The Pedigree Sum was the key to opening the gates of Hunyuan!
Only by improving his own pedigree could he use the vast cultivation feedback when the Jie Sect Overall Strength increased, breaking through the Shackles in one stroke and attaining Hunyuan!
Otherwise, if he proceeded step by step, he would likely end up like the vast majority of Great Powers in the Great Wilderness, embarking on the Quasi-Saint path of entrusting the Three Corpses.
That was not what he wanted!
In his mind, the cold mechanical voice swiftly responded:
[Ding! Host's request detected.] [To unlock the next-stage function, the Host must complete a specific mission.] [Mission: Invite a living being rated top-tier or above in pedigree to join the Jie Sect.] [Mission Reward: Unlock the Root Sum Feedback Function.] [Note: Pedigree evaluation is based on comprehensive factors such as the living being's pedigree, potential, fortune, and so on.]
Xuandu's heart trembled.
Invite a top-tier pedigree living being to join the Jie Sect?
This mission... was neither particularly difficult nor particularly easy.
The Great Wilderness was vast, and there was no shortage of those with deep roots and limitless potential.
Yet most of them had long since found their affiliations or had already emerged into the world.
These living beings possessed profound cultivation and lofty pride. How could they be easily persuaded by him?
Not to mention that they had to join the Jie Sect!
Although the Jie Sect now possessed an awe-inspiring aura, it was not the only great sect in the Great Wilderness.
The two in the West, the Witch-Demon Two Clans, and even some reclusive Great Powers all had top-tier pedigree disciples under them as well.
Poaching them? The risk was too great.
For now, he could only recruit those who had yet to take form or had only recently begun their journeys.
Names rapidly flashed through his mind one after another.
Suddenly, one name appeared in his mind.
Kong Xuan!
The First Peacock in the World, the Phoenix Clan Crown Prince, born from the Primordial Five Elements Qi!
His roots were extraordinarily deep, and his potential immense. He was absolutely among the most top-tier beings in the Great Wilderness!
During the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, relying on his innate Divine Ability, the Five-Colored Divine Light, he was known as the "number one beneath the Sage."
During the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, he swept through the immortals of the Chan Sect. Though he was ultimately subdued by Sage Zhunti, the terror of his pedigree was beyond question!
Most importantly, the Witch-Demon Tribulation had not yet fully come to an end.
Kong Xuan was still at the Undying Volcano, and his realm was at most that of a Daluo Golden Immortal!
If Kong Xuan joined the Jie Sect...
Not only would he add a future peerless general to the Jie Sect, he could also immediately complete the System Mission and unlock the Root Sum Feedback!
At that time, with the improvement brought by Kong Xuan's heaven-defying pedigree, coupled with the continuous future feedback from the cultivation of the Jie Sect Myriad Immortals...
The Hunyuan Golden Immortal Realm would no longer be an unattainable dream!
Xuandu's eyes instantly burned with fervor.
An opportunity!
The Great Dao lay right before him!
He had to seize it!
With that thought, Xuandu no longer hesitated.
He felt the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Peak mana within him, vast as a sea of stars, and an unprecedented confidence surged up from within.
Behind him stood the Jie Sect, and Sage Tongtian!
With the prosperity of a Sage's lineage, offering a Phoenix Clan remnant protection and a future on the Great Dao, he refused to believe Kong Xuan would not be tempted.
If his realm was low and he had yet to grow to his peak...
A cold glint flashed through Xuandu's eyes.
Then he would suppress him by force and bring him back to Golden Ao Island!
The System Mission had to be completed. It concerned his own Hunyuan Dao Path and could not afford any mishap.
As a Disciple of a Sage, why should he hesitate excessively in his actions?
The Jie Sect had always emphasized Seize a Thread of Life. What was wrong with using harsher methods?
He took a step, and his figure vanished from the secluded valley.
The next moment, he quietly returned to that Desolate Cave Mansion.
The cave mansion remained crude and simple, utterly mismatched with the power he now possessed.
But he did not care in the slightest.
After briefly extending his senses and confirming that no one nearby was paying attention to this place, Xuandu moved again, turning into a wisp of nearly undetectable clear wind and silently leaving Golden Ao Island.
The instant he left the island, he no longer suppressed his speed.
"Boom!"
The void seemed to be struck open by an invisible immense force, sending ripples spreading through space.
Xuandu turned into an ultimate streak of escaping light, tearing through the clouds as he raced toward the southern horizon!
His speed far surpassed that of an ordinary Golden Immortal!
With his Zenith Heaven Peak mana driven at full power and supplemented by the profound operation of the Shangqing Gongfa, every flicker carried him across endless mountains and rivers.
The Great Wilderness Land below rapidly receded.
Mountains, rivers, and streams resembled the veins of a chessboard, dotted with scattered flames of battle between the Witch-Demon Two Clans. Yet not a trace of it could touch his escaping light.
His destination was clear: the southern Undying Volcano!
At the request of many readers, an ad-free function for VIP Members is now available.
Click to view.
Meanwhile.
At the summit of Shouyang Mountain, Tushita Palace.
Cloud mist still lingered, while Dao Rhymes from ancient times filled the air.
Grand Pure Sage Laozi sat quietly upon a meditation cushion, his eyes slightly closed. His aura melded with the Heavenly Dao, as though he had become part of the rules themselves.
