Primordial Era: Starting by overwhelming the Sages, Hongjun was stunned!

The area in front of Zixiao Palace remained deathly silent.

Three thousand worldly travelers stood frozen like a forest, their auras intertwined like a net, yet none dared to take the first step.

The Three Pure Ones stood still like pine trees, Laozi's eyes were deep, Yuanshi's face was cold and stern, and Tongtian held his sword without speaking.

Beside them, the figure in black robes remained with his eyes closed, as if he had become a stubborn rock in the long river of time, unmoved for eternity.

The true fire of the sun around Di Jun flickered erratically, and the illusory image of the Chaos Bell above Donghuang Taiyi's head trembled slightly. The sun, moon, and stars on the bell rose and fell, but it never sounded.

Nuwa and Fuxi stood side by side, the phantom images of the Mountain and River Map and the Eight Trigrams Plate slowly flowing around them, their aura serene, yet their gazes were fixed on the figure in the black robe.

The smile of the Red Cloud Ancestor had long since vanished. He hovered in mid-air, riding on a red cloud, his eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty.

Zhen Yuanzi's long sleeves hung down, and the illusory image of the Earth Book was as heavy as a mountain, protecting his entire body completely.

Kunpeng slightly folded its wings, its eyes dark and sinister, scanning back and forth between Kong Xuan and the Three Pure Ones, as if weighing its options.

Behind them, even more primordial creatures held their breath, not daring to even breathe loudly.

An eerie atmosphere, like solidified ice, completely froze the entire square in front of Zixiao Palace.

Even the Twelve Ancestral Witches, who were known for their violent tempers and disrespect for heaven and earth, managed to suppress their restless energy at this moment.

Di Jiang was a burly man with a subtle fluctuation of spatial power around him, but when his gaze swept over the figure in black robes in front of him, a trace of instinctive fear flashed deep in his pupils.

Gonggong's eyes were wide with rage, and his body was steaming with moisture, but he forcefully suppressed the urge to charge.

Zhu Rong's fire blazed wildly, flames flickering in his palm, but in the end he only let out a cold snort and didn't take a single step forward.

Although they are fierce in nature, they are by no means stupid.

A being capable of stopping the Three Pure Ones, suspending Emperor Jun and Taiyi, and silencing all the top experts present... is no ordinary being.

Time flowed slowly in the deathly silence.

Every breath felt like an eternity.

Inside the palace gate, six prayer cushions were quietly arranged, shrouded in purple mist and flowing with Taoist energy, exuding an extremely alluring aura of opportunity.

But the wide-open palace gate seemed to have transformed into a gaping maw that devoured everything, and no one dared to cross that line.

Just as this deathly silence was about to completely solidify and become eternal.

"Senior brother...slow down...slow down..."

A furious yet somewhat disheveled shout echoed from the depths of the chaotic airflow, shattering the chilling silence.

Everyone turned to look.

Amidst the churning of chaotic air, two figures stumbled and staggered out from within.

The leader was sallow and emaciated, wearing a tattered Taoist robe, with disheveled hair, holding a withered tree branch in his hand. His aura was weak, yet there was a faint golden light flowing around him. He was none other than the Western Guide Taoist.

Following behind was a thin, gaunt man with a sorrowful face, wearing a patched gray robe and holding a string of dim prayer beads. His breath was even weaker; it was none other than the Daoist Zhunti.

The two looked disheveled, their Taoist robes torn, their auras disordered, as if they had just experienced a life-or-death escape, and even the protective immortal light around them was as dim as a candle in the wind.

They rushed along, thinking they were already too late, and that the area in front of Zixiao Palace was probably already overcrowded, and that they might not even be able to squeeze through the palace gates.

But to my utter surprise...

He rushed closer and looked up.

The palace gates are wide open!

The prayer cushions are on display!

Three thousand worldly travelers gathered!

But... not a single person stepped into the palace gates?!

