Zifu Continent, where the Fusang Tree stood tall and proud.
Donghua sat quietly beneath the Divine Tree. Above his head, a Jade Disk of Creation Fragment slowly revolved, cascading countless profound Dao rhythms that enveloped him.
Behind him, the supreme-grade spiritual root, the Fusang Tree, resonated with his aura. Wisps of pure Lesser Yang Origin continually seeped from between its branches.
These powers of origin were like living green threads, winding docilely through the air and ceaselessly streaming into the apertures throughout Donghua's body.
This power was gentle and mild, like the sweet rain of early spring, much like the Yimu Vital Energy that contained boundless life force.
Utterly unlike his originally pure and immaculate Pure Yang Power, the Lesser Yang Power shone with a verdant glow pulsing with vitality.
As it flowed through his meridians, it was like a spring breeze bringing rain, silently nourishing all things. Everywhere it passed grew stronger and more expansive.
When the last wisp of Lesser Yang Origin merged into his body, a sudden transformation began.
The spiritual energy of the entire world seemed to be seized by an invisible giant hand, forming a milky-white vortex spanning a thousand li that poured toward Donghua.
At first, it was a howling gale, but it soon condensed into a tangible flood of Spiritual Liquid. Donghua's body was like a bottomless abyss, greedily devouring vast quantities of the world's essence. The violent absorption even created a temporary vacuum behind him.
At this critical moment, the newly formed Lesser Yang Origin began to merge with his original Pure Yang Origin.
Green vitality and purple-gold divine light interwove and flowed around him, lending an enduring resilience to his utmost purity.
In a daze, visions seemed to appear behind him: a Purple Sun hanging in the sky and a Green Wood towering to heaven. The two powers of origin blended like yin and yang.
After an unknown length of time, when the last trace of spiritual energy entered his crown, Donghua slowly opened his eyes.
Deep within his pupils, purple-gold gleamed on the left and verdant green on the right. Though his aura was as tranquil as still water, its very essence had undergone a world-shaking transformation.
He had fully refined the Lesser Yang Origin, and his cultivation advanced naturally to the late stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal.
Even more remarkably, his comprehension of the Lesser Yang Law had caught up from behind and seemed to have surpassed the Pure Yang Law that represented his roots.
This cultivation had improved his physical body, Nascent Soul, and powers of origin, while also giving him an entirely new understanding of the Laws.
His cultivation had risen by no small amount.
But most importantly, he had successfully incorporated the Lesser Yang Origin into himself.
Cultivation was like rowing upstream: stand still, and one fell behind. This breakthrough was worth celebrating, but it was only another step along a long and arduous path.
"The road ahead is long, and the way is fraught with obstacles..."
Just as Donghua was reflecting—
Boom—!!!
A thunderous crash beyond all understanding did not ring in anyone's ears. Instead, it exploded directly within the minds of every living being in the Primordial Wilderness!
The entire Primordial World shook violently. Mountains shifted, and the four seas surged, as though an ancient beast that had slumbered for eons were thrashing in agony.
The Earth Vein Dragon writhed like a dying creature, tearing apart everything it bore.
In the wake of this upheaval, an inexplicable sorrow suddenly filled Heaven and Earth.
This sorrow was no mere emotion. It was the Lament of Laws, the world crying out in pain.
It was so vast and profound that it stretched from the Kunlun Immortal Realm in the east to the Former Sumeru Land in the west, from the Hundred Thousand Great Wilderness in the south to the Ten Thousand Year Cold Abyss in the north, from the summit of Buzhou Mountain above to the depths of the Nine Nether Blood Sea below. Every living being felt it, seized by an inexplicable grief and terror rising from the depths of their souls.
Countless Great Divine Powers paled in alarm and hurriedly performed divinations to discern the source of the sorrow.
In the next instant, every diviner turned deathly pale, their Dao Bodies trembling. Those with weaker cultivation even coughed up blood and fainted on the spot, their Nascent Souls dimming.
