The Great Way of Gou, Xuanwu Holds the Light

Above the North Sea, a cold wind blew, carrying a bone-chilling chill. The massive tortoise-snake form of Black Tortoise Zhiming was finally and clearly manifested before Xuan Qing.

"Greetings, Lord Zhi Ming!"

Xuan Qing formally greeted him, cupping his hands slightly, then curiously glanced at the other.

Because, on Zhi Ming, he didn't see the Heavenly Dao shackles like those on Azure Dragon Mengzhang.

"No need to look!"

As if guessing what Xuan Qing was thinking, Zhi Ming shook his head and said, "I am different from those three fellows, Mengzhang, Ling Guang, and Jian Bing! Mengzhang and Ling Guang belong to the Dragon and Phoenix Races, while Jian Bing is warlike by nature. Although he is not of the Qilin Race, as part of the Beast Lineage, he listened to the summons of the First Qilin and participated in the Three Races War that swept through the Great Desolation!"

"The three of them made great vows to the Heavenly Dao in order to help their respective races dissipate their Karma, using their merits to atone for their sins and guard the Four Extremes!"

"As for me, I stay here purely because the North Sea is pure and won't be tainted by worldly Karma, and I can also earn some Heavenly Merit by guarding the North Pole!"

As Zhi Ming spoke, he put away a chessboard. His massive body merely shifted slightly, causing the void near the Northern Darkness to tremble.

Seeing this, Xuan Qing couldn't help but frown and quickly said, "Senior, that chessboard..."

But Zhi Ming didn't care at all and continued to speak to himself, "Don't look, this chessboard was originally mine, I just lent it to Yu Jiang back then!"

Xuan Qing was stunned upon hearing this.

This Lord Zhi Ming looked simple and honest on the outside, but how did he seem to have the ability to read minds?

He could see at a glance that the "Myriad Tribulation Chessboard" was a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, with hidden mysteries, containing the Dao of Innate Heaven and Earth and the Dao of Innate Tribulation Fortune.

He had originally thought of inheriting this chessboard as a "Yu Jiang successor."

"Don't even think about it!"

Zhi Ming seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, "Since Ancestor Dragon killed Yu Jiang, how could he not take away all of his Spiritual Treasures?"

"This seat only lent the Myriad Tribulation Chessboard to him temporarily to entrust his remnant thoughts, considering that we were neighbors for so many years!"

"That's true!" Xuan Qing thought for a moment and felt it was very reasonable, then asked, "The Great Desolation is vast, doesn't Lord want to go out and take a look?"

He was very curious, since Zhi Ming was not bound by the Heavenly Dao shackles and had the strength to be infinitely close to a Saint, why would he willingly be confined to the land of the Northern Darkness?

"The Great Desolation is just like that!"

Zhi Ming looked as if he had seen through everything, "Every era has its own protagonist, but every protagonist ultimately doesn't have a good ending!"

"It's not like I haven't gone out to see it before?"

Speaking of which, when Hongjun became a Saint, I even had that Mystic Tortoise temporarily take my place, and secretly went to the Purple Cloud Palace to listen to that guy's lecture!

"It's just that I thought that a tree that stands out from the forest will be destroyed by the wind, and it's not good to attract too much attention, so I didn't go to grab the futons in the front!"

Xuan Qing was shocked upon hearing this.

He didn't expect that Zhi Ming was also one of the Three Thousand Guests of Zixiao Palace. With his strength at the time, if he had gone to grab a futon, probably no one could have competed with him!

After all, at that time, the Three Pure Ones, Jieyin, Zhunti, Fuxi, Nuwa, Kunpeng, Hong Yun, and other great powers were actually only at the Great Golden Immortal realm!

And Lord Zhi Ming was at the peak of Primordial Golden Immortal, infinitely close to the Saint realm.

"That guy Hongjun still has some tricks!" Zhi Ming continued to speak to himself, "At least this seat can't create the Immortal Path!"

"His Disciples also have some tricks. Nuwa created the Human Race, the Three Pure Ones established the Orthodox lineage, and even those two in the West have unique points!"

"And you!"

"Your cultivation is not high, but your Destiny is Nothingness. Even if this seat is good at deduction, I can't see your future clearly, as if it's covered by mist."

As one of the earliest beings born after the Heaven and Earth were created, Zhi Ming's experience was even richer than that of the Saints, and there were few things that could make him care.

