Haotian and Yaochi, Hong Yun Gives Up His Seat

In the chaos, the thirty-six coiled dragon pillars before the Purple Xiao Palace gates inhaled and exhaled purple qi, churning the raging Chaos Gale into vortices.

"Clang!"

The bronze giant doors of the Purple Xiao Palace trembled with a thunderous roar, gilded runes cascading like a river of stars in reverse.

Two child-attendants stepped out side by side, the Innate Dao Patterns embroidered in dark thread on their moon-white robes flickering with each step.

These two were the attendants before Hongjun, named Haotian and Yaochi.

Their original forms were two stubborn stones in the chaos—one tainted by innate Yang Energy, the other by innate Yin Energy.

In the original timeline, after the Witch-Demon Tribulation, Hongjun appointed Haotian as the Heavenly Emperor and Yaochi as the Queen Mother, together ruling the Heavenly Court.

It is worth noting that this Yaochi, Queen Mother of the West, had no connection to the other Queen Mother of the West.

The child-attendants' brows and eyes were clear as ancient pools. Their gazes swept over the shifting figures in the square, and with a light flick of their jade fingers, two thousand nine hundred and eighty-six shimmering Dao-rhythm light points emerged in the void.

"Two thousand nine hundred and eighty-six." Haotian exchanged a glance with Yaochi, both frowning. "Fourteen still short."

They had been ordered to open the doors and welcome guests, having received the guidance of the Three Thousand Great Daos—this Purple Xiao Palace was destined to host three thousand visitors.

Yet now that the three-thousand-year mark had arrived, sixteen Purple Xiao Guests were still missing.

"Kacha!"

"Thump, thump, thump!"

Before the words fell, space-time in the southeast suddenly twisted. Pan Wang, skilled in the Gu Worm Dao, had Gu Worm corpses falling from his body one after another, their life force dissipating.

Beside him, eleven other Great Divine Powers who had originally been fated never to find the Purple Xiao Palace were also swept along by a purple, mysterious Space-Time Turbulence and tumbled down.

Their robes were torn, their Primordial Spirits trembling—clearly, they had endured trials in the chaos.

The reason these twelve Great Divine Powers were originally fated not to arrive was that Xuanyuan, Tongtian, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches had not come to listen to the preaching—only Da Yi and Kuafu had come, thus freeing up twelve slots.

Cause and effect are the Chains of Destiny; qi fortune is the Trajectory of Heavenly Numbers.

In the unseen, whether qi fortune or cause and effect, beneath the cover of the Heavenly Dao, there are chains and fixed numbers.

And the fixed number of the Purple Xiao Palace Preaching corresponded to the Three Thousand Great Daos of the three thousand Chaos Demon Gods.

"This Poor Daoist and his brother are late, but fortunately we made it."

In the west, a Qi of Light transformed into Jie Yin, his face bitter. Beside him, the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree atop Zhun Ti's head bloomed with divine light.

Earlier, in the Western Land, Zhun Ti had taken a full-powered arrow from Xuanyuan.

Though he had survived thanks to the protection of the Western Land's qi fortune, he was still severely wounded. He had spent these Eons in Secluded Cultivation to heal, nearly missing this great opportunity.

"All are present."

Yaochi's lips curled slightly. She raised her hand and lightly brushed, and three thousand cattail mats burst into spiritual light.

"The time has come."

Haotian waved his whisk, and the bronze giant doors of the Purple Xiao Palace slowly swung open. Thirty-six layers of Innate Spiritual Charm cascaded out like a waterfall.

"Dong!"

The bell-chime sound, carrying the Dao's maxims, exploded with a roar, causing the Primordial Spirits of the Great Divine Powers in the square to tremble.

Then, Haotian and Yaochi briefly explained the rules and stepped aside from the hall doors. The three thousand Great Divine Powers straightened their Dao robes one after another, but when they looked up, they saw six cattail mats inside.

Instantly, enlightenment struck, and many of the Great Divine Powers felt a resonance in their hearts.

These mats were opportunities!

At once, each Great Divine Power employed their own methods, scrambling to be first.

Yuanshi muttered that they all came from Kunlun and should stand together, looking out for one another. He then joined forces with Laozi and the Queen Mother of the West, and the three of them seized three mats and sat down.

Nuwa, with Fuxi's help, quickly occupied the fourth mat.

