Haotian flung out the Taiji Diagram. This time, the suppressive power it wielded in his hands was far greater than when it had been in Laozi's hands.
Haotian was weaker than Laozi, so it was clearly impossible for him to unleash such immense suppressive power with the Taiji Diagram.
Hongjun must have had a hand in it.
The Taiji Diagram blotted out the sky and formed a space of its own. Its powerful suction made it impossible for Styx to escape.
Yet Styx seemingly had no intention of fleeing, so he did not struggle much.
The Taiji Diagram hovered above Styx's head, scattering golden radiance around it to form a barrier that prevented him from leaving.
Seeing that they had completed the Sage's command without any effort, Haotian and Yaochi exchanged smiles.
Still, Yaochi said, "Great God Styx, this was the Master's command. Please forgive us. Once the third lecture ends, we will naturally let you leave."
But Styx simply closed his eyes to rest, completely ignoring the two of them.
Haotian and Yaochi still had the temperament of children and did not think much of it. They merely assumed that Styx was angry and unwilling to speak.
Meanwhile, within the Purple Cloud Palace.
Most of those who were supposed to be here had already arrived.
The vast majority were familiar faces from the second lecture, though everyone's cultivation had improved greatly.
Most had already become Quasi-Sages, with only a small number still remaining at the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
But there were also unfamiliar faces.
After the second lecture, everyone had sparked a frenzy across the Primordial Wilderness to seize Innate Spiritual Treasures for corpse severance.
Many Great Luo Golden Immortals who possessed Innate Spiritual Treasures but lacked sufficient strength had been targeted and ultimately ambushed and killed.
At a rough glance, perhaps a third of the great powers from the second lecture had failed to survive until the third.
Those remaining were essentially the cream of the great powers of the Primordial Wilderness.
As for the many great powers who had broken through to the Quasi-Sage realm during the second lecture at the Purple Cloud Palace, their cultivations had now become even more terrifying.
Take Laozi, for example. He had already severed two corpses back then. Now, his aura was even more profound; he had likely severed all three corpses.
The Three Pure Ones, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti, as well as Kunpeng, the Western Queen Mother, and the others, all found their gazes drifting toward the fifth futon.
That was Styx's seat.
Having previously failed to ambush Styx, they naturally wanted to know whether he was dead or alive.
Time passed bit by bit, yet the fifth futon remained empty.
Most of them finally relaxed—apparently, Styx had not survived that encounter.
The other great powers who knew nothing of the matter also began discussing it in secret.
The time was nearly here. Why had Styx still not arrived?
Zhun Ti even sent a voice transmission directly to Jie Yin. "Senior Brother, Styx is dead now. Hurry and take his seat. Then we can join forces and squeeze Kunpeng out!"
Jie Yin had the same thought. He slowly made his way toward the front rows of the Purple Cloud Palace.
He was not the only one who wanted to seize a seat, but before the others dared to act, Jie Yin had already beaten them to it.
After all, the others could not be certain whether Styx would come, while Jie Yin had already decided that Styx was dead and would never appear.
As Jie Yin prepared to sit down, Kunpeng gave a cold snort, but Jie Yin paid him no heed and continued lowering himself toward the seat.
Just as he was about to sit, a pearl struck him squarely on the head.
Jie Yin had been unprepared. A lump immediately swelled up on his bald head.
The blow startled Jie Yin so badly that he jumped up.
"Who was that?"
Jie Yin glared around furiously, only to see the person he least wanted to see standing at the entrance.
"Styx!"
Jie Yin was startled, and panic flickered across his face. "How are you still alive?!"
Styx wore a teasing expression as he toyed with the other eleven Sea Stabilizing Divine Pearls in his hand.
With a gesture, the Sea Stabilizing Divine Pearl that had struck Jie Yin's head flew back to him.
Styx said, "What? Jie Yin, you seem rather surprised?"
He stepped forward, and the entire Purple Cloud Palace fell silent.