Everyone stood outside like clay or wooden sculptures, their gazes meeting, their breaths frozen, the atmosphere eerily unsettling.

Jieyin and Zhunti suddenly froze in mid-air.

The two looked at each other and saw disbelief and astonishment in each other's eyes.

"What...what's going on?"

Zhunti's thin face twitched, his voice hoarse, filled with deep doubt and unease.

Jieyin's eyes flashed, quickly scanning the entire room.

The three immortals stood silently, their auras as deep and profound as the sea.

Emperor Jun and Taiyi hovered, the true fire of the sun and the Daoist rhyme of the Chaos Bell remaining hidden.

Nuwa and Fuxi stand sideways, serene and inactive.

Yuanzi of Hongyun Town paused, and the Kunpeng hovered in the air...

All the top experts stopped outside the palace gates.

Their gazes, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, all fell in the same direction.

Jieyin followed the gaze of the crowd.

The closest point to the palace gate is beside the Three Pure Ones.

A figure in a black robe stood quietly with eyes closed, black hair hanging down, and a calm and expressionless face.

He showed no aura whatsoever, appearing as if he were an ordinary mortal.

But it was this figure, like a pillar stabilizing the sea, or a bottomless abyss, that forcefully suppressed the surging greed and restlessness of the three thousand mortals!

The guide's pupils constricted suddenly!

He was a Western being, and although his origins were not as outstanding as those of the Three Pure Ones or Emperor Jun, his sharp mind and profound scheming were unmatched in the primordial world.

He saw through it at a glance.

This person arrived before everyone else.

It stands still as an abyss, its depths unfathomable.

Even the Three Pure Ones stopped in their tracks, and Emperor Jun and Taiyi were suspended in mid-air...

His cultivation level... has probably already surpassed the Great Luo realm!

"Senior brother..."

Zhunti also sensed something amiss, and spoke in a low voice, his tone trembling almost imperceptibly:

"Who is that person? Why... does no one dare to enter?"

Jieyin slowly shook his head, his expression solemn:

"I don't know."

"But this person... is no ordinary person."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the six quietly arranged prayer cushions, a deep greed flashing in his eyes, which he forcibly suppressed:

"Let's wait and see."

Upon hearing this, Zhunti, though unwilling, could only suppress his resentment.

The two people hung on the edge of the crowd, standing silently and watching, just like everyone else.

Deathly silence descended once more.

But this time, it was quietly disrupted by the arrival of Jieyin and Zhunti.

Like a pebble thrown into a still lake, it doesn't create towering waves, but rather ripples outwards.

A low murmur began to ripple through the crowd.

"The two Westerners... they've come too?"

"Looking so disheveled, he must have suffered some misfortune on the way..."

"They were sensible enough not to make any rash moves."

"Even they don't dare to go in... this prayer mat is probably too hot to handle..."

The murmurs, like the buzzing of mosquitoes and flies, quietly spread through the crowd.

Yet still, no one dared to take a single step forward.

All eyes, whether intentionally or unintentionally, remained fixed on the figure in the black robe.

It's as if they're waiting.

Wait for him... to go first.

Or... leave.

Kong Xuan kept his eyes closed.

He seemed oblivious to everything around him.

His mind was calm and still, like a deep pool in an ancient well.

He naturally sensed the arrival of Jieyin and Zhunti.

Their disheveled appearance, their gleaming eyes, their hidden greed and scheming... all were laid bare under the illumination of his divine sense.

"Two people from the West..."

Kong Xuan murmured to himself, but a faint, almost imperceptible smile curved his lips.

The ancestor of Buddhism in later generations, a great enemy of Taoism, and the mastermind behind countless calamities.

Now, they are nothing more than two wretched ants, too ashamed to even step into the gates of Zixiao Palace...

That's...interesting.

He remained motionless.

Time continues to flow.

The purple Taoist aura flowing from inside the palace gates grew increasingly intense.

The Taoist aura emanating from those six futons became increasingly alluring.

at last.

Someone... couldn't hold back any longer.