The chime of the final sermon faded, and the gathered titans of the realm began to drift away from the palace like receding tides. East King Duke stood tall, his chest puffed with a newfound, radiant energy. He moved through the crowd with an practiced air of grandeur, attempting to catch the eyes of the various masters to weave them into his burgeoning court.
Some offered a perfunctory nod. Most simply walked past him as if he were a ghost.
A sense of urgency hung in the air; many of these mighty figures were already mentally retreating into their own grotto-heavens. The secret of Severing the Corpse burned in their minds, and the allure of the Quasi-Saint rank far outweighed the political posturing of a man who had only just been handed his title.
When Houtu turned to leave, the Three Pure Ones—Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian—pivoted in unison. Their expressions remained cold, their gazes sharp with a lingering, unfriendly heat. They moved with a singular purpose, clearly intent on settling the debts of their previous grievances.
East King Duke's latest overture was met with a wall of silence. The Three Pure Ones brushed past him without so much as a sideways glance, treating the newly appointed Head of the Male Immortals as nothing more than thin air.
His jaw tightened, a flicker of frustration crossing his features. Then, seeing Dijun, Tai Yi, Zhenyuanzi, and Hongyun preparing to depart, he forced a shallow smile back onto his face.
"Fellow Daoists," he called out, his voice smooth. "Do you have a moment to converse?"
"No time."
The response was a blunt blade. Dijun and his companions didn't break their stride, throwing the words back over their shoulders without slowing.
The smile on East King Duke's face didn't just fade—it curdled. His skin grew taut, his complexion slowly darkening into a mask of suppressed rage. He knew his appointment as the Head of Male Immortals had been unconventional, perhaps even a stroke of trickery, but did they truly lack the decency to grant him even a shred of Face?
"I hope you can maintain that stubbornness forever..." he hissed under his breath. He watched their retreating backs, his eyes flickering with an unstable light.
On the periphery of the exiting crowd, the Two Sages of the West watched the Golden Crows depart. As soon as the brothers cleared the gates of Zixiao Palace, Jieyin and Zhunti followed.
"Senior Brother, with Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun flanking those Crows, our path is blocked," Zhunti whispered. His brow was furrowed in contemplation, but a murderous glint danced deep within his pupils.
This was their moment for vengeance. The plan had been simple: collect a bit of interest on their grudge now, then return to their secluded meditation to Sever the Corpse and attain the Quasi-Saint rank before launching a final assault on the Sun Star. But the presence of the Earth Ancestor and the Cloud Immortal complicated the math. If a fight broke out, those two would surely tip the scales in the Crows' favor.
"It matters not," Jieyin replied, his voice a calm pool of absolute certainty. "I do not believe their brotherhood is eternal. We shall trail them and wait. If the opportunity does not present itself, we return to our meditation first. Once we have stepped into the Quasi-Saint realm, we shall march upon the Sun Star and erase the Golden Crow Clan from existence in a single stroke."
Jieyin spoke with the weight of a man who had already felt the threshold of the Benevolent Corpse. The next realm was visible to him, just beyond the horizon. He felt no rush. If revenge was delayed by a few years, it would only be sweeter when he personally set foot on the solar fires.
The thought of settling the score with all three Golden Crows at once brought a faint, ghost of a smile to his lips. He glanced at his Junior Brother, noting the agitation in Zhunti's posture. He would need to guide him toward a steadier heart soon.
"Then I shall follow your lead, Senior Brother," Zhunti conceded, nodding as he reined in his impatience. They were already at the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm; breaking through would be as natural as water flowing downhill.
Meanwhile, the Golden Crows and their companions exited the swirling mists of Chaos.
"Fellow Daoist Dijun, Fellow Daoist Tai Yi," Zhenyuanzi said, coming to a halt and cupping his hands. Hongyun stood beside him, mirroring the gesture. "Our path veers here. The insights from this sermon are profound, and with our Innate Spirit Treasures ready, we must begin our seclusion immediately."
"Very well," Dijun replied, returning the salute. "Let us part here."
The two groups separated, and the figures of Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun vanished into the distance. But just as Dijun and Tai Yi prepared to make their own leap through the void, a violent tremor shook the fabric of the Beyond the Heavens.
