Mount Sumeru.
When Zhunti returned, Jieyin was already waiting beside the Eight Treasures Merit Pool.
Golden lotuses bloomed in the pool, and merit water flowed slowly. Yet a thin wisp of gray-black energy now hung in the air of the once tranquil and peaceful saintly realm of the Western Regions.
It was very faint.
An ordinary Immortal would most likely have taken it for a stray trace of energy between heaven and earth.
Zhunti recognized it at a glance.
Investiture of the Gods tribulation aura.
And it was stronger than before he had gone to Golden Turtle Island.
Jieyin looked at him and asked, "Did you meet Lin Yuan?"
Zhunti sat down and sighed. "I did."
"How did it go?"
"Couldn't poach him."
Jieyin fell silent for a moment.
He had intended to ask what Lin Yuan thought of the tribulation facing the Western Regions, only for Zhunti to return and open with his failure to poach him.
Clearly, he had taken the opportunity to do something else after reaching Golden Turtle Island.
Jieyin could not be bothered to ask for details.
Tongtian had only recently appointed his Daoist Heir.
Zhunti had tried to poach him right in front of Tongtian.
The outcome was easy enough to guess.
"What did he say?"
Zhunti raised his hand.
The words Lin Yuan had spoken on Golden Turtle Island became the voice of the Dao, ringing out once more above the Eight Treasures Merit Pool.
Avoid letting disciples enter the tribulation alone without cause, leave warning safeguards on important figures, withdraw at the first sign of danger, and stop reaching so far into the depths of the eastern karmic tribulation.
Jieyin listened.
Then he slowly nodded.
"Simple principles."
Zhunti said, "The simpler something is, the easier it is to overlook."
He had barely