Hongjun's Greatest Scheme, the Nine Heavenly Dao Sages

Purple Heaven Palace.

Hongjun's face was gloomy and extremely ugly. The entire Purple Heaven Palace was shrouded in a terrifying aura, and outside, yin and yang were in chaos, with Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind surging wildly.

This indicates that the Dao Ancestor's mentality has exploded at this moment, and he is on the verge of going berserk.

"Dao Venerable... What a magnificent Dao Venerable Ling Xiao!"

Hongjun muttered with murderous intent. He had witnessed the entire scene on the Three Immortal Islands. Those foolish and ignorant creatures actually bestowed the title of Dao Venerable upon Ling Xiao.

Moreover, Ling Xiao readily accepted.

This is blatant disregard for the Dao Ancestor, as if they think they can be on equal footing with him.

What is Ling Xiao's identity?

Does he even deserve the title of "Dao Venerable"?

Hongjun was furious, and Ling Xiao had unknowingly reached this level, beginning to win people's hearts.

The significance of the title "Dao Ancestor" in the Primordial World has always been self-evident.

Now, a Dao Venerable has suddenly appeared, which is practically a competition for his incense offerings.

Thinking of this, Hongjun felt even more disappointed and angry with the demon gods like Yang Mei.

A group of fools failed to kill Ling Xiao and were instead killed themselves, thus giving Ling Xiao, this wretched creature, a good reputation.

The seven demons were ultimately defeated for nothing.

It had absolutely no effect.

Despite his anger, Hongjun understood that Ling Xiao had too many tricks up his sleeve, coming up with too many unbelievable methods that even he, let alone the Seven Demon Gods, hadn't anticipated.

That final strike, a divine power that pierced through Chaos, was too terrifying. Not only could the Karma Demon God not withstand it, but even he himself had to avoid its edge.

"Looks like I'll have to be careful of this next time I deal with that bastard!"

Hongjun made up his mind and began to plan the next step. The Chaos Demon God was useless; he had to do it himself.

It seems that Ling Xiao has become too powerful, and ordinary methods are unlikely to be effective. Now, the only option is to take an extreme approach.

Thinking of this, Hongjun's eyes flickered with unpredictable emotions, and a crazy plan was already forming in his mind.

The Heavenly Dao has now had some of its powers sealed.

This is a golden opportunity!

Immediately afterwards, Hongjun requested five more Heavenly Dao Origins from the Heavenly Dao in preparation for resurrecting the Three Pure Ones and the Two Western Sages.

This time, he could clearly sense that the Heavenly Dao was hesitant, which was perfectly normal, given that these rebellious disciples had died more than ten times in a short period of time.

This means that more than a dozen Heavenly Dao origins are gone.

Hongjun merged with the Heavenly Dao and began to communicate with Heavenly Dao. This was a secret unknown to others, a world belonging to just the two of them. It wasn't until much later that Hongjun returned, satisfied, with the five Heavenly Dao origins.

"Everything is in order, a new era is about to begin!"

Hongjun smiled, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes. This negotiation had gone very smoothly, and the terrible idea in his mind could finally be put into practice.

Once successful, Ling Xiao will be no threat, and all demons and monsters will vanish into thin air.

With this in mind, Hongjun used the five Heavenly Dao Origins to resurrect the Three Pure Ones and the Two Western Sages.

Not long after, the Five Saints emerged from the depths of the Purple Heaven Palace with their heads bowed, their faces full of remorse, not daring to look at the Dao Ancestor's expression.

Even they themselves felt embarrassed; it was too much.

In a short period of time, they died suddenly one after another; their deaths were too abrupt.

Every time it's a waste of time; they don't do anything worthwhile.

Completely unsuccessful!

"We have disappointed the teacher, please punish us!"

The saints approached, performed the grand disciple's salute, and said with remorseful expressions.

"Get up, all of you. This beast is ferocious; no wonder you're all like this," Hongjun said calmly, without the slightest hint of displeasure. This surprised the assembled saints; their teacher was unusually easy to talk to today.

He didn't show the slightest dissatisfaction; in fact... he seemed quite pleased.

This is outrageous. What did they do to please the teacher?

Was it his unwavering spirit and resolute character displayed before his death that earned him such admiration?

No way!

"Teacher! The Seven Demon Gods have been defeated. What should we do next?"

At this moment, Zhun Ti the first to speak, showing concern for important matters.

Always be the first student to share the teacher's burdens.

Upon hearing this, Hongjun paused for a moment before slowly speaking.

"But Heavenly Dao, the tides of history have changed. Due to the invasion of the Chaos Demon God, the order of the Primordial World has been disrupted."

"In order to better maintain the order of the Primordial World, the number of Heavenly Dao Sage will be increased to nine!"

"In other words, in addition to the original Six Saints of the Heavenly Dao, three more Sage need to be born!"

Upon hearing this, all the saints were greatly alarmed.

The Heavenly Dao Sage is going to increase to nine!?

What does this mean?

The five Sage — Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Jieyin, Zhun Ti— looked at each other, a single sentence containing an immense amount of information.

They were puzzled and even more terrified.

Did the teacher think they were too useless, so he wanted to add a few more Sage to keep them around for his own purposes?

That must be it!

Suddenly, the saints felt immense pressure; if this continued, they might all be eliminated.

This is the most terrifying.

"Teacher! What about the other three Sages? Do they have a choice?" Jieyin suppressed his shock and asked after a moment's thought.

Three Pure Ones immediately turned his head and thought to himself, "This guy is at it again."

Is he trying to recommend a suitable candidate?

"The Sage are ordained by Heaven; there is a predetermined destiny in the dark," Hongjun said calmly.

Upon hearing this, the saints nodded repeatedly on the surface, but inwardly they were full of complaints.

I don't believe you for a second!

There's no such thing as destiny.

Whether it's decided or not depends entirely on your word.

They used to believe such things, but now it seems it was all just empty talk.

That's just how it sounds.

For the time being, the saints temporarily abandoned the idea of recommending someone; since the teacher wouldn't budge, they couldn't take it upon themselves to recommend their own people.

Just then, Laozi had been silent for a long time, finally couldn't hold back any longer. He stepped forward, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and spoke with a hint of sorrow.

"Please, Master, have mercy and help your disciple restore his foundation."

"Don't worry, the teacher remembers it!"

Hongjun paused for a moment and nodded slightly. It's no exaggeration to say that if Laozi hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten about it.

"Thank you, teacher!" Laozi's face lit up with joy, and half of the weight that had been hanging over him was lifted.

With this Dao Ancestor, the matter is pretty much settled.

Hongjun's thoughts raced as he considered how to restore Laozi's foundation. The Human Race was out of the question for the time being; he would have to find a new one.

In the eyes of Heavenly Dao, the Human Race is no longer the chosen one, nor is it destined to be the protagonist of the future.

The tide has turned!

Soon, an idea emerged, and after continuous weighing and selection, Hongjun finally came up with a plan.

"Taiqing, step forward and listen to my explanation!"

"Your disciple obeys!"

Laozi respectfully took a step forward, overwhelmed with excitement.

Then, Hongjun told Laozi his thoughts. All that could be seen was Laozi's mouth moving, but no sound was uttered.

The remaining Sage were left anxiously watching, their hearts burning with the fire of gossip.

A short while later, Laozi returned, his face showing joy, a strange expression, and a kind of... radiant, ambitious spirit of about to rise again!