His Third Brother Reached Peak Great Firmament Golden Immortal? Yuanshi's Defense Crumbled!

The Kunlun Mountain Range was shrouded in immortal mist, with the occasional Auspicious Beast or spirit bird appearing among its peaks. It looked every bit like a blessed land of immortals.

Within the Three Pure Ones' Daoist Grounds, Yuanshi sat cross-legged in a secluded chamber. Immortal light shone brilliantly from his body as the Kunlun Mountain Range's innate spiritual energy surged madly toward him.

He had been stuck at the Middle Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm for quite some time. Today, after hearing the Dao Ancestor personally expound the Dao, he had finally broken through into the Late Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm!

He had even gained considerable insight into the path ahead. Given another yuanhui, he stood a good chance of naturally breaking through to the Peak Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm!

As Yuanshi emerged from his cultivation breakthrough, the sight of his third brother confidently insisting on going to Heaven-Earth Daoist's Daoist grounds to hear the Dao inexplicably surfaced in his mind again.

A smug smile rose to his face.

He had said it before: if they were to seek teachings at Purple Cloud Palace, only Dao Ancestor Hongjun was qualified to be the teacher of Pangu Orthodox like them!

Yet Tongtian had insisted on going his own way, choosing that Heaven-Earth Daoist whose origins were entirely unknown!

Previously, although Yuanshi had been ahead of Tongtian, the gap had not been great. But now that he had broken through to the Late Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm, Tongtian was surely still trapped at the Middle Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm!

Come to think of it, he had been in seclusion for quite a while. His third brother should have returned by now. He wanted to see whether Tongtian would regret not following his second brother's choice when he saw Yuanshi's current cultivation realm.

With that thought, Yuanshi could no longer sit still. He rose, opened the stone door of the chamber, withdrew the restrictive formations, and walked outside.

Outside, two Daoist attendants transformed from immortal herbs had been waiting. Seeing their master emerge from seclusion, they hurried forward to greet him.

"Second Master!"

Yuanshi's expression was exceedingly cold.

"Has your Third Master returned?"

The two Daoist attendants lowered their heads respectfully.

"Reporting to Second Master, Third Master returned some time ago."

"He should be in his cave dwelling now."

Yuanshi did not respond. Taking a single step, he transformed into a streak of light and departed.

Upon reaching the entrance of Tongtian's cave dwelling, Yuanshi walked straight inside.

Within the cave dwelling, Tongtian and Laozi sat together. When Tongtian saw Yuanshi enter, an excited smile appeared on his face.

"Second Brother!"

Laozi looked at Yuanshi as he entered, opened his mouth, then sighed and swallowed his words.

Hearing Tongtian's unusually warm greeting, Yuanshi assumed Tongtian knew he had made the wrong choice last time and was trying to use friendly words to make Yuanshi let the matter pass.

But the more Tongtian acted that way, the more Yuanshi felt compelled to discuss this matter properly and make his third brother understand just how foolish his previous choice had been!

"Third Brother, you gained quite a bit from going to Yingzhou Island to hear Heaven-Earth Daoist expound the Dao this time, didn't you?"

It would have been fine if Yuanshi had not brought it up, but the moment he did, Tongtian could not help grinning.

"Not bad! Teacher Qiankun explained the Dao in great detail, but I'm a little slow-witted and there are still some parts I don't fully understand."

Yuanshi felt reassured upon hearing this. It seemed his brother had gained nothing—he was already admitting that his aptitude was poor! With that thought, a look of disdain appeared on Yuanshi's face.

"We are Pangu Orthodox. If even we are slow-witted, then there are no intelligent people in the Primordial World!"

As he said this, perhaps recalling the people at Purple Cloud Palace who had gained little, Yuanshi's expression grew even more arrogant.

"That Heaven-Earth Daoist misleads his students and has no real ability. Do you still not think you chose the wrong person?"

