That was just too much of a coincidence!
So much so that the Ancestral Shamans grew solemn, involuntarily recalling what Chu Xuan had once said.
The Wu and Yao Clans were like the Dragon-Han Three Races. Who had won back then?
Still, however unwilling they were, the Ancestral Shamans joined the countless beings of the world in bowing toward the Nine Heavens and thanking the Dao Ancestor for his teachings. Even though the Wu Clan had no need for them.
That was the power of strength, the power of the greater trend!
Chu Xuan sat in Pangu Great Hall, completely unaffected by Hongjun's Saintly might. This ancestral hall of the Wu Clan stood backed by the Pangu Heart, so it was not suppressed by the Heavenly Dao or even the Saints.
Chu Xuan looked outside, his gaze flickering.
"The Heavenly Dao was completed ahead of time, and lectures began ahead of time?"
"I don't believe a word of it!"
"He couldn't hold back from getting involved this quickly!"
"Looks like he really was afraid the Wu Clan would wipe out the Yao Clan ahead of schedule!"
"In the original history, things like this happened before. The Yao Clan often found itself at a disadvantage, only for lectures or Hongjun's decree that the Yao ruled the heavens and the Wu ruled the earth, with no great war allowed for ten thousand years, to secretly protect the Yao Clan!"
"Something like this happening ahead of schedule isn't a bad thing. It proves my changes are working!"
"Hongjun has only so many cards to play. Let's see how many you can use!"
Chu Xuan smiled, feeling more confident about dealing with the future as it was originally supposed to unfold.
He didn't care that they hadn't taken the opportunity to destroy the Yao Clan.
In fact, even without Hongjun stepping in, the Wu Clan probably wouldn't have been able to wipe out the Yao Clan.
This was, after all, a world of cultivation. Those with high realms were the foundation; a sudden advantage didn't mean they could simply launch a great war.
If it had been that easy, the Wu Clan wouldn't have watched the Yao Clan grow stronger step by step.
Powerful enemies were hard to kill. They had to be forced into a decisive battle.
Historically, the final battle between the Wu and Yao Clans happened because the two great powers had completely divided the Primordial Wilderness between them. Their conflict had intensified, and both had gained methods on the level of Saints. They had no choice but to fight.
But the Primordial Wilderness hadn't yet been fully divided between the two clans, and neither had yet brought their methods to the peak.
Although Chu Xuan remained composed, some of the Twelve Ancestral Shamans who had brought Pangu Great Hall back to the Wu Clan were dissatisfied.
The Twelve Ancestral Shamans entered the hall, and Chu Xuan heard Zhurong grumbling.
"We missed our chance. Who knows when we'll be able to deal with the Yao Clan now!"
"We should've attacked right away!"
"That one is so biased. He even smoothed over the Heavenly Tribulation Dao Fruit. If we hadn't been quick to leave, we might really have been discovered!"
But as soon as he finished speaking, Dijiang cut him off.
"That's enough. Don't show disrespect to a Saint!"
"Maybe it was just a coincidence. The Saint himself said the Heavenly Dao had been completed, which was why he was lecturing early! We were the ones who completed the Heavenly Tribulation Dao Fruit, so it's certainly possible!"
"Besides, we might not have been able to destroy the Yao Clan even before this!"
"Eastern Emperor Taiyi has recovered. With the Chaos Bell, if he's determined to escape, it'll be hard for us to stop him."
Hearing Dijiang's words, the Ancestral Shamans were still dissatisfied, but they had to suppress their feelings.
They understood the reasoning. But the coincidence had been so uncanny that they couldn't help suspecting something was wrong.
Chu Xuan's insinuation not long ago that Hongjun was up to no good remained at the forefront of their minds.
Just then, the Ancestral Shamans spotted Chu Xuan, and Gonggong suddenly asked,
"Little Brother Chu Xuan, what do you think?"
The Ancestral Shamans all turned to look at Chu Xuan.
They clearly trusted his wisdom.
