Grand Pure Dao Venerable

Although the giant beast's attack did not strike Yellow Dragon directly, its aftershock slammed solidly against the protective barrier emitted by the Pure World White Lotus, sending ripples spreading across it.

Even with the white lotus protecting him, Yellow Dragon was still shaken until his blood and qi churned.

Without daring to look back, Yellow Dragon could only unleash every trick he had for fleeing, speeding through the valley. In the blink of an eye, he had escaped tens of thousands of li.

The pangolin-like giant beast followed close behind like a cat toying with a mouse, its enormous eyes brimming with mockery and greed.

"Faster! Faster!"

As it watched Yellow Dragon flee, countless rays of light flowed across the scales of the great demon's body, slowly converging upon the giant beast's claws, which radiated an eerie glow!

Boom!

A massive claw formed of condensed light transformed into a shadow that blotted out the sky and came crashing straight down at Yellow Dragon, completely sealing off every route of escape.

Yellow Dragon struggled to raise his head and saw only a gigantic claw that seemed pieced together from shattered stars, wrapped in currents of destruction and hanging above his head, utterly ignoring the distance between them!

Seeing the enormous claw about to descend, Yellow Dragon brought out an azure dragon scale. It was a token given to him by the Azure Dragon Patriarch, and also a life-saving talisman containing one of the Patriarch's divine abilities.

A trace of pain flashed across Yellow Dragon's face.

This was a life-saving treasure capable of suppressing and killing even Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals. To save his life, he could only use it on this giant beast.

Just as all the mana in Yellow Dragon's body poured into the dragon scale, and he was about to activate the divine ability sealed within it to kill the pangolin—

Everything around him suddenly froze.

The wind stopped.

The droplets of blood he had spat out hung in midair.

The violent gusts from the claw, the deafening roar—all of it vanished.

A deathly silence pressed down on him until he could barely breathe.

Yellow Dragon remained frozen in the posture of looking up, an azure scale pinched between his fingers, as though he had been sealed inside a huge piece of transparent amber.

To his shock, he discovered that he could not even move his eyes.

Only his thoughts continued to turn.

The giant claw unleashed by the Taiyi Realm beast hung silently above his head.

This entire space had been locked down by an incomprehensible force.

Ding ding... dang dang...

Amid that suffocating silence, a string of crisp bells rang out, unimpeded as they pierced through the frozen space and resounded directly in Yellow Dragon's mind.

The bells were ethereal, like jade striking jade, carrying a strange soothing power.

The moment the bells rang, Yellow Dragon felt the existence of his body again.

The force that had frozen this space receded like the tide!

He could move again! The sudden reversal left Yellow Dragon somewhat dazed.

Seeing the giant claw still suspended above him, Yellow Dragon instantly transformed into a streak of blazing golden light and shot into the distance at a speed beyond his limits!

In the blink of an eye, he had crossed a thousand li and escaped the danger zone!

Only then did he turn his head for a glance.

The pangolin, dozens of zhang tall, still stood rigidly in place, maintaining its ferocious claw-swinging pose like a stone statue. Yet its life aura was dispersing.

A faint breeze came from nowhere and lightly brushed across the giant beast's enormous body.

Under that tiny gust, the pangolin-like beast seemed like dust piled up for hundreds of millions of years, stirred awake by the wind.

Its massive body swayed slightly, then began to collapse and fall apart.

Starting from the tips of its claws, it shattered inch by inch, turning into countless tiny particles that glimmered with faint ghostly light as they drifted between heaven and earth.

It was as if the Taiyi Realm beast that had chased Yellow Dragon until he had nowhere to run had never existed at all.

Yellow Dragon's eyes widened round as he stared fixedly at that empty patch of space and the faint specks of light still lingering in the air.

A chill rose from the cracks of his bones like an icy serpent, crawling up his spine and seizing every one of his thoughts in an instant.

From the freezing of space to the Taiyi Realm beast being reduced to ashes, it had all happened in but a moment.

