Chapter 566: Not Accepting

As the person involved, Di Jun was also stunned when he heard Hongjun's words.

Holy Lord's personally transmitted disciple!

What an honor! What a tremendous opportunity!

As long as he nods, this final strand of Primordial Beginning Purple Qi will enter his body, and he will obtain a ticket to the Holy Person's Throne, just like the Three Purities.

By then, whatever the Wu clan, whatever the Blood Sacrifice Great Formation, before his Holy Person's mighty power, will be nothing but dust that can be wiped away with a wave of the hand!

He subconsciously wanted to rise, wanted to kneel and bow in thanks.

However, at the moment his body leaned forward, a hand extended from the side and lightly pressed on his knee.

That hand was somewhat cold, its force not great, yet it seemed to carry a strange magical power, causing his forward motion to come to an abrupt halt.

Di Jun turned his head and saw Gu Yuan's clear eyes.

In those eyes, there was no surprise, no excitement, only the tranquility of an ancient well with no ripples.

So tranquil that Di Jun's heart, which had been agitated by ecstasy, also gradually calmed down.

He recalled what his younger brother had said to him a hundred years ago.

"Since what is severed are one's own goodness, evil, and obsession, after severing them, is the remaining 'I' still the original 'I'?"

"If one divides one's primordial origin among three cold magical treasures, letting the treasures cultivate the Heavenly Dao in one's stead, then who ultimately attains sanctification—the person or the three treasures?"

……

In an instant, cold sweat slid down from Di Jun's temple.

He looked again toward the Dao Platform, where that expressionless Primordial Beginning stood.

That was no longer a compassionate preaching Saint, but a lofty figure who held the threads of all beings, gazing down upon the chessboard as the Chess Player.

And himself, together with the Three Purities and Nüwa, were merely chess pieces he was about to pocket.

Severing the Three Corpses, attaining sanctification—sounds infinitely glorious, eternally unshakable.

But the cost is losing oneself, eternally imprisoned in the Heavenly Dao's cage, becoming an extension of the Heavenly Dao's will, becoming a knife in Hongjun's hand.

I, Di Jun, am the Heavenly Emperor of the Yao Clan! I am the sovereign who aspires to lead the Yao Clan to rule the Nine Heavens and dominate the Celestial Stars!

My Dao is the Imperial Way, is the Hegemonic Way!

I can suffer defeat, I can die, but I can never lose myself, becoming another's puppet!

Having understood all this, Di Jun's ecstasy and excitement in his heart receded like a tide, replaced by an unprecedented clarity and resolve.

He slowly rose to his feet, but not to kneel.

Amid the incredulous gazes of all the mighty beings within the great hall, he bowed deeply toward Hongjun on the Dao Platform.

"Thank you, Dao Ancestor, for your favor."

Di Jun's voice was calm and firm, echoing in the silent great hall.

"Disciple Di Jun, born as the Monster Emperor, I shall establish my heart for the Monster Clan and establish peace for all monsters."

"My Dao is to lead the Monster Gods, guard the Nine Heavens, arrange the stars, to maintain the order of Heaven and Earth. This is my heart's wish, and also my destiny."

"The Holy Person's Way is non-action and unity with Heaven; though it is the Supreme Great Way, it is not what I seek."

"This personally transmitted disciple title, this foundation for sanctification—disciple……dare not accept."

"I still implore the Dao Ancestor to choose another worthy."

Having spoken, Di Jun straightened his body, his gaze calm as he met Hongjun's eyes, without the slightest fear or retreat.

Silence.

Death-like silence.

The entire Zixiao Palace seemed as if even the chaotic qi flow had ceased.

Everyone appeared as if immobilized by a binding spell, staring agape at Di Jun, thinking they had suffered an auditory hallucination.

He……he refused?

He actually refused the Dao Ancestor's acceptance as a disciple! Refused the opportunity for sanctification!

"Mad! He must be mad!"

Hongyun Laozu murmured in a lost voice, the thing he had dreamed of seeking, Di Jun discarded like worn-out shoes.

Kunpeng's jaw nearly dropped to the ground, as he looked at Di Jun's back, his eyes filled with absurdity and ecstasy!

How wonderful! Truly wonderful! This fool actually threw away the monster clan's eternal hope with his own hands!

Yuanshi Tianzun was first stunned, then his face revealed undisguised mockery and ridicule.

"Hmph, ignorant of heavenly numbers, seeking death. The monster clan having such a foolish lord—deserves to perish."

Tongtian Jiaozhu then clapped and laughed loudly, eyes full of admiration: "Having guts! This bird-man, indeed has some spirit! I like him!"

On Laozi's eternally unchanging face, a trace of emotion also appeared; he deeply glanced at Di Jun, then at the white-robed youth beside him who had remained calm from beginning to end, as if understanding something.

And on the Dao Platform.

On Hongjun's face, as unchanging as ancient stubborn stone, never having shown any expression before, for the first time appeared a trace of extremely subtle change, clearly perceived by all the mighty beings……

His eyebrows slightly twitched.

Although merely an insignificant action, it caused the temperature of the entire Zixiao Palace to suddenly drop to freezing point.

An intangible pressure, far more terrifying than any before, emanated from Hongjun's body.

This time, it was not the pressure of the Heavenly Dao, but his own Hongjun's pressure, carrying a trace of……emotion from being provoked.

"You, have you thought it through?"

Hongjun's voice remained as usual, but beneath that plainness lay hidden enough cold to make even Saints tremble.

Those in the great hall dared not even breathe.

They knew the Dao Ancestor had truly stirred a trace of true fire.

Under this pressure, Di Jun only felt his soul trembling, as if in the next second he would be crushed to powder.

But he still straightened his spine and said word by word: "Disciple, clear understanding."

He felt the appreciative gaze his younger brother cast his way.

He knew he had made the correct choice.

"Good."

Primordial Beginning looked at him and only spoke a single word.

He raised his hand and waved; that last strand of suspended Primordial Beginning Purple Qi paused in midair for a moment, seeming somewhat lost, not knowing where it should go.

"Never mind."

Hongjun seemed to sigh, yet also seemed not to.

He looked toward the back row, at that Hongyun Laozu who had been staring at him eagerly from the very beginning.

"This thing, then has a fated connection with you."

That strand of Primordial Beginning Purple Qi transformed into a streak of flowing light and shot directly toward Hong Yun.

Hongyun Laozu was completely stunned; he subconsciously reached out to catch it and was struck full in the chest by that purple qi.

An immense sense of bliss instantly engulfed him.

"I... I..." he was so excited his words were incoherent, and he hurriedly knelt and kowtowed in thanks.

However, he did not notice that the moment he received the Primordial Beginning Purple Qi, the Kunpeng beside him, and the Minghe Laozu farther away, their gazes upon him had already become as if looking at a dead man.

"Lecture finished, you all, disperse."

After Hongjun finished speaking these words, his figure vanished without trace from atop the Dao Platform, as if he had never appeared.