Hongjun's words struck straight at Tian's heart.
Yes, Luo Hou was a ruthless man. When he turned ruthless, he would even kill himself.
Back then, Tian simply did not dare choose a madman like Luo Hou.
If Luo Hou went all out without a care, Tian might very well collapse.
He had no choice.
It was only after merging with the Dao that Hongjun understood this: he had been tricked.
If he had refused to merge with the Dao in the first place, Tian would have had no choice but to yield him a portion of its authority.
Just like the Saints who came later, who likewise possessed part of Tian's authority.
Unfortunately, Hongjun understood that truth too late.
His primordial spirit had already been entrusted to Tian, setting a bad precedent.
From then on, anyone who attained Sainthood would have to entrust their primordial spirit to Tian.
If Hongjun had understood this before becoming a Saint,
he would never have entrusted his primordial spirit to Tian, handing it leverage over him, much less merged with the Dao.
"Hongjun, although entrusting your primordial spirit to me has restricted you, haven't you also become undying and imperishable?"
"If I were not under your control, would I die? Since I cannot die, how could there be talk of perishing?"
Hongjun directly exposed Tian's scheme. What nonsense about being undying and imperishable.
Having attained the Saint's fruition of the primordial world, would the will of heaven and earth allow me to die?
Even taking a step back, to kill a Saint, one would need to reach the Heavenly Dao Realm.
If I, who became a Saint first, allowed some junior to climb above me and reach the Heavenly Dao Realm, that would only mean I was trash and deserved to die.
Otherwise, if I were the one to attain the Heavenly Dao Realm, would I die?
Tian fell silent. It knew that Hongjun had already seen through its calculations.
It simply vanished. It had originally come to vent its anger, only to be vented upon instead. Why stay? To wait for him to praise it?
At this moment, Hongjun did not fear Tian at all.
Tian was not yet complete. It had not even passed through the Witch-Demon Tribulation and could do nothing to him.
It was only a pity that he could do nothing to Tian either.
Within the Human Race Dao Palace, Tian said nothing and merely stared blankly at Qing Xuanzi.
Qing Xuanzi gritted his teeth and said nothing either. I'll hold my ground.
"What a fine disciple of the Mystic Sect. Hand over the Blessing Seed. There is no need to wait ten thousand years anymore. You may answer my questions now."
"I will not hand over the Blessing Seed. And you are right—my answer need not wait ten thousand years. I can answer you now: no."
"Are you truly not afraid that I will destroy you? Hand it over, and at least I can let bygones be bygones."
"I am afraid. But before I die, I will certainly take you with me."
Qing Xuanzi's calm tone brought a smile to Hongjun's perpetually expressionless face in Purple Cloud Palace.
When Hongjun heard Tian demand the Blessing Seed from Qing Xuanzi,
his heart leaped into his throat. He feared Qing Xuanzi might suffer a moment of madness and hand it over directly.
Fortunately, not only did he refuse, he also answered Tian's question outright, resolving the calamity that would have come ten thousand years later.
Moreover, Hongjun could tell Qing Xuanzi meant it. Before he died, he would certainly take Tian with him.
For one moment, Hongjun even hoped Tian would act ruthlessly, so Qing Xuanzi could simply take it away.
But Tian was not foolish. It did not strike, merely gave Qing Xuanzi a meaningful glance before leaving.
Qing Xuanzi's entire back was soaked through.
He had been afraid—afraid that Tian might lose its mind and perish together with him.
Fortunately, Tian had not.
Letting out a breath, Qing Xuanzi pursed his lips. "Do you take me for a fool? The Sword of Damocles is only useful while it hangs overhead. Once it falls, it is just a broken sword."
Tian's relentless oppression, which had haunted Qing Xuanzi like a lingering ghost, had finally been lifted.
Qing Xuanzi felt his state of mind loosen.
A good opportunity! Qing Xuanzi silently cried out in delight, immediately sat cross-legged, and began circulating the Five Grand Primordial Arts.
The Five Grand Primordial Arts had one characteristic: once one reached a given turn, one would stand at the peak of the corresponding realm.
