Qing Ling merged with Jian Mu. Jian Mu was him, and he was Jian Mu.
As long as Jian Mu did not perish, Qing Ling would not be extinguished.
If Jian Mu were to fall, Qing Ling would be greatly harmed.
Jian Mu was the foundation of his Great Dao!
Despite this precarious situation, it also served as a contingency.
Even if he were to truly fall one day, as long as Jian Mu remained intact, his true spirit could return to Jian Mu, taking Jian Mu as his body to regain vitality.
Moreover, this would spare him the trouble of re-cultivating his Great Dao. Upon his return, his realm would be as high as Jian Mu's stature.
Qing Ling only needed to protect Jian Mu until the Unwilling Mountain collapsed. Once it fell, no one in the world, whether a Saint or a Hunyuan, whether mortal or heavenly dao, would dare to harm Jian Mu!
As long as he endured the moment the Unwilling Mountain collapsed, he would become an existence of immortality and indestructibility!
Qing Ling did not emerge from seclusion immediately. His realm was unstable, and he could not leave Jian Mu at this moment.
Although he worried about the few members of the demon race, he did not lose his composure.
As the protagonists of the Lich Tribulation, Di Jun and Tai Yi would not face the danger of falling before the tribulation.
This was not wishful thinking, but rather the heavenly dao would not allow the balance between the Lich tribes to be disrupted. If one tribe were to achieve victory, it would mean the unification of the Primordial World by a single race, a situation that would endanger the heavenly dao.
Only by stabilizing his realm could he arrive in time and act as a half-step Hunyuan, rather than merely a supreme grandmaster.
Qing Ling's primordial spirit was comprehending the realm of half-step Hunyuan, perceiving that sliver of Hunyuan power. His Wood Dao was complete, his Wood Dao was perfected.
From this point on, the number of grandmasters of the Wood Dao in the world would dwindle, and it would become increasingly difficult to achieve such a status. By the time Qing Ling reached the thirty-third heaven, within and outside the Primordial World, he would be the sole grandmaster of the Wood Dao.
The Wood Dao was him, Qing Ling; Qing Ling was the Wood Dao. Perfect unity, complete and flawless, close yet unchanging, neither increasing nor decreasing, thus immortal and indestructible, achieving energy conservation within himself. Every action was not merely his own movement, but the movement of heaven and earth, the movement of the Great Dao. It was not the power of a single person, but the power of a Dao, the power of a Dao within the Primordial Chaos!
This was the Hunyuan Golden Immortal!
Qing Ling was currently at the thirty-first heaven of the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm, comparable to a Quasi-Saint who had severed his second corpse and sensed his true self.
However, a Quasi-Saint who had sensed his true self was merely one step away from Hunyuan, or Sainthood. At this stage, they found it difficult to advance further.
Qing Ling was different. He did not follow the path of severing the three corpses to achieve enlightenment. He walked the ancient path tread by countless ancient grandmasters, breaking through the thirty-three heavens to achieve Hunyuan.
Therefore, even in the realm of half-step Hunyuan, he could advance further before reaching the Hunyuan realm, possessing twenty percent greater strength.
A half-step Hunyuan at the thirty-third heaven was twenty percent stronger than a half-step Hunyuan who had sensed his true self. If he were to achieve Hunyuan, he would be thirty percent stronger than a Hunyuan who achieved enlightenment through the three corpses. In other words, even Saints would have to yield three points to such a Hunyuan.
Qing Ling stabilized his still-unsettled Dao foundation and began to observe the Lich battlefield.
The Lich battlefield was a scene of shattered mountains and rivers, broken stars, and a sky repeatedly torn asunder by immense power, groaning in agony.
The Heavenly Cycle Star Array was gradually crumbling. The six main stars grew dimmer and dimmer, and the giant body of Pangu began to waver, his malevolent aura surging, seemingly on the verge of disintegration.
The Du Tian Shen Sha Array was unstable because it was being used for the first time, making it difficult even for the Ancestral Witches to control. Moreover, one of the Ancestral Witches was gravely injured.
Although Ju Mang had suppressed his injuries with a secret witch clan technique, as the battle raged, he grew increasingly unable to sustain himself within the Du Tian Shen Sha Array.
This was the fatal flaw of Du Tian Shen Sha: the twelve Ancestral Witches were indispensable, and their absence could not be compensated!
Although the Heavenly Cycle Star Array was weaker, it had more lasting power than the Du Tian Shen Sha Array. The Du Tian Array's power was unstoppable but difficult to sustain, and it could not be moved.
