Merit Adorns the Body, Heaven and Earth Acknowledge, Visitor Within the Mountain

The Western Continent, having been shattered and torn asunder in the past, had almost lost all its competitive edge.

Yet, it produced a cultivator of great perseverance named Jieyin.

Furthermore, Jieyin possessed great compassion; he assisted the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Root, the Bodhi Tree, which accompanied him, to take human form, and thus Zhunti came to be.

As it happened, these two remained in the West, never abandoning it.

In the beginning, Hongjun owed the West a great cause and effect, promising it a chance for a great resurgence.

As long as Jieyin and Zhunti seized the opportunity, it was not impossible for them to win a breath of life for the West.

According to the original progression of Hong Huang, they indeed succeeded.

The East remained continuously prosperous, the West staged a comeback from a desperate situation, and the South developed steadily.

Now, with Bei Ming in the Northern Continent, it had finally ushered in the hope of rebirth, preventing it from sinking into a forgotten death zone within Hong Huang.

Thanks to the previous nourishment of the Heavenly Lake, the Sha Qi within the Ancestral Vein was, contrary to other places, easier to purge.

Four Yuanhui of time, totaling five hundred and eighteen thousand four hundred years, passed by quietly and unnoticed.

Above the Heavenly Lake, mist swirled, and the scent of lotus lingered.

Bei Ming slowly opened his eyes, his gaze calm. His figure shifted slightly on the lotus platform before he stood up steadily.

With a light flick of his robes, he hovered into mid-air. He raised his hand in a beckoning gesture, and the Twelve Grade Pure World White Lotus transformed into a stream of pearly-white radiance, sinking into his palm.

Bei Ming looked around; the world was filled with a clear, limpid spiritual energy.

He then exhaled a long breath, a touch of gratification in his expression, and whispered:

"Four Yuanhui of time—it was not spent in vain."

The Sha Qi of the Changbai Mountain Range's Ancestral Vein had, at this point, been completely eradicated.

This battle had not only taken a solid first step for the entire Northern Continent's Sha Qi clearance plan;

It had also opened up new hope for the living beings of the North.

Suddenly, a vast expanse of merit surged from the sky, Golden Radiance pouring down to carpet the high heavens.

The surface of the Heavenly Lake reflected the golden firmament; water and sky merged into one, and amidst the shimmering ripples, a rich aura of Auspicious Signs was carried.

However, the Changbai Mountain Range was tucked away in a remote corner;

Though the merit gained from repairing the main vein was not insignificant, it was not enough to cause a sensation throughout all of Hong Huang, triggering only ripples of commotion within the borders of the North.

As the Heavenly Dao Merit descended, seventy percent transformed into golden streaming light, circling Bei Ming's body;

Twenty percent merged into the Twelve Grade Pure World White Lotus, a soft golden glow faintly emerging on the surface of the lotus platform;

The remaining ten percent seeped into the depths of the spiritual veins of the Changbai Mountain Range, nourishing its foundation.

Bei Ming put away the merit that belonged to him without refining or absorbing it.

Although Heavenly Dao Merit was not as precious as Great Dao Merit, it was still extremely rare in Hong Huang;

At the very least, within the Hong Huang governed by the Heavenly Dao, it was a recognized life-saving talisman;

Accumulating more was always a good thing;

Especially since he had the intention of refining the True Spirit of the Destruction Demon God, he needed to keep his trump cards.

Subsequently, Bei Ming looked down at the Pure World White Lotus in his hand, the golden glow flickering in and out of sight.

Bei Ming mused to himself: 'If I can complete the clearance of Sha Qi for the entire Northern Continent;

The merit distributed to the lotus platform will surely allow it to advance into a Top-Grade Innate Merit Spiritual Treasure;

By then, its defensive power will definitely be second to none beneath the supreme treasures.'

Above the Heavenly Lake, the Three Grade Pure World White Lotus that had previously been floating had already transformed into wisps of origin power, injecting itself into the many branches of the Northern Continent.

Although it could not clear the Sha Qi for the time being, it was enough to suppress its further spread.

If he wanted to thoroughly reorganize the Northern Continent, he would still need to gather the Fierce Beast Remains scattered everywhere and perform another comprehensive purification.

And this required an even higher level of cultivation from the executor;

Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal was no longer sufficient for the task; it required a higher realm and stronger power.

Through this repair of the Ancestral Vein, Bei Ming had also tangibly experienced the benefits;

His cultivation had improved from the middle stage of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal to the late stage during these long years.

