Twelve Sea-Calming Pearls

Li Xinghe's hand trembled. This girl really couldn't resist a treasure—she'd already dug the Twelve-Grade White Lotus of Purity out of him, and now she had her eyes on the Chaos Pearl.

"You can't handle this thing." Li Xinghe immediately stowed the Chaos Pearl away, afraid that if he was even a second slower, Xuan Ming would hug it and refuse to let go.

"Since yours won't do, this dragon pearl looks pretty good to me." Xuan Ming turned her gaze to the Ancestral Dragon.

The Ancestral Dragon glared in fury. This was the Dragon Clan's heirloom—if it was taken, what face would he have left?

Li Xinghe frowned. The Cause and Effect on the Ancestral Dragon Pearl was immense. He might be able to bear it himself, but Xuan Ming definitely couldn't handle that burden.

"Once the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation ends, your father will snatch it for you." This thing was like the God Slaying Spear—the time wasn't right yet.

Xuan Ming also knew that Li Xinghe had his own principles. If he could have taken it, he probably would have already.

"But just because the Ancestral Dragon Pearl is off-limits doesn't mean nothing else can be taken." Li Xinghe smiled faintly, then directly started beating up the Ancestral Dragon.

"Hand over all the good stuff you've got on you. Don't tell me that as the Dragon Clan's patriarch, you only have that one pearl."

The Ancestral Dragon finally understood. Li Xinghe could easily kill him, but he seemed reluctant to get entangled in Cause and Effect. Even so, he didn't dare resist anymore.

The intimidation of a Chaos Supreme Treasure was too great, and this guy didn't hesitate to beat him half to death. Was he, the Ancestral Dragon of the Dragon Clan, supposed to have no dignity left?

"Here are twelve Sea-Calming Pearls, a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure." The Ancestral Dragon suddenly produced a string of beads.

"Eh?" Even Li Xinghe was surprised. He hadn't expected the Ancestral Dragon to have these on him.

But the legends said there were twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls. "Are you sure there are only twelve?"

The Ancestral Dragon was startled and quickly swore a Heavenly Dao oath, guaranteeing that these were the only twelve.

Only then did Li Xinghe let him go. "Get lost. From now on, keep a low profile, or I'll beat you every time I see you."

The Ancestral Dragon, relieved, turned and left. As proud as he was, he would never dare provoke Li Xinghe again.

Li Xinghe, meanwhile, toyed with the twelve Sea-Calming Pearls in his hand, studying the seals on them.

After his appraisal, these twelve were indeed a set. But he'd read plenty of Primordial Realm novels and had never heard of the Ancestral Dragon having these.

The only possibility was that these twelve were different from the legendary twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls.

Or perhaps the legendary twenty-four weren't the complete set, and adding these twelve would make the full collection.

Either way, snatching this treasure wasn't bad.

"Xuan Ming, you're the Ancestral Witch of Ice. These Sea-Calming Pearls match your attribute well enough. Keep them as a bracelet." Li Xinghe casually gave them to Ancestral Witch Xuan Ming, so she'd stop coveting his Chaos Pearl.

If he ever got the full thirty-six Sea-Calming Pearls in the future, that would be another Innate Supreme Treasure, even more powerful than the Five Innate Banners.

According to legend, Daoist Randeng later used the twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls to evolve the Twenty-Four Heavens, almost like a miniature Chaos Pearl.

Xuan Ming was ecstatic. Even though she'd nearly been killed by the Ancestral Dragon, getting such a treasure now was still great.

At that moment, Li Xinghe turned his gaze to Si Bu Xiang, the son of the Beginning Qilin.

In the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, the three races fell. Only a few members of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races survived, but their fates were all grim.

Take the Four Seas Dragon Kings—when they followed the Ancestral Dragon, they were majestic. Later, they submitted to the Heavenly Court and couldn't even command wind and rain without orders; one drop too many or too few meant punishment.

And this son of the Beginning Qilin—when the three races ruled the Primordial Realm, his status was supremely noble.

