As Ziwei Boy's voice rang out, the mocking smiles on the faces of the Two Sages of the West suddenly curdled. Recognition dawned like a cold splash of water.
"Sun Star God Ling Xiao!"
No wonder the small vessel looked familiar. Back during the scramble for the gourds at Mount Buzhou, they had been battered by this very object. The memory of that impact was etched into their very souls. How could they ever forget it?
"I was wondering who was behind this," Zhunti sneered, though his eyes remained wary. "So, it's that coward. Too afraid to show his own face, he sends a mere child to his death. How utterly laughable!"
For some reason, both Sages felt a subtle surge of relief. They had feared the 'Master' might be some hidden, ancient entity. Knowing it was merely the third Golden Crow made the situation feel like a manageable insult.
Playing at tricks!
"I am not here to die," Ziwei Boy countered. Though his knees still felt weak, his voice remained stubborn, his face set in a mask of absolute seriousness. "I am here to defeat you."
The statement was met with a wave of laughter from the watching experts.
"If the third Golden Crow had come in person and the Three brothers joined forces, they might actually stand a chance against the West," one immortal chuckled.
"But sending a boy—at the Early Stage of the Grand Unity realm, no less—to defeat two Sages? It is the height of delusional thinking."
"Though you have to admit," another mused, "this Ling Xiao has some skill. Even his servant has attained the Grand Unity level."
East King Duke and his retinue joined in the amusement, settling in to watch what they assumed would be a one-sided slaughter.
"Rumor named Ling Xiao the strongest of the three," East King Duke said, his lip curling. "Looking at this farce, it seems he is entirely unworthy of the title. If he doesn't even dare to leave his star, how strong can he truly be? Does he expect to win battles while sitting at home?"
Even Dijun and Tai Yi were gripped by a mounting confusion. They couldn't fathom why their younger brother would place such a suicidal burden on the boy's shoulders.
"Boy, get behind us!" Dijun shouted, seeing the child's trembling stance. "These two thieves won't be able to lay a finger on you while we stand!"
He silently cursed his third brother's eccentricity. Ling Xiao was truly making things impossible for the poor child.
Ziwei Boy shook his head firmly. "There is no need. My mission is not yet finished."
He reached out, grasping the Hongmeng Cauldron and hoisting it above his head. He struck a rigid, dramatic pose, preparing to hurl the artifact.
Seeing this, Dijun and Tai Yi exchanged a fleeting, perplexed glance. They saw the boy's conviction, nodded slowly, and then... silently stepped back to give him room.
"Haha! You truly believe a single treasure can bridge the gap?" Jieyin's laughter was sharp with indignation. As the premier powers of the West, they felt the insult of this 'attack' deep in their marrow. To be challenged by a treasure held by a child—if that wasn't a slight against their dignity, nothing was. "Fine! Today, I shall simply take this treasure as my own!"
"Go!"
Ziwei Boy threw the Hongmeng Cauldron with every ounce of strength in his small frame.
The cauldron spiraled into the void, and as it moved, the very air began to thicken with Chaos Qi. Laws surged within the bronze depths like a roiling tide, and shimmering flowers of Law-flames began to bloom across its surface.
It began to expand. In the blink of an eye, the palm-sized vessel grew into a gargantuan construct, as massive and immovable as an immortal mountain.
The expressions of the Western Sages shifted instantly. Their laughter died, replaced by a cold, prickling sense of impending doom.
"Retreat! Do not take it head-on!" Jieyin barked. He took a massive stride, intending to cross the vast distance of the desolation in a single step. But as the world blurred around him, he found himself, inexplicably, standing exactly where he had started.
He tried again, stepping across the concepts of mountains and rivers, yet the result was the same. It was a labyrinth of existence; no matter how he moved, he was spinning in a fixed point in space-time.
"The Law of Time?" Jieyin roared, his voice cracking. He looked over to find Zhunti trapped in the same invisible cage. His heart went cold.
"Break it!"
The two brothers moved in perfect synchronization, striking out with their full power. A deluge of Dharmic energy erupted from them, shaking the heavens and shrouding their location in an immeasurable, blinding light.
