Once Tongtian returned to Eminence Heaven Palace. She immediately summoned Wutian and Shuixing. While waiting for the two to arrive, she sensed a disturbance in the Six Paths of Reincarnation. She only sensed it because of her control of the Heaven Path of Reincarnation. None of the other Saints could sense the changes like her.
Her eyes shifted toward the invisible river that covered the Three Realms. It seemed that Nuwa and Laozi succeeded in sending Fuxi through the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
The abnormal movements had disappeared and no traces remained, but Tongtian could sense that something related to humanity had entered the Human Path of Reincarnation thanks to the Kongtong Seal. However, it was not related to her, so she ignored it.
It took several days for Wutian to arrive in the Heavenly Court. Quasi-Saints could forcibly enter the Heavenly Realm from the Earthly Realm, but that would challenge Tongtian's authority as the Jade Emperor. Not to mention Wutian was her disciple, so he obediently used the South Heaven Gate to enter the Thirty-Three Heavens.
Tongtian gazed at her two disciples from the Throne of Heaven. A vein threatened to pop on her forehead. "I can understand why Wutian took a few days to arrive, but how in the world did you arrive after him, Shuixing?"
Shuixing yawned, covering his mouth with his pudgy hands. "I knew Senior Brother would take a while, so I waited a bit. Didn't I arrive not long after he arrived, Master?"
Tongtian took a deep breath. "What does it matter? It's not like you were doing anything but sleeping."
"But I cultivate in my sleep," Shuixing righteously said.
If there were an object within her reach, Tongtian would have already thrown it at her second disciple. His talents and foundation were excellent, but his personality just infuriated her.
"Master, why have you summoned us?" Wutian asked, playing the peacekeeper.
Tongtian huffed and explained the reason. "Soon, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors will be born among humanity. I secured a spot for one of you to become the human sovereign's teacher. Which one of you wants it?"
Shuixing immediately spoke up, for once. "Senior Brother can have it. I don't think I am worthy. Plus, Senior Brother is the martial ancestor of humanity."
'Don't think I don't know you just think it's troublesome,' Tongtian thought. She turned toward Wutian. "Then the position of the human sovereign's teacher will belong to you."
Wutian turned silent, not agreeing. After a moment, he asked, "Why do the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors need teachers? Can't they succeed by themselves?"
Tongtian sighed. She could already sense Wutian's thoughts. "Humanity will become the protagonist of the world and represents a significant amount of benefits. I, your master, don't need it, but the other Saints aren't the same."
Wutian clenched his fist. He hated how humanity was like livestock in the Saints' hands. Despite being the protagonist of the world, they couldn't even control their own destiny.
Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "What about Suiren, Zhengyi, and Youchao? Is there a chance that they will be reborn among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors?"
Tongtian shook her head. "Zhengyi might have a chance at rebirth, but I can't sense her. Not just me, but neither can the other Saints since she is protected by the Way of Heaven. As for Suiren and Youchao, they were never dead."
"What do you mean?" Wutian asked.
"Suiren transformed himself to the fire of humanity. Every member of humanity carries a piece of him. Youchao is the same. As long as humanity does not perish, they will remain eternal," Tongtian said.
Sorrow appeared on Wutian's face. "What difference does that have with death? They will never appear again."
Tongtian sighed. She didn't know what to say to comfort Wutian, but she wasn't worried. As a Quasi-Saint, if his daoheart broke because of this, she would question her eyesight. Instead of worrying about him, she started to think about how to handle the position of the human sovereign's teacher.
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"Big Brother, Big Brother!"
In the South Sea, Yingzhou Immortal Island drifted atop the clouds. A gold-robed man broke into the mansion at the center, calling out the master of the island.
Kong Xuan opened his eyes and spared Jinchi a glance. "What is it?"
"Did you hear?"
"Hear about what?"
Jinchi smirked. "So, even Big Brother will have a day that he doesn't know."
"Stop delaying and tell me already," Kong Xuan ordered, leveling a look at the Golden-Winged Great Roc.
Jinchi immediately wilted. "Something huge is about to happen to humanity."
Kong Xuan furrowed his brows as he tried to think about what it could be. Then, they relaxed. "Is it about the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors?"
"Eh?" Jinchi cried out in surprise. "How'd you know? I only heard of it by accident from a good friend of mine. How did you find out?"
"I have my ways." And that was all Kong Xuan said about the subject.
Jinchi clicked his tongue. "I really envy humanity sometimes. Not only are they the protagonist of the world, but they have the care of the Saints. I envy the Saints' disciples too. They can become the human rulers' teachers and gain a part of humanity's Karmic Luck and merit. Why is the world so unfair?"