This was absolutely not something an ordinary Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal could accomplish!

This was to hold the laws of time and space in one's palm and toy with them, erasing a Taiyi Realm being with such ease! The cultivator who had acted possessed a cultivation so terrifyingly profound that he must surely stand at the very pinnacle of the primordial world!

Yellow Dragon suppressed the shock in his heart, assumed the most respectful posture he could, and gave a deep bow in the direction from which the bells had come, his voice trembling faintly.

"This junior, Yellow Dragon, thanks Senior for saving my life!!"

"Moo—"

A deep, peaceful bellow answered him, sounding like thunder from beyond the Ninth Heaven.

It was a sturdy Azure Ox, its hide like the finest green jade—smooth and lustrous. Its four hooves stepped through the void, each landing sending small ripples spreading outward, like a dragonfly touching the water.

On the Azure Ox's back sat an old man dressed in a Daoist robe embroidered with Supreme Ultimate patterns. His sleeves were broad, and at first glance, the yin and yang upon his robe seemed to flow and circulate, giving off faint traces of Dao charm. Yet when Yellow Dragon focused his gaze upon them, he could discern nothing extraordinary.

The old man had a thin face, with hair and beard white as snow. His expression was calm, while his eyes were gentle yet profound, like two ancient wells reflecting all things without a single ripple.

He sat cross-legged atop the Azure Ox's back. Though it seemed to be moving at an unhurried pace, the Azure Ox leisurely took only a few steps to cross the tens of thousands of miles and arrive before Yellow Dragon.

A memory from the depths of his bloodline suddenly cleaved through his chaotic thoughts.

Riding an Azure Ox, treading the void, with the Supreme Ultimate Diagram at his back... this was the Grand Pure One Laozi, born from Pangu's Primordial Spirit, foremost of the Three Pure Ones since the creation of the world—the future saint of the Humanity Sect!

The tremendous shock made Yellow Dragon's body tremble.

He hurriedly lowered his head even further, his voice brimming with reverence and excitement. "Yellow Dragon pays respects to the Grand Pure Dao Venerable!"

"Oh?"

The Grand Pure One atop the Azure Ox cast his gentle gaze upon Yellow Dragon, a nearly imperceptible trace of surprise within it.

The Supreme Ultimate Diagram behind him seemed to sense something. It gave a barely noticeable tremor as it turned, and the yin-yang pattern upon it seemed to begin flowing.

"So that's how it is..."

The Grand Pure Dao Venerable's voice broke the silence.

"A dragon transformed from a sentient earth vein." He nodded slightly, his tone calm, yet as though he had seen through Yellow Dragon's bloodline. "A Dragon Clan body that has not been tainted by even a trace of the evil karma of heaven and earth—rare. And it is protected by the merit of the Heavenly Dao..."

His gaze seemed to pierce through Yellow Dragon's Primordial Spirit and fall upon that dense radiance of merit, gaining a hint of scrutiny. "Hm? Part of the Heavenly Dao merit gained when Junior Sister Nuwa created the Human Race and became a saint... has also merged into your body?"

The Grand Pure Dao Venerable's gaze returned to Yellow Dragon's head, tense with reverence. A faint yet genuine smile of approval appeared on his face. "You little fellow, your luck is quite good, and your opportunities are plentiful. You are an innate spirit blessed with deep fortune and virtue."

"Thank you for your excessive praise, Dao Venerable." Yellow Dragon hurriedly replied. To receive praise from this figure was already an immense honor.

"I am going to take a look at the Human Race created by Junior Sister Nuwa. Since Junior Sister Nuwa has entrusted the Human Race to your protection, take me to visit them!"

The Grand Pure One's words rang through Yellow Dragon's mind like a great bell!

The Human Race? The Grand Pure Dao Venerable was going to the Human Race?!

Yellow Dragon's gaze sharpened!

A blazing thought exploded in his mind: the Grand Pure One was going to become a saint! The key to the Grand Pure One's sainthood lay with the Human Race!