On the Sun Star, the solar fires rippled as Ling Xiao stirred from his deep meditation. A flicker of dark, earthy yellow light flashed deep within his pupils, a sign of a new fundamental truth mastered.
"The Law of Earth has crossed the threshold," he murmured. "And the bells of Zixiao have fallen silent."
During the millennia of the final sermon, Ling Xiao had not been idle. His internal universe had expanded; the Law of Earth had reached the Hun Yuan Golden Immortal level, and his core cultivation was already surging toward the Late Stage. He was no longer just a power in the world; he was becoming a foundation of it.
He sensed the familiar resonance of solar fire approaching. Di Jun and Tai Yi had returned.
"Oh ho! Third Brother, this palace of yours is a bit much, isn't it?"
The brothers had left in a panic last time, but now, landing before the Ling Xiao Treasure Hall, they were forced to take in its scale. The grand hall radiated a majestic, golden light, its plaque bearing Ling Xiao's name in bold, sweeping characters.
"Our brother is a bit... narcissistic," Di Jun whispered to Tai Yi. "Carving his own name that big? It's like he's afraid the stars won't know who lives here."
"How was the sermon?" Ling Xiao asked, stepping out to greet them and steering the conversation away from his interior decorating. "What did you bring back from the heavens?"
"Gains? The lecture was a headache," Di Jun laughed, his eyes bright with the memory of the chase. "But the harvest was sweet. We beat the Two Sages of the West until they were begging the void for mercy. You should have seen them, Third Brother—scurrying through the Chaos like rats in a flooded cellar."
Ling Xiao chuckled. He could easily picture the pathetic state of Zhunti and Jieyin. "And the Violet Qi? Did the Saint bestow it?"
Tai Yi took over, recounting the events with a sharp, clinical focus. When he mentioned that Hong Yun had swatted the Primordial Violet Qi away and forced it onto Kunpeng, Ling Xiao felt a jolt of genuine surprise.
My words actually reached him, Ling Xiao thought. He felt a rare sense of satisfaction. If Hong Yun had truly learned to reject the "Foundation of Sainthood," then the death-calamity that awaited the "Good Man" in the original script might finally be erased.
"There is one more thing," Di Jun said, his voice turning serious. "On the road back, we were intercepted by the Sanqing. They... issued a challenge. They want a direct confrontation between the Three Pure Ones and the Three Crows."
Ling Xiao's expression shifted, a small, cold smile appearing on his face. It seemed the shards of Pangu's Axe had given the Sanqing a bit too much confidence.
"If they seek a duel, we shall give them one," Ling Xiao said leisurely. "I'm curious to see how many of my strikes their new toys can withstand."
"They have the Innate Supreme Treasures now," Di Jun reminded him. "We cannot be reckless."
"Heh. Supreme Treasures?" Tai Yi patted the Chaos Bell at his side, his grin widening. "Who in this family is lacking one of those?"
Di Jun's face fell instantly. He felt the sting of the remark deep in his marrow. Among the three brothers, he was the only one whose natal treasure didn't reach that rank. He was the only one in the entire "Pangu Lineage" elite who was "treasure-poor."
"This time," Di Jun vowed, his voice thick with resentment, "I am going into the deepest core of the star. I won't come out until I've surpassed both of you. Do not look for me!"
"Big Brother! Don't be so hard on your own soul!" Tai Yi called out, laughing as he chased after him.
Ling Xiao watched them go, his smile fading into a thoughtful look. "The sermons are over. Hongjun has merged with the Dao. The judge has left the court."
He looked out at the vast, sprawling Great Desolation. This was the most open period in history. There were no Saints to suppress the bold, and no overarching force to restrain the ambitious.
"It's time," Ling Xiao whispered, stretching his limbs. "Time to go out and see how the world feels beneath my feet."
As the elite returned from Zixiao Palace, the news of the six "Heaven-Ordained Saints" spread like a wildfire through the Honghuang world.
Within the Pangu Temple, the atmosphere was like a thunderhead before a storm. The Ancestral Witches sat in grim silence as the implications sank in.
"This is a disaster," Zhurong spat, his aura flickering with a violent heat. "Of the six future Saints, four are our mortal enemies. The Sanqing want our lineage, and Nuwa wants our territory. If we sit here and wait for them to ascend, the Witch Clan is as good as ash!"
"He's right," Candle Nine Nethers added, his weathered eyes cold. "Expansion is no longer a choice—it is survival. We must seize every resource, occupy every spiritual vein, and dominate the world. If we hold the earth, perhaps we can look a Saint in the eye."
The consensus was immediate and fierce. The Ancestral Witches were the children of Pangu; they would not wait for a "heavenly decree" to extinguish them.
"Why not just kill the Sanqing now?" Qiang Liang suggested, his voice like a booming bell. "They aren't Saints yet. They're just men with fancy banners. Let's finish it."
"It's not that simple," Houtu said, her voice heavy with the wisdom she'd gathered in the Palace. "They are ordained by the Heavens. Killing them is like trying to strike the Dao itself. But..."
"But how do we know if we don't try?" Xuanming interjected with a sharp, beautiful smile.
Di Jiang listened to the bickering, his silence a heavy weight in the room. He wasn't thinking about the Sanqing. He was thinking about a debt.
"The East King Duke," Di Jiang said, his voice a low growl that silenced the hall. "He played me. He promised me the secret to our Sainthood in exchange for a truce. He used my name to build a peace that only benefited his 'report card' to the Saint."
He stood up with a crash, the floor tiles beneath him turning to dust.
"Launch the offensive! Expand the borders! We crush the Yao while they are still basking in Nuwa's 'status.' And as for the Sanqing... if they are spotted, we set out with every warrior we have to hunt them down."
He looked toward the horizon, his eyes flashing with a lethal intent.
"But first," Di Jiang hissed, "I have a liar to kill. No one plays the Sovereign of Space and lives to tell the tale."
He vanished from the temple, streaking toward the azure waters of Zifu Island.
On that island, the East King Duke sat in his garden, his eyes flickering with a frantic, ambitious light. He had been left out of the discipleship, but he still held his title. He was still the Head of Male Immortals. He was already drafting a plan to forge his own destiny, unaware that the shadow of a god-killer was already falling across his home.