Abandoning the Root for the Branches, Borrowing from the Future

Indeed!

Though Sages were Indestructible Through Ten Thousand Calamities, eternal as heaven, existing alongside the Dao, and burdened with boundless Merit and Destiny, they could not possibly do something thankless and exhausting.

To ordinary living beings, the Earthly Origin Dao Fruit might be considered an endless blessing, but to Sages who controlled the cosmos, it held little appeal—tasteless to keep, yet a pity to discard.

After all, All below Sages are ants was not merely an empty saying. Though Primordial Golden Immortals were powerful, before a Sage, they could be dealt with in a single slap!

Moreover, Heavenly Dao Sages were undoubtedly on the side of the Heavenly Dao. They were its representatives. First Kirin's Earthly Origin Dao Fruit merging into the Heavenly Dao Origin could also be considered an improvement to the order of the Heavenly Dao.

Therefore, helping First Kirin escape his predicament would bring the Sages absolutely no benefit.

According to Xuan Yin's estimate, the Merit and Destiny owed by First Kirin and the Kirin Clan were likely enough to rival the merit required for a Sage to attain the Dao!

Perhaps even more than that!

With such merit, would it not be better to elevate one's own Great Dao and authority within the Heavenly Dao?

However, upon observing the Profound Mysteries of the Great Dao manifested by First Kirin, as well as his subtle connection with the Heavenly Dao, Xuan Yin came to understand something.

Grand Unity was undying, transcending the Three Realms and existing beyond the Five Elements, unbound by time, space, or the Cycle of Life and Death. Those Ancient Grand Unity cultivators had not all died!

They were merely waiting for the right opportunity to return!

Some compared the Primordial World to a chessboard, but in Xuan Yin's eyes, it resembled a casino more. The Grand Unity Golden Immortals were the gamblers participating in it.

And their stakes were Merit and Destiny, along with the foundation upon which they remained in existence!

Once a Grand Unity lost all of their Merit and Destiny, they would become a worker for the Heavenly Dao, just like First Kirin.

Since they could not repay their Merit and Destiny, they would work it off through endless future ages!

Of course, as long as they repaid their Merit and Destiny and accumulated capital anew, those "fallen" Grand Unity cultivators would still have a chance to reenter the game.

East King Duke, for example!

In the legends of later generations, this Head of Male Immortals had suffered calamity several times.

Yet with the fortune gathered through his title as Head of Male Immortals, coupled with the fact that he had not, like First Kirin, incurred endless Merit and Destiny debts to the Heavenly Dao, he would naturally be able to return when the time was right.

Both had fallen, but First Kirin and East King Duke were still in different situations.

First Kirin had not only lost all the Merit and Destiny of himself and the Kirin Clan, but had also incurred enormous debts to the Primordial World Heavenly Dao due to insolvency.

East King Duke, on the other hand, had merely lost his original accumulation without owing the Heavenly Dao any Merit and Destiny. As long as he accumulated some capital again through his title as Head of Male Immortals, he could naturally return at any time.

East King Duke had fortune as a safeguard, while First Kirin did not. Under such circumstances, First Kirin could only place his hopes on others.

And the Sages were on the Heavenly Dao's side, so naturally they would not help First Kirin.

He could only set his sights on others!

First Kirin continued, "Young Friend, do not belittle yourself. You are of the Innate Human Race, and you are also a Direct Disciple personally accepted by Sage Tongtian. I dare not say anything else, but your future attainment of Grand Unity Golden Immortal is absolutely certain. Your Merit and Destiny may not be enough now, but that may not be the case in the future!"

Hearing this, the corner of Xuan Yin's mouth twitched. Even if the Human Race rose to prominence in the future, he could not possibly use the Human Race's fortune to fill the Kirin Clan's hole.

Would that not be abandoning the root for the branches?

At that moment, he finally understood why Water-Fire Boy's expression had been so strange!

There was a trap here!

First Kirin's physical body was indeed a fine opportunity, but accepting that opportunity meant that he would need to help First Kirin repay some Merit and Destiny in the future. This opportunity was, in truth, borrowing against his own future.

Mortals feared consequences; Immortals and Gods feared causes.

Under the Heavenly Dao, karma and fate had nowhere to hide. In the Primordial True Realm, karma truly existed. Whatever cause one planted in the present, one would receive its corresponding result in the future!

