ATPnovel Chapter 32, Zixiao Palace, Lecture 2 begins.
Chapter 32, Zixiao Palace, Lecture 2 begins.
Chapter 32, Part Two of the Zixiao Palace Lecture Begins
"With such talent, ability, and rare loyalty, he deserves a chance." With this in mind, Hongjun made up his mind.
If even loyal people like Styx, who dedicate themselves to the path of immortality, don't get a chance, then who will dedicate themselves to the path of immortality?
As a sage, he could easily see that Styx had also cultivated the Great Dao of Reincarnation. If he couldn't even seize such a good opportunity to help Styx control reincarnation, how could he have gotten to this point?
As time passed, the time for the second lecture at Zixiao Palace finally arrived, and all the powerful figures gathered once again in front of Zixiao Palace.
This time, in just a few cycles, the scenery in Styx's eyes has changed dramatically.
Before this, in Styx's eyes, Taiyi and Laozi were undoubtedly very powerful beings, but now, in his eyes as a Hunyuan Golden Immortal, everything has changed.
At the same level, a Primordial Golden Immortal is stronger than a Quasi-Saint who breaks through purely by severing the Three Corpses. This is beyond doubt. Even Taiyi and Laozi, at the Primordial Golden Immortal level, could not catch up with him at this moment, because they have already embarked on completely different paths.
However, Styx did not deliberately flaunt his status as a Primordial Golden Immortal. He concealed his aura, and in the eyes of the other three thousand guests of Zixiao, Styx was completely unfathomable.
Among the three thousand guests of Zixiao, quite a few were actually watching Styx, who was deliberately keeping his presence to himself.
For example, the ambitious Dongwanggong at this moment, the Three Pure Ones, Dijun, Taiyi, Fuxi, Nuwa, Kunpeng, and even Zhunti and Jieyin.
Take Zhunti and Jieyin, who were once forced back by Styx's sword, as examples. Before that, there was no doubt that there was a huge gap between them and Styx. But at that time, they could see the sharpness of Styx, which was the sharpness that the Dao of Killing and Sword could not hide. But now, Styx is an existence that they cannot see through at all.
"The Styx River's cultivation has improved again." All the powerful beings were startled. They were not surprised by this, after all, the Styx River had gained so much merit.
"I wonder how much merit he consumed and how much his cultivation improved. Damn it, all that merit was originally mine, mine!" Kunpeng was furious as he looked at Styx, whose cultivation had clearly broken through.
After some deliberation, Yuanshi felt somewhat relieved.
He found the Styx River quite unfathomable. Among the Three Pure Ones, his understanding of the Heavenly Dao was no less than that of his elder brother Laozi. Logically speaking, even if he were a powerful being of the same level as him, he could deduce some clues through careful deduction. However, no matter how he deduced about the Styx River, he could not deduce any useful information.
Clearly, Styx possesses a magical treasure capable of concealing heavenly secrets, or more bluntly, Styx is constantly disrupting his own heavenly secrets to prevent others from making deductions.
"I thought the River Styx was cunning, but I never imagined it could be so short-sighted," Yuan Shi thought to himself.
The Three Pure Ones' cultivation has stagnated at the peak of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm for a long time, and in Yuanshi's mind, even the Three Pure Ones do not have a higher inheritance, so how could the Styx River possibly have one?
However, relying solely on merit to break through bottlenecks and forcibly improve one's cultivation level would consume a considerable amount of merit according to Yuanshi's calculations. Yuanshi believed that Styx, who forcibly broke through by relying on merit, had most likely already exhausted the merit he had previously accumulated.
If one were to rely solely on consuming merit to enhance their cultivation, would anyone in the entire prehistoric world, apart from the sages, have a higher cultivation level than the Three Pure Ones?
After all, they possessed the merit of creating the world, and no one else, no matter how high their merit, could surpass theirs.
It's just not worth it.
There's no need to waste precious merits accumulated during the creation of the world for such a small hurdle.
Anyway, this time the Dao Ancestor will also preach the Dao of Quasi-Saints to point out the way forward for them.
Yuanshi did not doubt Styx's motives, because at this moment, Styx's behavior was exactly in line with Yuanshi's assessment of him.
A treacherous person standing beside a sage, attempting to bewitch him.
Styx never showed the saints the same genuine, heartfelt respect as the Three Pure Ones. His respect for the saints was entirely based on self-interest.
The actions of Styx over these past few eras have never been for the sake of saints, immortals, or all living beings in the primordial world; they have only been for his own benefit and cultivation.
However, when he thought of the sage bestowing the Styx with spiritual treasures, Yuanshi was troubled. How could he let the sage see the true face of the Styx?
How could we let the sages see the sincerity of the Three Pure Ones?
At this moment, the Eastern King Duke was also gazing at the River Styx.
He was wondering whether he should try to recruit the Styx.
The Eastern King Duke could vaguely sense that if he wanted to attain the Dao, who would ultimately compete with him for it? In the past few eons, not only was his power as the Immortal Leader and Demon Lord increasing, but the power of the one on the Sun Star and the Wu Clan under Mount Buzhou was also growing.
A powerful being like Styx should rightfully serve under his demonic influence.
Without giving the powerful beings much time to think, Haotian and Yaochi soon left Zixiao Palace to announce the Sage's decree, summoning the powerful beings to Zixiao Palace to listen to the Dao.
The second lecture at Zixiao Palace has officially begun.
"Greetings, Dao Ancestor!"
"Greetings, Dao Ancestor!"
One after another, greetings rang out. Hongjun remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was quite satisfied with the rising fortune.
"Paying homage to the sage."
Hongjun: ?
who is it?
Compared to the voices paying homage to the Dao Ancestor, there are now very few voices that still refer to him as a sage.
Hongjun looked around and saw that it was Yuanshi and Dongwanggong. He then looked away expressionlessly.
Yuanshi believed that Styx was a treacherous ruler, so he naturally could not collude with Styx to flatter Hongjun as the Dao Ancestor. This was not because Hongjun was not qualified to receive the title of Dao Ancestor, but because Yuanshi's pride and integrity would not allow him to do so.
As the leader of the immortals, Dongwanggong now has the arrogance of having three thousand guests in Zixiao and all the immortals looking up to him. Just like when Styx offered sacrifices to the heavens, paid homage to the Dao Ancestor, and created characters at Shouyang Mountain, if it were the previous Dongwanggong, he would definitely have gone with a group of great powers.
However, the position of the head of the male immortals, endorsed by a sage, gave Dongwanggong immense confidence, to the point that many of their actions now seem quite strange.
As for what Hongjun thinks, those are beyond the control of his loyal ministers.
"Since the lecture at Zixiao Palace, for hundreds of thousands of years, I have always been grateful for the kindness of the Dao Ancestor in imparting knowledge, teaching skills, and resolving doubts."
My longing for the Dao Ancestor was as boundless as the primordial chaos beyond the heavens. Today, I am finally able to see the Dao Ancestor again, which eases my longing somewhat.
Today, the Dao Ancestor selflessly points out the path for us. Such immense kindness and virtue—we truly do not know how to repay it.
Yuan Shi frowned.
It's the River Styx again!
This traitor.
"Yes, you've put in a lot of effort, I've seen it all." Looking at the Styx River, Hongjun nodded with a smile.
Looking at the vast majority of those powerful beings who merely echoed him and flattered him for their own benefit, and then at Yuanshi and Dongwanggong who nowadays wouldn't even bother to call him Daozu.
Those who are truly interested don't need to be taught.