Meanwhile.
Outside Qingqiu Mountain, near the Innate Great Array.
Spirit Beasts stretched as far as the eye could see.
They came from countless different races.
And there were even more of them.
Among them were Golden Immortals and Taiyi.
Da Luo cultivators even led their ranks.
Even an Innate God who had taken human form would likely have been intimidated by this sight.
And dared not face them head-on.
So the Fox Clan, whose mountain gate was besieged by these Spirit Beasts, had it even worse.
If the array hadn't still been holding,
they would have broken in long ago.
"I'll say it one more time: hand over the Supreme Treasure and your fortune!"
"Your Fox Clan can still enjoy the protection of the Qilin Clan!"
"Otherwise..."
"Extinction is your only option!"
The Water Qilin had taken on a Dao Body.
His tone was threatening.
At those words,
inside the array,
the Fox Clan Ancestor could only reply helplessly,
"Our Fox Clan has no Supreme Treasure! You must be mistaken, fellow Daoist!"
The Water Qilin snorted.
"Since you refuse to hand it over, I'll take it myself!"
"Roar!"
A Water Curtain suddenly crashed down.
It was incomparably heavy.
Any single drop of water in it could crush an entire world!
At once,
the Fox Clan cultivators inside the array all watched with constricted pupils.
They were utterly terrified.
The array had already been on the verge of collapse.
After another blow like this, there was no way it could withstand a Late Da Luo's divine power.
For a moment,
despair filled the eyes of everyone there, including the Fox Clan Ancestor.
Were they doomed?
Sigh!
Just then, a sigh rang out.
A white-haired, white-bearded Daoist suddenly appeared among them.
He swept his Whisk.
The towering Water Curtain actually began to "burn" like paper!
The flames spread from a single point.
In an instant, it turned to ash!
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye,
every cultivator was stunned.
The Water Qilin was even more horrified.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
"My divine power!"
At that moment,
even the Water Qilin knew that the cultivator before him was far stronger than he was.
After a moment's consideration,
the Water Qilin asked cautiously,
"May I ask who you are, Senior?"
The Daoist replied,
"Who I am doesn't matter."
"What matters is that I have a little Karma with the Fox Clan."
This Daoist was none other than Hongjun.
He hadn't planned to intervene, but when he saw the Water Curtain come down,
the array would almost certainly be broken.
Hongjun knew
that he had no choice but to step in.
However,
for certain reasons, he was still holding back.
He had merely dispelled the divine power.
He hadn't directly attacked the Water Qilin and his group.
He was even trying to talk them down.
"Also,"
"I don't want trouble coming my way."
"So, please leave for now!"
"I won't hold this against you!"
When he finished,
the Water Qilin froze for a moment.
Then he burst out laughing.
"Ha ha ha!"
"Our Qilin Clan has more than ten Da Luo cultivators, and our clan leader, Shi Qilin, has even grasped the method to break through Da Luo. He'll emerge from seclusion soon!"
"If you don't want trouble, then you're the one who should leave, Senior!"
What!
Shi Qilin was about to break through the Da Luo realm?
That was astonishing news.
Before the cultivators could recover, they were shocked once again.
Now that was what you called a great clan!
They had deep foundations, and their strongest fighters were at the forefront of the Primordial Wilderness!
After all,
many cultivators hadn't even taken human form yet!
But Hongjun remained expressionless.
He even felt a little amused.
A method to break through Da Luo?
He wondered what level of Da Luo this "Da Luo" referred to.
In any case,
before proving the Dao, Hongjun would no longer call himself a "Da Luo" cultivator.
He would rather call himself a Quasi-Saint.
As for the Water Qilin before him, he had probably misunderstood something.
The trouble Hongjun had mentioned
had nothing to do with the Qilin Clan.
It was the Little Fox, who had yet to emerge from seclusion.
At that moment,
Hongjun couldn't help thinking,
"If she finds out I stood by while the Fox Clan was in danger, she'll probably come after me once she's done dealing with the Qilin Clan!"
"No!"
"I have to handle this..."
Then,
Hongjun didn't bother explaining.
He swept his Whisk again, and every Spirit Beast on the entire mountain vanished.
Hongjun had tossed them somewhere else.
The Water Qilin hadn't even reacted yet
when Hongjun's voice sounded beside him.
"I've cultivated to this point, and I happen to be missing a mount."
"You have decent roots and cultivation."
"So you can serve me for now."
As he spoke,
a force the Water Qilin couldn't resist completely bound him.
Without Hongjun's permission,
he couldn't even think of escaping.
He didn't have the chance to fight back!
The Water Qilin was unwilling, but he could only lower his head.
He had no choice.
The gap was simply too great.
Could even a Peak Da Luo deal with this kind of strength?
Only Shi Qilin could!
But that raised a question.
Why had no one ever heard of such a terrifying being?
For a time,
Qingqiu Mountain fell silent.
The Fox Clan Ancestor didn't know what to say, either.
But she was certainly grateful.
"Thank you for coming to our aid, Senior!"
"Think nothing of it."
Hongjun smiled, seated astride a Water Qilin.
"It's only Karma!"
"Karma?"
The Fox Clan Ancestor considered this, then asked, "May I ask what Karma the Fox Clan has with you, Senior?"
After a moment's thought,
Hongjun replied,
"Hmm... I suppose you once gave me a helping hand."
The Fox Clan was even more puzzled.
A helping hand?
How could their weak little clan have helped an expert like him?
Something had to be wrong.