Shockwaves of a distant, massive battle rippled through the vacuum. Even from this vast distance, a heart-palpitating aura washed over them.
"The Ancestral Witches and the Three Pure Ones have begun," Tai Yi observed.
They channeled their Divine Abilities, their vision piercing the distance. Far across the stars, six Ancestral Witches—Xuanming, Houtu, and Qiang Liang among them—were locked in a fierce siege against the Three Pure Ones.
"The Witches have grown stronger," Dijun noted, his expression tightening with surprise. The power radiating from the Ancestral Witches was far beyond their last encounter; they had reached the late stages of the Grand Unity realm, bordering on perfection.
"It seems the title of Pangu's Orthodox Lineage carries more weight than we thought," Tai Yi mused. "It actually feeds their cultivation." He let out a small, dry laugh. "Third Brother once claimed we Golden Crows were also part of that lineage. I wonder if that Luck will ever manifest for us."
He still remembered Ling Xiao's words at Mount Buzhou—how he had claimed every living thing in the Honghuang world could trace its roots back to Pangu.
"Let's move," Dijun said, his gaze turning steely. The pressure was mounting again. It was a familiar weight; at home, he had two brothers who outpaced him, and abroad, the world was filling with monsters. "We return to seclusion. This time, we do not emerge until we have reached the rank of Hun Yuan Golden Immortal."
Tai Yi nodded in agreement. But as they turned to depart, the space around them suddenly curdled. A heavy, suffocating aura descended like a physical weight.
"Golden Crows... it has been a long time."
Bathed in the shimmering halos of Karma, their bodies radiating a deceptive, peaceful light, the Two Sages of the West descended from the void.
They had been prepared to retreat to the West, but the moment they saw the Crows part ways with their protectors, they knew. This was the opening they had been waiting for.
"A long time?" Tai Yi's voice was light, though the Chaos Bell began to hum as it drifted above his head. "Didn't we just see each other in the palace?"
Dijun didn't waste time with pleasantries. He summoned the River Chart and Luo Scroll, his senses locking onto the naked, jagged murderous intent pouring off the two newcomers.
"Hehe. I have no desire for idle chatter," Zhunti barked, his voice cold as the void. "Past causes, today's effects. Hand over your lives!"
There was no further warning. Both sides struck simultaneously, a tacit understanding that only death would end the encounter. Killing blows tore through the air as the Void Realm was swallowed by a deluge of Dharmic power, the universe itself trembling under the force of the collision.
On the Sun Star, Ling Xiao opened his eyes.
The air around him was thick with the scent of ancient years; time itself seemed to dance in the ripples of his aura. He sat motionless, looking like a being perched at the very end of the river of time, watching the rise and fall of civilizations in a single breath.
"Not bad," he murmured, a thin smile touching his lips. "My Law of Time has finally crossed the threshold of the Hun Yuan Golden Immortal..."
Ever since he had absorbed those time fragments, he had been balanced on the precipice. During this latest meditation, he had slipped into a brief state of Epiphany, and the final barrier had shattered. Though his core cultivation remained at the Early Stage, his mastery over the fundamental laws had multiplied his true strength manifold.
[Ding! Detected that Two Sages of the West are fighting Di Jun and Tai Yi. Please make the following choice!]
[Choice one: Rush there immediately and kill Two Sages of the West to uphold the majesty of the Golden Crow Clan. Reward: Heavenly Dao Killing Treasure, God Slaying Spear!]
[Choice two: Remain steady and stay put, turning a blind eye. Reward: One drop of Pangu's Essence Blood.]
Ling Xiao's eyes narrowed. The first choice was a siren's call—the God Slaying Spear, the premier killing weapon of the Heavenly Dao, once wielded by the Demon Ancestor Rahu.
But he wasn't a fool. Could the Western Sages even be killed right now? They were the chosen disciples of Hongjun, the future Saints ordained by Heaven itself. Even if he possessed the power to strike them down, the backlash from the Heavenly Dao would likely drag him into the grave with them. If he failed to kill them, the reward would never manifest.
The second choice was equally problematic. If he stayed put to claim the blood, he would be abandoning his brothers.
A cold light flickered in Ling Xiao's eyes as a third path began to form in his mind.
"That's right..." he whispered to the empty chamber. "Saving them doesn't necessarily mean I have to be there in the flesh."
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