Primordial Era: Refusing Hongjun's path to sainthood, I attained the Dao of Hunyuan.

Chapter 178 Hongjun Punishes the Five Saints

Hongjun Daozu opened the Earth Book, and instantly, the vast power of the Heavenly Dao surged violently around it.

Hongjun Daozu reached one hand into the Earth Book and kept fiddling with it.

However, it directly affected the primordial land, which had already been split into four parts, the four continents.

Everyone could feel the spiritual veins within, constantly being manipulated by Dao Ancestor Hongjun.

This is rebuilding the spiritual veins of the primordial land.

However, the four continents could no longer be combined, and Dao Ancestor Hongjun was simply going with the flow.

Not long after, the spiritual veins of the four continents were dealt with by Dao Ancestor Hongjun, and the four continents became independent from then on.

Hongjun Daozu returned the Earth Book to Zhenyuanzi.

He glanced at everyone again and said, "Let's talk about this in Zixiao Palace." Naturally, no one dared to disobey, and they all followed Daoist Hongjun to Zixiao Palace.

Inside the Purple Cloud Palace.

Hongjun Daozu addressed the five sages—Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Jieyin, and Zhunti—saying: "Your conflict has brought calamity to the Three Realms and harm to all living beings; your sins are immense. Do you know your mistakes?"

The five saints all said, "Disciples know their mistake."

Hongjun Daozu nodded and said, "Since you know you're wrong, then you must be punished." At the same time, Hongjun Daozu's gaze swept over everyone.

First Laozi, then Yuanshi. When Hongjun Daozu looked at these two, he even nodded.

Looking again at Tongtian, and then at Jieyin and Zhunti, he couldn't help but frown more and more.

This made the five saints, especially Tongtian, Jieyin, and Zhunti, uneasy. Zhunti mustered his courage and asked, "How will our teacher punish us?"

Hongjun Daozu smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's nothing serious."

"Let's talk about the impact of this great calamity. Although the great calamity is not completely over, it is more than half over. However, due to your great battle, the primordial land has been divided into four continents. This shows that the power of the sages is really not suitable to appear in the Three Realms."

Hongjun Daozu said, "Therefore, after you return, you must all establish Daoist temples outside the Thirty-Three Heavens. Furthermore, from now on, unless there is a major event, sages are no longer allowed to appear in the Three Realms."

Upon hearing this, the saints were somewhat reluctant, but since Hongjun had said so, they had no choice but to accept it.

"teacher."

Suddenly, Yuanshi Tianzun seemed to have thought of something and said, "Sages cannot appear in the Three Realms, but what about the Primordial Golden Immortals?"

"Does that mean a Primordial Golden Immortal can remain in the Three Realms? That's not fair!"

As soon as Yuanshi Tianzun uttered these words, all the saints turned their mouths to their noses and their noses to their hearts. Clearly, on this point, they were in complete agreement with Yuanshi Tianzun.

Since sages cannot appear in the Three Realms, then the same should apply to Primordial Golden Immortals.

Hongjun Daozu did not answer Yuanshi Tianzun, but instead looked at Xuanhuang and smiled, "Xuanhuang, what do you think?"

Xuanhuang gave Yuanshi Tianzun a meaningful look before leisurely saying, "Teacher, aren't I currently outside the Thirty-Three Heavens?"

"Does the teacher mean I have to move somewhere else?"

Xuanhuang's words were somewhat ambiguous, but he had indeed been living outside the Thirty-Three Heavens for a long time.

Yuanshi Tianzun could only forcefully say, "I didn't mean this to my fifth junior brother, but the number of sages is predetermined, while the number of Grand Luo Golden Immortals is not. If Grand Luo Golden Immortals emerge again in the future, shouldn't there be restrictions on them?"

Upon hearing this, Hongjun Daozu nodded and said, "Alright, Xuanhuang, don't blame your senior brother. What he said makes sense. In that case, no Primordial Chaos level power shall appear in the Three Realms in the future, so as to avoid further damage to the Three Realms."

"Teacher is wise!" everyone exclaimed joyfully.

