Conferred God: Started from Swallowing the Heaven-Repairing Stone

"This is impossible!"

Zhen Yuanzi refused without even thinking. What a joke! The Sage Taiqing clearly wanted to use the red clouds to restrict the development of the West. At the same time, this was also the common will of the East.

In this situation, if Zhen Yuanzi dared to betray the East by colluding with the West for Hongyun's sake, he would die without even knowing how.

No, he is a saint, he cannot die. But from now on, the Earthly Immortal Realm will never be able to develop, and will inevitably be suppressed to the point of being unable to raise its head.

The old primordial world needed the Earthly Immortal Realm, but the new primordial world is full of life everywhere, so the Earthly Immortal Realm is dispensable to it.

If it exists, great; if it doesn't, there's nothing to regret. Therefore, the Earthly Immortal Realm is not indispensable to the new Primordial World.

This can be seen from the fact that when Ao Bing rebuilt the primordial world, he never considered the Earthly Immortal Realm.

If one truly cares about the Immortal Realm, how could one not include it when constructing the Sixfold World Vortex?
Under these circumstances, if Zhen Yuanzi were to offend the powerful figures of the East, the future of the Earthly Immortal Realm would be unimaginable.

It is estimated that apart from not being destroyed, it will have nothing else left and will never be able to ascend to the myriad realms.

Besides, even if the Western Saints' plan succeeds and Hongyun becomes the Lord of the West and the Supreme Being of the Underworld, so what?
While a Grand Luo Golden Immortal may not die, that doesn't mean they can't be sealed away. If the Eastern powerhouses are pushed too far, and they can't handle the Two Sages of the West, surely they can handle Hongyun?
Therefore, the Western Saints' plan should be taken with a grain of salt; there's absolutely no need to implement it. Even if the plan were to succeed, only the Western Saints would benefit; Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun would gain nothing.

They might even have to pay an unimaginable price for it, with no future to speak of.

"Fellow Daoists, so many years have passed, and you really haven't changed at all. Your intentions are still as vicious as ever. You only have eyes for the West, and nothing else."

Zhen Yuanzi grew angrier the more he thought about it, and finally couldn't help but mock the two of them.

This is what true malice looks like. The conditions offered by the two Western Saints seemed very sincere. But they couldn't be examined too closely; once you did, you'd find that they were full of traps.

If they actually did as they said, all the benefits would be theirs, and all the harm would go to others. Just imagine, after Hongyun was killed by the combined forces of the Eastern powerhouses, who would get the benefits that belonged to him? They would inevitably fall into the hands of the two Western Saints.

They claimed to be planning for Hongyun, but in reality, they were all doing it for themselves, pushing Hongyun out as cannon fodder.

Once Hongyun dies, not only will all their debts to him be wiped clean, but they will also be able to take over the legacy he left behind, reclaim the position of Lord of the West, and the position of Supreme Being of the Underworld.

In addition, the plan of the Supreme Sage to use the Red Cloud to control the West will also fail. The two Western Sages have really made a clever calculation, achieving several goals at once.

"Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand. Our desire to help Fellow Daoist Hongyun is truly from the bottom of our hearts. After all, we owe him too much and want to take this opportunity to make amends."

The two Western Saints said with a wronged expression, "Heaven have mercy, we really didn't think that much this time. All the conspiracies that Zhen Yuanzi came up with were just the result of his own imagination."

Their thoughts were pure and simple. First, they genuinely felt guilty and wanted to take this opportunity to make amends to Hongyun. Second, they wanted to use this opportunity to thwart the Taiqing Saint's conspiracy.

The greatest card the Supreme Sage holds against the West is none other than Hongyun. Once he wins Hongyun over, he will naturally have no cards left to play.

The two had a good idea, but unfortunately, prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain, and Zhen Yuanzi had a very bad impression of them.

So much so that Zhen Yuanzi would interpret everything they said, even good words, in the worst possible light. He didn't hesitate to assume the worst of them; this was Zhen Yuanzi's attitude towards the two Western Saints.

"Heh, that sounds nice, but given your past actions, who would dare take your words seriously?"

“If you had kept your word, Fellow Daoist Hongyun would not have ended up like this today.”

"Therefore, fellow Daoists, please leave. I do not believe a single word you have said."

"As the head of all the saints, Brother Taiqing is willing to accept Fellow Daoist Hongyun as his disciple, so he will surely arrange a good future for him. Therefore, you don't need to interfere in Fellow Daoist Hongyun's affairs."

"He has already suffered enough. He barely escaped death and his luck has turned around. I really don't want his bright future to be ruined by you."