Hongjun's first sermon was on the Dao of Zenith Heaven;

Before the lectures began in the Purple Cloud Palace, the vast majority of cultivators had generally not reached the Great Luo Peak, and the Three Thousand Mortal Realm Guests were all at various stages of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.

Moreover, Bei Ming could perceive that the Luck of the Northern Continent was gradually gathering toward him;

A tribe has Luck, and as the leader, the stronger the tribe, the stronger the Luck;

A region of Heaven and Earth also has Luck. Obtaining the recognition of Heaven and Earth might not yield Luck as quickly as developing a tribe, but it was relatively more stable.

It is difficult for a tribe to remain strong forever; when strong, Luck flourishes, and when weak, Luck declines.

As long as Heaven and Earth acknowledged one's existence, one would not be forsaken, provided they did not act to destroy the world.

With the issue of the Sha Qi temporarily settled, Bei Ming's figure flickered. He left the Heavenly Lake and returned to the Great Void Palace atop White Cloud Peak.

The palace gates opened automatically as he approached, and the interior remained as tranquil as ever.

Just as Bei Ming intended to stabilize his cultivation and settle his mind before leaving the mountain once more, his expression shifted.

Beyond the defensive formations, it seemed there was a visitor.

When Bei Ming first established his Daoist arena, he had set up two layers of defensive formations:

The first was the Mountain-Protecting Array, the Boundless Sea Array, which shrouded the entire Changbai Mountain Range, vast as the sea and calm as a mirror.

The second was the core defensive formation enveloping the Heavenly Lake and the Great Void Palace, the Gui Xu Submerged Abyss Array, which remained as silent as the abyss, concealing turbulent undercurrents.

At this moment, the Boundless Sea Array remained undisturbed, but the Gui Xu Submerged Abyss Array sent out ripples of warning.

Bei Ming furrowed his brows, and with a mere thought, he realized the visitor was no foreign enemy; rather, it was a cultivator who had existed within the Changbai Mountain Range long before he had set up his formations.

Bei Ming sat cross-legged within the Main Hall, invisible Dao Rhymes echoing through the void.

He pinched his fingers to calculate, and the identity of the visitor became clear to him.

The art of Deduction was not rare among the Innate Gods; it was a skill almost everyone possessed.

However, most could only calculate those of lower standing, unable to discern the fates of those of higher status or those on the same level as themselves.

Of course, if one possessed a special Spirit Treasure with deductive capabilities, such as the Hetu and Luoshu, one could, to a certain extent, deduce the circumstances of those at the same level.

It was even possible, if driven by an expert proficient in deduction, to catch a glimpse of the trends surrounding those of higher standing.

At the foot of White Cloud Peak, the mountain winds howled.

A youth knelt on both knees before the mountain, his spine straight and his forehead slightly lowered, his expression respectful and restrained.

Zu Long had sired nine sons, and the ninth was born of his union with a fish, named Chiwen, also known as the Fish-Dragon.

Chiwen's true form was that of a dragon's head with a fish's body, lacking dragon claws.

The original nine sons had long since perished in the Immeasurable Kalpa, and this youth was a descendant of Chiwen, named Han Chi.

According to Bei Ming's deduction, he was the offspring born of Chiwen and the Han Jiao Clan on the eve of the Three Clans' decisive battle.

At the time, he was still a dragon egg, hidden away.

By the time the egg hatched, the Three Clans had already stained the Primordial Wilderness with blood, their Remnant bodies hidden away.

Thus, Han Chi did not return to the Dragon Clan, but instead came to Changbai Mountain to cultivate.

Back then, to alleviate the sins of their clans and dissolve the monstrous Karma, the three clan leaders—Zu Long, Yuan Feng, and Shi Qilin—each swore heavy oaths, sacrificed their True Spirits, and perished completely, using their Remnant bodies to suppress Heaven and Earth, thereby preserving the bloodlines of their clans.

The clans could remain, but as the initiators of the Immeasurable Kalpa, they were destined to die.

The subsequent Wu and Yao Clans suffered the same fate.

Among the Yao Clan's Heavenly Emperor, Heavenly Empress, and Three Sovereigns, only Nüwa, who had managed to Become a saint, survived intact.

By the time Fuxi returned to the Primordial Wilderness through the body of Reincarnation, he was already the Human Race's Fuxi.

The Wu Clan fared even worse; of the Twelve Ancestor Wizards, eleven had fallen.

The only one remaining, Houtu, was no longer of the Wu Clan after she transformed into Reincarnation.

It could be said that the high-level experts of both the Wu and Yao Clans had been nearly wiped out.