Unless I Have No Other Choice, I Won't Take This Road of No Return

Beyond Heaven, Long Zang and Luohu's battle began.

The battle was far too terrifying; there was no way it would be decided in a short time.

Yuan Huang lowered her head and counted the compensation Yin-Yang had sent.

As for why Yin-Yang had obediently paid up?

Naturally, it was because they feared Long Zang would settle the score afterward.

After all, in their hearts, Long Zang would never die at Luohu's hands.

Otherwise, why would he have challenged Luohu in the first place?

Time passed, and hundreds of thousands of years went by.

The battle in which the three great factions had attacked the Phoenix Clan had become a thing of the past.

Long Zang's display of invincible might had left all the factions throughout the Primordial World too intimidated to make a sound.

Only now did they realize that there was a realm above the "Supreme Experts."

At the same time, a brand-new ranking appeared in the Primordial World... the Supreme Ranking.

It was published by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.

The Pavilion's leader, Old Man Heavenly Mechanism, ranked among the Supreme Experts, but wasn't skilled at combat. Instead, he excelled at divining the secrets of Heaven.

Before Fuxi was born, he had been the foremost diviner in the Primordial World.

The ranking soon spread throughout the Primordial World:

First, Long Zang!

Second, Luohu!

Third was Hongjun, who was still relatively unknown!

As for Yang Mei, his name didn't appear on the ranking.

The reason was simple... Yang Mei had never appeared in the Primordial World, and even Old Man Heavenly Mechanism couldn't divine anything about him.

The ranking was updated once every hundred thousand years.

The "Supreme Ranking" referred to those "above the Supreme Experts"—that is, those at the Supreme level.

Anyone who hadn't crossed that threshold was unqualified to appear on the ranking.

For now, only three people were listed.

Southern Region, Immortal Volcano.

Long Zang gazed at the Supreme Ranking and pursed his lips. "That guy sure knows how to hide. Otherwise, Luohu would've had his eye on him already."

Yuan Huang chuckled beside him, filled with pride and relief that Long Zang had claimed the top spot.

She suddenly asked, "Who won your battle with Luohu in the end?"

Long Zang replied with a touch of annoyance, "That guy ran away."

If Luohu wanted to retreat, Long Zang really couldn't stop him.

Yuan Huang nodded. She'd expected that, but still felt somewhat worried.

She asked gravely, "What exactly is Luohu plotting by saving the Three Heavens?"

Long Zang's gaze turned cold, and his voice dropped. "He's after the position of Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao."

Yuan Huang was startled, then asked, "But what does his pursuit of that position have to do with us?"

Long Zang explained calmly, "If you were the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao, would you want so many unstable factions to remain in the Primordial World?"

Yuan Huang's heart sank.

That was true. If she were to ascend to that position, she wouldn't allow the Primordial World's situation to remain so chaotic either.

"So Luohu's plan is to make the overlords of the Primordial World disappear one after another, for good."

Yuan Huang's voice was cold, her understanding clear.

Long Zang nodded, confirming her guess.

That was indeed what had happened in the original history.

Luohu had set everything in motion, while the three clans had fought among themselves. He had merely taken advantage of the situation.

In the end, the one thing he hadn't accounted for was his own defeat—and Hongjun reaping the rewards.

But Long Zang knew very well that Hongjun hadn't won his position through schemes. He had attained sainthood through genuine strength.

Compared with Luohu, Hongjun's heart was purer, and he was more worthy of trust.

In Long Zang's eyes, Hongjun as the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao would be far better than Luohu in that position.

As for the ones they would need to guard against most in the future, it wouldn't be Hongjun, but the Three Pure Ones, the Two Sages of the West, and Nuwa... those six Sages!

Yuan Huang's eyes flickered as she fell into thought.

She understood that if the Phoenix Clan was to remain standing, it had to plan ahead.

That was her responsibility, and her mission.

Long Zang spoke slowly. "The Primordial World should be peaceful for a while."

Yuan Huang was slightly startled, then nodded. She knew that Long Zang said this because he was here.

If everyone were merely Supreme Experts, that would be one thing. But now that someone existed who surpassed the Supreme Experts, everything was different.

Even ancient overlords as proud as Ancestor Dragon and First Kirin had to admit that they were no match for Long Zang.

If Long Zang made a move, they wouldn't be able to stop him.

