The Queen Mother of the West was overjoyed, saying repeatedly, "Good, good, good! Wonderful! My Dao is achieved!"
Qing Ling withdrew his primordial spirit with a pale face, retracting all divine phenomena back into his body. Even breaking through three realms in succession, expanding his nascent soul's vital energy to eight hundred mu, and increasing the Great Luo Dao Treasury by another third, was not enough to offset the depletion of his primordial spirit's essence.
The nine fruits on the nine ancestral roots hung high. The fruits were of five colors, with all principles achieving balance.
He looked at these nine fruits, sighing inwardly at the wonders of heaven and earth.
Heaven and earth sensed it, and strange phenomena arose. Rolling thunder surged from the East, intending to destroy this anomaly.
Qing Ling looked at the dark clouds in the East, marveling inwardly. Dao Ancestor Hongjun had likely advanced another step; the push of the Heavenly Dao was now sufficient to birth heavenly tribulations!
Seeing the rolling dark clouds, the Queen Mother of the West's expression darkened. She drew an imaginary line in the air with her golden hairpin, and a wide, long river appeared, separating East from West.
But the lightning gradually intensified, transforming into purple lightning within the clouds. The terrifying aura made beings across billions of miles tremble with fear.
Purple Heaven Divine Lightning!
Qing Ling was also astonished. He never knew that nine fruits could provoke a heavenly tribulation.
Even though the Heavenly Dao was merely one among many principles at this moment, it was the supreme one, already governing thousands of minor principles.
The Queen Mother of the West saw the surging dark clouds and said coldly, "Hongjun's Dao has reached this point."
The purple lightning shattered the golden river. Myriad bolts of lightning roared, turning heaven and earth purple-black. The terrifying oppressive feeling caused even the most powerful beings to feel immense pressure.
The Queen Mother of the West's eyes grew colder. This vast purple lightning had spread across trillions of miles of the firmament, covering a quarter of the sky.
This terrifying power had surpassed the thirtieth heaven of a Great Luo Golden Immortal, perhaps even approaching the thirty-second or thirty-third heaven.
There were no more than a handful of beings in the Primordial World who could withstand this lightning. Clearly, the Queen Mother of the West did not possess such strength.
Her gaze became increasingly cold. She muttered to herself, "Hongjun has immense courage, but to obstruct my path is impossible!"
Behind the Queen Mother of the West, golden lightning surged downwards. Her golden hairpin danced, and the Primordial World trembled violently, the entire heaven and earth shaking.
A massive roar echoed, waking an old man. He opened his eyes, looked towards the West, then at the two spiritual energies beside him, and closed his eyes again to wander in spirit.
On Jade Capital Mountain, the old Daoist's eyes dimmed slightly. The light from the jade disc behind him extinguished, and the lightning in the sky dissipated.
In Kunlun, dust and smoke billowed for hundreds of billions of miles across the land, and a vast, deep, long, and wide black chasm appeared.
The once magnificent Kunlun Mountain was thus split in two, divided into East and West Kunlun.
The heaven and earth were divided into East and West by Kunlun.
Underground rivers flowed into the deep chasm, and the water slowly rose, filling it to form an inland sea, henceforth known as the Northwest Sea.
Hongjun's Heavenly Dao now only controlled the East and did not enter the West. West Kunlun truly became Western Kunlun, and the Heavenly Dao could only reluctantly comply.
This was because the Western lands were ruled by Qilin, and the Demonic Ancestor. Their Daos were no weaker than Hongjun's Heavenly Dao.
The Queen Mother of the West returned to Kunlun and looked at the nine fruits. "Take one," she said. "My promise to you will not be in vain."
Qing Ling felt gratitude and bowed, saying, "Many thanks, Queen Mother."
"You are mistaken," she said, her sternness replaced by a gentle smile. "Now you should truly call me Queen Mother of the West!"
Qing Ling suddenly realized and smiled, "Then congratulations to Senior Queen Mother of the West on achieving your Great Dao!"
The Queen Mother of the West laughed heartily, "Without you, I would not have this day. I would only be subservient to the Eastern Heavenly Dao, becoming a principle of the Heavenly Dao. But now, I have the chance to defy heaven and change my fate! Young friend, you are truly an agent of destiny!"
Qing Ling was stunned and asked, "What do you mean, Senior?"
The Queen Mother of the West smiled, "You carry the destiny of the Eastern Dragon Clan, and also the destiny of Jianmu. You have diverted the destiny of the East. When you entered the West, the West was ruled by Qilin for terrestrial destiny. Heaven and earth clashed, so you were bound to have conflict with Qilin. But you entered my Kunlun. I was once the destiny of heaven, and you brought the destiny of the East and the destiny of the dragons, filling the last bit of heavenly destiny that I lacked! Truly, fate is so miraculous."
Qing Ling was horrified and murmured, "Then I have angered Dao Ancestor Hongjun!"
"From the perspective of the world's destiny, that is indeed the case," the Queen Mother of the West said with a hint of schadenfreude. "However, rest assured. Hongjun also has a destined enemy, the Western Demonic Ancestor, Luohu. He is no weaker than that old Daoist, perhaps even slightly stronger. Moreover, I am also someone who opposes Hongjun. What do you fear?"
