The sun in the sky had risen and set countless times, and Qing Ling had finally emerged from this desert.
The vast desert was dim and yellow. The footprints he left behind were quickly buried by sand and wind. Bai Fu had already been put away in his sleeve, sleeping. After all, it had only recently taken form and was injured.
Although this endless sea of sand was a bit lifeless, it was relatively safe. Apart from the occasional harassment from insect beasts condensed from dead energy beneath the sand, it was terrifyingly quiet.
Qing Ling walked slowly. As he walked, his steps suddenly halted.
His vision pulled back, connecting with the sight and hearing of his scouting puppets.
A hundred thousand miles ahead, the sand sea's edge stretched for an unknown distance. The dim yellow sky stopped abruptly, revealing a line of green light, with lush vegetation and vibrant life, a scene of spring with green mountains and clear waters.
The lifeless sand sea and the vibrant green mountains and clear waters were separated by just a single step! It was too bizarre and terrifying.
However, the reason Qing Ling stopped was not this. It was because at the border between the green and yellow worlds, two figures were seated.
An old man in black robes with a long beard and an old man in green robes sat facing each other, divided by the green mountains and the barren desert, with only about ten feet separating them.
Between the two elders, a virtual formation diagram displayed a reduced map of the surrounding millions of miles.
Qing Ling felt a premonition of unease. In this chaotic land, two elders with unfathomable auras sitting together discussing the Dao was too strange.
Immediately, Qing Ling changed his direction, veering east and no longer heading south. Simultaneously, all the puppet figures around the two elders became still, not daring to move rashly.
At the junction of the desert and green mountains.
The old man in black robes chuckled, "Mu Gong, this is the third round."
"What, are you scared?" The old man in green robes raised his eyebrows and looked at the other.
"Heh heh, if I were scared, how would I dare to stay here?" The old man in black robes stroked his beard and smiled, glancing at the formation diagram before him, and suddenly let out a soft "Oh."
"Another junior has entered. Hahaha, I suppose Mu Gong would be interested in this person."
The old man in green robes frowned slightly and said, "Shi Daoist, do not stir up trouble."
The old man in black robes laughed heartily, "Are you afraid of a mere Golden Immortal?"
As the words fell, he reached out with one hand, causing ripples of space to form.
In the next moment, Qing Ling, who had already fled a million miles, felt his heart tremble. He looked up at the sky.
Dark clouds rotated in the sky, forming a vortex. The sky turned dark, and the light dimmed. A giant palm emerged from the vortex, grasping a portion of heaven and earth.
Before Qing Ling could even use any techniques, he was captured within it.
He was greatly shocked. Even an ordinary Grand Unity Supreme might not possess such divine abilities.
When he reappeared, Qing Ling was already standing beside the two elders.
Qing Ling did not think of escaping. Instead, he immediately bowed to the two powerful beings, "Junior Qing Ling pays respects to two seniors."
"Fu Chun Divine Spark?" The old man in green robes' eyes flashed with surprise. He then suppressed his emotions and said, "Shi Daoist, how about you give this child to me?"
The old man in black robes shook his head, "Impossible. If you get him, won't you become even more superior? Although he is only a Golden Immortal, a divine spark of heaven and earth is no trivial matter, and moreover, he cultivates the same path.
If I'm not mistaken, you are already planning how to devour this young friend's divine spark authority. After all, with a deity of higher divine spark cultivating the same path, perhaps in the future, he might truly contend with you for the Great Dao!"
The old man in green robes' face instantly turned dark. He snorted, "What if I break the rules and make a move?"
"Mu Gong, feel free to try!" The smile in the black-robed old man's eyes disappeared, and his demeanor instantly became murderous. Behind him, yellow sand billowed like roaring dragons and tigers, blazing with ferocity.
Qing Ling, standing by, saw that the two elders were not paying attention to him, but he consciously moved closer to the black-robed old man named Shi.