Kong Xuan snorted. "No, it's very fair."
Jinchi looked at him in confusion.
"Although humanity's status seems very high, they are nothing more than livestock driven by shepherds, the Saints of Heaven. Even the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors are just birds that will be locked in a gilded cage for the Saints' pleasure," Kong Xuan said.
"I don't understand," Jinchi said
"You don't need to understand. Just know that there is nothing envious about humanity, especially at our realm," Kong Xuan said. "Now, leave. I need to cultivate and enter the Primordial Origin Realm as soon as possible."
Jinchi pursed his lips but obeyed. He was still very interested in what the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors would be like. Seeing his brother ignore him again, he flew away.
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Once his brother left, Kong Xuan closed his eyes again. After an indefinite period of time, he opened his eyes again and sighed. Four figures flew out of his body. Each of the four was an exact replica of himself except for the aura and color of the robes they wore. Each color correlated to the five elements: black for water, red for fire, green for wood, and white for metal, but a fifth figure wearing the yellow robe for earth was missing.
"At this rate, I won't be able to form my earth incarnation before the next tribulation arrives," Kong Xuan muttered to himself. A sense of urgency arose in him. Although he had the confidence to defeat anyone under the Primordial Origin Realm, he still had no confidence against a Saint of Heaven.
Kong Xuan originally believed that he could form all five of his incarnations, but something was blocking the birth of his last incarnation. It was as if the other four incarnations banded together to stop him from forming the fifth. If the difficulty of forming the first four incarnations was rated from one to four, then the last one would have jumped to nine in one breath.
"All under Saints are ants," Kong Xuan repeated the words the Dao Ancestor had said. "Should I have taken the final Grandmist Violet Qi and become the seventh Saint instead of Redcloud? No, my path is not wrong.”
"It seems I can no longer seclude myself from the world. I'm going to have to take action and fight for Karmic Luck. But how? Should I fight for the position of a human ruler's teacher? No, that's foolish. It might even cause me to fall faster in the next tribulation."
Kong Xuan absorbed his incarnations into his body and started pacing. "Then what should I do?"
His eyes turned toward the distance. His gaze didn't land on any place in the Three Realms but pierced the world boundaries and landed into the chaos. "Should I try my luck in the chaos?"
Since he wasn't a Golden Immortal of the Primordial Origin, he couldn't survive in the chaos for a prolonged period. His only other option was to rely on external means. Kong Xuan waved his hand, and the Twelfth-Ranked Red Lotus of Karma appeared in his hands. Unfortunately, it wasn't the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification which could convert the chaotic energy into qi for his own use. At most, the red lotus would let him survive for an eon. It sounded like a lot, but it wasn't worth much in the chaos.
"If I had known this would have happened, I would have traded for a white lotus when I traded the Twelfth-Ranked Black Lotus of Destruction to Tongtian," Kong Xuan lamented. In fact, he had another option aside from traveling the chaos.
As long as he gathered all the flags of the five elements, forming his fifth incarnation was but a matter of time. Kong Xuan already possessed the Black Domination Flag of North Profound Origin, grabbed the Red Radiance Flag of South Transience, and traded the Twelfth-Ranked Black Lotus of Destruction for Tongtian's Apricot Flag of Central Infinity. But the problem was the last two flags.
The Azure Lotus Flag of East Treasured Light was in Yuanshi's hand, and Zhunti held the Plain Colored Flag of West Clouds. Kong Xuan would willingly trade the Twelfth-Ranked Red Lotus of Karma for either of them, but Yuanshi likely wouldn't even deign to entertain the notion, and Zhunti might even forget his prestige as a Saint and just steal it from him.
He could only trade the red lotus after he entered the Primordial Origin Realm. Still, that would leave him with one flag missing, but the chance would come during the next tribulation. Which was why it was imperative that he entered the Primordial Origin before then.
Kong Xuan sighed. It seemed that he could only trade for a white lotus or seed from Tongtian. His figure disappeared from Yingzhou Immortal Island. Later, he appeared in front of Heavenly Court's South Heaven Gate.
"Report to the Jade Emperor that Kong Xuan wishes to have an audience."
The two commanders guarding the South Heaven Gate shared a look and started discussing whether they should report it or not. Kong Xuan furrowed his brows. If he were a Golden Immortal of the Primordial Origin, he wouldn't even need to bother waiting and could directly appear in front of Tongtian.
Finally, the two commanders agreed. Asking Kong Xuan to wait, one of them flew into the Thirty-Three Heavens to report. Of course, they didn't have the authority or power to meet the Jade Emperor directly, so they sought the Water Luminary instead.
