Xuanyuan Qinghou was like this.
Most of the other Nine Holy Sons, including Xuanyuan Hao, were the same. Their expressions grew increasingly haughty, their eyes increasingly wild and unrestrained, their confidence increasingly intense. Watching the scene unfolding before them was like watching ants fight—they didn't even deign to take it seriously.
However.
Among the Nine Holy Sons, there was one exception.
And she was the only woman among the Nine Holy Sons.
It was Xuanyuan Tong.
Her clear, beautiful face did not display the transcendent confidence or ethereal composure shown by the other Holy Sons.
On the contrary.
Xuanyuan Tong's expression held more confusion, bewilderment, and hesitation.
She seemed to have lost herself in this Calamity, sinking deeper and deeper, the deeper she sank, the more lost and hesitant she became.
Yes.
She was lost.
She had been lost ever since entering this Ancient Wasteland Nine Palaces.
It wasn't that she didn't know that the various Ancestors present were scheming for the Spiritual Awareness and Demonic Thoughts on You Di. The Original Sin Patriarchs were, the Great Dao Patriarchs were, the Xuantian Nine Immortals were, including the Heavenly Dao, even the Sacred Ground—all of them were, under the noble pretext of better protecting the Great Dao.
As for whether scheming for the Spiritual Awareness and Demonic Thoughts on You Di was truly to seize them for themselves or genuinely to protect the Great Dao.
Xuanyuan Tong didn't know, and she didn't want to know.
What truly confused her was... this Great Dao...
To be precise, this Sage Path—was it still worth protecting?
Earlier.
Da Xing the Mad Monk had said that the true meaning of this Calamity was not to slaughter the Great Dao, but to save it. What was to be slaughtered were only the three thousand origins of the Great Dao, for they were the root cause, the very source of this Great Dao's Original Sin.
Xuanyuan Tong didn't know whether Da Xing the Mad Monk's words were true or false.
But one thing she was clear about: the so-called three thousand great daos were already riddled with holes, rotten beyond repair. The Immortal Dao, the Heavenly Dao, and the Sage Path, in their struggle to become the Head of the Great Dao and dominate Heaven and Earth, had always been locked in open and covert strife. Even now, it remained so, and was growing increasingly intense.
Because the Heavenly Dao, the Immortal Dao, and the Sage Path all wanted to use this Calamity to ascend to the Head of the Great Dao and thus dominate Heaven and Earth.
Although Xuanyuan Tong was within the Sacred Ground and held the noble status of one of its Nine Holy Sons, and her heart belonged to the Sage Path, this Sage Path was not the one she envisioned in her mind.
The Sage Path in her mind should be sacred and solemn. Even if it did not take compassion as its core or the salvation of all living beings as its duty, at the very least, it should protect this Great Dao's Heaven and Earth and its myriad beings.
Not for the sake of ascending to the Head of the Great Dao or dominating Heaven and Earth, disregarding this Great Dao's Heaven and Earth and its myriad beings.
What difference was there between such a Sage Path and those heretical demonic paths?
Xuanyuan Tong was lost.
She didn't know if such a Sage Path was one she should protect.
At this moment, Xuanyuan Tong very, very much wanted to see her master, Xuanyuan Wuji. She hoped her master would tell her what was right and what was wrong, and help her find her true self amidst this confusion.
Unfortunately.
Xuanyuan Wuji had still not appeared.
Xuanyuan Tong even doubted whether her master was here at all, whether he was paying attention to this Calamity.
If he was, why had he not shown himself until now?
Could it be that her master was just standing by, watching as the three thousand great daos fought for the Head of the Great Dao, disregarding the lives of the Great Dao's beings?
Or did her master also believe the Sacred Ground should use this Calamity to ascend to the Head of the Great Dao and dominate this Heaven and Earth?
She didn't know.
Xuanyuan Tong truly didn't know.
