The one who had caused all these disruptions to the Dao Ancestor Hongjun's lecture was Mysterious Turtle Beichen!
All these people—even the aphid inside the Universe Ruyi Bottle—had been brought here by Beichen!
Seeing the offspring in Xihe and Changxi's wombs gradually take shape as they listened to his lecture, Old Ancestor Hongjun cried out in alarm inwardly, groaning with dismay. My Heavenly Dao! It was already bad enough that these two lunar goddesses were carrying one or two children each. But together, they're carrying twenty-two living beings!
Including the offspring in Xihe and Changxi's wombs, Beichen had brought more than thirty people to this lecture. It was truly terrifying!
The whole spectacle even gave Old Ancestor Hongjun the impression that Beichen had come to flaunt his power!
He had brought so many living beings, including the dragons, phoenixes, and qilin, whose heavy karmic burdens should have kept them from attending. He had even brought twenty-two unborn children to listen from inside their mothers' wombs, and smuggled in an aphid, too. Most infuriatingly, the moment Hongjun began lecturing, Beichen plugged his ears and refused to listen to a single word.
If this wasn't an attempt to wreck the place, what was it?
Thinking of all this, Old Ancestor Hongjun slowed his lecture, and his anger gradually rose.
Still, compared to his fury at Beichen, what worried Old Ancestor Hongjun most was the imminent births of the Ten Golden Crows and the twelve Moon Maidens.
If these twenty-two living beings were suddenly born in the Zixiao Palace, he had no idea how chaotic it would become!
But whatever one feared always seemed to come to pass!
When Old Ancestor Hongjun had stammered through twenty-five hundred years of lecturing, finished the first three stages, and was about to begin teaching the Dao of the peak and perfection of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, a pained moan interrupted him!
It's happening. The moment has finally come!
Old Ancestor Hongjun's face looked as though it could weep.
Xihe had carried the Ten Golden Crows outside the Zixiao Palace for fifteen hundred years. Then, after another twenty-five hundred years of listening to the lecture inside, her four thousand years of pregnancy were finally coming to an end. She was about to give birth to the Golden Crows.
Her involuntary, anguished moan was a sign that the Ten Golden Crows were about to be born.
"Xihe, what's wrong? Xihe?"
Dijun was terribly anxious and hurriedly held her close.
Seeing that she was about to give birth, he quickly channeled a surge of pure spiritual power into her, giving her enough strength to endure it!
"Jun, I'm going to give birth. Our sons—the Ten Golden Crows—are about to be born. What do we do? What should I do?"
Xihe panicked. From time to time, she glanced toward Old Ancestor Hongjun's dais, afraid he would reprimand her for causing such a disturbance.
When her eyes met the light in Hongjun's divine gaze, she shrank her neck in fright and nearly fainted. "Jun, the Dao Ancestor's gaze is terrifying. He seems angry. Should I try to hold it in and keep the Golden Crows from being born?"
Buzz!
Just then, Beichen activated his Divine Tortoise Eyes and released a beam of spiritual light to clash with Hongjun's gaze, blocking the warning in his eyes.
At the same time, Beichen sent out a clear voice: "Dao Ancestor Hongjun, I know you think Xihe giving birth here will defile the Zixiao Palace. But everyone has urgent needs, and childbirth isn't something one can put off!"
"If she holds it in and the children die in the womb, the resulting karmic debt will be yours. In the end, it will only harm you, Dao Ancestor!"
Old Ancestor Hongjun clenched his teeth and had no choice but to withdraw the warning in his gaze.
Beichen also withdrew the light from his Divine Tortoise Eyes, then went over to Xihe. "My disciple Xihe, there's no need to worry. Dao Ancestor Hongjun is magnanimous and has allowed you to give birth here in the Zixiao Palace. The birth of new life will bring the palace the vitality of a rising sun. Just focus on the birth! With your master and your husband, Dijun, here, you can rest easy!"
"Yes, Master. Thank you, Master!"
Heartened, Xihe sneaked a glance toward Old Ancestor Hongjun.
She saw him quietly continuing his lecture, his warning gaze already gone. Xihe breathed a sigh of relief.
Beichen furrowed his brow slightly, as though deep in thought.
