Lao Tzu is Ji Gong

"So what exactly are you in the Reception Center?" Li Xiuyuan asked impatiently.

"Oh dear, look at you! How can you treat a beautiful woman like this! But you guessed right, I am indeed an artifact under the command of Jieyin, and you guessed right, I am indeed an artifact of the Daoist temple. But how do you know it's Jieyin and not some other saint?" The beautiful woman pouted and asked curiously.

“You,” Li Xiuyuan slapped down the beautiful woman’s mischievous little hand again, “From the moment you started telling the story, I noticed that you had some unusual feelings for the protagonist. You couldn’t stand anyone saying bad things about him, and you looked at him with admiration when you mentioned him. So you must be a member of the Daoist temple.”

Chapter 1069 Who are you?

"So I said you must be the one who guides, right?" Li Xiuyuan looked at the beauty in front of him and was already certain that the person in front of him was from the Guiding Dojo.

The beautiful woman chuckled and said, "I can tell you're not a member of the Western Religion, so you shouldn't go. Otherwise, don't blame me if you lose your life."

Li Xiuyuan ignored it and walked straight ahead, but the beautiful woman blocked his way, leaving him unable to move forward or backward. His expression changed drastically, and he became furious. He originally wanted to investigate who was behind this.

However, the person in front of him kept getting in his way. Even with his good temper, Li Xiuyuan was getting increasingly uncomfortable from the repeated provocations. He could only take deep breaths and tell himself not to argue with the other person.

"This... I'm asking you, are you going to give way or not?" Li Xiuyuan wanted to give it one last chance because he didn't see any signs of evil in this person. This person shouldn't have done anything heinous, so if possible, Li Xiuyuan still hoped that this matter could be resolved peacefully.

No matter what Li Xiuyuan said, the person in front of him just wouldn't move aside.

Li Xiuyuan was furious. Since the soft approach wasn't working, he had no choice but to resort to force.

Li Xiuyuan slightly raised his hand and sent out a true word. The move was only intended to restrain the opponent, not to kill him. Although he was Jieyin's subordinate, he sensed that the other party might have some difficulties. But no matter what the difficulties were, he had to find out the truth today. Even if a saint himself came to block his way, he would have to fight.

"You're really underestimating me. What do you take me for?" It was no use. Li Xiuyuan's confident move was easily countered by the person in front of him, who wasn't even hurt.

"Interesting. It seems you're no ordinary person. Well then, I'll have to show you my true skills. Take this move and see what happens: Arhat's Heaven-Turning Seal." Instantly, a huge golden palm print flew towards the beautiful woman.

Li Xiuyuan did not use his magic weapon because he knew that once he used it, it would no longer be a friendly spar, but a one-sided crushing defeat.

"That move was quite skillful, but I'm not one to be trifled with either. Disperse."

The Taoist in front of him transformed into a cloud, and Li Xiuyuan's Arhat Heaven-Turning Seal passed right through it, missing its target. It was incredibly strange. Since the beginning of time, there have only been a handful of immortals whose true form is a cloud. The most famous of them all is the Red Cloud Ancestor, a friend of Zhen Yuanzi, the ancestor of earth immortals. However, Red Cloud had already been annihilated by Kunpeng. But apart from Red Cloud, Li Xiuyuan was certain that no immortal whose true form is a cloud could dodge his attack.

"Are you Hongyun?" Unable to figure it out, and not wanting to think about it anymore, he asked directly.

"Hongyun? That name sounds so familiar. My head is throbbing... Ah... Zhen Yuanzi, who is Zhen Yuanzi? What do you mean by Hongyun? And who is Zhen Yuanzi? Why is this person popping into my head?" The Taoist priest's head throbbed at the mere mention of Hongyun's name. Could he really be Hongyun? But that was impossible! Hongyun's soul had already vanished!

“Zhen…Zhen Yuanzi!” Li Xiuyuan’s lips twitched. He had guessed wrong. It turned out that he was not an artifact of the Receiving Daoist Temple.

"As expected of the legendary best buddies. Although I don't know who you are, you're definitely connected to Hongyun. As for who Hongyun is and who Zhen Yuanzi is, I don't have time to tell you right now. If you want to know the answers, go find them yourself! In short, get out of my way!"

