This was a scar left behind by the Dao-Devil War.
To unleash the full power of the God-Slaying Spear, Demon Ancestor Luo Hou had not hesitated to detonate all the Spiritual Veins in the Western Lands, sacrificing the resentment and despair of countless beings to his supreme treasure.
From then on, the Western Lands had become infamous throughout Honghuang as a "backwater."
Yet on this land, long since utterly corrupted, there was a hidden realm.
Within it, everything was the opposite of the world outside. Life flourished, and spiritual energy flowed without end.
Looking up at the sky, one could see that it was clearly another world.
A colossal tree that reached from heaven to earth stood quietly at the center of the hidden realm.
No one knew how tall it was; its crown blotted out the sky and sun.
Its trunk was pale gold, as though cast from glazed crystal.
Every leaf was crystal clear, radiating a gentle Buddhist light.
This was the Bodhi Tree, one of Honghuang's Ten Great Innate Spiritual Roots.
Unlike other Spiritual Roots, the Bodhi Tree bore no immortal fruit that could increase one's magical power.
Its sole purpose was to help living beings comprehend the Dao.
Sitting beneath the Bodhi Tree could calm the mind and focus the spirit, ward off all evil, and greatly accelerate one's comprehension of the Great Dao.
At that moment, two figures sat cross-legged beneath the Bodhi Tree.
One was gaunt and sallow, his face always marked by an irrepressible sorrow.
The other was slightly shorter, his face lined with misery, though a shrewd cunning often flashed in his eyes.
They were the two leaders of the Western Lands, Jieyin and Zunti.
Ever since returning from listening to the Dao at Zixiao Palace, the two had been cultivating here, relying on the Bodhi Tree's wonders to comprehend the path to sainthood passed down by Hongjun Dao Ancestor.
Suddenly, a boundless tide of merit swept in from the east, washing across all of Honghuang.
The radiance of this merit was so pure and immense that it instantly roused the two from their meditations.
Jieyin and Zunti opened their eyes at the same time.
"Senior Brother!" Zunti's face lit up with disbelief and delight. "Did you feel that? Such an immense amount of merit!"
Even Jieyin's perpetually sorrowful face finally relaxed. He nodded heavily.
"I felt it. This merit is pure and boundless. Its source seems to be... in the direction of the Nether Blood Sea?"
For tens of thousands of years, aside from the occasional small acts of merit performed by the two of them, no being in the Western Lands had been able to draw Heaven's reward.
How could they not be excited by such an extraordinary sign?
"The Blood Sea? Could it be that fellow Minghe?" Zunti immediately guessed.
The only one in the entire Blood Sea capable of causing such a commotion seemed to be its master.
At that, Jieyin slowly shook his head. The delight faded from his face, and sorrow returned.
"It probably isn't him."
Jieyin sighed. "Ancestor Minghe created the Asura Clan, following the will of Heaven and adding a new race to Honghuang, so he received a share of merit. But the Asura Clan is combative by nature and bloodthirsty, contrary to Heaven's virtue of cherishing life."
"He follows the path of slaughter and is burdened with karmic retribution. Why would Heaven bestow such pure merit upon him?"
After hearing this, Zunti understood as well.
That was true.
Ancestor Minghe spent all his time cooped up in the Blood Sea, either creating people or studying how to kill them. He hardly seemed like someone capable of earning great merit.
If he could receive this much merit, then all the years the two brothers had spent working tirelessly throughout the Western Lands would have been a joke.
"Senior Brother, you make a good point. Then who is responsible for this merit?" Zunti's eyes gleamed.
Jieyin pondered for a moment, then slowly rose to his feet.
"I don't know. But such an unexpected turn of events may be a great opportunity for my impoverished Western Lands."
"We can't sit here any longer. We must go and see for ourselves!"
Zunti nodded fervently.
"Exactly, Senior Brother! If we can invite the one who earned this merit to come to our Western Lands, why should we worry about it ever flourishing?"
The two exchanged a glance, each seeing resolve in the other's eyes.
They bowed respectfully to the Bodhi Tree, then left the hidden realm without hesitation.
Once outside, they transformed into two streaks of light and flew swiftly toward the source of the merit.
Above the Nether Blood Sea, the atmosphere was tense.
Xuanqing looked at the blood-haired demon general before him without fear.
He spoke again. "Fellow Daoist, Honghuang is vast. You can go anywhere you please. I only wish to pass through; I mean no harm."
Indra frowned at that and replied.
"Pass through? The Blood Sea isn't some easy road. You purified my clan's demon soldiers, and now you expect to just walk away?"
He stepped forward, unleashing the full pressure of his peak Taiyi Golden Immortal cultivation upon Xuanqing.
"If you don't explain yourself today, you'll stay in this Blood Sea."
Indra took another step, his tone turning abruptly harsher. Until he received his ancestor's response, there was no way he would let Xuanqing go.
Xuanqing raised an eyebrow.
This guy was determined to pick a fight.
"Seems you have no intention of reasoning this out."
Indra burst into laughter, his voice full of scorn.
"Reason? In the Asura Clan, might makes right!"
Before his words had even faded, all four of his arms moved at once. Four different weapons, steeped in Blood Fiend Qi, struck straight at Xuanqing's vital points.
Indra attacked so quickly that Xuanqing had no chance to react.
Xuanqing snorted inwardly, but stayed calm.
He tapped the ground and drifted backward. At the same time, with a thought, the Jing Shi Sword appeared in his hand.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The sword in Xuanqing's hand flashed, its light flowing like water as it blocked all four weapons.
As he defended himself, he secretly circulated the Purification True Art, converting the thin spiritual energy around him into Xuan Qi and storing it within his body, ready to flee at any moment.
Picking a straight fight with a peak Taiyi Golden Immortal was the sort of thing only an idiot would do.
Indra was surprised when his first attack failed.
He hadn't expected this Daoist, who seemed to be only at the Golden Immortal Realm, to parry his attack so effortlessly.
"Not bad. You're clearly no nobody."
Indra's fighting spirit rose, and his assault grew even more ferocious.
Blood-red blades and sword lights enveloped the entire hundred-yard space around Xuanqing.
As he parried, Xuanqing grumbled inwardly.
Has this guy gotten carried away in the fight? I haven't even told him my name. Does he really have to pick a fight with a random cultivator like me?
He spoke again. "Fellow Daoist, I'll say it once more: I have no intention of making an enemy of the Asura Clan. I'm just passing through."
Indra scoffed. "Enough talk! If you dare cause trouble in my Blood Sea, you'd better be ready to die!"
The Asura Clan's killing intent grew stronger as they fought. Indra, too, was blinded by it and lost his reason, wanting only to keep fighting.
"Don't think the Asura Clan will fear you just because you have some backer! Even if you're an unknown Loose Immortal, who in Honghuang would dare disrespect our ancestor?"
The more he spoke, the more carried away he became, his voice growing increasingly arrogant.
"Even the Three Pure Ones on Kunlun Mountain have to think twice about their standing when they meet our ancestor!"
At that, Xuanqing's expression turned cold.
The Jing Shi Sword in his hand abruptly changed course.
Its graceful, fluid sword light became incomparably fierce.
"What did you say?" Xuanqing's voice was calm, but anyone could hear the anger suppressed beneath it.
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