Seizing the Meditation Cushions, Zhun Ti and Jie Yin Weep Their Tale of Woe

At this moment.

Having comprehended these matters, divine light surged in Kong Xuan's eyes. Seven-colored divine radiance flickered around him. He no longer hesitated, taking one step forward as his figure became a phantom merging with space.

"Fellow Daoists Nuwa and Fuxi, I shall go on ahead!"

Kong Xuan's voice entered the ears of the two beside him, while he himself had already transformed into an elusive seven-colored rainbow streak, instantly overtaking the many figures ahead.

He shot straight toward the six meditation cushions at the very front of Zixiao Palace.

Nuwa and Fuxi exchanged a glance, each seeing a trace of surprise in the other's eyes.

Fellow Daoist Kong Xuan's escape speed was actually this fast. The two immediately accelerated to follow.

Within Zixiao Palace, space was vast and boundless, suffused with Dao resonance.

Six meditation cushions, flickering with faint purple qi, quietly hovered beneath the raised platform at the very front of the hall.

Their positions were exalted, their Dao resonance born of heaven itself.

The Three Pure Ones—Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian—possessed profound cultivation, their fortunes intertwined.

Almost the instant the palace gates opened, they relied on their great divine abilities to firmly claim the first three seats.

Close behind them, Hongyun transformed into a crimson streak and barely beat the others, taking the fourth meditation cushion.

Kong Xuan's seven-colored stream of light arrived later, yet overtook them all.

Before the astonished eyes of the great powers, he forcibly squeezed past several who had attempted to draw near.

Seven-colored divine radiance flowed around him, opening a path as though cleaving one through the void, and he instantly settled firmly onto the fifth meditation cushion.

Nuwa and Fuxi arrived together. Nuwa possessed great fortune and sensed that the sixth meditation cushion faintly resonated with her. Without hesitation, she took a graceful step and, under Fuxi's protection, calmly sat upon the sixth cushion.

The positions of the six meditation cushions were decided in an instant!

The seating order was clear: Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Hongyun, Kong Xuan, and Nuwa.

Purple qi swirled and rose from the cushions, as an unfathomably profound Dao resonance enveloped the six of them.

Though the great powers who had failed to seize the cushions in the front row were unwilling, some frustrated, some envious, some sighing.

Yet with a Sage before them, none dared act recklessly. They could only seek places in the rear and sit cross-legged upon ordinary meditation cushions.

Now that the positions of the cushions had been set in stone, everyone gathered their thoughts, sat cross-legged, and closed their eyes to rest their minds.

They began adjusting themselves, preparing to listen to the Sage's impending exposition of the Dao.

A solemn yet expectant atmosphere filled the hall.

The years drifted on.

Within this grave and solemn Zixiao Palace, they seemed to have lost all meaning, leaving only anticipation for the profound sounds of the Great Dao.

The day of the exposition was about to arrive.

Haotian and Yaochi stood just inside the palace gates. Seeing that all three thousand great powers seemed to have entered, they exchanged a glance.

The two were about to join forces and close the heavy gates of Zixiao Palace.

Just as the enormous gates were about to shut completely, leaving only the final sliver of a gap.

A sudden change erupted.

"Wait!"

"Hold on! Wait for us!"

Two cries carrying thick Western accents, brimming with desperate urgency and even a sobbing tone, tore through the crack in the gates like silk being ripped apart!

Immediately afterward, two travel-worn, utterly disheveled figures, their immortal radiance dim and their Daoist robes torn, used every ounce of strength they had. Like two dusty shooting stars, they forcibly squeezed through that narrow remaining crack!

Thud!

Thud!

Two muffled impacts.

Their momentum had been too fierce, and they seemed to have exhausted all their strength.

The instant they squeezed through, the two figures lost their balance.

They crashed heavily onto the polished floor of the great hall with a considerable racket. This sudden upheaval instantly drew the attention of every great power within Zixiao Palace.

Curious, startled, contemptuous, and indifferent gazes all focused in unison upon these two uninvited guests.

They were none other than the late-arriving Western Daoists, Zhun Ti and Jie Yin.

The two had been knocked senseless, and Zhun Ti in particular bared his teeth in pain.

