But now, few cared about what Eastern Duke thought.
Although Eastern Duke had been personally appointed by Saint Hongjun as the Leader of Male Immortals, strength was still revered above all else in the Primordial Wilderness.
Without strength, who would even take you seriously?
Even with Hongjun's appointment, the great powers of the Primordial Wilderness might not say anything openly, but behind his back, they did not necessarily think highly of Eastern Duke.
Thus, after several thousand years, Eastern Duke had gathered only a motley crew around him.
Not to mention Great Luo Golden Immortals—even Taiyi Golden Immortals numbered only a few.
Among the Three Thousand Great Powers who had listened to the Dao at Purple Cloud Palace, not a single one had joined him.
Whenever he thought of his current predicament, Eastern Duke burned with resentment.
He hated Di Jun and Taiyi for drawing away too many potential followers, leaving him with no one to use.
He also hated the Three Thousand Great Powers in Purple Cloud Palace. Not one of them thought highly of him!
Just as he was stewing in private anger, one of his Taiyi Golden Immortal subordinates suddenly entered.
Eastern Duke concealed the gloom on his face and summoned the man inside.
The Taiyi Golden Immortal said to Eastern Duke with unconcealed excitement.
"Immortal Chief, while our people were recruiting followers over the East Sea, they accidentally discovered a Primordial Formation!"
Eastern Duke was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly asked, "Has the formation been opened?"
The Taiyi Golden Immortal shook his head. "No. This formation is exceptionally profound. Our cultivation is insufficient, and we cannot break it. I fear we need Immortal Chief to act personally."
"Leave at once!"
Eastern Duke could not wait even a moment. He immediately set off for the East Sea.
Whenever a Primordial Spiritual Object emerged, it would be protected by a formation.
The stronger the formation, the higher the grade of the Primordial Spiritual Object it guarded.
And since the incomparably mysterious Primordial Formation above the East Sea could not be broken even by Taiyi Golden Immortals, the worst thing inside had to be a High-Grade Connate Spiritual Treasure!
Truthfully, Eastern Duke was still terribly poor. Apart from the Dragon Head Crutch bestowed by Hongjun, he possessed only one Innate Spiritual Treasure—the Pure Yang Purple Fire Sword.
If he had merely been alone, two spiritual treasures would have been enough for him.
But he happened to be a man with ambitions.
If he wanted to establish a power of his own, he needed sufficient resources.
After all, recruiting followers required investment. If you were stingy, who would be willing to work for you?
Yet when he arrived above the East Sea, Eastern Duke realized that he had been too naive.
The formation's profundity far exceeded his expectations.
This left him half delighted and half troubled.
He was delighted because such an exquisite formation surely concealed no small harvest!
He was troubled because he seemed unable to break it!
However, his subordinates were watching from the side. If Eastern Duke admitted that he could not break it, it would be far too embarrassing and detrimental to his prestige.
Thus, he could only grit his teeth, raise the Dragon Head Crutch, and fire an attack at the formation.
Unsurprisingly, the formation directly swallowed the attack.
Unwilling to accept this, Eastern Duke tried attacking several other spots in the formation that appeared to be weak points, but they were similarly ineffective.
Still, it was not as though he gained nothing at all.
Eastern Duke discovered that the formation concealed the powers of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire.
The powers of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire were essential to the birth of a world, so what lay hidden within the formation was very likely a small World Fragment!
To Eastern Duke, this was far more valuable than a spiritual treasure.
If he could become the master of that small World Fragment, its spiritual roots and spiritual treasures would all become valuable resources for his rise to dominance!
Thus, Eastern Duke changed his method of breaking the formation and no longer attempted to force it open with brute strength.
Instead, he planned to open an entrance into the formation while preserving its integrity as much as possible!
Unfortunately, just as he was eager to begin, Hongjun's voice transmission suddenly rang out from the unseen.
"The ten thousand years have elapsed. All those fated may come to Purple Cloud Palace to hear the Dao."
Eastern Duke was briefly stunned. After calculating with his fingers, he realized that he had actually spent several thousand years trying to break the formation!
Hongjun's lecture was obviously more important, and if he could break through in cultivation after this lecture, breaking the formation would become easier as well.
"You are to guard the formation for now. I, the Immortal Chief, must first go to Purple Cloud Palace to hear the Dao, then I will return to break the formation. Remember: do not let anyone else approach it!"
"We obey Immortal Chief's command!"
The people below him respectfully knelt across the ground.
Eastern Duke nodded in satisfaction before heading into Chaos.
By the time he reached Purple Cloud Palace, quite a few people had already arrived.
He spotted a familiar figure ahead of him and immediately approached with enthusiasm.
"Western Queen Mother, fellow Daoist..."
Upon hearing Eastern Duke's voice, Western Queen Mother maintained a polite smile and replied, "Eastern Duke, fellow Daoist!"
Yet she quietly moved farther forward.
She had interacted with Eastern Duke before, and their personalities simply did not get along.
She had no aspirations of domination either; otherwise, she would not have secluded herself in West Kunlun and remained hidden from the world.
Therefore, Western Queen Mother had always maintained a respectful distance from Eastern Duke.
But Eastern Duke paid no heed to Western Queen Mother's aloofness and persistently squeezed his way toward her side.
Western Queen Mother's seat in Purple Cloud Palace was much farther forward than Eastern Duke's.
Thus, as Eastern Duke forced his way beside Western Queen Mother, he naturally affected the seats of those behind him.
Because of Eastern Duke's status as the Leader of Male Immortals personally appointed by Hongjun, however, no one wished to openly make things unpleasant with him.
Still, not everyone was willing to give him that courtesy.
For example, Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi.
Western Queen Mother's seat was directly ahead of the two Lunar Goddesses, Xi He and Chang Xi.
So when Eastern Duke pushed forward, he took Xi He and Chang Xi's seats.
Di Jun had long been acquainted with Xi He. The moment he saw the two sisters lose their seats to Eastern Duke, he immediately reacted.
Eastern Duke was chatting tirelessly with Western Queen Mother when he suddenly felt a shadow fall over him.
He raised his head in confusion and saw Di Jun glaring down at him with an unfriendly expression.
"Get up at once and return the seats to fellow Daoists Xi He and Chang Xi!"
Only then did Eastern Duke realize that the Xi He sisters were still standing.
But he did not care.
"There are plenty of seats farther back. Fellow Daoists Xi He and Chang Xi can choose any of them!"
Di Jun remained unmoved and continued standing before him.
The attention of everyone in Purple Cloud Palace instantly shifted to the two of them.
With everyone watching him, Eastern Duke felt that Di Jun had humiliated him and snapped angrily.
"Di Jun, I am the Leader of Male Immortals. Are you insulting me?"
As soon as he said this, everyone watched to see how Di Jun would respond.
Di Jun naturally intended to use this incident to test the Saint's attitude toward Eastern Duke as well.
If the Saint chose to stand up for Eastern Duke, at most Di Jun would receive a reprimand.
After all, during the First Lecture, the Saint had also expressed support for Di Jun managing the demon race. He would not kill Di Jun over such a trivial matter.
But if the Saint did not stand up for Eastern Duke...
Then Eastern Duke's good days were likely over.
Di Jun did not answer Eastern Duke. Instead, Eastern Emperor Taiyi also walked over and stood behind Di Jun.
The pressure Eastern Duke faced suddenly increased immensely.
In terms of strength, there was no way Eastern Duke could defeat both Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi. In the end, he could only slink back to his own seat.
But he made up his mind that he would fiercely denounce Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi's disrespectful conduct before the Saint.
Before you continue