At that point,
Hongjun prepared to leave.
But the Fox Clan Ancestor still had one more question.
"May I ask, Senior: the Qilin Clan surely won't let this go."
"Should our Fox Clan move somewhere else?"
The Fox Clan Ancestor knew her limits.
She didn't expect Hongjun to protect them forever.
She only wanted to know how they could avoid danger.
If they couldn't fight them, couldn't they at least run?
Who would have thought Hongjun would laugh.
"This place has the method to save your lives. Why go anywhere else to get it?"
"Stay right here. You don't need to go anywhere."
"The Qilin Clan can't do a thing to you!"
"Senior..."
"Are you going to protect the Fox Clan?"
The Fox Clan Ancestor was overjoyed.
Hongjun shook his head.
"The Fox Clan has a powerful expert of its own. Why would it need protection from this old Daoist?"
"This old Daoist couldn't beat that one from your Fox Clan!"
"Just relax. This old Daoist will be off!"
With that,
Hongjun left.
But the Fox Clan Ancestor was even more confused, standing there dumbfounded.
My Fox Clan has a powerful expert?
How come I didn't know?!
Meanwhile,
at Lei Jun Palace,
Lei Jun withdrew his gaze.
Everything that happened at Qingqiu Mountain was naturally under his control.
When he bestowed Merit,
he had already seen this moment coming.
What's more,
even the timing of Hongjun's emergence from seclusion had been arranged by him.
It was precisely to protect the Fox Clan.
As for why...
The reason was simple.
Lei Jun wanted to interfere with the greater trend.
So
he deliberately intended to use one clan as a Chess Piece, muddying the conflict among the three clans!
That Chess Piece was the Fox Clan!
Meanwhile,
on Taiyin Star,
two stunningly beautiful women in moon-white immortal dresses were curiously looking around.
After enduring countless years,
Yuegui and Wangshu had finally succeeded in taking human form.
But compared with the other Innate Demon Gods,
they had taken considerably longer.
Hongjun went without saying.
Even the ancestors of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans had found an opportunity to break through!
By comparison,
the two goddesses who had only just taken human form
were rather low in cultivation.
Yuegui was doing all right; her foundations were deep.
If she hadn't wanted to take human form a little earlier, she could have accumulated enough to reach Peak Da Luo.
Of course,
she was already at Late Da Luo.
Wangshu was a little weaker,
only at Mid Da Luo.
But it wasn't a problem.
Wangshu's cultivation was lower simply because her foundations were not as deep as a Spirit Root's.
But her comprehension was decent.
Given time, she might well catch up.
At that moment,
both goddesses wore happy expressions.
Yuegui was all right;
she remained fairly composed.
Wangshu was different—she was practically bursting with excitement.
Her voice was full of gratitude.
"Thank goodness for the Dao Diagram!"
"Otherwise, even if we could take human form, we'd probably have had to wait a very long time!"
"And our cultivation wouldn't be as high as it is now!"
"Thank you, Senior Lei Jun!"
"Sister Wangshu, it wasn't Senior Lei Jun. It was the Lei Jun Heavenly Dao!"
Yuegui corrected her.
Although she was calmer than Wangshu,
that didn't mean she was truly at peace inside.
Somewhere deep within her,
a realization seemed to be rising.
"Right! The Lei Jun Heavenly Dao!"
Wangshu nodded repeatedly.
"Sister Yuegui, you really are quick to catch on!"
Before taking human form,
Wangshu and Yuegui had addressed each other as fellow Daoists.
But over the long years, their bond had grown stronger and stronger.
Moreover,
their Dharma Gates were similar, allowing them to compare insights and greatly benefit their cultivation.
So, gradually,
they stopped calling each other fellow Daoists
and began calling each other sisters instead.
But now,
after Wangshu finished speaking, Yuegui didn't respond right away.
Instead, she seemed to be sensing something.
Before long,
she opened her lovely eyes, gently shook her head, and said:
"Sister Wangshu, now that I've taken human form, I've shed my Spirit Root body. I should have a new Dao..."
"A new Dao title?"
Wangshu asked in confusion.
"That's right!"
"I just sensed it—the Lei Jun Heavenly Dao has bestowed a name!"
"From now on, my Dao title will be..."
"Youying!"
Wangshu only half understood, but didn't dwell on it.
She quickly caught on.
"Then from now on, you'll be Sister Youying!"
As she spoke,
Wangshu noticed that Yuegui... or rather, Youying now,
seemed puzzled.
Clearly,
there was more than a Dao title in what she sensed.
"Sister Wangshu, see if you can sense it. Now that we've taken human form, it seems the Lei Jun Heavenly Dao has bestowed an opportunity upon us!"
"That's true!"
After sensing it a little, Wangshu exclaimed in delight.
She had thought only Youying could sense it, but it turned out she could too.
Then the two women set off without hesitation,
heading toward the place where they sensed the opportunity.
The opportunity was on Taiyin Star,
not far from them.
Before long,
they arrived at the place where it awaited them.
The opportunity the two women sensed grew increasingly clear.
There was a Spirit Treasure,
and there were insights.
But at first, neither woman paid any attention to the Spirit Treasure.
Their attention was on the insights instead.
"Sister, this seems to be a method for refining something. It can refine the power of Taiyin into... Di Liujiang?"
Wangshu murmured.
Di Liujiang.
It was certainly an unfamiliar name.
Wangshu had never heard of it.
But, for some inexplicable reason, she felt a connection to it.
Before you continue