Isn't This a Phone?

Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, and Primordial Qilin bore the main responsibility, shouldering half the Karmic Force.

Even half was hard to bear. Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, and Primordial Qilin all felt as though they were carrying a massive mountain on their backs.

Primordial Qilin, already lying on the ground, had it easier; he merely sank more firmly against the earth. Ancestral Dragon and Primordial Phoenix, however, were in the air, and the sudden change nearly sent them tumbling headfirst to the ground.

The Karmic Force weighing on them nearly bent their backs, leaving them unable to stand up straight.

What made it hardest for them to hold their heads high was that their cultivation realms and strength kept falling. In a few short moments, they dropped from Quasi-Saint Peak to Early Quasi-Saint.

If the decline continued, they feared they would not even be able to retain their Quasi-Saint realms.

Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, and Primordial Qilin exchanged glances. They all knew what to do next. After all, the screen of light had already given them the answer; they only had to copy it.

Ancestral Dragon took a deep breath and set aside his pride as the dragon progenitor. Facing the heavens, he boldly made a vow that resounded throughout the Primordial World.

"Great Dao above, Great God Pangu above, Heavenly Dao above.

"I, Ancestral Dragon of the Dragon Clan, have been cruelly schemed against, bringing misery to living beings and damage to heaven and earth. Now, knowing the gravity of my sins and filled with remorse, I am willing to use my dragon body to suppress the Four Seas forever, in atonement for my transgressions.

"From this day forth, the Dragon Clan shall withdraw from the struggle for supremacy in the Primordial World. Generation after generation, we shall tend the Primordial World's waterways to repay our sins."

First the Great Dao, then Pangu, and only lastly the Heavenly Dao.

Of these three witnesses, the Great Dao would not concern itself with ordinary trifles. The situation was not yet all that dire, so naturally, the Great Dao gave no response.

Pangu's phantom stood right before them; they could hardly pretend not to see it. But the old father seemed to be angry at the moment and not particularly inclined to pay them any attention, so he made no response either.

Thus, only the Heavenly Dao responded. The moment the vow was complete, the Heavenly Dao signed and sealed the contract.

A stream of dark-yellow Merit Qi entered Ancestral Dragon and every surviving member of the Dragon Clan. As it washed over them, most of their Karmic Force was wiped away, allowing Ancestral Dragon to retain his Early Quasi-Saint realm.

Ancestral Dragon cast one last glance at Primordial Phoenix and Primordial Qilin. Understanding one another without a word, he went to fulfill the contract. He flew toward the East Sea, his enormous dragon body merging with the vast ocean to suppress the waterways of the Four Seas.

The surviving Dragon Clan members answered the call one after another, turning into streaks of light and vanishing into the depths of the Four Seas.

Seeing this, Primordial Phoenix's eyes flickered with complicated emotions, but what she felt more than anything was relief.

The outcome was still bearable. The three clans had retained half their foundations, and their three forebears had not died completely. That was their greatest bargaining chip; no matter how others bullied them, they would not go too far.

It was like a fallen noble family: no matter how destitute and impoverished it became, it was still an Aristocratic Clan.

As before, Primordial Phoenix would guard the Immortal Volcano, with her main duty being to regulate the Primordial World's Yin-Yang. The difference was that the Phoenix Clan would also be responsible for tempering the volcano's Spirit Veins with true fire and nourishing the southern lands, this battlefield.

In truth, this was also a small selfish desire on Primordial Phoenix's part. She had confined the Phoenix Clan to the Southern Continent so they could recuperate and rebuild without stirring up any more trouble. It was the last thing she, their old mother, could do.

Another golden light of merit descended. Primordial Phoenix transformed into a five-colored phoenix that blotted out the sky and plunged into the fiercely burning Immortal Volcano.

With that, the Phoenix Clan withdrew from the stage!

"Alas..."

