The Saint Arrives

"Kunpeng, could it be that you did not hear what my Second Brother said?"

"You insolent, ill-mannered wretch—how are you worthy to stand alongside us?"

"Leave at once, and you may yet preserve what little face you have!"

Sensing the law of severance contained within the azure Sword Qi, along with the terrifying Dao resonance that could annihilate all things, Kunpeng felt a stabbing pain in his Primordial Spirit and a chill creep down his spine.

The Three Pure Ones' names shook the Primordial Wilderness.

Shangqing Tongtian in particular was upright by nature, decisive in slaughter. Before his sword intent was even unleashed, it already made all living beings tremble.

In a one-on-one battle, Kunpeng was not even certain of victory. How much less so with all Three Pure Ones present?

Moreover, Zhunti and Jieyin were watching like tigers from the side, while Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi wore hostile expressions, and the attitudes of the other Great Powers remained unclear...

If they truly came to blows, he feared no one would be willing to stand up for him.

In a flash of lightning, Kunpeng had already weighed the gains and losses.

The wrath of the multitude could not be defied.

If he continued forcibly occupying this seat today, he might truly face the calamity of Death and Dao Annihilation!

"Hmph!" In the end, he could only force a muffled snort from his throat, laced with towering resentment, fury, and endless humiliation.

Kunpeng abruptly rose. His wide gray robe billowed like rolling storm clouds as his entire body transformed into a swift black streak, carrying a bone-piercing chill as it shot toward a pale white cloud at the farthest edge behind the hall.

After his figure settled, the Aura around him churned darkly, like a cold abyss in the depths of the sea. Wherever his gaze fell, even Dao resonance seemed to freeze.

At the same time, at Zhunti's meaningful glance, Jieyin's figure flickered, and he took his seat upon the vacant fifth golden lotus platform.

Once the Two People had settled down, they hastily cupped their hands toward all sides—especially in the direction of the Three Pure Ones, Hongyun, and Zhenyuanzi—offering repeated thanks with earnest expressions.

Seeing this, the weight in Hongyun's heart finally fell away. A relieved smile appeared on his face, and he felt that he had accomplished a meritorious deed.

Primordial Lord of Heaven lowered his eyelids slightly. A nearly imperceptible curve of satisfaction crossed his lips as he gave a faint nod.

Tongtian Sect Master dispersed the fearsome Sword Qi from his fingertips and shook his head with some regret.

He had dearly wished to fight Kunpeng.

Eastern Emperor Taiyi's lingering anger had yet to fade. His face was dark as water as he turned his head aside.

Di Jun's gaze was as deep as a pool as it slowly swept between the iron-faced Kunpeng and the smug Zhunti and Jieyin. His fingers tapped softly within his sleeve, his expression thoughtful.

Only Zhenyuanzi found that the ominous haze in his heart had not dispersed. Instead, it grew ever heavier.

He had kept a thread of Divine Sense locked onto Kunpeng all along.

When Kunpeng had brushed his sleeve and turned away just now, the fleeting backward glance he cast contained such bone-deep venom and icy hatred that it nearly congealed into substance.

Even a Great Power such as Zhenyuanzi could not help but feel his Dao Heart turn faintly cold.

Just then, upon the Purple Jade Dao Platform, boundless clear radiance gathered and condensed from the void as the figures of Haotian and Yaochi silently appeared.

One stood to the left and one to the right, solemnly stationed at either side of the Dao Platform.

Then, at the same time, they raised the Mystic Jade Hammers in their hands, flowing with gentle Dao resonance, and struck the ancient Mystic Bell suspended above the Dao Platform, its patterns seeming to contain the birth and destruction of the cosmos.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

The bell's toll was deep and crystalline.

Its first ring was like Chaos first parting open; its second, like heaven and earth taking shape; its third, like the myriad spirits coming to life.

Where the soundwaves passed, they cleansed the mind and soothed every restless stray thought, instantly spreading through every inch of the Purple Firmament Palace covered by Dao laws.

"Three rings of the Mystic Bell—the gates of the Purple Firmament Palace are closed, and all affinities cease!" Haotian's Dao Sound, clear yet majestic, rang throughout the hall.

