Being an Elder Brother Isn't Easy—You Have to Work Hard

"Tongtian, now that Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable have attained the Dao and become Sages, what are your plans?" Lu Xuan asked Tongtian.

Tongtian sighed. "I originally found a way to attain the Dao as well: establish a sect of my own."

"But I no longer intend to do that. I, Tongtian, cannot commit such a foolish act as destroying my own Dao Path."

"Moreover, my two elder brothers have already strayed onto the wrong path. I must return to Kunlun Mountain at once and find a way to bring them back to the right road."

Just as Lu Xuan had expected, Tongtian could not let go of his two elder brothers. After all, the Three Pure Ones had not yet split apart, and the three of them were still of one mind.

Yet Lu Xuan could not tell Tongtian that Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable would join forces to scheme against him in the future. Even if Lu Xuan told him now, Tongtian might not believe it.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Xuan said to Tongtian, "I don't think that would be wise. Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable have already fused with Primordial Purple Qi."

"Every move they make will be watched by the Heavenly Dao. If you tell them the truth, it would be tantamount to telling the Heavenly Dao that you know of its scheme."

"When that time comes, forget about bringing your two elder brothers back onto the right path—even you may find it difficult to remain unscathed."

Tongtian frowned upon hearing this and even nodded subconsciously at Lu Xuan. "Had elder brother not said so, Tongtian would nearly have committed a grave mistake."

"But to make Tongtian stand by helplessly and watch my two elder brothers stray onto the wrong path... I truly cannot bear it."

Lu Xuan said directly, "The simplest method is for you to grow stronger first. If one day your strength can rival the Heavenly Dao, why fear the Heavenly Dao's schemes?"

"At that time, forget about bringing your two elder brothers back to the right path. Even if things remained as they are now, what could the Heavenly Dao do to them? Would it dare?"

Tongtian's eyes lit up at once, though the golden gleam vanished in a flash. He immediately sighed.

"To surpass the Heavenly Dao—easier said than done. If I change to Force-Proven Dao cultivation, I do not even know when I will be able to attain the Dao and become a Sage."

Lu Xuan reached out and patted Tongtian's shoulder. "Force-Proven Dao is actually a collective term for attaining the Dao through laws."

"More precisely, each of the three thousand Great Dao laws can lead to the attainment of Primordial Unity. Pangu merely chose to gather all three thousand Great Daos into himself, which was why it came to be called Force-Proven Dao."

"You inherited Pangu's Sword-Formation Law. Why not first attain Primordial Unity through the Sword-Formation Law? Then cultivate other laws alongside it, until you ultimately gather all three thousand laws into one body."

Tongtian pondered this upon hearing it, then finally nodded to Lu Xuan. "In that case, Tongtian will heed elder brother's advice. I can only wrong my two elder brothers for now, leaving them in the dark beneath the Heavenly Dao's deception."

Seeing that he had finally persuaded Tongtian, Lu Xuan let out a long sigh of relief inwardly. At the same time, he did not forget to remind Tongtian, "After you and I part ways, you must never mention what happened today again."

"After all, I have the Pangu World-Opening Map to conceal the heavenly secrets. Even the Heavenly Dao cannot perceive everything that happens around me. You, however, do not possess such a Primordial treasure."

Tongtian naturally knew how extraordinary the Pangu World-Opening Map was. He nodded directly to Lu Xuan, then bade him farewell and returned to Kunlun Mountain.

After sending Tongtian away, Lu Xuan could not help sighing. "Somehow, I became Tongtian's elder brother. Looks like I need to raise my cultivation quickly."

"Otherwise, once the Investiture of the Gods Calamity begins, with the karmic bond between Tongtian and me, I will inevitably have to take a trip onto that Investiture of the Gods List."

If one asked Lu Xuan whether Interception Sect disciples had a way to escape the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, the answer was naturally yes. They only needed to take up posts in the Heavenly Court before the calamity began.

As long as they held divine offices in the Heavenly Court, then no matter how brutal the Investiture of the Gods Calamity became, they could remain unscathed and survive the calamity.

In fact, before meeting Tongtian, Lu Xuan had considered taking some idle post in the Heavenly Court himself. After all, the Investiture of the Gods Calamity had nothing to do with him, but in the Journey to the West Calamity, he would be cannon fodder.

