Although Hongjun was most satisfied with Yuan Yan, he would not favor him for it. He would follow the Heavenly Dao in all things.
He had already achieved Dao Unification. He had to be impartial. Otherwise, the Heavenly Dao would turn against him, making it even harder to resist assimilation. If he failed, he would become part of the Heavenly Dao, reduced to its vessel.
Unless he had no other choice, he would never show favoritism.
He could not gamble with his life and path of cultivation for Yuan Yan's sake.
At most, he would give Yuan Yan free rein within the bounds of the Heavenly Dao Laws and impose no special restrictions on him.
Of course, given Yuan Yan's current circumstances, he needed no favoritism. Impartiality alone would suffice.
As Hongjun considered this, satisfaction flickered through his eyes, then vanished. He resumed the detachment of the Heavenly Dao's spokesman, as though he were no longer Hongjun but the Heavenly Dao itself.
He asked evenly, "Yuan Yan, the Heavenly Dao issued an edict ordering you to stop the battle between the Earth Court and the Demon Clan. Why did you shield yourself from the Heavenly Dao and refuse to carry it out?"
Yuan Yan answered without hurry, "Master, fewer than ten Epochs have passed since I became a Hunyuan Great Firmament Golden Immortal. My true body is still transforming, and my Origin Power is depleted. I need to absorb Chaos Qi to replenish it. I really can't interrupt the process without risking my foundation, so I have no time!"
"..." Hongjun showed nothing on his face, but inwardly he was speechless.
If Yuan Yan was going to brush him off, could he not at least come up with a plausible excuse?
Yuan Yan had indeed made his true body the