"Damn Heavenly Dao Credit Card, I'd only just transmigrated here, and you were already making me owe the Heavenly Dao one hundred billion Merit?"
"One hundred billion, one hundred billion... how was I supposed to pay that back?"
Gu Xi cursed the Heavenly Dao Credit Card in his heart countless times.
Only after a long while did he finally calm down and begin studying the Heavenly Dao Credit Card's functions.
Besides allowing him to borrow Merit from the Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Dao Credit Card had three other systems: the "Mall," "Enlightenment," and the "Great Dao Furnace."
The "Mall" consumed Merit to exchange for cultivation techniques, divine abilities, bloodlines, divine items, and more from the Myriad Worlds.
"Enlightenment" consumed Merit to instantly place the host into a state of enlightenment. The higher the grade of the cultivation technique or divine ability being comprehended, the more Merit it consumed.
The "Great Dao Furnace" consumed Merit to fuse cultivation techniques and divine abilities or deduce them to higher levels. It could also strengthen and upgrade Magic Treasures.
This... Heavenly Dao Credit Card.
Was it really this awesome?
Seeing the Heavenly Dao Credit Card's three functional systems, Gu Xi's face, which had been black as coal from owing one hundred billion Merit, barely returned to normal.
With these functions, he could rapidly grow stronger.
As long as he became strong enough, perhaps he could obtain sufficient Merit early on and repay his debt.
However, his expression soon froze again.
Because all three of those functions consumed Merit.
And right now, he owed the Heavenly Dao a full one hundred billion Merit.
He was practically Hong Huang's number one debtor. Where was he supposed to get Merit to use those three functions and grow stronger?
"Merit, Merit, Merit..."
Gu Xi muttered the word "Merit" over and over, nearly falling into madness.
Only after a long while did he calm down and examine his own condition again.
"The Heavenly Immortal realm... Although I went from an ordinary mortal to a Heavenly Immortal in one step, gaining freedom from worries over my lifespan. As long as I wasn't killed, living tens of millions of years would be easy."
"But this wasn't an ordinary world. This was a world filled with countless mighty beings and innumerable powerful gods and demons, and it was also a world of endless conflict... A mere Heavenly Immortal might be swept away by the aftermath of a battle someday."
"The Heavenly Immortal realm is far from enough."
He looked at the entry marked "Physique: Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Undying Body," and satisfaction finally appeared on his face.
The "Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Undying Body" had been created by the Heavenly Dao Credit Card using one hundred billion Merit and supreme laws. It was one of the strongest physiques.
It was no weaker than the physiques of the Twelve Ancestral Witches.
Or rather, aside from the already fallen Great God Pangu, no one in the Primordial World could compare to him in terms of physique.
Of course, he merely possessed this supreme physique now. To bring out its power, he would still need to continuously develop it.
There was another point that left Gu Xi immensely satisfied.
Besides its formidable physical strength, the "Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Undying Body" also contained a complete "Primordial Merit Great Dao Embryo."
This Great Dao Embryo was currently floating within his Primordial Spirit, rising and sinking as it released threads of undying Immortal Light. It faintly emanated the profound mysteries of the Innate Great Dao, while countless laws concerning the Primordial Merit Great Dao were clearly presented to Gu Xi's perception.
With this Great Dao Embryo as a reference, Gu Xi's comprehension of the Primordial Merit Great Dao would be a thousand, even ten thousand times easier than that of other cultivators.
This was an opportunity countless living beings could only dream of.
It was also a unique advantage possessed by all Innate Divine Saints.
This was called winning at the starting line.
"My accompanying Dao Embryo is the Primordial Merit Great Dao Embryo, and I just happen to need to seek one hundred billion Merit to repay my debt, as well as even more Merit to exchange for items in the Mall... It seems I'm destined to walk the path of the Primordial Merit Great Dao."
Gu Xi muttered to himself, now more or less understanding how he should proceed in the future.
Without question, the most important thing for him to do next was obtain Merit.
However, before seeking Merit, he first needed to understand what era Hong Huang was currently in.
He steadied himself and inspected the information transmitted to him by the Heavenly Dao Credit Card.
