"Leave the affairs of the dragon race entirely to Ao Guang. If you need anything, you may seek him out."
"Alright!"
As his words fell, Candle Dragon's figure dissipated once more, transforming into crimson mystic light that merged into the formation.
At the same time, an invisible force enveloped the two of them, sending Jiang Haofeng and Ao Guang out of the sea eye.
Given the sea eye's peculiar nature, without Candle Dragon's help, two mere Grand Luo Golden Immortals would have had no chance of leaving.
Once the two vanished, only the enormous light screen remained within the sea eye, with a crimson dragon shadow coiling across it.
"The human race has produced two Saints. I had originally intended to send Ao Guang to make contact with them, yet they came to us themselves. Perfect!"
"I wonder what secrets the human race possesses, allowing them to produce two Saints. If we can find them, there may be hope for my dragon race to escape its predicament!"
"Haofeng... interesting. I cannot see his future."
The deep voice echoed through the sea eye, unheard by anyone.
Suddenly, beneath the crimson light screen, streams of black mist rose up. An enormous phantom emerged, and terrifying pressure swept outward as silent thunder shook the void.
"Candle Dragon, release me! I, too, am a living being of the Primordial World!"
"Silence!"
Crimson light flared brilliantly around Candle Dragon. Terrifying power poured down, and endless red radiance swept over the phantom, instantly reducing it to dust. The space below was cleared in an instant.
The sea eye returned to calm once more.
Elsewhere, after Jiang Haofeng and Ao Guang left the sea eye, Jiang Haofeng immediately bid farewell. He politely declined Ao Guang's attempts to keep him, left the East Sea Dragon Palace, and headed toward the human race.
Along the way, Jiang Haofeng sent his consciousness into the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book. Mystic light shimmered across its pages, and an illusory Candle Dragon appeared upon them. The rest was shrouded in mist and nearly impossible to discern; only a pair of eyes shone with incomparable brilliance.
One eye was red, the other blue, each containing endless profundities.
At the same time, a piece of information appeared within Jiang Haofeng's consciousness.
Candle Dragon Eyes could observe the four directions of heaven and earth, the past and the future. Wherever their gaze reached, all beneath heaven lay before them. The left eye could observe a person's past, while the right eye could observe a person's future.
Jiang Haofeng's eyes lit up. It worked!
With the Candle Dragon Eyes, he could remain seated within Central Phoenix Mountain from now on, never leave his door, and yet observe all the affairs of the world and learn every kind of divine ability beneath heaven!
Witch-Demon War, go ahead and fight. The fiercer you fight, the more divine abilities I will gain, and the stronger the human race's foundation will become.
Jiang Haofeng happily made his way toward the human race's territory. The purpose of his journey had been completely fulfilled.
To Jiang Haofeng, the complete Candle Dragon Eyes divine ability was more precious than any other divine ability!
A moment later, Jiang Haofeng leaped out of the East Sea and landed by its shore. Just as he was about to use Star Chasing Moon Catching to return to the human race, violet qi suddenly spread thirty thousand miles across heaven and earth. Endless rosy clouds rose, and all manner of phenomena appeared.
Immediately afterward, vast clear light rose from Kunlun Mountain. The Grand Purity Sage rode a kui ox toward the East Sea, followed by nearly ten thousand disciples amid auspicious clouds, their momentum vast and imposing.
Jiang Haofeng froze. Had the Three Purities split apart?
The Three Purities had originally lived together on Kunlun Mountain. Later, because the doctrines of Jie Teaching and Chan Teaching conflicted, Chan Teaching disciples looked down on Jie Teaching disciples, causing frequent disputes. In the end, the Three Purities separated.
Grand Purity Moral Heavenly Venerable resided in the Eight Views Palace on Shouyang Mountain, Jade Purity Primeval Lord of Heaven resided in the Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain, and Grand Purity Spirit Treasure Heavenly Venerable resided in the Jade Pool Palace on Golden Ao Island.
It had already been more than twenty-three thousand epochs since the Three Purities attained sainthood. After so much time, the conflict between the two teachings was likely impossible to suppress any longer.
