Manifestation and Birth

Mount Sumeru.

Jieyin Daoist and Zhunti Daoist sat facing each other in silence. The two had manifested and been born after the Immortal-Demon Tribulation. After Demon Ancestor Luohu had self-destructed the Western Ley Lines, the environment of the Western Continent had become exceptionally harsh, incomparably barren.

Even Mount Sumeru, the Western Ancestral Ley Line, no longer possessed the majestic air that pierced the heavens. Only after the two had roamed east and west, using great magic power to link the ley lines and painstakingly sort them out, had they barely restored a trace of Mount Sumeru's former splendor.

"The Eastern Lands truly produce outstanding figures in a land of spiritual excellence. To think they could nurture a saint like Daoist Hongjun, who had plucked the Primordial Dao Fruit! It seems that from now on, we should bestow good karma more often in the Eastern Lands. Perhaps we may convert a few more fine jades and worthy timbers!" After a moment of silence, Zhunti Daoist revealed a trace of envy in his eyes. "Senior Brother! The Saint's Sermon may bring us some gain. Our Dao comprehension has happened to reached a bottleneck—why not go to Zixiao Palace and listen to the Saint's Great Law?"

A sorrowful expression appeared upon Jieyin Daoist's withered face. With one hand plucking a flower, illusionary dreams rose and fell within his palm, while a thread of Karma Dao Rhyme circulated, drawing upon the Boundless Void and pointing toward Beyond the Heavens.

"We cannot afford not to hear the Saint's Great Dao. I have calculated through the Karma Great Dao that a great opportunity will surely descend upon this journey to Zixiao Palace. It may help us restore the Western Ley Lines, or it may advance our Great Dao... This is an opportunity for both of us. We must not let it slip away!"

Buzhou Mountain, Ancestral Witch Hall.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches gathered together to discuss Hongjun's Sermon at Zixiao Palace.

"Who would have thought that in this Primordial World, there would be a great power who, before us descendants of Ancestral Gods, plucked the Dao Fruit of a Primordial Saint Master!" Ancestral Witch Dijiang, leader of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, gazed toward Chaos Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens and sighed softly.

"Then should we Ancestral Witches go and hear the sermon at Zixiao Palace?" Beside him, Ancestral Witch Gonggong's expression tightened slightly as he asked with a trace of reluctance in his heart.

"Hmph, I say we should not go at all. Our siblings were merely born a little too late—otherwise, the Primordial World's first saint would not have been Daoist Hongjun! We possess the method of proving the Dao left behind by Ancestral God Pangu, so why should we seek what is far when what is near is at hand, going to hear Daoist Hongjun's Saint's Great Dao? I say this Gonggong is nothing but a spineless wretch..."

Ancestral Witch Zhurong snorted coldly and cast Gonggong a disdainful glance.

These words stirred fury in Ancestral Witch Gonggong's chest. As an Innate Sacred Being manifested from Pangu's Primordial Blood, he was naturally exceedingly proud.

To begin with, he too had been unwilling to lower his head and play the humble one, listening to another preach the Dao and pass on teachings.

Yet for the sake of ensuring that the Twelve Ancestral Witches did not miss the opportunity at Zixiao Palace, he had still suppressed the indignation in his heart and proposed that they attend the sermon.

Now that he had been mocked by that Fiery Barbarian Zhurong, Ancestral Witch Gonggong was greatly angered. "You bastard..."

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, the other Ancestral Witches were long accustomed to it. However, Ancestral Witch Dijiang, their leader, wore an unpleasant expression.

Ancestral Witch Houtu, beside him, hurriedly spoke up to mediate. "Enough, you two, stop arguing!"

Though Houtu had been the last to be born among the Twelve Ancestral Witches, her cultivation was second only to Dijiang's. Thus, she held great prestige among them.

After Houtu intervened, Zhurong and Gonggong still glared furiously at each other, but they did not continue arguing.

After calming the dispute between Zhurong and Gonggong, Ancestral Witch Houtu looked to the others and said, "I think we Ancestral Witches should go to Zixiao Palace for the sermon. After all, the accomplished come first. Since Saint Hongjun was able to become the first to prove the Dao and attain sainthood, he must at least possess talent and wisdom. It would naturally be best if listening to the Saint's Great Dao allowed us to learn by analogy. Even if it does not, we can use this trip to Zixiao Palace to meet the great divine ability users of the Primordial World."

