With the arrival of the age of Saints, every faction began to shift. Tongtian and the other Saints had yet to emerge, but undercurrents were already stirring throughout the Primordial World.
Kunpeng of the North Sea, Minghe of the Blood Sea, and other mighty beings from Laozi's generation all felt a growing urgency and began desperately searching for a way to attain the Dao.
Minghe even imitated Nuwa like an ugly woman copying a beauty's frown, creating the Ashura race. He did gain merit, but it fell several tiers short of the merit Tongtian and the other Saints had earned by founding their sects.
It could not even begin to compare with Nuwa's.
Still, creating the Ashura race had greatly increased Minghe's strength. He had now reached the perfected Quasi-Saint realm.
Only one final step remained before he could attain the Dao.
Unfortunately, listening to Hongjun's teachings had led Minghe astray, causing him to embark on the path of attaining the Dao through the Three Corpses.
Yet this path was destined to be a path to sainthood through merit.
Aside from Heaven-Ordained Saints such as Laozi, no one could follow it to its end.
It required sky-filling merit, as well as Primordial Purple Qi to remedy the flaws in one's own Great Dao. This requirement alone left Minghe and the other mighty beings cultivating the Three Corpses path with no hope of becoming Saints.
If they wished to attain the Dao, their only option was to abandon the Three Corpses path, stay true to their own Dao, and ultimately attain Primordial Unity.
Unfortunately, mighty beings such as Minghe did not know that Hongjun had misled them into a dead end, dooming them to remain beneath those Saints.
Time flew like an arrow, the years darting past like a shuttle through