Because, as Shi had said, the green-robed old man was indeed cultivating the same path as him. He was also known as Mu Gong, and his realm was Grand Unity Golden Immortal, very likely the future leader of male immortals, Dong Wang Gong!
Qing Ling's heart gradually calmed. From initial unease to gradual composure, he simply stood quietly beside the black-robed old man who had captured him with a single palm, lowering his head.
Mu Gong stared at Qing Ling with a dark gaze for a long time before turning his attention away and smiling, "Alright, since Daoist insists on protecting him, I will not make a move against him. Whether he lives or dies will depend on his fortune. Let us begin!"
Shi's murderous expression gradually became frenzied and excited. He laughed wildly, "Good, Mu Gong. This third time will determine the discussion of our Dao!"
As the words fell, the two of them stood up simultaneously and vanished in an instant, completely disappearing from the world.
Qing Ling's divine sense scanned carefully. They had indeed disappeared without a trace.
No, they hadn't disappeared, but merged, becoming one with a part of heaven and earth!
As if to confirm his guess, the world began to change.
The northern and southern realms gradually merged. The sky and the universe became illusory, while the earth beneath trembled yet remained intact. This area of millions of miles had actually become its own realm, neither belonging to the Primordial World nor the Heavenly Realm.
At the same time, in the verdant green mountains and waters of the south, green energy surged, and life was continuous, like a green ocean. In the north, yellow sand rolled, and strands of black energy rose from the earth, dissolving into the sand and wind to form a turbid mixture of black and gray.
And throughout the entire world, invisible laws and order began to intertwine. Life and death, vitality and dead energy, barrenness and prosperity began to weave together.
From the southern land, a majestic blue energy rose, vast and covering the four directions. Wherever it passed, flowers bloomed, and trees flourished.
In the northern desert, yellow sand stretched endlessly, covering the sky. As sand rose and fell, every inch of life was devoured, and plants withered.
In the dense southern forests, treants emerged, boundless.
In the northern sandy regions, countless black insects and ants crawled out. Although they were small in size, their terrifying numbers were chilling.
Qing Ling instantly understood these two great beings.
They were using millions of miles of land as a battlefield and countless living beings as pawns to suppress each other with their respective Daos.
If vitality filled the entire world, then Shi would be suppressed by this world of vitality. Conversely, Mu Gong would be suppressed.
The two powerful beings merged with a portion of heaven and earth, competing at the level of primordial spirits and Dao through rules and order. The outcome of the beings below, belonging to their respective factions, was also a key factor influencing their victory or defeat.
In the sky, phantom images of ten thousand flowers bloomed and withered, and threads of wood's vitality gave rise to chains of rules and order mixed with boundless dead energy.
The firmament was deep and profound, with blue and black energies entwining. Within the wood, yang was born, nurturing all things. Every flower and blade of grass was wood, and every beast and spirit was of life.
Dead energy was gloomy, silent, and terrifying, as if heaven and earth grieved, and all things eventually returned to death, to darkness.
Life and death, two great Daos in the sky, were locked in a fierce battle, unable to be distinguished. Though life and death are different, they are also one. The struggle for the Dao, how complex it is!
This was all that Qing Ling could see.
And Qing Ling also moved.
As a Fu Chun deity, he was meant to walk with life. Now, he had to accompany death, all for survival. A glimmer of hope lay within this vast dead energy.
Life and death, growth and decay, the natural order of heaven and earth.
Countless insects and ants fought beneath him against giant treants. The treants regenerated endlessly, while the insects and ants were terrifying in their sheer numbers.
Qing Ling retreated. The myriad bells of the Grand Void around him moved in unison. Sound resided in the bells, the person stood at the boundary of life and death, the ethereal sound governed illusions, and the golden sound governed killing. Golden light surged like waves on an autumn lake, protecting his body.
If one must fight, one must first defend.
(2086 words)