He struggled to raise his head, his gaze sweeping across the hall like that of a starving wolf before instantly locking onto the six meditation cushions at the front, which emitted swirling purple qi and occupied lofty positions!

Especially upon seeing that all six cushions were already occupied.

When he and his fellow brother could scarcely even approach them, boundless sorrow, grievance, despair, and unwillingness surged into Zhun Ti's eyes, as if the sky had collapsed and the end of the world had come.

Bang!

He suddenly slammed his head down, his forehead striking the cold floor with a dull impact.

Then Zhun Ti began to cry out in a voice thick with sobs, so grief-stricken that it could pierce the entire hall. His shrill cries echoed through the silent great hall.

"Senior Brother, our fate is bitter!"

"Our Western lands are already barren and bitterly cold, with sparse spiritual veins and dwindling living beings!"

"My senior brother and I carry the sufferings of Western sentient beings in our hearts. We crossed mountains and rivers, braved the perils of chaos, and only reached this place after escaping death ten thousand times!"

"All so that we might beg for the Sage's mercy and receive the Great Dao, to relieve the suffering of countless Western beings hanging upside down in misery!"

"Who would have thought! Who would have thought!"

"That we could not even snatch a seat near the front!"

"If things are like this, how can we possibly return to face the elders and folk of the West, who have waited in such bitter hope?"

"What use are we... what use are we?"

"Better... better to smash our heads to death within this Sage's Daoist sanctuary and be done with it!"

As he wailed, he made as if to slam his head once more into the incomparably hard floor of Zixiao Palace, where Dao patterns flowed.

That appearance of grieving for heaven and pitying mankind, of pain so great he wished for death, as though he had suffered an outrage beyond measure.

It truly made those who heard him grieve and those who saw him weep.

Jie Yin beside him wore an expression of sorrow that had reached its utmost limit. His already gaunt and mournful face was now wrinkled into a knot.

Cooperating with Zhun Ti's lament, he let out a deep sigh, seeming to squeeze several murky tears from the corners of his eyes as well.

An intensely bleak aura radiated from him: the West was truly suffering, and they were truly miserable.

"Alas, Junior Brother, do not do this, do not do this!"

Jie Yin's voice was hoarse and choked with emotion, filled with helplessness and despair.

"This is heaven's will. Heaven's will toys with men—our West!"

He shook his head as if resigning himself to fate, yet the aura of grief and hopelessness around him only spread more densely.

Within Zixiao Palace.

When had the many innate great powers ever seen such a spectacle?

They were dumbfounded!

Each stood as still as a clay statue or wooden carving.

Di Jun and Taiyi furrowed their brows tightly.

A faint trace of barely discernible contempt also flashed through the eyes of the Three Pure Ones.

Hongyun showed reluctance, as if he wished to speak but stopped himself.

Zhen Yuanzi merely snorted coldly and turned his face away.

Mockery flashed through Minghe's blood-red eyes.

Even the Twelve Ancestral Witches temporarily forgot their earlier frustration, staring in a daze.

Nearly the same thought churned in the hearts of the many great powers.

Such a posture?

Such conduct?

Such... shamelessness?!

For the sake of a seat, had they truly thrown away even their faces?!

Seeing that no one was moved, a ruthless gleam flashed through Zhun Ti's eyes. He abruptly raised his head, and blood had actually seeped from where his forehead had struck the floor.

Then he rose to his feet, swept his gaze around with an air of utter resolve, and cried out in grief and indignation.

"Fine! Fine!"

"Since heaven's will is thus, I, Zhun Ti, have no face left to cling to life!"

"Today, I shall use my blood to stain this Sage's Daoist sanctuary red!"

"Better that than return to the West and face the despair of countless living beings!"

Having said this.

The power around him surged. Truly heedless of all else, he charged toward a massive purple jade pillar supporting the dome of the hall, inscribed with profound and mysterious Dao patterns.

He rammed into it with savage force, moving so swiftly that he was about to splatter blood across the scene.

At that critical instant, a clear voice carrying a trace of urgency suddenly rang out from the meditation cushions at the front, resounding distinctly throughout the entire hall.

"Fellow Daoist! Wait!"

"You must not!"