The guilt he felt for failing to avenge his friend now manifested as a new rift, tearing at his already shattered True Spirit.
The sounds of the outside world grew distant, Houtu's ever-approaching footsteps sounded like a death knell.
He could sense the Xuanhuang Qi emanating from the Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler; its power to destroy all laws was like a maggot clinging to his bone, spreading deep within his primordial spirit and disintegrating the last trace of his life.
The crimson array in the sky, like a giant, mocking ghost face, shrouded the burial ground chosen for him.
'Innate Deities... Heh... Zhenyuanzi... Presumptuously calling himself Innate Deities...' The poisonous oath he once swore to the Minghe now echoed in his mind like the sharpest irony, just before it faded into silence.
It turns out that in this vast Primordial Wilderness, the law of the jungle—survival of the fittest—is an eternal truth.
No matter how noble one's status or how lofty one's position, in the face of absolute power and the means to subvert the rules, they are nothing but... a joke.
He was cautious throughout his life, never competing or grabbing, and firmly believed in the earth's virtue of bearing all things, yet in the end, he could not bear the calamity that befell him.
A chilling, boundless chill began to replace the excruciating, soul-burning pain, spreading from every limb to the center of consciousness.
My vision was completely swallowed up by blood and darkness.
The last clear thought was not a longing for life, but rather a deep-seated bewilderment and fear etched into the very core of the True Spirit:
'The primordial spirit... Houtu's primordial spirit... what exactly is it... how many more... such secrets... exist in the Primordial Wilderness...?'
This unsolvable question, along with the last vestiges of his fading True Spirit light, sank completely into the eternal, cold, and void of darkness.
Zhenyuanzi perished completely, his Innate Dao Body transforming into specks of primordial light that slowly merged into the cracked earth beneath his feet, silently nourishing the western earth veins torn apart by the great war.
There was no pity in Houtu's eyes. She simply stretched out her right hand, and the half-scroll of the Earth Book automatically jumped into her palm.
Her fingertips gently traced the intricate and mysterious earth vein patterns on the pages of the book, and she thought to herself: This is indeed the most suitable spiritual treasure for me.
From the moment she sensed this object, she knew that this Earth Book and her own Earth Law originated from the same source and complemented each other.
After a brief examination, she stored the Earth Book in her storage space—there were more important matters waiting for her to attend to right now.
Zhenyuanzi is dead. The precious Ginseng Fruit Tree in Wuzhuang Temple must not fall into the hands of others. We must set off for it as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, atop the Western Spirit Mountain, Zhunti and Jieyin gazed at the distant, turbulent Luck field, their expressions complex and unreadable. The aftershocks of the battle in the Netherworld Sea of Blood had already reached their ears. They had intended to take advantage of Zhenyuanzi's serious injury to "borrow" the Earth Book, but unexpectedly, Houtu appeared out of Houtu.
Seeing Zhenyuanzi perish on the spot, the two originally intended to reap the benefits, but when they caught sight of the Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler in Houtu's hand, they completely gave up the idea.
That ruler was created at the beginning of time. It kills without incurring any karmic Karma. Even a future Sage might die and perish if struck by it a few times.
Since I have not yet become a saint, it is not worthwhile to forge a deadly feud with the Witch Clan over this half-scroll of the Earth Book; otherwise, the West will never have peace.
On the other side, Qing Huan, who was traveling through the Primordial World, suddenly stopped.
The intense energy collisions and aura of destruction emanating from the western lands could not escape his perception.
What shocked him even more was that the Heavenly Dao actually sent down a rain of blood—only a top-tier Innate Deities could move the Heavenly Dao so deeply.
Each one carries a Primordial Wilderness mission, and their demise is no small matter.
"Looks like I need to go back and check."
A glint of light flashed in Qing Huan's eyes. Before he could finish speaking, his figure had already transformed into a spatial rift and sped off towards the west.
With such a supreme deity fallen, the spiritual treasures and roots they left behind must have become ownerless. How could such an opportunity be easily missed?
Longevity Mountain and Wuzhuang Temple, once a blessed land of immortals, are now shrouded in Calamity Qi and deathly silence.
The protective array had long since collapsed with the fall of its master, and its spiritual light had dissipated.
In the courtyard, Qingfeng and Mingyue, the two Daoist disciples, could not withstand the shock of their master's death and the terrifying aftershocks of the Quasi-Sage, and had already fainted on the ground.
Only in the center of the courtyard does that rare and precious tree stand tall and majestic!
Ginseng Fruit Tree!
Its shape is ten thousand feet tall, and its crystal-like trunk flows with a warm and restrained Nine-Colored Radiance. Its roots are like billions of dragons, deeply rooted in the earth nourished by the Wutu Earth Origin, greedily absorbing the last nutrients left by the old master.
The branches and leaves are lush and verdant, moving swiftly even without wind, emitting a low, mournful murmur. The rich fragrance of grass and trees and the powerful Life Essence permeate the air. Thirty fruits, shaped like infants and exquisitely translucent, gleam with a thousand auspicious rays on their branches.
However, amidst this dazzling vitality, there lingered an inescapable sense of sorrow and indignation. The spiritual root, being sentient, sensed the complete annihilation of its master, and its grief stirred heaven and earth, even casting a shadow of dimness over the nine-colored radiance.
Three earth-shattering pressures descended almost simultaneously, freezing the courtyard in the aftermath of the calamity!
On the left, the Buddha's light shone brightly, and solemn and melodious chanting faintly pierced through the void.
The Daoist Jieyin held a piece of Emerald Spiritual Bamboo, his face filled with sorrow yet bearing an unwavering resolve, his Great Vow Power to save all beings from suffering as deep and boundless as the ocean.
The Daoist Zhunti solemn and dignified appearance, held a branch in his hand that was neither gold nor wood, but shimmered with seven-colored light— the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree. His eyes were sharp as a hawk's, fixed on the swaying and mournful Ginseng Fruit Tree!
On the right, the space calmed down like ripples, and Qing Huan's figure quietly solidified.
He wore a blue robe, exuding a free and unrestrained air, yet his aura was as profound as a vast Sea of Stars. His face was handsome, and his eyes seemed to hold the Chaos Creation and the Galaxy Illusion.
A Jade Plate disc, engraved with the Innate Eight Trigrams of the Primordial Chaos, floats silently at his waist, perfectly in harmony with the invisible Great Dao Rhythm between heaven and earth.
Standing with his hands behind his back, his gaze first swept over the Ginseng Fruit Tree, which shimmered with light yet exuded a sense of sorrow, then over the radiant Buddha Jieyin and Zhunti of Jieyin and Zhunti, finally pausing briefly beside the rockery in the corner of the courtyard, his expression calm and undisturbed.
Then Houtu's figure had already stood still.
She did not deliberately conceal her aura. The vast, profound, and all-encompassing power originating from the Earth Ancestral Witch, combined with the restrained yet terrifying killing aura of the Sage Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler in her sleeve, formed a peculiar balance of forces, neither participating nor intimidating.
She simply stood there quietly, her gaze detached and cold as she watched the three forces about to ignite a storm in the courtyard, like an ancient stone sculpture, silently proclaiming her existence and her "Observer on the Wall."
"Amitabha!"
The silence was broken first by the Daoist Jieyin.
With hands clasped together, he bowed slightly to Qing Huan, his sorrowful voice carrying a heavy, penetrating force:
"It turns out that it is the Venerable Qing Huan who has personally come to Longevity Mountain."
This humble monk and my junior brother sensed the overwhelming Calamity Qi here, and that Brother Zhenyuan's Destiny Star had fallen. We came to investigate to prevent harm to innocent lives.