Purple Abode Island

Bi Xiao opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but Yun Xiao gently pressed a hand to her arm.

"Little Fourth is right." Yun Xiao's tone was gentle yet brooked no argument. "What Master entrusted to us is important. We can discuss everything else later."

Bi Xiao snorted and finally said no more. She merely glared at Zhao Gongming before taking her place beside Lei Xiao.

Zhao Gongming cupped his hands. "Many thanks, Senior Brother Lei Xiao."

Lei Xiao nodded slightly, then seemed to recall something and asked the Three Xiao and Zhao Gongming, "Do you know the exact location of Purple Abode Island?"

"Senior Brother Lei Xiao, I do. I'll take you there!" Zhao Gongming immediately answered, his voice carrying a trace of urgency, as though he wished to seize this chance to repair his image.

Lei Xiao glanced at him and did not refuse. He nodded. "Then I'll trouble Junior Brother Zhao."

Zhao Gongming hurriedly said he did not deserve such words, then took the lead in mounting a cloud and flying eastward.

Lei Xiao and the Three Xiao followed close behind.

Along the way, Bi Xiao continued to give Zhao Gongming the cold shoulder, while Qiong Xiao remained indifferent. Only Yun Xiao occasionally exchanged a word or two with Zhao Gongming, and even that was merely to ensure they were headed the right way.

Zhao Gongming had grievances he could not voice and could only lower his head and lead the way.

Lei Xiao also learned from Yun Xiao that she and Qiong Xiao had originally planned to travel to Purple Abode Island to hear King of the East expound the Dao, only to stumble into the Yin-Yang Profound Baleful Array.

Hearing this, Lei Xiao did not know whether to say the two women had good luck or bad luck. Still, judging from the final outcome, it had turned out well enough.

After all, Qiong Xiao had obtained a high-grade innate spirit treasure, and barring any surprises, once Tongtian finished dealing with the Innate Yin-Yang Baleful Qi Flood Dragon, Yun Xiao would also obtain an innate spirit treasure.

In the blink of an eye, ten years passed.

"Purple Abode Island lies ahead." Zhao Gongming suddenly raised a hand and pointed.

Lei Xiao looked in the direction of his finger. At the point where sea and sky met in the distance, a pillar of purple light soared into the heavens, dyeing half the sky in violet clouds. Auspicious clouds curled around it, and thousands of streams of blessed radiance flowed forth—a truly immortal spectacle.

"This King of the East truly has no small ambitions."

Lei Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly. The Eye of Heavenly Retribution between his brows pierced through layers of purple qi and gazed upon the vast cultivation ground floating above the East Sea. He could clearly sense an exceedingly powerful surge of fortune rising from the depths of Purple Abode Island.

The entire East Sea was boundless, and the sea clans within numbered in the hundreds of millions upon hundreds of millions. If King of the East truly brought all those countless sea clans under his command, then in terms of fortune, he would not be much weaker than the Witch and Demon Races.

But fortune was fortune, and strength was strength.

What truly decided victory and defeat was top-tier combat power. The Witch Race had the Twelve Ancestral Witches. The Demon Race had Dijun, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, as well as the Demon Empress Xihe, Changxi, Demon Master Kunpeng, Demon Emperor Fuxi, and Nuwa, who later joined the Demon Race.

As for King of the East's side, he was a lone commander with not a single soldier.

It could be said that King of the East's defeat was inevitable.

Lei Xiao withdrew his gaze and secretly shook his head. King of the East appeared incomparably glorious, but in truth, he was dancing upon a blade's edge. Without sufficient strength to suppress such monstrous fortune, he would ultimately only suffer its backlash and meet the end of body and Dao alike.

"Junior Brother Lei Xiao, what are you thinking about?" Seeing the changes in Lei Xiao's expression, Yun Xiao asked softly.

"Nothing. I merely saw a tall tower rising and felt a little wistful."

