Treasure Distribution

Hongjun's gaze lingered on the gaunt Daoist for only an instant before shifting away.

But the great powers present were no fools. Seeing the Saint's expression, they knew he was extremely pleased with this title. They immediately rose and bowed in unison. "Greetings, Dao Ancestor!"

Hongjun nodded faintly, a trace of a smile curling his lips before vanishing again.

The next second, he raised a hand and pointed, and a strand of Primordial Violet Qi appeared beside him.

The great powers below could not help but quicken their breathing.

With a sweep of Hongjun's hand, the Primordial Violet Qi drifted toward the great powers below.

Seeing this, they no longer cared that they were in Zixiao Palace and all reached out to seize it.

Yet the violet qi seemed to possess a will of its own. It easily slipped past the great powers and landed in Hongyun's hand.

Hongyun had still been troubled over losing his saintly seat, only for the Primordial Violet Qi to fall from the heavens just like that.

Ecstatic, Hongyun had intended to store the Primordial Violet Qi away. Yet the instant it touched his mana, it burrowed directly into his body and fused into his Primordial Spirit.

But to the great powers in Zixiao Palace, it appeared that Hongyun had simply stored away the Primordial Violet Qi.

Witnessing this, Kunpeng felt his blood surge, his eyes turning red.

Dijun's expression was equally grim. In his view, he had asked for this Primordial Violet Qi, so it should have been his. Yet it had fallen into Hongyun's hands. It was utterly outrageous!

Even Minghe was beginning to stir. Before a saintly seat, no one could remain calm.

Yet Hongyun himself was somewhat dumbfounded. How had this Primordial Violet Qi fused directly into his Primordial Spirit, and become impossible to remove? Was it only his Primordial Violet Qi that was like this, or had the previous six been the same?

If Bai Jing had known of Hongyun's doubts, he would certainly have told him that there was nothing wrong with the Primordial Violet Qi. The Heavenly Dao had always needed to place restraints upon those who obtained it.

If the Primordial World were compared to a large company, then anyone hired by the company would have to sign an agreement.

Ordinary employees could breach their contracts if they wished, but could the company's upper management—especially those given equity incentives—go without restraints?

Seeing that the final strand of Primordial Violet Qi had also found an owner, Hongjun rose directly to his feet. "After attaining Sainthood, this Daoist sensed the Heavenly Dao and thus repaid the Primordial World by lecturing three times at Zixiao Palace, for a total of nine thousand years. Now, my merit has reached completion.

"This Daoist attained Sainthood through comprehending the Heavenly Dao. Yet the Heavenly Dao is incomplete, and thus the world has flaws. This Daoist wishes to merge his body with the Heavenly Dao and complete the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World. Hongjun shall be the Heavenly Dao, but the Heavenly Dao shall not be Hongjun. From this day onward, Zixiao Palace shall close and will not enter the Primordial World except during immeasurable kalpas."

"Teacher—"

Zhunti had just begun to say something when Hongjun swept him a cold glance. Zhunti felt his mind shudder and immediately shut his mouth.

Hongjun closed his eyes, and an aura of supreme majesty, yet aloof indifference, gradually emanated from him.

The great powers of Zixiao Palace watched this scene, some astonished, some envious, some unable to understand, and some perplexed.

After all, the strongest among those currently in Zixiao Palace were merely at the Mixed Yuan Golden Immortal and quasi-Saint levels. An immense gulf still separated them from Saints, let alone the realm of merging with the Heavenly Dao.

Many simply could not understand what exactly was happening to Hongjun at this moment.

Ignoring their gazes, Hongjun continued, "Since coming into being, this Daoist has traveled the Primordial World and obtained many treasures. Now that I am merging with the Heavenly Dao, those treasures are of no use to me. Outside Zixiao Palace, I have established a Treasure-Splitting Cliff. Upon it are many treasures, which those fated may obtain. You may claim them yourselves, to use in severing corpses and protecting yourselves."