Some said that the one who died in the Journey to the West Calamity was not Six-Eared Macaque, but Sun Wukong. Yet that was only speculation, and Lu Xuan did not dare test it.

Of course, this method was limited to those obscure Interception Sect disciples. For figures like the Three Xiao Sisters, it might not work at all.

After all, Princess Longji was the daughter of Haotian Emperor and Queen Mother of the Jade Pool. In the end, was she not still cast down and placed upon the Investiture of the Gods List?

Now that Lu Xuan was Tongtian's elder brother, even to outsiders, he was Tongtian's little brother. Even if he took up a post in the Heavenly Court, once the Investiture of the Gods Calamity began, the Heavenly Court would have to expel him.

Therefore, Lu Xuan had to make himself stronger as quickly as possible. When the Investiture of the Gods Calamity began, he needed to have the ability to defy heaven and change the fate of the Interception Sect.

Having made up his mind, Lu Xuan left the Daoist abode where he had lived for who knew how many yuanhui and headed toward Buzhou Mountain.

Lu Xuan was not going to Buzhou Mountain to seek treasure. After all, even the Innate Gourd and the Innate Banana Tree already had owners, so he might not find anything even if he went.

Lu Xuan was naturally going to Buzhou Mountain to see the Twelve Ancestral Witches. To verify the conjecture in his heart, the Twelve Ancestral Witches were undoubtedly the best candidates.

After all, Lu Xuan did not think he had enough standing to ask Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable, who had already attained the Dao and become Sages, for blood from their fingertips.

As for his original Daoist abode, Lu Xuan had no plans to keep it. This place could not even be considered one of the Blessed Lands and Grotto-Heavens, and Daoist abodes like it could be found everywhere in the Primordial World.

After leaving his residence, Lu Xuan continued toward Buzhou Mountain. Yet before he had traveled far, he sensed an immense pressure coming from the west.

Lu Xuan knew that the Western Two Sages were about to establish the Western Sect and make forty-eight great vows to the Heavenly Dao in order to attain the Dao and become Sages.

Sure enough, it unfolded almost exactly as Lu Xuan knew it would. In the end, the Western Two Sages attained the Dao and became Sages by borrowing Merit from the Heavenly Dao.

For a time, purple qi came from the east for thirty thousand miles, and Sage pressure swept across the Primordial World. At that moment, all living beings knelt upon the ground and paid homage in the direction of Mount Sumeru in the west.

Lu Xuan, however, was unaffected in the slightest. He continued using his escape art toward Buzhou Mountain.

Even Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable's attainment of the Dao had not made Lu Xuan bow and worship them, much less the Western Two Sages.

The reason Lu Xuan could remain unaffected by Sage pressure was not because his cultivation was particularly high, but because he possessed the Pangu World-Opening Map.

After all, the Pangu World-Opening Map contained a wisp of Pangu's consciousness. Even Hongjun would not dare make it bow to him.

And with the Western Two Sages attaining the Dao and becoming Sages, among the six people who had possessed cushions in Zixiao Palace back then, only Tongtian remained.

This darkened Primordial Heavenly Venerable's expression. Looking toward the direction where Tongtian was in seclusion, he said to Laozi, "Eldest Brother, what exactly is Third Brother trying to do?"

"He clearly already knows the method of attaining the Dao. Why does he still refuse to do so? Could it be that Third Brother truly intends to walk the path of Force-Proven Dao?"

Laozi looked at Primordial Heavenly Venerable expressionlessly. "If your elder brother is not mistaken, Third Brother has delayed becoming a Sage because he lacks a spiritual treasure capable of suppressing Karmic Fortune."

"After all, the Four Swords of Zhu Xian in Third Brother's hands cannot suppress the Karmic Fortune of a great sect. If he rashly establishes a sect now, its foundations will likely be unstable."

Hearing Laozi's words, Primordial Heavenly Venerable could not help sighing. "What a pity that the Chaos Bell fell into Taiyi's hands."

"He is merely a furred, horned creature, wet-born from eggs. What right does he have to possess the Chaos Bell? It should have belonged to Third Brother from the start."