.
"What shameless bastards!"
After hearing this, Hong Yun cursed inwardly.
He had seen plenty of shameless people, but never anyone this extreme.
These two bald men from the Western Lands kept breaking through his limits.
They were Grand Unity Immortals, future Saints, yet they were even more despicable than beggars.
They truly had no shame.
Since things had come to this, they could not blame him for striking again!
"Sigh, those seven gourds are no longer in my possession."
Hong Yun sighed and put on a sorrowful expression.
"What? How is that possible! Those seven gourds are supreme treasures capable of being refined into Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures!"
"How could you have lost such important treasures, Fellow Daoist?"
Jieyin and Zhunti were shocked, their faces full of disbelief.
"Gentlemen, I'm not deceiving you. I swear upon the Heavenly Dao that those seven gourds truly are no longer with me!"
Hong Yun solemnly swore an oath to the Heavenly Dao.
As soon as he spoke the oath, their expressions changed dramatically, as though their parents had died.
An oath to the Heavenly Dao was no child's play. If he had lied, he would certainly suffer backlash.
When that happened, never mind becoming a Saint—even his cultivation would fall into demonic corruption.
That was why the living beings of the Great Desolation trusted such oaths.
Seeing Hong Yun swear the oath, they knew that the seven gourds were truly gone.
"Fellow Daoist Hong Yun, how could you have been so careless? Those were seven Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures!"
"If we had known, you should have simply given them to us back then!"
Jieyin and Zhunti were heartbroken, as though the gourds had originally belonged to them.
Their loss felt like having their hearts carved out.
"Wait, Fellow Daoist Hong Yun, how did you lose the seven gourds?"
After mourning for a long while, Jieyin finally recovered and asked.
Zhunti also raised his head, suppressing the pain of losing the treasures as he stared at Hong Yun.
"It's a long story. Do you two remember Hongjun's second lecture..."
"Dijun and Taiyi revealed to Ancestor Minghe that I possessed seven gourds..."
"Sigh, I was ambushed..."
Hong Yun recounted the matter slowly, sighing from time to time as if he could barely contain his grief.
However, his account was only half true.
Especially when he mentioned being ambushed by Minghe and the Blood Mosquitoes, he looked as though he was about to cover his face and weep from the pain of losing his treasures.
"Detestable! Dijun and Taiyi, Minghe and the Blood Mosquitoes—they're utterly detestable!"
"How shameless! How could such despicable people exist in the Great Desolation? They actually ambushed you and seized your treasures!"
"This is intolerable!"
The two were filled with righteous fury, angrier than if they had lost their own treasures.
If their own treasures were lost, they could only blame their inferior skill.
But Hong Yun had lost the seven gourds that "should have belonged to them." How could they not be torn by mixed emotions?
Their anger burned without end.
"Fellow Daoist Hong Yun, are you just going to accept this?"
Jieyin and Zhunti looked toward him again.
"What can I do? They're too powerful!"
Hong Yun helplessly spread his hands, looking completely resigned to his fate.
"You don't want to take them back?"
Jieyin and Zhunti asked unwillingly.
"If the two of you can help me reclaim the seven gourds, you only need to return one to me. The other six will all belong to you!"
Hong Yun threw out the bait.
"Is that true?"
"Of course!"
"Good! Since you've said so, the two of us will definitely reclaim these treasures from Dijun, Taiyi, and Minghe!"
Jieyin and Zhunti were overjoyed.
They had originally intended to beg the gourds from Hong Yun. Now, if they seized the seven gourds, six would belong to them.
That would be a perfectly legitimate gain, rather than shamelessly demanding them.
As for returning one to Hong Yun? Absolutely impossible.
The two secretly thought that they could simply beg that one from him afterward.
"Since that's the case, Fellow Daoist Hong Yun, we'll take our leave!"
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. We will definitely reclaim the gourds for you!"
Jieyin and Zhunti clasped their hands in farewell, burning with impatience.
They felt that with the two of them joining forces, asking Dijun, Taiyi, and Minghe for the treasures would not be difficult.
If that failed, they could simply have a good cry.
These were seven treasures capable of being refined into Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures.
To the impoverished Western Lands, they were an unimaginable fortune.
On the Solar Star.
"Elder Brother, the war between our Demon Clan and the Witch Clan has already escalated into a battle between Great Demons and Great Witches. It's time for us to take action!"
Eastern Emperor Taiyi sat in the Solar Palace and looked toward Dijun.
"Mm. Second Brother, how is your comprehension of the Grand Formation of the Stars of the Heavens?"
Dijun asked.
"Rest assured, Elder Brother. This time, I'll annihilate all twelve Ancestral Witches!"
Eastern Emperor Taiyi was brimming with confidence in his formation.
