Chapter 9: Deceiving Heaven and Tricking the Way

  The Three Pure Ones took Yun Zhongzi and the other two to the Zi Xuan Palace, with their cultivation naturally not having to worry about safety on the way through the chaos. Along the way, they told them some secrets and interesting stories of the Primordial Era, greatly broadening their horizons.

  Ran Deng and Duo Bao, Yun Zhongzi were also chatting and laughing, harmonious and peaceful, not showing any estrangement between the three people. However, what was hidden in secret was unknown to others.

  In the midst of chaos, I don't know how far I've walked, but ahead of me appeared an ancient and simple palace.

  Arriving at the Purple Mansion, Yun Zhongzi suddenly discovered that they were actually among the earliest arrivals. He couldn't help but secretly sigh in his heart, "The Three Pure Ones aren't just boasting after all."

  Arriving at the gate of Zixiao Palace, everywhere is filled with the aura of Tao, making people feel respectful and fearful. On the gate hangs a board, inscribed with three words: "Zixiao Palace".

  At this moment, the palace gate suddenly opened, and a man and a woman walked out from inside, bowed to Sanqing and said: "Three Taoist friends, please come in."

  Looking at the two people in front of him, Yun Zhongzi knew that this was the famous Jade Emperor and Queen Mother of the future, but now they were just Dao children beside the Daozu.

  Laozi responded faintly, and the six people proceeded in order. However, Huang Tian didn't show any expression, as if he was an outsider. This mindset alone is not something ordinary people can compare to.

  Only Yun Zhongzi smiled and nodded when he passed by Haotian, but didn't say much. It wasn't that he looked down on Haotian, but there was no need to deeply interact with him. The era of the saints is not something that can be compared to just because Haotian has the identity of the Jade Emperor.

  Inside the Zixu Palace, it was a bit empty. In the front row, there were six meditation mats. Yun Zhongzi knew that they were the sacred seats, where the Three Pure Ones sat in order. As for Yun Zhongzi and his two companions, they stood behind them. The six of them did not speak, as anyone who could cultivate in this place would have their Dao increase very obviously, and no one would waste time.

  When Yun Zhongzi woke up, the surroundings were already filled with people. Some were meditating with their eyes closed, while others were chatting in a low voice. Although there were many people, it did not appear chaotic, everything was in order.

  Here, he finally saw what a high hand was. Anyway, the people around him couldn't see through one, judging from their breath, similar to the breath revealed by Sanqing. Yun Zhongzi knew that these were all quasi-saints, and they were super quasi-saints.

  As for the others, they were basically all powerful beings at the Mahayana Golden Immortal stage. Thinking about it, he was only in the late Golden Immortal stage himself, and couldn't help but shake his head secretly. However, Yun Zhongzi didn't feel discouraged; he had great confidence in his own future.

  One by one, the faces and posthumous reputations are similar, Yun Zhongzi looked at them one by one and roughly distinguished them:

  The fourth cushion sat a palace-dressed woman, extremely beautiful in appearance, should be Nüwa, and behind her should be her brother Fuxi; the two of them looked like they had just been summoned from the dead and were malnourished, especially Zhunti's eyes naturally turning to show his cunning.

  Behind them were Emperor Jun and Taiyi, both wearing imperial robes. Emperor Jun had a gentle face but did not lose his dignity. Although Taiyi was not very talkative, the pride in his eyes was visible to everyone. The fiery red Hongyun and the cyan-colored Zhenyuanzi were also close by, especially Hongyun, who seemed to have an intention to make friends with Yunzi.

  The gloomy Kunpeng and the ominous Minghe Laozu sat alone in two corners, looking very conspicuous. Behind them were thousands of Daluo Golden Immortals, each one's presence at the Zixiao Palace a symbol of their strength.

  After a while, the palace gate slowly closed, and Haotian's voice sounded: "The Daozu is about to preach, no one is allowed to speak." The next moment, Hongjun Daozu suddenly appeared in front of him, expressionless, looking at the crowd and saying: "The third preaching begins." After finishing speaking, he ignored the people below and slowly started preaching the Great Way.

  After the Daozu appeared, Yun Zhongzi was ready. When the Daozu said to start, he stretched his hand into his chest, pressed a button, and looked at the Daozu above him. Yun Zhongzi smiled slyly in his heart.

