As Ling Xiao spoke, the expressions of Yuanshi and the others changed instantly.
"I don't believe you! You're trying to destroy our Dao Hearts (Dao Heart)!" Yuanshi was the first to speak, his face solemn. He clung to his conviction with everything he had.
"Whether you believe it or not, ask your Elder Brother," Ling Xiao said peacefully.
Yuanshi turned to Laozi. Before he could even ask, Laozi spoke first.
"What Ling Xiao said... is very likely true."
Laozi's expression was grave, his voice heavy. He had already slain his three corpses, and he possessed the deepest insight into this path. For a long time, he had felt something was wrong; no matter how he meditated, the three corpses refused to merge, as if the road ahead had been severed. Hearing Ling Xiao's explanation, a piece of the puzzle finally fell into place.
At Laozi's admission, the faces of Yuanshi, Jieyin, and the others turned ash-gray. Ling Xiao might lie, but Laozi had no reason to. If this were true, were their very foundations ruined? They had all used unrelated Magic Treasures to slay their corpses. It wasn't as if they could just melt the corpses back into their bodies and start over!
"Enough. I've told you plenty. Now, it is time for the reckoning." "You ambushed my brothers; for this Karma, there must be a price!"
Ling Xiao's face turned cold. As his voice fell, he struck out under the horrified gazes of the assembly. With a light wave of his hand, Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian began to float upward, pulled by an irresistible, mysterious force.
"Ling Xiao! What are you doing?" "Don't do anything reckless! We are the Orthodox Lineage of Pangu! We carry the Karma of creation—if you kill us, you will face a massive calamity!" "The Dao Ancestor! Think of the Dao Ancestor! Fellow Daoist Ling Xiao, we were blind before. Now that you've achieved Sainthood, surely you won't lower yourself to our level? We'll compensate you! Let's call it even, how about that?"
They were truly panicking now. The sense of crisis was absolute; they couldn't even control their own bodies, let alone break free of the restraint. The power of a Saint was beyond imagination! They had zero capacity to fight back.
Ling Xiao remained expressionless. He pointed a finger, and three beams of light shot into the bodies of the Sanqing. Suddenly, their bodies erupted with brilliant purple radiance. Three strands of purple Qi began to drift out from the tops of their heads, twisting and coiling with Dao-resonance. This was the Primordial Violet Qi (primordial violet qi).
Ling Xiao beckoned with his hand, and the three strands of Qi flew into his palm. He casually tossed them into the Grandmist Cauldron (hongmeng cauldron) and sealed them.
"Ah! My Primordial Violet Qi!" Yuanshi's eyes nearly burst from their sockets. He felt as if his very soul had been extracted, losing his most precious treasure. He was so enraged he nearly fainted. Laozi looked as if he were at a funeral; the moment the Qi left his body, he could no longer feel his path to Sainthood. He was in total despair. How can I ever become a Saint now?
Beside them, Jieyin and Zhunti were paralyzed with terror. They wanted to flee, but they couldn't move an inch. Then, Ling Xiao's gaze landed on them, his eyes filled with terrifying, boundless anomalies.
The two Westerners froze. Then, their faces contorted with sudden savagery. They turned to look at each other and began to attack one another with insane fury. Finally, they both pulverized each other, dying in a mutual explosion.
"Birth in an instant, death in an instant. Connecting the past and the future, I seal you within this present moment for all eternity." "This is called Karma Reincarnation (Karma Reincarnation)."
The remnants of Jieyin and Zhunti's consciousness felt a soul-chilling dread. They wanted to beg for mercy, but Ling Xiao simply cast them into the infinite Chaos.
The two landed in the void, and their expressions turned savage again. They attacked, died, and then—time reversed. They began the fight again, only to kill each other once more. An infinite loop. A massive cycle of Karma Reincarnation surrounded the Two Sages of the West, sealing their life and death forever within a single heartbeat.
The Sanqing watched, their scalps tingling. They were filled with an uncontrollable horror. This was the method of a Saint. Before Ling Xiao, they were truly like ants.
"Ling Xiao! We have the protection of the Great Dao! Don't do anything crazy!" Yuanshi screamed hysterically, his mind starting to slip. "Teacher! Save us!"
As if in response to Yuanshi's plea, a gargantuan hand suddenly reached out from the Chaos Void Realm, grasping toward their location. It carried the weight of heaven—vast, ancient, and immeasurable.
Ling Xiao remained calm and struck out. In the eyes of the Sanqing, his silhouette grew increasingly majestic and vast until they felt like specks of dust before him. The scene was too shocking. Time interlaced, worlds were created and destroyed, and everything became a blur. Ling Xiao's figure seemed to travel to another space-time to engage in battle, a conflict that shattered universes and ended eras.
The infinite Chaos was ignited and reduced to nothingness. In a single heartbeat, life and death flickered, the Great Dao Laws roared, and order was thrown into chaos. They couldn't even see the details of the fight; they could only feel the crushing weight of heavenly majesty.
Empress Wa Heaven.
Nuwa stood before her palace, gazing toward a corner of the Chaos. Her phoenix eyes shimmered with shock and mystery.
"Ling Xiao is truly alive..." "And he seems to be... fighting Teacher?"
Nuwa felt a bit dizzy. She had expected Ling Xiao to be alive, but she never imagined he had already become a Hun Yuan Sage (Saint). And now he was trading blows with the Dao Ancestor? A bitter smile touched her lips. She had surpassed the Sanqing and the Westerners to become the first disciple to achieve Sainthood—yet even after such a leap, she still hadn't surpassed Ling Xiao.
"The Sanqing and the Westerners have suffered a major catastrophe..." "If they hadn't come to the Chaos to hear my sermon, would they have avoided this fate?" She suddenly realized she might have accidentally become an accomplice.
The battle in the Chaos reached a point of total destruction. The destructive forces spilled out everywhere, and soon, the figures of Ling Xiao and the others were gone.
Zixiao Palace.
Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian stood in a wretched state. Above them, on a nine-layered cloud platform, sat the figure of Hongjun—a shimmering, mysterious presence that shifted between reality and phantom.
"Thank you, Teacher, for saving us!" Yuanshi was the first to bow in thanks, his heart still pounding with fear. One moment he was in the Chaos, and the next, he had awakened here. He didn't dare ask where Ling Xiao went or if he had been defeated.
The atmosphere was eerie and oppressive. Even though Hongjun remained silent, the three brothers could sense a cold, nameless fury. It was terrifying.
Hongjun looked down at the three of them with deep, expressionless eyes. Finally, he spoke with an indifferent tone.
"You were destined for Sainthood, yet you were constantly distracted by worldly affairs. If you had achieved your rank, would you have been as wretched as you were today?"
His voice was cold, filled with profound meaning. He was clearly displeased with them.
"We accept Teacher's rebuke," the Sanqing replied in unison. Then, Yuanshi's gaze flickered, and he spoke hesitantly.
"That... Teacher, our Primordial Violet Qi was stolen. Can we still become Saints?"