Innate Five Elements Banners

These five great banners, when used as a protective formation, could be considered extremely powerful.

Once they protected the Human Clan, at least until Taishang Laojun taught them the Golden Core Great Dao, they would not be slaughtered by the other races of the Great Desolation.

Whoosh!

Hong Yun waved his hand, and the Wuji Apricot-Yellow Banner was planted at the very center of Shouyang Mountain.

Whoosh!

With another wave of his hand, the Green Lotus Precious Color Banner was planted in the east of the Human Clan's territory.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The Earth-Leaving Flame Light Banner was planted in the south of the Human Clan's territory.

The Plain Cloud Boundary Banner was planted in the west of the Human Clan's territory.

The True Martial Black Eagle Banner was planted in the north of the Human Clan's territory.

The five great banners took their positions. In an instant, the entire sky above the Human Clan was shrouded in a vast formation.

"All right. Live and multiply here in peace. In the future, great powers of the Great Desolation will naturally come and teach you cultivation techniques!"

Hong Yun spoke to the crowd.

At that moment, the eighty million members of the Human Clan all felt as though they were covered by a protective barrier, incomparably safe.

"Thank you, Holy Father!"

"Holy Father's grace is boundless!"

"Long live the Holy Father!"

The Human Clan shouted in unison.

Hong Yun immediately waved his hand and brought out the Myriad Heavens Auspicious Cloud. His figure transformed into a streak of light and flew into the distance.

Before transmigrating, he had been human, but after arriving in the Great Desolation, his true form was merely a cloud.

His protection of the Human Clan could only be considered doing his best.

It was impossible for him to guard the Human Clan's growth all the way.

As for the hardships they would face in the future, Hong Yun could only help whenever he could—and only if doing so did not affect him.

Elsewhere.

Deep fear flashed through Nuwa's eyes.

Return to the Human Clan?

Even if she had ten times the courage, she would not dare.

This time, Hong Yun had trapped her terribly.

But Nuwa had no choice. How could she have imagined that Hong Yun's strength would be so terrifying?

Thinking back to when she had snatched the Gourd Vine and the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil from Hong Yun, she still felt a lingering fear.

At that time, Hong Yun could probably have killed her with a backhand strike!

Nuwa rose to her feet and staggered as she controlled her magical treasure toward Fengqi Mountain.

She could no longer become a Saint.

Her cultivation was now only at the late Quasi-Saint stage. She had to recover her injuries and cultivation as quickly as possible.

As for becoming a Saint, she could only think of a way later.

Nuwa estimated that, with her path to sainthood severed this time, becoming a Saint in the future would probably be nearly impossible.

But after recovering, she would possess Quasi-Saint Peak strength, making her a great power in the Great Desolation.

As long as she did not leave Fengqi Mountain and devoted herself to cultivation, it would be equivalent to possessing eternal life.

Hong Yun, meanwhile, returned to Fire Cloud Cave.

He had gained a great deal this time and needed to digest it properly.

Whoosh!

Hong Yun first took out the fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation.

This was a new fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation. Hong Yun still did not know which Great Dao Law it contained.

He could only learn that after refining and comprehending it.

Hong Yun took out the Great Dao Cushion and began comprehending it.

Fifty years later.

Hong Yun finally opened his eyes.

"I never expected that this fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation would contain the Five Elements Great Dao Law!"

Hong Yun was overjoyed.

The Five Elements Great Dao Law consisted of the five Great Dao Laws of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

But if he comprehended the Five Elements Great Dao Law, he would not merely master one law.

He would master five in total.

What incredible luck.

One had to know that Hong Yun currently mastered only four laws: Devouring, Light and Darkness, Reincarnation, and Chaos.

If he could next master five Great Dao Laws, Hong Yun felt that the growth of his Mythical Dao Fruit would definitely be substantial.

"From now on, I will enter secluded cultivation. I only need to keep an eye on the Human Clan's situation!"

Hong Yun thought to himself.