Qing Ling listened, his heart in turmoil. Although the current Daoist Hongjun was not invincible, the later Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who represented the will of heaven, was invincible. Luohu would die too!
He felt very panicked.
Seeing that he was still looking uneasy, the Queen Mother of the West chuckled, "It's just a half-step Hunyuan. What are you afraid of? Even true Hunyuan beings cannot act as they please. If you are truly afraid, then guard your Jianmu well. The more authority Jianmu wields over heaven, the fewer people will dare to touch you!"
Qing Ling's heart stirred. His mind stabilized, and his spirit cleared. He had almost fallen into delusion. He quickly bowed, "Many thanks for your guidance, Senior."
"I see your future is promising and I cannot bear to see fine jade lacking luster," the Queen Mother of the West sighed. "The path ahead must be walked by you. There are not many who master the Hunyuan Great Dao, and even fewer common methods. That Hongjun possesses such a method. If you achieve great power in the future, you may seek me out. My Dao cannot be shared, but I can guide you if you lose your way."
Qing Ling was grateful and nodded heavily. He remembered this promise in his heart. The Queen Mother of the West was a responsible person. She did not abandon the karma Qing Ling incurred because of her but sincerely assisted him, which was truly comforting.
"Alright, there are only nine such exotic fruits in the entire Primordial World, now and in the future. Take one, and use it with caution," the Queen Mother said, handing one to Qing Ling with solemnity.
Qing Ling carefully accepted it, placed it in the Great Luo Dao Treasury, and thanked her, "Junior understands. But what is the effect of this exotic fruit?"
The Queen Mother of the West smiled, "The supreme wood gives birth to two Daos. It governs physical restoration. The death Dao of time governs the ethereal spirit. Consuming this fruit will halt the passage of time and death, granting eternal life! Whether it is the physical body or the primordial spirit, this fruit can be called an elixir of immortality!"
"Elixir of immortality?" Qing Ling's heart jolted. Could this fruit be the elixir of immortality that was later rumored in Chang'e flying to the moon?
"Are you about to break through to become a supreme great power, Senior?" he asked cautiously.
"Yes, and no," the Queen Mother's mood was exceptionally good. "I am already supreme on West Kunlun Mountain. Therefore, I am breaking through to half-step Hunyuan. But descending the mountain, I am merely a great power of the twentieth heaven of Great Luo Golden Immortal, so I am also breaking through to become a supreme great power."
Qing Ling was astonished. "Why is there such a large difference in your power between being on the mountain and off the mountain?"
"Because after Pangu's demise, I became the mountain god of Kunlun Mountain. Kunlun was transformed from Pangu's internal organs, imbued with the essence of heaven and earth. As its mountain god, I naturally possess the authority over Kunlun," the Queen Mother explained leisurely.
Qing Ling finally understood and asked, "What about East Kunlun?"
"East Kunlun?" She looked up at the East and said, "There are also sacred beings gestating there, with even greater origins, direct descendants of Pangu, not under my jurisdiction."
Qing Ling thought of the later Three Pure Ones and couldn't help but ask, "Have the sacred beings of East Kunlun emerged?"
"I suppose one has emerged, but there are still beings within the mountain who have yet to appear."
Qing Ling's heart was filled with a lingering concern, and he asked again, "Do you know their strength, Senior?"
"They have just been born. Even with extraordinary origins, they are currently only comparable to you. How much stronger can they be?" the Queen Mother of the West shook her head.
Qing Ling felt a slight sense of relief. Thinking this way, he was an existence even earlier than the Three Pure Ones.
"Many thanks for clarifying my doubts, Senior. I have one last question to ask for your advice, please bear with me."
"Speak," the Queen Mother of the West replied without impatience, though her smile had lessened.
Qing Ling hurriedly asked, "Given your ancient seniority, Senior, what portion of heavenly authority can my Jianmu bear?"
The Queen Mother of the West was taken aback. After a moment of contemplation, she spoke cautiously, "This matter involves heaven and earth, and it is not easy for me to say. The Jianmu you planted stands between heaven and earth, transferring the weight of heaven to the weight of earth. It aligns with heaven but angers earth, one increases and the other decreases. Moreover, with the Buzhou Divine Mountain as the foundation of heaven and earth, your Jianmu can, at most, bear the heavenly authority of a supreme great power."
Qing Ling mentally calculated. His own authority, one hundred and eight-thousandth of a great power, plus one three-thousandth of heavenly authority inherited from the Ancestor Snake's position, and if he added one one-thousandth from Jianmu, it was still far from the heavenly authority held by a half-step Hunyuan.
It seemed his only waiting opportunity was after the collapse of the celestial pillar, when Jianmu would be the sole support of heaven. Before that, he had to strive to strengthen Jianmu, to make it grow strong enough to bear half the weight of the sky.
Qing Ling never dared to hope for achieving Hunyuan; it was too difficult. He only sought the heavenly authority possessed by a Hunyuan. As long as he possessed sufficient heavenly authority, even a Hunyuan would not dare to act rashly against him. Everything was possible only if he stayed alive. The era of saints was still far away, and he still had a chance!