Chapter 152: Chapter 123: The News Brought by the Great Sage Mu Yuan, Li Changxiao's Opportunity
"Mu Yuan Great Sage?" Yang Ji was taken aback, then cried out in surprise, having seen the information displayed on the giant hand.
"Haha, young friend, we meet again." With a flash of radiance in the sky, a new figure appeared before everyone—a spirited elder with the bearing of an immortal, emitting an extremely intense immortal presence, his robes enshrouded in the essence of Dao.
"Great Sage, thank goodness you\'ve appeared in time, otherwise, this demon would have escaped." Yang Ji bowed in greeting, smiling and breathing a sigh of relief.
"A mere Demon Monarch, it couldn\'t have escaped far." Mu Yuan Great Sage glanced at the Heavenly Demon squirming in his palm, a slight smile on his face, unconcerned.
"A world within the palm, a human Mahayana? My lord, please spare my life!" The effeminate youth, finding no escape, cried out in terror, continuously begging for mercy.
Mu Yuan Great Sage looked on dispassionately, his fingers slowly closing in.
"Elder, please show mercy!" Suddenly, Yang Ji and Buddha Child called out at the same time.
"Hmm? What\'s the matter?" Seeing their serious expressions, Mu Yuan Great Sage couldn\'t help but feel puzzled.
"Hehe! Elder, this demon was extremely arrogant just now. Just crush it half to death and hand it over to me for the kill, so its blood doesn\'t stain the Great Sage\'s hands," Buddha Child stepped forward, licking his lips as he spoke.
Yang Ji gave him a stare and laughed, "Elder, just crush this demon half to death and hand it over to me for the kill."
"Oh? Is this demon useful to you?" Mu Yuan Great Sage looked at them with curiosity, and then laughed.
"It does have some uses," Yang Ji said.
"If that\'s the case, I\'ll give it to you." Mu Yuan Great Sage smiled, his fingers closed in, squeezing it half to death, then handed it over to Yang Ji.
Yang Ji joyfully accepted it and took it into the Mount Sea World.
The next moment, Mu Yuan Great Sage looked into the depths of The Rift World and suddenly extended his giant hand, crushing the fortress of the Heavenly Demons and taking all the lesser demons, greater demons, Demon Generals, and Demon Kings into the palm of his hand.
With a gentle squeeze, cries of agony filled his palm immediately.
"Since the Heavenly Demons are useful to you, here, have these as well." Mu Yuan Great Sage squeezed all the Heavenly Demons into a mass and passed them to Yang Ji again.
"Thank you, Great Sage!" Yang Ji exclaimed in joy, bringing them all into the Mount Sea World.
"Master!" Buddha Child, having missed out on any benefits, now looked over with a pitiful and resentful gaze.
"I\'m conducting experiments, and the Heavenly Demons are useful to me for now. I can\'t give them to you yet. When we return, I\'ll take you to the Sect\'s Training Ground of the Heavenly Demons to hunt them. Then, you can eat your fill," Yang Ji said to him.
"Great! Then you can\'t compete with me, Master," Buddha Child said, licking his lips.
"As long as you can kill them, they\'re all yours," Yang Ji laughed.
"By the way, Great Sage, what brought you to the Endless Sea?" he asked, turning his gaze back to Mu Yuan Great Sage.
"I was purging the Heavenly Demons. The Northern Abyss Sea, the Heavenly Burial Sea, the Heavenly Ocean... all the way to the Nan Ming Ocean, I\'ve killed all the Heavenly Demons hiding in over a hundred seas. When I first arrived at the Endless Sea, I sensed your aura from tens of thousands of miles away, so I rushed over."
As Mu Yuan Great Sage spoke, his expression became grave, "I\'ve slain over a hundred Demon Emperors and uncovered a shocking secret."
He continued with a telepathic message, "The Heavenly Demons are secretly plotting against your Taichu World, and it all starts with the Taichu Divine Tree our Sect lost."
"The Taichu Divine Tree was born in the Taichu World. Possessing the Taichu Divine Tree in the Taichu World when undergoing Heavenly Tribulation would greatly weaken the tribulations."
