Hearing the Old Man's words, Haotian was overjoyed.
It seemed the Old Man was willing to pay a heavy price for some peace and quiet.
The Chaos Bell!
That was an Innate Supreme Treasure!
It seemed all the suffering he had endured facing Primordial Heavenly Venerate earlier hadn't been in vain.
If that fellow hadn't attacked him directly, he probably wouldn't have been able to persuade the Old Man today.
After all, the Chaos Bell had once been coveted by all Six Sages.
Giving it straight to Haotian now was a little hard to justify.
Haotian was about to bow and thank him when Dao Ancestor Hongjun spoke again. "As for the Investiture of the Gods—
Well!
This spiritual treasure was originally meant to serve a great purpose in the future.
But since you've already realized that you're short on manpower,
I might as well give it to you ahead of time.
As for the cultivation method, you should have heard of it before.
The Great Grade Heavenly Immortal Art.
I gave a rough explanation of this technique when I preached the Dao.
It excels at combat and is every bit as formidable as the Three Pure Ones' Eight-Nine Arcane Art and Nine Revolutions Primordial Art.
I'll give you the complete technique as well."
With that,
Dao Ancestor Hongjun reached out and drew something toward himself.
A small bell appeared in his hand. It was the very Chaos Bell he had banished into the Spacetime Turbulence.
After all, it was a spiritual treasure that had passed through his hands.
How could he have banished it without leaving himself a way to control it?
With a thought, the Chaos Bell, the Investiture of the Gods, and the Great Grade Heavenly Immortal Art all appeared before Haotian.
After Haotian accepted the two spiritual treasures and the cultivation method, Dao Ancestor Hongjun said, "Sit down.
I'll help you refine them.
That way, you won't have to waste time on it after you return."
Haotian hurriedly replied, "Thank you, Master!"
With that, Haotian sat down as instructed.
Then Dao Ancestor Hongjun said, "Quiet your mind and focus.
Concentrate on sending your Spiritual Sense into the treasures!"
Haotian focused on refining the treasures.
With the Dao Ancestor's help, he finished refining both of them.
Before he knew it, a hundred years had passed.
Putting away the treasures, Haotian stood and bowed. "Thank you for your help, Master!"
Dao Ancestor Hongjun waved a hand. "I've given you the treasures.
That's all the help I can offer.
What you do after you return will be up to you.
It's best to avoid clashing with the Sages.
A Sage's dignity must not be challenged. That rule wasn't laid down by me,
but ultimately, it comes down to respecting strength.
With your cultivation, you're still far from being able to face a Sage directly.
But you needn't let that make you timid.
As long as you're acting to preserve peace in the Primordial World, I'll support you.
If there's nothing else, you may return."
Haotian bowed. "This disciple takes his leave!"
With that, Haotian slowly withdrew from the hall.
After leaving Zixiao Palace, he used his divine powers to head for the Heavenly Court.
As for Dao Ancestor Hongjun, after Haotian left, he did not return to the back courtyard.
Instead, he sat on the Cloud Bed, his face thoughtful.
Everything Haotian had said was true.
Now that he had helped Haotian, Haotian would grow stronger.
But that raised another problem.
If those Sages failed to restrain themselves in the future,
the conflicts that followed would only grow more intense.
But if he had refused to help Haotian just now, things might well have developed exactly as Haotian had warned.
As Karma accumulated, Measure Calamities would inevitably come one after another.
Yet now that he had helped Haotian, if Haotian clashed with the Sages more often,
would that not create its own Karma?
He had no idea whether his assistance would ultimately prove right or wrong for the Primordial World.
But Dao Ancestor Hongjun still had other measures at his disposal.
He hoped everyone would behave. Otherwise, they could all come to Chaos.
If they were tired of the Primordial World's splendor, they could come see the desolation of Chaos.
The Six Sages knew nothing of Dao Ancestor Hongjun's thoughts.
At that moment, they were still speculating about why Haotian had gone to Zixiao Palace.
Had he gone to complain?
Probably not.
If that had been his aim, he would have gone straight to Zixiao Palace after Primordial Heavenly Venerate attacked him.
