Inside Water God Palace.
A faint flush rose to the Eighteenth Prince's face.
Clearly, the clash within his consciousness sea had taken a considerable toll on him.
"Battles within the consciousness sea are exceedingly perilous."
"If not for the Profound Nether Weak Water Bead suppressing my consciousness sea, this battle alone would have destroyed my divine sense."
Although he had suffered grievous injuries.
And Father God's life-preserving measure had also been exhausted.
As long as he could obtain the Water God's Golden Seal and seize control of the Wei River's authority.
Then everything would be worth it.
The Eighteenth Prince did not even glance at the wreckage around him before stepping forward and grabbing the Water God's Golden Seal.
He immediately attempted to refine it.
But at that moment.
A bamboo staff abruptly appeared behind his head.
Streaks of pure mystic light flickered without end.
Bang!
The bamboo staff swung, shutting off the five senses and sealing the Six Consciousnesses.
The Eighteenth Prince was already at the end of his strength. Under this blow, his Dao body, which had already been on the verge of collapse, crashed heavily to the ground.
In the instant before he lost consciousness, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
"Who exactly has been plotting against me?!"
Zhou Yuan looked at the unconscious Eighteenth Prince lying on the ground and sighed.
"If I had not been cautious and sent a few more puppets to stir up trouble."
"I might have fallen into your hands this time."
As expected of the descendant of an old-established Dao Lord, he possessed quite a few tricks.
Yet Zhou Yuan only felt a brief moment of emotion.
The victor became king, the loser a bandit. No matter what, he was the only one standing in Water God Palace now.
"Water God's Golden Seal."
This object was formed from the authority of the Wei River's origin.
It was also a manifestation of the Heaven and Earth Origin.
Zhou Yuan reached out and took hold of the Water God's Golden Seal, using his divine sense to refine its core.
In an instant.
The entire Wei River secret realm, and even the Wei River itself, began to boil.
Countless water-element spiritual energies evolved into ten thousand wondrous Dao principles.
Rivers, Lakes, and Seas flowed without end; countless waterways rested within the lines of his palm.
Zhou Yuan's primordial spirit rose beyond all limits, and everything within the Wei River entered his sight.
From fish and shrimp that had yet to gain intelligence to water-element cultivators throughout the Wei River.
Every blade of grass, every tree, and all living beings—he knew all and could do all with a single thought.
The Water God's Golden Seal floating in the void fell into his Primordial Spirit Consciousness Sea.
The entire secret realm stirred, after which a vast divine aura rose.
Water Element Law transformed into countless canopies.
Golden flowers drifted down while golden lotuses bloomed one after another.
Dao music and immortal melodies sounded around him.
"Three Lights gather in union, five directions' rivers and seas grow clear; nine-colored qi descends from heaven, and all things spring forth from the earth."
Wearing a crown, draped in azure robes, and holding a golden seal in his hand, Zhou Yuan revealed the majestic bearing of divinity.
He rose into the air and stood above the secret realm's void.
Like a blazing sun illuminating eternity.
His booming divine voice echoed throughout the entire secret realm.
"I now ascend to the position of Wei River Water God."
"I shall reestablish law, discipline, and order."
"You trespassed into the water manor and disrupted the Wei River's water-element nexus."
"You shall serve within the water manor for One Yuan Assembly."
The beings searching all over the water manor for treasures and spiritual materials immediately turned pale.
A celestial god-demon gazed at the boundless divine light above Water God Palace and spoke.
"Divine Lord, the water manor was previously ownerless, which was why we dared enter it."
"Now that Divine Lord has ascended to this great position, we naturally would not dare remain for long."
"We beg Divine Lord to investigate clearly."
One Yuan Assembly was one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years.
They were all tyrannical figures in the outside world. How could they be willing to waste their years away in this water manor?
"Silence!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan frowned and lightly pointed a finger.
The celestial god-demon who had just spoken immediately turned into a stream of water and vanished without a trace.
This decisive display of slaughter left all the beings present trembling in fear, silent as cicadas in winter.
"It is settled, then."
"Who approves? Who objects?"
Zhou Yuan swept his gaze over the surroundings, yet not a single being dared meet his eyes directly.
"We shall obey Divine Lord's Imperial Decree."
Only then did Zhou Yuan nod slightly.
He selected several celestial god-demons to serve as chief stewards.
He had them lead the other beings in repairing Water God Palace, planting spiritual herbs, refining divine gold and spirit ore, and breeding spirit beasts.
All necessary materials would naturally come from the relics left behind by the Tianshui Imperial Dynasty's beings and the previous master of the water manor.
The water manor secret realm would also be sealed. No being would be permitted to enter or leave.
After making these arrangements, Zhou Yuan finally returned to the water manor.
"Refining the Wei River Origin Divine Seal cannot be accomplished overnight."
