Where the wind blades swept, myriad green lotuses withered, lotus leaves and remnant flowers scattered everywhere.
A supreme spirit treasure could protect Qing Ling, but not Jian Mu.
Yet Jian Mu could not be felled, no matter what, no matter who, no matter anything!
Qing Ling instantly manifested his divine form, human torso, serpentine tail, his emerald hair unfurling like a hundred thousand threads, his body expanding to colossal proportions, as if propping up the heavens.
He faced the world-ending wind blades, not retreating, but instead embracing the entire Eastern Wilderness, Jian Mu included.
Before the world-ending wind blades, countless beings of the Eastern Wilderness looked up, gazing at the figure cradling them within his embrace.
Inch by inch, mountain range by mountain range, foot by foot, heaven and earth, all were protected by him.
Within Qing Ling's indifferent eyes, there was compassion for all living beings; his indifference was for the sake of his compassion.
As the world-ending wind blades shattered the Azure Lotus Sea, Qing Ling declared to the thirty-three layers of heaven and the nine depths of the netherworld:
"When mountains lose their peaks, and rivers run dry.
When winter thunders, and summer snows fall.
When heaven and earth unite, only then can I forsake you, my lord.
I borrow a power from heaven and earth, I seek a method from all living beings.
Heaven and earth are Pangu's heaven and earth, all beings are Pangu's beings.
Mountains come forth!"
The moment the wind blades pierced the protective shield of the Ten Absolute Array's malevolent energy, heaven and earth trembled.
The Eastern Wilderness vanished, replaced by a single mountain.
At the center of heaven and earth, Mount Buzhou trembled, its imposing pressure descending, protecting the Eastern Wilderness.
"Boom—"
A colossal roar surged with waves thousands of feet high, shaking ten thousand mountains. All winds in the world retreated, and a gentle breeze blew, silencing the wind's howl.
The Ancestor Qing Luan's eyes widened in shock, "I truly never expected that Pangu's destiny would be with you!"
Years ago, when Qing Ling ascended Buzhou and mourned Pangu, Pangu’s spirit in life, Pangu’s essence in death, he had gained a tenth of Pangu’s destiny.
With the Earthly Dao in his hands and Pangu's destiny within him, Jian Mu, bearing heaven, was in accordance with heaven's will, thus he possessed Pangu's suppressive might for protection!
The great powers from all sides pondered in their hearts, awed by him, their plans disrupted.
In the north, the Ancestor Azure Dragon's worry receded. Qing Ling was no longer the young serpent beneath his scales; he had become a powerful figure of this era.
The dragon soared in the vast ocean, the serpent slithered through the great wilderness. Unconsciously, they had reached a point where they could stand shoulder to shoulder.
At some unknown moment, the sky above became strangely illuminated, sunlight chaotic, moonlight bleak. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the four seasons reversed.
A barefoot youth emerged from the East Sea, half the primordial world turning crimson.
"Qing Luan, you are presumptuous!"
Qing Luan's brows rose as he looked at the newcomer, "You have finally emerged. I thought you, a dignified Ancestor, would not dare to step out."
Though the youth's expression was calm, he exuded an extremely eerie aura that unsettled the heart, a state even great powers could not escape.
"Qing Luan, you are no match for me. Leave."
Qing Luan smiled, gentle as a soft breeze, "I have cultivated for a hundred eons, reaching the thirty-third heaven. Though I still cannot compare to you, I feel I have drawn much closer. I have come to seek guidance."
The youth remained calm, "You said it yourself. Do not regret it. I, Zhulong, will not be merciful."
As his words fell, the other half of the primordial world's sky immediately turned black.
The eastern sky was an eerie red, the western sky a terrifying black.
At the edge of the red and black hues, the youth's eyes reflected the sun and moon. Strange temporal energy inexplicably eroded something.
Qing Luan's expression grew solemn. He no longer paid attention to Qing Ling. With a flick of his hand, three rings flew from his wrist, in purple, gold, and azure, arranging themselves in a Tri-Force formation.
A long wind arose, becoming the purple chaotic wind, the golden tidal wind, and the azure longevity wind.
The three winds converged, forming a void wind tribulation.
The hurricane swirled around Zhulong. The purple wind whipped up a vast tide like chaos, the golden wind resembled a sea of golden tides, turning the world upside down with the purple wind. The azure wind merged with the other two, evolving the birth and destruction of chaos.
However, these three chaotic winds could not approach Zhulong’s body. Upon entering a thousand miles of Zhulong's proximity, they all dissipated.
