"What... divine being could that be?"
Dong Wang Gong asked again, almost as if in a daze.
As soon as the question left his lips,
Dong Wang Gong knew he shouldn't have asked.
Because the pressure on him grew even heavier.
Hongjun fell silent for a moment.
Then he spoke again.
"Lei Jun Palace was born of Heaven, and the Daoist Script naturally came from Heaven as well!"
After saying that,
Hongjun changed the subject.
He wasn't going to answer any more questions.
Instead, he was going to lecture on the Dao.
"This old Daoist is a Heavenly Dao Sage, entrusted with teaching all living beings in this age."
"There will be three lectures, each lasting ten thousand years."
"This is the first!"
"The main topic is..."
Hongjun suddenly stopped.
He wasn't sure how to continue.
According to the plan,
the lectures would be divided into three parts.
The first was supposed to cover the realms up to Da Luo, allowing cultivators to reach Peak Da Luo.
But now,
there were already several cultivators at Peak Da Luo!
How was he supposed to lecture on that?
Should he skip straight to the second lecture's content—that is, the Quasi-Saint realm?
Would those who hadn't reached Peak Da Luo
be able to understand it?
There was no other way.
He'd have to follow the course of Fate.
Hongjun sighed inwardly.
He couldn't change things any further, or they would get out of control!
Then,
Hongjun couldn't be bothered to say another word and began lecturing at once.
Whatever happened, happened.
He was done worrying about it!
In the blink of an eye,
ten thousand years passed.
The first lecture came to an end.
Ten thousand years
wasn't a long time.
For the great powers inside Lei Jun Palace, it felt even shorter.
It was practically over in the blink of an eye.
And just like that,
the lecture ended.
But at that moment,
the cultivators inside Lei Jun Palace reacted in very different ways.
When a Sage lectured,
Strange Phenomena were sure to appear, and Hongjun was no exception.
For ten thousand years,
Dao Sound rang out again and again, accompanied by the ethereal music of immortals.
Boundless Golden Lotuses bloomed as well.
There had certainly been no shortage of Strange Phenomena.
But as for the lecture's effect...
That depended on the listener.
That was why the cultivators' reactions differed so much.
Their reactions varied
according to their original cultivation levels. From the lowest to the highest, they went from bewilderment to clarity, then from clarity back to bewilderment.
But those two states of "bewilderment"
had entirely different causes.
The first
came from low cultivation. They hadn't understood a considerable portion of the lecture.
These cultivators had originally been in the early stages of Da Luo.
After gaining insight from their fortunate encounter with the Daoist Script,
they had barely reached the middle stage.
They hadn't fully grasped the content of Hongjun's lecture.
Those with clear eyes
needed no explanation.
Taiqing and Yuanshi, for example,
had listened in rapt attention, and their cultivation had risen a notch. Both had reached Peak Da Luo!
As for...
the small number of cultivators who were bewildered at the end,
it wasn't because they hadn't understood.
Rather...
they felt as though they'd listened to nothing at all!
They hadn't gained much!
Of course, it wasn't as if they'd gained absolutely nothing.
After all, Hongjun's cultivation spoke for itself.
There was still something to be learned from him.
At the very least, the lecture had helped these cultivators strengthen their foundations.
But compared with what they had expected,
it fell far short.
Their cultivation had barely improved at all.
That was why
those who had already been at Peak Da Luo before the lecture felt so bewildered.
Two words surfaced in their minds.
That's it?
That's all a Sage's lecture amounts to?
No way.
Or could it be...
that a second lecture would begin soon?
If so, then they still had something to look forward to.
There was nothing they could do.
For cultivators who had already reached Peak Da Luo, this lecture really hadn't contained much "substance."
For a time,
Di Jun, Tai Yi, Dong Wang Gong, Kunpeng, and the others
all thought the same thing.
Just then,
Hongjun's indifferent voice rang out.
"The first lecture is over!"
"The second lecture will begin one Eon from now."
"Return then!"
Hm?
One Eon from now?
Several cultivators who were already at Peak Da Luo
were rather dumbfounded.
Di Jun hurriedly asked,
"May I ask the Sage: can we remain outside Lei Jun Palace during this time?"
Hongjun's tone remained unchanged.
He answered indifferently,
"During this time, Lei Jun Palace will vanish."
"It will reopen after one Eon!"
"What?"
At those words,
Di Jun and the others were stunned.
Some even felt regret.
One of them couldn't hold back and blurted out,
"Ah!"
"If I'd known!"
"I shouldn't have come in for this lecture!"
"I should've stayed at the entrance and studied the Daoist Script!"
"A missed opportunity..." That was Dong Wang Gong's voice. In an instant,
Lei Jun Palace fell silent, and everyone was shocked.
Whether they had been bewildered before
or clear-headed before,
at that moment,
they all reacted the same way: with astonishment.
Good grief!
He actually dared to say that!
He shouldn't have come in for the lecture?
Wasn't he afraid the Sage would punish him?
Sure enough,
Hongjun's brows furrowed slightly. If he hadn't been so steady-tempered, he might have lost his composure right then.
Even so,
he still glanced at Dong Wang Gong.
That single glance
filled Dong Wang Gong with dread.
It's over!
I've ruined my chances!
I probably won't be allowed to attend the next lecture, will I?
At that moment,
Dong Wang Gong wasn't the only one who thought so.
