Targeting Kong Xuan! Secret Talks at Tushita Palace!

The sum of one's roots was the key to prying open the gates of Hunyuan!

Only by improving his own pedigree could he, when the Jie Sect Overall Strength rose, draw upon that Vast Cultivation feedback to smash through the Shackles in one stroke and Attain Hunyuan!

Otherwise, if he proceeded step by step, he would likely end up like most Great Powers of the Great Wilderness, walking the Quasi-Saint path of entrusting the Three Corpses.

That was not what he wanted!

In his mind, the cold mechanical voice swiftly replied:

[Ding! Host's requirements detected.]

[To unlock the next-stage function, the Host must complete a specific mission.]

[Mission: Invite a Living Being with a pedigree rating of Top-tier or above to join the Jie Sect.]

[Mission Reward: Unlock the Root Sum Feedback Function.]

[Note: Pedigree ratings are determined by comprehensive factors such as the Living Being's roots, potential, and fortune.]

Xuandu's heart trembled.

Invite a Living Being with Top-tier roots to join the Jie Sect?

This mission... was neither difficult nor easy.

The Great Wilderness was vast, and there was no shortage of those with Deep Roots and boundless potential.

Yet most of them already belonged elsewhere, or had long since entered the world.

These Living Beings possessed profound cultivation and proud hearts. How could they be easily persuaded by him?

Not to mention joining the Jie Sect!

Though the Jie Sect now possessed an aura that soared to the heavens, it was ultimately not the only great sect in the Great Wilderness.

The two of the West, the Witch-Demon Two Clans, and even certain reclusive Great Powers all had Disciples with Top-tier roots under their command.

Poaching them? The risk was too great.

For now, he could only recruit those who had yet to take form or had only just emerged into the world?

Names Flashed rapidly through his mind.

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!

With such Deep Roots and such immense potential, he was absolutely among the very finest in the Great Wilderness!

During the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, relying on his innate Divine Ability, the Five-Colored Divine Light, he was hailed as "the foremost beneath the sages."

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 roots was beyond doubt!

Most crucially, the Witch-Demon Tribulation had not yet fully come to an end.

Kong Xuan was still at Undying Volcano, and his realm was at most that of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal!

If Kong Xuan joined the Jie Sect...

Not only would he add a future peerless champion to the Jie Sect, he could also immediately complete the System Mission and unlock the Root Sum Feedback Function!

Then, with the improvement brought by Kong Xuan's Heaven-Defying roots, coupled with the continuous feedback from the cultivation of the Jie Sect Myriad Immortals in the future...

The Hunyuan Golden Immortal Realm would no longer be a distant dream!

Xuandu's eyes instantly blazed.

An opportunity!

The great Dao road lay right before him!

He had to seize it!

Once his thoughts settled, Xuandu no longer hesitated.

Feeling the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Peak mana within him, vast as a sea of stars, an unprecedented confidence rose within him.

Behind him stood the Jie Sect, and Sage Tongtian!

With the flourishing might of a sage's lineage, offering a remnant of the Phoenix Clan protection and a future on the Great Dao—he refused to believe Kong Xuan would not be tempted.

If Kong Xuan's realm was low and he had yet to grow to his peak...

A cold glint flashed in 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 the slightest mistake.

As a Disciple of a Sage, why should he look before and after in all things?

The Jie Sect had always valued Seizing a Thread of Life. What harm was there in using harsher methods?

He Took a Step, and his figure vanished from the secluded valley.

The next moment, he silently returned to that Desolate Cave Mansion.

The cave dwelling was still simple and crude, utterly at odds with the power he now possessed.

But he did not care in the slightest.

After briefly sensing his surroundings and confirming that no one was paying attention to this place, Xuandu moved again, turning into a wisp of nearly imperceptible clear wind as he silently left Golden Ao Island.

The instant he left the island, he no longer suppressed his speed.

"Boom!"

The void seemed to ripple as though struck by an invisible colossal force.

Xuandu turned into an incomparably swift streak of escaping light, tearing through the clouds as he shot toward the southern horizon!

His speed far surpassed that of an ordinary Golden Immortal!

With the mana of Zenith Heaven Peak driven at full power and supplemented by the wondrous circulation of the Shangqing Gongfa, every flicker carried him across boundless mountains and rivers.

The Great Wilderness Land rushed backward beneath him.

Mountains and rivers spread out like the veins of a chessboard, dotted with scattered flames from the conflicts between the shamans and demons, yet not a trace of it could touch his escaping light.

His destination was clear: the southern Undying Volcano!

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At the same time.

At the summit of Shouyang Mountain, within Tushita Palace.

Cloud mist still curled through the air, while Dao Rhymes that had endured since antiquity permeated the place.

