As the words fell, a beautiful woman in a flowing blue dress with fringed sleeves appeared.
"Miao of the Black Lizard Clan, greetings, fellow Daoist."
To their surprise, this beautiful woman actually performed a rare kowtow to Qing Ling, addressing him as fellow Daoist.
Qi frowned upon hearing the woman's words, as if recalling something but failing to remember it clearly.
This was Qing Ling's first encounter with such a礼 (courtesy) in the Primordial World. Qing Ling did not return the礼, but calmly replied, "Your Excellency need not go through such formalities. It is of no use against us as enemies."
Miao couldn't help but chuckle, her eyes shimmering like autumn water, a blend of delicate weakness and captivating charm as she said softly, "What a pity that fellow Daoist possesses such unparalleled beauty, yet is as ignorant and uncivilized as those savage barbarians, understanding neither reason nor the teachings of the Immortals."
Qing Ling shook his head. "Your Excellency seems to have forgotten your roots. We were born in the wilderness, raised in the wilderness. The world between heaven and earth is the Primordial World.
Though the demeanor of Immortal cultivators may be ethereal and carefree, to deny one's own origins thus? This is the era of myriad beasts and savagery, not the era of myriad Immortals and myriad Dao. Where are the Immortal cultivators you speak of now? None dare to even breathe heavily under the pressure of the savage beasts of the three clans.
Your half-hearted display of immortal bearing is merely laughable."
"You! How dare you!" Miao's face flushed with anger, and she reached behind her with a beckoning gesture. Instantly, twelve Heavenly rank great beasts appeared, forming a protective guard behind her.
"Do you twelve have confidence?"
Miao slowly inhaled, suppressing her anger, her voice returning to a calm tone as she asked the beasts behind her.
The twelve exchanged glances. Among them, a woman in a green dress stepped forward and said, "My Lady, this beast is a primordial deity with unfathomable divine abilities. It would be best to proceed as originally planned."
The twelve of them recalled the scene of the five Heavenly rank great beasts' souls instantly scattering and shuddered. In such a situation, they could only imagine the methods of a Golden Immortal Venerable.
Miao nodded upon hearing this, stepped back, and disappeared. Then, the twelve Heavenly rank great beasts also sized up Qi and Qing Ling before retreating one by one.
Qi asked doubtfully, "Brother, what are they up to?"
Qing Ling scoffed. "They're simply trying to probe my true strength, as they're unsure of it."
"Probing? By just exchanging a few words?"
"Of course not. The real probing is yet to come." Qing Ling gazed into the distance, towards the approaching dust clouds from the east, and said to Qi, "I have a task for you."
"Heh, tell me quickly, Brother." Qi rubbed his hands together, looking at him with anticipation.
Qing Ling pointed to the distance and said, "Between the Crimson Flame River and the Ghostly Abyss, carve out a trench ten Zhang deep and about one Zhang wide."
Qi, even with his dull wits, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Ah? This...
This is eight hundred Li wide and long! Brother, are you joking?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Qing Ling replied indifferently. "Time is limited, so begin immediately. This will be the gateway to the East of our Xi Mountain in the future!
This glorious and important duty falls to you!"
Qing Ling patted Qi's shoulder and said, "Go."
Qi was still somewhat incredulous but had already picked up his large saber and begun.
Since it wasn't a battle, but merely chopping earth, Qi infused a trace of spiritual power into his large saber. The saber cleaved through the air with a thunderous roar. Dust flew, and the earth trembled as a trench thirty Zhang long and one Zhang wide appeared on the vast grassland.
Qi leaped up to the front of the trench and swung his saber again. The earth trembled once more, dust billowed, and another trench, over thirty to forty Zhang long and one Zhang wide, emerged.
Qi leaped again...
The eight hundred Li width was equivalent to over one hundred and twenty thousand Zhang in length. Every breath Qi took, his saber rose and fell, opening a trench of forty to fifty Zhang.
It wasn't that Qi's divine power was insufficient. If he exerted his full strength, one strike could cleave nearly a thousand Zhang of earth, but that would consume too much energy and make it impossible to control the width and depth of the trench.