"And because the Taichu Divine Tree is not a mere imitation of other World-Stabilizing Treasures, but a genuine branch of the Taichu Divine Tree itself, the weakening effect on the tribulations is even more pronounced, thus driving the Heavenly Demons into frenzy."
"The Heavenly Demons fear the tribulations more than other races. With the Taichu Divine Tree, their success rate in undergoing tribulations would greatly increase, and more Demon Gods and even Demon Lords would be born."
"They have covertly undergone tribulation in the Taichu World to accumulate strength. Now, as their power grows, so does their ambition. They are no longer content with hiding; they\'re eyeing the whole world, aiming to occupy the Taichu World and make it their stronghold."
"Over these past two hundred and twenty thousand years, the Heavenly Demons have set up many covert schemes, infiltrating the major Sects and territories. There are their people in both Dao Sects and Demon Sects."
"What the Heavenly Demons want to do is seize the positions of Sect Masters within the Dao and Demon Sects. As long as they control the Sect-Stabilizing Immortal Artifacts, the Dao and Demon Sects will collapse from within, and once the grand army of the Heavenly Demons pours in, the Taichu World will instantly turn into a Hell Arena."
"The Heavenly Demons dare to covet the Taichu World?" Yang Ji felt an immense shock within himself. How vast was one world, filled with numerous masters, yet the Heavenly Demons had such audacious thoughts.
However, considering his encounters with the Heavenly Demons and thinking of Liu Xiaosheng, it seemed that the Heavenly Demons truly had begun to implement their plans in secret.
"Thank you for informing us, Great Sage. This news is incredibly important for the Taichu World," Yang Ji said seriously, bowing with clasped hands.
"Hmm, you can return and inform the higher-ups in the Sect. As for the Heavenly Demons in the Endless Sea, you needn\'t worry. I will kill them all, taking the karma on myself. The Heavenly Demons won\'t target the smaller factions in this sea area," Mu Yuan Great Sage said.
Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, spoke, his gaze lightly sweeping over Bai Mei, the Supreme, and Li Changxiao, when suddenly, his eyes paused briefly on Li Changxiao.
Seeing this, Yang Ji quickly introduced with a smile, "Supreme, senior brother. This is Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, an exceedingly powerful Red Dust Immortal."
"What? Red Dust Immortal? The kind that can ascend to the Immortal Realm at any time?" Bai Mei, the Supreme\'s heart, shook, and Li Changxiao was also greatly surprised.
They had originally thought that the person before them might be a Mahayana cultivator, but who could have imagined he was a Red Dust Immortal, even more fearsome than a Tribulation Immortal?
Even the common Mahayana cultivators might find it difficult to behold such a noble presence, let alone have the chance to witness the true elegance of an Immortal.
Both of them composed themselves and promptly bowed respectfully to Mu Yuan, the Great Sage: "We have seen the elder!"
"No need for such formality." Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, responded with a slight smile, and with a gentle wave of his hand, a soft power lifted them up.
Yang Ji continued with a smile, "Great Sage, this is the Sect\'s ancestor Bai Mei from my Canglan Sect, and this is my senior brother Li Changxiao. My senior brother is of exceptional understanding and strong will, able to break through heaven and earth, and compete with the genius of the world.
Like me, he is also a disciple of the Wuji Dao Sect and has passed the Dao Sect\'s three assessments, earning the right to stay in the Dao Sect forever."
"Not bad!" Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, looked at Li Changxiao and uttered two words indifferently, then suddenly smiled, "I wonder, young friend, do you believe in the destiny of a first meeting? I find your temperament pleasing and am therefore willing to take you as a disciple. Would you like to accept me as your master?"
"..."
"What? This Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, said learning his Immortal Technique would bring about the calamity of the Heavenly Demons, yet what is this now? Sect Master, it seems that back then, Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, just wasn\'t impressed with you," the Buddha Child couldn\'t help muttering telepathically.
Hearing Mu Yuan, the Great Sage\'s words, Yang Ji was also slightly startled.
Similarly, Bai Mei, the Supreme, and Li Changxiao were also stunned; a Red Dust Immortal actually wanted to take him as a disciple?
