Doumu Yuanjun, Taiyin Xingjun, and a host of other great powers departed the Primordial World, opening up Chaotic Grotto-heavens. Hongjun attained sainthood, the Thirty-Three Heavens became more vast and oppressive, and the announcement was made for his lectures.
After Pangu sacrificed himself to open heaven and earth, his body transformed into all things.
Hongjun had once been fortunate enough to receive a strand of Pangu's residual hair, scattered in Yujing.
He suppressed it with the Great Dao of Time, rendering time eternally stable, thus preserving this strand of hair that was meant to become one of the myriad things.
This strand of hair, he had originally intended to cast into Mount Buzhou to strengthen the pillar of heaven and earth.
However, upon seeing Qing Ling, he changed his mind.
Qing Ling held the strand of long hair in his hand, somewhat stunned.
His entire origin, his very foundation, lay within Pangu's hair.
If Hongjun's Good Corpse, before achieving sainthood, had wished to sever Jianmu, it was to cut off his path.
Then, the Dao Ancestor gifting this hair now was a profound grace that aided him in attaining the Dao!
Qing Ling had not forgotten that during the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, he had slaughtered the Dao Ancestor's entire clan!
Even he would not have thought the Dao Ancestor could overlook this enmity of extermination.
However, if the Good Corpse had not severed Jianmu, there would have been no battle at Jianmu that year, nor the matter of the salamanders' extermination.
Everything arises from cause and culminates in effect.
Beyond the Heavens, the Dao Ancestor ascended the Thirty-Three Heavens, stepping out of the Primordial World in a single stride.
From this point on, the Primordial World would know no more Daoist Hongjun, only the Dao Ancestor seated beyond the heavens, governing the Heavenly Dao!
Concurrently, numerous supreme powers who had been hidden within the Primordial World could no longer remain concealed.
Some ascended the nine heavens on clouds and mists, some rode exotic beasts to soar through the skies, and others, solitary figures, trod the celestial dome.
Eight or nine great powers emerged from the Primordial World. Each of them was a peerless master from ancient times, individuals who could have contended with the Dao Ancestor in the beginning.
Now that the Heavenly Dao was flourishing, although the Primordial World was vast, it was difficult for them to find a place to reside.
It was not that the Dao Ancestor could not accommodate them, but rather that the Heavenly Dao could not tolerate their respective Daos.
The figures of the nine great powers entered the highest reaches of the firmament, as if following the Dao Ancestor's path.
They would journey beyond the heavens, opening grotto-heavens. Relying on the Primordial World's plane for existence, they would also offer protection to the Primordial World.
Though outside the Primordial World, they could still cultivate the Great Dao.
Within the twenty-eight layers of heaven, the vast universe of stars rotated. Doumu Yuanjun, the Mother of Stars, rose to depart. She left behind a strand of her origin, preserved within the Ziwei Star.
There was also Bixia Yuanjun, who emerged alongside the Queen Mother when they achieved their Daos.
And several other great powers whom Qing Ling did not know, whom he had never met, yet who had resided hidden within the heavens and earth of the Primordial World.
And on the Lunar Star, Taiyin Xingjun summoned the moonlight, catching up to Doumu Yuanjun among the stars. She said with a smile, "Elder Sister Doumu, why don't you wait for me?"
Doumu Yuanjun trembled and said, "Why has little sister Taiyin also come?"
Though Taiyin Xingjun's face was aged, her eyes still held a certain grace.
"If I don't come, will Bixia and you not be lonely beyond the heavens? Let's go, let's go, we of our generation should journey beyond the heavens together!"
Bixia Yuanjun, not far away, also looked up and smiled. The three motherly deities exchanged glances and smiles, their starlight and majestic moonbeams paving a divine path together across the nine heavens.
At this moment, all beings in the Primordial World could only look up to these supreme powers. These were the true predecessors, the mighty ones of the world!
On the Western Kunlun, the Queen Mother was somewhat lost in thought, sighing, "You all seek freedom and leave me alone and desolate."
In the northern lands, Xuan Gui, awakened from his slumber, raised his head. Hesitation flickered in his eyes, but ultimately, he did not move.
In the Eastern Sea Dragon Tomb, Prime Minister Turtle stood alone before the ancestral tomb, gazing at the sky in a daze for a long time.
The Heavenly Dao stabilized. In the Northern Pole's origin land, Xuan Gui's two heads mused, "That old man Hongjun has attained the Dao!"
"Now he must be called Dao Ancestor!"
"But he's still just an old Taoist from back then. It's our territory anyway, he can't hear us."