Therefore, Qi only carved out dozens of Zhang with each strike.
In just one hour, Qi had already carved out over eighteen thousand Zhang. And as his strikes increased, Qi became better at controlling his strength. Now, each strike covered a hundred Zhang, and when he got into the rhythm, with five swift slashes, a trench of five hundred Zhang would appear after earth-shattering roars.
Qing Ling sat quietly in the wilderness, cross-legged, meditating. He was refining the life force within his body while calculating the remaining distance until the Lizard Clan's army arrived.
In the Primordial World, apart from personal combat, the passage of time for living beings was slow. Days and months were insignificant, and tribal wars could last for decades, with a significant portion dedicated to travel and sending reinforcements.
The Heavenly rank clan members were arriving, but the ordinary lizards, though primordial creatures, did not possess the speed to travel tens of thousands of Li in a day. Therefore, based on the distance, it would take the Lizard Clan army more than a day to reach them.
He was not in a hurry; he was waiting for Qi to successfully carve out this extremely long trench running north and south.
The Lizard Clan was probing his strength, fearing his swift annihilation of five Heavenly rank beasts. Since they dared not risk it, they would naturally send clan members to their deaths to wear him down.
This was for the long-term survival of their clan and to stabilize their population. Death was inevitable everywhere, so dying for a worthy cause was better.
If Qing Ling were to slaughter low-level ordinary beasts indiscriminately, the Lizards would report him to the Dragon Clan, leading to his condemnation. Although the Dragon Clan was supreme, they were creatures of the sea and paid little attention to land control, only intervening if the Twelve Iron Rules set by the Dragon Clan were violated.
The arbitrary slaughter of low-level by high-level beasts was precisely one of those rules!
Once Qing Ling made a move, he would not escape punishment, as he could not possibly kill all of the hundreds of thousands of Lizards and the twelve Heavenly rank beasts without leaving a trace.
If he did not act, the Lizard army would storm the Xi Mountain tribal territory, with unimaginable consequences!
Qing Ling chuckled inwardly. This was a blatant scheme. But he didn't care much. You have your cunning plans, and I have my methods. Only by testing will we know who is superior and who is weaker.
As the sun and moon completed one cycle, Qi returned, panting and gasping for breath. "Brother, I... I have completed it."
Qing Ling looked at the exhausted Qi, got up, patted his large head, and said gently, "You've worked hard. Now, you can just sit here and watch the show."
Qi turned to look at the visible dust cloud in the east, an endless expanse stretching as far as the eye could see, and worried, "Brother, can you really do it?"
Qing Ling smiled. "When have I ever failed?"
He stood up and leaped a hundred Zhang, hovering high in the sky overlooking the land. The Lizard army was only ten thousand Zhang away!
Giant lizards, some several Zhang large, others a hundred Zhang, moved with astonishing speed, faster than ordinary beasts like leopards.
It was at this moment that Qing Ling's green robe transformed into a red one. The spring season manifested as a gentle green robe, while the winter season was represented by a red robe reflecting the coming spring. This was the natural change of the Spring God.
Winter was coming.
Qing Ling ascended, reaching the ten thousand Zhang of clouds. He revealed his divine form, a giant being with a human body and a snake's tail. One hand held the Heavenly Measuring Rope, its silk ribbons fluttering, while the other held a yellow gourd. The divine form was ten thousand Zhang tall, as if seated in the center of a white cloud sea, its divine pupils like glass, its dark divine eyes gazing down at all beings from left and right.
Behind the vast lizard horde, the Heavenly rank lizard warriors looked up at the cloud sea in shock, murmuring, "Indeed, he is worthy of being a primordial deity!"
Miao snorted, "We must eliminate this child, or our clan will face considerable trouble in the future.
Xuan Jing, when this person makes a move, you must meticulously record the battle and report it to the Dragon Clan. This child has already violated the Dragon Clan's Iron Rules."
The woman named Xuan Jing immediately replied, "Yes, I shall obey the Saintess's command."
Miao turned back to gaze at the divine form, wondering what means it would employ to resist nearly two hundred thousand Lizard warriors!
