The Four-Hundred-and-Ninety-Thousand-Zhang Golden Dragon of Destiny
Jieyin stood quietly beside Zhunti. His face, weathered by time and always etched with sorrow, was now deeply lined with wrinkles, as if he had aged ten thousand years in an instant.
No tears fell, but in the deep-set eyes, an endless bitterness and desolation surged and settled.
Looking at this land that has been forcibly brought to life by the Eastern Deities, the more vibrant the green, the heavier the heavy stone in my heart called "uselessness" becomes.
Slowly raising his withered hand, he gently placed it on Zhunti's violently trembling shoulder, the movement carrying a heavy sense of comfort, as if sharing the unbearable humiliation.
After a long while, a long, heavy sigh, seemingly coming from the deepest depths of the underworld, finally escaped from the parched lips of the Daoist Jieyin:
"Junior brother...we lack the spiritual treasures and the foundations of others. Even among the Innate Deities favored by the Western Luck, those capable of shouldering great responsibilities are few and far between...this is Heavenly Mandate, and also our...or our tribulation."
Jieyin raised his head, his gaze piercing through layers of void, landing on the golden Heavenly Court above the Thirty-three Heavens. His expression was complex and unreadable, containing gratitude, admiration, and even a deep-seated bitterness and helplessness.
"Though a myriad of emotions churn within me... Fellow Daoists Di Jun Tai Yi have indeed bestowed upon our Western Paradise a life-saving grace! This is a matter of immense Karma... We... cannot fail to accept it."
He paused, his movements carrying an almost ritualistic solemnity, yet revealing a deep weariness:
"Let's go, junior brother. No matter what, we have to go to the Heavenly Court. We have to reach it eventually."
The word "Congratulations" was uttered with the difficulty of gritting one's teeth and swallowing blood.
"Yes... Senior Brother..."
Zhunti wiped away the tears and snot from his face, barely managing to stand up straight. His voice was still choked with emotion, but now tinged with a numb resignation.
"Our West... it seems it's truly on the verge of recovery!"
But behind this recovery... lies the repeated assistance from the East... You and I, brothers... have endured countless years of hardship, paying a price unimaginable to others... In the end, we still depend on others... The bitterness in our hearts, the weight on our shoulders... are probably only known to you and I, my fellow disciples!"
They took one last deep look at the glaring greenery beneath their feet, a green they had fought so hard for, and the last glimmer of hope in their eyes dimmed, leaving only endless exhaustion.
Two dim golden lights—carrying indescribable sorrow and complex emotions—rose silently from Mount Sumeru, heading slowly toward the radiant Heavenly Court of the Demon Race in the Thirty-three Heavens.
As the golden light passed, the earth below teemed with life. Yet, within the golden light, only the two figures, heavy with the weight of the world's suffering, appeared exceptionally lonely and desolate under the starlight.
Above the heavens, the Great Formation of the Stars continues its eternal operation, with the trajectories of the stars as strict as the laws of Heavenly Dao.
The golden torrent of origin, like an inverted celestial river, nourishes every inch of the Primordial Wilderness.
Purple mist hung like an inverted Milky Way, hovering above the Heavenly Court dome, solidified as if it were a tangible substance.
Golden Lotus bloomed one after another from the void, and cranes carrying auspicious omens flew among them, their tail feathers trailing a trail of flowing light and color.
In an instant, a boundless torrent of Xuanhuang Merit descended from the heavens, with half of it flowing into the bodies of Di Jun, Tai Yi, Fuxi, and Qing Huan, causing their vast energy to surge and churn.
Another 40% of the golden rain fell precisely on the heads of the 365 main stars and 129,600 star lords—in an instant, the starlight intensified, the power of the stars resonated and surged due to the Merit, the star lords were surrounded by dazzling starlight, their cultivation barriers shattered in response, and they all leaped into a minor realm.
The Demon Gods arrived later, ten figures standing on the clouds, their gazes burning brightly and piercing through the auspicious clouds.
