Zhunti was a man of calculated arrogance. He knew better than to bark at the Three Pure Ones, whose Pangu lineage was a fortress of authority, but he had no such reservations about the Golden Crows. To him, they were just two "stunted birds" blocking the path of the West's prosperity.
Beside them, Daoist Hongyun—wrapped in his nine-layered cloud robes—let out a soft, internal sigh. He knew he had no chance here. If his friend Zhenyuanzi were present, perhaps they could have held a corner of the vine, but alone, he was just a spectator. The Western Duo had conveniently "forgotten" the favor Hongyun did them at Zixiao Palace; in the face of Innate Treasures, gratitude was a currency that held no value.
Dijun and Taiyi stood their ground, their golden pupils burning like miniature suns. "Retreating without a fight is not the way of the Sun," Dijun stated, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.
"Ignorant!" Zhunti shouted, his face reddening. "If you won't give me 'face,' then don't blame this poor Daoist for being impolite!"
He prepared to strike, his magic power gathering like a storm. Dijun and Taiyi tensed, ready to trigger their desperate "snatch and run" tactic. But then, the brothers froze. A familiar aura, as vast and warm as home, washed over them.
Across the horizon, a figure appeared.
He seemed to walk slowly, yet he arrived in the blink of an eye. He didn't fly; he simply stepped through the folds of the world, leaving afterimages that lingered in the air like ghosts.
"Third Brother!" the Golden Crows cried out, their tension replaced by a surge of pure joy.
Zhunti sneered. "One more bird? It doesn't change the tally."
He watched the figure approach. At first, Ling Xiao seemed like an illusion, a man not entirely anchored to this timeline. Then, in a heartbeat that defied the laws of motion, Ling Xiao was standing directly in front of Zhunti. He didn't land; he simply was there, looking down with eyes that held the leaping, silent fury of a solar flare.
"Repeat what you just said," Ling Xiao commanded.
The silence that followed was absolute. The Three Pure Ones exchanged a look of sudden, sharp alertness. They recognized the signature: Space Law. This wasn't a technique; it was a mastery of the king of laws.
Zhunti's face flickered with uncertainty. A primal sense of crisis—a cold shiver he hadn't felt since achieving the Daluo realm—raced down his spine. "I... what do you want?" he stammered, backing away.
Ling Xiao didn't answer with words. He stepped forward, his hand expanding into a golden palm filled with the crushing weight of the void.
SLAP!
The sound cracked like a lightning bolt. Blood and teeth sprayed into the mountain air as Zhunti was sent spinning horizontally, crashing through ancient stone.
"Bastard!" Zhunti shrieked, clutching his shattered jaw, his reason dissolving into a white-hot fury. To be humiliated like this, in front of the world's elite?
"For insulting the Golden Crow Clan," Ling Xiao said, his voice as cold as the space between stars, "I will give you a three-foot pit to bury your remains."
"You go too far, Fellow Daoist!" Jieyin stepped forward, his face a mask of cold, focused sorrow. He hadn't expected his brother to be defeated in a single breath.
Without a word of debate, Ling Xiao summoned the Hongmeng Cauldron and the Hongmeng Measuring Ruler.
The Cauldron descended like an entire world, pressing down with the weight of the beginning of time. Jieyin's eyes widened. Born in the barren West, he had never seen a treasure of this caliber. He gave a long, whistling cry, and the white tuft of hair between his brows radiated a twelve-colored light.
"Sixteen-foot Golden Body!"
A massive, divine phantom manifested behind Jieyin, its hands forming mudras, surrounded by protective lotuses and celestial lamps. It was a masterpiece of magic power. But as the Hongmeng Ruler lashed out like a whip made of the Milky Way, the Golden Body began to crack.
"BOOM!"
Jieyin was beaten back, coughing golden blood. The elite onlookers—Nuwa, Fuxi, the Pure Ones—watched in stunned silence.
"That cauldron... it carries the breath of Chaos," Tongtian whispered, his eyes wide with envy. "It's a Supreme Treasure. Perhaps even higher."
"Indeed," Laozi sighed. Even the Pangu brothers felt a twinge of desire, though their pride kept them from intervening.
On the Taiyin Star, Xi He and Chang Xi stared through their celestial mirrors, breathless.
"Sister," Chang Xi whispered, her voice trembling. "Why is he so powerful? He didn't even go to the sermon..."
Xi He didn't answer. She turned away from the mirror, her face tight with a mixture of annoyance and newfound determination. She walked back into the depths of the Guanghan Palace. "I am going into seclusion. I will not come out until I am a match for him."