Bai Ze, from this Primordial Spirit, understood the Heavenly Immortal God, and his eyes observed all sentient beings. He knew astronomy above, geography below, and the affairs of men in between, understanding yin and yang, the eight trigrams, the wondrous gates, and the concealed tactics.
The ultimate truths of heaven and earth, the future of all ages, nothing was beyond his sight, yet he dared not gaze upon it.
Beneath the Jian Mu tree, Bai Ze began to stabilize his realm. As his cultivation had not undergone trials, his foundation was inevitably somewhat unsteady.
After a thousand years of seclusion, Bai Ze left Duguan and returned to the Nine-Colored Deer tribe to watch over this ancient clan.
Among the myriad races of the Primordial World, not all groups could be called ancient clans.
Only those who were vassals of great tribes during the Dragon- Phoenix era and whose clans remained intact through calamities, possessing depth, strength, and reputation, could be called ancient clans.
Time flowed by, and Duguan remained as peaceful and serene as ever.
The Witch clan of the Primordial World continued to expand bit by bit. The number of Witch clan members grew from just ten thousand upon their emergence to hundreds of millions, and twelve majestic and towering Ancestral Witch Halls stood erect on the vast land.
The Witch clan had indeed gradually become the foremost tribe in the Primordial World!
The physical combat power of the twelve Ancestral Witches rivaled that of twelve great Heavenly-Mortal powers, comparable to even the openly acknowledged great Heavenly-Mortal powers of the three tribes in their prime.
It is worth mentioning that in the Luoling Mountain Range in the southwest, a great power gathered a multitude of snakes, forming the Snake tribe and proclaiming themselves the first Green Snake in existence. Their clan was a renowned great tribe in the Primordial World.
The Primordial World had always been a stage for the law of the jungle, where the strong preyed on the weak.
Until that day, when everything changed.
Outside Mount Buzhou, within the Jade Capital Guan, a Daoist sound reverberated, a single word spreading across hundreds of millions of miles of Shenzhou.
"Sever!"
The eternal order of heaven and earth trembled, and time, which was omnipresent, vanished completely at that moment.
An old Daoist stood on a white jade capital, and three ethereal phantoms appeared above his head, reaching into the firmament.
A white-robed elder with kind eyes and a benevolent smile watched the clouds drift across the sky.
A black-robed elder, gloomy and oppressive, seemed to dwell forever in shadows, with light never touching him.
The last was a majestic Daoist who descended from the heavens. This body was the self that Hongjun severed after defeating all Daos and achieving a state of mind that could contend with and control the world.
He severed his pride, his arrogance, and the joy of victory.
Hongjun, without good or evil, without self, was the most rational being in existence, bar none.
Therefore, under absolute rationality and wisdom, he could never lose.
This was one of the reasons he was able to become the victor of all Daos.
All the dormant great powers in the world turned their gaze towards the Jade Capital. Even those hidden within the chaos looked in his direction.
The Daoist standing on the pristine pavilions and palaces – wherever he was, that was the center of heaven and earth.
Behind Hongjun, the Time Dao Wheel took shape, and the Great Dao of Time was entirely under his command. He controlled all of time.
As the long river of time flowed, Hongjun remained forever above the water, never to sink.
Hongjun, in the forty-ninth Yuan Hui after the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity, severed his three corpses and achieved the "Primordial Boundless Great Luo Golden Immortal"!
The Great Dao retreated three hundred million leagues of Hongmeng space, and the three thousand lesser Daos fell under the Great Dao of Time.
The Primordial Boundless Great Luo Golden Immortal was a terrifying existence that only great powers could sense, leaving the common beings oblivious.
Hongjun took a step forward, and the Time Dao Wheel behind him merged into the Creation Jade Disk. The Heavenly Dao descended upon him, causing the Heavenly Dao to tremble.
Purple Qi surged from east to west across the heavens and earth, forming a vast tide of clouds.
From the myriad layers of heaven, countless heavenly flowers descended, and from the vast earth, endless golden lotuses emerged.
The sun and moon receded, and all stars dimmed.
Heavenly flowers rained down, golden lotuses sprang from the earth. Purple Qi came from the east, permeating the land of Shenzhou.
Hongjun had become a Saint!
Heavenly music resounded, melodies arose, and the clouds parted.
A profound sound from the Nine Heavens echoed through the Primordial World: "I am Hongjun. One hundred and one Yuan Hui after Pangu's creation of heaven and earth, I have achieved the Primordial Great Luo Golden Immortal, becoming a Heavenly Dao Saint.
I govern the Dao on behalf of Heaven and bear the responsibility of educating all beings.
