After telling everyone in the Chat Group that he had recently felt a calling and needed to enter seclusion for a while, Li Qingxu withdrew his consciousness from the Chat Group.
"My cultivation is still weak. If I leave the tribe rashly, I could easily meet a grisly end."
"I'd be better off breaking through in seclusion here. If it causes any unusual signs, the clan leader can help conceal the disturbance."
Li Qingxu murmured as he sat cross-legged on his wooden bed. At the same time, he took out the Innate Five Elements Kirin Fruit and held it in his palm.
The Human Race now struggled to survive in the cracks between the Ten Thousand Races, living day to day. Only by standing together could they barely stay alive, so for the time being, there was little scheming or deceit among them.
If the other members of the Human Race saw him breaking through in seclusion, they would only be happy for him, eager for him to grow stronger.
That way, they would have a better chance of surviving in the perilous Primordial World.
With that thought, Li Qingxu hesitated no longer. He immediately sat cross-legged on the stone bed, closed his eyes, steadied his breathing, and cleared his mind of all distractions.
Then, following the most basic method of guiding energy, he used his faint mana to envelop the Innate Five Elements Kirin Fruit.
The Innate Five Elements Kirin Fruit in his hand seemed to awaken. Divine light surged within it, and a wisp of energy containing the innate power of the Five Elements flowed into his body, guided by his mana.
At first, the warmth was gentle. Then it became a surging tide, washing through his frail, narrow meridians and his mortal body, steeped for more than a decade in the turbid qi of the acquired world.
He felt none of the tearing pain he had expected. Instead, it was like rain falling after a long drought, or spring sunshine warming a withered tree. A longing and joy rooted in the very source of life awoke deep within every cell, and a complete transformation began.
"It really works!"
Delighted, Li Qingxu used all his strength to circulate the rudimentary guiding method, directing the vast yet gentle innate essence of the Five Elements along its proper course and cleansing his body again and again.
As the refinement deepened, strange signs began to appear.
Five-colored radiance glimmered beneath his skin, its light mingling with the Dao Fruit's glow. Wisps of gray-black impurities and acquired turbid qi seeped from his pores, giving off a foul stench, but they were soon purified by the fresh Dao resonance naturally emanating from the Dao Fruit.
His bones rang like shattered jade, yet also seemed newly reborn. His blood surged through his veins with the roaring sound of mighty rivers.
Then Five-Colored Divine Light streamed from his crown, weaving and circling a foot above his head. Gradually, it formed the phantom of an innate Five Elements Dao diagram, endlessly cycling between creation and destruction and radiating a vigorous Dao resonance.
The sharpness of Metal, the vitality of Wood, the fluidity of Water, the searing heat of Fire, and the weight of Earth—the essences of the five Great Daos were faint, yet they truly appeared in turn.
Spiritual energy surged through the stone house where Li Qingxu was staying. Brilliant Five-Colored Divine Light poured through the cracks, as though the house contained a blazing sun. It soon caught the attention of the tribespeople nearby.
They did not barge in. Instead, they hurried to report the matter to Taihao, the leader of the Taihao Tribe.
Before long, an old man with graying hair and beard, dressed in a simple robe, descended from the sky and landed beside the stone house.
"Clan leader, what do you think is happening?"
The crowd gathered around Li Qingxu's stone house, craning their necks to peer inside as they asked curiously.
Taihao studied the Five-Colored Dao resonance and surging spiritual energy spilling through the cracks. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, then gave way to deep satisfaction.
He raised a hand to quiet the crowd, then stroked his beard and slowly explained:
"Qingxu must have come upon a tremendous opportunity. He's using it to undergo a transformation. He needs silence, and must not be disturbed."
"Go on, all of you. Return to your duties. Just know that once he completes his transformation and emerges from seclusion, the Taihao Tribe may have gained another true seed of the Dao."
After speaking, Taihao struck the ground with his staff. A barrier condensed from divine power enveloped the stone house, cutting off all fluctuations of divine power and concealing the strange signs.
The onlookers were delighted by his words.
