The land of Duguan fell into silence, with the four Boundary Guardians protecting their respective territories.
Qing Ling's thoughts traversed vast distances, reaching the heart of Granny Hua Geng atop Mount Tai Chong.
Hua Geng, who had been in seclusion within the Meteor Yuan Cave, suddenly opened her eyes.
After a moment of joy, she fell into deep thought and then summoned Ba Qi.
In the wilderness of Duguan, at the very peak of the Jianmu tree, the Four Seasons Diagram revolved languidly, its power descending upon the Jianmu.
At the base of the Jianmu, Qing Ling's primordial spirit and physical body merged. The wood dao within him integrated with the great dao of life, death, prosperity, and decay. The dao of time also merged into this.
His dao was the dao of life, the dao of death, the dao of wood, and the dao of time. These four daos united, forming the dao of life, death, prosperity, and decay, surpassing the Great Dao of Prosperity and Decay.
Within him, the realm of prosperity and decay gradually took shape, the four daos interweaving to form a world.
His dao body guided the roots of the Jianmu to delve deeper into the earth and spread wider across the four directions of heaven and earth.
The Four Seasons Diagram, containing the daos of life, death, prosperity, decay, and time, cleansed the Jianmu tree from top to bottom. The Jianmu's growth accelerated from ten feet per day to thirty feet per day.
As the days passed, the Jianmu grew taller, yet the vastness of heaven and earth remained unchanged. The Jianmu, however, continued to grow both upwards and downwards at every moment.
The winds of the Primordial World swept across the land, and conflicts between the Dragon and Phoenix tribes began to escalate. Since the destruction of the South Sea Dragon Palace by the Phoenix tribe, tensions between the two tribes had been rising.
Even the West Sea Dragon Palace increasingly faced suppression and provocation from the Phoenix and Qilin tribes.
High in the sky, numerous Golden Immortals and Grand Unity Golden Immortals of the Phoenix tribe established their presence among the Nine Heavens.
Great cultivators carved out worlds within the Nine Heavens to serve as their strongholds. A multitude of Golden Immortals and Grand Unity Golden Immortals patrolled various regions, occupying the Nine Heavens, including the airspace above the Dragon tribe's four seas.
How could the proud Dragon tribe concede?
Thus, ten great cultivators were stationed in the West Sea Dragon Palace, confronting the aggressive Phoenix tribe with equal defiance and dealing with the wavering Qilin tribe with even greater assertiveness.
However, the Dragon tribe took no further action beyond this.
The Dragon tribe now only defended the East, North, and West Seas. Even though the Nine Heavens were controlled by the Phoenix tribe and their dominion extended over the North and West Seas, the Dragon tribe's many Great Luo elders grew increasingly enraged, yet the Dragon Ancestor remained dormant.
In the Primordial World, although the three tribes held immense power, apart from their battles during their conquests, the Dragon Ancestor, Phoenix Ancestor, and Qilin Ancestor rarely appeared.
The Dragon Ancestor was in perpetual seclusion, the Phoenix Ancestor had not visited Phoenix Terrace in a long time, and the Twin Kings of the Qilin did not emerge from Qilin Cliff.
Only the progenitors and great cultivators of the three tribes led their respective clans.
Within the Myriad Dragon Grotto, a slumbering colossal dragon gradually awoke. Its eyes opened, and its terrifying dragon might shook the eight directions.
From the eastern extremity of the heavens, a sky-shattering dragon roar echoed across the firmament.
Suddenly, a surge of wood energy, like a gentle breeze, swept east for trillions of miles.
A vast expanse of verdant energy surged like a sea, engulfing the universe. A five-clawed Azure Dragon soared through the nine heavens, ascending into the thirtieth heaven of the Primordial World. Its dragon roar shook the entire realm.
Following this, a thousand meteors plummeted from the sky, and divine birds, noble phoenixes, fell from the Nine Heavens.
All the great cultivators were astonished. The Fourth Ancestor of the Dragon tribe, the Azure Dragon Ancestor, had stepped into the thirtieth heaven, only a hair's breadth away from becoming a half-step Hunyuan!
Above the Southern Sky, a colossal Azure Luan unfurled its wings. At the twenty-eighth level of Grand Unity Golden Immortal, sharing the wood element and commanding the wind dao, she was no longer his match.
Yet, the Luan Ancestor's phoenix cry pierced the heavens, resonating far and wide. Endless gusts of wind transformed into swirling clouds, catching the Golden Immortals and Grand Unity Golden Immortals of the Phoenix tribe who had been shaken from their clouds.
The majestic true form of the Azure Dragon almost occupied a quarter of the sky, like a colossal dragon coveting the entire world.
"Phoenix tribe, do not push your luck. If you trespass again, countless souls of your tribe will surely perish under my Xun Tian Sword!"
The immense dragon might swept across the land, causing countless cultivators in the Primordial World to tremble with unease. From the four seas to the eight desolate regions, the might of the divine dragon was evident, and all beasts bowed in submission.
