The cycle of the Six Paths was established, and the Wu Clan gained an existence comparable to a Saint. Even though no one knew the exact strength of this Earthly Saint, no one would dare to provoke them, nor would they dare to carve out a piece of the pie from the Earthly Path.
With the establishment of reincarnation, the Earthly Path had become an indispensable core of the Primordial World. The cycle of life and death, this life and the next, offered countless opportunities for scheming and strategizing. To be able to enter the Earthly Path would instill immense awe in all the powerful beings of the world.
However, with an Earthly Saint guarding it, no one dared to be foolish enough to offend them.
The eleven Ancestral Witches retreated to the Ancestral Witch Hall. Hou Tu's palace was not sealed, but an additional Ancestral Witch had joined. His name was Cheng Huang, with a white body and disheveled hair. He resembled a fox and had two horns on his back.
Cheng Huang received Hou Tu's heart's blood and the Pangu Essence Blood from the Pangu Hall, forcibly elevating him to the Ancestral Witch realm. However, his lifespan would not exceed two hundred Yuan Hui.
This was Hou Tu's contingency plan for the Wu Clan and signaled the impending end of the Wu-Demon era.
If the Wu and Demon tribes could have stalled, Cheng Huang would have died, the Du Tian Shen Sha Formation would have been broken, and the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Formation, with its boundless starry expanse, could have annihilated the Wu Clan.
But the Wu and Demon tribes could no longer afford to stall.
Having engaged in conflict for over two hundred Yuan Hui, the two tribes had accumulated countless irreconcilable enmities.
Wu offspring killed demon offspring, demon offspring killed Wu descendants, Wu descendants killed demon fathers… generation after generation, the hatred had become ingrained.
Xi He arrived at Du Guang and presented the bodies of the nine Golden Crows, departing with reluctance.
Qing Ling comforted her, saying that mother and child would meet again.
Xi He wiped away tears and departed, offering repeated thanks.
Du Guang regained its tranquility. Unlike the imminent tribulation of the Primordial World, where worldly karmic energies were already manifesting, the area beneath the Jianmu remained like a secluded paradise.
Every tens of thousands of years, Qing Ling would release an Immortal from the Chan Sect. Over three Yuan Hui, all twelve Golden Immortals returned to Kunlun.
Guang Cheng Zi, who had been tormented by the Black and White Impermanence for a long time, also returned to Kunlun. After enduring such hardships, the twelve Golden Immortals' sharp edges had been blunted.
Qing Ling did not trouble these younger generations. The conflict between him and Yuan Shi was not something these juniors could escape.
He ascended Jianmu, settling once more at the peak of Jianmu, thirty-two Heaven layers high. He would not rise from this spot until he achieved the Hunyuan realm.
Qing Ling raised his hand, and fourteen drops of Pangu Essence Blood appeared at the peak of Jianmu.
As time receded, nine drops of Pangu Essence Blood fell into Jianmu.
Among them were three drops of extremely pure Pangu Blood.
The remaining five drops were collected by Qing Ling.
Nine was the ultimate number; Jianmu could not bear more.
The nine drops of Pangu Blood merged into Jianmu, shaping its fundamental source, strengthening its body thirty-two Heaven layers high, solidifying its foundation, and tempering its wooden form, layer after layer, time and time again.
As Pangu Blood integrated with Jianmu, Jianmu gained Pangu's bloodline, naturally developing a connection with this Pangu Heaven and Earth.
The roots of Jianmu absorbed the vast earthly miasma, and the peak of Jianmu gathered the stellar power. Both stellar and earthly energies were contained within Jianmu, significantly strengthening its body.
Only thus could Jianmu withstand even the collapse of the heavens.
In the East Sea, within the ancestral cave, Huang Long Shi Zu arose. Hundreds of young dragons, both large and small, knelt before him.
Huang Long Shi Zu sighed, "Our karmic ties have come to an end. In the ancient era of Dragon and Phoenix, the Dragon Tribe protected me for two hundred Yuan. Now, in the Wu-Demon era, I have protected the Dragon Tribe for one Liang Jie.
The past has completely vanished.
You have all grown up, and the future of the Dragon Tribe now rests on your shoulders!
