Settling Accounts

Wenchang Pavilion.

Chancellor of Literature Yan Baichuan gazed up at the rainbow road in the sky, his eyes continuously flashing with a blue light. He then extended a hand and pointed in the void, causing an eight trigram projection to appear. Yan Baichuan placed his palm on the projection, and with a flick of his wrist, the eight trigram projection spun, finally settling into a fixed position. The Chancellor of Literature glanced at the final hexagram and murmured—

"Using the Ninth, 'Seeing the dragons without a leader is auspicious.'"

Yan Baichuan gently closed his eyes. In the darkness, he seemed to see a figure he had pursued his entire life. The figure was broad and majestic, walking with his hands behind his back above the Spring and Autumn period. Wherever he went, withered trees bloomed anew, and falling petals danced in the wind.

"Teacher, what was it you sought your entire life?"

"My entire life, I only wished for this world, where everyone is like a dragon..."

The scene in his memory froze. Yan Baichuan opened his eyes again. His eyes, which hadn't fluctuated for countless years, suddenly misted over, and even the rainbow heavenly road in the sky seemed less clear.

Shouyang Mountain.

Grand Celestial Master Qingwei Dao Lord continuously performed deductions with his hands, blood seeping from his fingernails and dripping onto the ground. The ordinary wild grass, touched by Qingwei's blood, surprisingly emitted a faint glow. A hazy consciousness seemed on the verge of being born, showing signs of becoming a demon.

"The Heavenly Secrets are disturbed, and I cannot determine who triggered such an anomaly. However, I sense this person seems to have some connection to my Daoist sect." Qingwei frowned. "The fourth Heavenly Path has appeared. This world is about to change..."

Qingwei Dao Lord turned and left. With a casual flick of his finger, the wild grass, on the verge of becoming a demon, flew out of the soil like a strand of emerald silk, wrapping around Qingwei Dao Lord's wrist and disappearing with him.

Western Regions, west of the ten thousand li of yellow sand, temples and buildings gleamed with gold and jade, and the scent of incense rose to the sky.

On the summit of a colossal Heavenly Pagoda, a figure seated on a golden lotus slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the rainbow heavenly road in the sky.

He reached out a hand towards the sky, as if grasping something in the void. When he withdrew his hand, he was holding a flower that shimmered with rainbow light.

He smiled faintly, brought the rainbow flower to his nose, and sniffed gently. The rainbow flower instantly dissolved into light and vanished.

"This rainbow cultivation path shares a similar principle with my Buddhist sect's Vajra cultivation."

"The creator of this path has a karmic connection with my Buddhism."

"They shall serve as a guardian for my Buddhist sect."

As the words fell, the pagoda summit, which had been empty except for him, suddenly responded...

"We respectfully obey the Great Bodhisattva's decree!"

Southern Border, Hundred Thousand Mountains, Holy Monarch Hall.

"Is it the Human Han Qingzhu attaining the Dao?" A phantom figure landed in the Holy Monarch Hall, with a wolf's head and human body.

"No!" Another figure, resembling a human scholar, also appeared. When he spoke, his tongue was forked like a snake's. "Han Qingzhu served as the Great Xuan Minister of War for twenty years, intending to forge a new cultivation path for the Human Race with battlefield killing intent. This Heavenly Path contains Literary Qi, but no killing intent. It is definitely unrelated to Han Qingzhu."

"Then who exactly managed to open a fourth Heavenly Dao?" A seductive voice came, and a third phantom figure appeared in the Holy Monarch Hall. However, the one emitting this sweet voice was actually the burly Ape Clan Holy Monarch. "Since it contains Literary Qi, it should be from the Human Race..."

"Old Monkey, Sister Fox, you both understand divination. Have you found anything?" The Snake Clan Holy Monarch looked towards the void and spoke.

The void trembled, and a hunched old man holding a cane appeared, covered in white fur.