Xuanhuang shook his head and said, "Since Master says so, this disciple has no objection."

Hongjun Daozu continued, "Besides relocating the Daoist temple, there is another matter: Tongtian, you have lost the treasure that established the sect, and the fortune of the Jie Sect will no longer exist!"

As soon as Hongjun Daozu said these words, Tongtian Jiaozhu's expression changed drastically. He felt that the originally boundless Jiejiao fortune had vanished into thin air at this moment.

At the same time, Laozi, Yuanshi, Jieyin, and Zhunti all felt a jolt, sensing that the fortunes of their respective great sects had increased to varying degrees.

Especially among the Western religions, Jieyin was alright, only showing a faint smile, but Zhunti couldn't suppress his mouth no matter what.

I almost burst out laughing on the spot.

With a flick of his finger, the Chaos Bell, which had been hanging on the eaves of the Zixiao Palace, flew in and landed in front of him.

Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but be moved. Could it be that Dao Ancestor Hongjun had changed his mind and was going to bestow the Chaos Bell upon them?

Especially the Tongtian Sect Leader, who is now penniless, having lost both the Zhuxian Sword Formation and the Qingping Sword.

Even the major religions have disappeared.

Now is the time when treasures are most scarce.

Xuanhuang's expression remained calm throughout, and even the Chaos Bell seemed to have no effect on him.

Seeing this, Hongjun Daozu pondered for a moment and said, "Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Jieyin, and Zhunti, you five sages have destroyed the primordial land and must be punished."

"However, ordinary punishments won't have much effect on you. How about this: since you've caused damage to the Primordial World, then do something for it to make amends!"

"Laozi, bring me your Taiji diagram," said Hongjun Daozu to Laozi.

Laozi was a little confused, but he still obediently took out the Taiji Diagram and handed it to Hongjun Daozu.

Hongjun Daozu took the Taiji Diagram and then said to Yuanshi Tianzun, "Yuanshi, also take your Pangu Banner."

Yuanshi Tianzun handed his Pangu Banner to Hongjun Daozu.

In an instant, before the Dao Ancestor Hongjun, the three great creation treasures were all present: the Taiji Diagram, the Pangu Banner, and the Chaos Bell.

Hongjun Daozu nodded and said, "With these three supreme treasures, that should be enough."

"You five sages may take turns wielding these three supreme treasures to the edge of the universe, break through the chaos, and aid the evolution of the primordial world. Laozi, Yuanshi, Jieyin, and Zhunti, your crimes are relatively minor, and you will only be punished with five thousand years of punishment. As for Tongtian, let him be punished with ten thousand years!"

Upon hearing these words from Hongjun Daozu, the five saints' expressions changed drastically. They were being forced to do hard labor!

Even Xuanhuang couldn't help but be somewhat surprised.

Hongjun Daozu, you know this trick? Moreover, if you really do this, then during this period, when the Five Saints break through the chaos, they will inevitably generate a lot of innate spiritual energy.

Hmm, perhaps I don't need my own method; it's enough for Kong Xuan to prove his Dao.

Furthermore, Hongjun also set a rule that no more sages could appear in the Three Realms, which would make Kong Xuan's path to enlightenment even more unimpeded.

Before the five saints could object, Hongjun Daozu pointed again, and five beams of light flew out and entered the bodies of the five saints respectively.

Lao Tzu quickly asked, "Teacher, what is this?"

Hongjun Daozu did not hide anything and explained, "I punished you to create chaos, so naturally I can't let you slack off. This is to keep an eye on you."

The five saints were speechless; they were truly being treated like cattle and horses. But now, there was no other choice.

The five sages all respectfully agreed. In any case, the longest time, Tongtian's, was only ten thousand years, and that time would pass quickly.

Now, what troubles everyone even more is the rule that from now on, saints can no longer enter the Three Realms.

Xuanhuang, Nuwa, and Zhenyuanzi are fine; they don't have a major sect and are quite relaxed. But the other sages need to think carefully about what to do next.

After all, people are not in the Three Realms, but the traditions within the Three Realms must continue to be spread.

(End of this chapter)