Ying Long, until Chi Long returns, you are the leader of the Dragon Tribe!
Even when Chi Long returns, you must act according to my plans. Remember this, remember this! For the Dragon Tribe to endure for ten thousand generations and continue until immeasurable Kalpas, it depends on whether you can follow my schemes!"
A young man with a resolute face bowed and said, "Ying Long will strictly obey the ancestor's command, and will not shy away from death!"
Huang Long Shi Zu nodded with satisfaction, smiling, "I hope that one day, the heavens and earth will again see dragons soaring in the sea, dragons flying in the nine heavens, dragons battling in the wild, and dragon might spreading far and wide. At that time, we will all be honored!"
Huang Long Shi Zu laughed heartily, transformed into his five-clawed yellow dragon form, broke through the sea, and flew into the sky. He soared above the vast ocean, his roar echoing within the four seas. Countless water creatures bowed to him.
Within the ancestral dragon cave, hundreds of true dragons bowed respectfully, "Farewell, Ancestor!"
The Four Sea Dragon Kings, thousands of river gods, all rivers, lakes, and seas, any creature with the dragon bloodline, bowed to him.
On Jin Ao Island, Tong Tian's eyes showed a hint of loneliness. Longevity was easy, but freedom was difficult. The Great Dao passed by like fleeting clouds.
Huang Long Shi Zu flew to the nine heavens and then to the peak of Jianmu, thirty-two Heaven layers high, to see Qing Ling.
Qing Ling smiled and said, "I thought you would stay for a while longer. I didn't expect you to be so willing to part with those dragon whelps?"
Huang Long Shi Zu shook his head and chuckled, "What difference does it make if it's a day earlier or later? The past is the past. We must consider the present."
Qing Ling nodded, raised his palm, and pressed it against the crown of Huang Long's head, sending a beam of spiritual light.
"Go, and deliver this to me."
Huang Long Shi Zu was startled. He sensed the object within his crown and said, "Even if you send this into the Chaos, you cannot wield it?"
Qing Ling shook his head. "This item is useless to others, but it has a specific purpose for specific individuals."
Seeing this, Huang Long stopped worrying. He waved his hand, and the Myriad Dragon Seal and the Green Lotus Treasure Colored Banner appeared.
"You should keep these two items in your safekeeping."
"Why did you bring this banner too?" Qing Ling chuckled. "You old ancestor has taken out the entire treasury of the Dragon Tribe."
Huang Long Shi Zu said helplessly, "With me no longer guarding the Dragon Tribe, these supreme treasures might attract unwanted attention. It is naturally safer to keep them on Jianmu.
You and I are one, so you naturally know what I am thinking. The Myriad Dragon Seal can only belong to the Dragon Tribe; its power cannot be used. As for the Green Lotus Treasure Colored Banner, consider it my reward for my efforts in planning for the Dragon Tribe while I guarded them."
Qing Ling sighed, "Alas, the innate Five Directions Banners cannot be gathered by one person, and the four innate lotus platforms cannot be in the hands of one individual. Otherwise, with my Wood Dao, I might not be able to trace back to the source and return to the eighteen-grade lotus platform!"
Huang Long Shi Zu was dismissive, "If you were to also seize the innate Red Gourd, the Three Treasures Ruyi, and the Qing Ping Sword, wouldn't there be a great possibility of reaching the twenty-four-grade lotus platform?"
This statement made Qing Ling pause and fall into deep thought.
Huang Long Shi Zu left the Primordial World and entered the Chaos. From this moment on, Huang Long Shi Zu would cease to exist in the world!
Qing Ling stood silently at the summit of Jianmu. The thirty-six-grade Creation Green Lotus was the mother that birthed Pangu, the foremost Primordial Treasure, surpassing even the complete Qiankun Ding, the Heaven-Opening Axe, the Disk of Creation, and the Chaos Pearl.
At the same time, the thirty-six-grade Creation Green Lotus was the origin of dozens of Great Daos, including the Wood Dao, the Great Dao of Creation, and the Great Dao of Life, Death, Prosperity, and Decline. Even the endpoint of the Wood Dao was merely the dispersal of one of its lotus petals.
He had always harbored a thought in his heart: to resurrect the lotus platform.
