Nuwa Wants to Hear the Heaven-Earth Daoist's Teaching Too? Hongjun Nearly Coughs Up Blood!

Hongjun was anxious, but he could not show it. He could only turn to Laozi, who stood at the head of the Three Pure Ones, and ask a question.

"I have long heard that the Three Pure Ones are Pangu Orthodox. Why have only two come today?"

The Three Pure Ones considered themselves exalted, but before someone like Hongjun, who was on the verge of attaining the Dao, they did not dare put on airs.

"Dao Ancestor, our Third Brother has gone to hear the Heaven-Earth Daoist's teaching."

Hongjun's last shred of hope vanished.

The Pangu Three Pure Ones were destined to be involved in the Heavenly Dao Sage Positions. If he could make them owe him a great debt of Karma, he could wield more Heavenly Dao Authority!

If Tongtian truly accepted the Heaven-Earth Daoist as his teacher, some of Hongjun's plans would be thrown into disarray.

Though he was grinding his teeth with fury, Hongjun kept his face composed as he spoke.

"As Pangu Orthodox, he ought to hear the orthodox Sage Dao. Fellow Daoist Qiankun's methods may be wondrous, but they stray from the orthodox path..."

"Never mind. Pangu bestowed great blessings upon this Heaven and Earth. I shall reserve this seat for his sake. It will be just as well if Tongtian comes for the Second Lecture on the Sage Dao!"

Hongjun appeared unruffled, but his words had already branded Li Yi's Dao an unorthodox path.

He claimed he was reserving Tongtian's seat out of respect for Pangu, using that as a cover for his true purpose.

Laozi and Yuanshi noticed nothing. They nodded slightly and bowed to Hongjun on the Jade Platform.

"Thank you, Dao Ancestor!"

Of the six seats, only three were now left.

The Great Firmament Golden Immortals exchanged glances. They all understood that those Prayer Mats must carry great Karma. Otherwise, Hongjun would never have specifically reserved one for the absent Tongtian.

So although they knew sitting there might bring benefits, few dared step forward.

In the crowd, Di Jun and Taiyi exchanged a glance, then both stepped forward.

The two believed their origins were extraordinary. Whatever Karma those Prayer Mats carried, they could bear it.

But just as they rose, the Twelve Ancestor Witches turned to look at them.

With the Dragon-Phoenix-Qilin Tribes having withdrawn from the world, the Witch Tribe and the Demon Tribe were gradually becoming the Era Protagonists.

The Demon Court had yet to be established, but the brothers Di Jun and Taiyi already held immense prestige among the Demon Tribe. They were beginning to look like its future rulers.

The Twelve Ancestor Witches knew they had no grasp of Daoist methods and cultivated only their bodies. Naturally, they had no interest in the Prayer Mats.

But they had no intention of sitting by while the Demon Tribe grew stronger.

Seeing the looks on Di Jun's and Taiyi's faces, Zhurong broke into a grin.

"We of the Witch Tribe won't sit on those Prayer Mats, and neither will you demons!"

Anger flashed across Di Jun's and Taiyi's faces. Taiyi was about to bring out the Chaos Bell and fight the Witch Tribe for a seat for his elder brother, but Di Jun reached out and stopped him.

Meanwhile, in the crowd, Fuxi held the River Chart and Luo Script as he silently calculated. Delight appeared on his face.

He immediately turned to Nuwa beside him.

"Little sister, I've calculated that this Prayer Mat is tied to you by great Karma."

"Why haven't you gone to sit on it?"

Hearing her brother's words, Nuwa, who had already felt a faint stirring in her heart, stepped forward and sat in one of the empty places.

Next, Hong Yun, the Primordial World's resident good Samaritan, and Kunpeng came forward and took seats in turn.

But no sooner had they sat down than the late-arriving Zhunti and Jieyin began wailing shamelessly in the Daoist Abode.

Hong Yun was the first to give in. With a helpless sigh, he rose and yielded his seat to them.

Kunpeng, on the other hand, sat quite comfortably. He had clearly seen through their act. When the softer approach failed, Zhunti resorted to a personal attack.

