Kunpeng's agonizing memory of having his body pierced by world-cleansing divine light in the chaos instantly resurfaced.
He shuddered uncontrollably and lowered his head in utter humiliation,
retreating behind the Demon Emperor, no longer daring to meet Li Qingxiao's gaze.
"Blessings and mercy."
A solemn invocation, tinged with suffering, came from the other side.
Jieyin and Zhunti of Western Mount Sumeru arrived together.
Although Zhunti had used the Sixth Futon to sever his good corpse,
the lands of the West were barren, and the spirit treasure he had used as its vessel was of low grade, leaving his Dao foundation shallow.
Jieyin looked even more gaunt,
with faint Nirvana Golden Light swirling around him.
Seeing Li Qingxiao, Hong Yun, and Zhen Yuanzi standing together, their bearing as unfathomable as deep waters and as imposing as mountains,
Zhunti could not conceal the wariness and calculation that flickered through his eyes.
But the East's dominance was already established, and the disparity in strength was overwhelming.
The two could only press their palms together, bow their heads, and stand silently aside, awaiting a turn of events.
"Fellow Daoist Qingxiao, I trust you've been well!"
Clear, hearty laughter broke the silence in the square.
The Three Pure Ones drifted gracefully into view.
Tongtian stood with a sword on his back, his spirits soaring, and stepped forward to greet Li Qingxiao.
"Tens of thousands of years have passed, and your pure aura has grown more refined than ever, fellow Daoist. Truly admirable!"
A phantom image of the Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda hovered above Laozi's head.
He, too, nodded slightly to Li Qingxiao, a trace of gravity in his deep eyes.
Although Yuqing Yuanshi took pride in his noble origins as a member of the Orthodox Lineage of Pangu,
he sensed the Ultimate Dao Pressure emanating from Li Qingxiao, no weaker than that of a Quasi-Saint.
His expression lost its usual cold arrogance, and he cupped his hands in greeting.
Bong—!!
With a mighty toll of the bell, the Ancient Bronze Gate of Purple Heaven Palace, sealed for ten thousand years, thundered open!
The Three Thousand Guests of the Red Dust grew solemn and filed inside.
Deep within the hall, beneath the raised dais,
six Purple-Gold Futons shone with divine radiance, the fortune of the Heavenly Dao swirling endlessly around them.
Laozi, Yuqing Yuanshi, Tongtian, Empress Nuwa, Ancestor Hong Yun, and Daoist Zhunti—
the six mighty cultivators took their places in order, settling firmly onto the futons.
Daoist Jieyin, who had lost his seat, could only stand beside Zhunti with his hands lowered and bitterness on his face.
Li Qingxiao had no interest in those futons bound by the Heavenly Dao.
Composed and unhurried, he walked forward
and sat cross-legged in the foremost central spot, directly behind Hong Yun.
Holding the Earth Book, Zhen Yuanzi sat to his left as a guardian.
On the other side of the hall, Fuxi remained close behind Nuwa, never straying a step.
Li Qingxiao's moon-white Daoist robes stirred without wind, his bearing transcendent and detached from worldly concerns.
The mighty cultivators filling the hall saw him seated ahead of all the immortals,
yet not one dared voice an objection or step forward to contest a place in the front ranks.
Hum!
Nine-colored auspicious clouds gathered out of nowhere, and boundless rays of light blossomed in the void.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun's figure slowly manifested upon the cloud dais.
The supreme heavenly might of a Saint swept through the entire hall like a tide.
The Dao Ancestor's heavenly Dao eyes of law, which seemed to hold the starry rivers of eternity, scanned the gathering
before lingering briefly on Li Qingxiao.
Even with the power of a Heavenly Dao Sage and the aid of the Creation Jade Disc,
he could not fully discern Li Qingxiao's origins and true nature.
He could only vaguely sense that the laws within Li Qingxiao formed a self-contained cycle.
Li Qingxiao had not taken the Daoist Sect's shortcut of Three Corpses Severing,
yet he radiated an aura of Supreme Dao Primordial Unity that transcended the confines of the Heavenly Dao!
A faint ripple stirred in the depths of Hongjun's eyes.
But with the grand undertaking of the lecture before him, he said nothing, his expression swiftly returning to the impartial indifference of the Heavenly Dao.
"The Three Lectures at Purple Heaven Palace point directly to the path of the Primordial Saint."
Dao Ancestor Hongjun spoke slowly, his magnificent voice of the Dao resounding through heaven and earth.
"Above the Quasi-Saint stands the Saint. A Saint endures myriad tribulations without being worn away and touches karma without being stained."