Ancestor Qing Luan's face grew grave. These three winds were her innate divine abilities. If her opponent were a great power of heaven and earth, she would have long ago forced them to reveal their ultimate techniques.
But she faced someone at the Half-Step Hunyuan realm!
Zhulong, who had already reached the thirty-first heaven in ancient times, was an Ancestor.
Zhulong's eyes gradually shifted from amber to crimson. A crimson river flowed beneath his feet.
Within the crimson river flowed the endless years of struggle, the terrifying tribulations of countless ages, the birth and destruction of innumerable worlds.
And these struggles, tribulations, and worlds were all created by him.
He was a creator god, a god who had created and destroyed countless worlds.
All of this was recorded by him in time.
He was the sole supreme being in the primordial world who cultivated the Great Dao of Time!
Hongjun was the progenitor of the Great Dao of Time.
Zhulong, as one of the five great Ancestors of the Dragon clan, was the most terrifying existence among them.
Because he was a madman, a madman driven mad by cultivation.
Much like a mad scientist obsessed with science.
He conducted frenzied experiments within the Great Dao of Time. After countless years of exploration and inquiry, after countless experiments that terrified the world and shook heaven and earth, it was uncertain whether his mind remained sound.
Yet, it was precisely because of these countless frenzies that he became unique in the world.
One Dao had two supreme beings, and both at the Half-Step Hunyuan realm!
Zhulong was a more dangerous existence than Zulong. Zulong, though powerful and fearsome, operated within established rules.
But Zhulong, a cultivation madman, had few rules.
Crimson river water rippled in the crimson river. The River of Time grew wider, spreading further.
The power of the three winds could only delay its spread, not stop it.
At this moment, the attention of heaven and earth was focused on Zhulong and Qing Luan, not on Qing Ling.
Pangu's suppressive might had long since dispersed. It could protect life, but not the body.
Qing Ling collected the Ten Absolute Array and took two Da Luo, one great power of heaven and earth, from within the array.
However, Black Phoenix Saint King had no intention of stopping. Endless purple flames continued to burn Qing Hua Qi at an alarming rate. Moreover, wood fueled fire, and the fire would only grow stronger.
Qing Ling was akin to adding fuel to the fire.
But his fuel was abundant enough to delay for a considerable time.
He became like a spectator, observing the world.
Zhulong and Qing Luan in the Eastern Wilderness, Azure Dragon and White Tiger in the north, Black Dragon and Golden Peng in the west.
Three factions, six supreme beings, all true overlords of the thirty-third heaven.
Qing Ling raised the Ten Absolute Sky Lantern, illuminating all directions, but saw only a dark tribulation aura. Everywhere in heaven and earth was tribulation!
At this very moment, he perceived a surge of overwhelming death tribulation from the depths of the East Sea.
Simultaneously, the Undying Volcano in the south erupted, its endless lava soaring into the heavens.
The might of the Undying Volcano far surpassed that of ordinary terrestrial eruptions.
The sky turned crimson, the red flames transforming the sky into a sea of fire, an endless, rolling sea that surged eastward.
Zhulong's expression changed, his right eye flashing brightly.
In the cosmic expanse, Taiyin Star Lord, walking leisurely beneath the laurel tree, suddenly clutched his lower back, scattering moon laurels.
On the Taiyin Star, the sky-filling Taiyin energy turned into water, the ultimate Yin water blocking the overwhelming fiery might.
On Phoenix Terrace, Ancestor Phoenix let out a cold snort. The Undying Volcano trembled violently. Thousands of phoenixes spread their wings, their flames engulfing mountains and rivers.
A colossal fire phoenix swallowed the moonlit brilliance, once again leading the fiery sea eastward.
Zhulong was about to make another move, but Qing Luan, seizing his momentary distraction, trapped him with three wind rings. The purple ring above, the gold ring below, and the azure ring in the middle, their boundaries intermingling, forming a world of great winds.
Ancestor Qing Luan plucked a feather from her body and cast it into the great world of wind, then spread her wings and circled outside it, pouring in endless wind to delay Zhulong's departure from this world.
The endless sea of fire burned fiercely. Zhulong's black and crimson hues faded, leaving only an endless red reflection of the Eastern Sea.
The great powers were all shocked. Was Ancestor Phoenix about to engage in an all-out battle with Zulong?
The searing heat, before it even neared the East Sea, evaporated infinite seawater, turning it into clouds that rose into the sky.
From the deep sea, dragons flew out, summoning clouds and rain. The rain fell to extinguish the flames.
But around the East Sea, everything was already scorched, mountains and rivers ravaged.