Immediately afterward, three more solemn bell chimes rang out, their rhythm profoundly mysterious:

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Six rings of the Mystic Bell—the seats are settled, and all laws return to their places!"

Upon hearing the bell and those words, every Great Power inside the hall, regardless of what they had been contemplating before, immediately grew solemn.

They swiftly withdrew all their outwardly released auras, sat upright upon their respective lotus platforms and cloud seats, held their breath, and focused their minds, not daring to make the slightest further movement.

Only Zhenyuanzi, while the bell's lingering echoes still reverberated through his Primordial Spirit, raised his head in shock and looked toward the figure upon the High Platform. Though the figure's face was youthful, an extraordinary bearing had already begun to show.

A thought that made his Dao Heart quake and his hair stand on end cleaved through the lake of his mind like a thunderbolt of Chaos:

"Affinities arise and perish... fortune and misfortune lean upon one another..."

"That carefully plotted struggle over the Golden Cloud just now, pressing forward step by step..."

"...Could it be that every one of these changes had long since been anticipated and deduced by him?!"

Without waiting for him to ponder it further, Haotian and Yaochi raised their mallets once more and struck the Mystic Bell for the third time, following a rhythm that seemed to accord with the ultimate principles of heaven and earth.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

The two spoke in unison. Though their voices were not loud, they seemed to resonate with the entire Purple Firmament Palace and the Boundless Chaos: "Nine tolls of the Mystic Bell—the Great Dao manifests, and the Saint... descends!"

Boom!

As though their words had become law, countless unimaginable sights immediately arose within Yan Dao Palace!

Every Great Power present, regardless of cultivation, felt as if their hearts had suffered a heavy blow, their Dao Hearts swaying.

Within Yan Dao Palace, the Three Thousand Great Dao Laws no longer remained hidden. They transformed into brilliant, tangible yet incorporeal streams of light, intertwining, colliding, and evolving through the void.

Phantom forms of true dragons and divine phoenixes emerged from the Dao rhythm, soaring and crying out.

Endless visions appeared and vanished: ancient gods in countless different poses, the sacrificial rites of primordial peoples, mountains and rivers, states and altars—unfolding the vast epic of the Primordial Wilderness since its creation.

No one knew how long these countless phenomena lasted...

Perhaps it was only an instant, or perhaps ten thousand years had already passed.

When all those grand visions receded like a tide, the Great Powers finally came back to themselves in a daze.

Looking closely, they saw that at the center of the Purple Jade Dao Platform sat a figure clad in a simple purple Daoist robe.

His features were clearly visible, utterly ordinary, yet seemed shrouded in an impenetrable mist.

The moment one's gaze fell upon him, one would swiftly forget, forever unable to carve a definite image of him into the mind.

Only an unmatched majesty—one that looked down upon all things and stood high at the source of the Great Dao—was branded deep into the perceptions of every Living Being.

Without any prompting, an understanding born of instinct rose in the hearts of all the Great Powers.

Everyone, including the Three Pure Ones, rose together, straightened their robes and crowns, faced the Dao Platform, and bowed in the most solemn salute of the Great Dao: "We respectfully welcome the Saint's descent!"

Their voices converged, filled with heartfelt reverence.

"No need for ceremony. Take your seats," Hongjun said indifferently. His voice was calm and without ripples, yet like a decree of the Heavenly Dao, it rang directly within the Dao Hearts of every Living Being.

The Great Powers obeyed and sat upright, silent as a graveyard.

Hongjun's detached gaze slowly swept across the thousands of figures in the hall.

The pleasantries outside the palace gates, the disputes within Yan Dao Palace, the calculations behind the shifting seats...

Every tangled strand of Karma was reflected in the still, unruffled lake of his heart.

He offered no comment and spoke directly: "Chaos was without order; Pangu opened heaven."

"From the birth of the Primordial Wilderness until now, there have been four great calamities: the creation of heaven, the ferocious beasts, the Dragon-Han, and the Dao-Demon."

"All spirits contended, and the Great Dao clashed."

"Now, the Path of Cultivation has gradually become clear, and the orthodox tradition has finally been established."

"I comprehended the mysteries of Chaos, sorted out the principles of heaven and earth, and created this... Immortal Dao."

Everyone present knew this ancient history of the Primordial Wilderness, yet no one dared show the slightest impatience.