Three Thousand Great Powers, Six Futons

Because the gates of Purple Cloud Palace stood open, all the great powers could see the six futons placed at the very front of the palace.

Though they did not know what this signified, it undoubtedly stirred the great powers' competitive spirits.

The Three Pure Ones were the first to move.

All three were late-stage Golden Immortals, and the three brothers were of one breath and branch; naturally, their speed far surpassed everyone else's.

Thus, the Three Pure Ones were also the first great powers to spot the futons within Purple Cloud Palace.

Considering themselves Pangu's orthodox lineage, the Three Pure Ones naturally intended to seize the foremost seats.

Styx, close behind them, of course also knew about the futons.

But he had no interest in the foremost futon.

Thus, Laozi naturally took the first seat in Purple Cloud Palace.

Yuanshi took the second, and Tongtian the third.

On the other side, though Fuxi and Nüwa were not slow, at their speed, they absolutely could not have claimed one of the first six seats.

So Fuxi gritted his teeth and gave his younger sister a hard shove.

Nüwa's speed instantly more than doubled. She shot past Styx and took the fourth seat!

Styx came next, taking the fifth seat.

The sixth was taken by Kunpeng.

Hong Yun, who should originally have claimed a futon in Purple Cloud Palace, could only regretfully sit in the first seat of the first row behind the futons.

Of course, having read novels from later generations, Styx knew perfectly well what sitting on a futon meant.

He also knew that the Primordial Purple Qi might be problematic.

But so what?

He was seated on a futon. If he truly obtained the Primordial Purple Qi, no one said he had to use it!

What he sought was to become a Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

To him, the Primordial Purple Qi was not essential.

But everyone else in the Primordial Wilderness had coveted the thing for a long time.

Di Jun and Taiyi of the Demon Race, for instance.

He could trade the Primordial Purple Qi with them.

Perhaps, for that sliver of a chance to become a saint, Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi would even offer up the Eastern Emperor Bell!

It was said that the Eastern Emperor Bell was the Chaos Bell formed after the Chaos Treasure Heaven Splitting Axe had split into three.

Who knew whether that rumor was true or not.

But then again, did his seizing of a Purple Cloud Palace futon count as indirectly helping Hong Yun?

After all, if Hong Yun had sat on a futon, then later yielded his seat to Zhun Ti, who would in turn indirectly allow Jie Yin to sit on a futon as well...

That would have entangled him in karma with two future saints.

So when Hong Yun was later hunted down by Di Jun and the others, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti had also secretly lent a hand.

After all, they could not repay the karmic debt of their positions as two saints.

Styx considered many things.

But before long, the three thousand seats in Purple Cloud Palace were nearly full.

Only two remained.

Styx calculated the time and found that the ten thousand years Hongjun had stipulated were nearly up.

He thought to himself.

One of the Primordial Wilderness's finest spectacles is here!

Sure enough, in the next moment, two child attendants emerged from Purple Cloud Palace.

One boy and one girl, both appearing around ten years old, with traces of pure yang and pure yin aura faintly emanating from them.

These should be the future Haotian God and Yaochi Queen Mother.

The two child attendants counted the people and found that two were still missing. But time was already up, so they prepared to close the gates of Purple Cloud Palace.

Then an urgent voice suddenly rang out.

"Wait!"

Before anyone saw them, they heard them first.

Yaochi, still only a little girl, was startled by the sudden voice. Her motion of closing the gates stiffened for a moment, allowing the two outside to slip in.

Both newcomers wore tattered, ragged clothes, and merely looking at them made one feel disgust.

One wore a broad smile and looked exceptionally easy to get along with.

The other had shrewdness written into even the corners of his brows.

The moment he entered the Purple Cloud Palace, his eyes lit up. It was as though he had never seen a place with such abundant spiritual energy.

Even the casually placed greenery nearby was a Primordial Spiritual Root!

He could not help but reveal a regretful expression.

If the occasion had not been inappropriate, he would have loved nothing more than to carry every Primordial Spiritual Object in the Purple Cloud Palace back home.

When the people present saw the two of them, disdain appeared on their faces.

These two were none other than Jie Yin and Zhun Ti.

Though they were great powers of the Western Lands, and though they had managed to cultivate to the mid-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm under the Western Lands' harsh conditions—

The great powers of the Eastern Lands held neither of them in high regard.

Because these two often came to the Eastern Lands to sponge off others...

It left the other great powers speechless.

Dignified Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, yet they would stuff even a single spiritual herb into their robes when they saw one. Weren't they ashamed?

Yet Jie Yin and Zhun Ti ignored the strange looks from the crowd and walked straight to the six futons at the front of the Purple Cloud Palace.

Seeing that all six of the best seats were already occupied, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti wore bitter expressions.

Zhun Ti's eyes rolled, and he immediately burst into loud sobs.

"Waaah! Senior Brother, what are we supposed to do?! You and I came from the Western Lands, traveled such a vast distance, and only managed to enter the Purple Cloud Palace at the very last moment—yet in the end, we do not even have a seat! If we cannot listen to the Sage's Great Dao, how are we supposed to return and face the living beings of the Western Lands?! Wuwuwuwu!"

Jie Yin immediately understood.

He too put on a miserable expression and said, "Alas, the two of us came on behalf of the living beings of the Western Lands to hear the Dao, hoping to pass the Sage's Path on to the living beings of the Western Lands. But regrettably, we martial brothers arrived a step too late. I wonder if any fellow Daoist would be willing to yield a seat to us martial brothers?"

Jie Yin stared fixedly at the six people seated upon the futons.

His meaning was obvious without needing to be spoken.

Zhun Ti continued, "Wuwuwu, if there is no seat and I cannot listen to the Sage's Great Dao, I might as well die!"

As he spoke, Zhun Ti made as though to ram himself into the wall of the Purple Cloud Palace.

Fortunately, Jie Yin grabbed him in time.

Everyone in the Purple Cloud Palace was speechless.

What Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal ever died by smashing into a wall?

Jie Yin and Zhun Ti's reputations in the Primordial Wilderness were practically rotten by now.

Who did not know what sort they were?

Naturally, no one paid the two of them any heed.

But...

In the end, there was still a fool who fell for it.

For instance, Hong Yun, the renowned good man of the Primordial Wilderness.

This fool had no idea that missing out on a futon was already a blessing in disguise.

Yet he stupidly started edging toward Jie Yin and Zhun Ti.

The moment Hong Yun made the slightest move, Zhen Yuanzi beside him immediately held him down.

How could Zhen Yuanzi fail to see that Jie Yin and Zhun Ti were after the futons?

Why was Hong Yun getting involved at a time like this?

Hong Yun did not understand what Zhen Yuanzi meant.

But fortunately, Hong Yun trusted this close friend of his deeply.

So in the end, he forcibly suppressed his impulse.

The six people on the futons remained unmoved by Jie Yin and Zhun Ti's antics.

After all, they were not Hong Yun. They would not be swayed by Jie Yin and Zhun Ti's performance.

Seeing that the six showed no reaction whatsoever, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti stopped wasting their effort.

They began to deliberate in secret.

Among these six, the Three Pure Ones were one body and all occupied futons, their cultivation profound.

The two martial brothers could not afford to provoke them.

Nüwa had Fuxi behind her.

Only Styx and Kunpeng stood alone.

Jie Yin and Zhun Ti exchanged a glance, reaching an unspoken understanding.

Zhun Ti stepped before Kunpeng first. The sorrow on his face from moments earlier had vanished, replaced by a measure of haughty arrogance.