Although they did not Merit, the immense Luck of the demon race rose like a tide, silently permeating the essence of their demon soul. It was a tremor in the lifeblood of the race in the long river of history, a silent harbinger of future glory.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the ten-thousand-foot -Golden Dragon of Destiny symbolizing the very essence of the demon race suddenly raised its head and let out a long roar.
The dragon's roar, carrying the echoes of ancient Primordial Wilderness, pierced through every layer of Yunxiao and every inch of the celestial palace's bricks in the Thirty-Three Heavens, reaching straight to the depths of the netherworld.
As if drawn by this proclamation, boundless Primordial Wilderness Luck rose from the earth, mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, stars, and plants, converging into the Heavenly Court like countless invisible ribbons of light.
The golden dragon roared wildly, its body expanding wildly under the influx of the torrent of Luck —110,000 zhang!
Its enormous dragon body stirred up auspicious clouds, shattering the frozen time around it; 120,000 zhang!
Each scale reflects the trajectory of the Sun, Moon, and Stars; 130,000 zhang!
The surging aura and oppressive power caused the stable Heavenly Court Palace to tremble and its foundation to show cracks; 140,000 zhang!
The space seemed unable to bear the weight, emitting a faint groan... 180,000 zhang!
Where the dragon's whiskers brushed, ripples spread through space like shattered mirrors, and the resulting storms tore apart the solemn atmosphere of the Heavenly Court.
The entire Primordial Wilderness was struck as if by an invisible giant hammer. The hearts of countless beings sank suddenly. Countless powerful beings who had been in seclusion suddenly opened their eyes, their gazes piercing through the endless void and piercing straight to the Heavenly Court. Even the Chaos Qi Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens was momentarily frozen.
The dragon's body continued to grow rapidly under the nourishment of the endless Primordial Wilderness Luck, and the roar of the dragon crushed the four corners and eight wastelands of the Primordial Wilderness layer upon layer, until an ultimate limit stood before them - 490,000 zhang!
The dragon's body suddenly froze at this magnificent celestial pole.
Qing Huan stood beside Di Jun, and an icy chill instantly spread from his Dao heart to his limbs and bones.
I could clearly feel the aura emanating from the enormous body of the Golden Dragon of Destiny Fortune, as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea, majestically approaching the supreme and unparalleled... the Perfection of the Heavenly Dao!
This limit is both the pinnacle of power and an insurmountable ruler descended by the Heavenly Dao; beneath this ruler lies the fundamental order of the Primordial Wilderness.
He subconsciously took a half step back. The cultivation level in his body, which had surged due to his Luck, was now as insignificant and powerless as dust, as if he were facing a chaotic vortex that was about to devour everything.
At this moment, the Primordial Wilderness world seemed to be held captive by an invisible hand.
The colossal dragon body, spanning 490,000 feet, hung above the sea of clouds. Each scale seemed to be forged from frozen time and the immense Power of the Stars, its shimmering light flowing endlessly, forming a dark golden vortex that devoured all light.
Its shadow not only obscured the entire magnificent Heavenly Court, but also weighed heavily on the hearts of billions of living beings—it was a pressure from the depths of their very being, a suffocating feeling as if their destiny was being gripped by an invisible giant hand.
The will of Heavenly Dao seemed to materialize at this moment as a pair of cold, overlooking giant eyes.
The Primordial Wilderness mountains and rivers trembled incessantly, and the Four Seas were swept by unprecedented raging waves. From the depths of the Kunlun Mountain came a low, mournful wail, like the lament of the ancestral veins.
This giant dragon, formed from the Demon Race Fortune, has finally reached the limit that the workings of Heavenly Dao can tolerate.
This limit of 490,000 zhang is not a crown of praise, but rather a cold chain forged by the very hand of Heavenly Dao —marking both the supreme glory of the demon race at this moment and the ironclad law of eternal imprisonment.