"But merely taking initial control of the Wei River's authority has already deepened my comprehension of the Great Dao of Water Element considerably."
"Can one only say that Innate Ancient Gods truly live up to their name?"
Zhou Yuan sighed softly.
At the beginning of primordial antiquity, gods and the Dao were one.
The gods spoken of here were Innate Ancient Gods who held the world's authority.
Not ordinary members of the Innate God Clan.
When chaos first opened and the Primordial Great World was first formed, the Primordial Great World belonged to powerful practitioners of the divine path.
The Innate Ancient Gods born bearing the fortune of heaven and earth were the true favored children of the world.
Such gods were far beyond gods appointed by the Investiture of the Gods in later ages, or gods who attained the Dao through incense offerings.
They controlled heaven and earth's authority, with all great power gathered upon themselves.
By relying on the Heaven and Earth Origin to comprehend the Dao and cultivate, they often advanced remarkably quickly and possessed Great Destiny.
"Unfortunately, when the Primordial Heavenly Court fell, far too many gods perished."
The number of ancient great gods who fell during the final stage of the Dragon-Han Tribulation was impossible to estimate, burying ninety-nine percent of the divine path's foundations with them.
When these Innate Ancient Gods fell, the authority of heaven and earth they controlled was naturally reclaimed by the Heavenly Dao.
When the Primordial Great World had first opened, the Heavenly Dao remained ignorant, and the gods divided heaven and earth's authority among themselves.
But after the Dragon-Han Crimson Bright Tribulation, vast numbers of gods were destroyed in the final calamity. The Heavenly Dao instinctively reclaimed the authority of heaven and earth that the gods had usurped, and no more Innate Ancient Gods were born thereafter.
By the time Dao Ancestor Hongjun united with the Dao, the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial Great World had been completely perfected.
The Heavenly Dao was supreme and eternal, maintaining the order and laws of the Primordial Great World.
Yet the heavenly evolution had forty-nine, while one escaped.
Although heaven and earth would no longer expend their origin authority to nurture Innate Ancient Gods.
It would not pursue those gods who had already gotten on board before that.
Newcomers followed new rules, while old-timers followed old rules. That was all there was to it.
"And what I hold now is a ticket leading to the primordial divine path."
A strange gleam flashed through Zhou Yuan's eyes.
He had not expected this divine golden seal to be formed from innate water-element authority.
"The successive Wei River Water Lords hid themselves far too deeply."
"No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Water Ancestor's legacy was simply too profound."
Zhou Yuan had never expected that after Water Ancestor, who had contended with Ancestor Dragon for the supreme position of the Water Element Black Emperor in primordial antiquity, fell, a wisp of his true spirit had still managed to escape.
"Remarkable, truly remarkable!"
Zhou Yuan clapped his hands in admiration.
According to the information conveyed by the divine golden seal.
This Water Ancestor, once an Innate Dao Lord, had not only successfully reincarnated through that wisp of true spirit, but had also relied on his own foundations and preparations to condense water-element authority anew, opening the path to reclaiming the position of an Innate Ancient God.
One had to know that Water Ancestor's status was extremely lofty. In the past, he had been an existence capable of contending with Ancestor Dragon for the Black Emperor's position.
Although the divine golden seal he condensed appeared to be merely a manifestation of the Wei River's authority.
At Water Ancestor's peak, he had controlled the four great waterways of the Primordial Great World and countless water veins across the Primordial Great Land.
His status stood only one step away from the supreme authority of the water-element position and the divine throne of the Black Emperor.
Therefore, this divine golden seal possessed limitless potential.
In theory, if Water Ancestor could once again unite the water veins of heaven and earth, he could recondense the authority and position.
But this was tantamount to demanding the origin of authority from heaven and earth, so naturally heaven and earth rejected him.
When fortune arrived, heaven and earth lent their strength; when fortune departed, even heroes lost their freedom.
Although he had relied on extraordinary talent to reclaim the divine position of Wei River Water Lord, he still could not escape the calamity of death during the final calamity of primordial antiquity.
The several Wei River Water Lords after him once more walked the path of Innate Ancient Gods.
They directly inherited Water Ancestor's legacy and did not personally pry at heaven and earth's foundations. Though their path of cultivation occasionally encountered setbacks, generation after generation, the Great Merit and Great Destiny they gained by benefiting the Wei River gradually wore away the karmic burden between this divine position and heaven and earth.
However, these Water Lords had all been ordinary beings of the Wei River who attained the Dao. Their foundations were shallow, and they often fell on the path to proving the Dao before becoming Innate Dao Lords.
Until Zhou Yuan formally inherited the legacy of the Wei River lineage.
"So that means I now possess the qualifications to contend for the water element's supremacy and the Black Emperor's Position?!"
Before you continue