Suddenly, an extremely subtle fluctuation rippled through the void outside the palace.
A streak of Pure and Bright Immortal Light flashed, revealing the figure of a middle-aged Daoist.
He wore a Yuqing Dao Robe. His face was stern and dignified, stars and constellations contained within His Eyes. His aura was vast and solemn, carrying an innate sense of nobility and order.
It was none other than the Sage Yuqing, Primordial Heavenly Venerate.
He did not deliberately restrain his aura, yet when he stepped into the bounds of Tushita Palace, his vast Saintly Might naturally merged into the Wu Wei Dao Rhyme here, stirring not the slightest ripple.
Sensing Yuanshi's arrival, Laozi slowly opened his eyes.
Those eyes, calm as an old well, looked toward Yuanshi. There was neither surprise nor greeting as he simply spoke in a calm tone:
"Second Brother has come."
Primordial Heavenly Venerate gave a slight nod in greeting, then walked straight over to a meditation cushion at the side and sat down.
Between him and Laozi, there was no need for excessive formalities.
"Elder Brother."
Primordial Heavenly Venerate spoke, his voice steady and carrying his characteristic authority.
"Earlier, your Spiritual Sense swept across the Great Wilderness and disturbed countless living beings. What was the reason?"
His gaze fell upon Laozi, carrying a hint of inquiry.
A Sage's thought could move throughout the universe.
Laozi's earlier action had certainly not been without cause.
Laozi's expression did not change, and his tone remained indifferent:
"It was nothing. I merely sensed something and took a look."
Primordial Heavenly Venerate's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He knew his Elder Brother's temperament well. Laozi followed Wu Wei and tranquility; ordinary matters could hardly stir his emotions.
Such a sweep of Spiritual Sense could not be explained by merely saying he had sensed something.
Though the Heavenly Secret had been muddled, he faintly felt that this matter might be related to the Human Race youth Laozi had previously taken notice of.
"Was it because of that Human Race member named Xuandu?"
Primordial Heavenly Venerate directly laid it bare.
"This child's fate seems to have changed. He actually appeared on Golden Ao Island, under Junior Brother Tongtian?"
He presided over the Chan Sect and followed Heaven's will, making him especially sensitive to pedigree and fate.
The sudden turn in Xuandu's fate, along with the Chaos Heavenly Secret shrouding him, had naturally drawn his attention.
Upon hearing this, Laozi's gaze remained calm. He neither denied it nor elaborated, merely saying faintly:
"The arising and passing of fate are all predetermined."
Primordial Heavenly Venerate was clearly dissatisfied with such an answer.
After pondering for a moment, he said solemnly:
"Elder Brother, Junior Brother Tongtian established the Jie Sect and rashly proclaimed Teach Without Discrimination, accepting all Hairy Horned, Wet Born Egg Hatched beings into his sect without distinction."
"Acting in such a manner, without distinguishing pedigree or fortune, will inevitably leave his sect with a mixture of good and bad over time, muddling its fortune and possibly bringing disaster."
"That Xuandu has an affinity with Elder Brother, so he should have entered the Human Sect and inherited the pure Great Dao."
"Yet now he has joined the Jie Sect and keeps company with those Egg Born Wet Hatched beings. This is truly not the proper path."
His dissatisfaction with the Jie Sect's standards for accepting disciples, as well as his regret that Xuandu had gone astray, was evident in his words.
Laozi listened quietly. He neither refuted nor agreed.
Only after Yuanshi had finished did he slowly say:
"Tongtian has his own Dao."
"Those whose Daos differ cannot make plans together."
His tone was calm, with no joy or anger detectable.
After all, the Three Pure Ones had originally parted ways because of differences in sects and ideals.
A trace of barely detectable contempt flashed through Primordial Heavenly Venerate's eyes.
He was merely a Human Race member of low pedigree, with crude roots and shallow fortune.
Such insignificant living beings were like grains of sand in the Great Wilderness, born in the morning and dead by evening. How were they any different from ants?
Had his Elder Brother and third brother Tongtian truly become muddleheaded?
They were actually competing over this child?
Elder Brother's establishment of the Human Sect and his guidance of the Human Race made his concern for this person understandable.
But under Tongtian, Myriad Immortals Come to Court. His sect was so flourishing—why did he need to compete with his Elder Brother for a Human Race member of such ordinary pedigree?
It was simply beneath the dignity of a Sage, needlessly damaging his standing.
His disdain for Tongtian's doctrine of Teach Without Discrimination grew even stronger.
Hairy Horned and Wet Born Egg Hatched beings had shallow foundations. They did not understand Heaven's timing or the principles of Heaven.
Even if they obtained an opportunity and luckily took form, they could hardly shed their savage and crude nature. How could they bear the Great Dao?
To stand alongside such living beings beneath the same sect gate was simply to willingly debase oneself and defile the lineage.
Xuandu had joined the Jie Sect and kept company with these Egg Born Wet Hatched beings. His future was easy to imagine.
He would likely struggle to attain the proper path, eventually fading into obscurity among the masses, perhaps even dragging down the Jie Sect's Fortune.
What a pity. What a shame.
And Elder Brother had actually allowed him to leave, speaking of fate arising and passing, all being predetermined.
The Wu Wei Dao was perhaps a little too... passive.
Before you continue