Kunpeng, who had Formed and Born in the North Sea, had no powerful treasures on him but relied on his extreme speed to snatch the fifth mat.

Hong Yun, leveraging the innate geographical advantage of being the first cloud in heaven and earth to manifest, grabbed the last mat almost simultaneously with Kunpeng. Behind him, Zhen Yuanzi held the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Earth Book, to back him up.

Thus, the six mats each had their owner.

Dong Wang Gong, Di Jun, Tai Yi, and others were dissatisfied and wanted to fight for them, but they remembered that the mats already had owners and that this was a Saint's Dao field—it would not be good to make a move.

So, the Great Divine Powers who had not seized a mat sat cross-legged behind the mats, quietly waiting for Hongjun to appear.

Just then, the two brothers Jie Yin and Zhun Ti began wailing, beating their chests and stamping their feet, saying how the Barren West was difficult.

Di Jun and other Great Divine Powers strong enough to contend for the mats looked down on this shameless display, but they all valued their status.

So they kept their distance from the two, completely abandoning any thought of fighting for the mats.

"Bitter! Bitter!" Zhun Ti beat his chest and stamped his feet again, his hair and beard trembling violently with his sobs. "The West is barren, with no immortal mountains or blessed lands. Billions of beings are mired in a sea of suffering, yet they cannot even obtain the opportunity to seek the Dao..."

Before the words fell, he spat out a mouthful of heart-blood, staining his tattered Dao robe.

Jie Yin trembled as he supported Zhun Ti, strands of Black Qi seeping from his seven orifices: "We two have trekked billions upon billions of miles through the chaos, seeking only a thread of life for the West. Now that the mats are all filled, how am I to account for this to the beings of the West?"

With that, he even removed his Dao crown. White Hair like frost instantly covered his head, wrinkles densely spread across his once-smooth face, and even his breathing became turbid and labored. His Dao robe fluttered without wind, tearing into pieces, revealing festering bloodstains all over his body, as if burned by formless karmic fire.

A dignified Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, yet at this moment, he showed signs of Heavenly Human Five Declines!

"Since the Demon Dao struggle began, the Western lands have been barren, demonic miasma blotting out the sun, forcing countless living beings to eat sand and drink blood..."

Zhun Ti and Jie Yin wept without cease, their voices dripping with blood.

The hall fell silent as death. The Three Saints of Kunlun furrowed their brows slightly, and Empress Nuwa gently knitted her delicate eyebrows.

Hong Yun Old Ancestor had always been known throughout the Primordial World as a good old person, and his heart softened despite himself. Seeing the two brothers' state, the clouds and mists around him churned violently.

He was about to rise when Zhen Yuanzi pressed him down. In the next instant, Zhun Ti suddenly staggered toward him, crying out loudly, "Rather than return with nothing, I might as well dash myself to death right here!"

"Fellow Daoist, wait!" Seeing this, Hong Yun hurriedly reached out to stop him, and the clouds and mists surging from his sleeve caught Zhun Ti.

Before he could react, Daoist Jie Yin pressed his palms together and bowed deeply to him. "Great kindness and great virtue—the West shall remember forever! The karma of Fellow Daoist Hong Yun's giving up a seat this day shall surely be repaid in the future!"

A flash of Qi of Light, and he had already seated himself cross-legged on the cushion Hong Yun had vacated. Though he was still coughing blood, he no longer looked like someone about to seek life or death.

"This..." Hong Yun stood frozen on the spot.

"Alas." Zhen Yuanzi let out a long sigh.

After that, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti turned their gazes to Kunpeng. The latter did not move a muscle, so the two master-and-disciple brothers once again deployed their bitter-meat scheme.

If it were only that, to Kunpeng it was merely a breeze brushing past his face. He was no Hong Yun.

"A creature born of moisture and hatched from an egg, a beast draped in fur and crowned with horns—how dare such a thing sit alongside us?"

Just then, Yuan Shi, seated on the second cushion, inexplicably burst into a tirade. His words made many of the Great Divine Powers furrow their brows.

If even Kunpeng, with his origins, was regarded as a creature born of moisture and hatched from an egg... then this Yu Qing Yuan Shi truly had no one in his eyes!

Of course, though displeased in their hearts, no one spoke up, unwilling to offend the Three Saints of Kunpeng over such a small matter.

Laozi gently stroked the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda. Mysterious Yellow Qi cascaded down like a curtain, interweaving with Yuan Shi's pressure into a net.

