Zhunti saw at a glance that the mysterious young man behind Hong Yun was no easy opponent.
The young man had effortlessly reflected even his full-strength attack. He was far beyond Zhunti's ability to handle.
But through a twist of fate, Kunpeng beside them had been struck at a critical opening—and had even left his seat!
"What an opportunity! Get out of my way!"
Zhunti changed targets without a second thought.
With a roar, he activated the nascent form of his Western Six-Foot Golden Body, not even bothering to retrieve the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree.
He became a streak of blinding golden light and slammed straight into Kunpeng, who was still suspended in midair!
Bang!
The dull thud of bodies colliding echoed through the hall.
Already gravely wounded, how could Kunpeng withstand Zhunti's calculated charge?
Before he could even curse, his entire body flew like a kite with its string cut,
knocked clean away from the sixth futon by Zhunti!
"Ah—! My seat!"
Kunpeng's scream of despair and humiliation rang out as his massive body traced a miserable arc through the air,
then crashed into a white jade pillar carved with coiling dragons on the far side of Purple Heaven Palace.
He slowly slid down the pillar, utterly wretched.
At the same time, there came a soft pat.
Zhunti's bony backside landed squarely on the sixth Purple-Gold Futon!
All of it happened in an instant.
From Li Qingxiao holding Hong Yun back, to Zhunti's furious attack being reflected, to Kunpeng being caught in the crossfire and sent flying,
everything happened so quickly that most of those present had no time to react.
An eerie silence fell over the great hall of Purple Heaven Palace.
The Three Pure Ones stared. Nuwa froze. Even Di Jun and Taiyi, who had always prided themselves on their domineering ways,
gaped at the beaming Zhunti on the futon, then at Kunpeng in the distance.
The rapid succession of shocks—and Zhunti's sheer shamelessness—left everyone dumbfounded!
The moment Zhunti sat on the sixth futon, vast and wondrous Dao resonance surged through his entire body.
His meridians, left parched and damaged by his passage through the chaos, rapidly began to recover under its nourishment.
"This... what an extraordinary blessing!"
Wild delight lit up Zhunti's gaunt face.
But he did not let the enormous surprise go to his head, nor did he think for a moment of keeping it for himself.
Instead, he called loudly to Jieyin, who still stood stunned among the crowd:
"Senior Brother! Quick! There's a supreme blessing here! This opportunity is yours. Come sit down!"
As he spoke, Zhunti tried to rise and give Jieyin the seat he had fought so hard to claim.
At Zhunti's call, Jieyin's face, perpetually drawn with suffering,
finally showed a trace of irrepressible excitement and joy.
Gripping his personal treasure, Jieyin's Treasure Banner, he hurried forward,
heading for the sixth futon to trade places with Zhunti and claim this tremendous opportunity.
But fate had long been set. How could its course be changed so easily?
Just as Jieyin lifted his foot to take the first step—
Boom!
The two purple-gold doors of Purple Heaven Palace, inscribed with countless Dao runes,
slammed shut with a deafening crash!
Then the pressure of the Heavenly Dao, towering above all living beings in the Primordial World,
poured down like a river from the heavens, freezing time and space throughout the hall!
Before that pressure, all Three Thousand Guests of the Red Dust trembled to their cores. Even their breathing stopped.
Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!
Heavenly tones resounded through the void.
Six dazzling pillars of Creation light pierced the roof of Purple Heaven Palace
and descended with perfect precision onto the six Purple-Gold Futons at the front!
Like cages and crowns at once, the pillars of light enclosed the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Hong Yun,
and Zhunti, who had only just taken his seat, binding them firmly to their futons!
Zhunti felt as though the weight of the entire Primordial World had settled on his shoulders. Rising to give up his seat was impossible;
he could not even move his little finger. He could only watch as the Heavenly Dao pinned him to the sixth futon.
"No! Senior Brother! I—I can't get up!"
Zhunti shouted in despair.
Jieyin, who had been about to come forward, bore the brunt of it.
The pressure of the Heavenly Dao struck his chest like an invisible wall of iron.
Thud! Thud!
Jieyin grunted as the irresistible force drove him two steps back.
Those two steps might as well have been an uncrossable chasm!
The doors were shut. The pillars had descended. The pressure held the world in check.
Jieyin had lost his chance to trade seats. Clutching Jieyin's Treasure Banner, he could only stand outside the futons in despair.
On the other side of the hall, Ancestor Kunpeng had come to his senses and was leaning against the white jade pillar.
His hair hung loose, his eyes were bloodred, and a savage, ravenous demonic aura radiated from him.
He glared at Zhunti in what had been his seat, his teeth grinding audibly.
But he knew full well that the Heavenly Dao had already acknowledged Zhunti and secured his place.
Trying to seize it now would be tantamount to defying the Heavenly Dao. He would surely die!
Unable to go after Zhunti, Kunpeng's humiliation, rage, and murderous intent
immediately sought another outlet, like a venomous snake hunting prey.
He whipped his head around, fixing his vicious gaze on Hong Yun
and Li Qingxiao, who sat behind him!
"If you hadn't reflected that attack and disrupted my energy, how could that shameless wretch from the West have found an opening?"
"How could I have lost such an immense blessing?"
Kunpeng roared inwardly, his venomous fury nearly burning away his reason.
"That old bastard Hong Yun, and that wandering cultivator in moon-white robes! For cutting off my path, I'll never forgive you!"
"If I don't avenge this, I, Kunpeng, swear I'm no man!"
Kunpeng laid the blame entirely on Hong Yun and Li Qingxiao,
making them enemies he would pursue to the death.
Li Qingxiao, of course, clearly sensed Kunpeng's murderous glare.
But he merely curled his lips into a mocking sneer and paid it no mind.
Kunpeng was never destined to become a sage. If he came seeking revenge, I wouldn't mind leaving the Primordial World one Demon Master short.
Just as the atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly tense in the wake of the upheaval,
another strange phenomenon appeared above the dais at the front of the hall!
Boundless purple energy surged in from nowhere, gathering into an auspicious violet cloud.
Upon that cloud, a figure in simple Daoist robes, his features indistinct, silently appeared.