Candle Dragon, carrying those fifteen treasures whose brilliance was restrained yet weighed more than ten thousand jin—especially the Ancestor Dragon Pearl, which condensed the essence of the entire Primordial Wilderness Dragon Clan's destiny—seemed to suddenly lose all weight under the Qing Huan Sage's all-pervasive gaze.
That gaze wasn't scrutinizing, but rather a clear and boundless reflection, revealing in every detail the heavy calculation hidden deep within his heart. "To exchange precious treasures for protection and to continue the Dragon Clan's hegemony," leaving him nowhere to hide.
"Where the heart leads..."
The massive dragon head of the Candle Dragon drooped even lower, its whiskers almost touching the cold, hard barrier of the Hunyuan Dao Charm.
The ancient cloud patterns on the Dragon Clan Emperor Robe, which symbolized supreme honor, seemed to have dimmed somewhat, leaving only a heavy shackle called "responsibility".
Trying to focus one's mind and reveal the deep-seated desire for the survival of the race hidden in one's bloodline—it is the pride of a dragon roaring through the heavens, the ambition to rule the Four Seas, and the deep fear of facing the Primordial Calamity and the blood of ten thousand dragons staining the waves!
Isn't this utmost sincerity?
However, an overwhelming and unyielding Daoist aura silently spread out, carrying an unquestionable sense of alienation akin to the laws of Heavenly Dao, freezing all his words and turbulent thoughts within its confines. This was not a refusal to listen, but rather a declaration of an insurmountable boundary through a higher-dimensional existence.
The voice of the Qing Huan Sage resounded once more in his soul, calm as ever, yet each word was like a thunderclap at the Primordial Judgment, causing his dragon soul to tremble and his very essence to shake:
"What the Dragon Clan seek is survival and a return to the pinnacle of the Primordial Wilderness."
This intense thought is pitiful. However, this thought itself is also a shackle, a prelude to calamity.
My path is pure and tranquil, untouched by Karma, and uninvolved in the rise and fall of clans.
The voice paused slightly, as if piercing through the glorious past and the shrouded future of the Candle Dragon, "Your 'sincerity' is bound by the weight of desire, not by the pure and flawless clarity of your hearts."
Go back. This road is blocked; forcing it will be futile.
"Boom!"
As if the giant pillar supporting the heavens and earth had collapsed, a tremendous sense of loss and icy despair from the depths of his soul gripped Candle Dragon's ancient dragon heart even more heavily than the oppressive feeling of the previous Hunyuan Dao Charm.
The power he was so proud of, the treasure he regarded as the last hope of his people, was so insignificant as dust in the eyes of that being who resided in the realm of the unknown!
The suffocating darkness of the Dragon Clan's future instantly swallowed up all remaining glimmers of hope.
The enormous dragon body trembled slightly, its claws, covered in immortal scales, sank deeply into the invisible spatial ripples below, leaving behind several solidified spatial rifts that shimmered with a sorrowful light.
He took a deep breath, a breath so heavy it seemed to absorb all the sorrow of the Primordial Wilderness into his lungs.
The dragon raised its head for the last time, its enormous eyes, containing the profound mysteries of the Moon Wheel, gazing deeply into the unfathomable chaotic clouds deep within Yingzhou Island, where the Great Dao Rhythm flowed.
"Candle Dragon... respectfully obeys the decree of the Sage."
His voice was hoarse and dry, each word seemingly squeezed out with difficulty from shattered dragon bones, devoid of any loudness, leaving only endless desolation.
As the light shone, the fifteen treasures, powerful enough to stir up a bloodbath in the Primordial Wilderness, including the Ancestor Dragon Pearl, which symbolized the supreme authority and source of Luck of the Dragon Clan, were instantly and completely sealed into the void space at the deepest level of the dragon soul, with not a trace of their aura leaking out.
The twelve dim dragon aura rings surrounding his body vanished silently, and the magnificent Dragon Clan Emperor Robe seemed to have lost all their spirit, leaving only heaviness. His enormous time dragon shadow slowly turned around, carrying a weariness as if all hope had been drained, and took a step towards the turbulent Primordial Wilderness sea from which he had come.