Next, he would spend a great deal of time using Heavenly Dao Merit to cultivate the Great Dao Laws.

After all, he had far too much Heavenly Dao Merit. It should be enough to use for a very long time.

Moreover, the Innate Five Elements Banners were with the Human Clan, and each contained a strand of his primordial spirit.

He could know at any time whether Taishang Laojun had gone to establish a religion among the Human Clan.

Once Taishang Laojun went to the Human Clan, Hong Yun planned to head there immediately.

Although Hong Yun had not yet thought of how to fleece Taishang Laojun and obtain the Heavenly Dao Merit for establishing the Human Religion, he had at least made up his mind.

He absolutely could not let Taishang Laojun succeed.

That would be an enormous amount of Heavenly Dao Merit. Merit capable of making someone a Saint would definitely be vast beyond measure.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Hong Yun sat cross-legged on the Great Dao Cushion and brought out the Heavenly Dao Merit within the Gourd Vine.

He comprehended the Five Elements Laws while absorbing and utilizing the Heavenly Dao Merit.

With the thousandfold speed boost from the Heavenly Dao Merit, together with the hundredfold speed boost from the Great Dao Cushion, Hong Yun's cultivation speed naturally advanced by leaps and bounds.

At the same time.

In the Great Desolation, the Witch Clan and Demon Clan were also gradually growing stronger.

Ever since the end of the second Witch-Demon War, the Demon Clan had almost fully recovered by now.

However, they still had not found a way to deal with the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

Without a method to counter the Twelve Ancestral Witches, even if they went to war with the Witch Clan again, they would still suffer defeat.

They could not possibly have Dao Ancestor Hongjun save them every time.

Therefore...

The Demon Clan was now fighting another faction under the leadership of Dijun and Taiyi.

This faction was not on the Great Desolation continent.

It was in the East Sea.

On the Three Immortal Islands of the East Sea.

"Damn it!"

"Absolutely damnable!"

"That Demon Clan's Dijun and Taiyi have repeatedly suppressed our Immortal Court with the Heavenly Court! Now they even want to wage war against our Immortal Court!"

Eastern Prince Gong roared, fury showing on his face.

After he and the Queen Mother of the West returned to the Three Immortal Islands in the East Sea and established the Immortal Court's headquarters, they had quietly developed.

Over the past ten thousand years, they had managed to make the Immortal Court flourish.

Some great immortals of the Great Desolation had even come to the Three Immortal Islands and joined the Immortal Court.

After all, the Three Immortal Islands could be considered three excellent grotto-heavens and blessed lands.

They were far better than casually finding a place in the Great Desolation to cultivate.

But now, ever since the Demon Clan discovered that Eastern Prince Gong and the Queen Mother of the West had reclaimed the Three Immortal Islands in the East Sea, they had constantly come to harass them.

In particular, over the past few years, the Demon Clan had attacked the Three Immortal Islands several times.

Now, the battle between the Demon Clan and the Immortal Court had reached a fever pitch.

"Should we ask the Dragon Clan for help?"

Eastern Prince Gong was deeply troubled.

Although the Dragon Clan had declined, it still possessed many powerful experts.

Those experts were not merely at the Grand Unity level; they included Quasi-Saints.

Eastern Prince Gong even sensed that the current Dragon Clan possessed an existence at Quasi-Saint Peak.

However, ever since the Dragon-Han Primordial Calamity ended, they had never appeared in public or participated in the struggle over the Great Desolation's destiny.

Several months later.

Eastern Prince Gong returned to Penglai in dejection.

He had wanted to unite with the Dragon Clan to resist the Heavenly Court's Demon Clan, but unfortunately... the Dragon Clan had completely ignored him.

After all, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans had once been the supreme races competing for supremacy over the Great Desolation.

At that time, the Witch Clan and Demon Clan had merely been insignificant factions. They had not even been qualified to enter the Dragon Clan's sight.

Not to mention the Immortal Court.

At the same time.

Inside Fire Cloud Cave.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

Hong Yun continued comprehending the Great Dao Laws, while the vast Heavenly Dao Merit was also being consumed at a visible rate.