They did not know exactly what was happening, but if Li Qingxu truly managed to transform as their clan leader had said, it would be wonderful news for the entire Taihao Tribe.
Time passed beyond count in the Primordial World.
More than a hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.
During those hundred years, the Taihao Tribe weathered several crises, both great and small. Many tribespeople met untimely deaths, but thanks to Taihao and several elders working together, the crises were ultimately overcome, and the tribe survived.
Nourished by the spiritual energy of Wood, the surface of the stone house where Li Qingxu stayed had become covered in vines and flowers that never withered. Many plants in the surrounding area had also gained considerable medicinal properties.
Roughly once every ten years, the tribespeople gathered the medicinal herbs growing near the stone house and stored them away.
One day, a hundred years later.
Hundreds of thousands of members of the Human Race were bustling about the tribe, drying meat, sorting herbs, and tanning hides, while children played and chased one another. Then they noticed the once-clear sky darkening at a visible pace.
The temperature plummeted. Every member of the Human Race felt their hair stand on end, and they all turned to look into the distance.
Thousands upon thousands of enormous demons came hurtling closer, wrapped in monstrous demonic qi and racing across the sky.
They were incredibly fast. In just a few seconds, they had reached the skies above the Taihao Tribe and surrounded it completely.
The tribe's hundreds of thousands of people stared at the demons, hundreds or even a thousand feet tall, with hideous faces and blood-red eyes. Their faces went pale, and their hearts sank to the depths.
Every one of the ten thousand demons had reached at least the Human Immortal Realm. Their leader, Black Tiger, was an Earth Immortal.
Though this force of demons was insignificant in the Primordial World as a whole, to the Taihao Tribe, it was an overwhelming disaster they could not resist.
After all, even the tribe's strongest, its leader Taihao, had only reached the peak of the Human Immortal Realm. He was no match for these demons.
"Hide! Quickly!"
The Taihao Tribe descended into chaos. Adults scooped up their children and rushed into stone houses and underground shelters, desperately searching for a chance to survive.
High above, the demons did not attack at once. They seemed to savor the sight of the people below fleeing in panic and despair. Hovering in the sky, they let out low, cruel snickers as they watched the struggling ants below.
"Tsk. A race of ants," Black Tiger, their leader, said slowly. His voice rasped like metal scraping against metal, full of undisguised contempt and coldness. "They're only fit to eke out an existence in the cracks between the Ten Thousand Races."
"But they breed quickly, and their flesh is tender." The wolf demon beside him licked the foul drool at the corner of his mouth. His scarlet tongue swept over his bone-white fangs. "Perfect blood food for my Demon Race."
Black Tiger spoke again. "Isn't that the only reason Empress Wa created them?"
"Hahahaha..."
At Tiger Demon's words, the ten thousand demons behind him burst into laughter.
In their eyes, the reason Demon Emperor Nuwa had created the Human Race—aside from using them to gain merit and Prove the Dao and Become a Saint—was to make them blood food for the Demon Race.
While the tribespeople scattered in every direction, searching for some chance to survive, several figures moved against the flow from the very center of the tribe and stood before the demon army.
They were Taihao, the leader of the Taihao Tribe, and more than a dozen elders of the Human Immortal Realm.
Human Immortals could live for over a million years. But as they protected their people and fought for a foothold in the eastern reaches of the Primordial World, they had faced powerful enemies in battle time and again, and many old wounds had accumulated on their bodies.
So, although less than ten thousand years had passed since Saint Nuwa created them, they already looked frail and elderly.
"Alas..."
"Heaven has doomed our Taihao Tribe."
Taihao gazed at the demons glaring down at them and let out a helpless sigh.
All these years, they had been cautious in everything they did. He had never expected this undeserved calamity to find them anyway.
"Buy as much time as we can. As for the tribespeople, let as many escape as possible."
The great elder of the Taihao Tribe spoke in a low voice.
"Agreed."
The other elders nodded as one.
Their expressions were resolute, and not a trace of fear showed in their eyes. They were already prepared to sacrifice themselves to buy their people a chance to survive.
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