The Western Continent had been blasted into fragments back then, nearly losing all capacity to compete.
Yet it had produced a cultivator of great perseverance in Jieyin.
Moreover, Jieyin was greatly compassionate. He had helped the Bodhi Tree, the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Roots bound to him, take form, and thus Zhunti came into being.
And these two had remained steadfastly devoted to the West.
Hongjun had owed the West a great karmic debt and promised that it would have an opportunity for great prosperity.
As long as Jieyin and Zhunti seized that opportunity, they might not have been unable to restore some dignity to the West.
According to the original course of the Primordial Wilderness, they had indeed accomplished it.
The Eastern Continent continued to flourish, the West turned the tables from the brink of ruin, and the Southern Continent developed steadily.
Now that the Northern Continent had Bei Ming, it had finally gained hope of rebirth and would not become a forgotten dead land within the Primordial Wilderness.
Because it had previously been nourished by Heavenly Lake, the baleful aura within the Ancestral Vein was actually easier to clear than elsewhere.
Four Yuanhui had passed, a total of 518,400 years.
They slipped away quietly and unnoticed.
Above Heavenly Lake, mist swirled while the fragrance of lotuses lingered.
Bei Ming slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was calm as his body shifted slightly atop the Lotus Platform before he rose steadily to his feet.
His robe fluttered softly as he floated into the air. With a raised hand, the Twelve Grade Pure World White Lotus transformed into a streak of luminous white light and entered his palm.
Bei Ming looked around. Clear spiritual energy filled Heaven and Earth.
Then he let out a long breath, a trace of gratification on his face as he murmured,
"Four Yuanhui of time were not wasted after all."
The baleful aura within Changbai Mountain's Ancestral Vein had now been completely expelled.
This undertaking had not only taken a solid first step in the plan to clear the baleful aura from the entire Northern Continent;
it had also opened new hope for the living beings of the North.
Suddenly, vast amounts of Merit emerged in the sky. Golden radiance cascaded down, filling the heavens.
The surface of Heavenly Lake reflected the golden sky. Water and sky merged into one at that moment, its rippling light carrying dense auspicious signs.
However, Changbai Mountain lay in a remote corner.
Although the Merit gained from restoring the main vein was considerable, it was not enough to shake the entire Primordial Wilderness. It only caused waves of commotion within the North.
Heavenly Dao Merit descended. Seventy percent became golden streaming light that circled Bei Ming's body.
Twenty percent merged into the Twelve Grade Pure World White Lotus, and a soft golden glow faintly appeared over the Lotus Platform's surface.
The remaining ten percent seeped deep into the spiritual veins of the Changbai Mountain Range, nourishing their foundation.
Bei Ming put away the Merit that belonged to him without refining or absorbing it.
Though Heavenly Dao Merit was not as precious as Great Dao Merit, it was still exceedingly rare within the Primordial Wilderness.
At the very least, in the Primordial Wilderness ruled by the Heavenly Dao, it was a recognized life-saving talisman.
Accumulating more of it was always a good thing.
Especially now that he intended to refine the True Spirit of the Destruction Demon God, he needed to keep some trump cards in reserve.
Then Bei Ming lowered his head and examined the Pure World White Lotus in his hand, its golden glow flickering in and out of sight.
Bei Ming pondered inwardly, *If I can clear the baleful aura from the entire Northern Continent;
the Merit allotted to the Lotus Platform will surely allow it to advance into a Top-Grade Innate Merit Spiritual Treasure.
When that happens, its defensive power will undoubtedly be the finest beneath supreme treasures.*
Above Heavenly Lake, the originally floating Three Grade Pure World White Lotus had already transformed into strands of origin power and entered the many branch veins of the Northern Continent.
Though it could not yet remove the baleful aura, suppressing its further spread was enough for now.
To completely restore order to the Northern Continent, he still needed to gather the Fierce Beast Remains scattered everywhere before carrying out a comprehensive purification.
The cultivation requirements for those carrying out this task would also be higher.
Great Luo Golden Immortals were no longer capable of undertaking it. A higher realm and greater strength were required.
By restoring the Ancestral Vein this time, Bei Ming had also truly experienced its benefits.
Over these long years, his cultivation had advanced from the middle stage of Great Luo Golden Immortal to the late stage.
Hongjun's first sermon had expounded The Dao of Zenith Heaven.
