Dao Ancestor Hongjun's gaze seemed to bear the weight of eternal rivers of stars as it slowly swept over the Six Sages below.
In their eyes, he saw shock and hesitation, but he also saw the faint yet resilient fire of defiance that Ming Xin's words had ignited.
He knew full well that every word Ming Xin had spoken was heartfelt and reasonable. Continuing to hide away would be nothing more than self-deception—placing the butcher's blade in the hands of foreign enemies and waiting for a slow death.
He closed his eyes, as though engaging in the deepest communication with the omnipresent Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World.
Time within the Purple Cloud Palace seemed to freeze. Only the light sphere of the Grave God World floated quietly above Ming Xin's palm, radiating the final gleam of that foreign world.
After a long while, Dao Ancestor Hongjun suddenly opened his eyes. All confusion and defeat had vanished from his gaze, replaced by a resolve to stake everything on a single throw.
A long-forgotten sharpness belonging to a Chaos Demon God faintly emanated from his stooped body!
"Good!"
A Dao Sound, like the first thunderclap at the dawn of creation, shattered the oppressive silence within the Purple Cloud Palace!
"What Ming Xin said is the ultimate truth! Seeking safety cannot bring Life Force; only by fighting can we find a way forward!"
Dao Ancestor Hongjun's voice was vast and majestic, ringing through the universe as though proclaiming to the Entire Primordial World, "From this day onward, the Primordial World... will conceal its strength no longer!"
He held two fingers together like a sword and pointed toward the unseen void. An incomparably profound decree containing the will of the Heavenly Dao Origin instantly condensed.
It then transformed into countless streams of light