He immediately discovered that it was not long after the third lecture at Zixiao Palace had ended.
The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti had not yet become saints.
Daoist Hongyun had not yet fallen either.
"Nuwa hasn't yet created humanity and become a saint... It seems the first batch of Merit has a lead."
A sharp glint flashed through Gu Xi's eyes. If he could interfere when Nuwa created humanity, he would certainly be able to get a share of the Merit.
But as a mere Heavenly Immortal, how was he supposed to interfere with Nuwa's creation of humanity? That was a problem.
If a Heavenly Immortal like him rashly ran before Nuwa and told her, "I can tell you how to attain the Dao and become a saint," then even if she did not immediately slap him to death, she would likely capture him and search his soul to see what his intentions were, to determine whether he was a pawn some mighty being had sent to scheme against her.
Of course, Nuwa might listen to him.
But Gu Xi had no intention of placing his fate in someone else's mercy and kindness.
Even if he wanted to obtain Merit, he first had to ensure his own safety.
"This place is very unsafe... I should leave first and find somewhere safe to settle down."
Gu Xi swept his surroundings with Divine Sense and faintly sensed many malicious gazes watching his location.
After thinking for a moment, he immediately understood that those gazes had likely been drawn here by his birth.
"My physique is the 'Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Undying Body,' and I also have the Primordial Merit Great Dao Embryo within me... These two things are fatal temptations to the vast majority of living beings in Hong Huang. Especially since I'm still weak, I'm absolutely a prized delicacy in the eyes of countless creatures. I need to leave quickly."
Through the information in his mind, Gu Xi knew just how precious his physique and Dao Embryo were, as well as how tempting they would be to other living beings.
Clearly, the creatures hidden in the darkness all wanted to devour the origin of his physique and seize his Dao Embryo.
Although he did not know why those hidden creatures had not attacked directly, Gu Xi's scalp still tingled as he felt a tremendous sense of danger.
With a thought, he immediately concealed the Profound Yellow Immortal Light and aura radiating from his body. Then, skimming close to the ground, he turned into an afterimage and fled into the distance.
His escape went smoothly. Gu Xi did not know why, but no one seemed to target him.
He flew at full speed and fled tens of thousands of miles without any living being tracking him.
"Looks like my luck is pretty good..."
He sighed.
But the moment he finished speaking, he wanted to slap himself.
A strange beast as large as a small mountain appeared before him, staring at him while drooling.
It was a ferocious beast shaped like a Red Leopard, with five tails and a single horn.
"...There is a beast whose form resembles a red leopard, with five tails and one horn. Its cry sounds like stones striking one another, and its name is Zheng."
The instant Gu Xi saw the strange beast, a line he had read in the Classic of Mountains and Seas in his previous life surfaced in his mind.
"This is a Zheng!"
Gu Xi's face turned ugly.
He had raised that flag too early.
Encountering a Zheng was not even the worst part. The worst part was that this Zheng was clearly stronger than him.
The Zheng stared at Gu Xi. Its body shifted slightly, and with a thunderous boom, a plume of black-red baleful aura like smoke from a beacon rose from its body and shot straight into the clouds.
In an instant, everything within thousands of miles seemed to have fallen into a frigid winter. The cold killing intent made every living being in the surrounding area tremble.
Such dense baleful aura showed that this Zheng had slaughtered countless living beings.
Facing the baleful aura surging toward him like an overwhelming tide, Gu Xi immediately realized the severity of the situation.
"This Zheng has likely reached the Golden Immortal realm. In that case... run!"
Having made his decision, he immediately soared into the sky, transforming into a streak of light as he fled into the distance.
"Caw caw, prey chosen by this ancestor, and you still want to run?"
A sinister laugh came from the Zheng's mouth.
It had originally gone out hunting merely to satisfy its cravings, intending to casually find some creatures to fill its stomach.
Yet it had unexpectedly encountered an Innate Deity.
Although Gu Xi had already concealed his aura, the Zheng still vaguely sensed that Gu Xi's physique was extraordinarily mysterious. Its instincts told it that devouring Gu Xi would bring enormous benefits.