Primordial Qilin let out a long sigh. His two old rivals had both left, and it was his turn next. He could hardly remain lying there, so he slowly rose to his feet, his true qilin form towering between heaven and earth, and made his vow in a deep, resonant voice.

He would use his own body to suppress the Earth Veins at the center of the Primordial World, use auspicious Qi to mend the land's Spirit Veins, and bestow blessings upon the land. The Qilin Clan would become an auspicious sign of the Primordial World: wherever qilins appeared, auspiciousness would surely manifest.

Unless it concerned the survival of the Qilin Clan, its members would not emerge into the world.

Protected by their status as auspicious beings, the Qilin Clan would be welcomed wherever they went. After all, no one would pick a fight with auspiciousness; it represented fortune.

A third bestowal of merit descended, and the Qilin Clan merged into the earth, vanishing without a trace.

Those who deserved punishment had been punished, and what needed to be given had been given. All that remained was to bestow the reward.

Although Xiang Dong had given the spoilers because he could no longer stand to watch and wanted them to weigh the consequences for themselves, he had, in any case, brought the war to a halt and put a perfect full stop to it.

He had successfully stopped an epic war and a tremendous calamity, preventing the disaster from spreading further. How could that not be boundless merit? The Heavenly Dao had to show its recognition.

But Xiang Dong was out of contact now. Even if the Heavenly Dao bestowed merit, it had no way to deliver it to his door, since Buzhou Mountain lay outside its service area.

So Pangu's phantom, which had yet to dissipate, took action. And that action affected the balance of the entire Primordial World.

Pangu's phantom beckoned, and the Heavenly Dao merit automatically merged into the screen of light. What he summoned was not just the Heavenly Dao merit, but Heaven-Opening Merit as well.

On Kunlun Mountain, Taiqing had already been born, while Yuqing and Shangqing were still being nurtured. The Three Pure Ones had merely been watching the show, but they had never imagined they would become part of it too—and be the ones made to bleed for it.

The Three Pure Ones had been formed from Pangu's Primordial Spirit, and each carried a tenth of the Heaven-Opening Merit within his own Primordial Spirit. They were second-generation rich heirs with a generous inheritance, winners in life through and through.

But they had not yet made that inheritance their own by assimilating or using it up. Thus, Pangu's phantom, bearing Pangu's Will, held the final right of interpretation and could still amend the will.

And so, a little Heaven-Opening Merit was drawn from the Primordial Spirits of the Three Pure Ones.

Only a little, not all of it—about one percent.

Even so, that one percent left the Three Pure Ones speechless. Weren't they Father God's most beloved children anymore?

"Father God, what are you doing? Why are you drawing away our Heaven-Opening Merit?"

Shangqing was the most innocent and spoke his mind, asking as soon as the question occurred to him.

Yuqing was bewildered and at a loss. He felt that what had been drawn from him was not just Heaven-Opening Merit.

"I don't know, but Father God must have his reasons... right?"

Yuqing was not very sure either. Only Taiqing wore a dark expression. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he could not bring himself to speak, and in the end they turned into a sigh.

"Pangu... Father God, he... alas!"

With the Heaven-Opening Merit in hand, Pangu's phantom fused it, the Heaven-Opening Merit, and his own Pangu's Pressure into the screen of light, transforming the originally unremarkable screen into a Merit Treasure.

Yes, an Acquired Merit Treasure, exclusively bound to a single designated user: Xiang Dong alone.

After doing all this, Pangu's phantom was spent. The Twelve-Rank World-Cleansing White Lotus carried the special Merit Treasure back to Pangu Hall, where it once again floated quietly above the flesh cocoon in the blood pool.

The whole process was not quick, and countless great experts saw it, but no one dared stop it, much less try to seize it.

The Merit Treasure glimmered faintly. If Xiang Dong had been awake at that moment, he surely would not have been able to hold back a cry of surprise.

Isn't this a phone? This has to be a phone.

I want to play games, read novels, and scroll through videos!!!