At Dijiang's command, the entire Witch Clan mobilized.
With the Witch Clan openly provoking them, both tribes prepared to settle the outcome in a single battle. But against the Witch Clan, the Demon Tribe had no chance of victory.
Under the Witch Clan's slaughter, the Demon Tribe's territory rapidly shrank. Their destruction seemed imminent.
Hongjun witnessed it all. Just as the Witch Clan was about to wipe out the Demon Tribe, he finally intervened.
Facing the twelve Ancestral Witches, Hongjun stopped them with nothing more than a glance.
Before a Sage, the Witch Clan's overwhelmingly powerful strength was nothing but a joke.
The twelve who had seemed invincible before were rattled after witnessing Hongjun's methods.
Before he intervened, they had never imagined the gulf between them could be so vast.
Di Jun, the Eastern Emperor, and the other members of the Demon Tribe breathed sighs of relief.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun's intervention meant they would survive.
Looking down at everyone below, Hongjun issued an imperious command.
"From this day forth, the witches shall rule the earth, and the demons shall rule the heavens! For a thousand years, the Witch Clan and the Demon Tribe shall not fight again!"
With that, Hongjun vanished before their eyes.
He left no threats behind, yet no one dared defy him.
Upon hearing this decree, the Demon Tribe was overjoyed, while the Witch Clan seethed with resentment.
Hongjun's latest intervention sent waves of upheaval across the Primordial World. Even Xu Tong heard the news.
Xu Tong paid it no heed, however.
The first decisive battle between the Witch Clan and the Demon Tribe was like a signal telling Xu Tong that the Six Heavenly Sages would soon all emerge. The lead he had only just gained over those six Sages would soon disappear. He had to raise his strength again while he still had time.
Not long after these events, Hongjun's voice once again rang out across heaven and earth.
"The third sermon at the Purple Cloud Palace shall begin. This time, I shall expound upon the Dao of Sages. All those with the destined affinity may come and listen!"
As his voice spread, mighty figures everywhere turned their attention toward it.
On Buzhou Mountain, Fuxi was brimming with excitement.
"Little sister! The Sage is giving another sermon. We absolutely must not miss this one! You've made no progress with your Primordial Violet Qi all these years. Perhaps this will be your chance!"
"If our Demon Tribe could produce a Sage, we could turn the tide!"
As a member of the Demon Tribe, Fuxi naturally had its interests at heart.
Nuwa had no interest in the conflict between the two tribes, but when her elder brother suggested she might gain some insight from this sermon, she nodded.
Her status was no longer what it had once been.
Before, Nuwa had merely been a cultivator in the Primordial World. Now, she was also Hongjun's disciple, so naturally she had to attend his sermon.
Zhunti and Jieyin of the Western Teachings had also spent years contemplating their Primordial Violet Qi, but their results were no different from everyone else's.
Hearing that Hongjun was about to preach again, the two brightened and hurried to the Purple Cloud Palace without delay.
On Kunlun Mountain, Laozi and Yuanshi immediately emerged from seclusion upon hearing the news.
Before departing, however, Laozi sought out Xu Tong once more.
"Third brother, the Sage is preaching again, and I hear he intends to expound upon the Dao of Sages this time. Why don't the three of us go together?"
Laozi had his own plans. If Tongtian truly cultivated the method to Prove Dao by Force, Hongjun would surely be able to tell. Then Laozi could finally resolve the doubts in his heart.
Yet Laozi's scheme was doomed to fail.
Upon hearing their invitation, Xu Tong merely shook his head.
"You two go ahead. I won't be going. My Dao does not lie here."
With that, Xu Tong sealed his cultivation grounds.
What a joke. The Dao of Sages? I'm already a primordial Daluo Golden Immortal. Why would I care about that?
Let them pursue this Dao of Sages themselves.
Seeing that Tongtian remained so cold, Yuanshi and Laozi were helpless. In the end, they could only leave without him.
At the Demon Tribe's Heavenly Court.
Di Jun sat upon his dragon throne, his brows tightly furrowed.
Since the last battle, Di Jun had been unable to find any joy.
The Demon Tribe he took such pride in had proved no match for the Witch Clan. Once the fighting truly began, it had even turned into a one-sided rout.
There was no helping it. The Witch Clan's physical bodies were simply too monstrous.
Most of the Demon Tribe's attacks barely tickled the witches.
There was simply no way to fight this war.
Although the Dao Ancestor had decreed that the demons would rule the heavens and the witches the earth, and forbidden further conflict for a thousand years, those thousand years would eventually pass. What would happen then?
When the witches and demons went to war again, what was the Demon Tribe supposed to do?
Di Jun pondered this question all day, yet could find no answer.
He could not even muster any enthusiasm for attending the Dao Ancestor's sermon.
He had no Primordial Violet Qi, so he could not become a Sage.
As for the quasi-Saint Dao, that was merely a matter of grinding away over time.
As the lord of the Demon Tribe, he naturally had no shortage of Spiritual Treasures.
Once the right opportunity arrived, he would naturally be able to sever his corpses. Reaching the pinnacle of quasi-Sage cultivation was only a matter of time.
But what good would that do? It still would not solve the fundamental problem.
Without becoming a Sage, one would remain an ant in the end.
The Eastern Emperor, however, thought otherwise.
"Brother, the Dao Ancestor is preaching again, and this will be his last sermon. I think we should still go. Even if we cannot become Sages, learning about the Dao of Sages can only benefit us."
"Perhaps one day you will have the chance to become a Sage, brother. When that happens, the balance between the Witch Clan and the Demon Tribe will naturally reverse."
The Eastern Emperor's words were not without effect. Di Jun had been steeped in distress, but now he rallied his spirits.
"That's right! The only way out for us witches and demons now is to become a Sage. As long as I become a Sage, I can wipe out the Witch Clan in one stroke!"
Recalling Hongjun's overwhelming power, Di Jun's eyes burned with fervor.
Becoming a Sage had nearly become an obsession for him.
Meanwhile, the Witch Clan had not been idle either.
After hearing that the Dao Ancestor would preach once more, the twelve Ancestral Witches gathered together.
"Everyone, the Dao Ancestor is giving another sermon, this time on the Dao of Sages."
"Strictly speaking, this has little to do with our Witch Clan. But I suspect those two birdmen from the Demon Tribe, Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor, may attend as well."
"Our Witch Clan's strength has reached a bottleneck. To guard against any unforeseen developments, we absolutely cannot let Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor grow any stronger. So I've decided that we'll all go together. Even if we cannot attack, disrupting those two birdmen would still be worthwhile."
Dijiang had made up his mind: even if he gained nothing himself, he would still make things miserable for someone else.
His words struck a chord with everyone.
Houtu, however, was thinking about something else.
Does our Witch Clan truly have no way to become Sages?
Each harboring their own thoughts, they set off together for the Purple Cloud Palace.
At the same time, Xu Tong slowly opened his eyes within his cultivation grounds and looked toward the Purple Cloud Palace.
"Heh. I wonder whether that old fellow Hongjun will attack me again when he realizes I still haven't attended his sermon. I'll have to make some preparations beforehand."
As he spoke, Xu Tong took out the Chaos Bead.
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