Yuan Huang Drew a Deep Breath, a Chill Rising in Her Heart. Once, She Had Also...

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

Yuan Huang replied slowly, "They've holed up in the Ancestral Court in the Western Region. Ancestor Dragon and First Kirin are discussing whether to wipe out the Ferocious Beast Divine Dynasty in one fell swoop."

Long Zang listened, then shook his head slightly.

Puzzled, Yuan Huang asked earnestly, "Why? This is the best opportunity we'll ever get."

Long Zang looked at her, his voice low. "I don't recommend wiping out the Ferocious Beast Clan."

Yuan Huang's heart jolted.

In the past, Long Zang had almost never been wrong.

But this time, she found it hard to accept.

"If the Ferocious Beasts aren't wiped out, how can the three clans rise? If we want to truly dominate the Primordial World, we have to eradicate this scourge once and for all."

Her voice held both uncertainty and a hint of frustration.

But Long Zang asked in return, "If the Ferocious Beast Clan really is wiped out, what comes next?"

Yuan Huang was taken aback. "Naturally, the Phoenix Clan will rise."

Long Zang's gaze grew deeper. He spoke slowly, one word at a time. "And then?"

Yuan Huang fell silent.

As she followed the thought to its conclusion, a chill suddenly seized her.

That was true. If the Phoenix Clan rose, they would inevitably wage war in every direction, just as the Ferocious Beasts were doing now.

The cycle of blood and fire would begin all over again.

Even if the Phoenix Clan were willing to confine themselves to one corner, would the other groups in the Primordial World allow it?

In the end, there was 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, and the three clans rise to the top; once they do, war is inevitable. In the end, it's nothing but a return to the old path."

Yuan Huang drew a deep breath. Something about his words felt terrifyingly true.

Long Zang continued, "Leave the Ferocious Beast Clan alive. Nine out of every ten of them have already died. The rest are barely clinging to life. Rather than wiping them out completely, we should let them survive. The Ferocious Beasts in plain sight are no threat. The truly terrifying ones are the beings hidden in the shadows."

Yuan Huang frowned and couldn't help asking, "Beings hidden in the shadows? Who do you mean?"

Long Zang slowly named several figures. "The Three Heavens, Hongjun, Luohu, Yin-Yang, Five Elements, Qiankun... They're all waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"For the right moment." Long Zang's gaze was deep, as if he were looking into the future.

"This era offers them no opportunity. The next era... that will be the true beginning."

His words sent a huge wave crashing through Yuan Huang's heart.

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

Long Zang murmured, "In the next era, all those hidden experts will emerge, one by one."

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

Yuan Huang studied Long Zang, troubled by her questions and a thread of unease.

She couldn't understand why those Supreme Experts would wait until the next era to emerge. Their strength was already enough to make them peerless in the Primordial World. Why would they deliberately lie low?

Long Zang's expression remained calm. He uttered just two words: "Heavenly Dao."

He explained that this era was too close to the opening of Heaven. The Heavenly Dao had yet to be fully established, and the laws of Heaven and Earth were still incomplete. Those ancient beings were all waiting for the moment the Heavenly Dao became complete. Only then would it truly be time to contend for the position of "Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao."

Yuan Huang's heart jolted.

Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao?

It sounded like some kind of symbolic title, but Long Zang's explanation finally showed her what it meant.

"The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Dao's Forty-Nine, and the One That Escapes." Long Zang spoke slowly.

That "One That Escapes" was both the glimmer of life the Heavenly Dao left for all beings and a sign that the Heavenly Dao was incomplete.

The so-called spokesperson was the being who would fill that "gap" and make the Heavenly Dao whole!

Yuan Huang's breath trembled.

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

Whether Hongjun, Luohu, the Three Heavens, Yin-Yang, Five Elements, or Qiankun... all of them were lying in wait for that one sliver of opportunity!

Long Zang saw through her thoughts and added calmly, "That's why they've all chosen to emerge in the next era. That battle won't just be the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity. It'll also be the Dao-Devil War—and even a struggle over who becomes the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao."

Yuan Huang fell into thought.

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

Long Zang gave her a faint, knowing smile and spelled it out. "The Ferocious Beast Clan's existence does more good than harm. Though they've declined, they're still a 'thunderbolt' waiting to strike. If a new power tries to unify the Primordial World in the future, they'll be the first to face the Ferocious Beasts, not the Phoenix Clan."

Yuan Huang's heart gave a faint tremor.

Long Zang's words sounded merciless, but they were undeniably realistic.

The Ferocious Beast Clan had become the "public enemy" of the Primordial World. Their infamy was both a calamity and a shield.

Keeping them around would actually help the Phoenix Clan bear the most dangerous brunt of any attack.

"You said you don't cultivate your primordial spirit and don't know how to scheme." Yuan Huang couldn't help speaking, her gaze complicated.

But now, it seemed that this man's mind was far clearer than that of many Supreme Experts who cultivated their primordial spirits.

Long Zang only smiled faintly. "Not cultivating my primordial spirit doesn't mean I don't have a brain. In the Primordial World, if you can't scheme against others, you can only be schemed against."

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

"Could I become the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao?" Yuan Huang finally asked the question that had been troubling her.

Long Zang glanced at her and considered it carefully.

In principle, she certainly qualified.

But in reality, the Heavenly Dao needed a spokesperson who stood above worldly concerns, not the leader of a particular clan.

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

By comparison, Hongjun and Luohu were the best candidates.

They had no ties to any clan and could truly act without personal desires, serving only the Great Dao itself.

That was the choice the Heavenly Dao wanted most.

Long Zang's voice was low. "The Heavenly Dao needs someone who can help stabilize the Primordial World. You can't do it."

Yuan Huang sighed inwardly. She already understood the answer.

She was the leader of the Phoenix Clan, and she could never cast aside her clan's interests to pursue so-called "impartiality."

That was her obsession, and her shackles.

Long Zang added, "The same goes for Sages. Even if they can merge with the Dao, they still bear the burden of karma. Only someone like Hongjun or Luohu, who makes themselves the Dao Lineage and acts for the entire Primordial World, has a true chance."

Yuan Huang's feelings were complicated.

If that was true, the next era was destined to be soaked in blood and swept by storms.

Because it wouldn't just be a Great Calamity. It would be a "selection" in which even the Heavenly Dao took part.

Long Zang gazed into the boundless void, his eyes deep, as if he had already seen the future through the passage of time.

His voice was calm, yet filled with unshakable conviction. "The next era will be more brilliant than this one—and more brutal."

In his eyes, a vision of the future Primordial World seemed to appear...

The blood of gods and demons stained the heavens red, and endless bones covered the earth. The whole world was awash in blood: the result of the Great Calamity's arrival.

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

Once, she too had wanted to lead the Phoenix Clan in a bid for supremacy over the Primordial World. But now, that thought had been extinguished completely.

Why?

First, countless powerful beings were cultivating in seclusion throughout the Primordial World. They had yet to emerge, and their true trump cards remained hidden.

Second, now that she knew the truth behind the "struggle for the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao," rushing into a bid for supremacy would be not only foolish, but suicidal.

The Primordial World had never been a place where courage alone mattered. It was a contest of strength, schemes, and the grand design of the Heavenly Dao.

Without power on that level, any talk of unification would only end in death and the destruction of one's Dao.