Qing Xuanzi was now at the eighth turn, corresponding to the peak of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
With his cultivation realm loosening, if he seized the chance to circulate his cultivation method, then barring mishap, advancing to Hunyuan Golden Immortal would be certain.
A thousand years drifted by. When Qing Xuanzi opened his eyes, a piercing gleam flashed from them.
He had advanced to Hunyuan Golden Immortal. In less than five thousand years, he had reached a realm others could not attain even in tens of millions of years.
Worthy indeed of being the child of humanity's providence.
The providence of humanity above his head had become so dense that it was nearly forming droplets.
Roughly thirty percent of humanity's providence had gathered above him.
As a Saint who had created the human race, Nüwa enjoyed thirty-five percent of humanity's providence.
At this time, Qing Xuanzi possessed only five percent less humanity providence than she did.
After leaving seclusion, Qing Xuanzi immediately went to the Dao Lecture Hall.
It was already filled with human immortals.
Seeing Qing Xuanzi appear upon the high platform, they all bowed. "Welcome, Worthy Teacher."
Qing Xuanzi nodded slightly. "Mm. Take your seats. The lecture begins."
Another five hundred years passed. This time, Qing Xuanzi focused on The Dao of Weapon Crafting and The Dao of Arrays.
He believed that when those two Daos were combined, their power would surely increase greatly.
In preparation for facing the Demon Clan's future slaughter, he intended to raise the human race's combat strength. Thus, he specifically spent five hundred years teaching the Daos of arrays and weapons.
After the lecture ended, Qing Xuanzi carefully reflected upon what he had gained this time.
Every lecture deepened his understanding of his own path of cultivation, and naturally brought greater gains.
"Junior Brother Qing Xuanzi, this old Daoist wishes to walk among the human race for a while. You would not object, would you?" Laozi's voice entered Qing Xuanzi's ears.
This was bad. Qing Xuanzi inwardly cried, This is bad. In his excitement, he had forgotten about this. Laozi was coming to establish the Humanity Sect among the human race.
Once he established the Humanity Sect, a portion of humanity's providence would inevitably be divided to him.
Nüwa and he already occupied sixty-five percent of humanity's providence. That was the limit.
Not even the slightest bit more providence could be drawn from the human race, for the rest of humanity needed providence as well.
Draw any more, and something would happen to the human race!
If Laozi established the Humanity Sect in the future, that providence would not be drawn from the human race. It would certainly be taken from his and Nüwa's shares of humanity's providence.
Damn it, he had been careless. How had he forgotten something like this? And now Laozi was here.
What should he do? Drive him away? Damn it, Laozi was still his senior brother. If he drove him away, where would Hongjun's dignity go?
Hongjun had just done him a huge favor, and now he would turn around and grind Hongjun's dignity into the dirt.
Qing Xuanzi could not do such a thing.
"Please come and meet me, Senior Brother Laozi." Qing Xuanzi could only reply like this. They could discuss it face-to-face first.
Laozi's figure slowly appeared before Qing Xuanzi.
"Junior Brother Qing Xuanzi, you truly possess extraordinary talent. In merely a few thousand years, you advanced directly from Golden Immortal to the Quasi-Saint Peak."
The instant he stood before Qing Xuanzi, Laozi sensed the surging, immense mana within him and could not help but sigh in admiration.
"You flatter me, Senior Brother Laozi. Qing Xuanzi was merely fortunate."
"Do not be too modest. The fact that Master accepted you as his Closed-Door Disciple already speaks volumes."
Qing Xuanzi smiled and did not continue dwelling on the matter. Extraordinary talent it was, then.
"May I ask what brings Senior Brother Laozi to my human race?"
"Recently, after long stillness came movement. I sensed that my opportunity lies with the human race, and so I came." Laozi no longer spoke in riddles and directly stated his purpose.
Qing Xuanzi knew it: Laozi had sensed his opportunity to attain Sainthood. Damn it, why had he not made preparations earlier?
What should he do? Waiting online—urgent.
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