"What a good-looking skin!" The old man stroked his short, white beard, his black eyes appraising Qing Ling from head to toe before he exclaimed.
Qing Ling's heart tensed. He flinched slightly. This old man before him was likely a Golden Immortal Venerable!
A gentle breeze carried the bright moon; green grass stretched to the sky. The old man's aura was like a faint orchid, his presence merging with heaven and earth. Every movement he made was imbued with the flow of Dao.
"Little snake pays respects to senior," Qing Ling bowed respectfully. Encountering a powerful figure in the wild, one with an immortal demeanor and the appearance of a grandfather, he harbored no illusions of miraculous fortune where the elder would impart his teachings and take him as a disciple. In this situation, it was highly probable he had caught the elder's attention!
This was utterly life-threatening!
He dared not make the slightest move, nor employ any skill, for facing a Golden Immortal Venerable with such actions would be courting death. Only by complying with them could he hope to survive.
The old man in the black robe did not bid him rise. He merely stated calmly, "You killed my tribesmen, yet you dare address me as 'senior'?"
Qing Ling's heart sank halfway. A Golden Immortal of the Crimson Toad clan! It seemed to be a newly ascended Golden Immortal Venerable. Otherwise, the four Golden Immortal Venerables of this clan had previously sworn an oath with the three Golden Immortal elders of the Xi Mountain Snake clan, forbidding them from crossing the borders of either tribe.
Qing Ling's divine sense raced through a thousand thoughts. He immediately fell to his knees, his red robes spreading across the ground. His hair loosened, his green hairband slipped off, and tears welled up in his eyes. "Little snake deserves death. To survive in this world, one must depend on the strong, thus I joined the Xi Mountain Snake clan and was forced to attack the Crimson Toad clan.
Little snake knows his sins are grave, and thus I do not beg for your forgiveness. I only wish for you to spare my life. I am willing to plant the Venerable's Dao prohibition upon myself, my life and death entirely in your hands. Allow me to serve by your side, to support you for the rest of my days, as a slave and a maid to repay my past transgressions."
Qing Ling felt no hesitation or shame. In the ancient Primordial World, there was only survival, not dignity. This era had no Sages, no rules of etiquette or teaching. Each era had its own essence. In this era of the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation's dawn, living was paramount!
He was a transmigration, his destiny extraordinary, yet he was merely a demigod. Countless innate deities were born at the dawn of the Primordial World. He felt no superiority, nor any golden finger. His only reliance was his will to survive, and he would do anything to live. Cruelty, ruthlessness, and chaos were the true nature of the Primordial World!
The old man in the black robe watched the young man in red kneeling beneath the moon, his long hair flowing, his peerlessly beautiful face androgynous. His body trembled slightly as he wept, evoking a sense of poignant beauty and a desire to protect within the elder, causing a tightness in his throat.
However, what he did not see was that as the young man slowly raised his head, the tears he desperately squeezed out of his eyes trickled down his right eye, carrying away one of the three green crystal drops at the corner of his eye.
That single green crystal, along with the tear, traced a path across his face and dripped down. The moment it fell, it broke free from the seal of his divine body and instantly dispersed into a thousand molecules, each countless times smaller than dust.
Just as a night breeze stirred, the wind carried these molecules, which adhered to the exposed skin of the Golden Immortal Venerable's clothes and flesh, integrating into his skin upon contact.
The elder remained oblivious. He looked at the young man and said with a hint of regret, "It's a pity you killed too many of my kin. Otherwise, I might have taken pity and spared your life today.
However, rest assured, I will refine your body into a puppet and keep you by my side for eternity."
As he spoke, the elder reached out, and an immense force from the void, irresistible, bound Qing Ling.
Qing Ling's serpentine heart pounded violently. His gall bladder secreted a large amount of bile. The terror emanating from a Golden Immortal enveloped his mind.
Yet, he still roared, "Can Your Exalted Honor permit this little snake to speak one last word before perishing? Just one word, and then I will have no regrets and willingly cooperate to be refined into a puppet!"
Upon hearing the latter part, the old man in the black robe paused his outstretched hand. The first half had not moved him in the slightest, but the latter had piqued his interest. "Speak. I am listening."
Qing Ling felt the void's great force, which had bound him, lighten considerably. He struggled to rise, his face devoid of any panic, only a calm demeanor.