The great powers of Zixiao Palace were overjoyed upon hearing this. Of the three thousand guests of the mortal world in Zixiao Palace, how many possessed innate spiritual treasures? Quite a few great powers had remained trapped at the Great Luo realm precisely because they lacked innate spiritual treasures.

Even Bai Jing could not suppress the excitement rising in his heart. After all, he had come for the five-colored banners on Treasure-Splitting Cliff.

"Thank you, Dao Ancestor, for bestowing treasures!" The great powers bowed to thank Hongjun. When they straightened, the prayer mats at the front were already completely empty. They knew Hongjun had departed.

Bai Jing grabbed Houtu and rushed out of Zixiao Palace, then transmitted to her, "Fellow Daoist Houtu, if any unexpected situation arises while we claim treasures, please lend me a hand."

Seeing how urgent Bai Jing was, Houtu naturally did not refuse and immediately nodded in agreement.

Bai Jing was not skilled in escape techniques. Though he had been among the first to rush out, by the time he and Houtu reached Treasure-Splitting Cliff, Hongyun, Kunpeng, Dijun, and Taiyi—great powers famed for their speed—had already arrived ahead of them. The Three Pure Ones arrived almost at the same time as Bai Jing and Houtu.

Dijun was the first to claim treasures. With a grasp of his hand, he fished five clusters of treasure light from Treasure-Splitting Cliff. When the light dispersed, they proved to be only five lower-grade innate spiritual treasures.

With so many clusters of treasure light within Treasure-Splitting Cliff, Dijun had obtained only five items, and all of them were lower-grade innate spiritual treasures. He was clearly dissatisfied.

But when Dijun tried to claim more, he discovered that no matter how he exerted his power, those treasures would not budge, as though welded onto Treasure-Splitting Cliff.

Seeing this, Taiyi also reached out and grabbed. Likewise, he caught only five spiritual treasures, though one among them was a high-grade innate spiritual treasure. When Taiyi struck again, he too could no longer take any other spiritual treasures from Treasure-Splitting Cliff.

Hongyun and Kunpeng were the same.

Only, when Hongyun made his grab, there were more than ten clusters of treasure light in his hand. Seeing that he had seized so many spiritual treasures, before the treasure light could even disperse, Hongyun stored them all away.

The others immediately understood that this must have been a method left behind by the Dao Ancestor, intended to prevent the great powers who arrived first from taking all the treasures.

Seeing this, Bai Jing no longer hesitated and reached out as well.

The instant he touched Treasure-Splitting Cliff, Bai Jing understood why the others before him had mostly taken out lower-grade innate spiritual treasures.

The reason was simple. The treasure light shrouding the magical treasures within Treasure-Splitting Cliff was also a method left behind by Hongjun. When claiming treasures, one simply could not see what magical treasure lay within the light. How many one could take and what grade they were depended entirely on luck.

Yet Hongjun had overlooked one point: Bai Jing had transformed from the World-Purifying White Lotus, while the Innate Five Directional Banners had been formed from the leaves of the Chaos Green Lotus. They shared the same roots and origin, and could sense one another. Setting aside the other treasures, the moment Bai Jing reached out, he had already sensed the locations of the Innate Five Directional Banners.

A trace of excitement rose in Bai Jing's heart. Yet before he could rejoice for long, the Three Pure Ones nearly acted at the same time. With casual grabs, they took away two of the Innate Five Directional Banners.

Bai Jing sighed at the sight and hurriedly seized the final Innate Five Directional Banner, drawing it out together with the three spiritual treasures beside it.

The four of them took treasures from Treasure-Splitting Cliff almost simultaneously. Laozi and Yuanshi brought out dozens of innate spiritual treasures between them, while Tongtian claimed the most—fully a hundred, including several top-grade innate spiritual treasures. In contrast, Bai Jing had only a pitiful four clusters of treasure light in his hand.

Yet Bai Jing showed not the slightest dejection, for the Eastern Green Lotus Treasure-Colored Banner he had long coveted was already in his grasp.