On Mount Sumeru, Zhunti gazed into the distance, his eyes dazzled by the radiant Xuanhuang light.
"How can he possess so much merit!"
Jieyin sighed, "If this much merit were in my Western Paradise, it would have long nurtured a spiritual treasure of merit, strengthening the destiny of our Western Great Sect.
His Jianmu supports the heavens and grounds the earth, making the sky higher and the ground thicker. It has even strengthened the world's origin by two parts, hence the immense merit.
Furthermore, he has accumulated merit with the Heavenly Dao since its weakness in the Primordial Era, accumulating to this day. Who knows how much he is owed."
Zhunti coughed lightly and said, "Senior Brother, our Western Sect has very few powerful beings. I believe we still lack a Third Sect Master. Why not invite this individual to lead our sect?
Senior Brother can oversee the foundation and principles, I will manage external affairs, and he can handle both. With absolute authority over a sect, few in the world could contend."
On Mount Kunlun, Primordial Heavenly Venerable was taken aback. For the first time, he felt that Xuanhuang merit was not as pleasing to the eye.
In Wa Huang Palace, Nuwa narrowed her eyes. With such vast merit, if there were another Hongmeng Purple Qi, one could directly achieve sainthood through merit!
She glanced towards the Great Fiery Heaven World beyond the heavens. Hong Yun's true form was there, and so was the Hongmeng Purple Qi.
However, Hong Yun did not intend to pursue sainthood through merit. Pulling Hong Yun into the Earthly Dao not only dashed the hopes of others but also extinguished Qing Ling's own aspirations, preventing him from being tempted by the Hongmeng Purple Qi.
After all, sainthood was too alluring. No one could resist it, not even the weakest among those who achieved sainthood through merit.
Thus, Qing Ling himself extinguished the thought of becoming a saint through merit, fighting with his back against the wall and no retreat, forcing himself to give his all.
Atop Jianmu, the Heavenly Dao returned all the merit owed to Qing Ling, not a bit more or less.
Golden light of merit illuminated the Primordial World, accumulating at the summit of Jianmu and forming a sea of clouds.
Qing Ling raised his long saber, "Slayer of Gods!"
The Slayer of Gods saber was lifted above his head, its edge pointing to the sky. The vast Xuanhuang merit seemed to have found an outlet, rushing into the Slayer of Gods saber in a frenzy.
The Xuanhuang merit was absorbed by the Slayer of Gods saber like a whale drinking water. This supreme treasure, nurtured within Qing Ling's body for over four hundred kalpas, was a treasure of merit!
Now, with this immense merit, it was rare in the world, perhaps unique.
If not for the difference in quality of merit, the title of the foremost congenital treasure of merit, the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda, would have to be relinquished.
The merit of Pangu's creation was not comparable to the merit of the Heavenly Dao.
But even so, the Slayer of Gods saber deserved to be the foremost acquired treasure of killing!
In some aspects, it far surpassed the two top-grade acquired treasures of killing belonging to Ming He.
Qing Ling ignored the envious and greedy gazes from all directions. With a sweep of his hand, Jianmu was once again shrouded in mist, isolating it from all prying eyes.
The eye of the Heavenly Dao flickered, appearing somewhat weary, and vanished into the void.
Qing Ling settled his mind, his primordial spirit pure and unified. He raised his head and touched his brow, the final imprinting, the Ancestral Serpent Imprint.
At the same time, in the Demon Realm, on the Ancestral Star, beneath the tall and majestic Ancestral Tree, countless snakes prostrated themselves before the altar. Zhan Mu, with its massive serpentine body coiled beneath the Ancestral Tree, declared, "Today, I, Zhan Mu, inheriting the remains of Tai Geng, the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Serpents from the Ancient Era, receive the decree of the current Ancestor of Serpents and am appointed the third-generation Ancestor of Ten Thousand Serpents!"
On Jianmu, Qing Ling wiped his brow. The Ancestral Serpent Imprint sensed the land of the ancient Serpent Sacrifice and descended upon Zhan Mu's head.
Zhan Mu's giant serpent head tilted back and let out a roar that shook the firmament. The eight tribes of the Demon Realm trembled in fear of the pressure emanating from an ancient supreme being, a display of power in the Demon Realm.
In an unknowable place, superimposed across distant eons and planes, a handsome and noble man closed his eyes. After a long pause, he silently opened them. His captivating golden divine pupils revealed a cold sneer, "Very good! My remains have become another's Dao body.
When I return to the Primordial World, all serpents shall return to me!"
In the Primordial World, atop Jianmu.
Qing Ling's primordial spirit was no longer stained with the slightest impurity.
All divine authority positions had been returned to their rightful places.