Zhen Yuanzi said very seriously, hoping that the two Western Saints could stay away from Hongyun. The saying "great kindness can turn into enmity" perfectly describes the relationship between the two Western Saints and Hongyun.

The debt of gratitude was too great to repay, so the only option was for Hongyun to die. Therefore, what Zhen Yuanzi feared most was hearing the two Western Saints' plans to repay the debt.

When others repay a debt of gratitude, they do so with their own lives. But when the two Western Saints repaid a debt of gratitude, although they also gave their lives, they gave the lives of their benefactors.

Zhen Yuanzi was truly afraid. He felt that Hongyun was not fortunate enough to receive the gratitude from the two Western Saints, so he decided it was better not to accept this favor.

However, he could only think these words in his heart; he could never say them aloud. Because he didn't have the right, and even Hongyun no longer had the right.

To abandon gratitude? That's impossible. Right now, Hongyun's greatest value lies in the debt of gratitude owed to him by the two Western Saints. Otherwise, why would the Supreme Saint of Taiqing have accepted him as a disciple?

If this favor is gone, Hongyun's value will also be gone. At that time, expecting the Supreme Saint to care about him would be a pipe dream.

Zhen Yuanzi was also helpless. This favor was both a death warrant and a future opportunity for Hongyun. He could neither lose it nor keep it.

Even if the favor remained, the two Western Saints would dream of killing him. Even if the favor was gone, and the two Western Saints let him go, the Xuanmen sect might not.

The two Western Saints rose to power because of Hongyun, and naturally, they will also perish because of him. If the affairs of the West are not thoroughly resolved, even if Hongyun is resurrected, he will not live long and will soon perish in a muddled way.

The number of people in the Xuanmen sect who wanted Hongyun dead far exceeded the number of Zhen Yuanzi's friends.

“Fellow Daoist, we mean this from the bottom of our hearts. I know what you are worried about, but you can rest assured that with our full protection, we will definitely not let Fellow Daoist Hongyun get into any trouble.”

The two Western Saints tried their best to assure them, but they refused to believe that even with their combined strength, they couldn't protect a single person.

So what if the East is strong? They are a whole, not just one person. And most importantly, within this whole, the strength varies greatly, and the individuals are not evenly distributed.

Those who are powerful are not afraid of their retaliation, but how many people in the East are stronger than them? The vast majority are not as powerful as them.

Faced with their retaliation, who wouldn't be afraid? It's nothing more than a tit-for-tat exchange. The West is weak, the East is strong, so it's self-evident who's afraid of this exchange.

Therefore, in the eyes of the two Western Saints, since they had already said so much, Zhen Yuanzi should believe them.

However, it was clear that Zhen Yuanzi's prejudice against them was so deep that it could not be eliminated by a few words.

Zhen Yuanzi said, "Repaying the debt of gratitude is not difficult. Even if Fellow Daoist Hongyun is in the Xuanmen and not in the West, you can still support him to become the Supreme Being of the Netherworld. At that time, no matter who the competitors are, Fellow Daoist Hongyun, with the support of Brother Taiqing and the two fellow Daoists from the West, will surely be able to occupy a place in the Netherworld."

"Moreover, and most importantly, while others who cooperate with you are suspected of colluding with the West, Fellow Daoist Hongyun will not. Seeing that you support him, the group of powerful figures from the East will not only not suspect anything, but will also feel that it is only natural."

Zhen Yuanzi felt that if the two Western Saints truly wanted to repay their debt of gratitude, they wouldn't need to go through all this trouble. It would simply be a matter of expressing their attitude with their words, and it would be very simple. People in the Xuanmen sect could also repay their debts of gratitude.

The fact that such a simple matter has been complicated only shows that the two Western saints are still up to their old tricks and want to use this matter for something else.

"This……"

The two Western Saints fell silent. They understood the reasoning Zhen Yuanzi was giving, but they also had their own difficulties.

The West has limited resources. If Hongyun is willing to join the West, then for the sake of the relationship between the two sides, they will support Hongyun to the death, even if it means selling everything they own.

Because this way, no matter how much you pay, at least the meat will still be rotten in the pot.

But if Hongyun doesn't want to go to the West and stays in the Xuanmen sect, then they can't afford to support him by selling everything they own. Because that would be like giving the Xuanmen a lifeline; the greater the support, the more lifeline they would have to give.

The key point is that the two of them dream of bleeding the Xuanmen dry, so how could they possibly give it a blood transfusion?

Therefore, they can support Hongyun at all costs, but only if Hongyun joins the West.

If he is unwilling, then I'm sorry, we can only let him continue to be a wandering ghost, just like before, constantly roaming between heaven and earth, with nowhere to settle down.

"Hmph, there's absolutely no sincerity involved."

