In terms of sheer strength, which of the dragon, phoenix, qilin, witch, and demon races was not powerful? When would it ever be the Asura race's turn?
The descent of merit twice shook the entire prehistoric world, yet it still did not change the situation within the Netherworld Blood Sea. It was still two Quasi-Saints facing two Saints. No matter how one looked at it, it was certain death.
Zhunti swept his gaze over the Netherworld Blood Sea below. After becoming a Saint, all heavenly secrets became clear to him, and he understood the two within the sea completely. The Blood Sea's origin was of great use to the prehistoric world and could not be destroyed.
Without erasing the Blood Sea, they could not kill Minghe. At most, they could teach him a lesson. That being the case, it was somewhat not worth the trouble.
Zhunti's eyes shifted as a plan formed in his mind. After exchanging thoughts with Jieyin, Zhunti looked toward Minghe. In an instant, vast Saintly Might swept forth. The Saintly Might spread like the collapse of heaven and earth, and the roaring Blood Sea was instantly suppressed. Its surface became as smooth as a mirror, without the slightest ripple.
"Minghe, you plotted to kill my senior brother and me. By rights, we should erase you here and now. But in consideration of the days when we listened to the Dao together, I will spare your life!"
"Today, you owe Western Teaching a great karma. In the future, my disciples will naturally come to collect it!"
Having said this, Zhunti turned to Kunpeng. "Kunpeng, back then, you gave up your seat for my senior brother and me in the Purple Cloud Palace. My senior brother and I owe you a great karmic debt."
"Today, you sought to scheme against us. Let the karma of the past be settled, then."
As his words fell, Jieyin and Zhunti vanished in an instant, and the overwhelming Saintly Might permeating the Blood Sea dissipated as well.
Everything returned to calm, leaving only the two of them standing there in a daze. They had tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it. Not only had they failed to obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi, they had also incurred karma.
How could a Saint's karma be so easily repaid? Ancestor Minghe's expression was incomparably gloomy. Still, at least he had managed to keep his life.
However, if Saints did not act, did that mean they could not erase the Blood Sea?
Ancestor Minghe narrowed his eyes as an idea emerged in his heart. If that was the case, then he could truly rest easy.
Unfortunately, that guess could only remain a guess forever. If he guessed wrong and rashly angered a Saint, then he would truly die, body and soul destroyed.
Minghe let out a long sigh and transformed into a streak of blood-red light that sank into the Blood Sea.
"Minghe, you caused me to owe a Saint karma. How are we settling this?"
Kunpeng stared at the boundless Blood Sea below and spoke through gritted teeth.
The more Kunpeng thought about it, the angrier he became. If Minghe had not egged him on, he would still be staying comfortably in the Heavenly Court. Zhunti and Jieyin had become Saints, and two Saints owed him karma. With the karma of giving up his seat, how could that not have been more comfortable than following Minghe?
Now this was great. He had made a trip to the Blood Sea, and the Saintly karma was gone!
He had given up his seat, given up a Saint's position, and in the end received nothing. The Saints' way of settling karma had actually been to refrain from killing him. Kunpeng truly wanted to weep but had no tears.
This caused Kunpeng's mood, which had just risen from recovering his life, to plummet sharply.
"Get lost!"
"If you dare keep making noise, do not blame this ancestor's sword for showing no mercy!"
Towering waves surged across the Blood Sea, and a frigid killing intent swept out through its waters, making Kunpeng's heart tremble.
Kunpeng's expression changed slightly. With a flash, he left the Netherworld Blood Sea. In the prehistoric world, Kunpeng looked down at the Blood Sea below, his eyes filled with hatred.
"Minghe, you have gone too far in bullying others!"
"Do not let yourself fall into this Demon Master's hands in the future, or I will make you pay!"
After leaving behind that threat, Kunpeng immediately turned and returned to the Heavenly Court.
Ancestor Minghe had the Blood Sea supporting him; his strength was beyond that of an ordinary peak Quasi-Saint. It was more reliable to remain beside the Demon Emperor. No matter how bold Minghe was, he would not dare cause trouble in the Heavenly Court!
Central Phoenix Mountain!