In an instant, spacetime twisted and folded.
The enormous dragon shadow, the instant it left the range of the Hunyuan Dao Charm Barrier, transformed into a stream of light so dim it almost blended into the twilight, carrying a silent lament as it plunged into the vast sea, never to return.
Only a faint sigh, carrying the ancient, salty scent of the sea, remained in the void, along with a bitter aftertaste of the Dragon Clan race's calamity, left behind after being swept away by the Sage's great power, slowly drifting away in the desolate wind Yingzhou Island.
Deep within Yingzhou Island, at the center of that cloud sea Dao Field that eternally exudes the aura of the Primordial Chaos, a blue stone platform, neither gold nor jade, floats silently.
Qing Huan sat cross-legged upon it, his figure appearing both incredibly clear and seemingly integrated into all things amidst the misty Daoist aura. The heavy, leaden sense of loss and despair that Candle Dragon felt when he departed was like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, only causing a faint ripple in the Sage's profound and tranquil state of mind, as deep and serene as the eternal Starry Sky, before vanishing without a trace.
The rise and fall of tribes, the changing of hegemons, are nothing more than a constantly changing shadow play on the grand stage of this Primordial Wilderness world.
With eyes slightly lowered, his gaze seemed to pierce through the churning chaotic sea of clouds beneath his feet, revealing a corner of the river of destiny that suddenly dimmed as the enormous dragon shadow merged into the Primordial Wilderness waves—a harbinger of the rekindling of the karmic fire of the Dragon-Han Primordial Calamity, drawn back by the Calamity Qi. There was no way to avoid it.
Just as the Candle Dragon vanished into the sky and sea, a completely different yet equally magnificent aura, like three newly forged innate divine swords, carrying the sharpness of their first test of their edge and a strong desire for the ultimate truth of the Great Dao, suddenly sliced through the still-unsettled spatial ripples around Yingzhou Island and descended outside the barrier of the Hunyuan Dao Charm.
The central path, Purity and Non-Action, profound and weighty, is like the earth that bears all things, its aura balanced and peaceful—this is none other than Laozi, the Supreme Taiqing Laozi. The path on the left is majestic and imposing, with strict laws and regulations, carrying the supreme air of ruling over all heavens; the Daoist robe of the Yuanshi Tianzun moves without wind.
The one on the right was the sharpest and most flamboyant, its sword intent soaring to the sky, its sharpness fully revealed, as if it wanted to cut through all obstacles. The Sect Master Tongtian's brows were full of a vigorous desire for exploration.
The Three Pure Ones Body has not yet been fully condensed to the state of perfect primordial chaos. As the Daoist aura flows around their bodies, one can still glimpse a trace of the "sharpness" and "imperfection" unique to the "Late-Quasi-Saint" realm, a yearning for greater power and ultimate truth.
With the blessings left by Pangu in creating the world and his own unparalleled talent, he struggled to break through this realm, but the road ahead was as shrouded in mist, obscure and unclear.
This Qing Huan Sage, who appeared out of nowhere and stepped into the Primordial Great Dao even earlier, was the only beacon illuminating their path forward.
"The Three Pure Ones of Kunlun Mountain"
Laozi's voice was gentle and warm like jade, yet it possessed a penetrating power that saw through to the essence of things. It clearly pierced through the barriers of Daoist rhyme and echoed among the clouds and sea on the island, respectful yet neither humble nor arrogant.
"Now I have been fortunate enough to glimpse the path to the Great Dao, but the road ahead is chaotic and full of obstacles."
The Sage's Great Dao is profound and all-encompassing, his benevolence extending to the Primordial Wilderness. I have taken the liberty of coming here to earnestly request the Sage's compassion to dispel the clouds and reveal the sun, guiding me through my confusion!
Although Yuanshi and Tongtian did not speak, they followed Laozi and solemnly bowed towards the unfathomable core of the Dao within the island, their posture extremely respectful.