Fuxi's gaze swept across the hall, lingering over the empty seats before finally settling on Bai Ze, who was idly holding a feather fan.
"Bai Ze, why exactly did you return before the others?"
His gaze carried a heavy hint of interrogation; he found it difficult to grasp why a strategist of Bai Ze's caliber would flee the battlefield ahead of everyone else.
Since Fuxi had stayed behind to oversee the Yao Race's main camp and had not personally ventured to the Three Immortals Island, he remained largely unaware of the specific, terrifying details of the engagement.
As the words left his lips, the other surviving Yao members also cast their gazes over. Some eyes were clouded with open dissatisfaction. While they had been locked in a bitter, bloody struggle for their lives, Bai Ze had turned and run without a single backward glance—an act that felt like the sting of betrayal.
Bai Ze continued to wave his feather fan, his expression as serene as a still pond. He showed not a single flicker of guilt; on the contrary, he acted as if his retreat were the only logical conclusion.
"I advised you long ago: do not oppose the Three Crows. I told you to befriend them. None of you chose to listen. What is with those looks? Do you truly believe I betrayed you?"
"We held a genuine opportunity to befriend the Three Crows—a chance to perhaps even bring them into the fold of the Yao Race. But now, that sole Opportunity has been utterly incinerated by your collective actions."
"And now you seek to blame me? I haven't even begun to blame you for your stupidity!"
Bai Ze scolded them without mercy, the tip of his feather fan pointing at each of them in turn as he spoke.
From the very beginning, he had recognized the transcendent potential of the Three Crows and desired to pull them into the Yao hierarchy, but his efforts had been consistently sabotaged by his own teammates.
He knew that while Nuwa was the nominal leader of the Yao Race, she occasionally lacked the necessary assertiveness and was too easily influenced by the shifting tides of opinion. Being in the center of such a chaotic storm, it was inevitable for her to lose her way and make catastrophic judgments.
"Calm down, let us all calm down," Ji Meng said, his tone placating. He was one of the few who held great faith in Bai Ze's vision.
If they could have convinced the Three Crows to join the Yao Race, the Wu Race would have been reduced to a footnote! Along with their current host of Great Yao, they could have simply embarked on a wholesale slaughter of the Witches.
However, there were still those who harbored deep resentment. Gui Che snorted coldly, his voice dripping with dismissal. "You make it sound so simple, but we were talking about an Innate Supreme Treasure!"
"Do you truly grasp the significance of an Innate Supreme Treasure? If we had successfully obtained it, perhaps we would no longer have to live in fear of the Wu Race."
"The Three Crows are powerful, yes, but I do not believe their importance outweighs that of a Supreme Treasure."
"Furthermore, you have no proof the Three Crows would have ever joined us. It was all a gamble."
Gui Che spread his hands, asserting that the entire situation was a matter of uncertainty. He felt Bai Ze's thinking was far too idealistic; if the Crows could have been convinced, it should have happened at the start—why would they wait until after the blood was spilled?
He kept his tone somewhat restrained, leaving Bai Ze a modicum of Face.
Bai Ze glanced at Gui Che and said, "In this world, one must be willing to try every avenue. There was a genuine chance once, but now it is gone forever."
"Hmph! Why must you boost the Golden Crows' prestige while systematically undermining our own morale? Is the fate of our Yao Race truly to be controlled by outsiders?"
"Are we truly so inferior?" Gui Che stood up, his Aura surging upward like a vibrant rainbow as the shadowy phantom of nine heads rose behind him.
Bai Ze merely spread his hands and chose not to answer; some truths were simply too damaging to a man's self-esteem to state clearly.
Gui Che was a sensitive man, and sensing the silent contempt radiating from Bai Ze, he was immediately consumed by rage.
Seeing that the room was on the verge of a physical argument, Nuwa finally broke her silence. "Let this matter end here. Although we failed to befriend the Three Crows, there is no blood feud between us yet; the situation can still be salvaged."
"For now, focus your efforts on locating Kunpeng. Also, we must maintain a high guard against a sudden attack from the Wu Race."
"What our Yao Race needs most right now is time."
She spoke with a hint of helplessness. Since the founding of the Yao Race, she had encountered nothing but a series of relentless setbacks.