Clear light flashed through heaven and earth, and the cloud mass carrying the immortals of Jie Teaching had already arrived at the East Sea shore. For a Saint, distance held no meaning. There was no such thing as travel.
In but an instant, the ten thousand immortals of Jie Teaching had crossed from Kunlun Mountain to the East Sea shore.
Seeing the cloud mass stop before him, Jiang Haofeng immediately bowed respectfully. "Haofeng of the human race greets Senior Uncle-Master Tongtian!"
"Rise."
Sect Leader Tongtian nodded slightly, clearly acknowledging the title of Senior Uncle-Master.
"Your profound art is deep, and the light of merit illuminates the void. Not bad indeed."
"Thank you for your praise, Senior Uncle-Master!"
As the two spoke, the gazes of Sect Leader Tongtian's disciples immediately fell upon Jiang Haofeng. So this was the first Great Luo Immortal of the third generation of the Mystical Sect whom their Master had mentioned.
Daoist Duobao and Golden Spirit Holy Mother, who stood to Sect Leader Tongtian's left and right, also studied Jiang Haofeng curiously.
They knew of the human race's birth. When Sage Nuwa attained the Dao, her fame had shaken the Primordial World. Every innate living being in the Primordial World, aside from those born within the last twenty thousand epochs, knew of the human race's existence.
Haofeng's cultivation had progressed so quickly. When the human race was born, I was already at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm. Yet after twenty thousand epochs, I have only reached Peak Grand Unity, while Haofeng has already broken through to Great Luo.
Daoist Duobao looked at Daoist Haofeng before him and muttered to himself inwardly.
Golden Spirit Holy Mother felt much the same. Both of them were innate living beings with extraordinary foundations. The human race had not even existed when they were born, yet now they had been surpassed by a human. Their feelings were truly complicated.
"Duobao of Jie Teaching greets Senior Brother!"
"Golden Spirit of Jie Teaching greets Senior Brother!"
Once those thoughts passed, the two cupped their hands toward Jiang Haofeng and bowed.
There was no order in learning; the accomplished came first. Though they were all disciples of the Mystical Sect, they were not fellow disciples from the same school, so their forms of address naturally followed cultivation.
Besides, if they truly followed seniority, their Master had not even become a Saint when Nuwa created humans. By the time they joined the Mystical Sect, Haofeng had entered before either of them.
"Greetings, Junior Brother Duobao and Junior Sister Golden Spirit!"
Jiang Haofeng returned the salute as he looked at these two future great powers of the east and west.
Duobao Tathagata would command the Western Spirit Mountain, while Doumu Yuanjun would command the Heavenly Court's Department of Stars, ruling over four hundred and eighty million groups of stars and baleful fiends. Both would become first-rate Great Divine Powers in the future.
Even after Jie Teaching was defeated, these two would remain figures who shook their respective domains in later ages.
Of course, that was in the future. At present, the two were merely Grand Unity Golden Immortals. In the Primordial World, they did not yet rank among the notable figures.
The many Jie Teaching disciples behind them all saluted Jiang Haofeng and addressed him as Senior Brother. Jiang Haofeng returned every greeting, becoming familiar with these earliest disciples of Jie Teaching.
However, the current Jie Teaching did not yet possess the Four Great Direct Disciples, Four Great Outer Disciples, or Seven Attendant Immortals of later generations. Its only direct disciples were Daoist Duobao and Golden Spirit Holy Mother, while it had not a single outer disciple or attendant immortal.
Those would all come later, when they went to Golden Ao Island to become Sect Leader Tongtian's disciples. None had yet entered his sect.
After the greetings concluded, Sect Leader Tongtian waved his hand, and an azure talisman descended into Jiang Haofeng's palm. "Since you call me Senior Uncle-Master, I shall give you a meeting gift. When you have time, you may visit Jie Teaching and listen to me expound the Dao."
Jiang Haofeng was stunned, then immediately overjoyed. He accepted the talisman and bowed respectfully. "Many thanks, Senior Uncle-Master!"
"Mm."