"You wet-born, egg-hatched, fur-covered, horned beast! What right do you have to sit alongside the Three Pure Ones?"

Kunpeng lived in the Northern Darkness and rarely appeared in the world, so no one present knew his origins. But Zhunti had seen through them with a special divine ability and exposed them on the spot.

At those words, Yuanshi shot Kunpeng a hostile look, while the nearby Witch Tribe began eyeing him with scrutiny.

Kunpeng seethed, but he did not dare make enemies of Zhunti and Jieyin, the Three Pure Ones, and the Twelve Ancestor Witches watching nearby all at once. He could only rise and give up his seat.

Seated on the raised platform, Hongjun ignored the farce below. Only when the five had settled onto the Prayer Mats did the Heavenly Secrets suddenly become clear to him.

These six were to become the Heavenly Dao Sages of future generations!

Tongtian might be absent, but five had come. In this contest for the Dao, Hongjun had won the first round after all.

With that settled in his mind, Hongjun spoke.

"Now that your seats are settled, today's seating shall stand from this day forward!"

"Next, I shall explain the Great Firmament Dao..."

He had barely finished speaking when Nuwa abruptly stood.

"Dao Ancestor, an urgent matter has arisen at my Daoist Abode. I must leave for now. I hope you will forgive me."

The hall fell silent.

Someone nearing Sagedom was about to teach the Dao in person, yet someone intended to leave before he had even begun? And someone who had secured one of the six foremost seats, no less?

Even the Great Supernatural Beings present were stunned. They began whispering among themselves.

"Has Nuwa gone mad? What could matter more than hearing this teaching?"

"No. That urgent matter at her Daoist Abode is just an excuse. She simply wants to leave."

"Isn't she humiliating the Dao Ancestor in public?"

Fuxi was as dumbstruck by his sister's words as anyone. Afraid that Hongjun, a Dao Ancestor nearing Sagedom, would punish her at any moment, he hurriedly rose and bowed in apology.

"There truly is an urgent matter at our Daoist Abode. Please forgive our disrespect, Dao Ancestor."

The smile on Hongjun's face had grown stiff.

He would have liked nothing more than to punish them, but right now he needed the Heavenly Dao Authority that a future Heavenly Dao Sage like Nuwa would possess. He could not vent his anger.

He could only bury it and force himself to remain calm.

"If our fates are not yet aligned, I will not force the matter!"

With that, he had tacitly given his permission. Nuwa bowed slightly, then turned and left the Purple Cloud Palace Daoist Abode without hesitation.

Fuxi followed close behind. Only after they had put the Purple Cloud Palace far behind them and entered the Thirty-Three Heavens did he finally complain.

"Little sister, why did you make that excuse and leave the Purple Cloud Palace?"

"I calculated it just now. What happened today is undoubtedly tied to your future Sage Dao..."

His innate Spirit Treasure was the River Chart and Luo Script, and he had a natural talent for discerning Karma. The moment he saw that Prayer Mat, realization had flashed through his mind: it was connected to his sister's future Sage Dao.

He had not been able to ask her about it in the Daoist Abode, so he had waited until they were outside.

Nuwa frowned slightly.

"When I sat on that Prayer Mat, I felt uneasy, as though something important was about to slip away from me."

"No matter how I steadied my breathing and calmed my mind, the feeling only grew stronger."

"I can't explain why, but I felt I couldn't stay there any longer. So I said what I did."

Fuxi frowned as well.

At their level of cultivation, sudden feelings were often warnings given by Destiny.

What he had calculated was entirely different from what his sister had sensed, but he chose to trust her.

After all, even if he probed Destiny to its furthest limits, he could not claim his calculations would never be wrong. The Great Dao numbered fifty; Heaven derived forty-nine, leaving one that escaped.

He could calculate only the forty-nine derived by the Heavenly Dao. The one that escaped lay beyond him. Nor was Destiny set in stone.

Nuwa had now made up her mind.

"Elder brother, I want to visit Yingzhou Island..."