To this day, she still did not fully grasp Ling Xiao's true purpose when he had previously hinted for Bai Ze to find her.
It was a question she yearned to ask Ling Xiao in person, but a suitable Opportunity had never presented itself.
The mystery remained like a thorn in her heart, one that she knew would not give her peace until it was removed.
The gathered Yao listened to her words and nodded in agreement. They understood exactly what she meant by the need for time.
Nuwa was a Disciple of the Dao Ancestor—a being destined to become a Saint. The moment she achieved that rank, the Twelve Ancestral Witches would be reduced to mere ants, and the entire Wu Race would be like a handful of dust that she could scatter with a single breath.
This was the Yao Race's ultimate hope and their only real reliance!
Even if they were physically no match for the Witches today, they knew that one day, the hierarchy of the world would be inverted.
Following the meeting, the Yao powerhouses split up to execute their duties.
The hunt for Kunpeng began, and the borders were reinforced against the Witches... Not long after, the accounts of the events on the Three Immortals Island began to ripple through the Honghuang World.
The news that three immortal islands had emerged from the fragments of the world, containing countless Opportunities and Heaven and Earth Treasures, spread like wildfire. The fact that more than half of the world's powerhouses had rushed there only to be humbled was a shock to the system of every living being.
Furthermore, the birth of an Innate Supreme Treasure had turned the island into a slaughterhouse.
Even those who had not witnessed the carnage could easily imagine the sheer intensity of the battle.
What no one expected was the outcome. They had envisioned a multi-party struggle where various powers rose and fell in a chaotic cycle, but it had turned into a one-sided domination.
Despite the intervention of the Yao Race, the Ancestral Witches, the Sanqing, the Two Sages of the West, the Heads of the Immortals, and Minghe, they had all been swept away by the Three Crows of the Sun Star.
Specifically, the Golden Crow named Ling Xiao had fought a decisive battle at the peak of the East Sea, his slaughter so vast that the waters had changed color and the sea ran red with blood.
In the end, he stood alone as the master of the three islands and the owner of the Innate Supreme Treasure.
It was a classic case of remaining silent until he startled the world with a single, magnificent cry.
From that day forward, the name of the Three Crows resounded through every corner of the Honghuang World.
Previously, the names on everyone's lips were the Sanqing. The Three Crows were usually mentioned only as a footnote—a curious after-thought when discussing the Dao Ancestor's disciples. No one held a concrete concept of their true strength.
Now, they understood that the Three Crows stood in a league of their own.
Their combat power was a transcendent force, one that no longer needed to be compared to any other being.
"The Sanqing, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti are the six Disciples of the Dao Ancestor—beings handpicked by the heavens and destined for Sainthood. If the Three Crows could defeat the six of them, does that not mean they also possess the qualification to become Saints?"
Some living beings voiced this theory, and to many, it seemed well-reasoned.
However, other powerhouses argued that becoming a Saint relied on Great Opportunity and Great Luck, not merely raw combat power. Having a strong fist did not guarantee a long path.
They pointed to the Demon Ancestor Rahu, who was undeniably stronger than the Dao Ancestor in terms of pure destruction, yet he had still met a bitter end.
There were also those who sighed for the future of the Three Crows. They had offended all six Disciples of the Dao Ancestor—six future Saints—all at once.
They debated whether this was an act of supreme courage or supreme stupidity.
Offending even one future Saint would be enough to keep most cultivators from ever finding peace again.
But the Three Crows had offended six. That kind of pressure would likely crush any other soul.
The world deeply understood the terrifying truth: a Saint and those below a Saint were two fundamentally different concepts of existence.
Those who had been to the Zixiao Palace understood best that a Saint was invincible. Even if all three thousand listeners of the Palace attacked as one, they would be unmade by a single glance from Hongjun.
While the Honghuang World was in a state of uproar...
On the Three Immortals Island, Ling Xiao's group, along with Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun, concluded their discussion of the Dao. They took a final tour of the island's ethereal scenery before the time came to part ways.
Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun had gained immensely from this trip; aside from the Three Crows themselves, they had surely walked away with the most spoils.
Nearly everyone else who had set foot on the islands had either died or been forced to flee, leaving no time for scavenging.
"Daoist Friends of the Three Crows, we shall take our leave." Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun waved from atop their auspicious clouds and drifted toward the horizon.
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