"Young friend, are you willing?" Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, asked once again.
A divine chance encounter; it was truly a divine chance encounter. If a Red Dust Immortal was taking a disciple, anyone would be ecstatic and bow down immediately.
Bai Mei, the Supreme\'s, body trembled lightly with excitement for his disciple\'s fortune but stood aside without saying much.
After a moment of shock, Li Changxiao slowly raised his head. His face did not show the surprise others might have expected, but instead, he expressed great seriousness, bowing and saying, "Elder, actually my talents aren\'t as good as my junior brother has described. May I ask what it is about me that you have taken an interest in?"
"It\'s exactly this aspect of you that I am impressed with," Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, said with a meaningful smile.
Li Changxiao\'s expression paused, looking at Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, he took a deep breath, then suddenly knelt down and worshipped, "Your disciple pays respects to Master!"
"Ha ha, disciple, please rise!" The smile on Mu Yuan, the Great Sage\'s face became even brighter as he exerted a soft power to lift Li Changxiao up.
"Congratulations to the Great Sage for receiving a good disciple! Congratulations, senior brother, for having a great master!" Yang Ji was sincerely happy for his senior brother Li Changxiao\'s fortune.
"My my! Sect Master, your senior brother is soaring to the skies now. He has taken a Red Dust Immortal as his master, and not just any Red Dust Immortal but a former Sect Master of the Taiyuan Dao Sect. He holds the entire legacy of Immortal Techniques and secrets in his hands; how profound is that foundation?
With such a powerful master at his back, how can your senior brother fail to become a true inheritor? Even the title of \'Daozi\' is possible for him. After all, Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, once was a vastly powerful Daozi to become the Sect Master of the Dao Sect.
Sect Master, your senior brother has truly taken off, his foundation suddenly surpassing yours," Buddha Child said enviously through telepathy.
"This is the senior brother\'s fortune; envy won\'t get it," Yang Ji said with emotion.
"Young friend, it seems you are my benefactor; to think that I would gain a disciple on this trip," Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, spoke to Yang Ji.
"Ha ha, the affinity between the Great Sage and my senior brother is predestined; you are too polite," Yang Ji laughed.
"Disciple, as your master, I don\'t have a worthy gift for our meeting, but take this Superior Dao Artifact, the Da Xianshi," Mu Yuan, the Great Sage said, pulling out a stone shimmering with Immortal Light with a reverse swipe of his hand.
"A Superior Dao Artifact? Master, this...is too precious," said Li Changxiao, moved but not immediately taking it.
"Since I have taken you as a disciple, let\'s not discuss its value; this is a token of my affection," Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, said sincerely.
"...Thank you, Master, for your generous love!" Li Changxiao hesitated for a moment, then bowed and slowly accepted the Da Xianshi.
"A Superior Dao Artifact!" Bai Mei, the Supreme acknowledged that his disciple had now moved to another level, his heart filled with endless comfort and emotion.
"My my, Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, really treats your senior brother as one of his own, that Da Xianshi, he said he would give, and he did. Sect Master, it seems that Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, truly wasn\'t impressed with you back then," Buddha Child said enviously through telepathy.
Yang Ji was also envious; after all, it was a Superior Dao Artifact, something he had coveted and now Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, had casually given away.
But what comforted him was that the recipient was, after all, his own senior brother. If it had been someone else, Yang Ji would have indeed shed tears.
"Disciple, take this Jade Talisman; with it, I can sense your location. Since you have earned the right to stay in the Dao Sect forever, you can manage your time freely. Once I have slain every Heavenly Demon in the Endless Sea, I will take you to travel across the Myriad Realms for cultivation, to broaden your horizons," Mu Yuan, the Great Sage, said while handing over a Jade Talisman.
"Thank you, Master!" Li Changxiao reached out and received it.
"Young friend, I shall take my leave now." Mu Yuan, the Great Sage\'s gaze swept over Yang Ji, and he nodded towards Bai Mei, the Supreme before tearing the space and leaving The Rift World.
"Chang Xiao, Xiao Ji, let\'s go," Bai Mei, the Supreme led the way with Yang Ji and Li Changxiao closely following, flying out of The Rift World together.