The Queen Mother of the West let out a soft sigh. Remembering her earlier words about East and West Kunlun sharing the same breath, she too followed suit and released her pressure.

Seeing this, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti quickly joined in.

Though Kunpeng was extremely fast, he had always roamed the Primordial World alone and had made no close friends. One pair of fists could not withstand four hands, and he had no powerful treasures to protect his path. Under the combined pressure of five Great Divine Powers, he had no choice but to yield the cushion.

At this moment, he bore a grudge not only against these two shameless master-and-disciple brothers but also harbored resentment toward Hong Yun in his heart.

He clenched his teeth, recorded this karma, and awaited a future day of repayment!

"Weng!"

The space-time within the Purple Xiao Palace suddenly shattered. A white-haired Daoist stepped onto the Twelve Petaled Merit Golden Lotus, his body wrapped in Heavenly Dao Laws as he slowly materialized. The Jade Disc of Creation hovered behind his head, ten thousand golden patterns cascading like a waterfall.

It was none other than the former Old Ancestor Hongjun, now Daoist Hongjun, and in the future, Dao Ancestor Hongjun.

"The destined conditions are already set. Cease your disputes."

Hongjun raised his hand and waved lightly. The ancient and simple Jade Disc of Creation hung suspended in the void. Tens of thousands of innate Dao texts slithered like spirit serpents, and wherever they passed, spiritual energy condensed into golden seal scripts, tracing all manner of strange phenomena in the air.

"This Poor Daoist obeys."

A fleeting smile curled at the corner of Zhun Ti's mouth. He exchanged a glance with Jie Yin, and the signs of "Heavenly Human Five Declines" around them faded away in an instant.

Seeing this, Kunpeng hated Hong Yun even more.

"Eh."

But at that moment, Hongjun's gaze swept over Laozi, Yuan Shi, Kuafu, and Da Yi. He let out a surprised exclamation and furrowed his brow slightly.

Neither three nor four?

The beings transformed from Pangu's Primordial Spirit were not the Three Pure Ones, nor the Four Pure Ones, but the Two Pure Ones?

And the creatures born from Pangu's Essence Blood were so frail?

He did not know that Xuanyuan, Tongtian, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches were still in seclusion within Pangu Hall, ignoring the affairs of the world.

He had merely mistaken Da Yi and Kuafu for beings born from Pangu's Essence Blood.

Because the latter had been conceived from Ancestral Witch Essence Blood in the Pangu Blood Pool, they did indeed carry a faint, nearly imperceptible trace of Pangu's aura. And since Hongjun knew nothing of Pangu Hall or the Ancestral Witches, he was immediately at a loss.

In the eyes of the three thousand Great Divine Powers, they saw this venerable Heavenly Dao Saint pour all his strength into the Jade Disc of Creation, deducing the heavenly secrets.

But with Pangu Hall blocking the way, all this effort was ultimately futile.

Within the Primordial World, the Heavenly Dao was supreme, but even the Heavenly Dao could do nothing against Pangu Hall.

Those within it were untouched by karma and could not be calculated.

"Enough. This preaching will be held three times in total. The first session will last ten thousand years and will teach the path of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal."

After a long while, Hongjun abandoned his deductions and prepared to begin the sermon.

"Boom!"

As he raised his hand and waved lightly, the dome of the Purple Xiao Palace burst open. Thirty-six layers of Chaos Qi poured in in reverse, but the moment they touched the Dao Sound, they transformed into heavenly flowers raining down.

Crimson, indigo, and gold-purple lotuses bloomed in the air. Where the petals fell, great Dao aphorisms flickered faintly. Even the coiled dragons on the bronze pillars opened their golden pupils, and the clouds they exhaled condensed into seal scripts.

For a time, it could truly be said that heavenly flowers fell in profusion and golden lotuses sprang from the earth.

And just as the Purple Xiao Palace Preaching began, within Pangu Hall, Xuanyuan and the others were still in secluded cultivation, yet they too had touched the threshold of the Golden Immortal of the Origin.

"When stillness reaches its limit, movement arises. The preaching has begun, and the treasures on the Primordial World Earth have also reached the time of their emergence. Moreover, since the Great Divine Powers are no longer in the Primordial World, these treasures are destined to be fated for us brothers." Xuanyuan ended his cultivation and smiled faintly.