The Ape Clan Holy Monarch smiled faintly. "This Monarch also wishes to know, but the Heavenly Dao conceals it, making it impossible to calculate... Little Fox, what about you?"

"Not interested!"

A lazy voice came from the void, but no figure appeared.

"This Monarch is late." A clear voice rang out, and a White Tiger phantom appeared. Its body was covered in black markings like lightning. The White Tiger phantom slowly rose and transformed into a tall woman. The lightning-like black markings coiled around her legs, with only a few patches of fur covering the crucial parts of her body.

The Snake Clan Holy Monarch looked at the White Tiger Female Monarch, a flash of heat in his eyes, and then said, "Your Majesty, you arrive at a most opportune moment. Do you have any plans regarding this newly appeared Heavenly Path?"

"A Three Thousand Li Heavenly Road is enough to cultivate to a level equivalent to Blood Refining. That is not important. What is important is whether this person has the ability to continue forging paths! The Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist Heavenly Paths are all Ten Thousand Li. If that person opens another Three Thousand Li, our Demon Race can make preparations then."

The Holy Monarchs nodded slightly.

"What if that person opens it to Nine Thousand Li?" The previously lazy Fox Clan Holy Monarch suddenly spoke.

The White Tiger Empress glanced at the void where the Fox Clan Holy Monarch was located, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Let's see if he can get past the Human Half-Saint first..."

After a long pause, no other words were spoken.

"Then, let us record this in the Holy Hall Records and monitor it closely."

Northern Regions, Barbarian Plains, Golden Tent City.

An extremely strange figure stood atop the city wall. This person was covered in purple and blue, had four eyes on their face, a snub nose, and fangs. They surprisingly had four arms, which was terrifying to behold.

The upper pair of eyes looked towards the sky, while the lower pair looked into the distance.

At this moment, a woman of extraordinary beauty also ascended the city wall and walked to the side of the terrifying man. She asked softly, "A Lang, it's late. Why aren't you returning to the palace to rest?"

"Shalina, did you hear that?" the man asked.

The stunning woman called Shalina blinked. "Hear what?"

"Ten thousand li away, the cheers from the Human Race's Great Wall of Righteous Qi..." the man said faintly, pointing to the rainbow heavenly road in the sky. "They are cheering for the Human Race having another cultivation path."

"A Lang, if you are worried, then should we find the person who opened the path..." Shalina made a cutting gesture.

The man was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "The path has already been opened. Killing the person who opened it now would be futile. A mere Three Thousand Li Heavenly Road cannot change the general trend."

The man paused before saying, "I'm looking forward to him keeping it open."

Shalina asked, confused, "A Lang?"

A trace of exhaustion flickered across the man's ferocious face as he offered no further explanation.

He turned, lifting Shalina with both hands.

"Return to the palace!"

Floating Cloud Mountain.

Ning Bing was suppressed by the Heavenly Might, unable to move. The cracks on the Soul Shaking Pagoda grew more numerous, eventually connecting. The pagoda shook violently, unable to resist any longer, and with a boom, it shattered into pieces.

Chen Luo opened his eyes, the ice covering his body melting instantly. He stood up and slowly walked towards Ning Bing.

"You... how is this possible?" Ning Bing's eyes widened. The entire area was suppressed by Heavenly Might, so why could Chen Luo move freely?

Recalling the Heavenly Road in the sky, the sudden Heavenly Dao Pressure, and the shattered Soul Shaking Pagoda, a guess surfaced in Ning Bing's mind.

"No... impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Ning Bing screamed hysterically in her heart. She couldn't and didn't want to believe that the person she was willing to destroy her cultivation for, to have Jin Guagua's Soul Merging technique undone, was a prodigy who opened a new path of cultivation.

Throughout history, it wasn't that no one had created new paths of cultivation, but only Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism had Heavenly Roads. This was because other paths were dead ends, unable to reach the highest point and gain the recognition of the Heavenly Dao. Now, the appearance of a Heavenly Road indicated that this path had the potential to reach ten thousand li.

