Hongjun saw it, and his brows immediately twitched. Since becoming a Sage, he had never once felt so out of control.
Hongjun knew perfectly well that with Zhu Jiuyin's current strength—at most, the late stage of the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal realm—he should have been nowhere near capable of concealing himself from Hongjun's deductions, especially when Hongjun had used every means at his disposal, including the power of the Heavenly Dao and the Fragment of the Jade Plate of Creation.
"So that means someone at least at the ninth heaven of the Hunyuan Realm, or even in the Chaos Realm, is standing behind Zhu Jiuyin?"
At the thought, Hongjun couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.
Within the Heavenly Dao, nine was the ultimate number, so the Hunyuan Realm had nine heavens.
Beneath the Great Dao, twelve meant perfection, so the Chaos Realm had twelve heavens.
Each heaven was a hurdle. The gap between the Chaos Realm and the Hunyuan Realm was even greater than the gap between a Sage and a Quasi-Sage.
In this respect, the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal was essentially equivalent to a Quasi-Sage, and a Sage to the Hunyuan Realm. Likewise, experts in the Heavenly Dao Realm were equivalent to those in the Chaos Realm.
The difference was that experts in the Heavenly Dao Realm could only be born within an Eternal True Realm—in other words, a world opened up by an expert in the Great Dao Realm. That was because to reach the Heavenly Dao Realm, one had to comprehend at least nine hundred laws.
If an expert in the Heavenly Dao Realm could comprehend all three thousand laws, then they might be able to break through and reach the Great Dao Realm.
Conversely, the so-called Chaos Realm referred to those within a Chaos World who, beneath the Great Dao, transformed the laws they had comprehended from world laws into Chaos Laws. After condensing three Chaos Laws and using them to forge a Chaos Dao Foundation, they could become experts in the Chaos Realm.
Chaos Laws and world laws were entirely different. One could think of it this way: world laws only applied to the world where the one who comprehended them currently resided, while Chaos Laws could be applied across the myriad heavens and worlds, throughout the boundless Chaos.
More importantly, world laws were comprehended through the Heavenly Dao, while Chaos Laws were comprehended through the Great Dao. Chaos Laws were closer to the Great Dao, so the power they unleashed was at least hundreds of times greater than that of world laws, if not more.
There was no helping it. The Great Dao was simply that powerful.
Because world laws couldn't compare to Chaos Laws, experts in the Heavenly Dao Realm could only pursue the path of bringing all three thousand laws into themselves.
When their quality fell short, they could only make up for it with quantity.
It was like a stone wall facing a Barrett sniper rifle. If ten centimeters of stone wasn't enough, then make it twenty. If twenty centimeters still wouldn't do, then pit a wall fifty centimeters thick against it.
From this, one could see just how difficult it would be for Hongjun to break through to the Heavenly Dao Realm.
The Primordial World was the highest-grade Immeasurable World, but it was still half a step away from becoming an Eternal True Realm. That half-step limited the Primordial World's ceiling, and it also limited the heights Hongjun could reach through cultivation.
Unless one day the Primordial World advanced into an Eternal True Realm?
"Forget it. The only one who could pull off something like that would be Pangu, if he came back to life."
At the thought, Hongjun immediately dared not think any further.
You've got to be kidding. If Pangu really came back to life, I, Hongjun, would be the first one doomed.
But the moment Pangu crossed his mind, Hongjun suddenly turned to look at Zhu Jiuyin.
Could it be—could it be that Pangu is the one standing behind him?
This time, Hongjun was truly frightened. He nearly toppled off the Cloud Platform.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. If Pangu had really made a move, wouldn't it be much cleaner, quicker, and more direct for him to slap me to death?"
Hongjun was a ruthless man, after all.
As fear welled up the more he thought about it, his wariness and killing intent toward Zhu Jiuyin began to rise in his heart. "No matter which transcendent being is standing behind you, you have to die!"
"Under the Heavenly Dao, no variables are allowed to exist!"
At that moment, far away at the Ancestral Land of the Witch Race, Zhu Jiuyin was preparing to join the other Ancestral Witches in forming the Twelve Capital Divine Gods and Demons Formation when a sudden chill ran down his spine. His soul trembled, and a faint warning of death leaped out of the River of Time, imprinting itself directly into the depths of his True Spirit.
This is bad. Someone wants to kill me!
Zhu Jiuyin's heart lurched. He nearly cried out, but at the last moment, he forced the words back down.
The twelve Ancestral Witches had all come from the same source, and they were now at the very moment of forming their array. In a sense, their thoughts were already connected.
So in an instant, the other Ancestral Witches felt Zhu Jiuyin's shock and fury.
"What's wrong?"
The other Ancestral Witches all turned their gazes toward Zhu Jiuyin.
Zhu Jiuyin waved a hand and shook his head with resolute calm. "It's fine. Let's continue!"
In truth, once his reason returned, Zhu Jiuyin almost immediately identified the source of the crisis and the warning of death.
Across the entire Primordial World, how many beings could make even him, the Time Ancestral Witch, feel as though death might come at any moment?
And of those, who could be more suspect than the one in Purple Heaven Palace?
Zhu Jiuyin could even understand why Hongjun wanted to kill him.
I didn't expect you to have noticed something was amiss so quickly. As expected of Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who came all the way from the Chaos Era, defeated Devil Ancestor Luohou, and became the Spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao!
But do you think killing me will be that easy?
As long as our Witch Race stays flat on the ground, what can the Primordial World do to us? After we open up the Great Thousand World this time, the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race won't leave our Ancestral Land for a hundred million years, no matter what happens. Even if you blow up Mount Buzhou, we still won't leave. Let's see what you can do about that, Hongjun!
At the thought, Zhu Jiuyin suddenly recalled a famous saying: "Struggling against Heaven is an endless joy; struggling against Earth is an endless joy; struggling against others is an endless joy."
"Lying flat isn't surrender. It's a hidden dragon lurking in the depths, waiting for the right moment.
"Each generation has its own gods; every age gives rise to new heroes. One day, even your era, Hongjun, will pass!"
Zhu Jiuyin neither overestimated himself nor underestimated Hongjun.
He knew perfectly well that Hongjun was the strongest enemy facing the entire Witch Race right now, one they simply couldn't defeat.
But the greatest advantage of the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race was that, while the Ancestral Witches' merits still remained, even Hongjun couldn't take the initiative to attack them.
What's more, if the Turbid Qi were allowed to keep spreading and developing, then within a hundred million years at most, the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun would surely face the Great Dao's punishment.
That meant that as long as the Witch Race could keep its head down and stay flat, time was on the side of the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race.
A hundred million years was nothing. The Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race could afford to wait.
"Open!"
"Welcome, Father God!"
At Dijiang's loud cry, followed immediately by the words "Welcome, Father God," the skies beyond the Ancestral Land of the Witch Race abruptly filled with roiling winds and clouds. Boundless Turbid Qi and baleful energy began to surge madly toward the Ancestral Witches.
At the same time, a terrifying pressure covering the entire Primordial World burst forth from the area beyond the Ancestral Land of the Witch Race, sweeping toward the countless living beings of the boundless Primordial World.
Pangu had appeared once more!
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