Furthermore, the Heavenly Cycle Star Array could replace its main stars! Even if the Sun and Tai Yin could not be utilized, they could be used to draw upon the Polaris Ziwei Star and the Southern Pole Changsheng Star.
Within the Heavenly Cycle Star Array, Fu Xi closed his eyes. The innate Bagua and the two principles evolved. The Great Dao of Tai Ji transformed and multiplied in his hands, giving rise to myriad phenomena.
Even Lao Zi, a Saint of the Great Dao of Tai Ji, sincerely praised him, stating that if he were not one of the Pangu Three Pure Ones, even Fu Xi, as a latercomer, would surpass him.
Fu Xi's brow flickered with divine light. Infinite innate trigrams of the Book of Changes, the life and death causality of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, the sixty-four hexagrams derived from Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Xun, Zhen, Gen, and Dui, encompassed the entire Primordial universe.
As the giant body of Pangu shattered myriad stars once more, the Bagua diagram flickered and pulsed. Fu Xi suddenly spat out a mouthful of essence blood, yet he smiled, murmuring, "This is the final tribulation. After this tribulation, boundless blessings shall be bestowed!"
Within the array, the Heavenly Cycle was incomplete. Two hundred of the three hundred and sixty-five main stars had been cut off by Pangu's giant body, leaving only over a hundred dim, lusterless stars.
Di Jun desperately deduced the He Tu and Luo Shu. His two corpses merged into them, becoming the Virtual Yang Star and the Hidden Yang Star to complete the array, once again blocking an attack from Pangu's giant body.
Pangu's giant body roared, his boundless malevolent aura surging, clearly indicating a further destabilization.
Tai Yi, seeing this, rejoiced, "Everyone, hold on a little longer! The Ancestral Witches are about to collapse!"
Seeing that the giant body of Pangu could not be maintained for much longer, he swung his giant axe repeatedly, four times. Four Hunyuan axe blades severed the four corners of the sky, and stars rained down.
The four main formations changed color dramatically. Myriad stars blazed, and even the ceaseless power of the stars was ignited to resist Pangu's final counterattack!
"Rumble~"
Heaven and earth split. The stars of the four directions of the Heavenly Cycle were all shattered, leaving only the Sun and Tai Yin.
Pangu's giant body saw Qing Xuan, who was hiding among the weakest stars. Taking advantage of the Heavenly Cycle Array's ongoing repair, he swung his axe.
Qing Xuan's scalp tingled. His one hundred and eight thousand derived law chains were like moths flying into a flame, attempting to block the heaven-splitting axe blade.
Myriad law lotuses shattered. The Qing Ming Umbrella rotated through the Four Symbols. The Four Symbols of earth, wind, water, and fire merged, finally offering a moment of resistance.
Qing Xuan did not hesitate to flee the array. Only if he lived would the Heavenly Cycle Star Array continue to exist.
If he died, all would be lost!
However, to his despair, the giant axe blade cut through the Four Symbols. The Qing Ming Umbrella dimmed and fell, its origin damaged. The axe blade actually turned towards him.
This scene occurred in an instant, so fast that the Emperor-ranked beings who had just blocked the four axe blades had not yet recovered from the backlash when this shocking turn of events transpired!
Qing Xuan's mind went blank for an instant. The space around him was sealed, leaving him no escape. In the great fear of impending death, he felt as if he had already died, his primordial spirit lost, and he saw a blurry image of time and space. "Is this my next life?"
"Boom~"
"Clang~"
Mountains and rivers fractured, brilliance dazzling.
Qing Xuan realized he was still alive!
Before him, a sacred golden sun, the East Emperor Bell, had blocked this fatal blow for him!
Tai Yi's face was incredibly pale. The backlash instantly caused his primordial spirit to be severely wounded. He knelt on one knee, his heart's blood surging.
Within Jian Mu, Qing Ling was desperately separating himself from Jian Mu. His future self was crucial to the Hunyuan Great Dao and could not be lost. The three lives must merge to prove Hunyuan; without one, none would succeed!
On the Lich battlefield, the majestic giant body of Pangu was gradually fading, but the twelve Ancestral Witches still fiercely swung their remaining two axes, shattering the last remnants of the Sun and Tai Yin, breaking the Heavenly Cycle Array!
Di Jun's two corpses instantly exploded. His primordial spirit was severely wounded, his life and death unknown.
Tai Yi, already reeling from the backlash, had the Sun Star's main formation broken. He was directly sent flying through the sky. Although not unconscious, he was too weak to even stand.
Xi He and Guang Yin descended with pale faces, transforming into light and shielding Di Jun.
