Above the Du Guang Jian Mu, a myriad of winds and clouds gathered, and a divine dragon descended then departed.
Qing Ling was cast down, sitting cross-legged atop the Jian Mu.
The Azure Dragon uttered a single sentence before returning to the East Sea.
"Come see me immediately after breaking through your realm."
Qing Ling returned to Du Guang, which was his home. Everything here was etched into his heart and mind as his homeland.
His primordial spirit at the crown of his head grew stronger, his庆云 (Qing Yun) and sea of Qi expanded, and the eleventh heaven of Da Luo Golden Immortal drew nearer.
The Jian Mu once again ascended rapidly. Its trunk thickened by a thousand, ten thousand li, its roots delved deeper into the earth by a million li, and its branches spread once more, even reaching across more than half of the Eastern Region.
The Jian Mu had become the foremost tree in heaven and earth, the largest and most magnificent. While not yet the primordial spirit root of heaven and earth, as long as Qing Ling lived and the Jian Mu remained unbroken, it would eventually become the foremost spirit root.
Currently, it propped up eleven layers of the celestial dome, though only those in the East. Its foundation was robust, infused with the destiny of heaven and earth, untouched by misfortune or deathly miasma, and repelling karmic calamity.
As long as he did not leave Du Guang, even if a great tribulation befell, he would not face the calamity of death.
However, Qing Ling dared not relax his vigilance. He had escaped tribulation, but the Xi Shan Snake Tribe had not.
If he were alone, he would have no worries. But to protect an entire tribe, success seemed difficult.
Qing Ling's mind sank into cultivation. The primordial energy of the Eastern Desolation was entirely drawn to him, flowing ceaselessly into his body. His Da Luo Dao Zang Realm was gradually transforming into a medium-thousand world.
The path of wood was sublimating, and the authority of wood among the three thousand great daos converged upon him.
As the foremost cultivator of the wood path in the world, the Ancestral Azure Dragon, naturally would not impede Qing Ling's growth.
In the Land of Chaos, beneath the desert, Mu Gong, who had been suppressed for dozens of primordial eras, suffered from declining fortune. Thirty percent of his wood path authority had been seized, and in the struggle of great daos, he had lost without a fight.
Because he was suppressed beneath the path of death, he could only protect himself. If he were to contend with Qing Ling for wood path authority, he might not even be able to preserve himself.
Compared to Mu Gong's somber expression, Shi Tian Supreme Being burst into laughter. The Death Desert churned with dust, and deathly energies surged from all directions, entering the subterranean world.
Boundless souls and deathly energies coiled around a colossal divine tree. Beneath the divine tree, Mu Gong, his face pale, stubbornly resisted.
On Mu Gong's chest, a blood-red flower bud was about to bloom. Its stem was connected to his blood vessels, soul, and spirit, drawing strength ceaselessly, poised to blossom.
Shi Tian Supreme Being sat in the sky above the desolate desert. With a single finger, he split the desert in two, revealing the subterranean sea of death.
The wind blew, scattering his disheveled long hair. Shi Tian Supreme Being laughed, "Mu Gong, after our struggle for millions of years, you ultimately cannot escape demise!"
Mu Gong's face was pale, but he still sneered, "Shi Tian, are you so certain of defeating me?"
"You have been suppressed by me for millions of years. Even the great powers of heaven and earth are merely struggling futilely. Now, another great power has emerged in the wood path, seizing thirty percent of your wood path authority. The wood path power you can wield has greatly weakened, and your Dao Zang Realm has withered. What other means do you possess?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Gong's eyes surged with fury.
The great daos of heaven and earth were fixed, and the authority of each dao had a set amount. Although the wood path was a primordial dao, with the Azure Dragon, an ultimate great power, already holding fifty percent of the world's wood path authority, any additional great power in the wood path would seize a sliver of heaven and earth's authority.
Yet Qing Ling, an ant he could have crushed with a finger in the past, had now achieved the status of a great power, directly seizing the world's wood path authority, bypassing him.
