Yuanshi Meets a Setback

Tongtian was stunned when he heard Yuanshi's words.

He had originally intended to enter seclusion. Yet the moment he returned to Upper Clarity Palace, he found Yuanshi already seated on a meditation cushion, waiting for him. He knew Yuanshi must have come for something, and had assumed he wanted to discuss the Dao with him. He had never expected it to be about his disciples' cave abodes.

"Cave abodes?"

A question mark appeared in Tongtian's mind.

Could it be that after becoming a Sage, what had increased was not only one's strength, but also one's thick skin?

Yuanshi would never have done something like this in the past.

"Second Brother, I have been in seclusion all this time. Lu Chen and Duobao manage the affairs of the sect. As for arranging cave abodes for disciples, speak to Lu Chen. He will make the arrangements."

Tongtian pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.

"Go find Lu Chen?"

How could that be possible! He was a Sage, the leader of the Chan Sect. To personally seek out Lu Chen over such a trivial matter—did he not care about his dignity?

For the sake of his pride, he could not possibly lower himself to seek Lu Chen out.

"You are unwilling?"

A trace of anger entered Yuanshi's voice. He felt that Tongtian was doing this on purpose, that he simply did not want to help him.

If this had happened in the past, he would have flicked his sleeve and left long ago. Yet for the sake of his disciples, he had no choice but to show a little more patience.

"This..."

He truly was unwilling to bring it up. After all, Lu Chen and Duobao had the Jie Sect running in perfect order.

Most of the sect's disciples spent their time cultivating quietly within their cave abodes.

Moreover, cave abodes concerned the disciples' own interests. Giving up the good cave abodes meant choosing comparatively inferior ones instead.

He could not understand what Second Brother was thinking, actually coming to him over such a matter.

Just to establish the image of a good master before his disciples.

Did that mean he had to become the sucker and take the blame for it?

If he brought up the matter of cave abodes, Lu Chen indeed would not be able to object. Yet those disciples deprived of their cave abodes might say nothing aloud, but they would certainly harbor resentment in their hearts. Even Lu Chen might feel aggrieved.

It was not as though he did not know about what had happened before.

"Third Brother, you have changed."

Yuanshi looked at Tongtian, disappointment flashing in his eyes.

In the past, Yuanshi would not even have needed to say anything. Tongtian would have taken the initiative to ask those disciples of mixed quality, who did not cultivate virtue, to surrender their cave abodes to the disciples under Yuanshi who possessed deep fortune.

Seeing the disappointment in Yuanshi's eyes, Tongtian was filled with disbelief.

???

I have changed?

Second Brother, has it been me who changed, or you?

He realized that Yuanshi had become somewhat unfamiliar to him.

Tongtian remained silent. Even when faced with Yuanshi's disappointed gaze, his heart did not soften in the slightest.

Though he was usually somewhat soft-hearted, he could still distinguish right from wrong.

"Have Guangchengzi discuss the matter of cave abodes with Lu Chen."

"Fine, fine, fine!!!"

How could Yuanshi fail to hear through Tongtian's excuse? At that moment, he only felt his heart grow colder.

His Third Brother had become a stranger.

The embarrassment and anger on his face could no longer be concealed. After saying "fine" three times in succession, he transformed into a streak of immortal light and vanished.

"Ah!"

Tongtian let out a long sigh. He closed his eyes, and waves of formation resonance emerged around him.

Within Yuqing Palace.

Besides the meditation cushion upon the high seat and another one a step below it, twelve more meditation cushions encircled the great hall.

The Twelve Golden Immortals sat upon the meditation cushions and watched as Yuanshi Tianzun appeared upon the cushion on the high seat.

The Twelve Golden Immortals looked toward Yuanshi Tianzun with anticipation in their eyes.

They all knew what their teacher had gone to do.

As the eldest disciple, Guangchengzi immediately noticed the shadow between his teacher's brows. The question he had intended to ask was forced back into his stomach.

"Teacher, how did it go? Did Martial Uncle agree?"

Guangchengzi was skilled at reading expressions, but not everyone possessed such an ability.

Yuanshi cast Huanglong a cold glance and said in a deep voice.

"Yuqing Palace is spacious, but it lacks a little worldly warmth. From now on, you shall cultivate within Yuqing Palace. If there is anything you do not understand, I can answer it for you promptly."

The eleven Golden Immortals looked at one another. Being able to remain by Yuanshi's side and cultivate in Yuqing Palace had originally been a wonderful thing, yet there was not the slightest joy on their faces.

Their teacher was keeping them in Yuqing Palace rather than assigning them cave abodes. Could it be that Martial Uncle had refused?

At that moment, Huanglong also understood. A trace of pallor appeared on his face, and unease rose in his heart.

What he had said just now had undoubtedly torn open his master's wound anew.

His master would not blame him for this, would he...

Probably not. His master was a Sage, surely broad-minded and magnanimous. He would not stoop to argue with him over such a thing.

Huanglong secretly comforted himself.

Probably...

Lu Chen did not know that Yuanshi had gone to find Tongtian and suffered a hidden setback.

After distributing the Spirit Liquid, he began expounding the Dao to them, sharing every insight he had gained about the Dao over the years with Jin Ling and the others as though reciting treasures from his own home.

The reason he was so generous was because these people were the future pillars of the Jie Sect. Every one of them was unyielding and iron-boned, able to stand or fall alongside the Jie Sect.

There was also the fact that his Dao could only be used for reference, not replicated. Though Jin Ling and the others possessed decent talent and would all become mighty Quasi-Saints in the future, their foundations were merely those of innate living beings, far from the level of innate divine beings.

His foundation lay in the mutual support of the Nine-Turn Origin Art and the Nine-Turn Strength Art, along with the aid of the Primordial Supreme Treasure-grade Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase.

None of these could be replicated. He shared them only to deepen their foundations and broaden their horizons.

Those who imitate me die; those who transform through me live.

Snail Sovereign Palace.

News of the Demon Race's defeat, and of Dijun and the others leading trillions of Demon Race members into the boundless Starry Sky, had long spread throughout the Primordial World.

Though Fuxi had not attended the banquet that day, he had now deduced everything.

He looked at Nuwa with a somewhat complicated expression.

"Little Sister, is this the outcome you saw?"

Nuwa remained silent. At this moment, she too was filled with doubts.

What she had seen was not this. According to the greater trend, this battle should merely have been a warm-up rather than the decisive battle. The final outcome for the Witch-Demon Tribes should have been mutual destruction, with her elder brother ultimately perishing after being implicated by the Demon Race.

Yet why was the result now so vastly different from the greater trend she had seen?

The warm-up had become the decisive battle. The Witch Clan had seized the Demon Race's Fortune and become the Primordial World's sole overlord. Aside from those Demon generals at the Great Luo level and the lesser demons, not a single mighty expert had fallen in the war.

However, Nuwa also knew that although the Demon Race still existed and had remained intact, it had lost its qualifications to contend for supremacy.

For when she observed Fortune, she discovered that although the Demon Race's Fortune remained vast, after that battle, the Fortune of the Witch Clan and Demon Race had become linked. As the Demon Race's Fortune grew, part of it would feed back to the Witch Clan.

The entire Demon Race was like an appendage of the Witch Clan.

"Then could the greater trend of the future, in which the Human Race becomes the protagonist of heaven and earth in the Primordial World, also be wrong?"

A new doubt arose in Nuwa's heart.

Having made Fuxi leave the Demon Race and firmly stand on the Human Race's side, Nuwa had also glimpsed a trace of the future greater trend concerning the Human Race.