Jiang Haofeng calmly gazed toward the west. The Western Two Sages had also taken their places. From this point onward, the Six Saints of the Heavenly Dao had fully assembled, and the prehistoric world had entered the era of Saints.
From now on, the strongest beings in the prehistoric world would forever be the indestructible Saints, and the entire prehistoric world would become a chessboard for the Saints' struggles.
From now until the Witch-Demon War, when the Saints consumed the Saint-Slaying Pill, this period of more than one calamity cycle would belong to the Saints!
Jiang Haofeng silently withdrew his gaze. For the time being, all of this had little to do with humanity.
What came next in the prehistoric world would be the era when the various innate Saints accepted disciples. Nothing major would happen in the short term. This period was one of the few opportunities humanity had to strengthen itself, and it could not be wasted.
Once the Saints finished accepting disciples, the great calamity of the witches and demons would soon arrive, and humanity's troubles would follow...
Humanity as a whole began cultivating once more, especially the Innate Humans and members of the Human Hidden Lineage, who cultivated with exceptional diligence.
While humanity cultivated, the entire prehistoric world was stirred. Countless living beings crossed mountains and rivers, heading toward Mount Sumeru and Kunlun Mountain, enduring countless hardships in hopes of entering beneath a Saint's tutelage. For a time, Kunlun Mountain and Mount Sumeru became the focus of the entire prehistoric world.
As time passed, more and more innate beings entered the Saints' sects and listened to the Saints expound the Great Dao. The members of Jie Teaching, the Chan Teaching, and Western Teaching rapidly increased, and their fortune flourished. Jie Teaching in particular had over a thousand disciples. Kunlun Mountain was filled everywhere with Jie Teaching disciples.
Yet none of this disturbed humanity.
In the blink of an eye, ten thousand epochs quietly passed!
Central Phoenix Mountain!
Jiang Haofeng sat cross-legged in the place where he had previously preached. With a raised finger, a mysterious light flashed, and the golden bell hanging beside the Ancestral Pavilion immediately rang. Its melodious chime echoed throughout Central Phoenix Mountain.
However, the bell only reverberated around Central Phoenix Mountain and did not stir the bells held by Humanity's Grand Elders.
This was another use of the golden bell. If it was not activated with mana and was merely struck with mana, it would not trigger the golden bell's true function. It was equivalent to using the bell before him as nothing more than an ordinary bell rather than a Magic Treasure.
If it was activated with mana, then the golden bell would make no sound, and only Humanity's Grand Elders holding the smaller bells would notice it. That was only used when convening the Human Clan Assembly.
Simply striking it with mana, on the other hand, was Jiang Haofeng's method of summoning the Human Hidden Lineage!
The bell rang through Nuwa City. Upon hearing it, the Innate Humans did not dare delay and hurried toward the inner city.
A short while later, nearly five thousand humans gathered at the place where Jiang Haofeng had once taught martial cultivation: fifteen hundred Innate Humans and three thousand seven hundred and twenty-one Acquired Humans!
Jiang Haofeng looked at the more than three thousand seven hundred Acquired Humans before him, his face filled with emotion.
Back when he had preached, three hundred thousand humans had gathered here. Now, only these three thousand seven hundred remained. The rest had long since turned to dust.
Ten thousand epochs was not a short span even in the prehistoric world. True Immortals and Mystical Immortals could not live that long. They had long been worn away by time and reduced to dust.
And every one of these three thousand seven hundred remaining people was a Golden Immortal!
Despite Jiang Haofeng's full efforts in nurturing them, only this many Golden Immortals had emerged from three hundred thousand humans. Even among the gifted talents carefully selected from every tribe back then, only one percent had broken through to the Golden Immortal realm.
They possessed lifespans equal to heaven and earth, enduring alongside the sun and moon, truly becoming humanity's foundation!
With Golden Immortal cultivation, so long as they did not encounter calamity, they could live until the end of time.
Of course, those who endured through countless tribulations without perishing and remained untouched by Calamity Qi were Saints. When a calamity cycle descended, among the billions of living beings in the prehistoric world, who dared claim they were not within the calamity?
