Yuan Huang Takes a Deep Breath, A Chill Rises in Her Heart. Once, She Too...

"How are the Ferocious Beast Clan faring now?" Long Zang asked.

Yuan Huang spoke slowly: "They've holed up in the western Ancestral Court. Ancestor Dragon and First Kirin are both discussing whether to launch a single decisive strike and destroy the Ferocious Beast Divine Dynasty."

Long Zang listened, then shook his head slightly.

Yuan Huang was puzzled and pressed him seriously: "Why? This is the best opportunity we'll ever have."

Long Zang looked at her, his voice low: "I do not advise wiping out the Ferocious Beast Clan."

Yuan Huang's heart jolted.

From past experience, Long Zang's words had almost never been wrong.

But this time, she found it hard to accept.

"If the Ferocious Beasts are not destroyed, how can the Three Clans rise? If we truly want to rule the Primordial World, we must completely eradicate this tumor."

Her tone carried doubt, and also a trace of reluctance.

Long Zang countered instead: "If we truly annihilate the Ferocious Beast Clan, what comes next?"

Yuan Huang froze, then answered instinctively: "Naturally, the Phoenix Clan will rise."

Long Zang's gaze deepened, his words measured: "And then?"

Yuan Huang fell silent.

As she traced the logic in her mind, a chill suddenly crept into her heart.

Yes, if the Phoenix Clan rose, they would inevitably have to conquer east and west, just like the Ferocious Beasts now.

The cycle of blood and fire would repeat itself.

Even if the Phoenix Clan were willing to stay in one corner, would the other races of the Primordial World allow it?

In the end, there would be only one outcome... war among the Three Clans!

Long Zang spelled it out for her: "This is the fate of the Primordial World. The Ferocious Beasts fall, the Three Clans ascend; the Three Clans ascend, and war is inevitable. In the end, it's just walking the same old road."

Yuan Huang took a deep breath, feeling a terrible truth lurking in his words.

Long Zang continued: "Keep the Ferocious Beast Clan. Now that ninety percent of them are dead, the rest are merely clinging to life. Rather than exterminating them completely, let them survive. The Ferocious Beasts in the open are no real threat. What's truly terrifying are those lurking in the shadows."

Yuan Huang frowned and couldn't help asking: "Lurking in the shadows? Who do you mean?"

Long Zang slowly uttered a few names: "The Three Heavens, Hongjun, Luohu, Yin-Yang, Five Elements, Qiankun... these beings are all waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"Waiting for an opportunity." Long Zang's eyes were deep, as if gazing into the future.

"This era does not hold the chance they seek. The next era... that will be the true beginning."

His words stirred a tidal wave in Yuan Huang's heart.

If that were true, the future of the Primordial World would be even bloodier and more brutal!

Long Zang murmured softly: "Those hidden experts will all surface one by one in the next era."

That would be the true beginning of the Primordial World's Immeasurable Calamity!

Yuan Huang stared at Long Zang, her heart filled with doubt and a trace of unease.

She couldn't understand why those Supreme Experts would wait until the next era to emerge. Their strength was already enough to dominate the Primordial World—were they deliberately lying low?

Long Zang's expression was calm, and he uttered only two words: "The Heavenly Dao."

He explained that this era was too close to Heaven. The Heavenly Dao had not yet been fully perfected, and the laws of heaven and earth were still incomplete. Those ancient beings were all waiting for the moment when the Heavenly Dao would be completed. Because that was when the true struggle for the "Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao" would begin.

Yuan Huang's heart shook.

Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao?

It sounded like some kind of symbol, but under Long Zang's explanation, she finally understood what it truly meant.

"The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Dao is forty-nine, and the One That Escapes is gone," Long Zang said slowly.

That "One That Escapes" was both the chance for life left to all beings by the Heavenly Dao, and a sign of the Heavenly Dao's incompleteness.

The so-called spokesperson was the one who would fill that "gap," allowing the Heavenly Dao to achieve perfect completion!

Yuan Huang's breath trembled.

If that were true, then in the next era, everyone would be gambling with their lives!

