Meanwhile.
Old Hongjun had just stepped off the Sun Star. Standing beyond it, he turned and gazed solemnly at the sun that lit the universe.
For a long time.
Then he bowed deeply to the Sun Star. Only then did he take a step, leave the Starry Sky, and return to the Three-Dao Origin-Returning Land.
The moment he returned to his Violet Cloud Palace,
old Hongjun sent out a message with a thought.
He said:
"In ten thousand years, all Sages shall gather at the Violet Cloud Palace to discuss an important matter!"
Shouyang Mountain.
Inside the Eight Views Palace—
Laozi was focused on refining pills when old Hongjun's words reached Shouyang Mountain.
Hearing that his teacher had summoned all Sages to the Violet Cloud Palace in ten thousand years, Laozi could not help freezing for a moment.
Then
he bowed and accepted the decree:
"This disciple shall obey your decree, Teacher!"
After the bow,
Laozi began wondering why his teacher had summoned them all.
A thought rose unbidden in his mind:
Could Lord Dan Jing have provoked Teacher? Is he gathering us at the Violet Cloud Palace to... beat up Lord Dan Jing?
At the thought,
even Laozi's usually placid heart stirred—
Beating up Lord Dan Jing... the Sages dreamed of it!
Of course,
only of beating him up. If they actually tried to suppress Lord Dan Jing, the Heaven-Earth-Human Three Daos could strip them of their Sage Thrones and suppress every last one of them instead.
In today's Primordial World,
anyone who had made even a modest name for themselves knew that above its heavens loomed Lord Dan Jing's hand.
Fortunately,
Laozi was no fool. The notion of beating up Lord Dan Jing vanished as quickly as it had come.
His teacher had no reason to quarrel