Lei Xiao answered casually. He recalled a saying from later generations—I watched him raise vermilion towers, I watched him feast his guests, I watched his towers collapse!

If nothing unexpected happened, he would witness that very scene.

A thoughtful glint flashed through Yun Xiao's beautiful eyes.

As they spoke, the five had already reached the outskirts of Purple Abode Island.

Upon the island, immortal cranes cried out, auspicious beasts galloped, and countless cultivators clad in purple robes moved back and forth in orderly fashion.

The instant they stepped onto Purple Abode Island, a ray of purple light shot out from the island's center. Like a long rainbow spanning the sky, it extended beneath the feet of Lei Xiao and the others in the blink of an eye.

Wherever the purple light passed, lotuses bloomed in the void and spiritual qi condensed into splendor. Illusory lotus lamps hung along both sides of the path, illuminating the entire road brightly.

The many cultivators on the island turned their heads, astonishment appearing on their faces.

"Is this... King of the East personally laying down a path to welcome them? Just who are these arrivals?"

"Didn't you see that purple qi soaring into the heavens? This is the highest standard of welcome. Could a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal have arrived?"

"Impossible. Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals have come to the island before, yet none received such treatment. The arrivals must be mighty figures in the same realm as King of the East..."

The murmurs rose and fell. Many cultivators had already stopped to watch, their gazes filled with curiosity.

"Senior Sisters, Senior Brother, please—"

Zhao Gongming was quite adept at handling people. He had originally been leading the way at the front, but upon seeing the purple path spread out, he immediately stepped aside and raised a hand in invitation, yielding the foremost position to Lei Xiao and the Three Xiao.

Yun Xiao, Qiong Xiao, Bi Xiao, and Lei Xiao stepped onto the purple light in turn, with Zhao Gongming following behind them.

The moment their feet landed, a gentle yet vast current of spiritual qi rose from beneath them, as though the entire path were actively carrying them forward.

Lei Xiao felt it was rather like an elevator from later generations, the kind that crossed ten thousand miles in an instant.

The five sped forward along the path of purple light. The lotus lamps on either side lit up and went out in sequence, as though clearing the way for them.

The scenery of Purple Abode Island flashed rapidly beneath their feet—spiritual springs and cascading waterfalls, strange flowers and exotic herbs, palaces and pavilions with carved beams and painted rafters, as well as cultivators gathered in twos and threes, all looking up at them now.

"Look, it's them!"

"Five people... the one in front is a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal? And there's even a Golden Immortal?"

"How is that possible? A mere Golden Immortal is worthy of King of the East welcoming him with a path of purple qi?"

Voices of doubt erupted one after another. The cultivators across the island were dumbfounded. Those who had just speculated that mighty figures of the same realm had arrived were instantly thrown into an uproar upon seeing the cultivation levels of the group.

Hearing the discussions below, Bi Xiao immediately raised her brows and was about to rebuke them when Yun Xiao gently tugged her sleeve and shook her head slightly, signaling that there was no need to bother with outsiders' idle words.

"Disciples of fellow Daoist Tongtian have arrived. This lord personally welcomes them as is only proper. There is no need for everyone to be astonished."

The moment those words fell, the uproar across the island instantly subsided, and the expressions of the cultivators changed dramatically.

Among the Primordial World, almost no one was unaware of the Three Pure Ones of Pangu, particularly Tongtian of the Upper Pure Ones.

Debates over who was the strongest in the Primordial World, excluding Hongjun, had always been varied and endless. Yet the two most widely supported candidates were Eastern Emperor Taiyi, who wielded an innate supreme treasure, and Tongtian.

Moreover, Tongtian's battle against Zhunti in the starry sky not long ago had allowed many powerful figures to witness Tongtian's true strength.

Both were late-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, yet even after Zhunti used a top-grade innate spirit treasure, he had still been no match for the bare-handed Tongtian.

The cultivators who had been whispering among themselves now looked at Lei Xiao's group of five with entirely different eyes—from their initial disdain and skepticism to astonishment and wariness.