He dared not even think about the Chaos Lotus Platform above the twenty-four grades; even Hongjun, who had unified the Great Dao of Heaven, could not achieve it.
However, if it were merely an innate lotus platform of over ten grades, with his supreme cultivation of the Wood Dao, coupled with the Green Jade Umbrella formed from the leaves of the twenty-four-grade Chaos Green Lotus, and now possessing one of the innate Five Directions Banners formed from the leaves of the thirty-six-grade Green Lotus, and having comprehended the phantom of the thirty-six-grade Creation Green Lotus in the Chaos, then perhaps he truly could!
However, all of this depended on first achieving the Hunyuan realm.
The Hunyuan realm he sought to prove was the most difficult path walked by the ancient great powers, a path without the aid of the Heaven and Earth Will or the assistance of a Saintly position.
Any great power in the Primordial World, even if born a Kalpa earlier, even with higher seniority, even if dominating the world, would have no connection to achieving Hunyuan.
But Qing Ling had a sliver of a chance, not only because of his destiny and profound fortune but also because he possessed memories of the grand trends of the Primordial World that were clearer than those of a Saint.
Furthermore, Jianmu supported the heavens, and that catastrophic event in the world was his unparalleled opportunity.
Before this, Qing Ling could not achieve Hunyuan. After this, Qing Ling would even less likely achieve Hunyuan. This was his only chance.
His mindset was tranquil and steady, with no trace of impatience. Even if the Six Saints achieved enlightenment before him, what of it? What could it possibly matter?
Even if Yuan Shi plotted against him, he would only be plotted against in return.
The first Hunyuan in the ancient ages was the first to successfully walk the path, taking two Kalpas, one primal and one ancient, a total of three thousand Yuan Hui.
Qing Ling would be the second first person, also taking two Kalpas, a little less than half of the ancient era, and the entire distant past. This spanned the end of the Dragon-Phoenix era for two hundred Yuan Hui and the entirety of the Wu-Demon era for nearly three hundred Yuan Hui, totaling less than five hundred Yuan Hui!
In the Chaos, Qing Ling's Chaos Self opened its eyes and looked at the approaching Huang Long Shi Zu, saying, "Have you settled your karmic debts?"
"Naturally."
"Are there any lingering wishes?"
"None."
"Then return!"
Huang Long Shi Zu walked towards the Chaos Self. The past self represented the past, the previous life. This life had sacrificed its previous life, and its future life. The present self stood at the center of the past and future, merging into one, the three selves becoming one.
Huang Long Shi Zu completely merged into the Chaos Self, sacrificing the price of one generation, or rather, all the past lives before the previous life and all the future lives after the next life, merging into one.
Qing Ling's cultivation realm in the Chaos Self once again ascended, reaching the state of perfection, without any deficiency. This was the magical power of the thirty-three Heaven realms!
Above the Demon Realm, Nuwa felt a surge of emotion and smiled even more. It seemed the vitality of the Demon Tribe had increased once more. She believed she had not misjudged; those who could become Dao companions would eventually be Dao companions.
On Kunlun Mountain, Yuan Shi looked up at Qing Ling in the Chaos, his eyes filled with complexity. Holding the twelve Golden Immortals to control Kunlun had made Yuan Shi's apprehension towards Qing Ling no less than that towards a Saint.
On Shouyang Mountain, Lao Zi's right eyelid twitched. He frowned; this was not a good omen.
On Jin Ao Island, Tong Tian also expressed some surprise. At this juncture, it was not beneficial for the Wu-Demon balance to be disrupted, but it could no longer be prevented.
The Two Sages of the West praised. Zhun Ti said, "I fear he can now be considered a half-Saint!"
Jie Yin said, "If there are no accidents, he will likely be the next Saint or Hunyuan."
Zhun Ti's brows curved, and he smiled, "But with such an existence, comparable to us, participating in the Wu-Demon conflict, does the Wu tribe still have a chance to turn the tide?"
Jie Yin nodded and said, "Let the Three Pure Ones deal with this headache."
"That may not be so!" Zhun Ti said, "Perhaps we will still have to do this thankless task."
Jie Yin mused, "Then it depends on how much they are willing to sacrifice! We have already repaid most of our karmic debts to him, so the remainder will be easier."