How could it possibly let Gu Xi go?
Its figure moved, and its mountain-sized body flashed away like a beam of light. In just an instant, it appeared before Gu Xi and blocked his path.
"Damn it, it's too fast. I can't escape."
Gu Xi looked nervously at the Zheng that had caught up, despair welling in his heart.
Could it be that he was about to die just after transmigrating to Hong Huang?
He was unwilling!
"Become this ancestor's food."
As the Zheng approached Gu Xi, it sensed the mysteries of his physique even more clearly. Its eyes shone brightly, and it impatiently opened its blood-filled maw, biting down at Gu Xi.
Facing this attack from the Zheng, Gu Xi had no ability to resist at all.
His body and Magic Power were completely bound by the Zheng's divine ability in an instant.
Although he possessed a supreme physique and astonishing potential, neither had yet been transformed into actual strength.
And the gap between a Heavenly Immortal and a Golden Immortal was simply too great.
It was not something physique and potential could make up for.
He could only watch helplessly as the Zheng's enormous bloody maw drew closer and closer.
However, just as the Zheng was about to bite Gu Xi, the winds and clouds in the sky suddenly changed.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere, like a heavenly sword cleaving through heaven and earth. It struck down, pierced through the Zheng's body in an instant, and blasted it fiercely into the ground.
"Who attacked?"
Gu Xi was overjoyed, thinking that one of the Great Supernatural Beings had saved him. He quickly looked around and released his Divine Sense to sweep the area, but found no one at all.
The heavily wounded Zheng that had fallen to the ground was dumbfounded.
The surrounding hundred thousand miles were its territory. What mighty being had entered its territory and attacked it?
It also released its Divine Sense to search.
Likewise, it found no one.
At that moment, hundreds of millions of bolts of lightning suddenly emerged in the sky, as though the end of the world had descended. Lightning shaped like heavenly swords rained down like an endless storm of blades, continuously bombarding the Zheng. The surrounding earth and mountains were shattered again and again as well.
Gu Xi watched with his scalp tingling and hurriedly retreated into the distance.
After Gu Xi moved away, the lightning striking the Zheng became even more terrifying. It was as though a river of lightning swords had crashed down from the Nine Heavens, instantly blasting the Zheng's enormous body until not even scraps remained.
Even the Zheng's Primordial Spirit, which had only just flown out, was sliced apart by the lightning sword-light.
"No—"
"This is Heavenly Punishment! Why is Heavenly Punishment attacking me?!"
Before its Primordial Spirit was annihilated, the Zheng let out an incomparably aggrieved and baffled cry.
Gu Xi stared at the ruins before him, then at the Zheng that had vanished without a trace. For a moment, he was confused and completely unable to understand what had happened.
That was Heavenly Punishment?
Remembering the Zheng's final words, he instinctively looked up.
At once, he saw a gigantic eye woven from thunder and lightning within the dark clouds.
That lightning eye was incomparably majestic, filled with a supreme, sacred, vast, and grand aura that made one's soul tremble.
"Th-this... could this be the Eye of Heaven's Will?"
Gu Xi's heart shook.
He faintly felt that this was the Heavenly Dao's eye.
Then he discovered that the eye was staring at him as well.
But... its gaze seemed somewhat strange.
The feeling it gave Gu Xi... was like the look a creditor gave a debtor.
For some reason, Gu Xi felt that the Eye of Heaven's Will seemed to be telling him—"Don't you die. You haven't paid off your debt yet."
"No way, was the Heavenly Dao afraid I'd die before clearing my debt, so it stepped in and destroyed the Zheng for me?"
Gu Xi thought with a strange expression.
And that thought only grew stronger and stronger.
Then, he could not help but begin experimenting.
He quickly took action, specifically finding several demon beasts close to the Golden Immortal realm nearby to "test" it. Whenever those demon beasts tried to kill him, the Eye of Heaven's Will appeared and blasted them into ashes.
"I get it!"
"So debtors are kings... even in Hong Huang, that still applies!"
At that moment, Gu Xi understood.
Before you continue