Of these more than three thousand seven hundred people before him, how many would survive until the era of Investiture of the Gods? And how many would survive until the era of Journey to the West?
Jiang Haofeng suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart. Matters of the future could be discussed in the future. He only needed to handle what was before him.
At the very least, under Jiang Haofeng's intervention, humanity was already far better off than before.
For more than three thousand seven hundred Golden Immortals to emerge from the Human Hidden Lineage was also a great joy, exceeding Jiang Haofeng's expectations.
Three hundred thousand members of the Human Hidden Lineage had produced more than three thousand seven hundred Golden Immortals, while among the countless humans of the Visible Lineage, fewer than a thousand Golden Immortals had emerged. Comparing the two lineages, the difference was obvious.
Of course, a large part of this was because these three hundred thousand people had originally been the most talented group among humanity at that time.
That generation of humans had only been separated from the Innate Humans by a few generations. The innate qi inherited in their bodies was dense, and their talent was far greater than that of later Acquired Humans, whose innate qi had thinned.
Another reason was that Jiang Haofeng frequently preached to them. He spared no effort in nurturing this group of humans, giving a sermon almost once every hundred years.
Jiang Haofeng was not a Saint and could not manifest the Great Dao for them to see, but he possessed the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book and could patiently answer every question they encountered along the path of martial cultivation. The results might not have matched a Sage's sermon, but Jiang Haofeng preached often. After every sermon, the Human Hidden Lineage would gain new insights.
Moreover, the atmosphere of cultivation within the Human Hidden Lineage was absolutely unrivaled throughout the prehistoric world!
After every sermon, Jiang Haofeng would point to the stone monument standing atop Central Phoenix Mountain to encourage everyone to cultivate!
"Protect humanity's inheritance, that it may never be severed! Defend humanity's sacred flame, that it may never be extinguished!"
These two lines had continuously driven the cultivators of the Human Hidden Lineage to cultivate diligently. After entering Central Phoenix Mountain, the three hundred thousand members of the Human Hidden Lineage had never left. They had remained in secluded cultivation within Nuwa City until this day, all to gain enough strength to protect humanity!
These two lines had been carved into the bones of everyone in the Human Hidden Lineage. They were the belief behind their lifelong cultivation!
Jiang Haofeng could say with absolute certainty that there were definitely no people in the Visible Lineage who cultivated so diligently!
This was also why so many powerful cultivators had emerged from the Human Hidden Lineage.
More than three thousand Golden Immortals would be an unignorable force even among the witch and demon races.
One Golden Immortal was nothing remarkable, but more than three thousand was not something an ordinary force could produce.
At the very least, Jiang Haofeng was certain that humanity in the original timeline could never have produced more than three thousand Golden Immortals. Humanity now was countless times stronger than it had originally been.
Back when ten thousand immortals came to pay homage to Jie Teaching, there had only been a little over ten thousand Golden Immortals. Jie Teaching had developed for more than one calamity cycle by then before it possessed such imposing strength!
Of course, the Jie Teaching immortals had spent a long period cultivating in the postnatal environment after the Witch-Demon War. By then, cultivation speed had slowed considerably.
Furthermore, the true core of Jie Teaching had never been the ten thousand immortals who came to pay homage, but those Grand Luo Golden Immortals and Quasi-Saints. The rest were basically just there to fill out the ranks and bolster the spectacle. If one wanted to alter the course of battle, top experts were still needed.
Perhaps only by setting up the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation and gathering the strength of ten thousand immortals could it be done!
Of course, while Jie Teaching's Golden Immortals were like this, humanity's Golden Immortals were the same. If they truly entered the battlefield, it would only mean the Ancestor Witches had to throw a few more punches. Jiang Haofeng had come here today precisely to resolve this matter.
"Greetings, Ancestor Haofeng!"
Nearly five thousand humans respectfully bowed to Jiang Haofeng. Whether Innate or Acquired, all of them held respect in their eyes.
Only the twenty-three Humanity's Grand Elders did not bow.
Over the past hundred thousand epochs, Jiang Haofeng had established his position within humanity through his actions.
Leaving aside everything else, within the Human Hidden Lineage, Jiang Haofeng's prestige was absolute.
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