Taishang spoke up, interrupting Houtu and Randeng's conversation,
"Fellow Daoist Randeng, we've known each other for so long—we could be called close friends. How come you never mentioned that you were acquainted with the fellow Daoists of the Witch Clan?"
Randeng was taken aback. He knew the relationship between the Ancestral Witches and the Three Pure Ones was not a harmonious one, and he could sense the faint tension in the air.
"Among the Witch Clan, I know only Fellow Daoist Houtu, and even that was purely by chance."
For some reason, ever since Houtu had appeared, every eye in the cave abode had turned toward him.
Seeing that the atmosphere had grown somewhat awkward, Fuxi spoke up,
"I wonder what you fellow Daoists found in Buzhou Mountain."
Randeng then recounted how they had encountered Minghe.
"You fought with Minghe?"
Fuxi was a little surprised. Ten thousand years ago, when Minghe passed by Phoenix Perch Mountain, he had mistaken their protective mountain formation for an Innate Great Formation guarding a spiritual treasure. He and Nuwa had clashed with him over it.
With a cultivation level close to the middle stage of Great Luo, and three Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures at his disposal, Fuxi and Nuwa had relied on their protective formation to deter him rather than fight him directly.
"We happened to take an interest in the same Innate Spiritual Treasure, so naturally we had to spar."
Randeng smiled and nodded. Minghe seemed reckless, but was actually very cautious. He would never provoke anyone stronger than himself.
After the Witch-Demon Tribulation in later generations, most of the Innate Divine Saints would perish, yet Minghe would live freely in the Blood Sea. When Nuwa created the human race, he would create the Asura Race. He would stay out of the Witch-Demon War, and when Houtu transformed herself into reincarnation on the shore of the Blood Sea, he would merely watch coldly.
"'Spar' hardly does it justice! Fellow Daoist Randeng practically beat Minghe into the ground. And Minghe thought he'd picked on the easiest target!"
Tongtian vividly described the scene to the others.
"I never expected that in the few tens of thousands of years since we last met, Fellow Daoist Randeng would not only have advanced his cultivation, but also gained another fortuitous opportunity."
After the last Ginseng Fruit gathering, Fuxi had returned to Phoenix Perch Mountain and gone into seclusion with Nuwa. He had also broken through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm ten thousand years ago.
In fact, it was not just Fuxi and Nuwa. Everyone who had attended the last Ginseng Fruit gathering seemed to have been spurred on by Randeng. After returning home, they had devoted themselves to cultivation.
Di Jun, Tai Yi, and Fuxi were the most driven. Di Jun and Tai Yi had lost to Randeng, so they naturally wanted to win the next time they fought. Fuxi, meanwhile, had simply had his competitive spirit stirred up—after all, his younger sister was a Heaven-Appointed Sage.
"Fellow Daoists, your cultivation has advanced quickly too. It hasn't been that long, and you've all reached the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. I've only gotten ahead of you by a little through sheer luck."
That was what Randeng said, but he thought otherwise. He had the advantage of foresight and had encountered all sorts of fortuitous opportunities. Even so, these top-tier Innate Divine Saints had managed to keep close on his heels. Taishang in particular would probably break through to the middle stage of Great Luo soon.
This put Randeng under a certain amount of pressure. As the first disciple Hongjun had taken, it would be embarrassing if he were less cultivated than the other Innate Divine Saints by the time of the Sermon at Purple Cloud Palace.
Randeng was determined to obtain the Primordial Violet Qi. Whether as a fallback in case he failed to attain Hunyuan Grand Unity, or simply as a means of comprehending the laws, it was one of the greatest opportunities in the Primordial World.
Besides, he was no longer alone. He also wanted to secure positions as Dao Ancestor's direct disciples for Jieyin and Zhunti, instead of letting them remain mere nominal disciples as before and suffer the rejection of the entire Daoist school.
After chatting for a while, they exchanged insights in the cave abode on Phoenix Perch Mountain about breaking through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
It was a rare opportunity for several Great Luo Golden Immortals to discuss the Dao together, especially since everyone except Randeng had only recently broken through.
What surprised them was that Fuxi had not chosen the Yin Great Dao as his first Grand Unity Dao Fruit. Instead, he had cultivated the Great Dao of Wind to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
As expected, Nuwa had made the Creation Law her first Dao Fruit.
Fuxi was more than happy to discuss the Dao with his younger sister, because her understanding of the Creation Law was something he greatly needed. It was inextricably linked to his original intention of condensing the Great Dao of Reincarnation.
Meanwhile, at the Purple Cloud Palace in the chaos,
Hongjun sat cross-legged on his meditation cushion, brows furrowed as he continuously calculated with his fingers.
"Strange. According to my earlier calculations, the Innate Divine Saints of this era should not have reached the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm in large numbers until I merge with the Dao. That would be the perfect opportunity to weed out many whose cultivation and talent are insufficient."
Yet no matter how Hongjun calculated, a group of Innate Divine Saints had already reached the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
This would create a problem: by the time he merged with the Dao and began the Sermon at Purple Cloud Palace, the number of Great Luo Golden Immortals who came to the Purple Cloud Palace might far exceed what it had been originally.
But the Three Thousand Guests of Zixiao Palace corresponded to the three thousand Great Daos of the Primordial World, so their number could not easily be changed.
With no other choice, Hongjun lightly tapped the air with a spell gesture, summoning a jade disc that floated above his head. Its entire body resembled congealed drops of mutton fat, glimmering with a faint, primordial blue-gold sheen. It was three chi, six cun, and five fen in diameter, evenly thin as a cicada's wing. Fine cracks left by the creation of the world traced its edge, and three thousand Great Dao runes were etched across its surface.
Hongjun used his Primordial Spirit to drive the jade disc, carefully searching through the events that had taken place in the Primordial World over the past two yuanhui.
Countless turning points appeared, yet behind them all, every path led to the same person.
Randeng!
"I never expected all of this to be because of that brat Randeng."
Hongjun carefully inspected the Jade Disc of Creation. The nodes it revealed in the river of time showed that Randeng had been born ahead of time, repaired the Western ley lines, claimed most of the West's fortuitous opportunities, and gained the favor of the Western Heaven and Earth's fortune. He had then helped Zhunti and Jieyin take form.
After arriving in the East, he had defeated the rising Di Jun and Tai Yi at the Ginseng Fruit gathering.
In one corner of the Primordial World's future, events that should not have happened for tens of thousands of years, or even several yuanhui, had taken place much earlier because of Randeng's intervention.
"No wonder both Luohu and I took an interest in this boy. He's truly skilled at throwing the heavenly secrets into disarray."
Hongjun did not consider Randeng an anomaly because of this. What he had glimpsed was merely the most likely of the many original timelines. At most, Randeng was a variable.
But in the next instant, the light vanished from Hongjun's eyes. His entire bearing changed, turning cold and emotionless.
"So this is the disciple you took? He has disrupted the heavenly secrets. He should be destroyed!"
Hongjun spoke in an icy tone.
Then a look of struggle appeared on his face, as if two different minds were fighting for control of his body.
"Hmph. You have no right to meddle with my disciple. Living beings are full of change; they are not set in stone. Stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, and wait for me to merge with you."
Hongjun waved his hand and put away the Jade Disc of Creation. His expression shifted again and again before finally settling into calm.
"In the end, this Primordial World belongs to all living beings. This is what Pangu wanted to see. The Heavenly Dao should never have developed a consciousness of its own."
Hongjun left these words behind in the empty Purple Cloud Palace, then vanished.
No one knew what had happened between the Dao Ancestor and the Heavenly Dao in the depths of chaos.