"Ah?" Shuixing mumbled. "Why are you bothering me? Just go ask yourself."
The commander made a bitter smile. "I really can't do that. If Lord Shuixing doesn't want to do it, forget it. I'll tell Kong Xuan that Her Eminence doesn't want to meet him."
Just as the commander was about to leave, Shuixing stopped him. "Wait, wait. Kong Xuan is still one of the few Quasi-Saints left in the Three Realms. I'll ask Master."
The commander inwardly sighed in relief. Moments later, Shuixing said, "Master said to bring Kong Xuan to Supreme Purity Heaven."
He thanked Shuixing and returned to South Heaven Gate. "Senior Kong, please follow me."
Kong Xuan observed the state of the Heavenly Court as they made their way through the many levels of Thirty-Three Heaven. He had never seen the Heavenly Court during Di Jun's tenure, but he imagined that it wouldn't look barren as it did now. Everywhere, the times he even saw an empyrean, they would be rushing to fulfill their duties.
That changed when he entered Vast Heaven, which Haotian ruled. Compared to the other levels, there was almost an abundance of staff. Haotian came forward to greet Kong Xuan. The commander didn't dare to stop Haotian, and after a few pleasantries, he led Kong Xuan to Supreme Purity Heaven.
When Kong Xuan saw Tongtian again, he could sense she was still in the Quasi-Saint Realm. 'I guess the rumors are true. Tongtian turned her Corpse into a Saint of Heaven. But why didn't she enter the Primordial Origin Realm with her main body?"
Still, despite being in the same realm as Kong Xuan, Tongtian exuded a pressure that made Kong Xuan palpitate. 'We are both in the Quasi-Saint Realm, yet she still gives me such a dangerous feeling. Is this the qualitative change brought about by mastering a complete law?'
"Kong Xuan, we meet again," Tongtian said.
Kong Xuan smiled, pretending he wasn't miffed that Tongtian didn't address him with Daoist. "Yes, Your Eminence. I believe the last time we met was when we traded."
"Oh?" Tongtian smiled with interest. "Are you going to offer another trade?"
Kong Xuan didn't delay and took out a lotus seed. "Yes, I want to trade this red lotus seed for a white lotus seed."
Tongtian leaned back. "You might not know, but I already traded with Minghe for a red lotus. I am no longer interested in it. If you want a white lotus seed from me, you'll have to offer something else."
Kong Xuan frowned. His mind spun, and he couldn't help but widen his eyes. It turned out that Tongtian or the Three Purities also used the lotus seeds to form their Corpse like he planned for Jinchi. He gritted his teeth, and another lotus seed appeared. "I can offer two lotus seeds for one."
"If I accept, I will receive double what I traded," Tongtian admitted. "But tell me, why would such a small profit interest me?"
Kong Xuan was at a loss. To others, a red lotus seed might be a momentous treasure, but to a Saint, it really was nothing. 'What can I trade?'
His eyes widened as he recalled the fruits he had saved up. "I can offer Golden Enlightenment Apricot in addition to the two lotus seeds."
Tongtian blinked and pinched her fingers. She smiled. "I almost forgot about the three immortal islands. It seems your luck is quite good to obtain Yingzhou Immortal Island and the Illumination Apricot Tree, but that isn't enough."
Kong Xuan almost pointed his finger at Tongtian and scolded her, but through some miracle, he held back. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Then what does Saint Tongtian think is a good price?"
"Did you forget I have two brothers?" Tongtian asked, not losing her smile.
Kong Xuan sighed in relief. Although two more Golden Enlightenment Apricot was a lot, he only needed time for more. "Okay!" He agreed immediately as if he feared that Tongtian would change her mind.
Three apricots exuding a golden glow and two red lotus seeds flew into Tongtian's palm. In return, a single white lotus seed entered Kong Xuan's hand. His heart bled. He paid such a high price, over thrice the value for this single seed.
"Then I will leave now," Kong Xuan said. He couldn't wait to leave and no longer see Tongtian's face. ‘Hmpf, I wonder if you really cared about your brothers that much or just wanted a moral reason to get more fruits.’
Kong Xuan didn't even stop to bid Haotian farewell before leaving through the South Heaven Gate. He immediately returned and planted the white lotus seed in the most precious truewater he possessed, Black Profound Truewater, which he refined using his Black Domination Flag of North Profound Origin.
It took ten thousand years for the lotus seed to mature into a Ninth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification. With the lotus in hand, Kong Xuan decisively left the Three Realms.
Upon leaving the chaotic boundary and entering the chaos proper, something called out to Kong Xuan. Confusion appeared in his eyes, but after a moment of hesitation, he flew toward the source of the call.