To the elder, this appeared to be the resignation of one facing death without fear. But the next moment, he was stunned. He heard the "ant" before him scoff, "Old lecher, you deserve to be castrated."
That condescending, arrogant posture, the aura of a deity looking down upon ants, instantly enraged him to the extreme. He could scarcely believe his ears.
Seizing the moment of the elder's stunned silence, Qing Ling instantly transformed into his human form with a serpentine tail. His red robe vanished, revealing a perfect body to heaven and earth. His vibrant green serpentine tail, bathed in moonlight, appeared even more mysterious.
As soon as he revealed his divine form, the elder roared in fury, "Abomination, you court death!" He slapped down from a distance, a colossal, terrifying force, carrying the might of a thousand feet of heaven and earth, intending to crush the colossal python into a paste.
But from the ground beside the elder, nine blue threads suddenly emerged. The nine blue threads intertwined into three thousand, which wove into a net, encompassing heaven and earth. Externally, the law formed tangible objects; internally, the Dao forged divine wonders. The nine innate Dao prohibitions suddenly vibrated, temporarily trapping the Golden Immortal Venerable.
Meanwhile, Qing Ling, human body with a serpentine tail, floated in mid-air. Behind him, his ten billion strands of hair surged in the wind. His bare upper body and serpentine tail were enveloped by moonlight, as if coated in silver. His peerless face opened its eyes, exuding divine majesty.
The emerald green grass and trees beneath him grew wildly, and ten thousand flowers bloomed. Though winter had arrived, the land for a hundred miles responded to the god's call, and spring dawned in winter.
Qing Ling spoke with a faint voice, "By the Spring God's decree, transform and create!"
Within a thousand-mile radius, boundless grass and tree energy was ignited by the Spring Godhead.
With one thought, a spring breeze arose; with one thought, ten thousand flowers bloomed; with one thought, myriad grasses grew. The thousand flowers and myriad grasses merged into one, condensing at the tip of his index finger into an ancient Dao pattern: "Life."
With a single finger of "Life" facing the vast divine might of the Golden Immortal, the sky-covering giant palm descended. Heaven and earth, ten thousand feet high, confronted the myriad beings within a thousand miles. The "Life" Dao pattern trembled violently. Even with the divine head and Earth-tier body, how much grass and tree energy could he command?
Black ripples undulated on the palm, crushing layer after layer of the "Life" character's verdant glow. The black light flared, overwhelming the green light for a thousand miles.
Qing Ling's fingertip instantly exploded into a mist of blood, and the momentum did not diminish, spreading to his entire right arm, leaving only white bone.
However, the mist of blood that formed his right arm rapidly merged into the "Life" character's green glow. In an instant, the green glow transformed into a green sun. A green sun exploded from the black giant palm, shaking space and breaking the elder's spatial confinement of Qing Ling.
Qing Ling quickly dodged. The green sun exploded, and the black giant palm paused for a moment before pressing down onto the earth, creating a thousand-foot-deep pit.
At this moment, the Golden Immortal Venerable also broke free from the net, his body enveloped in black flames. His immense aura swept across a thousand miles, causing dark clouds to gather in the sky. A terrifying divine might spread out, striking fear into the hearts of all beasts.
After escaping the palm's coverage, Qing Ling turned and fled desperately without looking back. He flicked his green hairband, and even from thousands of miles away, the nine blue threads instantly returned.
The Golden Immortal Venerable, however, looked ecstatic, "A body of an innate deity! An innate spirit treasure!"
He laughed heartily, black energy emanating from his feet. With a single step, he covered ten thousand miles, reaching the front of Qing Ling. He waved his hand, and a thousand spirit patterns flashed, coalescing into a sharp arrow emitting a chilling black flame, carrying the intent of a killing blow. The wind and clouds shifted as it was shot towards the fleeing youth.
"Swish~"
The black flame arrow, locked onto Qing Ling's vital spot from ten thousand miles away, pierced through Qing Ling's serpentine body like a terrifying shot.
"Pfft~"
"Qing Ling's" body stiffened, then lost its balance and fell towards the earth.
The elder was about to mock the ant's overestimation of its abilities, rejoicing at obtaining the innate spirit treasure, when he saw the corpse instantly dissipate into spiritual light. Meanwhile, Qing Ling, a thousand feet away, having blocked the killing blow with a substitute puppet, stumbled out and fled through the air again.