Nu Wa and Fu Xi, severely injured from the backlash, were no longer capable of fighting.
Pangu's malevolent aura began to dissipate. The peak of the Unwilling Mountain reappeared in heaven and earth, and Pangu's giant body rapidly disintegrated.
However, at the very last moment, the twelve Ancestral Witches swung another punch and another axe. The punch was aimed at Dong Huang Tai Yi, intending to sever the Heavenly Court's strongest combatant who held the potential for Hunyuan. The axe was aimed at the future Heavenly Mandated Saint, Nu Wa, a killing blow to eliminate this greatest potential threat!
Fu Xi, as if prepared, instantly flashed before Nu Wa. He turned and tossed his Fu Xi zither towards her, giving her a final gentle smile. He transformed into Tai Ji and the Two Principles, standing in the center of the Yin Yang fish eyes. Using himself as the source, he reversed Yin and Yang, re-derived the eight trigrams, and counteracted the sixty-four innate phenomena, stabilizing that fatal axe blow.
The zither landed. Nu Wa was stunned for the first time in her life, not knowing where it came from or where it was going. She saw her brother, with whom she had shared life and death, protect her through this tribulation with his last breath. The brilliant light behind her brother made heaven and earth turn white. In Nu Wa's eyes, Fu Xi was forever frozen in that moment, smiling gently at her, his back against endless light! Da Feng Novel Network.
Nu Wa let out a ferocious roar that echoed throughout the Primordial World.
Heaven and earth wept. A supreme being fell. All living beings lost their voices, and heaven and earth lost their voices. The Dao of Sound dimmed, and within the Dao of Sound, the Dao of the Zither fell.
Nu Wa's rage reached its peak. Unconsciously, she revealed her human form with a snake's tail and frantically searched the location of the eight trigrams for her brother, the brother who had protected her for endless years and accompanied her for endless life.
On the other side, Xi He exerted all her strength to block that Hunyuan punch. Xi He knew she could not block that fatal axe blow. If she went to block it, she would die. If her death could ensure the future birth of a demon race Saint, she would be willing, but she was carrying ten nascent lives within her. She was not selfish for herself, but selfish for the children in her womb.
Time flowed like a waterfall, shielding Tai Yi. However, severely wounded and carrying ten Golden Crows, her strength was weak and insignificant, still unable to withstand this final Hunyuan punch!
At that moment, a cold voice rang out.
"Teleport!"
The vast starlight of the firmament flickered, and the stars of the Heavenly Cycle were once again summoned. The star array stabilized the punch, and the starry sky shattered. This final, weakened blow was teleported into the starry sky.
Tai Yi slowly turned his head and saw the figure who accompanied the stars, yet shone brighter than them.
With a single finger from Qing Ling, the life force of the Wood Dao flowed into Tai Yi. He then extended his hand again, and life force flowed into Di Jun's body. The Heavenly Emperor awoke.
The malevolent aura of the Unwilling Mountain retreated like a tide, dispersing into heaven and earth, yet it did not truly vanish. A faint aura of tribulation permeated the world.
The flesh and blood of countless Liches, their boundless unwillingness and defiance, their death qi and resentment, their malevolent aura and souls, converged in the heavens, forming a tribulation, shifting the fate of all beings.
The twelve Ancestral Witches appeared with pale faces. With the exception of Ju Mang, all still possessed the strength to fight!
The eleven Ancestral Witches looked at the severely wounded Emperor-ranked demons.
Starlight crisscrossed beneath Qing Ling's feet. Before Tai Yi could react, he appeared on the Sun Star.
Beside Tai Yi was his brother, Di Jun.
On the Tai Yin Star, Chang'e looked at the severely wounded Xi He, her heart filled with sorrow and pain. "Sister, why did you do this?"
Xi He was stunned, then smiled. "Silly sister, love arises unconsciously and deepens profoundly. For Di Jun, I regret nothing, even in death."
Di Jiang, seeing that the severely wounded Tai Yi, Di Jun, and Xi He had vanished into thin air, roared, "Ancestor Demon, since I cannot take the lives of Di Jun and Tai Yi today, I will take yours as repayment!"
Nu Wa found Fu Xi's incomplete primordial spirit in the dust of the eight trigrams. A smile appeared on her face, and she carefully put it away.
When she raised her eyes again, there was no longer the compassion of Empress Nu Wa, only a pair of divine and demonic pupils!
"Twelve Ancestral Witches, you will all die!"
On Nu Wa's indifferent face, there were a pair of frenzied eyes. She looked at the twelve Ancestral Witches.