"It's better to be still than to move!"

Xuan Qing listened to Zhi Ming's words, although he was a little surprised, he remained calm and said, "Senior's mentality is somewhat similar to that of my First Martial Uncle."

"He who does not contend, therefore no one can contend with him!" Zhi Ming smiled upon hearing this, "It's better to be still than to move, your Martial Uncle has great wisdom!"

"You are also somewhat interesting!"

"Looking at the Merit on your body, you should be the guy who interpreted the Innate Eight Trigrams tens of thousands of years ago, causing the Heavenly Dao to sense it and thus descend Merit!"

Xuan Qing nodded, "But Senior seems to see the Great Trend of the Great Desolation very clearly. The changes in the outside world don't seem to affect Senior at all."

This Lord Zhi Ming was truly detached from the world, not tainted by Karma. He also had enough Heavenly Merit to dissipate Yu Jiang's Grudge, but he turned a blind eye and chose to wait for the Dragon Clan to deal with it themselves.

In addition, whether it was the Dragon-Han Calamity or the current Witch-Demon Tribulation, he had not been tainted by the slightest bit of Karma. On the contrary, he had the Merit of guarding the North Pole.

He clearly had the ability to influence the situation in the Great Desolation, but he chose to live in seclusion, staying in this bitterly cold land of the Northern Darkness, and few beings could make him move his body.

Xuan Qing cupped his hands and shamelessly said, "I wonder if this junior can ask Senior for a portion of the Essence of Gui Water? In addition, can you offer the Innate Spiritual Treasure in your hand so that I can imprint a portion of the Dao contained within it?"

"Yes!"

Zhi Ming did not refuse.

Although he didn't want to be tainted by Karma, he didn't mind forming a good relationship sometimes.

Moreover, in addition to the Dao of Gui Water, he also comprehended the Great Dao of Yin-Yang. The tortoise body was Yang, and the snake body was Yin. One moving and one still, perfectly matching the mysteries of the Dao of Yin-Yang.

Therefore, he also wanted to discuss the "Innate Eight Trigrams" with Xuan Qing to see if this derivative Dao of the Great Dao of Yin-Yang could verify his own Great Dao of Yin-Yang?

In an instant, a stream of Essence of Gui Water fell directly into Xuan Qing's brow.

There were also nearly a hundred Innate Spiritual Treasures, shining brightly in the void, bursting forth with all kinds of Dao inheritances.

"This is..."

Xuan Qing didn't expect Zhi Ming to be so wealthy. Northern Darkness was barren, and Kunpeng, born in Northern Darkness, didn't have any decent Spiritual Treasures... Could it be because Zhi Ming had plundered the Northern Darkness?

In the Northern Darkness, there were only a few notable names: Black Tortoise Zhiming, the Mysterious Black Tortoise of the North Sea, Demon Master Kunpeng, and the fallen Sea God Yu Jiang...

Yu Jiang had passed away.

Kunpeng was penniless.

The Mysterious Tortoise couldn't Form Transformation, so Spiritual Treasures were useless to it.

The most likely candidate to have plundered the Northern Darkness was the one before him, the great figure who could move freely, had Merit upon them, and had existed since the Sky-Opening – Zhi Ming!

The more Xuan Qing thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Even the supposedly barren West had two Top-grade Innate Spiritual Roots, the "Bodhi Tree" and the "Seven Emotions Bitter Bamboo."

There was no way Northern Darkness had nothing.

At this moment, besides the "Myriad Tribulation Chessboard" he had seen before, Xuan Qing also saw several Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures like the "Mysterious Origin Water Control Banner," and a High-grade Innate Spiritual Root called the "Great Chun Tree."

If Saint Zhunti saw this, wouldn't he say, 'You are destined for the West?'

Xuan Qing secretly mused in his heart, while also confirming his guess. He tentatively asked, "Senior, this probably isn't all of your wealth, is it?"

"This is really all of it now!"

Zhi Ming thought for a moment, then pulled out dozens more Innate Spiritual Treasures from somewhere: "That fellow Hongjun also took away quite a few opportunities in the Northern Darkness!"

You really had more!

Xuan Qing was dumbfounded at the sight. He had just been testing the waters with a casual question?

"Senior, are you still missing a son?"

He immediately threw all pretense aside and said in the most respectful tone, "I want to take care of you in your old age!"

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