Hongjun asked, "So you'd rather let the Primordial World shatter and grow smaller and smaller than let these people, who will one day burst the world apart, become its main characters?"
"Yes. A truly perfect protagonist race is far more important than a perfect world. Creating a world is easy, but creating a perfect protagonist race is simply too difficult."
The Heavenly Dao replied:
"So I ask that the Great Dao permit my actions."
"You were born from the will of all living beings in the Primordial World. Your choice is also the choice of all living beings in the Primordial World. If even you think the Three Races must be wiped out, what can I, the Great Dao, say?"
Hongjun had originally wanted to persuade the Three Races to repay the world and stop reproducing.
But now it seemed that idea had been far too naive.
All they cared about was developing their own races and making themselves stronger. They assumed they would naturally repay the world once they had grown powerful, without considering that they could start repaying it now.
If even the Qilin Clan thought this way, there was no need to mention the Phoenix Race and the Dragon Race.
So he permitted the Heavenly Dao's actions.
"Thank you, Great Dao."
The Heavenly Dao thanked Hongjun.
But Hongjun asked another question:
"What is your plan now?"
"My plan is to make the Phoenix Race and the Qilin Clan fight until one side wins, then appoint the victor as the protagonist."
"After the winning side becomes the protagonist, they'll surely grow arrogant and try to bring the Dragon Race under their control.
The Dragon Race's nature, coupled with the transmigrator Ancestral Dragon, means they won't accept defeat willingly."
The Heavenly Dao continued:
"At that point, the Dragon Race will surely battle the race that became the protagonist. One side will have protagonist status and great fortune on its side, while the other, though not the protagonist, will be terrifyingly powerful. In the end, both sides will perish together, and all three races will be wiped out."
"Wouldn't that cause innocent beings in the Primordial World to suffer? Why not let me handle it personally?"
Hongjun smiled.
"How could we trouble the Great Dao to manifest for such a small matter..."
Though the Heavenly Dao had no emotions, it was a composite of all living beings' will. It had learned quite a bit from the Dragon Race, and knew how to flatter someone.
Even if it felt nothing while doing so.
"I won't manifest in the form of the Great Dao."
Hongjun smiled faintly.
"I have my own way. Just watch. Since those transmigrators like to claim I'm scheming, I'll prove that I've never had any schemes at all."
"Please give your instructions, Great Dao."
The Heavenly Dao spoke respectfully.
With a thought, Hongjun recalled the streak of purple light from First Qilin, drawing it back into himself.
In the next instant, Hongjun transformed into an old Daoist with white hair and a long white beard.
Hmm... His hairline was a little high.
That was right—this was Hongjun's original appearance.
He thought about it and realized something still seemed different.
Oh, right. The staff. Tsk, he'd been in such a hurry when fighting Luohu last time that he'd replaced his staff with a Folding Fan.
And so, an old Daoist dressed in a loose gray robe and holding a Dragon Head Staff appeared.
Surveying the layout of his Jade Capital Mountain residence, Hongjun couldn't help sighing.
He had lived here for over a million years already.
The Heavenly Dao had originally planned to make the Three Races battle one another, committing offenses against the Primordial World and becoming entangled in karma, so they could never become the world's protagonist races.
Otherwise, given their talents and rate of cultivation, the Primordial World would probably be drained dry before long if they became its protagonists.
The result would be a Primordial World shattered into pieces by their fighting.
The Heavenly Dao would naturally have chosen a better method if one existed, but this was its only option.
But Hongjun was not the Heavenly Dao. He was the Great Dao.
Dealing with the Three Races would be much easier for him than for the Heavenly Dao.
And the Primordial World would suffer less destruction as well.
Hongjun took out the Jade Disk of Creation and released the full aura of the Heavenly Dao.
At that moment, waves of Spiritual Qi suddenly appeared between heaven and earth, making ripples spread across the sky.
The Heavenly Dao's terrifying majesty drifted out in every direction.
Across the Primordial World, boundless innate Spiritual Qi surged toward Jade Capital Mountain. Then it transformed into mighty rivers and flowed toward the countless living beings throughout the world.
Countless beings gained intelligence thanks to the dense Spiritual Qi. Some even successfully transformed into Heavenly Immortals and Profound Immortals, making great strides in their cultivation.
Grateful in their hearts, they bowed reverently toward the source of the Spiritual Qi's fluctuations, giving thanks for the gift of enlightenment.
Such a spectacle drew the great powers across the Primordial World out of their caves to gaze toward Jade Capital Mountain.
Beneath the vast sky, a pillar of light shot upward. It was so immense that it could be seen throughout the entire Primordial World.
Between heaven and earth, Spiritual Qi formed auspicious signs. Innate Spiritual Qi gathered into phoenixes, celestial maidens scattered flowers across the sky, cranes spread their wings, Golden Lotuses Springing from the Earth blossomed, and countless beings bowed toward the enormous pillar of light.
The spectacle accompanying this sainthood was beyond comparison with that of the saints who came after.
Compared with the signs of Hongjun's ascension to sainthood, the later saints were mere fireflies. How could the light of fireflies compare with the bright moon?
The great powers of the Primordial World were all stunned. They raised their hands to calculate the Heavenly Secrets and found them clearer than ever before.
So Hongjun had become a Saint!
At that moment, Hongjun's voice rang out in everyone's sea of consciousness through the Heavenly Dao.
"I am Hongjun. I have attained the Dao. Seeing that the countless innate beings of the Three Races have become too great a burden for the world, I now offer the Three Races a choice.
"First, decide the victor in battle within Chaos. The victor may rule the world, while the defeated will return to the Dao, their Spiritual Qi returning to the world.
"Second, the Three Races may willingly transform into auspicious signs of the world. From this day onward, they will no longer take part in the struggles of the Primordial World, and will join me in protecting it.
"Third, I will decide which of the Three Races becomes the protagonist. The other two will obey that race from this day onward."
His voice rang out like an explosion in their souls, seeming to sound right beside their ears and yet far away in the heavens.
Even the Quasi-Saints couldn't help but feel their minds shake in terror when they heard him.
With Hongjun's ascension to sainthood, the history of the Primordial World had entered a new chapter.
Of those who were most unwilling to accept Hongjun's ascension, Yuanfeng and First Qilin were foremost.
They had both worked hard to develop their races, yet had not even reached the threshold of sainthood. How had Hongjun quietly become a Saint?
As a transmigrator, Ancestral Dragon had known about Hongjun's Jade Disk of Creation for a long time.
With the Jade Disk of Creation, wouldn't it be easy for Hongjun to become a Saint?
"Damn it! The Phoenix Race and the Qilin Race are both damnable! They've taken so long to fight that Hongjun has become a Saint!"
Ancestral Dragon gritted his teeth in fury. He could clearly feel that a long time had passed since the Dragon-Han Tribulation was supposed to have begun.
But because the Three Races still hadn't decided a victor, the miasma and tribulation energy had grown heavier, and the calamity kept getting delayed.
Before you continue