The stalemate at the foot of Mount Buzhou broke not with a strike, but with a soft voice.
"Three Pure Ones," Nuwa said, her gaze steady. "The Three Crows have already shown great restraint by asking for only two gourds. It is only right they choose first."
The Sanqing's expressions shifted. A bitter sense of déjà vu washed over them; they had just used this exact logic to bully the Western Duo away. Now, they were on the receiving end.
Yuanshi's eyes narrowed as he looked at Ling Xiao. This "despicable" Golden Crow was a master of the heart—he had proposed a plan that perfectly served the interests of Nuwa and Hongyun, buying their loyalty with a single sentence.
Laozi, ever the pragmatist, realized the numbers were against them. "Very well. Let the Golden Crows choose."
Ling Xiao didn't hesitate. He stepped toward the vine, his eyes fixed on the Seventh Gourd—the black one. In the stories of his past life, the seventh was always the anomaly. It was the strongest, yet the most elusive, often rumored to be destroyed by the jealousy of the Heavens before it could fully mature.
He plucked it, feeling a cold, chaotic weight settles into his palm. Beside him, Dijun claimed the Purple-White Gourd, the treasure destined to nurture the Immortal Slaying Flying Dagger.
Once they stepped back, the others scrambled. Hongyun secured his Red Gourd (the future Nine-Nine Scattered Soul Gourd), and Nuwa took the Golden Gourd (the Monster Summoning Banner). The Sanqing, forced to wait, took their three with cold, silent efficiency and vanished, unwilling to endure another second of Ling Xiao's presence.
As the clearing emptied, Ling Xiao knelt and began to methodically harvest the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and the vine itself.
"Fellow Daoist Ling Xiao," Nuwa called out, pausing as she prepared to leave with Fuxi. She looked at the soil in his hands, an instinctual, soul-deep pull tugging at her heart. "I have a request. Could you... let me have the vine and the soil? I will exchange my gourd for them."
Ling Xiao looked at her golden gourd. That item was the sovereign symbol of the Yao Race. If he took it, he would be tied to the fate of every beast and demon in the Honghuang.
"Keep your gourd, Fellow Daoist," Ling Xiao said, a small, knowing smile on his face. In the future, the Yao Race is your burden, not mine. "I will give you the vine and half the soil. But this is a debt of Karma you must repay one day."
Nuwa was overjoyed. She didn't understand why he would refuse a Supreme Treasure for mere dirt and a withered vine, but her intuition screamed that she had won the better half of the bargain.
A Guest on the Sun Star
As Nuwa and Fuxi departed, Hongyun approached Ling Xiao, his face full of genuine gratitude. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist. Without your intervention, a lone cultivator like myself would have been brushed aside."
"It was yours by fate," Ling Xiao replied, though he knew his "butterfly effect" was the only reason Yuanshi hadn't bullied the red gourd away.
"Still, I wish to repay you," Hongyun said, his eyes brightening. "You did not go to Zixiao Palace. I did. If you permit, I would like to visit the Sun Star and explain the Saint's Dao to you and your brothers."
Ling Xiao raised an eyebrow. The "Good Old Man" was effectively offering to be their personal tutor for the most exclusive lecture in history. "Then... let us go together."
Back on the Sun Star, the golden flames of the zenith felt like a warm welcome. Hongyun was awestruck by the sheer majesty of the solar core. "What a wonderful place! Truly a cradle for legends."
"It's just Pangu's eye," Taiyi joked, though his pride was evident. "But my brother is the true legend. We're just along for the ride."
For the next several centuries, the Sun Star became a place of profound discussion. Hongyun spoke of the Grand Unity Dao, the gathering of the Three Flowers, and the flow of the Five Qi. Dijun and Taiyi listened with rapt attention, their foundations stabilizing under the Saint's indirect guidance.
Ling Xiao, however, was busy in the "back office."
Deep within the Chaos Pearl, he planted the Yellow Core Plum. He used the remaining half of the Breathing Soil to create a fertile pocket of earth within the Chaos. This was his insurance policy. In the Honghuang, numbers mattered. If he could grow a tree that produced fruits capable of creating Grand Unity Golden Immortals, he would have an army of elite guards that no Calamity could touch.
As Hongyun's voice droned on about the Saint's wisdom, Ling Xiao looked at the black gourd in his hand. It hummed with a dark, devouring power. He hadn't just taken a treasure; he had taken the one item the Heavens were afraid of.