In the south, on the Phoenix Terrace of the Undying Volcano, Vermilion Bird's eyes rippled. He murmured, "So this is the realm of the Hunyuan Great Dao!"
In the west, the White Tiger sacred beast sat alone in the Western Pole, drinking Bai Sha tea. As steam rose, forming faint wisps of mist, he sighed profoundly. He took another sip of Bai Sha tea, and across the greatest distance between heaven and earth, sitting in the Western Pole and gazing towards the Eastern Pole, complex emotions mixed together. He sighed softly, "Yes, you still can't let go of these things, can you?"
Across the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers from the Western Pole, far to the east of the vast Eastern Sea waters, outside a heavenly gate, a person in green robes was confined.
His long hair cascaded like a waterfall, falling to his shoulders, then to his waist. His face was as divine as a god, and his eyes were as indifferent as emotionless.
"Severing the three corpses? The Dao of Emotionlessness? If you, Hongjun, can sever them, why can't I?"
One by one, the great powers felt a surge of emotions. After the emotions came varied feelings.
Some saw the path of the Great Dao opening before them, some saw the grand shifts in power under the Heavenly Dao, and some could even see the benefits of the Heavenly Dao!
As for the Witch clan, they saw the immensity of heaven and earth, and deeply understood their own insignificance. Their frog-in-a-well perspective halted their expansion for the time being.
Henceforth, all the gaze of the great powers in the heavens and earth converged on "Beyond the Heavens," "Zixiao Palace," and "Dao Ancestor's Sermon" – these phrases.
The first Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal in the world, the first Heavenly Dao Saint, the foremost governor of the Heavenly Dao, and arguably, without question, the foremost being in the Primordial World!
The Dao Ancestor's sermon was met with surprise and fervent desire from all the great powers in the world.
Although there was still a thousand years to go, the Dao Ancestor had stated that the place of his lecture would be within the Chaos beyond the heavens, in Zixiao Palace.
Deep within the Chaos, these great powers had rarely ventured.
Immediately, as the celestial saintly phenomena disappeared, some great powers, impatient, rushed towards the beyond.
Simultaneously, at the summit of Jianmu, Qing Ling began his seclusion.
Now in the Primordial World, truly exceptional great powers were few and far between. Below the absolute peak, no one could threaten him.
Therefore, Qing Ling could safely enter a life-and-death seclusion.
Pangu's residual hair, this was something unique in the entire world.
This strand of Pangu's residual hair could increase his origin by several times!
And this, would be a long process.
Qing Ling pondered for a long time and sent a transmission to Daodao.
In the Eastern Wasteland, Ke Shou received the transmission, lost in thought for a long time.
In the Sea of Blood, Patriarch Ming He heard the news with a look of shock, which soon turned to respect.
Even the youth whose eyes were red with bloodlust, fighting in the Sea of Blood, heard the transmission, and the killing intent in his eyes faded. He fell silent, murmuring, "Brother!"
In the southwest, the Ancestor of the Snake Clan was expounding the Dao to his myriad snake kin. The snake folk sat reverently, densely packed from the mountain top to its base, all focused with all their might.
However, at the peak of the multitude of snakes, Qing Xuan Snake Ancestor suddenly paused.
He closed his eyes, mused for a long time, and then abruptly rose.
"Hear my command, all tribesmen! The Dao Ancestor will expound the Great Dao beyond the heavens. I will travel to Zixiao. All you tribesmen must not leave your mountain gates without permission, nor neglect your cultivation. When I return to the Primordial World, I will personally expound the Dao Ancestor's Great Dao to you all."
Upon hearing this, the ten thousand snake folk below were shocked.
But the next sentence made them ecstatic.
"I will travel to Zixiao and can bring several tribesmen with me to Zixiao, to jointly listen to the Dao Ancestor's Great Dao!"
As his voice fell, his gaze swept across the multitude of snakes.
For a time, all the snakes were filled with extreme nervousness. They even forgot to breathe, staring intently at their ancestor's gaze, desperately trying to make him notice them.
Qing Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "The leaders of the Hua She, Xiu She, Ming She, and Teng She will accompany me!"
The four snake folk rejoiced greatly and repeatedly kowtowed, saying, "Many thanks for the Ancestor's mercy!"
Qing Xuan announced, "From now on, I will seal the mountain. No snakes are to leave lightly!"
At the same time, this scene was unfolding among all the myriad races of the Primordial World.
Zixiao Palace, the source of ten thousand generations of the Dao, the root of ten thousand methods, was about to open, making its grand debut on the stage of the Primordial World!