As for the position of Demon Ancestor, there was no Heavenly Dao imprint associated with it. The demon race was not a naturally existing race. Moreover, the title "Demon Ancestor" merely signified Qing Ling's elevated status in temples and ancestral shrines, a manifestation of the demon race's destiny, and did not involve his primordial spirit.
Therefore, there was no need to relinquish the position of Demon Ancestor.
Qing Ling's primordial spirit was extremely pure. He was just Qing Ling, that unknown and inexplicable wisp of a soul, or perhaps that wisp of a soul had dissipated in his mind. He, the Spring God, now possessed the memories of an outsider.
All past events had become fleeting moments.
Qing Ling's primordial spirit perceived all things in heaven and earth, sensed the vast Primordial World, and searched for karma.
All threads of karma converged in his hands, knowing their beginnings and understanding their outcomes.
However, in a spatial rift in the northwest of the Primordial World, he sensed a faint, almost dissipating thread of karma.
Qing Ling suddenly recalled that his future self, Qing Xuan, had shed a drop of essence blood that had severed the karma of the demon race. Qing Xuan, the demon god on the Monster Summoning Banner, was already dead.
What he sensed was that drop of essence blood.
The blood of a powerful being could create a Taiyi Golden Immortal with the potential to reach Da Luo.
This drop of blood had fallen into that spatial rift, a small world within which life existed and multiplied.
For the beings of that realm, this drop of powerful blood would be a great fortune bestowed upon them, or upon one of them.
Qing Ling pondered for a moment, his divine sense probing into the small world, named Tian Yuan. It contained nineteen continents, with seas and lands intertwined.
(The starting point of the next book's story, Tian Yuan Realm, Nineteen Continents, a free and unrestrained White Snake Immortal.)
Qing Ling withdrew his divine sense, his primordial spirit unified and merged with his Dao body.
Countless wooden elements in heaven and earth sensed this change. The path of wood in heaven and earth was now completely unified. Qing Ling was the sole great master of the wood Dao!
Just as there were no other great masters of creation before Nuwa achieved her Dao, this was the struggle of the Great Dao; only one supreme being could exist on a single path.
After Nuwa became a saint, the Great Dao of Creation returned to heaven and earth. Only then would there be new great masters of the Dao of Creation, but there would never be a second saint who walked the Dao of Creation.
Just as before Lao Tzu became a saint, Fu Xi concurrently cultivated the Great Dao of Taiji. Only after his death did the Great Dao of Taiji unify with Lao Tzu, giving rise to the Tai Qing Saint of the Great Dao of Taiji.
Therefore, as long as Qing Ling did not achieve Hunyuan, he would forever be the only great master of the wood Dao in the world, or until his demise when the wood Dao would return to the world.
Qing Ling's Dao body and primordial spirit were completely merged with the Dao, making the wood Dao singular.
At this moment, Mount Buzhou of the wood Dao in the chaos emitted a vast green divine light, illuminating the thousands of large and small worlds on the World Tree in the chaos.
Mount Buzhou of the wood Dao was the convergence point of all wood Daos in the world, and it was the manifestation of his Dao fruit.
From this moment on, Mount Buzhou of the wood Dao was complete.
It also signified that Qing Ling's Great Dao was now complete.
Atop Jianmu, wind and clouds gathered. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth no longer fluctuated. What Qing Ling lacked now was not magical power, but an opportune moment.
Within Qing Ling, essence, energy, and spirit were all complete. His magical power was boundless, his primordial spirit flawless, his realm perfect, and his Dao fruit consummated. He was a Da Luo Golden Immortal, at the thirty-third heavenly realm!
After cultivating for nearly five hundred kalpas, Qing Ling had finally reached the pinnacle of the ancient era.
Qing Ling was now complete in all aspects. He had gathered all his threads of karma. In the river of time, through the epochs, and within destiny, Qing Ling could no longer be found.
His past life and his future lives had vanished, beyond calculation, beyond scheming.
If Yuanshi were to scheme against him now, Qing Ling would sense it.
He stood infinitely close to becoming a Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal.
The closer one got to the final step, the more cautious and careful one had to be.
The preceding ninety-nine steps were all in preparation for this final step.
If this last step were to go awry, no matter how well and steadily the previous ninety-nine steps were taken, all would be in vain, and everything would turn to dust.
Qing Ling would not end up like Zulong, who was defeated by his own clan and lost the opportunity to prove his Dao.
His current situation was similar to that of Lao Tzu; both were waiting for an opportune moment.
However, there was a difference. Lao Tzu's opportune moment was merely the unification of the Three Pure Ones, which was optional.
For Qing Ling, this opportune moment was crucial. Without it, becoming Hunyuan would remain a dream!
The path he walked was that of ancient powerful beings, different from Hongjun's method of severing three corpses.
Hongjun's path emerged only after experiencing the tribulations of heaven and earth.
Qing Ling's path was also the same, and only through this path could it be achieved.