"Very well, then let me ask you: what would happen if we drove these members of the Witch Clan away?"
Laozi countered with a question.
"Naturally, we would restore peace and quiet to Mount Kunlun."
Yuanshi answered without hesitation.
Mount Kunlun had always been a renowned blessed haven in the Primordial World, but ever since these members of the Witch Clan had arrived...
Everything had gone completely sour!!
Just look at it, wreathed in smoke all day long.
At the drop of a hat, they slaughtered a great demon and either ate it raw or roasted it over a fire.
How did this remotely resemble a blessed haven anymore?
It was nothing but a bustling marketplace!!
"You have seen Goumang's strength among the Twelve Ancestral Witches. With our current strength, do you think that even if we could subdue all twelve of them, we could win quickly?"
"Could we reach Mount Buzhou in time for the opportunity about to emerge there?"
"Could we shake off the Twelve Ancestral Witches before our teacher's next sermon?"
Laozi's three consecutive questions left Yuanshi utterly dumbfounded.
He knew how troublesome Goumang was. He could neither kill him nor shake him off.
He was even harder to get rid of than a dog-skin plaster.
Goumang alone was already like this, and there were eleven more Ancestral Witches besides him.
If they really kept fighting, even if the Three Pure Ones ultimately defeated the Twelve Ancestral Witches, they would have no share in the opportunity about to emerge on Mount Buzhou. Whether they could even make it to Hongjun's second sermon was uncertain.
Viewed that way, the price of a battle over pride was simply too steep!
Beside them, Tongtian also fell silent upon hearing Laozi's words.
Not long before, all three brothers had sensed, through some mysterious intuition, that an opportunity would soon emerge on Mount Buzhou.
The treasure about to emerge was probably of no low grade, or they would not have sensed it from so far away.
"Then what do you suggest, eldest brother?"
Tongtian looked toward Laozi.
"Wait!"
After saying that single word, Laozi offered nothing more.
In his eyes, the Twelve Ancestral Witches were merely brutes. Why waste time squabbling with a pack of brutes?
As for their disciples?
You, Tongtian and Yuanshi, have disciples, but I have yet to take any.
Your headaches are yours. What the hell do they have to do with me?
Laozi's words left Yuanshi and Tongtian completely bowled over.
"In that case, we shall do as eldest brother says."
Having made up their minds, Tongtian and Yuanshi said nothing further. They rose and left the place where the three had been cultivating in seclusion to restrain their disciples, forbidding them from clashing with the Witch Clan.
Even if they truly could not bear it any longer, they would have to wait until the three of them secured those two opportunities.
With the Three Pure Ones doing nothing, Goumang and Zhurong were bored out of their skulls.
They had come here precisely to wait for the Three Pure Ones to pick a fight with them.
During this time, the two had been so painfully idle that they had fought several bouts against each other in the Chaos beyond the heavens.
Every palm struck flesh, every punch hammered the other's chest!
Neither showed the slightest intention of holding back.
Still, both had thick hides and tough flesh, so it hardly mattered.
"Return to Mount Buzhou at once!"
Just as Goumang and Zhurong were rubbing their fists, preparing for another great battle in the Chaos beyond the heavens, Dijiang's voice suddenly rang in their ears.
"Eldest brother?"
Hearing Dijiang's voice, Goumang and Zhurong both jolted.
After Yuanshi returned to the Three Pure Ones Realm and holed up there, Dijiang and the other nine Ancestral Witches had grown bored and returned to Pangu Hall on Mount Buzhou to cultivate in seclusion.
Neither of them understood why Dijiang was summoning them back now.
"Eldest brother, why have you summoned us?"
Zhurong hurriedly asked.
Given Dijiang's temperament, if he suddenly summoned them, something extremely important must have happened.
Otherwise, with Dijiang's disposition, even if they and Yuanshi battered one another's heads into a bloody pulp, he would not utter a peep so long as Laozi and Tongtian stayed out of it.
"A rare treasure may be about to emerge on Mount Buzhou. Though our Witch Clan has no use for such treasures, we must not let it fall into the Demon Race's hands."
Dijiang spoke through voice transmission.
Although the Witch Clan did not cultivate the Primordial Spirit and could not sense emerging opportunities, their sheer numbers more than made up for it!
Mount Buzhou was their home base, and many members of the Witch Clan trained there. Whenever an opportunity emerged, aside from those connected to it by fate, their Witch Clan would be the first to know.
Moreover, this opportunity had caused an enormous disturbance. The rare treasure about to emerge was anything but ordinary, and it would inevitably whip up a bloody storm.
Thus, Dijiang had summoned Goumang and Zhurong to prepare for whatever might happen next.
"Very well. We will return at once."
Goumang and Zhurong dared not take this lightly.
Play was play.
When it was time to be serious, they had to be serious.
The next moment, two streaks of light shot into the sky, heading straight for Mount Buzhou.
"Why have those two left?"
On Mount Kunlun, Yuanshi, who had been watching Goumang and Zhurong all along, was also puzzled by the sight.
"We should depart as well."
Just then, Laozi appeared beside Yuanshi, with Tongtian behind him.
"Eldest brother, do you mean the opportunity about to emerge on Mount Buzhou?"
Yuanshi asked.
"Indeed. Goumang and Zhurong have probably returned to Mount Buzhou for the same reason."
Laozi nodded.
"Then let us hurry over!"
Yuanshi nodded repeatedly as well.
"Old friend, I have sensed an opportunity emerging, so I shall trouble you no longer here at the Five Villages Temple."
Inside the Five Villages Temple, Hongyun, dressed in red robes, languidly rose and spoke to Zhen Yuanzi beside him.
"Fellow Daoist, on this journey, you must not fall back into that bad habit of yours. If something is none of your business, do not meddle."
Zhen Yuanzi warned him anxiously.
Whenever he recalled how, after the first sermon at the Purple Heavens Palace, Daochen had taught the Three Pure Ones a lesson, and the murderous look in Daochen's eyes when Hongyun spoke in their defense...
Zhen Yuanzi was still shaken by lingering fear.
No one knew how Daochen would treat Hongyun if he ran into him again and his meddlesome habit resurfaced.
Whatever else might be uncertain, with Daochen's strength, crushing Hongyun to death would hardly be a problem.
"Rest assured, fellow Daoist. I know what I am doing."
Hongyun patted his chest in assurance.
With a sweep of his broad sleeve, he gathered up every Ginseng Fruit on the table.
"Fellow Daoist Zhen Yuanzi, I shall take these Ginseng Fruits to treat myself along the way. You do not mind, do you?"
Before Zhen Yuanzi could respond, Hongyun flickered and vanished from the Five Villages Temple.
"Martial Uncle Hongyun really goes too far. Staying at our Five Villages Temple is one thing, but he even takes several Ginseng Fruits when he leaves. He does not act like a venerable expert at all."
After Hongyun left, a young Daoist attendant at the Five Villages Temple muttered under his breath.
"Go do your lessons. What business is it of yours how your Martial Uncle Hongyun conducts himself?"
Zhen Yuanzi glared, making the muttering attendant jump in fright.
Let him eat them. Zhen Yuanzi had long since grown tired of them anyway...
Before you continue