Until it's absolutely necessary, I won't walk this path of no return

Outer Heaven, the great battle between Long Zang and Luohu began.

This battle was too terrifying, destined not to be decided in a short time.

Yuan Huang, meanwhile, lowered her head to tally the compensation sent by Yin-Yang.

As for why Yin-Yang obediently paid up?

Naturally, because they feared Long Zang would settle accounts afterward.

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

Otherwise, how could he have taken the initiative to challenge him?

Time flowed, hundreds of thousands of years passed.

That great war where the three major powers had crusaded against the Phoenix Clan had already become the past.

The invincible posture Long Zang displayed left all forces in the Primordial World silent and trembling.

Only at this moment did they realize that above the "Supreme Expert," there existed an even higher realm.

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

This ranking was released by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.

The leader of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, Old Man Heavenly Mechanism, though ranked as a Supreme Expert, was not skilled in slaughter but excelled at deducing the Heavenly Mechanism.

Before Fuxi was born, he was the foremost deductionist of the Primordial World.

The ranking quickly spread across the Primordial World:

First place, Long Zang!

Second place, Luohu!

Third place was Hongjun, who was not yet very famous!

As for Yang Mei, his name did not appear on the ranking.

The reason was simple... Yang Mei had never appeared in the Primordial World, and even Old Man Heavenly Mechanism could not deduce him.

The ranking was updated every hundred thousand years.

The so-called "Supreme Ranking" referred to those "above the Supreme," meaning the Supreme level.

Those who had not crossed this threshold were unqualified to be listed.

At present, only three people were on the ranking.

Southern Region, Immortal Volcano.

Long Zang stared at the Supreme Ranking and curled his lips faintly: "That guy hides deep enough, otherwise Luohu would have targeted him long ago."

Yuan Huang chuckled softly beside him, her heart full of pride and comfort that Long Zang topped the list.

She suddenly asked: "That battle between you and Luohu, who won in the end?"

Long Zang replied with slight dissatisfaction: "That guy ran away."

If Luohu wanted to retreat, he really had no way to keep him.

Yuan Huang nodded. Though she had anticipated this, worry still lingered in her heart.

She asked in a low voice: "What exactly is Luohu plotting by saving the Three Days?"

Long Zang's eyes turned cold, his voice low: "He's scheming for the position of Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao."

Yuan Huang paused, then spoke: "But what does his scheming for Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao have to do with us?"

Long Zang explained flatly: "If you were the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao, would you be willing to see so many unstable forces still in the Primordial World?"

These words made Yuan Huang's heart sink.

Indeed, if she were about to take that step, she wouldn't allow the Primordial World's situation to remain so chaotic.

"So, Luohu's plan is to make the overlords of the Primordial World disappear one by one, completely."

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

Long Zang nodded, confirming her guess.

In the original history, that was indeed the case.

Luohu had driven everything forward, and the infighting among the three clans was merely him going with the flow.

What he ultimately failed to anticipate was that he would lose, and Hongjun would reap the benefits.

But Long Zang knew very well that Hongjun did not gain his position through schemes, but truly became a sage through strength.

Compared to Luohu, Hongjun's nature was purer and more trustworthy.

In Long Zang's eyes, if Hongjun became the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao, it would be far better than Luohu taking the seat.

As for what must be guarded against in the future, it is absolutely not Hongjun, but rather the Three Pure Ones, the Two Sages of the West, and Nuwa... those six Sages!

Yuan Huang's gaze flickered as she sank into deep thought.

She understood that if the Phoenix Clan was to stand unshaken, she had to lay plans in advance.

This was her responsibility, and also her mission.

Long Zang spoke slowly: "The Primordial World should be able to settle down for a while."

Yuan Huang was slightly startled, then nodded. In her heart, she knew the reason Long Zang said this was because of his existence.

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

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

Once Long Zang made a move, they simply could not withstand it.

That was the gap.

Even with all three of their trump cards revealed, they were still utterly vulnerable before Long Zang.

Such a miserable scene was something no one wanted to relive.

Thus, the Primordial World fell into a temporary silence.

Luohu, however, fumed in secret within the Western Region.

Long Zang's appearance had once again disrupted his plans.

Originally, a concept like "Sublime Saint" should never have emerged ahead of time.

But now, Long Zang had burst onto the scene, forcibly stabilizing the situation in the Primordial World.

To Luohu, this was not good news.

Yet he could not make a move.

Because he knew that as long as he acted, Long Zang would immediately suppress him—or even without Long Zang, Hongjun would not allow him to succeed.

In Luohu's eyes, Hongjun was his mortal enemy.

Thus, he could only swallow his rage and let the forces of the Primordial World continue to simmer.

What irked him even more was that the appearance of the Supreme Ranking meant he could no longer hide.

Now, the Ancestor Dragon had begun to suspect him, and their former alliance was on the verge of total collapse.

Luohu's only consolation was that, aside from the Phoenix Clan, he had secretly planted chess pieces in almost every major force of the Primordial World.

Meanwhile, at Jade Capital Mountain.

This was Hongjun's Dao Field. Though not as famous as Kunlun or Buzhou, it possessed a sacred aura of its own.

Hongjun opened his eyes. The Heavenly Dao Halo emerged between his brows, and a fragment of a broken Jade Plate hovered above his head, scattering mysterious light.

He murmured softly: "Troubled times indeed... I wonder if this is good or ill."

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

But he did not mind.

In his view, whether anomalies or variables, they were all ultimately within the Heavenly Dao.

Bathed in immortal light, countless billions of Immortal Dao worlds evolved behind him, dazzling to the extreme.

Unlike Luohu's Demonic Dao, Hongjun's aura was more reassuring.

But whether Immortal Dao or Demonic Dao, in essence, they were merely power. The true difference lay in the one who wielded it.

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

To ordinary worlds, this was an unimaginably long span.

But in the Primordial World, it was merely the instant of a single meditation or a single slumber.

At the edge of the chaos beyond the heavens, an ancient ferocious beast coiled.

It devoured endless Chaos Qi, its body shimmering with divinity and Eternal Light intertwined.

Suddenly, it opened its eyes and transformed into human form. Six wings trembled, and its dark red feathers carried an aura of destruction.

That was Long Zang!

For millions of years, he had been cultivating within the chaos.

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

Yet even within the chaos, he still felt the progress was slow.

Taking his physique even one step further was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

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

He understood—the Sage Era was about to arrive.

If he wanted to speak as an equal with the sages in that era, he would at least need to reach the Hunyuan realm.

But he didn't have that much time to slowly accumulate.

Devouring worlds was one path, but it was also an extremely dark step.

Long Zang stood deep within Chaos, his gaze complex, as if weighing this cruel choice.

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

This method could indeed allow him to directly step into the Hunyuan realm in the shortest time.

But he was also very clear that this was a path dark to the extreme.

In any world, regardless of size, the number of living beings was immeasurable.

Devouring a world meant swallowing countless beings in an instant, treating them as blood food and nourishment.

This would let him ascend in one step amidst boundless darkness, but it also meant utter corruption.

The curses of those beings would cling to him until Eternity—heaven's disgust, the world's abandonment, no road back.

Long Zang was no sage, and he didn't consider himself a good person either.

But to make him slaughter an entire normal world—he still couldn't do it.

Unless there was a world already completely dark and thoroughly corrupted—that would be a different matter.

But such worlds were extremely rare across the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds.

At least, for Long Zang as he was now, they weren't something he could easily find.

He stood silently within Chaos, transforming into the Pangu Dao Body, his gaze deep.

"Unless there's no other choice, I won't walk this road of no return." Long Zang resolved in his heart.