Yet later, he became Yuanshi's mount. Worse still, Yuanshi eventually gave him to Jiang Ziya as a mount.

Jiang Ziya wasn't even the lowest-grade immortal, yet he made Si Bu Xiang, a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, serve as his mount. Truly pitiful.

"Si Bu Xiang pays respects to the Great God. Thank you for saving my life."

Li Xinghe nodded. The Qilin Clan was destined to decline. Just protecting the Phoenix Clan had already entangled him in immense Cause and Effect.

He couldn't help the Qilin Clan, but this little qilin was still clever.

"If you ever have nowhere to go in the future, you can contact Xuan Ming and Houtu." Li Xinghe left a single sentence and departed.

As for Xuan Ming and Houtu, he naturally took them with him. Their interference in the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation this time had already broken the rules.

But the Ancestral Dragon really did need a lesson. Beating him up today made Li Xinghe feel much better.

"Adoptive Father, you're so powerful. Why don't you unify the Primordial Realm? That could spare some of the war and chaos..." Houtu was a little puzzled.

During this time, she and Xuan Ming had traveled the Primordial Realm and witnessed too much slaughter. Her kind-hearted nature couldn't bear it.

She cultivated the Earth Element Law. The earth was the mother of all things. Seeing countless living beings die in war, she wanted to save them but was powerless.

Li Xinghe's heart stirred. After the Witch-Demon Calamity, most of the Twelve Ancestral Witches fell. Only Houtu survived—perhaps it was related to her personality.

Heartbroken, Houtu later entered the Earthly Dao, created Reincarnation, and became an Earthly Dao Saint.

Though her ending seemed good, Li Xinghe knew she was lonelier than anyone. Creating Reincarnation was also her hope of reviving the other Ancestral Witches.

He just hadn't expected that Houtu, only a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal now, already had such thoughts. Truly, she was the Heaven-ordained Earthly Dao Saint.

"It's not that your father doesn't want to, but that he can't." Li Xinghe explained to her.

First, the Primordial Realm was a small world Pangu had opened within Chaos. The world's development had its own rules.

Take the earlier Fierce Beast Calamity—it was meant to consume the lingering malice left after the Three Thousand Demon Gods fell.

The Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation now was the same. Every era had its own protagonists.

The Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races had ruled the Primordial Realm for two Eons. Now, it was time for them to step down.

Besides, the Primordial World was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, with the Heavenly Dao and the Great Dao above all. If he acted too conspicuously, at best he would end up like the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races—dominating an era, only to eventually fade away.

"The Primordial World is still developing, its outcome not yet set. In the future, one with great Fortune will take charge of it. Only then might your father contend for it. For now, it's better to play the role of Old Six." Li Xinghe patted Houtu on the head.

Houtu seemed a little dazed, as if she half understood.

"The Primordial World is still unfolding. In the future, the Witch Race will also be protagonists of heaven and earth—and like the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races, they too will eventually come to an end."

"What?" Xuan Ming and Houtu were both stunned. This was the first time Li Xinghe had mentioned this to them.

"Your father wields the Law of Time and Destiny and sees more than you do. If you want to rewrite fate in the future, you still need to work hard." Li Xinghe was giving them an early warning.

Whether it was Xuan Ming or Houtu, their travels through the Primordial World were still mostly for fun. They hadn't truly grasped the shape of things to come.

Perhaps it was time to put some pressure on them, so that when they stepped into the Tribulation, they would have more confidence.

And because of Li Xinghe's interference, the Tribulation Qi in heaven and earth had grown much denser.

The Ancestral Dragon had been beaten up by Li Xinghe and robbed of the Twelve Sea-Calming Pearls. With no outlet for his pent-up rage, he could only turn his malice toward the Phoenix Clan and the Qilin Clan.

Little did he know that behind the Phoenix Clan he was targeting stood Li Xinghe. And with Li Xinghe's help, Yuan Feng had actually broken through to the Late Golden Immortal of the Origin as well.