Dao Ancestor Hongjun stood with his hands behind his back. His indifferent eyes rested on Xuandu, their gaze devoid of sorrow or joy, revealing no trace of emotion.
He did not answer at once.
He merely watched the Green Clad Junior before him, those eyes as calm as an ancient well, that youthful face filled with boundless composure.
After a long while,
Hongjun slowly spoke, his voice devoid of emotion:
"What do you want?"
The four words fell like a Great Dao Edict, echoing slowly before Purple Heaven Palace.
Xuandu raised his eyes slightly, meeting Hongjun's indifferent gaze. He enunciated each word:
"The Kongtong Seal."
As the three words left his lips, the space before Purple Heaven Palace suddenly tightened.
Even the flowing Chaos Energy Flow seemed to stop for an instant.
Hongjun's gaze shifted slightly.
He said nothing. His eyes merely turned toward the tightly shut palace doors, toward the four Sage figures beyond them, their auras chaotic and their faces deathly pale.
Inside Purple Heaven Palace.
Yuanshi sat cross-legged, Jade Purity Immortal Light flickering around him. The Three Treasures Jade Ruyi hovered above his head, its radiance dim.
His eyes were half-closed, as if he were regulating his breathing, but his mind could not settle.
The terror of surviving calamity, the frustration of being trapped in the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, and the fury of having the Pangu Banner taken from him were now tangled together in his heart like a snarl of threads.
But what unsettled him most were the words spoken by That Green Clad Figure outside.
Xuandu.
He actually dared to make demands of Dao Ancestor Hongjun!
He actually dared to ask for the Kongtong Seal!
Yuanshi abruptly opened his eyes. Jade Purity Immortal Light surged wildly in them, almost scorching a hole through space.