Yuanshi: How Could Some Nobody Daoist Be Our Teacher?

Though resentment simmered inside him, Hongjun hesitated only briefly before following suit, sending his voice throughout the Primordial World with a surge of Magic Power.

"I am Daoist Hongjun! In three thousand years, I shall hold a Dao Discussion at Purple Cloud Palace, beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens!"

"All who are destined for it may come to Purple Cloud Palace and hear the Dao..."

After delivering his message to the Primordial World, the displeasure on Hongjun's face had not faded.

The idea of teaching the Dao had been his, yet Heaven-Earth Daoist had beaten him to the announcement. Anyone who heard them might think he was imitating Heaven-Earth Daoist.

His only consolation was that, although he had lost the initiative, he had led the fight against the demons in the Dao-Devil War. His reputation still surpassed that of Heaven-Earth Daoist, who spent years at a time in seclusion.

Surely more people would come to Purple Cloud Palace to hear him than would go to Heaven-Earth Daoist's Sanctuary!

With that settled in his mind, Hongjun slowly closed his eyes and waited for the three thousand years to pass.

The two voices rang through the Primordial World one after the other, throwing its inhabitants into an uproar.

Eastern Kunlun.

The Three Pure Ones heard the announcements, and thoughtful looks crossed their faces.

Tongtian was the first to speak.

"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, I want to go to Yingzhou Island in the East Sea and hear Heaven-Earth Daoist's Dao Discussion. What about you?"

He was forthright by nature and admired the strong. Heaven-Earth Daoist had been the first to announce that he would teach the Dao to the Primordial World, and he was also the one who had brought down Demon Ancestor Luohou.

Naturally, Tongtian leaned toward Yingzhou Island.

Yuanshi frowned slightly at his words.

"Daoist Hongjun initiated the Dao-Devil War. He was the leader of the Righteous Dao. Besides, Hongjun was among the first Primordial Divines, born even before Ancestral Dragon and Yuanfeng. His origins are extraordinary. We are Pangu Orthodox, so his is the Dao we should hear."

Yuanshi placed enormous weight on origins and legitimacy. Hongjun's origins were extraordinary; he predated Ancestral Dragon and Yuanfeng, had initiated the Dao-Devil War, and was far more renowned than Li Yi!

If Hongjun had made no announcement, Yuanshi might have condescended to visit Yingzhou Island. But now that Hongjun, the recognized leader, was holding a Dao Discussion himself, Yuanshi had no interest in someone of Li Yi's obscure origins.

Tongtian immediately shot back.

"In the Dao-Devil War, it was Heaven-Earth Daoist who killed Demon Ancestor Luohou. His mastery of the Dao must be greater than Hongjun's!"

Challenged by his Third Brother, Yuanshi's temper flared. A sneer spread across his face.

"Hardly anyone who took part in the Dao-Devil War survived. Who knows what really happened? Perhaps Heaven-Earth Daoist took advantage of the Demon Ancestor's grievous wounds and claimed the credit!"

Some nobody Daoist had picked off the Demon Ancestor, and that qualified him to teach a descendant of Pangu?

Anger rose in Tongtian. He had seen the Heavenly Dao Merit awarded back then with his own eyes! If Heaven-Earth Daoist had merely seized an easy victory, would the Heavenly Dao have rewarded him with so much Merit?

Knowing argument would get him nowhere, Tongtian turned to Laozi, who stood at their head.

"What do you think, Eldest Brother?"

Laozi did not open his eyes. He looked content to let matters take their course, but when he spoke, he made his view clear.

"I, too, believe we should take Daoist Hongjun as our teacher!"

For one thing, he agreed with his second brother. For another, beneath his serene, detached exterior, he was even prouder than Yuanshi.

Yingzhou Island lay in the East Sea. Though hard to find, even Golden Immortals had a chance of reaching it!

Purple Cloud Palace, on the other hand, lay beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, past endless Chaos Turbulence and Nine Heavens Astral Wind. Only Great Firmament Golden Immortals were qualified to go there!

They were Pangu Orthodox. Listening to the Dao alongside those Great Firmament Golden Immortals was already a step beneath their station.

To listen alongside mere Golden Immortals and Supreme Unity Golden Immortals would be an insult to their standing as Pangu Orthodox!

If other Great Supernatural Beings saw it, they might think the Pangu Orthodox could not afford better instruction!

Hearing that his eldest brother felt the same way, Tongtian swallowed his frustration and rose.

"Since you've both made up your minds, I won't try to persuade you. I'll go to Yingzhou Island myself!"

As he spoke, Tongtian channeled his Magic Power, turned into a streak of light, and flew away.

Yuanshi watched his third brother depart and gave a disdainful snort.

His third brother had the chance to hear Hongjun, whom the Righteous Dao revered as Dao Ancestor, yet insisted on hearing Heaven-Earth Daoist instead.

What sort of origins did Heaven-Earth Daoist have? He had appeared after Ancestral Dragon and the others. His achievement in slaying the Demon Ancestor had been nothing but luck!

"Third Brother is getting more and more out of line! We are Pangu Orthodox. If we don't uphold our standing, what separates us from those nobody Daoists?"

Laozi opened his eyes slightly and looked in the direction Tongtian had gone. He shook his head.

"Let him go. He'll understand once he learns the hard way!"

"Come. We should set off too..."

Meanwhile, on distant Phoenix Perch Mountain, Nuwa and Fuxi were just as torn.

Fuxi spoke first.

"Hongjun is a Primordial Divine. Throughout the Primordial World, some already call him Dao Ancestor!"

"Heaven-Earth Daoist may be better at fighting, but that doesn't mean he has gone further along the Sage Dao than Dao Ancestor Hongjun! We seek the Sage Dao, so we should take Daoist Hongjun as our teacher!"

Nuwa nodded slightly at her elder brother's words, but her brows drew together. A faint unease still troubled her.

Seeing her hesitation, Fuxi asked, "What's making you hesitate, Sister?"

Nuwa considered it for a moment, but she could not say where her unease came from. She could only shake her head.

"Then let's go to Purple Cloud Palace and hear the Dao."

At the same time.

At the foot of Buzhou Mountain.

One of Li Yi's Spirit Treasure Avatars walked beneath Buzhou Mountain.

He had anchored his avatars in Spirit Treasures, unlike Hongjun's Three Corpses Severing Method. Each Spirit Treasure Avatar had only reached the Peak Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm, but with his Daoist arts and supernatural powers, none below the Quasi-Saint realm could defeat one.

After the Dao-Devil War ended, he had used Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures to refine more than a dozen Spirit Treasure Avatars, sending them to search beneath Buzhou Mountain.

After more than ten Yuanhui of searching, one of those avatars finally detected a clue.

Beside a secluded cliff on Buzhou Mountain, it sensed the faint fluctuations of an Innate Formation.

Such a Formation arose naturally. Unless the Spirit Treasure inside emerged and leaked its aura, even a Great Firmament Golden Immortal would struggle to detect it.

But Li Yi had the insight of a Peak Quasi-Saint and the skill of a Formation Grandmaster. Naturally, he caught that barely perceptible trace.

After a brief calculation, Li Yi's avatar worked out how to enter the Innate Formation. He took one step and appeared within it, then crossed the Formation in a dozen more before finally reaching what lay inside!

Within the Innate Formation was a world of its own. At its center, amid dense Primordial Spiritual Qi, a Hundun-colored Five-Colored Gourd Vine took root in golden soil.

Seven Different-Colored Gourds hung from the vine. Each was wreathed in a different Dao Resonance and the power of different laws, as though they had gathered all the wonders of Heaven and Earth!