The illness was in the roots all along

Tongtian's assessment of Hongjun made everyone present nod in unison. Even Laozi greatly agreed with what Tongtian had said.

But in the end, Laozi still spoke. "That may be so, but Master once said that everyone has strengths worth learning from."

"Isn't he going to explain the path of the quasi-saint next time? We can listen and see just what a quasi-saint is, and how great the gap is between a quasi-saint and a Primordial Golden Immortal."

Primordial Heavenly Venerable nodded in agreement with Laozi's suggestion. "Eldest Brother is right. This humble Daoist is also quite interested in the path of the quasi-saint."

Tongtian immediately curled his lip. "Eldest Brother, Second Brother, could it be that you think the Primordial Golden Immortal path passed down by Master isn't strong enough? Do you want to switch to cultivating the path of the quasi-saint?"

Primordial Heavenly Venerable directly took out the Three Treasures Ruyi and rapped Tongtian on the head with it. He then glared at him and said, "Do you understand what it means to know yourself and know your enemy, and thus remain undefeated in a hundred battles?"

Tongtian rubbed his head with one hand. "Second Brother, don't underestimate me. I've listened to the military strategies Master taught as well. How could I not know what knowing yourself and your enemy means?"

Primordial Heavenly Venerable glared fiercely at Tongtian again. "Since you know, why are you still spouting nonsense here?"

Tongtian's face was full of indignation. If there had not been outsiders present, he would have drawn the Green Duckweed Sword and had it out with Primordial Heavenly Venerable.

After all, this was far from the first time the two of them had done such a thing. Whenever Primordial Heavenly Venerable and Tongtian fought, Laozi would serve as the referee.

Fortunately, Zhu Rong spoke up at that moment. "I can't understand a single word you're saying. It's just like listening to that old fellow preach the Dao—all obscure and incomprehensible words."

"Since I can't understand it anyway, I'll return to the Ancestral Sorcerer Hall to cultivate. I won't be going to hear the Dao next time either. Going would only be a waste of effort."

Zhu Rong's words immediately won the agreement of the other ten Ancestral Sorcerers. They all said they would not be going to the Purple Cloud Palace to hear the Dao next time.

Laozi did not try to persuade them. After all, the Twelve Ancestral Sorcerers did not cultivate Primordial Spirits, only their physical bodies. Going to listen to Dao Ancestor Hongjun preach would indeed be nothing but a waste of effort.

Seeing the Twelve Ancestral Sorcerers depart, Laozi also rose and bade Fuxi and Nuwa farewell. He intended to take this opportunity to return to Kunlun Mountain and visit his former Daoist grounds.

After seeing off the Twelve Ancestral Sorcerers and the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa could not help but sigh. Then she looked at her elder brother Fuxi and spoke.

"Brother, do you think I really should take him as my master? Why do I feel that becoming his disciple would place great restrictions on my future?"

How could Fuxi fail to understand whom Nuwa truly wished to take as her master? He simply said, "Everything is for Little Sister to decide."

"No matter what decision Little Sister makes, your brother will support you unconditionally."

Nuwa nodded after hearing this, and her expression eased somewhat, as though she had already made an immense decision.

When Chen Xuan arrived at Mount Sumeru in the west, he headed straight for the Eight Treasures Merit Pool at the summit.

At that moment, the Western Two were seated beside the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, digesting the gains they had obtained from listening to the Dao at the Purple Cloud Palace.

Meanwhile, the waters of the Eight Treasures Merit Pool churned. Streams of merit shot into the sky from the pool and merged into the two men's bodies.

In the blink of an eye, three flower buds appeared above the heads of the Western Two. One of them had even reached the point of being ready to bloom.

Upon breaking through to the early Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm, one would attain the state of three flowers gathered atop the head and five energies returning to their source.

Upon breaking through to the middle Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm, one of the three flowers would bloom. By the time one broke through to the peak Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm, all three flowers above one's head would bloom.

How many grades those three flowers could bloom to also determined how far a cultivator could travel upon the path of cultivation.

If the flowers only bloomed to the third grade, reaching the early Primordial Golden Immortal realm would be the end of that cultivator's life.

If the flowers bloomed to the sixth grade, one could hope to reach the peak Primordial Golden Immortal realm. But breaking through to the Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm would be like gazing at flowers in a mirror.

Only those whose flowers bloomed to the ninth grade were qualified to break through to the Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm and perhaps travel even farther in the future.

Only chaotic Gods and Devils could make their three flowers bloom to the perfect twelfth grade. Only when the three flowers bloomed to the twelfth grade would one have a chance to assault the Great Dao realm.

If one could not even reach the third grade and could only bloom to the first grade, then the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm would be the end of the road.

Therefore, Chen Xuan wanted to take this opportunity to see just how many grades the three flowers above the Western Two's heads could bloom to.

According to the original trajectory of the Primordial World, both men would attain the Dao and become saints in the future. Thus, the three flowers above their heads would naturally bloom to the ninth grade.

But Chen Xuan remembered that they had only barely succeeded in attaining the Dao and becoming saints by borrowing from the Heavenly Dao.

That meant the foundations of the Western Two might not have been as lofty as imagined. They might even have become saints mainly because Hongjun owed the west karma.

As time ticked away, the first lotus flower above Zhunti Daoist's and Jieyin Daoist's heads gradually bloomed.

But what Chen Xuan had not expected was that Jieyin Daoist's first lotus flower only bloomed to eight and a half grades. No matter what happened, that remaining half-grade could not unfold.

Zhunti Daoist was even more pitiful. His flower only bloomed to the eighth grade. The final grade of lotus petals directly withered, with no possibility of ever blooming again.

Chen Xuan could not help finding this strange. "Wasn't it said that the three flowers above one's head either bloom to the first grade, or to the third, sixth, ninth, or perfect twelfth grade?"

"How did one of the Western Two bloom to the eighth grade, while the other bloomed to eight and a half? Could there be some unknown secret behind this?"

Just as Chen Xuan was puzzled, a surge of black qi erupted from beneath the western earth. It shot directly into the tops of Jieyin and Zhunti's heads.

As the black qi entered the lotus flowers above their heads, the half-grade of lotus petals that Jieyin Daoist had been unable to bloom successfully unfolded at that very moment.

Even Zhunti Daoist's final grade of lotus petals, which had already withered, regained its vitality at that moment and completed its bloom.

However, the last lotus flower to bloom carried a faint trace of demonic qi. Chen Xuan did not need to ask to know that this was surely Rahu's handiwork.

At the next moment, the demonic qi within the lotus flowers withdrew, leaving not the slightest trace of demonic qi in the ninth-grade lotuses above the two men's heads.

Yet Chen Xuan could clearly see that the demonic qi had not vanished. It had quietly hidden beneath the lotus flowers instead.

"Could this be why the Buddhist Sect would have a Black Lotus in the future? So this Black Lotus isn't the Twelfth-Grade World-Destroying Black Lotus at all—it's the inner demons produced when the Western Two broke through."

At that moment, Chen Xuan had completely figured out what he had previously been unable to understand.

It also reminded Chen Xuan of his true purpose in coming here. He had not come to watch the Western Two break through to the middle Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.