Hunyuan's Back-Up Plan? Into the East Sea! Hongjun: Who?! Who Exactly Is Scheming Against Me?!

"Three fellow Daoists, the Primordial World is flawed and needs order. If we don't repair it now, when will we?"

Hongjun looked toward the Five Elements, Yin-Yang, and Ancestor Qiankun. His voice was faint and distant as he spoke coldly.

The three Patriarchs' gazes sharpened. They had just been about to say something when they suddenly sensed something. Disbelief appeared on all three faces.

"Hongjun, what did you do to us?!"

"You actually schemed against us?!"

The three of them were shocked and furious.

"Three fellow Daoists, if you are willing to suppress the Primordial World's Yin-Yang, Five Elements, and Heaven and Earth, then after countless years, once your merit is complete, your true spirits can still return. By then, you will have reached the Hunyuan Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. I, Hongjun, have never deceived you."

"If you refuse to repair the Primordial World's flaws..."

Hongjun transmitted his voice. Though he didn't continue to the end, the threat and meaning behind his words were already obvious.

You will repair this flaw whether you want to or not!

If they repaired it willingly, they would gain merit from the Primordial World and could be revived in the future. If they refused, they wouldn't even have a chance at resurrection.

"..."

The three Patriarchs' expressions became hideous.

"Heavenly Dao above, today, I, Hongjun, have sensed that the Primordial World is flawed and its order incomplete. I have already persuaded the three Patriarchs to work together with me to make the Primordial World more complete."

"The Primordial World has just been born, and everything awaits reconstruction. I am willing to shoulder the burden of maintaining its operation, uphold the Great Trend of the Heavenly Dao, and safeguard the Primordial World's order. May the Heavenly Dao bear witness!"

After threatening the three Patriarchs, Hongjun said nothing more. Instead, he raised his head and looked upward. The Jade Plate of Creation hovered behind him, while his voice was solemn, majestic, and vast.

You're proving your Dao?

Then I'll prove mine too!

You want to stop me?

There's no need to stop you anymore.

Since scheming can't solve this, I'll face you openly. I, Hongjun, will never lose!

We'll see who has the last laugh!

The three Patriarchs could gain merit by repairing the Primordial World and prove the Hunyuan realm, while recognition from the Heavenly Dao would allow him to become a Heavenly Dao Sage. With both advantages, even if he couldn't achieve the same perfection as in the original timeline, he would still possess dual Hunyuan power—enough to suppress Ancestral Dragon and Luohu. He wanted to see exactly who was scheming behind the scenes!

"Boom!!!"

The Heavenly Dao sensed it, and its divine might surged forth. Boundless power rapidly gathered. Primordial Violet Qi formed, while immeasurable merit converged and appeared, building momentum as though it might descend at any moment.

Seeing this scene, Ancestral Dragon and Luohu, who were currently accepting destiny and merit as they proved their Daos, smiled. Yuanfeng and Shi Qilin, who had been waiting nervously, also revealed smiles.

The four of them couldn't help recalling what the River God had told them that day.

"Even if you can successfully prove your Daos, proving your Daos alone won't be enough to make Hongjun lose everything. You will also need a crucial medium."

At the time, Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, Shi Qilin, and Luohu had been somewhat puzzled.

If two of them could prove their Daos, wouldn't that be enough to make Hongjun lose everything?

Two against one—the advantage was clearly theirs!

Tang Xuan had asked them: What if Hongjun could first prove the Hunyuan realm and then become a Heavenly Dao Sage?

Known as the greatest hidden mastermind in every Primordial Era genre novel, Tang Xuan had never underestimated Hongjun.

The Hunyuan Great Luo Golden Immortal realm represented cultivation, while a Heavenly Dao Sage represented status and also possessed the strength of a Hunyuan Great Luo Golden Immortal. If the two could be combined and stacked, how terrifying would that be? The answer was self-evident.

Joking aside, Hongjun was no laughing matter.

Tang Xuan even suspected that, in the original timeline, Luohu's successful detonation of the Western spiritual veins had been deliberately allowed by Hongjun.

Once the four of them understood, their hearts tightened, and they immediately respectfully asked Tang Xuan what the medium was.

Tang Xuan's answer was the three Patriarchs.

Tang Xuan: Since Hongjun joined forces with Yin-Yang, the Five Elements, and Ancestor Qiankun, given his cautious nature, it's impossible that he didn't tamper with the three Patriarchs. Once you prove your Daos, Hongjun will activate his arrangements directly, forcing the three of them to repair the Primordial World. At that point, even if he can't achieve perfection, Hongjun can still first prove the Hunyuan realm and then become a Heavenly Dao Sage.