The divine dragon vanished into the void, and the vast dragon might slowly dissipated, but the shock left in the hearts of all beings lingered for a long time.
So this was the might of the Dragon tribe; their power far exceeded their imaginations.
Even the great cultivators became more reserved, no longer daring to provoke the Dragon tribe.
On Jade Capital Mountain, the old Daoist's heart stirred slightly, and his brow furrowed a little deeper.
The more powerful the three tribes became, the more difficult it was for his dao to penetrate the heavens and earth and the myriad beings. Despite his assistance, the Heavenly Dao progressed inch by inch, encountering immense obstacles.
For in this era of ancient beings and great cultivators, the daos of those towering figures were no weaker than his own.
Even he could only advance painstakingly, or even stagnate.
As the wind from Jade Capital Mountain blew to Mount Sumeru in the West, the Demon Ancestor Luohu looked with a faint smile at a pair of black and white lotuses in a golden pool. Beside the white lotus pond stood a tall Bodhi tree.
"The Dragon tribe has grown stronger by three parts."
Luohu spoke softly to the twin lotuses and the tree.
"The Dragon tribe is arrogant and unconstrained, which suits my intentions well."
"It is time for me to make a decision as well."
The wind stirred the lotuses. The white lotus was pure, the Bodhi serene, and the black lotus turbulent. Yet, these three could coexist in the same pool and reside in this Demon Ancestor's sacred land on Mount Sumeru, a place the three tribes would not dare to trespass.
Eastern Wilderness, Duguan Wilderness.
"Brother!"
A child's voice, filled with surprise, awakened Qing Ling from several eons of enlightenment.
He slowly opened his eyes. Standing before him in a blood-red flower field was a familiar big-headed child. The long saber he once carried was gone, and his large eyes were brimming with the joy of reunion.
"Qi, it has been a long time."
"Brother, you have been gone for twenty eons. You have been sitting here for twenty eons and haven't even come back to see me!"
Qing Ling couldn't help but laugh. He slowly stood up and walked over to Qi, ruffling his big head. He hadn't grown an inch since he left Xi Mountain twenty eons ago.
The child was still the same child, and the youth was still the same youth.
"I wanted to come back and see you all. But I cannot leave this place."
"Why can't you leave? Brother, are you being held here by someone?
Tell me, and I'll go and cut them down. I'm a Grand Unity cultivator now, I'm very powerful!"
The child's words were simple and pure. While amusing, they were also heartwarming.
"Alright, what are you thinking in that little head of yours? I'm staying here to seek the dao, not because anyone is restricting me."
Qing Ling smiled and looked Qi over, saying, "Not bad. Your saber dao has advanced greatly, your five qi have coalesced, and your twin flowers are mutually flourishing."
Qi beamed with pride and said, "Of course! I've been cutting lizards at the eastern Qingmu Great Wall for a hundred thousand years!"
"It's just that I'm still so short."
Upon hearing this, Qi's face fell, and he puffed out his cheeks indignantly. "What's wrong with me being short? One day I'll be taller than you."
Qing Ling looked at him with doubt. "Really? You haven't grown in millions of years, how much taller can you get?"
"Hmph! I have the Ba Qi bloodline. My true form is much larger than yours, it's just that my transformed form is a bit short."
Qi turned his head away with displeasure. He reached out and pulled out a palm-sized stone pagoda, throwing it into Qing Ling's hand.
"I ran for ten thousand miles to bring you this. You better thank me properly."
Qing Ling caught the stone pagoda and said with a wry smile, "This is a congenital spirit treasure. Be careful not to drop it."
Qi scoffed. "Can I break it by dropping it?"
Qing Ling said slowly, "What cannot be broken is the body; what can be shattered is the heart.
Congenital spirit treasures are sentient beings. If you treat them so carelessly, how can the spirit of the treasure sincerely assist you?"
Qi shook his head and said, "I don't understand. I'm just here to deliver something. Why do you need this spirit treasure? When I received this pagoda, Granny looked so pained. She handed it to me after a lot of hesitation."
Qing Ling couldn't help but laugh. "There are only four of these dusty spirit treasures left by our ancestors. I've borrowed one of them, and it's likely one that cannot be returned. Granny's heartache is understandable.
I just wanted to give Granny a surprise."
"What surprise?" Qi asked curiously.
Qing Ling turned around and looked directly at the Jianmu tree he had planted for the first time. Even he could no longer see its top.
"A surprise for Granny, a surprise for Xi Mountain, and a path for myself."
Qi scratched his head, still confused. "Brother, can you speak less cryptically?"
Qing Ling smiled faintly, his smile carrying the weight of twenty eons of solitary cultivation in the wilderness, the hope of living to thirty-four eons.
He was no longer ordinary. After twenty eons of painstaking effort, this day had finally arrived!
The Jianmu sensed it, the Four Seasons Diagram sensed it, the four boundary steles sensed it, the Hongye Chun sensed it, and the Zi You Lian sensed it.
A spring breeze smile graced his face as he replied, "Ascend my Jianmu ladder."