Li Xiuyuan had no time to waste with him; all she wanted to do was get to the tribe as quickly as possible to see what had happened.

Just as Li Xiuyuan was about to continue moving, a voice came from behind him: "Stop right there. Explain yourself before you go."

The man who resembled Hongyun was still pondering the connection between those two names and himself, but the more he thought about it, the more his head ached and he became more agitated. He decided to stop thinking about it and subdue the person in front of him before questioning him. He had forgotten the mission that had sent him here; all he wanted to know was the result and to resolve the doubts in his heart!

"Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Gourd, it seems you really do have some connection with Hongyun. So what? You blocked my path just now, and I already spared your life. Now you're still being unreasonable. You're playing with fire." He was truly angry. He had only been somewhat angry before, but now Li Xiuyuan was completely enraged. Even though the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Gourd was a famous ancient treasure that Li Xiuyuan couldn't underestimate, it couldn't compare to Li Xiuyuan's raging fury.

"The Divine Demon Sword!" Although he hadn't yet unleashed the God-Slaying Spear, there weren't many who could make him wield the Divine Demon Sword and fight against him, which showed that the person in front of him had at least reached the Great Luo realm.

After only a few seconds of stalemate, their magical weapons had already clashed more than ten times.

Not simple, really not simple. To be able to fight Li Xiuyuan dozens of times without being defeated shows that his strength is average.

The Taoist priest, who appeared to be Hongyun, had a flushed face. Although he had not lost after exchanging dozens of blows, he had suffered considerable internal injuries. In contrast, Li Xiuyuan was only slightly out of breath and was not injured.

Seeing that the Taoist priest in front of him was injured, Li Xiuyuan gave him a meaningful look and left.

"You...you don't go...you haven't told me yet, you haven't told me yet!" Seeing Li Xiuyuan leave, the injuries in his body could no longer be suppressed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Fellow Daoist, I'm not entirely sure either, but I'll keep this in mind. Perhaps we'll meet again someday!" Li Xiuyuan's voice came from afar, and he was already several miles away.

"Who am I? Hongyun? That's a familiar name. Is that my name? And who is Zhen Yuanzi? Ahhhhh... Can anyone tell me? Uh... My mission was to develop followers for the leader and prevent some people with bad intentions from going to the Holy Land. My mission failed, so I should go back and report!" He was still trying to figure out who he was when suddenly a thought seemed to control him. Helpless, he could only follow the instructions of the voice in his mind and return to the guide's side.

Chapter 1070 Turning Swords into Plowshares

Li Xiuyuan was very puzzled, but now was not the time to think about it. He finally arrived at the tribe after half an hour.

Upon arriving at the tribe, he saw corpses everywhere. The remaining people had yellow faces and were emaciated. Although he had reached a level where he no longer cared much about life and death, they were still his own people. Li Xiuyuan's eyes were a little moist as he descended from the sky and stood on the ground.

An old man saw Li Xiuyuan descend from the sky and knew he must be a deity. He stepped forward and asked, "Master, are you here to preach?"

"Giving lectures? You mean giving lectures? Did a bald man give lectures to you?" Upon hearing "giving lectures," Li Xiuyuan's first reaction was to invite someone to guide him.

"Is he a master? Are you with that master?" As soon as the old man said that there was a master, Li Xiuyuan suddenly sensed a familiar yet unfamiliar aura in the distance.

Li Xiuyuan asked the villagers a question and then disappeared. He was going to investigate. "Who is it? Who is playing tricks on me? Come out here!" When he arrived at the place where he had sensed the unusual aura, he found that the aura had disappeared. But he had sensed it, and he couldn't be wrong. That meant that the mysterious person was still there.

Just as Li Xiuyuan was asking the question, that aura reappeared, not far ahead, as if it was deliberately trying to lure him in.

"Damn it, you're playing me for a fool." Finally, Li Xiuyuan was completely enraged and unleashed his strongest power, instantly arriving at the location of that aura. The person in front of him was very similar to Jieyin, but upon closer inspection, it was not.

"You are the guide, no, you are his alter ego. Do you know that doing this violates certain moral principles? Your Western Church is prevalent, but not now. You should understand that. So what are you doing now? A clown's trick?"

The one before me is the avatar of the Sage of Guidance.

