Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun arrived at the Sun Star on a tide of auspicious clouds. They were merely passing through on their journey to the heavens, and in the spirit of their rare friendship, they sought to see if the three brothers intended to travel with them.
"Fellow Daoist Zhenyuanzi, Fellow Daoist Hongyun... please, enter."
The three brothers exchanged a thin, knowing smile. In the blood-soaked history of the Great Desolation, these two were among the few who could truly be called "Virtuous Immortals."
Hongyun entered first, draped in robes of nine-layered fiery clouds. He was fair, plump, and wore a smile so constant he looked more like a wealthy patriarch than a cosmic titan. Beside him, Zhenyuanzi was his polar opposite—a vision of transcendent grace, radiating the detached, cool air of a true enlightened master.
"Three Crows," Hongyun chuckled, his voice warm. "I expected your nest to be empty by now. I only called out on a whim, yet here you are. The sermon is upon us; shall we travel together? There is safety in numbers, after all."
"I shall remain behind," Ling Xiao replied, his voice a calm pool. "My elder brothers will accompany you."
"You aren't going?" Hongyun's voice rose in genuine shock. "But Fellow Daoist, this is the final word! The Saint will not only finish his teachings but choose his disciples. With your talent, a seat at his side is all but guaranteed!"
Become his disciple? That is exactly why I am staying, Ling Xiao thought, though he kept his expression neutral. "I have had a sudden, profound insight," he said simply. "I cannot break my meditation now."
Hongyun sighed, his face a mask of disappointment, but he knew better than to force a man from his Dao. Zhenyuanzi, however, remained silent, his sharp eyes lingering on Ling Xiao. He sensed a hidden depth to the refusal. Twice now, a 'sudden insight' has kept him from the Saint's door. Coincidence? Perhaps. Or perhaps he sees a path the rest of us are blind to. He decided not to pry. In the Great Desolation, a thousand paths led to the summit; it was better not to question another man's compass.
As they turned to leave, Ling Xiao felt a pang of something—perhaps pity—for the "Good Man" of the age. He knew what was coming.
"Fellow Daoist Hongyun," Ling Xiao called out, his voice suddenly grave. "A word of advice for the journey."
Hongyun paused, looking back.
"On the path of the Great Dao, do not reach for what is beyond your grasp. Remember: running fast does not mean winning, and the only true success is the one where you do not stumble."
Hongyun scratched his head, his brow furrowed in utter confusion. "Fellow Daoist, I... I don't follow. Can you speak plainly? My mind isn't built for riddles."
Ling Xiao let out a soft, dry cough. "I mean only this... some things do not belong to you. No matter how glittering the prize, you must never take it. Especially the prizes you never expected to win."
He stopped there, a man of riddles. He feared that if he spoke the words Primordial Violet Qi, the very Heavens would strike him down for interfering with the script.
"Don't compete, don't grab, and don't take," Di Jun added, stepping in with the heavy gravity of an expert, though he was mostly just repeating the vibe Ling Xiao had set. "Follow that, and the road stays smooth."
"Don't take... don't grab..." Hongyun murmured, tasting the words as he followed Di Jun, Tai Yi, and Zhenyuanzi into the sky.
Ling Xiao watched them fade into the distance, stood silent for a long moment, then retreated into the Ling Xiao Treasure Hall to seal the gates.
The quartet streaked through the firmament, leaving the heat of the Sun Star behind for the biting cold of the void. Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun spoke with hushed excitement about the "Complete Path to Sainthood," their eyes fixed on the distant mirage of Zixiao Palace.
Di Jun and Tai Yi, however, were silent. They weren't looking for the Palace. They were hunting.
Heaven rewards the persistent. Just as they reached the border where the world's air thins into the roiling mists of Chaos, they saw them. Two figures, wreathed in halos of artificial "Virtue" and draped in an "intoxicating" golden light, were moving toward the gate.
"They're here," Tai Yi whispered, his eyes igniting with a savage, golden flame. He looked like a man who had just found a mountain of buried treasure.
"Old thieves! HALT!"
The two Crows turned into streaks of solar fire, cutting across the void. The shout startled the Western Sages. Zhunti looked back, a chilling, murderous smile spreading across his face.
"I wondered who was barking," Zhunti laughed. "So, it's the two stunted birds from the Sun Star. Are you so eager for death that you've chased us to the gates of the Saint?"
He was delighted. He had just been lamenting the lack of a chance for revenge, and now, the two Crows were served up without Ling Xiao to protect them. To him, Di Jun and Tai Yi were still the weaklings he had suppressed at Mount Buzhou.
"To die?" Tai Yi sneered. "We are here to be your pallbearers."
The Chaos Bell manifested above Tai Yi's head, vibrating with a tone that shattered the nearby astral winds. Thick, grey Chaos Qi began to pour from its bronze rim, saturating the space around them with a crushing weight.
"Hah! You've spent a few millennia in a hole and think you've learned to talk big," Zhunti chuckled. "Do you think we've spent our time sleeping? You've made progress, little bird, but do not mistake a hill for a mountain."
He truly believed his own words. He was a Quasi-Saint of the West; in his mind, his growth would always outpace a mere "monster" of the fire.
"Then prove it," Di Jun barked.
His body ignited, turning into a silhouette of pure, golden brilliance. He summoned his own artifacts, his aura surging until it threatened to set the vacuum of space on fire. Tai Yi struck first. The bell tolled—a sound that cleared the world of noise—and every movement of his hand wove the raw power of the Laws into a lethal assault.
The Western Sages finally felt the shift. Their expressions soured as they summoned their own treasures, but the first collision sent a shockwave through their very marrows.
"You... you've reached the Quasi-Saint realm?" Zhunti gasped, his composure fracturing as he felt the density of Tai Yi's power.
"Boom!"
Tai Yi didn't answer with words. Entwined with the raw Laws of the Universe, the Golden Crow moved with a speed that bypassed the very concept of time. Before Zhunti could even raise his defense, a hand of Law—capable of crushing stars—slammed into his face.
"Pfft!"
Zhunti sprayed a mist of golden blood, his body sent spiraling into the depths of Chaos. A single palm strike had shattered his Dharma body.
"Useless trash," Tai Yi spat, his voice dripping with absolute disdain. "In the past, you leaned on your rank to look down on us. Now that we stand on the same ground... it turns out you are nothing but a hollow shell."
"Junior Brother!" Jie Yin roared, his solemn face twisting into a mask of fury.
"Fall for me!" Di Jun screamed, his own aura sublimating. Seeing Tai Yi's success spurred his own pride. He threw himself at Jie Yin with a ferocity that left no room for breath.
"I'll help you finish them!" Tai Yi roared, stepping back into the fray.
The Chaos Bell descended like a falling sky. Jie Yin's Dharma body collapsed under the pressure, the golden light of his protection snapping like glass. Realizing the tide had turned into a tsunami, he didn't wait for the end. He turned into a desperate streak of light, scooped up the battered Zhunti, and fled into the swirling mists of the Chaos.
"After them!"
Di Jun and Tai Yi shattered the Void Realm in their wake, pursuing the "Sages" with the relentless hunger of hawks.
Behind them, near the entrance to the Palace, Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun stood in frozen silence, their faces masks of pure, unadulterated shock.