Only the Living Can Speak of a Future

At that moment, the many Innate Gods and Demons praised in unison, "Excellent! This is a most virtuous act!" The heavens and earth shook as the realms established this time were spread throughout the world, giving all living beings a clear goal. At that instant, the Great Dao appeared. It glanced at the many Innate Gods and Demons atop Inverted Mountain and uttered a single word: "Excellent." Great Dao Merit descended between heaven and earth. Looking up, it stretched boundlessly, amounting to roughly hundreds of millions of mu. Fellow Daoist Niluan received one-tenth of it, since this discussion and lecture had been held in his Dao field. Di Kun received three-tenths. Two portions of that were because Di Kun had spread the Earthly Dao to the world, letting the beings of heaven and earth know that there was another path of cultivation, thereby earning Merit from heaven and earth. The rest was divided among the remaining Innate Gods and Demons, with those at the center receiving a greater share.

Yet at this moment, only Hongjun's face revealed shock. Di Kun's final action had completely disrupted his carefully laid plans.

Hongjun had originally intended to bring all cultivators in the world under the Immortal Dao. No matter what realm they reached, they could be called immortals. In this way, he could quietly incorporate everyone into the Immortal Dao system.

Then, once he eventually passed down the Immortal Dao inheritance, the Immortal Dao would naturally become the orthodoxy of heaven and earth. Not only would this establish his supreme prestige among countless cultivators, it would also greatly increase his chances of controlling the Heavenly Dao.

However, Di Kun had added an additional realm above the Great Luo Golden Immortal: the Great Luo Dao Fruit. This sudden development had completely exceeded Hongjun's expectations.

According to Hongjun's plan, the realm above Great Luo Golden Immortal should only be named after someone among all living beings had truly reached that height. After all, before anyone attained that realm, no one could know exactly what kind of existence it was.

And when someone truly broke through to the realm above Great Luo Golden Immortal, the concept of Great Luo Golden Immortal would surely have already taken root in everyone's hearts. Under such circumstances, the pioneer might continue using the concept of Great Luo Golden Immortal and extend it further to describe a higher realm. In that way, the new realm would still fall within the Immortal Dao.

Yet now, Di Kun had added the realm of Great Luo Dao Fruit after Great Luo Golden Immortal. This act had undoubtedly severed the Immortal Dao from that point onward, making the Great Luo Dao Fruit a realm independent of the Immortal Dao.

By then, all beings who had completely mastered a Dao would be equivalent to having transcended the control of the Immortal Dao. Even if Immortal Dao titles were later added to them, they would be names in form only. These beings had not truly cultivated the Immortal Dao; the Immortal Dao had merely claimed their titles.

If they had remained within the framework of Immortal Dao realms, they would gradually be influenced by the Immortal Dao and come to favor its methods and principles of cultivation. For beings originally walking other paths, this would undoubtedly be interference and obstruction.

The corners of Di Kun's lips rose in a cold smile. His gaze, sharp as frigid stars, fixed on Hongjun as though he could see through the shock and doubt in the other man's heart.

Only Di Kun himself knew why Hongjun was so shocked. Hongjun simply could not imagine Di Kun's origins and background. Di Kun came from a later age and possessed unique insights and knowledge of the history of the Primordial Wilderness—something Hongjun could never have anticipated.

Di Kun knew well that according to the normal course of Primordial Wilderness history, the realm of Great Luo Dao Fruit did not exist. After Great Luo Golden Immortal came Primordial Golden Immortal; that was a fact known to all.

However, through his own calculations and research, Di Kun had discovered that Primordial Golden Immortal was actually merely a realm derived from Great Luo Golden Immortal. More precisely, it could even be regarded as a shortcut.

At first, people broke through to the realm of Primordial Golden Immortal through Fortune. Although this method appeared simple, it was actually full of uncertainty and chance.

As time passed, Hongjun spread the Dao throughout the world, and another path to breaking through to Primordial Golden Immortal emerged—using Innate Spirit Treasures to Slay the Three Corpses. This method was comparatively more stable, but it likewise was not truly comprehending the Dao.

Whether it was breaking through with Fortune or using Innate Spirit Treasures to Slay the Three Corpses, not a single person had taken that crucial step by truly forging their own Dao—or, in other words, through comprehending the Dao. They had merely borrowed external power to forcibly advance themselves further. Perhaps this was an erroneous path, which was why it was called Primordial Golden Immortal.

But now, the situation had changed. Di Kun had set a brand-new goal for all living beings—the realm of Great Luo Dao Fruit. Even if other realms existed between Great Luo Golden Immortal and Great Luo Dao Fruit, that did not matter. After all, according to the settings of Primordial Wilderness novels, once one reached the realm of Great Luo Dao Fruit, one became equivalent to a Saint of the Primordial Wilderness and could also be called a Heavenly Dao realm cultivator. At that point, one had already surpassed the scope of the Primordial Wilderness itself. Thus, no matter how subsequent realms were named, the Immortal Dao would find it difficult to exert any further influence.

Of course, Di Kun knew perfectly well that this move would undoubtedly anger Hongjun. But he did not fear Hongjun striking to kill him. The reason was simple: Di Kun had been the one to advocate and propose the Immortal Dao. If Hongjun wished to become the master of the Immortal Dao, he would inevitably owe Di Kun a Causality. For that reason, Hongjun could never make a move against Di Kun himself. The only method available to him was to kill with a borrowed knife. Just as described in the legends of the Primordial Wilderness, Hongjun had used Luohu's Immortal Execution Sword Formation to successfully hunt down several Daoists of Five Elements and Yin Yang Daoist.

As long as the Causality between Di Kun and Zhou Jun could be successfully concealed, then even if someone else killed Di Kun once, it would not have any substantive effect. This was an eternal truth in any era. No matter how much wealth, power, or other precious things you possessed, once you lost your life, all of it would turn to nothing and become nourishment for others. Therefore, the prerequisite for speaking of the future was to remain alive. Only while alive could one possibly have a future; once dead, everything became illusory and meaningless.

The path of the Great Dao was filled with endless hardship, and the Great Dao Struggle was incomparably cruel. Whether one reached the end through slaughter or through scheming from the shadows, what did it matter so long as one reached the end? Just as Primordial Wilderness novels described it, Hongjun had been an advocate, then a scavenger of opportunities. He had not exerted much effort, yet he obtained what he wanted. That was the cruel truth.

As for Di Kun, he might not be especially capable when it came to fighting and killing, but he was confident that his skill at escaping was among the very best. After all, with his current title of Ancestor of the Earth Path, as long as he traveled through the Earth Veins, no one would be able to discover him. That was Di Kun's confidence.