Meanwhile.
On the other side of Chaos.
The Three Pure Ones, Di Jun and Tai Yi, and the others had been tormented by the Chaotic Gale and Thunder Fire until they were on the verge of death. Suddenly, their bodies shuddered.
They felt the Heavenly Secrets, which had been obscure and indistinct, suddenly become clear. The sense of being beset by misfortune vanished without a trace.
In its place, an overwhelming measure of innate divine fortune once again settled upon them.
The rampaging calamities of Chaos, which had seemed ready to tear them apart, began to rapidly subside once misfortune no longer drew them in.
Through his deductions with the Jade Plate of Creation, Hongjun, inside the Purple Heaven Palace, clearly saw that the Three Pure Ones and the other Innate Divine Beings had finally survived this inexplicable death tribulation.
He watched them, battered though they were, struggle forward along the golden light of Jie Yin, heading toward the Purple Heaven Palace. Only then did Hongjun finally breathe a long sigh of relief.
"At least the lecture is still on."
Meanwhile, Tianlu drifted along at his leisure and arrived at the main hall of the Purple Heaven Palace.
Inside, the hall stretched boundlessly, as though it were a world unto itself. The surrounding walls were engraved with intricate, profound Dao patterns, emanating an unfathomable aura of Creation.
Tianlu swept his gaze across the empty hall and spotted the only three figures there.
They were Nuwa, dignified and holy in her seven-colored robes; Fuxi, warm and refined in his dark Daoist robe; and Yang Hui, dressed in a luxurious gown, her temperament as cold as ice that had lain for ten thousand years.
Tianlu's eyes lit up, and he drifted toward them.
Nuwa's beautiful eyes brightened as she stepped forward.
"Fellow Daoist Tianlu, it's been a long time."
Fuxi smiled warmly as well and cupped his hands in greeting.
"Fellow Daoist Tianlu, meeting here is truly fate bringing us together."
Tianlu grinned and casually waved a paw in return.
Yang Hui, standing to the side, pressed her red lips tightly together and said nothing.
Her eyes held a deep, stifled frustration. She, the exalted first wisp of Primordial Yin Qi to take form and the ruler of West Kunlun, had always been so proud and noble.
Yet in the Kunlun Sacred Realm, this greedy, domineering Pixiu had swallowed her whole, along with her spiritual roots. He even had her very life force firmly in his grasp.
Now, meeting him in the sacred and solemn Purple Heaven Palace, she truly had no idea how she was supposed to face this scoundrel.
Seeing Yang Hui like this, a glimmer of amusement flashed through Tianlu's eyes.
"Yang Hui, why won't you even say a word now that you've seen me?"
Yang Hui turned her head away, still silent. Her chest rose and fell slightly, clearly as she forced down her emotions.
Nuwa and Fuxi were both taken aback. Their gazes shifted between Tianlu and Yang Hui.
"Fellow Daoist Tianlu, are you and Fellow Daoist Yang Hui close?"
Nuwa couldn't help asking.
In their minds, Yang Hui was a reclusive powerhouse of West Kunlun, aloof and proud by nature, and rarely did she associate with divine beings from the outside world.
Tianlu lifted his chin and answered as though it were only natural.
"Of course we're close. She's mine."
The moment he said that, the atmosphere in the hall turned strange.
Nuwa and Fuxi stared wide-eyed, their faces full of disbelief.
Yang Hui's body trembled violently, a few angry blushes appearing on her face.
But with her life in his hands, she gritted her teeth and didn't dare to argue.
Tianlu paid no heed to their shock. He flopped down into the soft Cloud Treasure and let out a contented sigh.
Then he glanced sidelong at Yang Hui and spoke in a languid tone.
"Little girl, come over and rub my back."
Yang Hui stiffened at his words, her jade-like hands clenching at her sides.
She took a deep breath, then finally let out a helpless, bitter laugh.
Under the stunned gazes of Nuwa and Fuxi, the ruler of West Kunlun really did walk slowly over to the cloud. She placed both hands gently on Tianlu's golden back and began to knead and massage him.
Nuwa's red lips parted, but for a long moment she couldn't say a word.
Fuxi drew in a sharp breath, secretly shaken.
"I never imagined Fellow Daoist Yang Hui really was Fellow Daoist Tianlu's."
Tianlu narrowed his eyes, enjoying the gentle, measured pressure on his back. The flow of his inner magical power grew smoother, and he couldn't help but groan with pleasure.
But he didn't lose himself entirely in the enjoyment. He opened his golden eyes slightly and swept his gaze across the vast hall, a hint of surprise passing through them.
For a long while, he stared beneath the empty dais at the very front of the hall.
"Strange. According to my memories of the Primordial World from my previous life, shouldn't there be six Prayer Mats at the front of the Purple Heaven Palace, determining who would receive Sainthood in the future?"
"Where are those six Prayer Mats?"
"Has Old Man Hongjun not set them out yet? Or did my arrival cause some kind of butterfly effect, changing the rules of the Purple Heaven Palace?"
Tianlu was wondering to himself, considering whether to use the Law of Space to investigate the rear of the hall, when a series of disorderly, heavy footsteps suddenly sounded from the Purple Heaven Palace's imposing bronze gate, accompanied by violent fluctuations of magical power.
One figure after another entered the main hall of the Purple Heaven Palace.
Leading the way were the Three Pure Ones, incarnations of Pangu's Primordial Spirit.
Taiqing Laozi's Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda had dimmed. Yuqing Yuanshi's hair was disheveled, and Shangqing Tongtian's robes were torn. All three looked utterly exhausted.
The next to enter were Di Jun and Tai Yi of the Sun Star.
Then the Twelve Ancestral Witches squeezed into the hall, their enormous bodies like mountains. They were all panting heavily, their bodies covered in marks left by the burning Thunder Fire.
Zhenyuanzi, Hong Yun, Styx, and the other innate divine powerhouses also filed in, supporting one another.
In just a short while, more than two thousand figures had poured into the once-empty main hall of the Purple Heaven Palace.
These Daluo divine beings, who could command the wind and rain in the Primordial World and stood high above all others, were now utterly disheveled.
As soon as they entered the hall, they were awed by the vast pressure of the Heavenly Dao within the Purple Heaven Palace. They stopped in their tracks, calming the chaotic magical power within them as they gazed around in reverence.
Yet among these two thousand divine beings, one man wasn't drawn to the Dao's aura of the Purple Heaven Palace.
He was Lord of Wood, the first wisp of Innate Pure Yang Qi to take form—Duke of the East.
Though Duke of the East was also somewhat battered, he did his utmost to maintain his noble bearing.
The moment his gaze swept across the front of the hall, it froze.
What he saw was Yang Hui massaging the back of a golden beast.
Duke of the East's breathing immediately grew heavy. Pure Yang Fire seemed to blaze in his eyes, and fury gleamed in them.
During his travels through the Primordial World, he had once been fortunate enough to visit West Kunlun and briefly meet Yang Hui.
He had taken form from Innate Pure Yang Qi, while Yang Hui had taken form from Primordial Yin Qi.
In the cultivation principles of the Primordial World, the union of Yin and Yang was the Supreme Great Dao.
Duke of the East had always believed that he and Yang Hui were made for each other by Heaven and Earth. In his heart, he had already regarded her as his future Dao companion, convinced that they shared a deep bond.
But what was he looking at now?!
Before you continue