Li Xiuyuan stared speechlessly at the figure that appeared in the void. Although he really wanted to fight it, Li Xiuyuan had no interest in fighting thin air.

Moreover, the figure in the void was invisible to everyone, and Li Xiuyuan didn't want to be treated like a fool, as that would severely damage his reputation.

Jieyin could sense Li Xiuyuan's dissatisfaction from his expression, but the certificate did not affect Jieyin. He still said slowly, "Fellow Daoist Xiuyuan, you are destined to join our sect. If you come to our Western Sect, you will be our third leader, no, not even the first leader!"

The question was not the answer, but Jieyin spoke his own words to Li Xiuyuan. Jieyin sensed the immeasurable merit in Li Xiuyuan. If all of this were used for the development of the Western Sect, then the Western Sect would surely surpass the three sects controlled by the disciples of Hongjun Patriarch in a very short time.

"Hey, don't give me that nonsense. I won't agree. Listen to me, do you think I don't know what you've been doing behind my back? Besides, you're a disciple of that old scoundrel Hongjun. Why would I help you? It's utterly ridiculous."

Li Xiuyuan and that old thief Hongjun are mortal enemies. They have fought each other for tens of thousands of years, and their skills and cultivation have changed. They are chasing each other and neither wants to fall behind. If Li Xiuyuan joins that damned Western Sect, he will no longer be himself. Wouldn't he be a generation lower than that old ancestor Hongjun for no reason?

Li Xiuyuan must be out of his mind to do something so self-destructive and altruistic!

"Since that's the case, then we have no choice but to fight. Fellow Daoist, please make your move." Jieyin was very puzzled. He had already offered the other party a huge benefit, but the other party was unmoved at all. This made Jieyin, who had seen countless people, unable to understand.

However, since persuasion failed, Jieyin stopped wasting words and went straight to the point. He knew that a fight was inevitable today.

"You've fought me? Hmph! You're not worthy of a mere clone. If it were the main body of Jieyin and Zhunti joining forces, perhaps they could fight me. You? You're not worthy!" He didn't even look at his own identity. How dare a mere clone speak so arrogantly? Before the clone of Jieyin could reply, he directly unleashed the God-Slaying Spear and instantly killed him. The speed was extremely fast, and probably not many people saw what Li Xiuyuan was doing.

"you......."

At that moment, in the main hall of the Western Paradise, the Guide, his face contorted, cried out, "Ah!"

"Senior brother, what's wrong?" Seeing Jieyin shout, Zhunti quickly asked. His senior brother had cultivated for many years and had a very high level of cultivation. He was always calm and composed and did things very steadily. For him to show such a nervous expression, the matter must be quite complicated.

"Junior brother, trouble is brewing. Prepare to inform all the members of our sect to prepare for battle." Jieyin, disregarding his own injuries from the backlash, knew that the enemy was not going to end well and hurriedly instructed his junior brother, Zhunti, to prepare for the approaching enemy.

Although Zhunti didn't know what had happened, he knew from Jieyin's reaction that something serious must have occurred. To save time, Zhunti didn't ask too many questions and hurriedly replied, "Okay! I'll go and arrange it right away!"

At this moment, Li Xiuyuan was not in a hurry to go to the Western Religion to find out what was going on. He had to first settle the suffering people of the tribe. They were innocent and were all unfortunate victims of this calamity. Li Xiuyuan was now going to rescue these unfortunate people and let them return to their former lives.

Li Xiuyuan looked around, taking in the expressions of each chieftain. "Chieftains of the tribes, I have gathered you all here today to discuss the relationship between you. You are all outstanding individuals, and you should be able to sense that something is amiss."

"What's wrong? Daoist, please explain it clearly." The one who spoke was Ha Pa, the leader of the Youxiong tribe.

"Chief Hapa, I would like you to think carefully: every time your tribes try to reconcile, do they inexplicably start fighting again? Has this ever happened?"

"Uh... if you hadn't said it, I might not have realized it, but now that you mention it, I really do have that feeling."

"That's it. All these reasons are the work of the Western religion, the very people who preach to you. You've all been bewitched. They deliberately stirred up conflict so that you would convert to their religion when you were in a state of panic," Li Xiuyuan explained to them.