Before the sermon at Zixiao Palace began, most cultivators had not reached the Great Luo Peak. The Three Thousand Mortal Realm Guests were all at various stages of Great Luo Golden Immortal.
Furthermore, Bei Ming could sense that the luck of the Northern Continent was gradually gathering around him.
A clan possessed luck. As its patriarch, the stronger the clan became, the greater its luck.
A region of Heaven and Earth also possessed luck. The luck gained through Heaven and Earth's acknowledgment might not grow as quickly as that gained from developing a clan, but it held its value better.
A clan could hardly remain strong forever. When it flourished, its luck prospered; when it weakened, its luck declined.
But so long as one did not destroy Heaven and Earth, the acknowledgment of Heaven and Earth would not abandon them.
With the matter of the baleful aura temporarily concluded, Bei Ming flashed away from Heavenly Lake and returned to Great Void Palace atop White Cloud Peak.
The palace gates opened automatically as he approached. Inside, the halls remained as tranquil as ever.
Bei Ming had intended to stabilize his cultivation and, after settling down for a while, leave the mountain once more when his expression suddenly changed.
There seemed to be a visitor beyond the defensive formation.
When Bei Ming had established his Daoist arena, he had set up two layers of defensive formations.
The first was the Mountain-Protecting Array that covered the entire Changbai Mountain Range, the Boundless Sea Array, vast as the sea and calm without a ripple.
The other was the core defensive formation surrounding Heavenly Lake and Great Void Palace, the Gui Xu Submerged Abyss Array, still as an abyss while concealing surging currents.
At this moment, the Boundless Sea Array remained calm and undisturbed. Only the Gui Xu Submerged Abyss Array sent out repeated warnings.
Bei Ming's brows drew together slightly. With a turn of thought, he knew that the visitor was not an external enemy.
Rather, it was a cultivator who had already been within the Changbai Mountain Range before he set up the formation.
Bei Ming sat cross-legged within the main hall as intangible Dao Rhyme echoed through the void.
After making a calculation with his fingers, he already knew the visitor's identity.
Among Innate Gods, the art of Deduction was not uncommon. Almost everyone possessed some skill in it.
However, most could only calculate those beneath them and could not calculate those above them, nor beings at the same level as themselves.
Of course, if one possessed a special Spirit Treasure with deductive abilities like the Hetu and Luoshu, one could to some extent deduce the circumstances of beings at the same level.
If it was wielded by an expert proficient in Deduction, it was even possible to glimpse a trace of the trajectory of those above them.
At the foot of White Cloud Peak, the mountain wind howled.
A youth knelt before the mountain on both knees, his back straight, his head slightly bowed, his expression respectful and restrained.
Zu Long had nine sons. His ninth son was born from his union with a fish and was named Chiwen, also called Fish Dragon.
Chiwen's true form had a dragon's head and a fish's body, without dragon claws.
The original nine sons had long perished in the Immeasurable Kalpa. This youth was Chiwen's descendant, named Han Chi.
According to Bei Ming's Deduction, he had been born when Chiwen mated with the Han Jiao Clan on the eve of the Three Clans' final battle.
He had still been a dragon egg at the time and was hidden away elsewhere.
By the time the dragon egg hatched, the Three Clans had already stained the Primordial Wilderness with blood, and their remnant bodies had gone into seclusion.
Thus, Han Chi did not return to the Dragon Clan. Instead, he came to Changbai Mountain nearby to cultivate.
Back then, in order to lessen their clans' sins and resolve their overwhelming Karma,
the three great clan leaders—Zu Long, Yuan Feng, and Shi Qilin—
each made grave vows, sacrificed their True Spirits, and completely perished. Only by using their remnant bodies to suppress Heaven and Earth did they preserve their clans' bloodlines.
The clans could remain, but as the initiators of the Immeasurable Kalpa, they were destined to die.
The later Wu and Yao Clans were no exception.
Among the Demon Race's Heavenly Emperor, Heavenly Empress, and Three Sovereigns, only Nüwa, who had become a saint, survived intact.
When Fuxi returned to the Primordial Wilderness through reincarnation, he had already become Fuxi of the Human Race.
The Wu Clan had it even worse. Of the Twelve Ancestor Wizards, eleven had perished.
Even Houtu, the sole survivor, was no longer part of the Wu Clan after transforming into Reincarnation.
It could be said that the high-level members of the Wu and Yao Clans had been almost completely wiped out.
Before you continue