Yuanshi's Setback

Tongtian was taken aback 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 prayer mat waiting for him. Knowing Yuanshi must have something to discuss, he had assumed it was a debate on the Dao. 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 grown stronger was not only one's power, but also one's thick skin?

Yuanshi would never have done such a thing in the past.

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

After pondering for a moment, Tongtian spoke 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 dignity, he could not possibly lower himself to seek out Lu Chen.

"You are unwilling?"

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

Had this been in the past, he would have flicked his sleeve and left long ago. But for the sake of his disciples, he had no choice but to be a little more patient.

"This..."

He truly was unwilling to say it. After all, Lu Chen and Duobao had made the Jie Sect exceptionally well ordered.

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

Moreover, cave abodes involved the disciples' personal interests. Giving away the better ones meant they could only choose relatively inferior cave abodes instead.

He could not understand what his Second Brother was thinking, to come looking for him over such a matter.

Was it merely to establish the image of a good master before his disciples?

Did that mean he had to become the sucker who took the blame?

If he brought up the matter of cave abodes, Lu Chen indeed would not be able to openly object. But the disciples deprived of their abodes would surely harbor resentment even if they said nothing, and even Lu Chen would have complaints in his heart.

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

"Third Brother, you have changed."

Disappointment surfaced in Yuanshi's eyes as he looked at Tongtian.

In the past, Yuanshi would not even have needed to speak. Tongtian would have voluntarily asked those uneven in quality and lacking in moral cultivation to surrender their cave abodes to the disciples beneath him who possessed deep fortune.

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

???

I have changed?

Second Brother, had he changed, or had Yuanshi changed?

He found 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.

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

"Good, good, good!!!"

How could Yuanshi fail to understand Tongtian's excuse? At that moment, he felt his heart grow colder by several degrees.

His Third Brother had become a stranger.

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

"Alas!"

Tongtian let out a long sigh. Closing his eyes, layers of array ripples emerged around him.

Within Yuqing Palace.

Besides the prayer mat on the elevated seat and the one a step below it, twelve more prayer mats encircled the great hall.

The Twelve Golden Immortals sat upon the prayer mats and watched as Yuanshi's figure appeared on the prayer mat atop the elevated seat.

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

They all knew what their teacher had gone to do.

As the eldest senior brother, Guangchengzi immediately noticed the shadow between his teacher's brows. The question he had wanted to ask was swallowed back down.

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

Guangchengzi was skilled at reading expressions, but someone else lacked that ability.

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

"Yuqing Palace is spacious, but it lacks a touch of mortal warmth. From now on, you shall cultivate within Yuqing Palace. Should there be anything you do not understand, I can also provide timely answers."

The eleven Golden Immortals looked at one another. Being able to cultivate constantly at Yuqing Palace by Yuanshi's side should have been a wonderful thing, yet there was not a trace of joy on their faces.

Their teacher was keeping them in Yuqing Palace instead of assigning them cave abodes. Could it be that Martial Uncle had rejected him?

Huanglong also understood at this moment. His face turned pale, and unease rose in his heart.

What he had just said had undoubtedly torn open his master's wound once more.

Would his master blame him because of this...

Probably not, right? His master was a Sage and surely broad-minded and magnanimous. He would not lower himself to argue with him.

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 spiritual liquid, he began expounding the Dao to them. He shared every one of his Dao insights from these past years with Jin Ling and the others, as though reciting treasures from his own home.

He was so generous because these people were the future pillars of the Jie Sect. Every one of them was iron-boned and unyielding, capable of living and dying alongside the Jie Sect.

Furthermore, his Dao could only be used as a reference; it could not be replicated. Although Jin Ling and the others possessed good talent and would all become great Quasi-Saint powers in the future, their origins were merely those of innate lifeforms, far below the level of innate sacred beings.

His foundation lay in the mutually supporting Nine-Turn Origin Art and Nine-Turn Strength Art, as well as the assistance of the Primordial Supreme Treasure-level 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 me live.

Snail Sovereign Palace.

The news that the Demon Race had been defeated and that Dijun and the others had led trillions of Demon Race members into the endless 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 complicated expression.

"Little Sister, was 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 course, this battle should merely have been a warm-up rather than the final battle. In the end, the Witch Clan and Demon Race were meant to perish together, while her elder brother would be implicated by the Demon Race and fall.

Yet why was the outcome now so vastly different from the greater course she had seen?

The warm-up had become the final battle. The Witch Clan had seized the Demon Race's fortune and become the Primordial World's sole hegemon. Other than Demon generals at the Great Luo level and lesser demons, not a single great power had fallen in the war.

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

For when she observed their fortune, she discovered that although the Demon Race's fortune remained immense, after that battle, the fortunes of the Witch Clan and Demon Race had become linked. As the Demon Race's fortune grew, part of it would nourish the Witch Clan in return.

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

"Then was the greater course of the future, in which the Human Race became the protagonists of heaven and earth in the Primordial World, also wrong?"

A new doubt arose in Nuwa's heart.

Nuwa, who had made Fuxi leave the Demon Race and firmly stand with the Human Race, had also glimpsed a strand of the Human Race's future greater course.