Primordial Era: If I remain in Longevity Mountain, I will steadily attain sainthood.

Chapter 22 Apology

Upon hearing this, Jieyin and Zhunti, who were only nominal disciples, were naturally not very willing, but given the circumstances, they could only accept it and accept it, since others couldn't even get nominal disciples.

So the two of them quickly and happily performed the apprenticeship ceremony for Hongjun.

When the others saw that Jieyin and Zhunti had succeeded, they hurriedly followed suit and begged for mercy, but Hongjun bluntly stated that he would no longer accept disciples.

The crowd grew increasingly envious and jealous of Jieyin and Zhunti. Jieyin and Zhunti themselves secretly felt lucky; thankfully, they were shameless enough, otherwise they wouldn't have even become nominal disciples.

However, what the two of them said just now was mostly from the bottom of their hearts. In their hearts, they really wanted to make the West prosperous, and that was not a lie.

At this moment, Hongjun said, "There are many cultivators in the prehistoric world today, but they all do their own thing and there is no one to manage them. This is very detrimental to the creatures of the prehistoric world."

Then, Hongjun's gaze swept over the group of powerful beings, and he called out, "Eastern King Duke, Western Queen Mother, you two come forward."

The Eastern King Duke and Western Queen Mother, who had been summoned, were both surprised and delighted. They quickly stepped forward to greet them, saying, "What are your instructions, Master?"

Hongjun said, "You two were formed from the most wondrous Yin and Yang energies at the beginning of the primordial world. Your destiny is predetermined, and you should be the leaders of all immortals, responsible for regulating the Yin and Yang of heaven and earth and overseeing male and female immortals respectively."

Upon hearing this, the Eastern King Duke and the Western Queen Mother were immediately filled with excitement.

However, the other powerful beings instantly erupted in a clamor of discussion. They were extremely dissatisfied with the sudden acquisition of power by the Eastern King Duke and the Western Queen Mother. In particular, among the male immortals, apart from a few who were indifferent to worldly affairs and focused on cultivation, who among them was willing to be controlled?

Especially Di Jun and Tai Yi, who had long harbored ambitions, but who would have thought that such a thing would happen before they could even begin to realize their ambitions.

The Styx River's gaze toward the Eastern King Duke was also filled with murderous intent. He had always intended to kill anyone who could compete with him for sainthood, and now that the Eastern King Duke had emerged, he had become a major threat to him.

However, whether it was Di Jun, Tai Yi, Styx, or other powerful beings, although they were dissatisfied with Hong Jun's instructions, they dared not voice their opposition.

Hongyun, however, remained completely oblivious to the matter, while Zhen Yuanzi, seeing this, couldn't help but secretly praise his brother, thinking that his heart for cultivating the Dao was truly firm, and he was unmoved by this.

Zhen Yuanzi misunderstood Hongyun's thoughts. Hongyun simply knew what would happen to Dongwanggong. If this guy hadn't gotten the position of the head of male immortals for a while, he would have at least had a comfortable life.

Therefore, the one who died the most unjustly during the Lich Wars was definitely the Eastern King Duke, not this kind-hearted man.

Hongyun naturally wouldn't be emotionally affected by this matter. What did it matter to her whether the Eastern King Duke lived or died?

Although he is not dead now and has become the head of the male immortals, all of this is just a passing cloud.

The leader of male immortals? In the current primordial world, among so many powerful cultivators, which one would submit to him, the Eastern King Duke?

In particular, Di Jun and Tai Yi are destined by Heaven and are the protagonists of this great calamity, and they will even take the life of Dong Wang Gong.

The Eastern King thought this was an opportunity, but little did he know that it was actually a fatal disaster.

Furthermore, given his own lack of awareness, he was destined to become a confused and clueless ghost.

However, this fellow was quite lucky. Although he perished in this great calamity, he still had a lot of affinity with immortals later on, and his final achievement was becoming one of the Eight Immortals under the tutelage of Laozi.

Hongyun silently calculated in his heart that there were many changes in his experience at Zixiao Palace this time, and he needed to carefully consider them.

After all, this can be considered a change of fate for me. I wonder if what Hongjun said about me and Zhen Yuanzi having the opportunity to become saints in the future is true.

At that moment, Hongjun appointed the Eastern King Duke and the Western Queen Mother as the heads of the male and female immortals, respectively. He then took a dragon-headed staff and gave it to the Eastern King Duke, saying, "You were born from the pure yang energy of the primordial world and are destined to govern the east. You are entitled to lead the male immortals of the primordial world. I now bestow upon you this dragon-headed staff. If anyone disobeys your authority, you may strike them with this staff."

Then he took out a bowl of pure water and handed it to the Queen Mother of the West, saying, "You were born from the pure yin energy of the primordial world, and you are destined to govern the Western Paradise. I now bestow upon you this bowl of pure water to assist you in your endeavors."

These dragon-headed walking sticks and water bowls were both top-grade innate spiritual treasures, bestowed by a sage himself. They immediately attracted attention, making everyone envious.

Hongjun then instructed the two men, "Although you two wield this power, you must remember not to bully the weak or act recklessly, lest you ruin your merits and fortune, and bring about retribution. Even I cannot protect you then."

The two were extremely excited at this moment, and they couldn't listen to Hongjun's words at all. They just nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Hongjun said nothing more, dismissed the two, and then said, "Now that everything is settled, you may all go back. You may come back to listen to my lecture again after ten thousand years."

Upon hearing this, everyone dispersed, especially the eleventh ancestral witch behind Hongyun, who stood up abruptly with a joyful expression.

Houtu, watching from the side, shook her head repeatedly. However, she also knew the kind of mental anguish her brothers and Xuanming had endured over the past three thousand years.

So Houtu asked Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun, "Fellow Daoists, would you like to travel together?"

Zhen Yuanzi subconsciously looked at Hongyun, who thought for a moment and said, "You are all going back to Pangu Palace, while we are going back to Wanshou Mountain. I'm afraid we are going the same way, so let's part ways here."

Houtu nodded upon hearing this, and the other ancestral witches had no objections. They all said their farewells, then took Houtu's hand, bid farewell to Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun, and left Zixiao Palace.

They probably never want to come to Zixiao Palace again.

Seeing this, Zhen Yuanzi couldn't help but smile and said, "They must have really suffered these past years."

Hongyun said, "The Great Dao is different, but the primordial spirit and the physical body are like Yin and Yang. Although they have some things in common, they are still clearly distinct most of the time. It is really difficult for them to come here to listen to the Dao without cultivating their primordial spirit."

Zhen Yuanzi nodded and said, "That makes sense! Let's go too."

So the two bid farewell to some powerful figures they knew and then left Zixiao Palace together.

Each of them manifested a lotus platform beneath themselves, traversing the chaos and returning to the primordial world.

The two had only gone a short distance when they were stopped in the chaos, and those who stopped them were none other than Jieyin and Zhunti.

"What do you two mean by this?" Zhen Yuanzi looked at Jieyin and Zhunti with considerable wariness.

Hongyun wondered to himself, could it be that these two guys saw that he and Zhen Yuanzi were "alone" and wanted to get revenge?

However, Hongyun was overthinking it. He saw that Jieyin and Zhunti were all smiles and said, "Fellow Daoists, you have misunderstood."

"We stopped you two only to apologize to you, fellow Daoists."

(End of this chapter)