Whether it was Hongjun, Luohu, or the Three Heavens, Yin-Yang, Five Elements, Qiankun... all of them were lying low for this single thread of opportunity!

Long Zang saw through her thoughts and added calmly: "That is why those beings all choose to emerge in the next era. That battle will not only be the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity, but also the Dao-Demon Conflict, and even the struggle for the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao."

Yuan Huang sank into deep thought.

If that were true, did the Ferocious Beast Clan still have any reason to exist?

Long Zang smiled ambiguously and spelled it out for her: "The existence of the Ferocious Beast Clan does more good than harm. Though they've declined now, they're still a 'thunderbolt.' If any new force tries to unify the Great Desolation in the future, the first ones they'll face will be them, not the Phoenix Clan."

Yuan Huang's heart trembled slightly.

Long Zang's words sounded ruthless, but they were extremely realistic.

The Ferocious Beast Clan had become the "public enemy" of the Great Desolation. Their infamy spread far and wide—this was both a disaster and a shield.

Keeping them around actually helped the Phoenix Clan bear the sharpest edge of danger.

"You said you don't cultivate your Primordial Spirit and can't scheme," Yuan Huang couldn't help but speak, her gaze complicated.

But looking at it now, this man's mind was far clearer than many Supreme Experts who cultivated their Primordial Spirits.

Long Zang only smiled faintly: "Not cultivating the Primordial Spirit doesn't mean having no brains. In the Great Desolation World, if you don't know how to scheme against others, you'll only be schemed against yourself."

Yuan Huang fell silent. She had to admit, Long Zang was right.

"Can I also become the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao?" Yuan Huang finally voiced the doubt in her heart.

Long Zang glanced at her and analyzed seriously.

In theory, she certainly had the qualifications.

But in reality, the Heavenly Dao needed a transcendent spokesperson, not the leader of some clan.

If Yuan Huang became the spokesperson, she would inevitably favor the Phoenix Clan—something the Heavenly Dao would never allow.

By comparison, Hongjun and Luohu were the most suitable.

They had no clan ties and could truly be without desire or ambition, acting only for the sake of the Great Dao itself.

That was the Heavenly Dao's most hoped-for choice.

Long Zang's voice was low: "What the Heavenly Dao needs is a spokesperson who can help it stabilize the Great Desolation's operation. You can't do it."

Yuan Huang sighed inwardly. She already understood the answer.

She was the chieftain of the Phoenix Clan, destined to be unable to abandon her clan's interests in pursuit of so-called "impartiality."

This was her obsession, and also her shackle.

Long Zang added: "The same goes for Sages. Even if they can merge with the Dao, they still bear karma. Only those like Hongjun and Luohu, who take themselves as the Dao Lineage and face the entire Great Desolation, can be considered truly possible."

Yuan Huang's heart was complicated.

If that were the case, then the next era was destined to be bloody and stormy.

Because it wouldn't just be a great calamity, but a "screening" in which even the Heavenly Dao would participate.

Long Zang gazed into the boundless void, his eyes deep, as if he had already seen the future's great trends through time.

His tone was calm, but carried an unshakable certainty: "The next era will be more brilliant than the present, and also more cruel."

In his eyes, it was as if the future scene of the Great Desolation had appeared...

The blood of Gods and Devils stained the high heavens, endless bones covered the earth, the world was a sea of red—that was the result of the great calamity's arrival.

Yuan Huang took a deep breath, a chill rising in her heart.

Once, she too had thought of leading the Phoenix Clan to conquer the Great Desolation, but now, that thought was completely extinguished.

Why?

First, countless hidden experts were cultivating in seclusion within the Great Desolation, not yet emerging into the world; the true trump cards had yet to be revealed.

Second, after learning the truth of the "Struggle for the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao," recklessly seeking hegemony was not only unwise, but a path to self-destruction.

The Great Desolation had never been a world that only valued courage, but a contest of strength, schemes, and the Heavenly Dao's grand momentum.

Without power at that level, so-called unification would only lead to death and the destruction of one's Dao.