Hongjun Becomes a Sage

The lingering aftermath of the Calamity gradually subsided. After a period of mourning and solemnity, the Great Desolation fell into an eerie silence.

The scene of the Western Land's depleted spiritual energy and shattered earth veins spread through various channels, leaving countless powerful beings with lingering fear. They regarded the Dao-Demon Conflict, which they had not witnessed firsthand, with awe and imagination.

Within the Fengqi Mountain dojo, it remained a serene immortal realm, as if isolated from the turmoil outside.

Qing Xuan continued his slacker lifestyle of lying flat and leveling up. With the aid of the Primordial Spirit Gathering Array, he had already broken through the True Immortal realm and reached the mid-stage of the Mystic Immortal realm.

(ps: The realms in the Great Desolation are divided into: Heavenly Immortal, True Immortal, Mystic Immortal, Golden Immortal, Grand Unity Golden Immortal, Grand Unity Golden Immortal, Primordial Golden Immortal/Quasi-Sage, Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal/Sage, Primordial Limitless Grand Unity Golden Immortal/Heavenly Dao Realm, Primordial Supreme Grand Unity Golden Immortal/Great Dao Realm. Each realm is divided into early, mid, and late stages.)

Nuwa, meanwhile, often sat in quiet contemplation, digesting the impact and revelations brought by the Calamity, while also paying attention to Qing Xuan's occasional stray thoughts.

On this particular day, the weather was perfect.

Nuwa was guiding Qing Xuan in some techniques for using his primordial spirit to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Although she knew this disciple would likely pay little heed, she still explained meticulously.

Just then.

A boundless pressure, indescribable in words, swept across the entire Great Desolation like a tide!

This pressure was not directed at any specific being, yet all beings in the Great Desolation, from ignorant beasts to Innate Divine Beings, from mountain spirits and wild monsters to powerful figures, felt it. They involuntarily experienced a sense of awe and submission stemming from their primal instincts!

It was a form of suppression at the very level of existence.

Above the firmament, purple qi surged eastward for thirty thousand miles, accompanied by myriad auspicious signs, golden lotuses springing from the earth, and ethereal immortal music!

Infinite Heavenly Dao laws manifested, weaving into brilliant radiance that enveloped the Great Desolation!

A calm yet supremely majestic voice echoed clearly in the primordial spirit of every living being.

"High I recline in the ninefold clouds, on a cushion, I understand the true Dao. Beyond the primordial chaos of heaven and earth, I shall be the esteemed sect leader. Pangu gave birth to Taiji, the two forms follow the western image. One Dao passed to three friends, two sects, Chan and Jie, divided. The Xuanmen's ultimate leader, one energy forms Hongjun."

"I am Hongjun. I have now attained the Sage's fruit. In ten thousand years, I shall lecture on the Great Dao in Zixiao Palace, beyond the thirty-three heavens. Those with affinity may all come to listen."

The Sage's might was like a prison, his words like divine decrees!

The Great Desolation trembled! All beings paid homage!

"Hongjun... has become a Sage!"

Nuwa abruptly stood up, her beautiful eyes erupting with brilliant divine light, a mixture of excitement, awe, and longing swirling within her.

Fuxi's figure also appeared beside her instantly, his face equally filled with shock and excitement.

"A Sage! So this is the realm!!"

Both Nuwa and Fuxi were cultivators at the peak of Grand Unity. Yet, under Hongjun's Sage might, they could clearly feel their own Grand Unity Dao Fruits trembling.

It wasn't a suppression of cultivation, but a suppression originating from the very source of their being.

A Sage and a non-Sage were no longer the same kind of life.

Qing Xuan also gazed towards the horizon.

With the help of the Primordial Slacker System, Hongjun's Sage might had no effect on him.

[Hongjun has become a Sage, and the true curtain of the Primordial World has finally been raised.] [The six destined Sages, the Witch-Demon Tribulation, the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, the Journey to the West Tribulation...] [Buzhou Mountain collapses, the Great Desolation shatters. The Great Desolation that follows is truly fraught with hardships.]

Nuwa and Fuxi exchanged a glance, solemnity flashing in their eyes.

They were both well aware of the terror of the Calamities.

However, even the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation and the Dao-Demon Conflict had only destroyed the earth veins of the Western Land.

But the subsequent Calamities even caused Buzhou Mountain, formed from Pangu's spine, to collapse, and the Great Desolation itself shattered.