Judging from the expressions of the two Western Saints, Zhen Yuanzi could guess what they were thinking. He snorted coldly and left in a huff.

Since the other party has shown no sincerity whatsoever, there is no need to continue the discussion.

"Alas, Fellow Daoist Zhen Yuanzi has a deep misunderstanding of us and is unwilling to cooperate with us. It seems that the plan to get Fellow Daoist Hongyun to join the West through him will not succeed."

After Zhen Yuanzi left, the Sage of Reception sighed with a face full of sorrow, his worry deepening.

"It's not that we are heartless, it's that they won't listen. We have already shown them enough sincerity, but they are unwilling to accept it. What can the two of us do?"

The Sage Zhunti continued speaking from the side, then, as if he had thought of something, he gritted his teeth and suddenly said in a fierce voice:

"They don't even cherish the opportunities we've been given. If that's the case, then they can't blame us. Senior brother, the only way to preserve the development of the West now is to cooperate with the Styx."

"As long as he is willing to form an alliance with the West, we will do everything in our power to help him seize the position of the Supreme Being of the Underworld."

The River Styx!

Sage Zhunti is prepared to support Styx as a backup plan. If he fails to persuade Zhen Yuanzi, he will abandon Hongyun and support Styx instead.

Honestly, Styx, as a native powerhouse of the Netherworld, is far more suitable to be the Supreme Being of the Netherworld than Hongyun, an outsider.

Knowing this, the two Western Saints still placed Hongyun before the River Styx, simply to repay their debt of gratitude. However, Zhen Yuanzi took their kindness for granted, not only refusing to accept it but also harshly ridiculing them.

The two Western Saints are also saints; how could they bear this injustice? Since Zhen Yuanzi is not cooperating, they might as well go all the way and directly support Styx, who has a grudge against Hongyun Zhen Yuanzi.

Given the relationship between the two sides, how could they let the Styx go once it gained power?

This is another plan that kills two birds with one stone. By cooperating with Styx, they can both allow the Western Sect to expand into the Netherworld through him and eliminate Hongyun, thus removing a major threat.

“The Styx River is indeed the best candidate to become the Supreme Being of the Underworld, and his strength is also sufficient. But it is precisely because of this that he has more options and may not necessarily need to cooperate with us.”

The Sage of Guidance said somewhat hesitantly, "Cooperating with the Styx River would indeed be beneficial to the future development of the Western Religion."

However, unlike the Western religion which only has Styx as an option, Styx undoubtedly has more choices. Because he is also a member of the Xuanmen (Mystic Sect), he can certainly cooperate with other powerful figures within the Xuanmen.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. What other choice does Styx have? Don't forget, he, like us, has an irreconcilable conflict with the dragons and humans."

"Let's put it this way: in this world, besides our Western forces and the demon race, what other power dares to oppose humans and dragons?"

"Therefore, the Styx had no choice but to cooperate with us."

"Otherwise, once Long Teng makes his move, let alone competing for the title of Lord of the Underworld, it's uncertain whether he can even withstand the retribution of having his head taken."

The Sage Zhunti said confidently, "It's fortunate that they have Ao Bing as a common enemy. Otherwise, given the past relationship between the two Western Sages and the Styx River, there would have been absolutely no chance of cooperation; it would have been good enough if they hadn't fought each other."

But now that Ao Bing is a common enemy, the two sides, who are full of contradictions, have the possibility of a temporary alliance.

Ultimately, although there were conflicts between them, they were caused by Hongyun's death and did not involve fundamental interests, so they were far from fighting to the death.

But the conflict between them and Ao Bing is different; it's not a matter of life and death, but it's almost.

Since it involved life and death, their minor conflict with the River Styx was nothing and could be completely set aside.

“In that case, let’s both head to the Blood Sea together as a sign of our sincerity. We should also invite Fellow Daoist Taiyi along, as we need the support of the demon race to deal with the human-dragon.”

After thinking it over, the Sage of Guidance also felt that what the Sage of Zhunti said made sense. He immediately decided to set off for the Netherworld Blood Sea without hesitation.

However, before setting off, he planned to invite Taiyi along as well, to facilitate a three-way alliance.

The alliance of the two sides is not bad, but it is not enough to deal with Ao Bing; the demon race must be added.

As for the conflict between Taiyi and Styx, it's no longer worth mentioning. So what if Taiyi almost killed Styx back then? What's the big deal? He didn't die, did he?
So many years have passed, the Styx River has probably long forgotten about it. This can be seen from the previous incident where the Styx River and Taiyi joined forces to attack Dragon Continent.

If they hadn't put aside their grudges, why would they have joined forces? They definitely needed to settle their differences first before dealing with other matters. (End of Chapter)