"A Saint exists alongside the Heavenly Dao and shines with the sun and moon, patrolling on Heaven's behalf and administering the rewards and punishments of the cosmos."
Such was the majesty of a Saint—his words became law!
All three thousand mighty cultivators in the hall trembled to their very souls, their eyes blazing with fervor.
Then the Dao Ancestor explained the methods of attaining the Dao.
"Across the vastness of heaven and earth, there are three paths to proving the Dao."
"The first is to Prove Dao by Force. With supreme might, one shatters the prison of heaven and earth and sanctifies the physical body."
"This was the method by which Great God Pangu split heaven from earth. It grants the greatest power, yet the Heavenly Dao bars the way, leaving virtually no hope of survival."
"The second is to prove the Dao through Three Corpses Severing. This is the method of the Orthodox Xuanmen: strip away goodness, evil, and obsession, using innate spirit treasures as vessels for the three corpses."
"Once all three corpses have been severed, draw upon primordial purple qi to unite them as one. Thus may one align with the Heavenly Dao and attain the Dao fruit of primordial unity."
"The third is to prove the Dao through merit. Establish boundless teachings and enlightenment,
"bring blessings to all realms, and use the endless merit of heaven and earth to evoke a response from the Heavenly Dao, thereby becoming a Saint on the spot."
The three methods of attaining the Dao resounded through the hall, every word carrying immense weight.
Celestial blossoms showered down within the hall, golden lotuses sprang from the earth, and the profound tones of the Great Dao flowed on like a surging river.
Seated at the heart of the gathering, Li Qingxiao kept his eyes half closed.
He did not blindly adopt every part of the Saint's teachings Hongjun imparted.
Instead, he drove the Twelfth-Grade Purifying White Lotus within him to its fullest power.
The supreme-grade essence of the World-Cleansing White Lotus transformed into a crystal-clear spiritual sea deep within his sea of consciousness.
It stripped away and purified every hidden peril in Hongjun's words—the shackles of the Heavenly Dao and restrictions upon the primordial spirit—
absorbing only the most exquisite laws of the Great Dao and truths of primordial unity.
Discard the dross, retain the essence, and integrate it all!
Above Li Qingxiao's crown, the twelfth-grade Ultimate Dao Three Flowers and the Chaos Canopy flickered in and out of sight.
Vast, pure Sage Dao Truth became a clear spring,
unceasingly washing and cleansing his divine body and primordial spirit,
refining the Supreme Dao Primordial Unity power within him until it grew ever purer and more flawless.
Three thousand years of teaching passed in the blink of an eye.
The majestic tones of the Great Dao gradually faded, and the wondrous manifestations vanished.
Upon the cloud dais, Dao Ancestor Hongjun slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze descended, deep as a fathomless pool, as he proclaimed the final decree of the Heavenly Dao.
"The Great Dao numbers fifty; Heaven's Evolution of Forty-Nine."
"Under the Heavenly Dao, Saints shall emerge to bring order to the Primordial World on Heaven's behalf."
As his words fell, the entire hall of Purple Heaven Palace plunged into deathly silence!
At that moment, the bestowal of Sage Positions officially began!
Within the immense hall, one could have heard a pin drop.
Every mighty cultivator's heart skipped a beat, their gazes fixed upon the cloud dais.
They all knew that the Sage Status of which the Dao Ancestor spoke
meant becoming a supreme sovereign of the Primordial World!
Laozi, seated upon the first futon, rose first and bowed with clasped hands.
"May I ask, Dao Ancestor, who among heaven and earth may prove the Dao and become a Saint?"
Hongjun's tranquil gaze slowly settled upon the six Purple-Gold Futons before him.
"The futons determine the Sage Positions, as well as the Daoist Sect Master-Disciple Karma."
At these words, every immortal in the hall held their breath.
Hongjun looked at Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian, his expression majestic.
"The Three Pure Ones were born from Great God Pangu's primordial spirit and bear the boundless merit of the opening of heaven. They shall become Personal Disciples of my Daoist Sect and receive Sage Positions."
With that, Hongjun swept his broad sleeve.
The Creation Jade Disc trembled faintly, and three rays of purple-gold divine radiance roared forth like spirit dragons from the highest heavens.
They radiated the primordial resonance of the Dao from the dawn of creation—the supreme and purest Foundation of Dao Attainment in the Primordial World:
[Primordial purple qi]!
"Go."
The three strands of primordial purple qi became three streaks of light and plunged straight into the crowns of the Three Pure Ones.
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