The formation had been created by drawing on the power of the River Map and Luo Book and comprehending the starry sky of the Great Desolation.
It used the Solar Star and Lunar Star as its masters, the River Map and Luo Book as its eyes, the three hundred sixty-five main stars as its foundation, and the fourteen thousand eight hundred minor stars as its support.
Once activated, the stellar power of the heavens would converge, unleashing overwhelming might.
If the Twelve Ancestral Witches had no hidden trump cards, he was certain that even a late-stage Quasi-Saint would find it difficult to escape.
Moreover, he had already refined the Eastern Emperor Bell to eighty percent. Its defense was unparalleled.
Although Dijun was the Demon Emperor, Taiyi was the strongest in battle.
"Good! Second Brother, this battle will depend entirely on you!"
Dijun's heart surged with excitement when he heard this.
This time, the Demon Clan intended to destroy the Witch Clan, rule the Great Desolation, and contend for the great destiny.
Just as the two were about to summon billions of demons and begin the war,
something ahead suddenly caught their attention.
Both their eyes revealed confusion.
At that moment, two familiar people had arrived uninvited.
Jieyin and Zhunti!
"What are those two bald men from the Western Lands doing on our Solar Star?"
Dijun wondered inwardly.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi was equally puzzled.
The two watched the pair from the Western Lands fly over, standing where they were with gloomy expressions.
These two from the Western Lands had never had much interaction with their Demon Clan.
In fact...
The Demon Master Kunpeng had originally possessed an opportunity to obtain a Purple Cushion in the Purple Cloud Palace, but the two had snatched it away.
It was forcibly seized, not obtained through pleading.
Jieyin and Zhunti had pleaded with Hong Yun and obtained one Purple Cushion from him, but the other Purple Cushion had been seized from Kunpeng after the two threatened him.
At that time, however, Kunpeng was not yet the Demon Master, and his relationship with Dijun and Taiyi was not particularly close.
Thus, being outnumbered and alone, he could only accept his bad luck.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Dijun, it's truly been a long time!"
"Greetings, Fellow Daoists Dijun and Taiyi!"
A moment later, Jieyin and Zhunti arrived before Dijun and Taiyi and saluted with cupped hands.
"What brings the two of you to my Solar Star?"
Dijun glanced at Jieyin and Zhunti with an unpleasant expression and asked coldly.
At the same time, a powerful aura radiated from him.
Early-stage Quasi-Sage!
Now, not only had Eastern Emperor Taiyi reached the early stage of Quasi-Sage, but Dijun had also cultivated the Three Corpses and become an early-stage Quasi-Sage powerhouse.
By contrast, because Jieyin and Zhunti had no affinity with the Immortal Dao and planned to switch to cultivating Buddhist Dharma only after Dao Ancestor Hongjun's third lecture, they had reached only the peak of the Great Firmament realm.
Feeling the terrifying aura emanating from Dijun, Jieyin and Zhunti were both somewhat stunned.
They had never expected Dijun to be stronger than them already.
Back in the Purple Cloud Palace, the two of them and Dijun had all been at the late stage of the Great Firmament realm.
This left the two of them feeling somewhat dejected.
However, they had not come this time to compare their cultivation with Dijun and Taiyi. They had business to attend to.
"Fellow Daoist Dijun, the two of us have come to reclaim the seven gourds belonging to Fellow Daoist Hong Yun!"
Seeing that Dijun and Taiyi had no intention of inviting them into the Solar Palace, Jieyin stood there awkwardly and got straight to the point.
"Indeed. Fellow Daoist Hong Yun had originally agreed to give the seven gourds to us. We never expected Fellow Daoist Dijun that you would take them. This must certainly be a misunderstanding!"
Zhunti spoke up as well.
"Seven gourds?"
Dijun froze when he heard their words. After thinking for a moment, he finally understood.
Back then, Hong Yun had indeed obtained seven gourds on Buzhou Mountain.
But he had not obtained the other party's gourds.
Besides...
Later, he had revealed this information to Ancestor Minghe, thinking that Ancestor Minghe could obtain the gourds from Hong Yun.
Then he and Taiyi could receive one or two gourds in return for providing the information.
But unexpectedly, Ancestor Minghe had failed.
And he had failed miserably.
It was said that even the Netherworld Blood Sea had suffered severe damage. Later, for some unknown reason, he had somehow incurred the enmity of the Blood Mosquito Daoist.
Even now, he was still being pursued by the Blood Mosquito Daoist!
"Fellow Daoist Dijun, these seven gourds now belong to the two of us. Hurry and return them to us, so that this misunderstanding can be cleared up!"
Seeing Dijun's blank expression, Jieyin spoke again.
In his eyes, Dijun's current feigned confusion was absolutely an attempt to keep the seven gourds for himself instead of returning them.
Before you continue