If he were free, he would never have lost to Qing Ling in the struggle of great daos. But he was already suppressed by the path of death and could not extricate himself.
Considering Qing Ling's Jian Mu power, this ant actually commanded twenty percent of the world's wood path authority, leaving him with only ten percent!
This was also the root cause of his inability to sustain his Da Luo Dao Zang Realm.
He was not only a fated enemy of Shi Tian Supreme Being, but also an enemy of Qing Ling in the great dao!
Shi Tian Supreme Being felt unprecedentedly joyous. After nearly ten million years of planning, his goal was finally within reach. He was about to achieve ultimate power; how could he not be pleased?
Mu Gong's eyes still held defiance. He was silent for a long time, watching the divine wood manifestation behind him gradually consumed by deathly energy. His inner dao realm, due to the loss of wood path authority, could no longer sustain itself and generate spiritual power. He knew he had truly reached his final step!
Even if his true spirit were to survive his demise and return in the river of time, the uncertain risks were too great. The feeling of demise was too terrifying, and a returned self might no longer be himself.
Mu Gong roared in anger, "Shi Tian, you are forcing me!"
Shi Tian Supreme Being's expression darkened slightly. It seemed Mu Gong was truly at his wit's end, but it also meant he was about to reveal his trump card.
Mu Gong raised his right palm, his middle and index fingers together pointing to the sky, and swore to heaven and earth: "I, the divine being of wood in heaven and earth, Dong Mu.
I wish to respect the Heavenly Dao as the supreme dao of the Primordial World, the master of all beings in heaven and earth, the will of the past, present, and future!
I promise the Heavenly Dao, if I escape the sea of death, I shall become a divine being of the Heavenly Dao. If I escape this calamity, I shall be a slave to the Heavenly Dao! I implore the Heavenly Dao to deliver me from the sea of death!"
As his words left his lips, heaven and earth responded. Wind and thunder surged above the firmament, and the will of the Eastern Heavenly Dao responded. The oath of a great power of heaven and earth was rarely acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao.
Shi Tian Supreme Being's expression turned grim. He shouted, "Mu Gong, for you to be an ancient great power, an old ancestor, to stoop so low and behave in such a manner, you are worse than dead!"
Mu Gong's eyes held a chilling coldness. Beneath the wind, clouds, thunder, and lightning, his face was terrifying. "You forced me."
Shi Tian Supreme Being's eyes were filled with disdain. He smiled arrogantly, "I thought you were defeated by me merely by chance. Today, I realize you were fated to be defeated by me!
A great power of heaven and earth, soaring through the nine heavens, master of a dao, supreme among myriad beings. How noble! Yet you resort to such actions. Even if the Heavenly Dao protects you, you are unworthy of the name 'great power of heaven and earth,' and you will surely face dire consequences.
Mu Gong sneered, "So what? As long as I can escape the sea of death and this calamity, I will be free and at ease!"
Shi Tian Supreme Being scoffed. He was in the sky and Mu Gong was in the earth. His opponent of millions of years had ultimately become a being destined only to look up to him.
The firmament roared with thunder. Endless chaotic winds formed. The Eye of Heavenly Dao's punishment condensed, a void-like, transparent single eye born amidst countless bolts of lightning, opening its emotionless gaze.
As the heavenly eye fixed, countless sins were inflicted upon Shi Tian Supreme Being. The entire Eastern Heaven and Earth became a force pressing down on him.
Shi Tian Supreme Being looked up and around. In his sight, the entire world was his enemy.
Heaven and Earth were the rulers, rules were the blades, and he was the fish, like an ant.
Shi Tian Supreme Being instantly stood tall, raising his head and laughing, his voice echoing far and wide. " I never knew when the Heavenly Dao became the virtuous ruler of heaven and earth? When did Hong Jun's dao earn the right to be equal to heaven and earth?
My destiny is my own, inherited from heaven and earth, born in the Primordial World. I am not of the Heavenly Dao, nor do I belong to Hong Jun. How dare you claim my life?
If the Heavenly Dao wishes to destroy me, then I shall devour the heavens!"