Buzz—
The sound was like the fabric of reality tearing. They finally shattered the shackles of the time-loop and prepared to flee, but the window had already slammed shut. Within the Hongmeng Cauldron, a Major Thousand World manifested, bringing with it the weight of an entire universe. It descended with a crushing finality, shattering the Void Realm into jagged shards.
The flames of the Law of Fire erupted, burning through the very firmament.
"AH!"
A twin scream echoed through the stars. Golden solar fire, entwined with the grey mists of Chaos, turned the battlefield into a scene of primordial destruction. Any ordinary immortal would have been rendered to ash in a heartbeat.
Two streaks of broken light shot out from the explosion, slamming into the earth with the force of falling stars. The ground groaned and buckled, fissures extending for hundreds of millions of miles across the vast continent.
Despite the Luck of the West and their golden protective auras, the Two Sages lay in the dirt, their bodies battered and their spirits heavily wounded.
The silence that followed was deafening. The gathered titans stood frozen, their mouths agape.
"The Sages... defeated by a pot?"
"Ling Xiao didn't even show his face," someone whispered, the words trembling with awe. "He struck them down from across the stars with a single tool."
East King Duke's face paled, his expression flickering between shadow and light as a deep, gnawing dread took root in his chest. "To do this... to suppress the West with such ease... this is beyond any Grand Unity immortal."
"A Quasi-Saint?"
Ziwei Boy stood dazed, blinking at the devastation. Even he hadn't dared to dream the cauldron possessed such terrifying power. He had respected Ling Xiao, but he realized now that he hadn't truly understood the magnitude of the being he served.
The Hongmeng Cauldron wobbled in the air, its massive form shrinking back down to a palm-sized vessel before floating gently back to the boy.
Ziwei Boy caught it, holding it with a reverence that bordered on worship.
At that moment, the Two Sages of the West dragged themselves from the craters. Their auras were ragged, their light dimmed. Without looking back, they fled toward the Western horizon.
"You win this time!" Zhunti's voice echoed back, jagged with spite. "Today's cause is tomorrow's effect! We shall repay this debt in full!"
Their figures vanished into the distance before the echo even died.
Dijun and Tai Yi stared at the horizon, their faces blank with shock. "Third Brother..." Tai Yi whispered. "He is truly too fierce."
"The realm of a Hun Yuan Golden Immortal," Dijun breathed, his eyes igniting with a new, desperate determination. "It is that strong."
Their resolve hardened into iron. They would not rest—they would not even breathe the air of the outside world—until they had reached that same height.
"Let's go! Back to the Sun Star!" Dijun commanded, his voice solemn. "We do not leave seclusion until we have attained the Hun Yuan realm!"
"Agreed," Tai Yi said.
They grabbed Ziwei Boy and took flight, turning back toward the solar fire of their home.
Far below, on the vast expanse of the earth, the Ancestral Witches Houtu and Xuanming stood paralyzed by what they had witnessed. It had shattered every expectation they held.
"That Golden Crow... Ling Xiao," the Ancestral Witch of Wind, Tian Wu, muttered. "He's already a Quasi-Saint, isn't he?"
"With methods like those?" Xuanming replied, her voice cooling as she regained her composure. "Only a Quasi-Saint could exert such will."
Houtu's brow remained furrowed. "He didn't even attend the sermon, yet he has pulled ahead of us all. It is incredible." She looked up at the Sun Star, her gaze thoughtful.
"Ahead of us?" Xuanming suddenly laughed, a sharp, startling light dancing in her eyes. "Sister Houtu, there is much you missed while you were listening to the Dao. During those thousands of years, our Wu Clan has not been idle. We have produced our own Quasi-Saints. And not just one."
"What?" Houtu's head snapped toward her sister, her eyes wide with excitement. "Who?"
Xuanming's smile widened. "Our eldest brother, Di Jiang. And our ninth brother, Candle Nine Nethers."
"Truly!" Houtu was radiant with joy. The emergence of two Quasi-Saints among their kin changed everything.
"It is likely the result of our plundering the Luck of the Three Pure Ones," Xuanming explained, her voice brimming with absolute confidence. "The blessings have fueled us. Even I am on the verge of breaking through to the Quasi-Saint realm."
She turned her gaze back toward the fading trails of the Golden Crows. "Even if Ling Xiao is a Quasi-Saint, he is but one man. He cannot pose a threat to the might of the Twelve."