Chapter 570

Changxi pulled Xi He along, offering the storybook as if presenting a treasure.

Xi He was not interested at first, but she could not resist her sister's soft and hard persuasion, and so she began to read along.

At first, she merely found it absurd and laughable.

But as she kept reading, her expression gradually became focused.

Without realizing it, the moonlight outside the window had already shifted its angle.

The two sisters ended up reading for an entire day and night.

"Sister, you say... just what kind of person is this Donghuang Taiyi?" Changxi set down the storybook, her eyes flashing with an unusual light.

Who could devise such a game, write such a story, and still be an ordinary sickly weakling?

Xi He fell silent.

She glanced at the chessboard in her hand, then at the storybook that had sent a ripple through her Dao-heart, and for the first time, she felt a stir of curiosity toward a man she had never met.

"I don't know." She shook her head gently. "But I am certain it is not as simple as the rumors say."

"Sister, isn't Emperor Jun going to hold the Discussion of the Dao Grand Assembly on Mount Buzhou? Should we... go take a look?" Changxi asked tentatively.

Xi He pondered for a moment.

"Go." She said, "I also want to see what kind of brother could teach such a younger sibling."

……

Inside Donghuang Palace, Gu Yuan yawned.

He naturally did not know that the "spiritual nourishment" he had casually tossed out had already caused quite a stir in the cold Guanghan Palace.

He was merely thinking that this move of his was played in advance.

Emperor Jun and Xi He were originally destined Dao partners.

Their union concerns the perfection of the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Array, as well as the peak of the monster clan's fortune.

In the myths of his previous life, this marriage seemed far from blissful, filled with calculation and exploitation.

But now...

Gu Yuan felt that adding a bit of seasoning to the dull life of the Great Wasteland was also quite good.

At the very least, letting his elder brother have a sincere companion when he faces the heavenly tribulation would prevent him from being so lonely.

"Xiao Ai, task three, Prove the Dao Foundation. If I were to prove the Dao in the Great Wasteland, say by learning the Three Corpses Severing and becoming a Saint, would that count as completion?"

【Theoretically yes. But in this world, the Saint Position is deeply bound to the Heavenly Dao; please choose carefully, Master.】

"Understood."

Gu Yuan asked no further.

He leaned back in the rocking chair, closed his eyes.

He activated the acceleration.

He had not prepared to study the Three Corpses Severing method here.

……

A hundred years of time, to the powers of the Great Wasteland, is no more than a nap.

At the foot of Mount Buzhou, it is already a sea of people.

No, it should be said, a sea of monsters and demons.

Countless strangely shaped beings from all corners of the Great Wasteland have rushed here, packing the vast plain at the mountain's base so tightly that not even water can seep through.

In the sky, auspicious clouds drift, and strange beasts pull splendid carriages and palanquins back and forth.

There are winged humanoids, giants a hundred zhang tall, giant pythons spewing poisonous mist, and Daoists whose bodies are surrounded by immortal light.

These are all the Great Luo Golden Immortals, the regional dominants, who have faces and names in the Great Wasteland.

Today, they have gathered here for a single purpose.

——The Ten Thousand Immortals Discussion of the Dao Grand Assembly.

And as the ultimate prize, the supreme divine object personally bestowed by the Dao Ancestor, the Three Light Divine Water.

In the center of the plain, a white jade high platform ten thousand zhang tall has risen from the ground.

Upon the high platform, Emperor Jun wears the Nine Dragon Imperial Robe, wears the Heaven-Leveling Crown, and sits expressionlessly upon the central Golden Throne.

His aura is restrained within, yet he naturally possesses a supreme majesty that suppresses the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, making people dare not look directly at him.

At his side, Gu Yuan remains as he always is, looking frail and sick, wrapped in thick white fox fur, half-reclining on a soft couch, holding a warm stove in his hands, occasionally coughing twice, as if he might break off at any moment.

Behind them, Fuxi holds the Fuxi lute, smiling gently.

Youshi Kunpeng has a grim face, standing on the other side, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

The Ten Great Monster Sages stand in two rows, each with aura soaring to the heavens, their divine might awe-inspiring.

Nearly the entire highest echelon of the Heavenly Court has come out in full force.

This spectacle leaves countless powers below shocked and terrified.

"This Emperor Jun, what a grand hand."

In the crowd, a power murmurs softly.

"Yes, he actually dares to challenge the heroes of the world with his own strength."

"Do you think he can really hold out? Those who came are all tough characters."

"Who knows, but that Three Light Divine Water is real; whoever gets it can ascend in a single step."

Just as the crowd was discussing noisily.

Boom—

The earth began to tremble.

From the western horizon, twelve surges of murderous qi shot up like twelve pillars supporting the heavens, tearing through the clouds and crashing straight toward Mount Buzhou from the side.

The Wu clan has arrived!

Someone shouted, and the scene instantly fell silent.

Everyone's gaze turned toward the twelve paths of killing intent.

Only to see twelve towering demon god figures, standing between heaven and earth, emerge from the ground.

Some controlled wind and thunder, some swallowed and spat water and fire, some had three heads and six arms, some grew bone wings on their backs.

These were precisely the Twelve Ancestral Witches of the Wu clan!

Leading them was Di Jiang, with spatial laws swirling around him; he took a single step forward, and with his eleven siblings, appeared directly opposite the White Jade High Platform, facing Di Jun from afar.

"Di Jun, you brat, I heard you wanted to set up a fighting platform here? What's the matter? Last time you got beaten at Zixiao Palace, and now you want to regain face here?"

The hot-tempered fire god Zhu Rong cracked open his big mouth, his voice deep and resonant as he mocked, the flames around him twisting the air.

"My Wu clan governs the earth, your Yao clan rules the heavens—well water does not river water. Why have you gathered the Ten Thousand Immortals here today?"

The water god Gonggong also wore a cold smile.

Di Jun sat upon the imperial throne, not lifting his eyelids once.

He merely lifted the wine cup before him and took a light sip.

That dismissive attitude caused Zhu Rong and Gonggong's faces to instantly turn the color of pig's liver.

"You!"

Zhu Rong was about to explode.

"Second brother, hold your anger."

Hou Tu reached out to stop him, glancing at Di Jun on the high platform, her gaze finally settling on the fox-fur-wrapped, sickly Gu Yuan, a flicker of complex emotion crossing her beautiful eyes.

It was this seemingly harmless youth who had repeatedly ruined the Wu clan's plans.

Today, what does he intend to do?

Just as the tension between the two sides reached a breaking point.

A voice came from above the high platform.

Not Di Jun, but Fuxi.

"Fellow Daoists, today is the Heavenly Court's Grand Assembly of the Ten Thousand Immortals Discourse on the Dao, held to make friends through martial exchange and discuss the Great Dao."

Fuxi stood, smiling: "Your Majesty's benevolence—may you take forth the divine object bestowed by the Dao Ancestor and share it with the heroes of the world. Whoever can withstand three hundred moves in Your Majesty's hand may obtain it."

"Cut the nonsense!"

A rough voice rang out from the crowd.

A towering man three zhang tall, wielding a giant axe, stepped from the crowd and leapt onto the high platform in a single stride.

"I am Shi Gan Dang, a scattered cultivator of West Kunlun! I have heard the Heavenly Emperor possesses vast divine abilities, and today I come specifically to seek instruction."

This man bore the cultivation of a late-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal, his aura vast and mighty, his giant axe a top-tier post-heaven spirit treasure.

Di Jun finally lifted his eyelids, glanced at the man, and said lightly: "Agreed."