His third brother truly was beyond help. He had gained almost nothing, yet rather than recognizing it as Heaven-Earth Daoist's problem, he stubbornly insisted that he himself was slow-witted.

Was it really so difficult to admit he had been wrong?

Tongtian had no reaction to the earlier words, but when he heard the latter ones, the smile on his face gradually faded.

"It is one thing for Second Brother to speak of me, but Teacher Qiankun is a being of great divine abilities. He did not begrudge us his teachings, and I owe him the grace of passing on the Dao. I will not allow Second Brother to speak nonsense about him!"

Yuanshi sneered.

"So you mean I am wrong?"

His third brother was truly hopeless. It seemed Yuanshi would have to use his strength to make him submit wholeheartedly!

With that thought, Yuanshi no longer concealed his aura. It erupted forth, and the might of a Late Great Firmament Golden Immortal was displayed without restraint before Tongtian!

Seeing Tongtian's stunned expression, supposedly intimidated by his aura, Yuanshi felt proud, though he still deliberately kept his face calm.

"Our realms were similar in the past, yet I have now stepped into the Late Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm!"

"If you had realized your mistake that day and gone with Eldest Brother and me to Purple Cloud Palace, you would most likely have broken through to this realm by now as well!"

"Even now, do you still not know you were wrong?"

Tongtian looked at Yuanshi with an odd expression, countless complicated emotions mingling on his face.

"Second Brother means to judge the merits of those who expound the Dao by the difference in our cultivation?"

Yuanshi nodded slightly, his face faintly smug.

"As cultivators, if we do not judge superiority by cultivation, then what should we use to judge it?"

"Hmph, I already said that Heaven-Earth Daoist is a fraud who deceives the world..."

Yuanshi could not finish his sentence.

He watched helplessly as Tongtian's aura rose in successive surges, quickly surpassing his own and even becoming somewhat more profound than Laozi's, who had already broken through to the Peak Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm.

Looking at Tongtian, whose body revealed the aura of a Peak Great Firmament Golden Immortal, Yuanshi's face went blank.

What happened to being slow-witted? What happened to not fully understanding!?

How had his third brother already broken through to the Peak Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm!?

Had his actions just now become a complete joke!?

Yuanshi normally cared most about saving face. He had just boasted so boldly, only to see Tongtian, who had once been inferior to him, now standing a whole level above him. His face turned green, then white, as though he were changing masks.

Tongtian looked at Yuanshi's unpleasant expression, his own face equally cold.

"What else does Second Brother have to say now?"

Originally, Tongtian could have let this go. It was one thing for his second brother to speak of him, but dragging Teacher Qiankun, who had taught him the Dao, into it was unacceptable. If Tongtian treated such grace lightly, his Dao heart would surely be clouded.

Yuanshi's face shifted between green and white. His lips moved as countless emotions churned within him, but in the end, he could only snort coldly, flick his sleeve, and leave.

Meanwhile, on the distant Primordial Continent, two beings close to Sagehood had both opened their teachings to the public. Naturally, those who returned could not help comparing the two.

Many Great Firmament Golden Immortal-level beings who had returned from Purple Cloud Palace looked at Dao companions who had once been beneath them in cultivation but had now surpassed them, their faces filled with utter disbelief.

They had gone to Purple Cloud Palace to hear the Dao, believing they had obtained an enormous opportunity. Yet after three thousand years of teachings, they had gained nothing at all!

It would have been one thing if no one had gained anything, but those who went to hear Heaven-Earth Daoist expound the Dao had mostly made obvious breakthroughs!

Countless people had broken through on the spot at the Daoist grounds. The most famous among them was Daoist Tongtian, who had broken through to the Peak Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm on the spot after the teachings ended.

This was witnessed by all and had already spread throughout the Primordial World.

For a time, many of those who had gone to Purple Cloud Palace could no longer sit still. Could it be that they were not lacking in aptitude, but that the Dao Ancestor's teachings had simply been too vague?