After this battle, the Phoenix Clan's hegemonic position in the Southern Region is thoroughly solidified.

"But that might not be a bad thing either," Long Zang said calmly.

Yuan Huang looked at him.

"After this battle, the Phoenix Clan's dominance in the Southern Region is thoroughly secured," Long Zang stated flatly.

Yuan Huang frowned slightly. "And what about the Ferocious Beast Clan?"

"Shen Ni isn't foolish," Long Zang said in a steady tone. "He knows the Ferocious Beast Clan's crisis isn't over yet. He won't easily get drawn into the Great Desolation's situation."

Though his ambition was to contend for supremacy over the Great Desolation, one must not forget that he was still the Emperor of the Ferocious Beast Clan. Protecting his people was his foremost priority.

"Next, the one we need to watch out for is Luohu," Long Zang said in a low voice.

All three clans had suffered severe losses this time. Though the casualties were heavy, their foundations remained unshaken.

Given some time, they could still recover their strength and stage a comeback.

"For the short term, Ancestor Dragon and First Kirin are unlikely to make another move against the Phoenix Clan," Long Zang asserted confidently.

Yuan Huang nodded after hearing this.

She understood that the only one worth guarding against now was Shen Ni.

As for Ancestor Dragon and the Kirin Clan, unless they had water in their brains, they wouldn't start another fight.

The one truly unstable factor was Luohu.

He was the hardest to deal with.

As the progenitor of the Demonic Dao, Luohu was nearly impossible to completely destroy. Even if he were shattered, he could return after ten thousand years. That was the truly terrifying part.

Even if Long Zang personally struck, he couldn't truly put Luohu down. As long as Luohu didn't want to die, no one could do anything about him.

"We just need to do what we're supposed to do," Long Zang said with a smile.

Yuan Huang nodded, agreeing with his judgment.

Time flowed on, and ten million years passed in the blink of an eye.

During this long stretch, no earth-shattering events occurred in the Great Desolation World.

If there was any change worth mentioning, it was that Yellow Heaven had ascended the Supreme Ranking, while Azure Heaven and Cyan Heaven had vanished without a trace.

Now, the Supreme Ranking hung high in the sky, the order as follows:

First was Long Zang, followed by Luohu, Hongjun, then Shen Ni, Ancestor Dragon, Yuan Huang, First Kirin, and finally the newly ascended Yellow Heaven!

Eight Sublime Saints, towering above, overlooking all beings of the Great Desolation.

Long Zang's top ranking was beyond dispute. His achievements spoke for themselves—the entire Great Desolation acknowledged it!

Though Hongjun was powerful, he had yet to become a Saint, and in combat prowess, he fell short of Luohu.

Don't be fooled by Hongjun's many treasures; the only one truly worth fielding was the Pangu Banner. As for the Jade Plate of Creation, it was incomplete and better suited for enlightenment than battle.

Luohu was different. He not only possessed the Immortal Slaying Four Swords but also the World-Ending Millstone!

Aside from being unable to defeat Long Zang, he could suppress almost the entire Great Desolation.

After all, not everyone had Long Zang's unreasonably tough physique.

Beyond these changes, during these ten million years, everyone kept a low profile, "developing" in silence and holding their positions.

On Emperor Venerable Island.

Long Zang had been in seclusion here for a million years, cultivating.

A Bao on the island still frolicked carefreely with the grass and tree spirits, looking utterly unconcerned.

And honestly, that was the case... well-fed, well-clothed, free and unrestrained.

Though he was Long Zang's mount, he had long been treated as a disciple.

Every day, A Bao either slept and ate fruit in the Yin Yang Two Rituals Bamboo Forest or ran all over the island, almost becoming the little tyrant of the place.

Long Zang had long grown used to this.

Though A Bao was a bit lazy and a bit mischievous, he had a kind heart and didn't cause trouble, so it wasn't a big issue.

When it came to cultivation, he was quite slack...

Having followed Long Zang for so long, eaten countless spirit fruits from the Phoenix Clan, and even practiced the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique, he had only barely reached the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm...

A Bao's explanation for this was:

"If the sky falls, the master holds it up. If even the master can't handle it, what can I do? If I can't, there's no helping it."

Long Zang was left speechless and could only say: You're quite something.

No wonder the Iron Eater Beasts of later generations ended up so badly off—with an ancestor like this "slacker king," how could they turn out well?

In the Emperor Venerable Palace.

Long Zang sat in meditation, the River of Time flowing slowly beside him.

Wave after wave rose, each one representing a world, a realm of life.

A profound light flickered in his eyes as he comprehended the power of the laws.

Though he had yet to master the Great Dao of Time, with his strength, summoning the River of Time was not difficult.

"To step into Hunyuan... I'm still far off."

Long Zang murmured to himself.

He knew clearly that not only was the timing wrong, but his accumulation was still far from sufficient.

Although the Three Divine Lights of Emperor Venerable Island continuously supplied energy, seemingly inexhaustible, for him at the peak of Sublime Saint, it was still not enough for the breakthrough.

As the River of Time gradually dissipated, Long Zang opened his eyes and casually activated the Chat Group, which he hadn't touched in a long while.

During the time Long Zang was away, the group had been fairly quiet, with no new members joining.

Aside from that foolish Goddess Aqua, who always dropped the ball, everyone else's conversations were relatively normal.

[Kasumi Utaha: I'm telling you, Tsunade, you might as well leave Konoha and go solo.]

[Keisha: Indeed, Utaha has a point. Why hang yourself on that broken tree?]

[Tsunade: Easy to say. That village was built by my ancestors' hands; giving it up isn't that simple.]

[Aqua: Want Aqua to come help?]

[Tsunade: No, thank you...]

[Wanda: Imagining Aqua "helping"... yeah, no thanks.]

[Kasumi Utaha: That image... too dangerous.]

[Tsunade: Speaking of which, Keisha, weren't you building the Angel Civilization? Is it done?]

[Keisha: Yes, it's fully established. It's just that my little sister is in her rebellious phase right now, quite a headache.]

[Kasumi Utaha: The trajectory of fate isn't easy to change.]

[Keisha: I'm considering whether to nip her ideas in the bud early.]

[Tsunade: You really are something... clearly so strong, yet you insist on pretending to be an ordinary person.]

[Keisha: Don't you think it's fun?]

[Kasumi Utaha: Probably a way to pass the boredom.]

Long Zang watched the group chat and couldn't help but smile.

Keisha's strength was absolutely top-tier in the Super Seminary World, yet she always hid herself, pretending to be on par with the other two Angel Kings. She was probably just bored and playing a role.

[Long Zang: Hello everyone, long time no see.]

[Tsunade: Group Leader, you're back?]

[Keisha: The Group Leader is finally online! If you hadn't shown up, I was about to usurp your position.]

[Kasumi Utaha: It hasn't been that many days, has it?]

[Keisha: The flow of time differs between worlds. A few days here might be centuries elsewhere.]

[Long Zang: Could it be... tens of millions of years?]

[Kasumi Utaha: What?! Really?]

[Wanda: As expected of the Group Leader. Everything he says sounds outrageous, but coming from him, it somehow seems reasonable...]

[Tsunade: I agree... it really does seem reasonable.]

[Keisha: You're back, so does that mean things on your end are settled?]

[Long Zang: Not at all, just a temporary pause. You can think of it as halftime.]

[Ding... Group Leader uploaded a Memory Copy: Dragon Kirin VS Phoenix Ferocious Beast!]

[Keisha: A new copy? Let's go check it out!]

[Tsunade: Charge!]