A thousand years hence, I shall preach the Great Dao in the Zixiao Palace beyond the heavens, teaching the three thousand Great Daos and one hundred and eight thousand lesser Daos, to enlighten all sentient beings."
Qing Ling pondered in his heart. The White Dragon Ancestor had delayed Hongjun's ascension to sainthood by forty-nine Yuan Hui.
The Great Dao is fifty, and Heaven's evolution is forty-nine.
Hongjun's attainment of sainthood occurred in the one hundred and first Yuan Hui after the world's creation.
One Yuan Hui less was attributed to the post-natal efforts of humanity, and one Yuan Hui more was attributed to the pre-natal accomplishment of Pangu.
Destiny, profound and mysterious, was not something he could discern, not even Bai Ze might fully comprehend it.
Hongjun's majestic aura receded, and time returned to the Primordial World.
At the moment of Hongjun's sainthood, no living being in the Primordial World was born or died, for Hongjun had taken away time.
Therefore, no one was aware of Hongjun's attainment of sainthood!
The majesty of a Saint was like the awe-inspiring power of Heaven, irresistible.
Yet, there was no universal prostration as one might expect, no coercion of the entire world into worship.
Hongjun was a Primordial Boundless Great Luo Golden Immortal first and foremost, and a Saint thereafter.
Hongjun made himself known to the world through his Dao. He did not seek reverence or attach importance to ceremonies. In his eyes, there were no sentient beings, no ants. He would neither kill a single person nor seize the grand opportunity of any living creature.
This was because, at this moment, he wielded the Heavenly Dao, and the Heavenly Dao was the source of the Dao.
In Qing Ling's eyes, the Heavenly Dao became ever more distant and was no longer the Heavenly Dao of old!
The Heavenly Dao had changed!
Just as a prince who, driven by his pursuit of power and willing to harm his brothers, becomes emperor, his vision shifted from internal power struggles to benefiting all beings!
The Heavenly Dao had truly changed!
The shackles imposed upon the various Daos shattered one by one!
These shackles fell into the thirty-three heavens. The thirty-third heaven became even higher and more distant, making travel between the Primordial World and the outer heavens more arduous.
Qing Ling stared at Jade Capital Mountain, lost in thought for a long time.
He had initially believed that after Hongjun attained sainthood, the Heavenly Dao would become invincible, suppressing all beings, and all Daos would bow solely to Heaven.
But Qing Ling was mistaken.
The Saint realm was different from Primordial Boundless Great Luo Golden Immortal.
The latter emphasized power, while the former emphasized the heart.
A Saint's heart could determine the fate of all ages.
What connection could such desires, enmities, and karmic entanglements have with a Saint?
It was not the Heavenly Dao that changed Hongjun, but Hongjun who changed the Heavenly Dao!
This had never happened before, nor would it ever again. He was the true Primordial First Saint!
Qing Ling was deeply impressed. He bowed deeply to the Daoist who was about to depart from Jade Capital Mountain. He knew he could never reach such a realm or possess such a Saint's heart.
Hongjun was Hongjun. It was the Daoist Hongjun who became the Dao Ancestor, not simply because he was Hongjun that he was destined to be the Dao Ancestor.
On a white jade capital, the Dao Ancestor stepped into the thirty-third heaven. The Jade Capital Mountain beneath his feet ascended, along with everything on it—a flower, a blade of grass, a bird, a beast.
Truly, one man attains the Dao, and his fowl and dogs ascend to heaven!
Qing Ling's bow caused the Dao Ancestor, who was heading to the outer heavens, to pause and look back at him.
The Dao Ancestor reached out and brushed past Jian Mu, and a strand of long hair drifted down.
Qing Ling was shocked and reached out to receive it.
Great powers from all sides were also shocked, their eyes filled with complex emotions.
Some great powers followed Qing Ling's example and bowed to the Dao Ancestor, even kneeling.
However, opportunities are not sought through supplication.
The reason Qing Ling bowed was that, as the Earthly Dao, he perceived the changes in the Heavenly Dao with far greater clarity than other great powers.
Therefore, he recognized Dao Ancestor Hongjun's grand realm and magnanimous heart and bowed out of genuine respect.
These great powers, however, harbored desires and were driven by external factors.
Qing Ling thanked the Dao Ancestor for his immense kindness and watched him ascend to the outer heavens.
He remembered a poem:
*In the white Jade Capital above, on the twelfth city floor, fifth. An immortal strokes my head, and we tie our hair for eternal life.*
It was no wonder that all the great powers were shocked and even humbled themselves to beg.
This strand of long hair in Qing Ling's hand was not the Dao Ancestor's hair, but the hair of Pangu!