The Golden Immortal elder's expression turned grim. He conjured another black flame arrow. This arrow blazed fiercely, transforming into a black meteorite carrying terrifying destructive power, plummeting towards Qing Ling.
Qing Ling's soul trembled. He was locked onto by the Golden Immortal Venerable's soul. Unless he could escape a million miles, it would be impossible to evade the Golden Immortal Venerable's brand.
At this moment, he stopped fleeing. He secretly used his magic power to transmit his voice across the distance, "You brat from the Crimson Fire clan, do you really think this old woman doesn't exist? Since you've come to our Xi Mountain tribal territory, you shall stay!" His voice, aged and arrogant yet domineering, carried for thousands of miles.
As his voice faded, Qing Ling quickly activated the life-saving divine ability left by Granny Hua Geng in his primordial spirit. Instantly, a hundred thousand Golden Geng spirit flowers appeared around Qing Ling, their dazzling golden light visible even from thousands of miles away.
A vast, indestructible golden light erupted, a magnificent golden rainbow shooting towards the black flame arrow.
"Boom~"
With a deafening roar, the void trembled and a crack appeared. Nine Heavens Fiery Winds raged out, and the wind currents covering the sky obscured the view. Qing Ling hurriedly used his magic power to condense a hunched figure leaning on a staff, who stepped out.
Simultaneously, the Thousand Sorrows Poison, which had long infiltrated the Golden Immortal elder's body, erupted. A violent, life-devouring pain assailed his primordial spirit. Even a Golden Immortal Venerable's mind was affected by eighty to ninety percent. He had no choice but to suppress the mysterious poison he had contracted at some unknown time. He glanced at "Granny Hua Geng" amidst the fierce winds, his heart filled with dread. He hastily recalled the black flame arrow and vanished from the vast grassland.
After all, Granny Hua Geng was the most renowned Golden Immortal late-stage Venerable within tens of millions of miles, and some even rumored she might have reached Golden Immortal completion and attained the Taiyi realm. Such a master was not someone he, who had just stepped into the Golden Immortal realm, could contend with. Even though innate spirit treasures were rare, his own life was clearly more important.
Seeing the elder's figure disappear, Qing Ling also frantically fled towards Xi Mountain. The Xi Mountain Snake clan's territory spanned a million miles. Even with Earth-tier clansmen patrolling nearby, Qing Ling felt no sense of security.
He had been facing certain death just moments ago, but Qing Ling, with his extraordinary luck, had sought life amidst death. He had used the life-saving strike bestowed by Granny Hua Geng to block the Golden Immortal's arrow, creating a void crack with the Nine Heavens Fiery Winds to obscure the Golden Immortal's soul detection. Furthermore, the timely eruption of Thousand Sorrows Poison had affected the Golden Immortal elder's divine sense. Relying on Granny Hua Geng's fearsome reputation, he had managed to deceive this Golden Immortal Venerable.
Later, Granny Hua Geng arrived in time, stopping Qing Ling's collapsing divine body, and he managed to escape disaster. After all, with his Earth-tier cultivation, even with the blessing of an innate divine body and the marvel of an innate divine body, the few divine abilities he had used were beyond his capacity to withstand!
Memories drifted back...
Qing Ling smiled at Granny Hua Geng before him. "In those days, the surrounding tribes spoke of you having the potential to reach Taiyi. Now that your three flowers are complete, it is indeed imminent!"
Granny Hua Geng smiled helplessly and waved her hand. "Imminent, but not yet attained.
I wonder how many Golden Immortal Venerables have been stuck at this crucial Taiyi stage, unable to glimpse the Great Luo. I don't have much confidence in reaching this realm myself."
Qing Ling stepped forward and gently brushed Granny Hua Geng's disheveled white hair behind her. He comforted her, "Granny, you are no ordinary Golden Immortal Venerable. You will naturally reach the Taiyi realm!
However, this Taiyi realm, what exactly is its profound meaning?"
Granny Hua Geng glanced at him, her smile vanishing. She said solemnly, "If ordinary tribesmen asked me, they would certainly receive a scolding from me. But you are different. As an innate deity, you are extraordinary. I will tell you, so you can consider your future path more carefully when choosing your Dao. After all, my expectations for you are not to stop at the Golden Immortal realm!
The Taiyi realm is not merely another level of cultivation beyond Golden Immortal. Taiyi existences, though powerful, are still within the Golden Immortal realm.
It's just..."