The other cultivators felt much the same.
Di Jun and the others looked at Dong Wang Gong with admiration.
They'd had similar thoughts before,
but they'd only kept them to themselves.
Dong Wang Gong, on the other hand,
really wasn't afraid of dying!
There were also those who took pleasure in his misfortune, such as...
Jie Yin and Zhun Ti?
To be precise.
The two of them weren't staring at Dong Wang Gong, but at the Prayer Mat beneath him.
Dong Wang Gong might not be able to come back in.
Wouldn't that mean the Prayer Mat beneath him could soon change hands?
As the cultivators entertained all kinds of thoughts,
Hongjun said nothing.
He neither punished anyone nor did anything else. He simply flicked his Whisk
and vanished.
But for Dong Wang Gong, this was far more terrifying than any punishment.
At least a punishment was out in the open.
In this situation, he had no idea when disaster might strike!
For a moment,
Dong Wang Gong was overcome with despair.
The cultivators who were about to get up and leave all turned to look at him with the same sympathetic gaze.
Only Dong Wang Gong himself
could only think regretfully, Could it be...
That the next time the Dao is taught,
I'll have to stay outside the gate?
Still,
if there were another opportunity to comprehend the Daoist Script outside the gate,
perhaps...
he could make up for some of his losses?
Soon,
the cultivators dispersed from Lei Jun Palace.
Lei Jun Palace vanished as well.
It could no longer be sensed.
And so,
the First Sermon truly came to an end.
Heaven Beyond Heaven.
Unlike the other cultivators,
Taiqing and Yuanshi were very satisfied with this sermon.
They had been utterly captivated by it,
and their cultivation had made considerable progress.
Now,
they had both reached Peak Da Luo.
They were only one step away from entering the next realm.
Compared to before,
their cultivation had improved significantly.
They even clearly surpassed Di Jun, Tai Yi, and the others.
That was the advantage of having a good foundation and comprehension.
They had listened to the same sermon,
yet gained more than everyone else.
At that moment,
Yuanshi was in high spirits. He thought of Tongtian
and said,
"Elder Brother, I wonder how Third Brother is doing now. I can't even divine his whereabouts."
"Could it be..."
"That he found an opportunity?"
Taiqing pondered for a moment, then said,
"Perhaps."
"If he found an opportunity, that would be excellent."
"But..."
Taiqing paused,
then shook his head.
"Opportunities aren't so easy to find."
"Our cultivation improved thanks to the Sage's sermon. No matter how great his opportunity is, could it possibly surpass a Sage's?"
"We should still give him some guidance afterward!"
"Also, we mustn't miss the next two sermons!"
"I have a feeling that the next sermon will cover the realm beyond Da Luo!"
After listening, Yuanshi nodded,
agreeing.
He smiled and said,
"With our current cultivation, we can surely give him some guidance!"
The two of them spoke
as they made their way from Heaven Beyond Heaven back to the Primordial Wilderness.
Just then,
their hearts stirred.
They sensed an opportunity.
It seemed to be... at Mount Buzhou?
Without hesitation,
they quickened their pace and headed for Mount Buzhou.
Meanwhile,
at Immortal Mountain Academy,
Lei Jun had stopped preaching.
As it happened,
neither Lei Jun Palace nor the cultivators had ever been beyond his perception.
Every change
was under his control.
That naturally included the opportunity Taiqing and Yuanshi had sensed.
In fact, it was not only their opportunity. It was also connected to several other cultivators.
Some of those cultivators,
however, were still at the Academy and hadn't gone out yet.
Of course, because of Lei Jun's interference,
whether they would still sense the opportunity bestowed by the Heavenly Dao once they went out was unknown.
But it didn't matter.
If the Heavenly Dao wouldn't grant it, Lei Jun could do it himself.
Still,
that wasn't why he had stopped preaching.
It was because...
of a visitor from beyond the heavens!
The "system" he had observed for so long had finally arrived!
A long time ago,
Lei Jun's primordial spirit had left his body and roamed through Chaos.
That was how he had glimpsed
a mysterious space within Chaos.
Lei Jun
had named it the "System Space."
Inside were the rewards the "system" gave its "host."
And so on.
Spirit Treasures, Supreme Treasures, Spirit Roots—it had everything.
But...
they were all projections, not real.
They needed energy from outside to be made manifest.
And in the process of making them manifest,
the system could use the "host" to seize the World Origin and other mysterious and profound things.
It could even take...
the host himself!
Previously, this had only been Lei Jun's theory.
But as his observations continued,
the theory was proven correct.
Because at that very moment,
the opportunity that had come flying from beyond the heavens contained a faint trace of consciousness.
Together with the opportunity,
it had landed at...
Mount Buzhou!
"Just as I thought!"
"The Transmigrator appeared around the time the First Sermon ended!"
"I just wonder..."
"What kind of 'system' will it be?"
At the Academy,
Lei Jun couldn't help feeling curious.
With a single thought,
he saw everything.
He examined the opportunity, including the consciousness and the host itself.
Then,
he let out a soft laugh.
The cultivators listening to the sermon couldn't help exchanging glances.
Until then,
the cultivators who had originally been in the Small Courtyard, along with Nüwa and the others who had arrived later,
had all gathered together.
They had found places to sit and listened intently to Lei Jun's sermon.
But now,
for some unknown reason, Lei Jun had stopped.
Before you continue