This was the potential to become a Saint! Even if the success rate was less than one in ten thousand, it represented a possibility!

"Something must have gone wrong!" Ning Bing clung to a sliver of hope in her heart, wanting to believe she hadn't made a mistake. "You're just an ordinary person, you haven't even awakened the 'Omniscient Reading' talent, how could you open a Heavenly Road? There must be someone else nearby, it has to be!"

Chen Luo stopped and looked up at the sky. Ning Bing followed his gaze, and saw a mass of dense auspicious clouds appear above Chen Luo's head. Suddenly, they poured into Chen Luo's body like an inverted funnel.

"Heavenly Dao Destiny!"

Ning Bing's last shred of hope shattered. These auspicious clouds were precisely the Destiny rewarded by the Heavenly Dao. If Chen Luo hadn't opened a Heavenly Road, why would the Heavenly Dao reward him?

"I... what have I done!" As a Great Yin Cold Toad, Ning Bing felt a chill for the first time. Such individuals had only appeared three times in the history of the Human Race, and they had ultimately become the Supreme Saints of Confucianism, the Dao Ancestors of Daoism, and the Buddha Ancestors of Buddhism.

In terms of potential, Chen Luo was among the top four in all of history.

Even if he couldn't reach the final step in the future, so what?

One must remember that Jin Guagua possessed the Star Devouring Toad bloodline, but that also only represented potential!

Finally, Chen Luo finished absorbing the Heavenly Dao Destiny, and the Heavenly Might gradually receded. Ning Bing regained her ability to move.

"Aunt Bing, is it?" Chen Luo looked at her coldly. "Do you have anything to say?"

Ning Bing gave a bitter smile. "My Lord, all the mistakes were this servant's fault. This servant had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai. I beg my Lord not to take it out on my grandmother or Guagua. This servant will give you an explanation now!"

As Ning Bing spoke, an ice cone formed in her hand, and she thrust it fiercely towards her own throat!

"Ning Bing!" Just then, a golden light shot out, striking the ice cone in Ning Bing's hand. The ice cone shattered, and a copper coin fell to the ground. Chen Luo turned his head to see Wei Yan, Tian Ling, and Granny Jin had arrived, landing beside them.

Wei Yan and the Dao Lord Tian Ling surrounded Chen Luo, while Ning Bing, upon seeing Granny Jin, her knees buckled, and she knelt before her, tears streaming down her face.

"Grandmother, this servant was wrong..."

Granny Jin looked at Chen Luo, her eyes pleading, "My Lord, Ning Bing was foolish, and this old woman..."

Ning Bing rushed to Chen Luo's side, begging, "My Lord, it was this servant's fault! This servant is willing to accept punishment!"

Chen Luo ignored Ning Bing and looked at the Dao Lord Tian Ling, bowing slightly. "Dao Lord, Frog Brother saved my life. Can the Daoist sect compensate me?"

The Dao Lord Tian Ling was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Jin Guagua has the Star Devouring Toad bloodline. The Dao Palace has a secret realm called the Star Tomb. If a Star Devouring Toad enters, it can obtain a great opportunity, enough to repay the life-saving grace."

Chen Luo glanced at Wei Yan, who nodded slightly.

"Let Jin Guagua enter, and I will be the Virtuous Teacher of the Daoist sect!"

After speaking, Chen Luo extended his hand towards Granny Jin. A ball of Destiny rose in his palm, and within the Destiny's embrace, a vibrant Divine Soul swam. Upon closer inspection, it was a frog.

"Pavilion Master Jin, please take this Divine Soul. We are now even!"

The frog's croak has passed the season, and the recommendation needs to be warmed up.

Frog son ultimately missed out, so who will be the protagonist's first Soul Merged beast?

If you want to know...

Read on!

Seriously asking for recommendations and monthly votes... (I just realized these votes are still useful at this stage!)