The East Sea Shore, where heaven and earth changed color.
The instant Nuwa placed that Chaos Green Lotus Seed in her mouth, the entire Primordial World sensed an overwhelming pressure that left all things breathless.
The sun and moon lost their light.
The stars disappeared.
The once azure sky was instantly shrouded in a dense layer of Mysterious Yellow Qi. Huge waves surged across the sea, only to freeze in midair. It was as if time itself had stopped.
It was Heaven's response.
It was the Great Dao's resonance.
Rumble!
A peal of thunder rolled down from the Ninth Heaven. The Merit Golden Cloud that had been churning for so long finally erupted.
Countless layers of dark golden clouds spun and compressed frantically, then transformed into a golden dragon tens of thousands of feet long. It raised its head high and coiled through the air, its scales glittering with blinding golden light as it dove toward Nuwa with the force to destroy heaven and earth.
The golden dragon circled around Nuwa, wrapping her in layer upon layer of light.
Its brilliance was so dazzling that no one could keep their eyes open. The sea for tens of thousands of miles around shone as brightly as day. Fish, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish that had been hiding on the seabed all surfaced and bowed in worship toward the light.
Zhunti instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes, his mouth hanging open wide enough to swallow an egg. The beads of sweat on his bald head evaporated into white mist beneath the golden radiance.
"So this is the phenomenon that accompanies becoming a Saint?"
He had lived for a long time and seen countless wonders, but never anything so spectacular.
Each time the golden dragon circled, it stirred up a storm of laws. Countless cracks split open in the surrounding void, only to heal by themselves the next instant. The cycle repeated again and again, as if heaven and earth were making way for this moment.
Jieyin was equally stunned. He had even forgotten to turn the Prayer Beads in his hand, and a rare blankness showed on his usually long-suffering face.
He could sense the terrifying energy contained within the golden dragon—the kind of power that could reduce any Grand Luo Golden Immortal to ashes. Yet now it circled Nuwa gently, like her most loyal guardian.
"So this is becoming a Saint through merit..."
Jieyin murmured to himself, his eyes full of longing.
Taiyuan stood nearby with his hands tucked into his sleeves, watching the graceful figure shrouded in golden light. A satisfied smile tugged at his lips.
It worked.
The power of the Chaos Lotus Seed had fused perfectly with the merit. That Chaos Origin, which surpassed Heavenly Dao, was circulating wildly within Nuwa.
The seed did not contain a chance to become a Saint bestowed by Heavenly Dao. It held Chaos power—purer than Primordial Violet Qi and closer to the origin of the Great Dao. It needed no recognition from Heavenly Dao. It was, in itself, something that stood above Heavenly Dao.
With the seed as a medium, the merit that had nowhere to go finally found an outlet. Like floodwaters bursting through a dam, it poured into Nuwa's meridians and dantian, where the Chaos power transformed and absorbed it.
The bottleneck that had held Nuwa at the peak of the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm shattered as easily as paper.
Quasi-Saint.
Her aura soared in an instant. The pressure warped the space around her, and the seawater boiled and evaporated, becoming white mist that billowed into the sky.
Mid-stage Quasi-Saint.
The golden dragon let out a mighty roar. Its body contracted as it poured even more merit into Nuwa. The golden light blazed brighter still, beginning to spread in every direction.
Late-stage Quasi-Saint.
A series of rumbling booms echoed through heaven and earth. The laws were rearranging themselves; the Great Dao was making way for a newly born Saint. Countless laws of heaven and earth surged toward Nuwa as if on pilgrimage, forming a vast vortex around her.
Quasi-Saint at the Great Perfection stage.
Nuwa's aura climbed to a critical point. The pressure even made Zhunti and Jieyin struggle to breathe. They had no choice but to retreat several steps and summon their Magic Treasures for protection.
The newly born Human Race could endure it even less. They knelt on the beach, trembling, yet their faces were filled with devotion. In the most primitive way they knew, they bowed in worship to their mother.
"Mother..."
Their childish voices brimmed with reverence and adoration.
Boom!
A thunderous roar erupted from within Nuwa.
It was the sound of her bottleneck shattering completely, the Great Dao's acknowledgment, the declaration that a new Saint had been born.
Brilliant Saintly light burst from Nuwa, so dazzling that it illuminated half the Primordial World.
On Mount Kunlun in the Eastern Lands, the Three Pure Ones opened their eyes at the same time, their faces full of shock.
On the Sun Star, Di Jun and Tai Yi exchanged a glance, wariness flashing in their eyes.
At the foot of Buzhou Mountain, the Twelve Ancestral Witches looked up, baleful energy surging around them.
Countless living beings sensed this Saintly Might and knelt toward the East Sea, murmuring prayers as they begged for the Saint's protection.
Primordial Saint.
Nuwa had succeeded.
She had become the second Saint in the Primordial World since its creation, after Hongjun.
The Saintly light gradually faded, and Nuwa slowly opened her eyes.
Her already lively eyes now seemed even deeper, as if they held an entire world within them. With a single glance, she could see the origin of all things and discern past and future.
Her aura had become so thoroughly restrained that, though she stood right there, she seemed to have merged with heaven and earth—as if she were part of them, and yet they were entirely within her grasp.
This was what it meant to be a Saint.
Transcendent beyond heaven and earth, deathless and indestructible, untouched by countless tribulations.