  The founder of Taoism spoke of the Tao, although without elaborate words or flowery language, but the great Tao is simple and profound. Everyone is deeply enchanted by it, and as time passes, one by one, their true nature is revealed.

  Yun Zhongzi didn't make a fool of himself, not because he had good self-control, but because his cultivation was too poor. He barely listened to half of it and then gloriously fainted, and in the end, it was Tongtian Sect Master who woke him up. Ruan Deng was much better than Yun Zhongzi after all, as his cultivation was there, Taiyi Golden Immortal! As for Duobao, he had stronger self-control than Yun Zhongzi by a hair's breadth.

  However, this can be understood. The other party's cultivation is stronger than his, and their willpower must also be stronger. Yun Zhongzi is different, of course. If it were the previous Yun Zhongzi, their willpower might not be much weaker than Duobao's. But now Yun Zhongzi is just a young man who has lived in the later generations for twenty years. Even after the Hongyuan, he has only lived for a thousand years. How can this thousand years compare to the countless years of Reng Deng and Duobao?

  Everything is as legendary, Laozi got the Xuan Huang Linglong Tower, Taiji Diagram and Bianqiao, Yuanshi got the Pangu Fan and Jade Ruyi, Tongtian got the Zhuxian Sword Array and Qingping Sword. The Zhuxian Sword Array of Tongtian's sect master was even more envied by everyone. Yunzhongzi secretly observed carefully and saw a hint of envy in Yuanshi Tianzun's eyes, because although Yuanshi Tianzun's Pangu Fan had the strongest attacking power, it could not be broken without the four saints.

  Then, the Taoist ancestor distributed the Hongmeng purple energy, and as in legend, each of the Three Purities got one way, Nüwa got one way, Jiāo Yīn and Zhǔn Tí each got one way, and another way was also given to Hóngyún.

  At the moment when the Taoist ancestor was about to give the last Hongmeng purple energy to Red Cloud, Yun Zhongzi carefully observed the reactions of Kunpeng and Minghe. Kunpeng's face was extremely ugly as he stared at Red Cloud, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, with eyes that seemed to be spitting fire. On the other hand, Minghe had no expression whatsoever, not even glancing at Red Cloud. Yun Zhongzi knew that Kunpeng was eyeing the Hongmeng purple energy, but he couldn't understand why Minghe didn't show any reaction. According to later accounts, Minghe also participated in the battle for the Hongmeng purple energy, yet now he seemed completely uninterested. Nevertheless, Yun Zhongzi took note of Minghe's behavior and thought to himself, "It might be necessary to save Red Cloud. If I can rescue him, there's a chance that he could become a saint, although it's a slim hope. As cultivators, we often seek opportunities in impossible situations."

  Later, on the Treasure Rock, Yun Zhongzi also obtained two magical artifacts. One was a Ring of Intent, which had two parts, one yin and one yang, with the effect of capturing people. The other was a Splitting Seal, a square seal that would grow larger when used, increasing its power. These two items were very practical treasures for Yun Zhongzi, who still didn't have a suitable magical artifact at the time. Obtaining these two treasures made Yun Zhongzi extremely happy. In the Desolate Expanse, having high cultivation doesn't necessarily mean your strength is great; what's most important is also looking at one's magical artifacts. Of course, one's own cultivation can't be too low either, or it would be a waste of their magical artifact, and they could only watch as others took it away.

  Duobao also obtained several satisfactory treasures, as for the lamp, the luck was not bad, there was a treasure that had a fate with him, called Liang Tian Chi, and none of the other treasures were obtained.

  After dividing the treasure, the Taoist merged his way and everyone left together after the Taoist merged his way.

  Sanqing also brought Yunzhongzi and three others back to Buzhou Mountain. After returning, the six of them all closed their doors to thoroughly digest what they had learned from listening to the Tao. Yunzhongzi made up his mind that he must advance again, otherwise he would not come out. Thinking of this, he took something out of his chest.

  A square thing with several buttons, it was the secret weapon he had rushed to make before going to the Imperial Palace: a tape recorder.

  The recorder was not simple, and Yun Zhongzi had exhausted six crystal tiles to make it. As for making the recorder, Yun Zhongzi also made a difficult choice. Those six crystal tiles were fragments of Pangu's little fingernail, which was naturally extraordinary in value. At that time, he didn't have any suitable magic weapons either. However, in order to listen to Daozu's lectures several more times, Yun Zhongzi finally chose to use the crystal tiles to make the recorder.