"It has only been ten years, yet the Metal Law among the Five Elements Laws has already reached the entry level!"

Hong Yun sighed.

This speed was simply too fast.

He felt that the quality of the Heavenly Dao Merit gained this time was somewhat higher than that obtained from the Heavenly Marriage.

In terms of quantity, it was countless times greater.

"Ten years for one law to reach the entry level, another twenty years to reach minor mastery, and another thirty years to reach the late stage. That means each law only requires a single sixty-year cycle of cultivation!"

Hong Yun calculated inwardly.

A sixty-year cycle was sixty years.

He planned to first cultivate all five of the Five Elements Laws—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—to the late stage.

Then, he would try to break through to the fifth layer of Foundation Building for his Mythical Dao Fruit.

After all, once he reached the fifth layer of Foundation Building, Hong Yun would be equivalent to a Saint.

But whether he could successfully break through from the fourth to the fifth layer of Foundation Building using only five newly added laws cultivated to the late stage was something Hong Yun himself was not certain about.

Even so, it would take three hundred years of uninterrupted cultivation.

And if he failed to break through, Hong Yun could only push Devouring, Light and Darkness, Reincarnation, Chaos, and the Five Elements Laws toward perfection.

In any case, only by constantly raising the level of his Great Dao Laws could he nourish his Mythical Dao Fruit.

In the time that followed, aside from occasionally sending out a strand of divine sense through the Innate Five Elements Banners to check on the Human Clan, Hong Yun remained in cultivation.

Time passed, and a hundred years went by in the blink of an eye.

"Whoosh! Now not only has the Metal Law reached the late stage, even the Wood Law has reached the late stage!"

Hong Yun exhaled in relief. More than a hundred years of cultivation had allowed two of his laws to reach the late stage.

Hong Yun felt that his strength had not increased by much.

It made sense. At present, the highest level of all his Great Dao Laws was only the late stage.

Whether it was Devouring, Light and Darkness, Reincarnation, and Chaos, or the Metal and Wood Laws among the Five Elements Laws, they were all at the late stage.

There might be some differences in their might, but the gap was not enough to create a true divide in strength.

Even if Hong Yun cultivated more Great Dao Laws, as long as there was no fundamental increase in their level, his strength would not change much.

"But it doesn't matter. As long as I can raise my Mythical Dao Fruit, my strength will surge!"

Hong Yun thought to himself.

Once his Mythical Dao Fruit reached the fifth layer of Foundation Building, his strength would not merely increase tenfold or several dozenfold.

He would truly rise from the non-Saint level to the Saint level.

Continue cultivating!

Hong Yun did not stop and began comprehending the Water Law.

Kunlun Jade Void Palace.

Taishang Laojun, with white brows and hair, sat cross-legged on a cushion and cultivated.

The aura radiating from Taishang Laojun was now much stronger than before.

But his expression was somewhat puzzled.

"Eldest Brother, you haven't improved for a hundred years, have you?"

Yuanshi, who was beside Taishang Laojun, spoke.

Yuanshi's aura was now no weaker than Taishang Laojun's.

One had to know that Taishang Laojun had previously been the first to reach the late Quasi-Saint stage, while Yuanshi had reached the late Quasi-Saint stage only after Nuwa.

"Second Brother, it seems I have encountered a bottleneck in my cultivation!"

Taishang Laojun said.

"Big Brother, you've already reached the Quasi-Saint Peak and are attempting to break through to the Saint Position. Naturally, you'll encounter a bottleneck!"

Tongtian, standing nearby, merely smiled faintly.

This eldest brother was really humblebragging.

Having reached the Quasi-Saint Peak and attempting to break through to the Saint Position—if they encountered no bottleneck at all, just how extraordinary were the origins of the Three Pure Ones?

Even Saint Hongjun had been stuck for countless years when attempting to break through to the Saint Position.

"Third Brother, you don't understand!"

Taishang Laojun said angrily.