Seeing that Xuan Yin remained unmoved, First Kirin did not lose heart and continued, "Of course, I know how much karmic burden I carry. With Young Friend alone, it would be impossible to shake that overwhelming karma!"

"Young Friend, rest assured! You need not take on all the karma of myself and the Kirin Clan. You only need to bear part of it! Nor will I place the Kirin Clan's future upon Young Friend alone!"

"In fact, Zhen Yuanzi, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals, Huan Shu Niu, the Central Yellow Emperor, and even Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor of your Human Race several hundred Epochs from now have all inherited part of my Earthly Origin Dao Fruit!"

"If one person's Merit and Destiny are not enough, then find more people to inherit it!"

Clearly, First Kirin also understood exactly how much karmic burden he bore. From beginning to end, he had never intended to rely on Xuan Yin alone.

He merely wanted Xuan Yin to help him bear a portion of his endless debts!

"Xuanyuan?"

Xuan Yin froze upon hearing that.

Zhen Yuanzi, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals, and Huan Shu Niu were both renowned Great Powers of the Primordial World, and the Dao they cultivated was related to the earth. It was not strange that they would desire First Kirin's Earthly Origin Dao Fruit.

He simply had not expected that in this era, when the Wu Clan and Demon Clan dominated the Primordial Heaven and Earth and the Human Race had yet to attain Great Prosperity, he would hear the name Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor.

"There is no need to be surprised!"

As if guessing Xuan Yin's thoughts, First Kirin immediately explained, "Once one attains Grand Unity, one attains it eternally. Xuanyuan is someone destined to attain Grand Unity in the future, so naturally he has left his imprint throughout the endless River of Time and Space!"

"Although I am now constrained by the Heavenly Dao and lack freedom, as an auspicious beast of the Heavenly Dao, I can still glimpse some of the future from the unseen!"

"Furthermore, living beings who attain Grand Unity in the future, in order to glimpse the path ahead, will certainly divide off a strand of Mind Consciousness and travel against the endless River of Time and Space to Purple Sky Palace, where they will listen to that Dao Ancestor expound his own Dao!"

"Otherwise, do you think the present age alone could gather three thousand Grand Unity cultivators?"

Xuan Yin could not help but feel startled.

Although he had entered under a Sage's tutelage, he was currently only a Heavenly Immortal. There were some things Sect Master Tongtian would not take the initiative to mention. During his last preaching of the Dao, Sect Master Tongtian had only discussed matters below Grand Unity.

He truly knew very little about the Grand Unity realm, nor did he know that some of the Three Thousand Worldly Travelers in Purple Sky Palace had come from future time and space.

At present, the Wu Clan and Demon Clan dominated heaven and earth. Setting aside the Wu Clan for now, the Demon Clan seemed to have only several hundred Grand Unity cultivators. Even including East King Duke's Purple Mansion Continent faction, which the Demon Clan had destroyed, and those Rogue Cultivators, the current Primordial World could likely only barely gather a little over one thousand Grand Unity cultivators.

Yet when Hongjun preached the Dao at Purple Sky Palace, three thousand Grand Unity cultivators had gathered there!

Since there were not so many Grand Unity cultivators in the present age, the rest could only have come from the future. Purple Sky Palace was undoubtedly a place where the future intersected with the present!

Suddenly, he thought of the Two Sages of the West and their attainment of the Dao through great vows. The Great Prosperity of the Buddhist Sect was something that would occur countless Epochs in the future, yet their vows contained profound Buddhist principles.

But now, there were only the Western Teachings, not the Buddhist Sect. Where had those Buddhist principles come from?

They could only have come from the future!

The two of them should have attained the Dao in the future, yet through their great vows and the characteristics of Grand Unity, they had advanced the point in time of their attainment to the present.

Was it reversing cause and effect?

Or was it that once one attained the Dao, one attained it eternally? Though they attained the Dao in the future, they used the mighty power of Sages to project their Dao Fruits from the future into the present time and space?

Grand Unity Golden Immortals transcended time and space, so making slight alterations to temporal karma was only natural. Not to mention Sages, whose strength surpassed Grand Unity!

Borrowing against the future to become Sages?

No, they were merely drawing upon a portion of the Immortal Dao potential of the future in advance!

At this thought, Xuan Yin was suddenly enlightened. Looking at First Kirin before him, he thought, Borrowing a portion of future Fortune-Tide Dao in advance did not seem impossible!