Upon hearing Houtu's words, the Ancestral Witches in the hall fell into thought. Dijiang, their leader, made the final decision. "We siblings should still make a trip to Zixiao Palace to hear the sermon. The divine abilities of a Primordial Saint Master were mentioned in the Ancestral God's inheritance; you all understand them in your hearts as well. Since the Saint is preaching at Zixiao Palace, we siblings must at least go show our support. Whether we gain anything is unimportant. At the very least, we cannot let the Saint target us."

With both Houtu and Dijiang speaking, even though some of the Ancestral Witches still felt awkward about it, they nevertheless agreed.

At the same time, great divine ability users throughout the Primordial World flocked toward Chaos Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens. There were Nuwa, Fuxi, Dijun, Taiyi, Kunpeng, Minghe, Zhenyuanzi, Hongyun, and other Innate Sacred Beings and peak Innate God-Demons of the New Era.

There were also a scattered few great powers from the Previous Epoch who had survived the Three Clans Tribulation and the Immortal-Demon Tribulation.

In the blink of an eye, a thousand years passed. Lu Yuan, whose God-Demon Dao Body had been tempered to perfection, finally welcomed the moment of manifestation and birth.

On that day, within the Divine Mountain Great Formation, Innate Primordial Qi poured like a tide into the center of the formation, while Pure and Turbid Qi churned in the firmament.

Eighty-one years later, a youth seven feet tall stood in the air, clad in a Dao robe formed from Innate Pure and Turbid Qi, his features flawless and perfect.

With a single whale swallow, he refined the remaining Innate Primordial Qi. Lu Yuan descended to the ground and carefully sensed his Innate Dao Body.

Perhaps because it had been touched by the aura of Lu Yuan's True Spirit, this Innate Dao Body bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance in features and mannerisms to his previous life.

Yet the Innate God-Demon Physique born from manifestation was incomparably perfect, and his eyes held a faint indifference, as though all worldly affairs could not linger in his heart.

Looking at his Innate God-Demon Dao Body, Lu Yuan nodded in immense satisfaction. An Innate God-Demon's foundation was comparable to an Immortal Golden Immortal. So long as they did not suffer a calamity, they could live until heaven and earth were destroyed.

However, Lu Yuan also understood that this was only true in theory. This Primordial World was a massive Asura Field—how could the Heavenly Dao tolerate a worthless straw dog eking out an existence?

Once a tribulation arose, even a great divine ability user, no matter how boundless their magic power or myriad their divine abilities, was nothing more than a straw dog.

Even the Primordial Saint Masters who had proven the Dao and transcended all, who regarded all living beings as ants—did they not have to personally enter the fray during the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation to respond to the calamity?

In this Primordial World, the Heavenly Dao's Net was dense and without the slightest gap. Even if one guarded the gate and quietly chanted the Yellow Court, if one's fortune was insufficient and one's merit inadequate, one would still be dragged into a calamity by the entanglement of karma and sinful power.

To transcend, there was only one path: prove the Dao!

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, a sharp gleam appeared in Lu Yuan's eyes, and his heart of seeking the Dao grew even more resolute!

"The Dao Fruit of a Primordial Saint Master is still far too illusory for me at present. Without accumulating tiny steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles. I should still cultivate step by step first, and at the very least pluck the Golden Immortal Dao Fruit."

Lu Yuan shook his head. He prepared to move on and explore the Innate Grand Formation he was within, to see what treasures this Divine Mountain Dao Field contained.

Just as he turned around, Lu Yuan's expression suddenly changed drastically, a trace of disbelief flashing through his eyes.

A brilliant beam of Dao light flashed within his divine soul. Lu Yuan saw that, within his true spirit, there was actually a White Jade Plate.

The White Jade Plate bore an ancient, unadorned aura, carrying a trace of Immortal and Indestructible Transcendent Dao Rhyme. It resembled a crescent Cold Moon, mysterious and unfathomable.

In the Darkness, Lu Yuan saw that the White Jade Plate was covered in densely packed marks, fused together like a spiderweb.

Upon closer inspection, those dense marks—or rather, "Dao marks"—looked more like scar after scar.

"White Jade Plate? Isn't this the 'stone plate' that struck me back on Blue Star?

It actually came with me to the Primordial World too. Could it be...?"

Seeing the "stone plate" within his true spirit, Lu Yuan revealed a look of surprise, and some of the doubt in his heart dispersed.

Just as Lu Yuan was secretly making guesses, the White Jade Plate trembled faintly, issuing a Humming Sound.

In his hazy perception, the White Jade Plate was Emitting an endless, vast desolation, a majestic grandeur transcending boundless time and space.

That Humming Sound struck straight into his heart. A piece of information drifted forth, and Lu Yuan opened his eyes, an expression of sudden realization appearing on his face.