Even Heavenly Dao could not easily erase a Saint from existence.
Nuwa lowered her gaze to her hands, feeling the vast, ocean-like power within her. Her eyes were full of disbelief.
She had really become a Saint.
And by a method completely beyond anything she had expected, she had bypassed Hongjun's schemes and Heavenly Dao's arrangements, forging a path of her own.
She turned to Taiyuan, her grateful eyes still holding a trace of complicated emotion.
This man had given her so much.
From his initial guidance, to the Human Creation Whip and Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, and then to this priceless Chaos Green Lotus Seed.
Every one of them was a treasure powerful enough to make the mighty beings of the Primordial World fight over it, yet he had given them to her without hesitation.
"Thank you."
Just two simple words, yet they carried an immense weight.
Taiyuan waved a hand, looking utterly unconcerned, as if the treasure he had just given away were nothing more than an ordinary piece of candy.
"We agreed on a deal. No need to thank me."
"You become a Saint, and I become your Saint Master. We each get what we need."
He said it casually, even lazily, as if helping someone become a Saint were just part of his daily routine.
Nuwa looked at his carefree face, and an indescribable feeling welled up in her heart.
Just what kind of person was this man?
At that moment, a tremendous amount of merit descended from the sky and landed squarely on Taiyuan.
It was Heavenly Dao's recognition of the Saint Master of the Human Race, and his share of the merit for creating mankind.
As they had agreed, when Nuwa became a Saint, Taiyuan would receive thirty percent of the fortune and merit.
The sheer amount of merit even exceeded Taiyuan's expectations.
Golden light enveloped him, warm and full of power. The already perfected magic power within him began to grow wildly.
The bottleneck at the peak of the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm collapsed with a thunderous crash beneath the impact of that merit.
Quasi-Saint.
Taiyuan felt the surging power within him and raised his brows slightly.
The merit kept pouring in, and his cultivation continued to rise.
Mid-stage Quasi-Saint.
Only then did the merit gradually subside, and Taiyuan's aura finally stabilized.
He rolled his shoulders and felt the power within him—many times greater than before. His smile widened.
This investment had paid off spectacularly.
Zhunti and Jieyin watched, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
Elder Brother had just stood there and done nothing, yet he had received a share of the merit and broken through from the peak of the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm straight to mid-stage Quasi-Saint?
How could it be that good?
"Elder Brother, you can level up without lifting a finger!"
Zhunti couldn't help complaining, his voice full of envy and jealousy.
Taiyuan shot him a glance. "It's called a return on investment. Get it?"
Meanwhile.
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, in Purple Heaven Palace.
The ancient palace was utterly silent.
Hongjun sat cross-legged on his cushion, the phantom of the Jade Disk of Creation swirling around him. For the first time in countless years, a crack appeared in the poker face he had worn ever since attaining the Dao.
He abruptly opened his eyes, a glimmer of disbelief flashing in his cloudy gaze.
In his hand lay a bead that glowed with purple light.
Primordial Violet Qi.
The key to becoming a Saint, an unparalleled opportunity bestowed by Heavenly Dao.
He had prepared it long ago, intending to give it to Nuwa at the crucial moment when she became a Saint, making her incur a tremendous debt of Karma to him.
With that debt weighing on her, Nuwa would be subject to his influence in the future. At a critical moment, he could put her to use as an important piece in his plans for the Primordial World.
That was the script he had arranged: flawless and foolproof.
But now, the script had fallen apart.
Nuwa had no need for his Primordial Violet Qi.
She had become a Saint with a Chaos Green Lotus Seed—cleanly and decisively, without incurring Karma to anyone.
A Chaos Green Lotus Seed.
Hongjun's eye twitched sharply.
There should not be a second one like that anywhere in the Primordial World.
The Chaos Green Lotus had shattered when heaven and earth were created, becoming countless Innate Spiritual Treasures scattered across the Primordial World. How could an intact seed still exist?
Unless...
Someone had grown a new Chaos Green Lotus.
Hongjun's divine sense swept across the East Sea. He saw the figure absorbing merit, and the carefree expression on his face.
Taiyuan.
That name again.
From the spellbinding snoring during his lectures at Purple Heaven Palace, to ruining the Three Pure Ones' plans at the Hotpot Feast, to snatching the Gourd Vine at Buzhou Mountain, and finally helping Nuwa become a Saint with a Chaos Lotus Seed, completely disrupting his schemes—
This Western Daoist had repeatedly forced him to revise his understanding and shattered his predictions time and again.
Hongjun stared at the Primordial Violet Qi in his hand, which he could no longer give away, and fell silent for a long while.
He had thought he had planned for everything, that he had the entire Primordial World under his control and everyone else was a piece on his board.
But now it seemed that an unpredictable variable had entered the game—one he could not see through.
A variable capable of growing a Chaos Green Lotus.
A variable capable of helping someone become a Saint while bypassing the rules of Heavenly Dao.
"Taiyuan..."
Hongjun murmured, a complicated gleam flashing in his cloudy eyes.
There was wariness, curiosity, and also a faint interest he could not quite explain.
"This variable is getting more and more interesting."
He slowly rose and walked to the window of Purple Heaven Palace. Gazing at the ceaselessly churning Chaos Airflow, he sank into thought.
"It looks like I'll have to rearrange the pieces on this board."
Before you continue