The elderly man riding the green ox descended suddenly, appearing before Zi Wei and Xuan Du. He studied the two of them with a faint, knowing smile.
"You are..." Zi Wei froze, jumping to his feet and pointing at Laozi, momentarily speechless.
"Human Race Xuan Du, pays respects to the Saint Master!" Xuan Du scrambled to his feet and performed the full five-point prostration. He didn't forget to look up and shoot a frantic wink at Zi Wei, signaling him to kneel immediately.
The younger generation of humans might not recognize the Sage, but how could an Innate Human like Xuan Du not know the visage of the Taiqing Saint?
Zi Wei ignored the hint. He merely cupped his hands in a perfunctory salute. Perhaps it was a lingering bias from their previous encounter, but he felt a bone-deep distrust of this old man, Saint or not. Though Zi Wei had not yet experienced his Awakening, his instinctive repulsion toward Laozi only grew stronger as his cultivation improved.
Laozi spared a glance at Zi Wei before focusing his attention on the kneeling Xuan Du. "Xuan Du, you possess extraordinary talent and a predestined affinity with me. Are you willing to enter my sect and cultivate at Kunlun?"
Laozi had sensed that the time was ripe. He needed to recruit the first disciple for the Human Sect (Ren Jiao); any further delay would risk complicating the celestial design. Xuan Du, with his Innate Human bloodline and solid talent, was the perfect candidate.
Xuan Du was thunderstruck. His eyes widened in disbelief. A Saint of the Sanqing wants to take me as a disciple?
It was a dream beyond dreams. A Saint was a supreme powerhouse of the Primordial World, a direct disciple of the Dao Ancestor. Their status was peerless. Xuan Du recalled that the Taiqing Saint had once tried to recruit "Zi Dong Lai" only to be rejected. He instinctively turned to Zi Wei for advice.
Zi Wei's face was neutral, but he was frantically signaling with his eyes: Don't agree.
Such subtle movements could not hide from a Saint. Laozi let out a soft chuckle that resonated like a thunderclap in the surrounding space. "Xuan Du, why do you hesitate? Do you truly wish to refuse being my disciple?"
The words carried the immense majesty and pressure of a Saint. Xuan Du's heart wavered. Faced with the ultimate temptation of Saintly tutelage, his resolve crumbled. To become a disciple of a Saint was to change one's destiny forever.
Xuan Du slammed his head against the ground and shouted, "Disciple Xuan Du, pays respects to the Master!"
"Good!" Laozi smiled, a satisfied glint in his eyes.
Zi Wei's expression darkened. He felt a pang of bitterness but managed a tight smile. "Brother Xuan Du... congratulations."
Xuan Du looked at Zi Wei with a hint of guilt and nodded silently before following Laozi into the sky. Throughout the entire process, Laozi did not look at Zi Wei once. To him, there was no need to acknowledge an ant that refused the heavens.
Watching them vanish into the horizon, Zi Wei thought only four words: To each his own. He realized he couldn't blame Xuan Du for seeking a better path, especially if a strong Xuan Du could eventually protect the Human Race.
The Western Scheme
At Western Mount Sumeru, the atmosphere was far more tense.
"Senior Brother," Zhunti said, his eyes flickering with hidden schemes. "The Teacher's words at Zixiao Palace were clear, yet the Witch and Demon Races refuse to move. If this continues, will the Teacher grow dissatisfied with our negligence?"
Jieyin paused, his voice calm but heavy. "This is a duty shared by all Six Saints. If there is blame, it will be shared."
"Even so, if we take the initiative and settle this matter first, the benefits will be immense. After all, we still owe the Heavenly Dao Karma..." Zhunti's face shifted.
The Sanqing could afford to be leisurely, but the Western Duo could not. Their Sainthood was built upon Forty-Eight Grand Vows—a massive cosmic debt that had to be serviced.
"Junior Brother, you speak the truth," Jieyin said solemnly. Debt-ridden Saints were simply more motivated. "The problem is the stalemate. We need a way to break their hesitation and make them kill each other."
The Witch-Demon Calamity required mutual exhaustion until their luck ran out. The current peace was an obstacle to the divine plan.
"Exactly," Zhunti added coldly. "And while we're at it, we should drag those two 'evil creatures' from the Sun Star into the fray to settle our old scores."
They knew they couldn't touch Ling Xiao in the Chaos, but they had no fear of Di Jun and Tai Yi within the Primordial World—the territory of the Heavenly Dao.
"Excellent," Jieyin nodded, his halo glowing with a peaceful, sage-like light. "Junior Brother, do you have a strategy to spark the conflict without revealing our hand?"
Zhunti smiled with uncharacteristic humility. "It is not difficult. They hesitate because they have concerns. We simply need to shatter those concerns. I have watched them long enough; I have a plan."
Jieyin's smile widened. He gave a silent thumbs-up in his mind. He didn't say it out loud, for fear of making his brother too arrogant. The two Sages rose from Mount Sumeru and drifted toward the East.
The End of the Silence
Time flowed like water.
In the Pangu Temple, the Ancestral Witches remained huddled together. They had lost their "dream" of conquest and were merely waiting for their enemies to strike. Their only strategy was a massive bluff—keeping their clansmen drilling day and night to appear fearless, even though they were terrified of the six Saints who held blood-grudges against them.
As the Ancestral Witches sat in their gloom, a Great Witch rushed into the temple.
"Ancestral Witches! It's started! They're fighting! They're fighting!"
The shout was like a thunderbolt, shattering the oppressive silence of the temple. The stalemate was finally over.