The first to arrive was naturally the Interception Sect's senior disciple, Daoist Duobao.
He clasped his hands in greeting and respectfully paid his respects.
Sect Leader Tongtian showed no airs of a Sage, responding casually.
Next came Holy Mother Wudang, Holy Mother Jinling, and Zhao Gongming.
With nothing else to do, he asked Zhao Gongming, "By the way, my disciple, you're the senior disciple of the Outer disciples. Have they been stirring up any trouble lately?"
Thinking of the recent strange occurrences on Kunlun Mountain, Zhao Gongming's expression turned conflicted.
He looked as if he were constipated, unsure whether to speak or keep quiet.
Sect Leader Tongtian's heart gave an ominous thump.
Could the Interception Sect's Outer disciples have caused some huge disaster?
After all, he knew his disciples' characters well.
They were a little mischievous, but not the sort to cause a major disaster.
And with two senior brothers keeping an eye on them, it shouldn't have happened.
Just as he was imagining the worst—
"Master, we're here! ×3!"
The childish voices left Sect Leader Tongtian puzzled.
When did I take these three as disciples?
Three little girls, each with a different temperament, entered Biyou Palace.
They were unmistakably seated where San Xiao had originally sat.
The mischievous Bi Xiao seemed to notice the confusion in Sect Leader Tongtian's eyes.
She planted her hands on her hips and shouted, "Master, it's me, Bi Xiao!"
"This is our eldest sister, Yun Xiao, and this is our little sister, Qiong Xiao."
Sect Leader Tongtian felt as if his brain couldn't keep up.
He hurriedly made a hand seal and tried to divine what had happened to San Xiao.
In an instant, he calculated the whole story.
"So they're Senior Brother's newly accepted disciples, transformed from Nine Revolutions Golden Elixirs."
Sect Leader Tongtian was baffled.
"Why would pills made through normal refinement have such side effects?"
He beckoned San Xiao over.
"Come here. Let your master see if he can remove these side effects."
San Xiao took quick little steps toward Sect Leader Tongtian.
But he realized that even he couldn't dispel the side effects.
"That's truly strange."
Puzzled, he studied the little-girl versions of San Xiao, then flicked Bi Xiao on the forehead.
"Hey, I have to admit, you're pretty cute like this."
Duobao and Zhao Gongming exchanged a glance, their expressions calm.
They were clearly used to Sect Leader Tongtian's unconventional ways.
Bi Xiao put on an adorably fierce expression and planted her hands on her hips.
"Master's so mean! You're always picking on Bi Xiao!"
Sect Leader Tongtian burst into laughter, in an excellent mood.
But that good mood shattered the moment the Seven Attendant Immortals appeared.
Sect Leader Tongtian stared, numb, at the seven monsters before him.
The corner of his mouth twitched. He took a deep breath.
"Could this also be a side effect of the pills refined by my Junior Disciple Xuandan?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Seven Attendant Immortals nodded vigorously and bowed in greeting.
"Master truly can see everything coming."
Sect Leader Tongtian looked at the little-girl versions of San Xiao before him, then at the monster-like Seven Attendant Immortals.
An ominous feeling suddenly welled up inside him.
"By the way, have many Interception Sect disciples eaten pills refined by Xuandan?"
Yun Xiao hurriedly answered, "Master, not many, not many. Only the three of us sisters ate them."
Sect Leader Tongtian nodded slightly, relieved.
Who could have guessed that Qiu Shou Xian, with an enormous lion's head, would speak up?
"Reporting to Master: lots of them. Almost all the Outer disciples from the Demon Race ate them."
Sect Leader Tongtian felt his vision go black. Blue light flickered in his eyes.
He instantly took in the scene outside Biyou Palace.
It was a chaotic spectacle, with everyone transformed in a different way.
He especially noticed Ma Yuan suddenly standing among the crowd.
He immediately looked away, pressing a hand to his forehead. He didn't want to see any more.
A dignified Sage's disciple, with something growing on the back of his head...
What kind of decorum was that?!
Sect Leader Tongtian had never imagined it.
Those four words about decorum, his second senior brother's favorite phrase, would come out of his own mouth.
He took a deep breath, reminding himself that they were all his disciples. He couldn't play favorites or mock them.
Only after a while did he manage to stop the corners of his mouth from twitching.
"Look at yourselves! Anyone who didn't know better would think the Interception Sect was some demonic cult!"
"But... I can see that you've all improved remarkably quickly. It's acceptable, I suppose."
Thinking that his disciples' strength had improved at least a little, he gradually came around.
It wasn't as if they would stay like this forever.
Their appearances didn't matter, as long as they didn't cross a line.
That was Sect Leader Tongtian's attitude.
He didn't pay it much mind and soon began his lecture.
But he quietly committed Xuandan's name to memory.
"The side effects of these pills can't even be removed by me."
"And the effects of these pills are truly astonishing!"
By the time the lecture ended, the disciples were still immersed in their enlightenment.
Sect Leader Tongtian suddenly called out sternly, "If you don't wake up now, when will you?!"
The Interception Sect disciples all came to their senses and bowed respectfully.
"We thank Master for the lecture."
Then the Interception Sect disciples dispersed, like demons sweeping through the place once more, drawing sidelong glances from the Chan Sect disciples.
Sect Leader Tongtian was about to return to secluded cultivation when a familiar voice suddenly rang in his ears.
"All Sages, come to Zixiao Palace at once for a meeting!"
Chapter 13: A Meeting at Zixiao Palace, the Tribulation's Final Phase
On Kunlun Mountain, the moment Primordial Lord of Heaven and Sect Leader Tongtian moved, they appeared inside Eight Sceneries Palace.
"Elder brother, Teacher has summoned us to Zixiao Palace for a meeting."
Laozi's expression remained unchanged as he nodded slightly.
Three streaks of light vanished from Kunlun Mountain in an instant, heading straight beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.
As the Three Pure Ones departed, several streaks of blue light shot away.
Xuandan, who had been cultivating, suddenly heard his master's voice in his mind.
"Your master is going with your two martial uncles to Zixiao Palace for a meeting."
"Cultivate diligently. Don't slack off. If anything comes up, go find your Senior Brother Xuándū."
Xuandan quietly made a note of this.
At that moment, the Magic Power within him had reached its limit.
Earlier, Xuandan had given away the Mysterious Sun Pills, and the system had granted him all sorts of benefits in return for the critical hit.
He already had Samadhi True Fire for refining pills and fighting enemies, but he lacked an Escape Art.
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