A loud shout came, startling Zhunti.
Looking back, there was none other than the Sage Taiqing who had arrived just in time.
Not only that, a Tai Chi diagram came crashing down on him.
"So it's Senior Brother Taiqing!"
Zhunti swung his flat staff, which transformed into the Seven Treasures Tree, his treasure for proving his enlightenment, and went to meet him.
"Zhunti, you are not welcome in the East. Put down the human race, and this old Taoist will not hold it against you!"
Taiqing stopped Zhunti in the direction he was heading and shouted angrily.
"Senior brother, what did you say? I don't understand!"
Zhunti shook his head repeatedly, pretending not to understand what he meant: "If there's nothing else, I'll head back now!"
Taiqing glanced at him disdainfully and said indifferently, "We're all sensible people. You can leave once you put down the human you've taken. There are some things I don't want to say a second time, lest I lose face!"
Upon hearing this, Zhunti knew he couldn't fool him anymore. His expression became complicated, and he said in a deep voice, "Senior Brother Taiqing, you've gone too far. I just want to recruit a few disciples for my Western Sect. Are you going to stop me? Do you not want to see my Western Sect prosper?"
Taiqing didn't even blink and said, "I have no objection to you promoting the Western religion, but you shouldn't come to my East to abduct people, especially using such despicable means. You've utterly disgraced us saints!"
Zhunti angrily said, "My western region is barren, not a blade of grass grows there. Apart from my fellow disciples, there is no human habitation to be found. Where am I supposed to take on disciples? Senior Brother Taiqing, do you really intend to exterminate us all?"
Taiqing remained unperturbed and sighed, "You should broaden your horizons. The demon race has many talented individuals, and the witch race has many heroes!"
"..."
"Do you think the two great demon emperors, the ten great demon generals, and the twelve ancestral witches are just sitting around doing nothing? If I were to take on disciples from the witch and demon races, I'd be inviting a huge mess!"
Zhunti was clearly taken aback, staring intently at him, and said angrily.
"That's your business, it has nothing to do with this old Taoist!"
Taiqing moved his lips and said, "Alright, enough talk. Put down the human race and get the hell out of here!"
Zhunti hardened his heart and said resentfully, "Junior brother is going to have to learn from senior brother today!"
Upon hearing this, Taiqing looked at him properly for the first time, and said with great interest, "Very well, I'll wait for you in the Chaos!"
With a flicker, he disappeared.
"Boom boom boom!"
A series of booming explosions echoed in the chaos as two figures clashed. Earth, water, wind, and fire were constantly being created, only to be quickly eroded and calmed by the surrounding chaos.
Hearing the commotion, all the Primordial Saints turned their attention to this, bored and looking for some amusement.
But what they saw was that it was the two saints, Taiqing and Zhunti, engaged in a fierce battle.
It was supposed to be a fight, but the scene was absolutely unbearable to watch; it was more like a father beating his son.
Taiqing, with the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda above his head and holding the Taiji Diagram in his hand, aimed at Ti and gave him a brutal beating.
Even with the Seven Treasures Tree in hand, Zhunti was no match for it.
Taiqing was the number one person below Hongjun among the Seven Sages. Not to mention, after Xiao Ning refined him into a clone, he had the Great Dao of Chaos God and Demon added to him. How could it be as simple as one plus one equals two?
Soon, under the watchful eyes of all the sages, Taiqing's attack broke through Zhunti's defense. Zhunti took several hits and was slightly injured, his face looking bad, but he was otherwise unharmed.
The sage's primordial spirit is connected to the Heavenly Dao; unless the Heavenly Dao ceases to exist, the sage will never be in danger of falling.
"Pah, you're asking for trouble!"
After the fight, Taiqing retrieved his magical artifact, utterly disgusted by it.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother!"
Jieyin arrived just in time and helped Zhunti up. Upon hearing this, Zhunti rolled his eyes, his face contorted with an even more bitter expression.
"Don't leave! Release the Eastern Human Race that you've been hiding!"
Seeing the two turn to leave, Taiqing shouted loudly, stopping them in their tracks.
"You all must come to Zixiao Palace!"
Just then, a majestic voice reached the ears of all the saints, causing them to shudder. It was the voice of Dao Ancestor Hongjun.
Taiqing's heart skipped a beat. Unless something major happened, Dao Ancestor Hongjun would not usually appear. Could something have happened now?
Upon the summons of the Dao Ancestor, all the saints dared not delay and immediately set off for Zixiao Palace.
In the primordial world, besides a vast continent, there were billions of stars, each a giant star from ancient times.
Beyond the starry sky lies beyond chaos.
Zixiao Palace was in a state of chaos.
Normally, it hides its form and cannot be found by ordinary people. It only appears when Hongjun summons all the saints.
All they saw was a vast emptiness in the chaos, nothing but turbulent flow. Just as the saints hesitated, an ancient building with blue bricks and gray walls suddenly appeared before them. From a distance, it looked just like an ordinary Taoist temple.
The Taoist temple was not large and had no door. Instead, there was a rectangular door-shaped frame in the place where the door should have been, with three large characters in the center of the frame: Zixiao Palace.
In front of Zixiao Palace, several stone steps meander down, truly embodying the principle that simplicity leads to extraordinary results.
Upon seeing the Purple Cloud Palace appear, all the saints filed in and entered through the gate.