Grand Pure Sage Laozi sat cross-legged upon a cushion, his eyes slightly closed, his aura harmonizing with the Heavenly Dao as though he had become part of its laws.

Suddenly, an exceedingly subtle fluctuation stirred in the void outside the palace.

A Pure and Bright Immortal Light flashed, revealing the figure of a middle-aged Daoist.

He wore a Yuqing Dao Robe, his face stern and majestic, stars and constellations seeming to reside in his eyes. His aura was vast and solemn, carrying an innate sense of nobility and order.

It was the Yuqing Sage, Primordial Heavenly Venerate.

He did not deliberately conceal his aura, yet the moment he entered the bounds of Tushita Palace, his vast Saintly Might naturally merged into the Wu Wei Dao Rhyme here, without stirring the slightest ripple.

Sensing Primordial Heavenly Venerate's arrival, Laozi slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes, calm as an old well, looked upon Primordial Heavenly Venerate without surprise or greeting as he spoke evenly.

"Second Brother has come."

Primordial Heavenly Venerate gave a slight nod in greeting, then walked straight to a cushion nearby 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 its distinctive authority.

"Earlier, your Spiritual Sense swept across the Great Wilderness Land and startled countless living beings. Why was that?"

His gaze rested on Laozi, probing.

A single thought from a Sage could shake the entire universe.

Laozi's earlier action had certainly not been without purpose.

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 brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He knew his elder brother's temperament well. Detached and serene, ordinary matters found it difficult to stir even the slightest fluctuation in his heart.

Such a sweep of Spiritual Sense could not be explained by the words "merely sensed something."

Though the Heavenly Secret had been thrown into chaos, he vaguely 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 called Xuandu?"

Primordial Heavenly Venerate laid it bare directly.

"This Child's fate seems to have changed. How did he end up on Junior Brother Tongtian's Golden Ao Island?"

As the master of the Chan Sect, he followed Heaven's will and was particularly sensitive to origins and fate.

The abrupt turn in Xuandu's fate, along with the chaotic Heavenly Secret shrouding him, had naturally drawn his attention.

Upon hearing this, Laozi's gaze remained tranquil. He neither denied it nor elaborated, merely saying lightly, "The arising and fading of karmic ties 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 recklessly proclaimed 'Teach Without Discrimination.' Whether Hairy Horned or Wet Born Egg Hatched, he accepts them all into his sect."

"Acting thus, without distinguishing one's roots or discerning one's fortune, will inevitably leave his disciples a mixed bag over time, their fortune muddled and chaotic. I fear disaster will arise."

"That Xuandu, since he shares fate with Elder Brother, ought to have entered the Human Sect and inherited the Great Dao of purity."

"Yet now he has joined the Jie Sect, keeping company with those Egg Born Wet Hatched creatures. That 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 strayed onto the wrong path, was plain in every word.

Laozi listened quietly, neither refuting nor agreeing.

Only after Primordial Heavenly Venerate had finished did he slowly say:

"Tongtian has his own Dao."

"Those whose paths differ cannot make plans together."

His tone was calm, giving no hint of joy or anger.

After all, the Three Pure Ones had originally gone their separate ways due to differences in sects and ideals.

A trace of Hard to Detect disdain flashed in Primordial Heavenly Venerate's eyes.

He was merely a Human Race member of lowly roots, crude in foundation and shallow in fortune.

Such a trifling living being was like a grain of sand In the Great Wilderness, born at dawn and dead by dusk. How was he any different from an ant?

Had his Elder Brother and Third Brother Tongtian truly become muddleheaded?

To actually vie over This Child?

His Elder Brother had Established Human Sect to enlighten the Human Race, so it was understandable that he would pay attention to this person.

But beneath Tongtian's seat, Myriad Immortals Come to Court—what prosperity that was. Why did he need to contend with his Elder Brother over a single Human Race member of mediocre roots?

It was simply beneath a Sage's dignity, needlessly tarnishing his own face.

In his heart, he grew ever more dismissive of Tongtian's doctrine of Teach Without Discrimination.

Hairy Horned and Wet Born Egg Hatched creatures possessed shallow innate natures. They knew not the workings of Heaven, nor did they understand heavenly principles.

Even if they gained an opportunity and luckily took form, they could hardly cast off their savage and vulgar natures. How could they bear the Great Dao?

To stand as fellow disciples with such living beings was simply to willingly debase oneself and defile one's lineage of the Dao.

Now that Xuandu had joined the Jie Sect and kept company with these Egg Born Wet Hatched creatures, his future was easy to imagine.

He would likely find it difficult to attain the proper path, and would ultimately fade into the crowd. He might even drag down the Jie Sect's Fortune.

What a pity. What a sigh.

Yet Elder Brother had actually allowed him to leave, saying that the arising and fading of fate were all predestined.

The Wu Wei Dao was surely far too... passive.