Chapter 1071 The misunderstanding is resolved

"What? The Western Religion! How despicable! I never thought they would use us leaders against us! I know I have no ability to seek justice, but you must stand up for us and seek justice for those good men who died in vain!" The crowd was furious, and the leaders were very angry, but they could only ask Li Xiuyuan to help them.

"Don't worry, everyone. I'll go to the Western Sect to inquire right away. Before that, please don't take any action. You should know that the more you fight among yourselves, the more opportunities they will have to take advantage of you." With that, Li Xiuyuan disappeared from everyone's sight.

But before going to the Western Religion, Li Xiuyuan still needed to visit someone, and he thought to himself that he should quickly fly to the place he wanted to go.

That place is Wuzhuang Temple.

"So, Brother Xiuyuan, what brings you here to visit your elder brother?" The speaker was none other than Zhen Yuanzi, the ancestor of the Earth Immortals and a well-known good-natured man in the prehistoric world.

"Brother, I wouldn't come here without a reason. Let me give you a ginseng fruit to try first, otherwise I won't say anything. I'm exhausted!" He had come, but he was just teasing Zhen Yuanzi. After saying that, he half-reclined on his chair and squinted his eyes.

"Hahaha, brother, did you come here just to freeload? Uh... no, you..." Just as he was about to banter with Li Xiuyuan, Zhen Yuanzi suddenly did some calculations with his fingers, his expression becoming extremely serious.

"Xiu Yuan, could it be true? He's still alive?" Zhen Yuanzi was a peerless expert, on par with saints. Although he wasn't a saint, he was almost one. All he lacked was that one crucial opportunity—the opportunity to become a saint.

"No, I don't know if it's really him. I can only say it's a guess. Brother, do you have the guts to come with me and take a trip to confront his Western religion?"

"Gentle breeze and bright moon, prepare the ginseng fruit, I'll be right back."

With that, Li Xiuyuan and Zhen Yuanzi set off.

"Brother, what would you do if he were still alive?" Li Xiuyuan told her about his ordeal along the way.

"Hmph, what can I do? I, Zhen Yuanzi, am not one to be trifled with. Although I am not a saint yet, I will fight to the death to seize that sliver of a chance. Hongyun, wait for me, brother is coming soon." A look of determination appeared on Zhen Yuanzi's face. This was certain. Hongyun and Zhen Yuanzi had supported each other since the beginning of time, and their bond was unbreakable. He hadn't had the chance to save his friend before, but this time Zhen Yuanzi had come to his senses.

Li Xiuyuan looked at Zhen Yuanzi and laughed, saying, "Don't be afraid, I'm here for you. Don't worry, we'll get our money back today, with interest."

Yes, he wasn't alone. Thinking of this, Zhen Yuanzi smiled knowingly.

At this moment, the Western Religion, with its leaders Jieyin and Zhunti sitting solemnly in the main hall.

"He's already here, it's not them." It looks like we can only fight one battle today. It's all my fault, junior brother, I was too hasty. Zhunti sensed the crisis.

"Senior brother, don't be afraid, I'm here for you. No matter how difficult the road ahead may be, I will definitely walk with you. Senior brother, our grand ambition will surely be realized." Yes, even if Li Xiuyuan came, the two of them were not afraid, because they, the two brothers, were not weak!

"You've arrived, Fellow Daoist Xiuyuan, and... Fellow Daoist Zhenyuanzi!" Li Xiuyuan had arrived in just an hour or so.

"Hmph!" Zhen Yuanzi didn't give the two of them a good look. Thinking about it, it made sense. If these two hadn't shamelessly begged Hongyun for a seat when the Dao Ancestor was lecturing, Hongyun might not have lost his life.

"I don't want to say anything more to you two. Your Western Religion's trickery has been exposed. I'm here just to ask for an explanation."

"You two bald monks released my friend Hongyun. Don't try to deny it. I've already heard from Brother Xiuyuan. Release him right now, or don't blame me, Zhenyuanzi, for being impolite." Zhenyuanzi already disliked these two, so he went straight to the point and pressed them for answers.

"Oh, Fellow Daoist Zhen Yuanzi, what are you saying? Fellow Daoist Hongyun... he's already dead!" Jieyin was taken aback when he heard that he wanted Hongyun back, but he still tried to argue.

"Really? How do you explain the Taoist I met in the human tribe before?" Li Xiuyuan said, seeing Jieyin trying to argue.