Could the power of the Calamities continue to escalate?

[The three lectures in Zixiao Palace, the six destined Sages, the calculations involved are truly countless.]

When Qing Xuan read various Great Desolation novels in his past life, he had always wondered if the six destined Sages were truly the only possible candidates.

Having survived in the Great Desolation world for so long and learned more, Qing Xuan had found his answer.

Sages were essential.

If the Heavenly Dao were likened to a company, then Sages would be the leaders of various departments.

The Earthly Dao and the Human Dao were similar.

The Three Pure Ones, as the primordial spirit of Pangu, received the merit from Pangu's creation of the heavens and earth, making them the direct descendants of the family.

Therefore, they bore the responsibility of educating all beings, making the Sageship of the Three Pure Ones inevitable.

However, the other four Sage positions were not immutable.

Looking at Hongyun, Jieyin, and Zhunti, one could see that, aside from the Three Pure Ones, the Heavenly Dao Sage positions could be altered.

Hongyun symbolized the Heavenly Dao's nine-tenths that proliferates, and the one-tenth that escapes.

Unfortunately, the Heavenly Dao is selfish, and with Hongjun, who has merged with the Dao, it's impossible for this sliver of hope to fall upon Hongyun.

Otherwise, how could Hongyun have given away his Sage position?

Don't talk about Hongyun being a good old man or anything like that; this is the Great Desolation, where the strong prey on the weak is the fundamental rule.

No matter how good-natured someone is, they wouldn't hand over a great opportunity that's already in their grasp.

Even if we take a step back and say Hongyun wanted to give it away, why must he give it to Jieyin and Zhunti specifically?

His close friend Zhenyuanzi was standing right behind him. If he was going to give up his position, he should have given it to Zhenyuanzi.

While the Sage positions of the Three Pure Ones couldn't be changed, Hongjun had taken them as disciples and taught them the method of Slaying Three Corpses. This could be seen as cutting off the Three Pure Ones' path to the Dao. Coupled with the problematic Primordial Violet Qi, the Heavenly Dao could then control the Three Pure Ones, who were manifestations of Pangu's primordial spirit.

As for Jieyin and Zhunti, they were Hongjun's compensation for shattering the Western Land's ley lines during the Dao-Demon Conflict, to repay the karma.

Nuwa needed no further explanation. Once Nuwa became a Heavenly Dao Sage, humanity would forever be under the control of the Heavenly Dao.

[Looking at it this way, the destined Sage positions are indeed full of schemes.]

[Primordial Violet Qi, the foundation for becoming a Sage? After merging with the Primordial Violet Qi, one's cultivation can no longer advance, and their life and death are controlled by the Heavenly Dao.]

Upon hearing these inner thoughts, Nuwa's heart tightened.

Merging with the Primordial Violet Qi meant being controlled by the Heavenly Dao. No wonder Qing Xuan spoke of her becoming a Sage with a hint of pity.

But that was a Sage.

Immortal and indestructible, the highest being in all the heavens.

Who wouldn't be tempted?

[Moreover, becoming a Sage, while seemingly indestructible, actually ties one completely to this Great Desolation. Want to transcend? Dream on! The Heavenly Dao would be the first to forbid it!]

Every one of Qing Xuan's inner thoughts struck Nuwa and Fuxi like a heavy hammer, shaking their Dao hearts and chilling their primordial spirits!

The supreme realm they had pursued for countless eons was actually such a massive trap?!

Fuxi's face turned pale, his lips trembling slightly. He looked at Nuwa, his eyes filled with lingering fear and dread.

If this were true, then what was the point of fighting for this Sage position? Wouldn't it be courting death?

[However, it's not entirely without a solution. As the Tongtian Jianmu, I inherently possess a trace of ability to communicate with the Great Dao. Coupled with my Supreme Treasure, as long as Master reports directly to the Great Dao when creating humans and becoming a Sage, bypassing the Heavenly Dao, then under the Great Dao's gaze, neither the Heavenly Dao nor Hongjun can make a move.]

[Of course, there are definitely risks involved.]

[However, the greater the storm, the more valuable the fish.]

Nuwa and Fuxi suddenly looked up, the light of hope rekindling in their eyes!

Nuwa composed herself and looked at Qing Xuan with a complicated expression.

This rebellious disciple, every time her inner thoughts could scare her half to death, and then give her a glimmer of faint hope.