Sect Leader Tongtian nodded in satisfaction. With a casual wave, the ten thousand immortals of Jie Teaching rose into the air once more and disappeared into the depths of the East Sea.
A moment later, a vast voice resounded through the void.
"I am Tongtian. Today, I establish my Dao field, Jade Pool Palace, upon Golden Ao Island. Any living being of the Primordial World with the heart to seek the Dao may come to Golden Ao Island in pursuit of it!"
Jiang Haofeng watched the scene before him. Tongtian had established Jie Teaching on Golden Ao Island, and everything was progressing smoothly. Next would come the allegiance of the ten thousand immortals of Jie Teaching, followed by the beginning of the Witch-Demon War.
Jiang Haofeng then turned and headed toward the human race. The time was drawing ever closer. He had to do everything possible to protect the human race from slaughter.
Jiang Haofeng returned silently to Central Phoenix Mountain. After speaking with Zhisheng, she left Central Phoenix Mountain to patrol the human race's territory, while Jiang Haofeng entered seclusion.
In less than a hundred years, he had comprehended the Candle Dragon Eyes to major completion. From then on, a single glance allowed him to observe the entire Primordial World.
This observation immediately revealed many developments to Jiang Haofeng. Friction between the witch and demon races had become increasingly frequent throughout the Primordial World, though it remained generally under control. Rarely did experts at the Great Luo Golden Immortal level fight.
The Primordial World did not count the years, and time drifted onward.
The great war had not erupted immediately as Jiang Haofeng expected. As the friction between the two races worsened, the Ancestral Witches and Demon Emperors began restraining their subordinates, and the clashes between both sides gradually diminished.
The Primordial World remained peaceful for one hundred thousand epochs. During that time, Jiang Haofeng's strength rose to the late Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, advancing through two successive stages. One more step, and the Nine Revolutions Profound Art he had learned from Xing Tian would reach its limit.
Over those one hundred thousand years, he had not seen any Great Divine Powers above the Quasi-Saint realm clash.
During that time, Suiren, Da Chao, and Zhisheng successively raised their cultivation. In terms of realm alone, they had all reached the late Great Luo Golden Immortal stage, the same as Jiang Haofeng. More accurately, Jiang Haofeng had caught up to the three of them.
Among the remaining Innate Humans, four broke through into the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm: Zhuxiang, Haoying, and Yunyang of the Hidden Lineage, along with Lieshan of the Visible Lineage.
At this point, the human race possessed eight Great Luo Golden Immortals. Though they could not compare to the witch and demon races, nor to great Primordial World clans such as the dragon race, they were still considered one of the strongest races in the Primordial World.
One day, Jiang Haofeng was cultivating atop Central Phoenix Mountain when a vast voice suddenly rang out across heaven and earth.
"I am Di Jun. Today, I shall marry Goddess Xi He and accomplish the Heavenly Marriage, completing the great Dao of marital bonds throughout the Primordial World!"
As his words fell, vast divine might swept across heaven and earth. An enormous pillar of merit light descended from the sky and landed within the Heavenly Court. Rosy clouds filled the heavens, endless auspicious clouds rose, and all living beings of the Primordial World looked on in awe.
Central Phoenix Mountain!
Jiang Haofeng's eyes widened instantly, his expression turning grave. The Heavenly Marriage had been completed. The tribulation was about to begin!
The ten sons of Di Jun and Xi He would undoubtedly be the fuse of the Witch-Demon War. Hou Yi Shoots the Suns would formally push the witch and demon races into opposition, and the war between the two races would completely erupt from that moment onward!
Jiang Haofeng let out a long breath, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes. The Witch-Demon War was finally about to begin.
According to his memories, the Witch-Demon War seemed to have occurred in two stages. After the first stage ended, the two races would prepare for their final decisive battle. That period would also mark the beginning of the human race's calamity!
Over the past one hundred thousand epochs, Jiang Haofeng had considered many reasons why the witch and demon races would raise their butcher's knives against the human race, but none could explain it.
In the end, he could only conclude that it was a conspiracy.
Thus, Jiang Haofeng could not make any effective preparations. He could only improve the human race's strength as much as possible, allowing them to better withstand the coming danger.
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