At a time like this, they badly needed his guidance.
In truth, quite a few of them were already regretting that they hadn't agreed to Chu Xuan's annihilation plan earlier.
If they'd gone through with it, none of this would've been such a headache.
Now the opportunity was gone.
It wasn't coming back.
All they could do now was hope Chu Xuan had another brilliant idea.
Meanwhile, Chu Xuan met the Ancestral Shamans' intense gazes. Hearing the title that seemed to have stuck, he felt a little helpless, but still agreed with Dijiang.
"Lord Dijiang is right. Even if the lecture hadn't interrupted us, we might not have been able to keep them there!"
"The Wu Clan isn't strong enough yet!"
Hearing Chu Xuan say the same thing, the Ancestral Shamans sighed.
Only a few of them looked at Chu Xuan with flickering eyes, convinced that the Wu Clan's Poisonous Scholar wouldn't leave it at that.
Sure enough, just as the Ancestral Shamans were losing hope, Chu Xuan quickly changed course.
"But..."
The Ancestral Shamans' eyes lit up.
"I absolutely don't believe that what Lord Dijiang called a coincidence was just a coincidence!"
"In fact, after what just happened, I'm almost certain that Hongjun is targeting our Wu Clan!"
PS: The new book is still a tiny seedling!
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We can't rule out that Hongjun is targeting our Wu Clan. — This was the exact input paragraph repeated as the chapter opens.
Chu Xuan's bold words immediately startled the Ancestral Shamans present.
If they weren't in Pangu Hall, where they couldn't be detected, they would already have been preparing to fight.
Slandering a Saint, especially right after Hongjun had announced his lectures, was practically a provocation.
But they also knew that this little brother before them never spoke without reason.
Dijiang's expression darkened at once, and he asked gravely,
"Do you have any suspicions?"
In truth, Dijiang had his own doubts, but he'd said what he did earlier to reassure the other Ancestral Shamans.
If Chu Xuan was speaking up and had evidence, then Dijiang would have to prepare to face that Saint.
Chu Xuan nodded, then shook his head.
"I have my suspicions, but I don't have evidence yet!"
"He arrived at far too convenient a time. He even smoothed over the Heavenly Tribulation Dao Fruit before speaking!"
"The Heavenly Tribulation Great Dao is part of the principles governing the Primordial Wilderness. If he was only here to lecture, why would he come here specifically to interfere?"
"My view is that he's already become suspicious!"
"Suspicious that the Heavenly Tribulation Great Dao's appearance was abnormal."
"If all he wanted was to lecture, why suspect the Heavenly Tribulation Great Dao, which governs the Primordial Wilderness, let alone interfere with it?"
"It's a principle that governs the world."
"Then there's the fact that he chose to announce his lectures at the very last moment, indirectly stopping us from striking the Wu Clan again!"
"That's enough to show that he really does intend to favor the Yao Clan. And to put it bluntly, even if favoring them wasn't his intention, the result was favoritism all the same."
"For us, that suspicion is already enough. The Wu Clan's survival is at stake. How could we entrust our lives to someone else?"
Chu Xuan couldn't reveal too many details, but he could use the outcome to heap accusations on Hongjun.
And he was right about one thing. Whatever the reason, the Yao Clan had benefited, and that was now an established fact. The Wu Clan couldn't disregard its safety over a lack of evidence.
So even though Chu Xuan was making baseless accusations, the Ancestral Shamans were almost instantly convinced.
Some were troubled, others furious, and still others dissatisfied.
They began to see Hongjun as a potential enemy.
Chu Xuan was glad to see it.
"The Wu Clan needs an opponent, and one they take seriously, so they'll stay clearheaded and leave room for me to act!"
"Besides, I'm not actually deceiving them!"
"From Hongjun's perspective, it's bad enough that this bunch of old holdovers from the previous era are still around. But they also want to throw their weight around and refuse to cultivate the Immortal Dao that the current big brother established. Who could put up with that? They're doomed!"
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