She watched as the god, whose countenance captivated all beings, slowly raised the yellow gourd in its right hand and tilted it downwards.
Immediately, thousands upon thousands of verdant spiritual lights scattered across the sky. A gentle spring breeze carried these green spiritual seeds into the twelve thousand Zhang long trench.
A large man behind Miao asked doubtfully, "Are these not just plant seeds? Is this person trying to deceive us?"
The others were also curious and perplexed, but no one spoke rashly.
Miao watched the scene of countless green seeds being scattered, finding it somewhat familiar but unable to recall it.
Then, everyone saw the divine form in the clouds flick its left hand. A long green ribbon flew into the sky, transforming into a ten thousand Zhang long ribbon dancing amongst the clouds, stirring wind and rain. It moved like a blue dragon dancing in the sea, a blue python playing with the clouds, and then, carrying the rolling clouds, it descended directly. The ribbon, without deviation, covered the trench, connecting the Red Flame River to the north and the Ghostly Abyss to the south. Spanning twelve thousand Zhang, it formed a jade-green belt, sealing the only entrance from the east into Xi Mountain!
A Heavenly rank blue lizard exclaimed in surprise, "I don't think this beast's divine abilities are befitting a Heavenly rank!"
"Uncle, you speak truly. I also feel this beast is too monstrous. Could it be the power of a primordial deity communicating with heaven and earth?"
Miao's expression trembled, and then she said, "That jade-green belt is likely this deity's accompanying spiritual treasure. What a magnificent innate spiritual treasure!"
Everyone present gasped, sucking in a breath. Innate spiritual treasure! Those were supreme treasures that only Golden Immortal Venerables and above could come into contact with!
Miao's voice turned solemn. "Hear my decree: I am acting under the command of our clan's Ancestor Lan. This expedition must bring back this innate spiritual treasure, to be owned by our clan. The cost is irrelevant, and life and death are secondary!"
The twelve Heavenly rank warriors all bowed, their expressions a mixture of fear and profound reverence. "We respectfully obey the Ancestor's decree!"
Within a clan like the Black Lizard Clan, only a Da Luo Golden Immortal could be referred to as an Ancestor! The twelve Heavenly rank warriors were all awestruck and greatly excited. To serve a Da Luo Ancestor was an unparalleled opportunity in their lives!
Miao's imposing demeanor subsided, and her expression returned to calm. "When this god's spiritual power is depleted by more than half, we shall all attack simultaneously, subdue this god, seize the spiritual treasure, and return to the clan without delay. Otherwise, we shall face the calamity of soul shattering and spirit incineration. Do you understand?"
The faces of the twelve turned pale, but they all obeyed.
At this moment, they also noticed that the divine form seated in the center of the heavens was making another move.
With both hands waving, its left sleeve brought a gentle breeze, and its right arm summoned rain. Spring wind transformed into rain, scattering across the land. The rainwater gathered under the jade-green belt, watering the spiritual seeds in the trench.
Then, the spiritual gourd in its hand was tilted again, and waves of spiritual water poured down. Three streams of spiritual water were channeled beneath the jade-green belt, awakening the dormant and empowered seeds.
At this moment, the giant lizard army was only a thousand Zhang away, about to arrive.
Qing Ling beckoned, and the eight hundred Li jade-green belt instantly disappeared, returning to his hand. Then, the divine grid in his glabella pulsed.
"Live!"
The next moment, green vines erupted from the twelve thousand Zhang trench, shooting towards the heavens. The green vines grew thicker and longer, from thin to thick, from short to long. In just a few dozen breaths, they transformed into beings as thick and tall as sky-piercing giant pillars.
One hundred and eight thousand green vines stood between heaven and earth, their roots reaching a hundred Zhang into the ground, their tops ascending a hundred Zhang into the sky. Standing straight like soldiers, like giants in repose, like giant pythons in motion, they spanned mountains and rivers, stretching across the eight hundred Li of the Eastern Wilderness. The green vine Great Wall possessed the momentum of mountains and seas, with no army or soldiers, yet it was superior to thousands of troops and horses.
One hundred thousand green vines across eight hundred Li, a thousand troops and horses to obstruct one person.