Why wait until now?
Besides, if he had gone to complain, there'd have been no need for it to take a hundred years.
A hundred years!
A full hundred years!
Even if Haotian thought their crimes were too numerous to count, it still shouldn't have taken him that long.
It was also unlikely that the Dao Ancestor had given Haotian special instruction.
What kind of special instruction would take a hundred years?
After several rounds of fruitless speculation,
Zhunti and Jieyin, among the Six Sages, were still unwilling to let the matter go.
Zhunti spoke up. "Senior Brother!
Why don't we try to divine what happened?"
Jieyin looked at Zhunti in confusion.
Divine what?
Were they going to divine what Haotian had done in Zixiao Palace?
Even if Zhunti had the courage of a bear, surely he wouldn't go that far?
If that Old Man felt they had offended him,
things would be difficult to settle.
Seeing Jieyin's expression, Zhunti realized he hadn't explained himself clearly.
He promptly clarified, "Senior Brother!
I'm not suggesting we divine what happened to Haotian in Zixiao Palace.
I mean we should divine Haotian's current situation.
Unless we find out what's going on with him, I can't shake this feeling of unease."
Hearing this, Jieyin's heart gave an involuntary twitch.
Uneasy?
Had Zhunti ever been at ease since the day he took form?
His old habit of excessive caution was flaring up again.
Still, over the years, his caution had served them well.
Time and again, it had helped them avoid deadly calamities.
Even when Rahula had run rampant through the Western Region of the Primordial World, they had managed to survive.
That, too, had been thanks to his "caution."
Otherwise, there would be no Two Sages of the West.
They would have perished long ago in that great calamity.
And even if they hadn't died then, they probably wouldn't have escaped the reckoning afterward.
Thinking of this, Jieyin nodded. "All right.
We'll try to divine it.
Haotian has suddenly changed his ways.
First, he faced Primordial Heavenly Venerate directly; then he set about improving the environment in the northern part of the Primordial World.
Compared with how he was during the past few Yuanhui, he's changed quite a bit.
And as the holder of the Heavenly Emperor Position, he nominally governs the Primordial World.
There's no harm in being cautious."
But after Jieyin finished speaking, Zhunti didn't respond to that point.
Instead, he frowned. "Senior Brother!
We've been working on those spiritual treasures for over a hundred years. Why can't we get them to work like Haotian's?
It's truly strange.
Haotian managed to forge spiritual treasures without even attaining the Dao.
We've already become Sages, yet we can't forge them.
However you look at it, it's bizarre.
Could that person have deliberately held something back?"
Hearing this, Jieyin immediately fell into thought.
Held something back?
He certainly had held back a great deal.
Even the Three Pure Ones, his direct disciples, probably hadn't learned this skill.
But what was hard to understand was why Haotian had learned something even the Three Pure Ones hadn't.
After pondering for a moment, Jieyin said, "I don't know either.
There are mysteries at every turn.
None of us disciples learned it, yet Haotian, a mere boy attendant, did.
That shouldn't be possible."
At that point, a sudden flash of insight crossed Jieyin's mind.
"Could it be that the Heavenly Emperor Position gave Haotian this ability?
That's it!
It must be!
There's no other explanation."
As soon as Jieyin finished speaking, envy showed on Zhunti's face.
But after the envy came naked greed.
"Senior Brother!
The Heavenly Emperor Position is so wondrous. Should we try to claim it?
It's a method that allows an Acquired Spiritual Treasure to contain Innate Dao Restrictions.
If our Western Region obtained this method, how could it ever fail to prosper?"
Zhunti's words startled Jieyin.
Had his greed gotten the better of him again?
He really dared to dream!
The Heavenly Emperor Position?
Was that something they could covet?
His junior brother was good in every other way.
It was his greed and excessive caution that kept everyone on edge.
Jieyin just wanted to change the subject and distract Zhunti from his greed.
He quickly cut him off. "Junior Brother!
Let's focus on trying to divine what happened.
Forget about the Heavenly Emperor Position.
The one in Zixiao Palace would never agree."
Before you continue