Then, immortal energy rippled around him, and surging laws formed a massive barrier.
The barrier quickly took shape like a wall, enclosing Dijun and Xihe inside. "Dijun, you'll be fully responsible for taking care of your wife during the birth!"
"Master, your disciple obeys!"
Once the barrier of immortal energy was in place, the curious gazes of the assembled cultivators were blocked. They sighed and turned their divine eyes away, looking somewhat uncomfortable.
Old Ancestor Hongjun lectured from above, while the audience below had been distracted by Xihe giving birth and had started watching instead of listening attentively.
Hongjun wanted to restore order, but he was also acutely aware that the three thousand years allotted for the lecture were limited, and he might not finish teaching the Dao. So he said nothing, pretended nothing had happened, and gritted his teeth as he continued.
Now he was teaching the Dao of the perfection of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. The Great Dao had all but left behind ninety-nine percent of the cultivators in the Zixiao Palace. Only the dozen or so renowned powerhouses in the front rows were still listening attentively. This was their key to breaking through to the perfection of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!
The first stage of the Dao of Grand Unity Golden Immortal perfection lasted a full hundred years. Grand Pure Lord of Morality, Yuqing Primordial Heavenly Venerate, Lingbao Moral Heavenly Venerate, and Nuwa all advanced from the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm to its perfection. Their bodies emanated a trace of Quasi-Saint power, bringing them halfway to sainthood.
Seeing this, Hongjun nodded in satisfaction. Then he looked at Jieyin and Zhunti. They still needed to keep listening before they could reach the perfection of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
Hong Yun, Minghe, Dijun, Taiyi, Xihe, Changxi, and the others were all just a hair's breadth from reaching Grand Unity Golden Immortal perfection.
As Dijun cared for Xihe while she gave birth to the Golden Crows, he also spared some of his attention for the lecture. A faint light of breakthrough shone around him.
Even as Xihe gave birth, she did her utmost not to miss the lecture. Though childbirth took a great deal out of her, signs of a breakthrough were visible as well.
As for Taiyi, immortal light gathered around him, heralding his impending breakthrough to Grand Unity Golden Immortal perfection.
Meanwhile, Changxi listened with a pained expression and a deathly pale face, yet she stubbornly endured.
"Taiyi! I'm going to give birth!"
"Master, your disciple is going to give birth! I'm going to give birth too!"
This time, when Old Ancestor Hongjun heard the commotion from Changxi giving birth, he no longer gave her a warning look. He had given up and decided to let them do as they pleased.
Still, he groaned inwardly. The birth of these two lunar goddesses' children is the greatest accident of this lecture. I never saw it coming!
Changxi was about to give birth, so Beichen quickly put up another barrier around Taiyi and Changxi, then told Taiyi to encourage her.
Changxi was already mischievous by nature. When Beichen put up the barrier, she thought her voice couldn't get out, so she started acting coy and fawning over Taiyi.
Her voice carried through the barrier and across the Zixiao Palace, making countless cultivators blush. One after another, they covered their ears.
"See no evil, hear no evil!"
Changxi's voice drowned out Old Ancestor Hongjun's lecture. Since Hongjun couldn't stop her, he could only raise his voice. His booming immortal voice drowned out the sounds of childbirth.
But this took a lot out of Old Ancestor Hongjun.
Just as Hongjun had managed to steady the whole hall, the Ten Golden Crows were born.
With a buzz, countless rays of blazing sunlight illuminated the entire Zixiao Palace. Heat filled the palace, and the temperature soared. Everyone attending the lecture shielded their eyes and wiped the sweat from their brows!
Whoosh!
Burning hot, Old Ancestor Hongjun exhaled a puff of white air and hurriedly struck down with a surge of Dao power. "Blazing sun power, disperse!"
Hongjun's lecture was not supposed to include anything beyond the Dao, but the Ten Golden Crows born to Xihe finally broke his composure, making him say something completely unrelated to the lecture.
"'Blazing sun power, disperse'? What kind of Dao is that? What does it mean?"
Jieyin and Zhunti, who had been immersed in their comprehension of the Great Dao, shook their heads and opened their eyes wide.
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