That was the difference in strength.

The Three Heavens had used every trump card they had, yet they'd still been utterly helpless before Long Zang.

No one wanted to see such a crushing defeat happen again.

Thus, the Primordial World fell into a temporary silence.

Luohu, however, seethed with anger in the Western Region.

Long Zang's appearance had once again thrown his plans into disarray.

Originally, the concept of a "Sublime Saint" shouldn't have appeared so soon.

But now Long Zang had appeared out of nowhere and forcibly brought stability to the situation in the Primordial World.

That was bad news for Luohu.

But he couldn't make a move.

He knew that the moment he acted, Long Zang would suppress him at once. And even without Long Zang, Hongjun wouldn't let him succeed.

In Luohu's eyes, Hongjun was his true nemesis.

So he could only swallow his anger and let the factions of the Primordial World continue to consolidate their strength.

What vexed him even more was that the appearance of the Supreme Ranking meant he could no longer stay hidden.

Ancestor Dragon had already begun to suspect him, and their former cooperation was on the verge of collapsing completely.

Luohu's only consolation was that he had secretly planted pawns in nearly every major faction in the Primordial World, with the exception of the Phoenix Clan.

Meanwhile, at Jade Capital Mountain.

This was Hongjun's Dao Field. Although it wasn't as famous as Kunlun or Buzhou, it possessed a sacred aura all its own.

Hongjun opened his eyes. The Heavenly Dao Halo appeared between his brows, and a damaged Jade Plate floated above his head, casting down mysterious light.

He murmured softly, "A turbulent time indeed. I wonder whether it's for the better or the worse."

After the Supreme Ranking was announced, he could no longer keep a low profile either.

But he didn't care.

In his view, whether an anomaly or a variable, everything ultimately remained within the Heavenly Dao.

Beneath the radiance of the Immortal light, countless layers of Immortal Dao worlds unfolded behind him, dazzling beyond compare.

Unlike the Devil Dao of Luohu, Hongjun's aura was far more reassuring.

But whether Immortal Dao or Devil Dao, both were ultimately just forms of power. The real difference lay in the one who wielded it.

Time flew by, and several million years passed in the blink of an eye.

To an ordinary world, that was an unimaginably long time.

But in the Primordial World, it was no more than a single cultivation retreat, a fleeting moment of slumber.

At the edge of the Chaos beyond Heaven, an ancient ferocious beast crouched.

It breathed in and out boundless Chaos Qi, divine nature and Eternal Light interweaving and shining across its body.

It suddenly opened its eyes and transformed into a human. Six wings beat, their dark red feathers carrying an aura of Destruction.

It was Long Zang!

For several million years, he had been cultivating in the Chaos.

To him, constantly strengthening his physical body was the only way forward.

Yet even in the Chaos, he still felt his progress was slow.

Advancing his body any further was harder than ascending to Heaven.

Long Zang murmured, "Could it be... that I really have to devour worlds?"

He knew that the Sage Era was approaching.

If he wanted to speak with the Sages as an equal in that era, he would have to reach at least the Hunyuan Realm.

But he didn't have enough time to slowly accumulate strength.

Devouring worlds was one way forward, but it was also a step into profound darkness.

Long Zang stood deep in the Chaos, his expression conflicted as he weighed this cruel choice.

Long Zang had once considered taking the most extreme path... devouring worlds.

This method could indeed let him enter the Hunyuan Realm directly in the shortest time possible.

But he also knew full well that it was a path of utter darkness.

A world's living beings were countless beyond measure, no matter how big or small the world was.

Devouring a world was tantamount to swallowing countless living beings in an instant, using them as food and nourishment.

It would let him ascend in a single bound through boundless darkness, but it would also mean falling beyond redemption.

The living beings' curses would cling to him for all eternity. Heaven would loathe him, the world would reject him, and there would be no way back.

Long Zang wasn't a Sage, and he didn't consider himself a particularly good person either.

But he still couldn't bring himself to wipe out an ordinary world.

Unless a world had already become utterly dark and thoroughly corrupted—that would be another matter.

But such worlds were exceedingly rare throughout the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds.

At least, they weren't easy for Long Zang to find in his current state.

He stood quietly in the Chaos, assuming his Pangu Dao Body, his gaze profound.

Unless I have no other choice, I won't take this road of no return. Long Zang silently made up his mind.