It was not that the secrets of Heaven were obscured. Rather, the Karmic Retribution of the Destruction of the West was so savage that it had become an invisible fire, consuming all things and scorching anyone who dared to peer into it!
At the same time, in the western part of the Primordial World—
Centered on Mount Sumeru, the origin of the West's spiritual veins, a banquet of destruction was underway.
From the heavens above, the once-lush mountains and rivers could be seen crumbling and fading at a visible pace, while dense Innate Spiritual Qi scattered and fled like water from a broken dam.
The Earth Vein Dragon that sustained the land's vitality let out a silent wail. Its veins snapped one after another, turning into lifeless ash.
The western world, once home to countless creatures and civilizations, was dying at a rapid pace, becoming a desperate wasteland where spiritual energy had withered and the Laws lay shattered.
Luohu's madness had sacrificed the entire West, leaving the Primordial World with a wound that would never heal.
Donghua had not divined the secrets of Heaven, because he already knew what had caused this upheaval.
He stood quietly on Zifu Continent, feeling the lament that filled Heaven and Earth wash over his Dao Heart like a tide.
"Heaven and Earth nurture all things for humanity, yet humanity has nothing to offer in return."
Donghua let out a soft sigh, his voice heavier than ever. Yet his Dao Heart grew even more resolute.
He had spent several epochs in seclusion. Now that all was still, he yearned for movement.
The Dao-Devil War had just ended, and the Calamity Qi had subsided. Hongjun, the greatest victor, was surely somewhere contemplating the Path to Sainthood.
Now was the perfect time to travel the Primordial Wilderness and seek opportunities.
With his mind made up, Donghua set off toward the vast Primordial Continent, intending to experience this world reborn after the calamity for himself.
He walked at an unhurried pace, but with the power of a Great Luo Golden Immortal, what seemed like a leisurely stroll carried him across mountains and rivers in an instant.
After traveling for an unknown length of time, just as Donghua was flying through the air, an angry shout cracked like thunder at his side:
"You there, Daoist! This is Witch Clan territory. Get down here and meet your death!"
The roar, wrapped in domineering Blood Fiend Qi, rushed toward him. Donghua turned toward the voice and saw a mountain of a figure tearing through the clouds and charging over the air.
The burly man's green hair whipped wildly. Fiendish and bloody auras swirled around him, making him look like a God of War emerging from a mountain of corpses and sea of blood.
Donghua's gaze shifted, and he understood.
Orthodox cultivators of the Primordial Wilderness cultivated both life and nature, advancing their Nascent Souls and physical bodies together in pursuit of transcendence.
But this method of cultivation did not apply to beings like the one before him. They were the Witch Clan, born from Pangu's blood essence mixed with the Miasma of the Earth. They were born without Nascent Souls, a flaw they could never overcome.
They did not cultivate Nascent Souls or comprehend the Heavenly Dao. They forged peerless physical bodies and wielded the Laws of Heaven and Earth, reigning supreme through sheer power.
Though he could not probe the man's precise cultivation with his divine sense, the surging rhythm of the Laws around him stirred the surrounding plants to grow wildly, only to wither soon after. From this, Donghua had a rough idea of the newcomer's identity.
"An Ancestor Witch who controls the Wood Law... Jumang?"
As the thought flashed through his mind, the green figure bore down on him with the force of a mountain-crushing blow.
Just as Donghua was about to speak with him and learn what was going on, the green-haired giant suddenly swung a punch without warning! The blow was fierce and violent, wrapped in fiendish energy that stung the skin and compressed the air into ripples.
Faced with this unreasonable sneak attack, Donghua's gaze sharpened, but he neither dodged nor retreated. His right fist shot out after the other man's, meeting it with an apparently casual strike. A faint Pure Yang Purple Qi flowed over his knuckles.
"Bang!"
Their fists collided with a muffled, thunderous boom! Violent shockwaves burst outward from the two of them, flattening the forest below.
Donghua stood firm as a rock, while the green-haired giant was forced back three steps, each one thudding through the air.
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