And judging by the current result, there was no doubt about it. The River God... had guessed correctly!

"As expected of the mysterious and unfathomable River God, who can glimpse the future!"

The four of them marveled inwardly.

"Five Elements, Yin-Yang, Qiankun—if you don't want to die, go into the East Sea!"

Shi Qilin spoke.

The East Sea!

This was the solution the River God had given them.

As long as Hongjun was forced to scheme against the three Patriarchs, the overall situation would be set. If the three Patriarchs entered the East Sea, Hongjun would definitely lose!

The three Patriarchs had already looked grim and decided to disintegrate themselves and merge with the Primordial World.

They weren't willing to cooperate with Hongjun. This was simply an open scheme—an unsolvable one—and they had no other choice.

Hongjun had tampered with their bodies. If they refused to submit with dignity, Hongjun would help them do so. What else could they do? They could only cooperate.

Upon hearing Shi Qilin's words, the three Patriarchs' eyes immediately lit up, and their bodies trembled.

"The East Sea?"

The three exchanged glances, a trace of resolve flashing through their eyes.

Let's gamble!

Without hesitation, the three of them immediately fled toward the East Sea.

"Presumptuous!"

Hongjun's expression changed, and a powerful sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. He absolutely couldn't let the three Patriarchs enter the East Sea.

"Buzz!!!"

With a thought, Hongjun immediately tried to use the arrangements he had made to control the three Patriarchs and force them to transform into the Dao.

Although forcing others to transform into the Dao violated the rules of the Heavenly Dao and would result in much less merit, how could Hongjun worry about that now?

And at this moment, Ancestral Dragon and Luohu... moved!

"There's no need for fellow Daoists to be so anxious."

Ancestral Dragon and Luohu attacked simultaneously. Layer upon layer of Great Dao laws evolved, rapidly sealing the Heavenly Secrets and creating an isolation barrier.

They might not have been able to break Hongjun's methods, but delay and obstruct him for a moment?

That, they could still do.

"Boom!!!"

"Boom!!!"

Shi Qilin and Yuanfeng simultaneously activated their Dao Fruits and brought out their treasures, sealing off Hongjun's path of movement. Seeing this, the experts of the Three Tribes were briefly stunned, then immediately attacked, surrounding Hongjun completely.

"Who?! Who exactly?! Who exactly is scheming against me from behind the scenes?!"

Hongjun's eyes bulged with rage. He was utterly furious.

Just because I haven't shown my strength, you really think I'm a sick cat?

With a furious roar, the radiance of the Jade Plate of Creation erupted to its utmost limit. The pressure belonging to a half-step Hunyuan Great Luo Golden Immortal also rose to its peak.

"This is what you forced me into!!!"

Beneath the East Sea.

Tang Xuan sat cross-legged as wisps of water elemental energy continuously gathered into his body. Looking inward at his sea of consciousness, he saw that it already contained a majestic, vast, and seemingly endless phantom of flowing water. The phantom continued expanding, spreading bit by bit as though illuminating a map.

If Tang Xuan hadn't gathered the rivers near the East Sea and used the strategy of surrounding the cities from the countryside to devour the East Sea, it might have been difficult. But by devouring the rivers first and then the East Sea, the difficulty had undoubtedly been reduced greatly.

Moreover, the battle between the Three Tribes and Luohu and Ancestral Dragon proving their Daos would throw the Great Dao of the Primordial World into chaos.

The favorable time was Longhan. The favorable terrain was devouring the rivers. The favorable people were Tang Xuan himself.

After planning and scheming for so long, did they really think Tang Xuan had been doing nothing?

Devour! Devour like mad! Refine like mad!

Without the outside world knowing, Tang Xuan was slowly infiltrating the entire East Sea. It was being infiltrated at a frantic pace.

Ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent, forty percent...

The speed was a little slow?

No matter!

Then he would use the Wish Origin to speed it up!

Finally, when the progress reached one hundred percent, when the entire East Sea had been completely mastered by Tang Xuan, an invisible boom suddenly erupted from within him.

Hunyuan Golden Immortal?

Breakthrough—the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm!

The entire East Sea transformed into Tang Xuan's true body!

A small river was a river, and the East Sea... was a river too!

A much larger river!

"Boom!!!"

Tang Xuan's eyes shone brightly as he abruptly rose to his feet.

The actors were all in position. Only the leading man was missing. It was time for him to... make his entrance!