The Road Beyond Great Luo Has Been Cut Off

"The road beyond Great Luo has already been cut off?"

Qing Xuan repeated the words, his brow furrowing.

He had never doubted that realms higher than Great Luo existed.

Whether it was Pangu, who had created heaven and earth, or those ancient demon gods born from Chaos, all proved that Great Luo was far from the end of the Great Dao.

Yet knowing that higher peaks lay ahead and knowing how to climb them were clearly two different matters.

For the living beings of the Primordial World, there was not even a path they could learn from.

Qiuniu took a sip of immortal tea and slowly said, "Great Luo condenses a Dao Fruit, reflecting one's own Great Dao across endless Space-Time. Once the Dao Fruit reaches completion, whether one continues accumulating mana or deepens one's comprehension of the Great Dao, it becomes difficult to undergo any true transformation."

"Everyone knows that what lies ahead should not be the end, yet no one can take the next step. Beyond this point, there is no realm to use as reference, nor is there a path left behind by predecessors to follow."

As he spoke, a complex expression appeared on Qiuniu's face.

"Father has remained at the peak of Great Luo for far too long."

"With his foundation and comprehension, if there truly were a road ahead, then no matter how difficult it was, he could not have been trapped for such an interminable span of years. Yet the truth is that no matter how he deduces it, his Great Dao has never been able to take that final step."

Qing Xuan said, "So Ancestor Dragon chose to rely on the Fate Aura of the Dragon Race?"

Qiuniu nodded.

"Since he could not break the limits of the Dao Fruit through his own strength alone, Father intended to borrow the momentum of the entire Dragon Race, connect with the authority of the Four Seas, and use endless waters and the Fate Aura of his people to bear his Great Dao."

"If this path could be opened, Father would not only enter a higher level, but the Dragon Race would also truly become the sole ruler of the Four Seas."

"Later, Yuanfeng and First Qilin also found similar paths."

"The Phoenix Clan gathered the hundred avian races, while the Qilin Tribe ruled over the beasts of the Primordial World. Both sought to gather more of heaven and earth's Fate Aura, using the great momentum of their peoples to complete their own paths."

The three foremost experts of the Primordial World had, in nearly the same era, chosen three paths that appeared different but ultimately led to the same destination.

After pondering for a moment, Qing Xuan quickly discovered the most fatal issue within them.

"If only the Four Seas, the sky, and the earth were needed, the three races could each follow their own path without interfering with one another."

"But from the looks of it, the Fate Aura each of them already possesses is insufficient to support Ancestor Dragon and the others in taking that step."

"Correct."

Qiuniu did not deny it.

"The Dragon Race needs more waters and more living beings attached to the Dragon Race. The Phoenix Clan and Qilin Tribe are the same. If the three races wish to continue growing stronger, their territories and peoples can only keep expanding outward."

"At first, everyone believed the Primordial World was vast. With the three races each occupying one region, no major conflicts would arise in the short term. But the struggle for Fate Aura has never had true boundaries. Birds cross the seas, beasts dwell beside marshes, and many sacred mountains and blessed lands cannot have their ownership decided by a simple division."

"As the three races' forces grew increasingly immense, clashes between them became merely a matter of time."

Qiuniu spoke very calmly, clearly having long seen through everything involved.

Ancestor Dragon, Yuanfeng, and First Qilin were not unaware of the dangers hidden within this path. On the contrary, precisely because they saw them so clearly, they were even less likely to retreat voluntarily.

To them, this was not merely a struggle for supremacy between races, but a battle over the Great Dao.

Yielding a stretch of territory meant losing more than a few sacred mountains and water veins. It also meant losing Fate Aura and the possibility of continuing forward.

If they stopped while their opponents did not, then once another side took that step first, the precarious balance between the three races would be completely overturned.