  The ancestor of the Tao is the pinnacle of existence, and what he preaches is naturally not something that can be recorded by ordinary materials. For those hundreds of years, Yun Zhongzi has been searching for various materials, knowing that he must use the best among them, otherwise, he would have no guarantee whether the recording devices made from other materials could record the Tao ancestor's preaching. This was the last time the Tao ancestor would preach, and if missed, it would be gone forever. Even if the Three Pure Ones became saints in the future, they still couldn't compare to the current Tao ancestor. To be on the safe side, Yun Zhongzi steeled himself and used his best crystal tile.

  In this way, time passed unintentionally, and after a thousand years, Duobao and Rongdeng had already come out of their seclusion. Through this retreat, Rongdeng's cultivation had advanced to the late stage of Taiyi Golden Immortal, not far from the realm of Daluo Golden Immortal. As for Duobao, his advancement was even more astonishing, having previously reached the peak of the Golden Immortal later stage after comprehending the Great Dao taught by Sanqing. This time, he directly advanced to the middle stage of Taiyi Golden Immortal, although he had only barely reached the middle stage of Taiyi Golden Immortal. Such talent shocked even Rongdeng.

  The two of them mutually verified each other every day, and the days passed quite comfortably. However, it was mostly Huineng who spoke while Shenxiu listened. As a result, Shenxiu's understanding of the Tao deepened, and Huineng also gained a deeper understanding of the great Tao he had previously grasped through his explanations to Shenxiu. Both of them benefited from this arrangement.

  On the surface, the two of them seemed like old classmates and close friends, but in reality, it was a different story.

  Days passed day by day, but no matter how long they waited, Yun Zhongzi still hadn't come out. This left the two of them in shock and amazement. In his heart, Duo Bao couldn't help but wonder: "Could it really take so long for Master Brother to advance to the Taiyi Golden Immortal stage?" Just thinking about it made Duo Bao feel incredulous - could advancing really take that long?

  Time passed again, and 8,000 years later, the Master of Tongtian Sect and Yuanshi Tianzun rushed out of their respective retreats. Upon hearing that Yun Zhongzi was still in seclusion, both were startled. Five hundred years later, Laozi had already come out of his retreat, so it wasn't surprising anymore. The Master of Tongtian Sect even considered barging in to see what had happened, but Laozi remained calm and composed, using his divine sense to investigate and discovering that Yun Zhongzi was indeed still in seclusion. As a result, Yun Zhongzi was very fortunate to have the five great gods waiting for him to come out of his retreat.

  It had been many years since then, and on this day, Yun Zhongzi finally opened the door. He was still as before, but his eyes had become extremely deep. As soon as he came out, he saw Duobao and Reng Deng waiting for him, and smiled: "Thanks to Reng Deng Taoist friend and Duobao Shidi for welcoming me, it really makes me ashamed."

  "Something's wrong with Daoist friends, the three Clear and Three Pure Daoist friends are waiting in the great hall at this moment, let's hurry over." Lantern said with a forced smile, but his heart was churning with huge waves, the initial cultivation of Daluo Golden Immortal?

  Looking at Yun Zhongzi in front of him, Ran Deng's heart couldn't help but grit his teeth. Suddenly, he realized that all these years, he had been living vicariously through others, and what he felt most was jealousy.

  Duobao was also echoing on the side, but Duobao couldn't see how strong Yun Zhongzi's cultivation was at this time. He only knew that he couldn't see through it, and of course, he had mentally prepared for this. After all, before going to Zixiao Palace to listen to the Tao, Yun Zhongzi's cultivation had already reached the late stage of Jinxian. After listening to the Tao this time, he closed his eyes for 10,000 years, and his cultivation was higher than his own, which was also acceptable.

  At the same time, Duobao also admired Sanqing's gaze in his heart. It had only been 10,000 years, and Yun Zhongzi's cultivation had already surpassed his own by so much. Now that he thought about it, Yun Zhongzi was indeed more suitable for the position of Master Brother than himself.

  The two of them had their minds read by Yun Zhongzi, but he wouldn't dare to speak directly. He counted on his fingers and Yun Zhongzi was startled, having been in seclusion for 10,000 years. However, looking at his own cultivation level, which had already reached the early stages of Mahayana Golden Immortal, he smiled in satisfaction, but this smile was somewhat bitter.