It was not only Jie Yin. Even Laozi and the others who knew the truth were utterly shocked.
Styx was actually still alive?
Even Hongjun, who had yet to appear, showed a fleeting trace of surprise upon seeing what had happened in the Purple Cloud Palace.
He immediately began calculating.
He had clearly sensed that Haotian and Yaochi had deployed the Taiji Diagram. This Taiji Diagram contained a trace of his power, so Styx should have had absolutely no chance of escaping. What was going on?
Soon, an image appeared before Hongjun.
Haotian and Yaochi stood guard beside the Blood Sea over a Styx, with the Taiji Diagram suppressing him overhead.
There were two Styxes?
Hongjun's brows furrowed tightly. Then realization struck him, and his expression instantly turned ugly.
The one by the Blood Sea was merely an ordinary Blood God Doppelganger avatar of Styx!
"Good, very good! What a Styx!"
Hongjun watched everything, the killing intent on his face chilling to behold.
He exerted great effort to calm himself. He would soon Harmonize with the Dao, and he could not allow unnecessary emotions to affect him.
Since Styx had already arrived here, Hongjun could not simply drive him out.
That would damage his prestige, so Hongjun could only swallow his anger and accept it.
Even if he could not obtain fate from Styx, it merely meant things would be imperfect.
Once he had obtained enough benefits from the Heavenly Dao, there would come a day when Styx paid dearly!
With a casual strike, he directly blasted the Blood God Doppelganger beside the Blood Sea into a mist of blood, then recalled the Taiji Diagram along with Haotian and Yaochi.
Styx was deeply scheming. Even Hongjun had nearly failed to notice anything amiss, much less Haotian and Yaochi.
It seemed that if he wished to deal with Styx, he could no longer engage in such petty maneuvers as before. He would have to plan carefully.
Within the Purple Cloud Palace, as Styx advanced step by step, Jie Yin unconsciously retreated.
Styx looked at him disdainfully. With such a pathetic bearing, he dared try to seize Styx's things?
He stood before his own futon and faced the crowd. It was both a warning to Jie Yin and a warning to everyone else. "What is mine is not for anyone to covet!"
Knowing he was no match for Styx, Jie Yin did not dare confront him head-on and could only prepare to return to his own seat in embarrassment.
But Styx stopped him.
"Stop!"
Jie Yin froze, then heard Styx continue, "You tried to ambush and kill me before, and now you have come to steal my things. Jie Yin, did you really think I would simply let this go?"
It was clear that Styx intended to settle accounts with Jie Yin. This struck directly at the nerves of everyone who had participated in the attempt to ambush Styx.
Especially Kunpeng and the Western Queen Mother.
Kunpeng immediately spoke up. "Styx, why are you so overbearing? Fellow Daoist Jie Yin merely wished to sit a little farther forward. Why must you be so aggressive?"
Kunpeng believed that saying this would place him on the moral high ground, but no one in the Purple Cloud Palace echoed him.
Leaving aside everything else, most of the great powers in the Purple Cloud Palace were not qualified to involve themselves in this matter.
Although they were all Quasi-Sages, Quasi-Sages were divided into different ranks. Those arguing now were among the very strongest Quasi-Sages.
Moreover, getting involved brought no benefit to anyone else, so naturally, they would not speak lightly.
Even Jie Yin and Zhun Ti had no reason to support Kunpeng.
Styx did not even look at Kunpeng.
In his eyes, Kunpeng was scarcely any different from a dead man.
If Styx had not needed Kunpeng to occupy a Purple Cloud Palace futon and prevent Jie Yin and Zhun Ti from moving up, he likely would not have allowed him to live until the third lecture.
Seeing that no one responded, Kunpeng only felt that he had been humiliated and secretly nursed his resentment.
Jie Yin was a clever man. He understood that Styx's earlier words meant he wanted them to pay a price to settle their karma.
So he asked, "What do you want, Fellow Daoist?"
Styx was satisfied inwardly. Jie Yin truly was a clever man.
Before you continue