Qing Yi watched the spirit leaves unfurling in her cup, her voice carrying its distinctive chill. "By borrowing the momentum of all living beings to reconnect their path forward, from that moment onward, the Great Dao they walk no longer belongs to them alone. The stronger their people become, the nearer their path becomes, but the heavier the karma they bear will grow."

"Exactly so."

Qiuniu's brows creased slightly. "That is why we have no other choice."

"Even knowing that what lies ahead may be a great calamity sweeping across the Primordial World, we can only do our utmost to make the Dragon Race the final victor."

Yet Qing Xuan did not immediately agree.

"Ancestor Dragon and the others can see these things clearly. The other experts among the three races are not necessarily fools either. So long as the true Great Luo experts do not personally enter the fray, mere border skirmishes should not be enough to completely lose control."

"That is exactly the problem."

The expression on Qiuniu's face grew more solemn.

"In recent years, the frictions along the borders of the three races have become noticeably more frequent than before. At first, they merely fought over spirit veins and heavenly treasures, but gradually, they turned into slaughter between bloodlines and peoples."

"Father and the Great Luo of our race can remain clear-headed, but there are countless billions of living beings beneath the Dragon Race. Not all can see through the Calamity Aura, and even fewer are willing to swallow their hatred after their kin have fallen. I imagine the Phoenix Clan and Qilin Tribe are not much better than we are."

When members of one side died, the other side sought revenge.

A conflict that had originally been insignificant would swiftly implicate more living beings.

Those at the top could issue orders to restrain them, but they could not completely erase the blood debts that had already formed. Nor could they allow their own forces to retreat again and again while the other two races continued to expand.

As Qing Xuan listened, his gaze gradually deepened.

Calamity Aura could indeed magnify the killing intent in living beings' hearts, but it should not make every conflict spiral so perfectly out of control.

Someone was pushing all this from the shadows.

And that person did not need to influence supreme experts like Ancestor Dragon at all. They only needed to conceal a thread of killing intent within the ever-spreading Calamity Aura, causing the lowest-ranking members of the three races to shed blood first. Hatred would naturally spread upward along bloodlines and Fate Aura.

By the time the Great Luo of the three races truly entered the conflict, everything would be beyond recovery.

A name quietly surfaced in Qing Xuan's mind.

Luohou.

But this was ultimately only his speculation, so Qing Xuan did not say it before Qiuniu.

Without any evidence, a mere guess could not possibly make the Dragon Race, which had already embarked on this path, stop in its tracks.

Over the following several thousand years, after their discussion of the Dao, Qiuniu drained the immortal tea from his cup, rose, and straightened his robes.

"This discussion of the Dao has benefited Qiuniu greatly. It is regrettable that you declined the guest elder position, but since you have already refused twice, I will naturally not continue making myself unwelcome."

As he spoke, the confidence belonging to Ancestor Dragon's eldest son reappeared around him.

"However, though the Dao path is perilous, victory and defeat have yet to be decided. The Dragon Race rules the Four Seas, and Father is one of the most powerful beings in the Primordial World today. When the day comes for the three races to decide their victor, I still believe the Dragon Race will be the final winner."

Qing Xuan looked at this eldest son of the Dragon Race, who had remained clear-headed from beginning to end yet still chose to walk into the great calamity, and softly sighed inwardly.

How could there be any true victor in the Dragon-Han Tribulation?

If one had to find someone who profited from that catastrophe sweeping across the Primordial World, it could only be Hongjun, who would truly establish his own path after the Dao-Devil War ended.

Before the surging tide of the age, what could even a Great Luo amount to?

That was precisely why Qing Xuan would rather refuse the Dragon Race several times than allow himself to become too deeply entangled in the karma of the three races.

Qing Xuan gave a slight nod. "Then let us part here."

Qiuniu nodded, solemnly bowed to the two of them, then departed upon the waves.

As Ancestor Dragon's eldest son, the young cultivator had arrived in a relaxed mood. When he left, his back remained upright, revealing not the slightest hesitation.