Are These Still the Three Pure Ones I Know?

Seeing the regret on Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable's faces, Lu Xuan dropped a bombshell. "My two Sage friends, I have a bold idea. Perhaps it is worth trying?"

Lu Xuan's words gave Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable a glimmer of hope. Primordial Heavenly Venerable spoke directly.

"Brother Lu Xuan, my elder brother, third brother, and I were born of the same origin. Since you call my third brother your elder brother, do not call my elder brother and me Sages either."

"How about you address us as brothers as well, Brother Lu Xuan? From this day forth, the four of us shall share honor and disgrace, facing this unjust Heavenly Dao together."

Lu Xuan would not have been surprised to hear such defiant words from Tongtian, but hearing them from Primordial Heavenly Venerable left him somewhat shocked.

After all, among the Six Heavenly Dao Sages, Primordial Heavenly Venerable was unquestionably the Sage most obedient to the Heavenly Dao's arrangements. He prided himself on complying with Heaven's will in all things.

Yet now, he had spoken the words "the Heavenly Dao is unjust." From that moment onward, Lu Xuan's view of Primordial Heavenly Venerable subtly changed from the depths of his heart.

At that moment, Tongtian spoke up. "My two elder brothers, there is something your third brother did not explain clearly."

"When I received Brother Lu Xuan's guidance that day, I swore an oath that from then on, I would follow Brother Lu Xuan's lead and honor him as my elder brother."

"Brother Lu Xuan believed he was unqualified to become the elder brother of the Three Pure Ones. In the end, we decided that I would call him brother in public, but address him as elder brother in private."

The moment Tongtian said this, Laozi nodded directly. "Third brother did the right thing. As the saying goes, there is no seniority in cultivating the Dao; the accomplished come first."

"The three of us truly have no right to claim the status of elder brothers before Lu Xuan. We should address Lu Xuan as elder brother."

As he spoke, Laozi actually rose to his feet and bowed to Lu Xuan, respectfully calling him elder brother.

Primordial Heavenly Venerable followed suit, bowing to Lu Chen and calling him elder brother as well. Tongtian was delighted to see it, since every time he called Lu Xuan brother, he had always felt somewhat guilty.

Seeing the three Sages bow to him at once terrified Lu Xuan. What virtue or ability did he possess to dare accept a bow from three Sages?

This was the special world within the Pangu World-Opening Map. With a thought from Lu Xuan, he directly avoided the Three Pure Ones' bow.

Then he said, "From now on, it is fine for us to address one another as brothers. But I truly cannot accept the rites of Sages."

Laozi actually shook his head at Lu Xuan. "In the Primordial World, elder brother might indeed be unable to accept a bow from Heavenly Dao Sages."

"After all, we do not merely represent the Three Pure Ones; we are also Heavenly Dao Sages. But this is the world of the Pangu World-Opening Map. Here, elder brother, you are the supreme existence."

"Not to mention accepting a bow from the three of us—even if we knelt before you, Elder Brother Lu Xuan would be worthy of it."

Laozi was right. Within the world of the Pangu World-Opening Map, even though the Three Pure Ones were Heavenly Dao Sages of the Primordial World, Lu Xuan could still suppress their cultivation realms if he wished.

Since matters had reached this point, Lu Xuan naturally had no reason to keep refusing. He immediately said, "In that case, from now on, in public, the three of you shall be the elder brothers of me, Lu Chen."

Primordial Heavenly Venerable immediately shook his head. "Absolutely not, Elder Brother. An elder brother is an elder brother. How can there be a distinction between public and private?"

"Only third brother could come up with such a terrible idea. Elder brother is elder brother, and younger brother is younger brother. This is the principle of Heaven and Earth. How can we be each other's elder brothers?"

Even Laozi strongly agreed with Primordial Heavenly Venerable and firmly opposed the notion of calling one another elder brother.

Lu Xuan simply could not argue them down and could only accept the identity of elder brother to the Three Pure Ones. At the same time, he secretly sighed. The karmic ties between him and the Three Pure Ones had truly become deeply entangled now.

To completely repay this karmic debt, the only way was to help the Three Pure Ones escape the Heavenly Dao's control. Lu Xuan naturally knew just how difficult that would be.

He immediately said, "My solution is to first strip the Heavenly Dao's power from Tongtian's strand of Primordial Purple Qi."

"As long as we succeed in stripping it away, we can use this strand of Primordial Purple Qi without the Heavenly Dao's hidden safeguard to replace the Primordial Purple Qi that you have fused into your Sage Foundations."

"In this way, after two replacements, we can completely remove the Heavenly Dao's power from all three strands of Primordial Purple Qi. We can do so without anyone noticing, and it will not damage the Sages' Dao foundations."

Upon hearing Lu Xuan's explanation, the Three Pure Ones all nodded. Their admiration for Lu Xuan rose by several more levels.

The Three Pure Ones were men of action. Since they had found a solution, they did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately got to work within the Pangu World-Opening Map.

Laozi first summoned the Yin-Yang Eight-Trigram Furnace. In an instant, Six Ding Six Jia Divine Fire surged out from its mouth.

Tongtian directly sent that strand of Primordial Purple Qi into the Yin-Yang Eight-Trigram Furnace and began tempering it with the Six Ding Six Jia Divine Fire.

Lu Xuan knew the process might take a hundred years, a thousand years, or even ten thousand—perhaps several tens of thousands of years.

So he did not disturb the Three Pure Ones. He quietly left the Pangu World-Opening Map, then used an escape technique to depart Golden Ao Island and head straight for his own Abbot Island.

After all, the Twelve Ancestral Witches were still waiting for him on Abbot Island. He could not accompany the Three Pure Ones in the Pangu World-Opening Map for tens of thousands of years.

The moment he returned to Abbot Island, Lu Xuan sensed the Twelve Ancestral Witches' auras and immediately said, "I have kept you brothers waiting for a long time."

At that moment, the Twelve Ancestral Witches were seated around the Pool of Three Lights Divine Water, chatting idly. Hearing that Lu Chen had returned, they hurriedly rose to greet him.

Houtu was the first to rush before Lu Xuan. She asked, "Brother, what are all those things in your house? Why has Houtu never seen them before?"

Lu Xuan knew his modern furniture must have caught Houtu's interest. He immediately spoke with a broad smile.

"Living is not only about cultivation, much less about obsessing over conflict every day. One must learn to enjoy life. Only then can every day one lives be called truly meaningful."

"And if you want to live comfortably, you must improve your quality of life in every aspect. Those pieces of furniture are the key to improving mine."

The Twelve Ancestral Witches listened in a haze of partial understanding, then followed Lu Chen into his thatched cottage.

From the outside, it looked like a simple three-room thatched cottage. But once they entered, it was an entirely different world.

It could even be said that the size of the cottage's interior changed according to Lu Xuan's wishes.

When Lu Xuan was home alone, it did not feel empty. Now that the Twelve Ancestral Witches had come as guests, his living room did not feel crowded either.

After everyone was seated, Lu Xuan personally brewed each of the Twelve Ancestral Witches a cup of Enlightenment Tea. Then he began asking about the Witch Race's development during this period.