Just then, an old man's sighing voice echoed in her mind: "Tong'er, this old man hopes you can pull yourself together and stop thinking about all that messy talk."
The old man was Patriarch Xunfeng, a Sacred Ground Elder and one of the few Half-Sages among its many Elders.
He knew Xuanyuan Tong was lost, and he knew why she was lost. Seeing Xuanyuan Tong's current despondent appearance, Patriarch Xunfeng couldn't help but advise: "What the truth of this Calamity is, what its meaning is—no one knows. Perhaps it truly is as Da Xing the Mad Monk said, or perhaps not."
"Precisely because no one knows the truth and meaning of this Calamity, we dare not gamble. Our Sacred Ground simply cannot afford to lose. The same goes for the Heavenly Dao, the Immortal Dao, and the other three thousand great daos."
"Similarly, precisely because no one knows the truth and meaning of this Calamity, we have no choice but to fight for the Head of the Great Dao, to fight for the chance to dominate Heaven and Earth."
"If our Sacred Ground does not fight, the Immortal Dao and Heavenly Dao will."
"And in the end, whether the Heavenly Dao continues to dominate Heaven and Earth or the Immortal Dao ascends to the Head of the Great Dao, it poses an immense threat to our Sage Path, even threatening the Sacred Ground's very survival."
"You should understand: after the Sage Path fell in the Ancient Wasteland era, it suffered constant suppression from the Heavenly Dao. After the Ancient Wasteland, it faced suppression from the Immortal Dao, forcing our Sacred Ground to dwell in a remote corner, constantly struggling on the edge of survival, where development and growth were but a distant hope."
"If, after this Calamity, either the Heavenly Dao or the Immortal Dao ascends to the Head of the Great Dao, it won't just be suppression for our Sacred Ground—they will likely directly slaughter our Sacred Ground to eliminate future troubles, preventing us from making a comeback and scheming for the Head of the Great Dao again."
"This Calamity concerns the very survival of our Sacred Ground. We can only grit our teeth and fight for the Head of the Great Dao."
"Moreover, only when the Sage Path becomes the Head of the Great Dao and dominates Heaven and Earth will we have the opportunity to better protect this Heaven and Earth's Great Dao and its myriad beings."
"Only when the Sage Path becomes the Head of the Great Dao can it gradually transform into the Sage Path you envision in your mind."
"Although the Sage Path is no longer the one you envision, it is still worth protecting. And you should also believe that the Sage Path will one day become the sacred Great Dao of your heart."
"You also need not wait for your master. If he wanted to appear, he would have long since done so...
If he does not appear now, I'm afraid he never will."
Patriarch Xunfeng spoke very sincerely, and what he said was also the truth.
Xuanyuan Tong wasn't unaware. On the contrary, she understood very well the significance of this Calamity for the Sacred Ground. It was precisely because she understood that she had become lost.
She did not respond, but silently closed her eyes.
"Interesting..." Not far away.
Xuanyuan Qinghou, the leader of the Nine Holy Sons, stood with his arms crossed, a faint, shallow smile hanging at the corner of his mouth as he gazed intently at the scene unfolding before him. He looked at the Demon Emperor Blood River blocking Xuanyang and Green Robe, then at the Peacock Great Emperor blocking the Buddhist Eight Sects, then at the Xuanyang Imperial King, Fusheng Dijun, and Changfeng Great Emperor blocking the Xuantian Immortal Path. The smile at the corner of his mouth grew increasingly pronounced.
"It's getting more and more interesting..." As Xuanyang, Green Robe, and the Xuantian Nine Immortals were successively blocked, the fluctuations in the void grew weaker and weaker, the commotion smaller and smaller. The previously dense, sky-filling attacks also became fewer and fewer.
"Heh!"
Xuanyuan Qinghou laughed. "It seems...
The fire is growing weaker and weaker, so weak it's about to go out. Hao Junior Brother, I'll trouble you to add another log to the fire. I want to see just how many more existences will show themselves to protect that You Di!"