Noticing Zhisheng outside, Jiang Haofeng smiled, withdrew the mysterious light around him, rose, and walked out of the house.
"You're back."
"Mm, I returned three years ago and planned to stay for ten years. I happened to catch you coming out of seclusion."
"You broke through to the peak of the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm?" Zhisheng asked as she looked at Jiang Haofeng beside her.
Although she had already sensed that towering aura just now, Zhisheng still wanted to confirm it.
Jiang Haofeng nodded. "Yes. The method I cultivate originated from the Witch Clan. During the Witch-Demon War, I gained some insight and took another step forward."
"Amazing!"
"Your power of laws has now reached perfection. The Great Dao is in sight."
Jiang Haofeng smiled. "It's still too early. Laws are easy to comprehend, but the Great Dao is difficult to attain."
"A Quasi-Saint still bears the word 'saint.' Becoming a Quasi-Saint is far, far too difficult. The Witch and Demon Clans have nearly two thousand Grand Luo Golden Immortals, but how many Quasi-Saints are there? Excluding those Innate Great Gods, how many remain? You could count them on both hands."
"It may look like just one step from the threshold, but taking that step may be several times harder than my cultivation from Golden Immortal to Grand Luo Golden Immortal!"
Zhisheng nodded slightly beside him. Yes, among two thousand Grand Luo Golden Immortals of the Witch and Demon Clans, how many Quasi-Saints were there? Taking this step was far, far too difficult.
"Haofeng, I believe in you!"
"You'll definitely become a Quasi-Saint!"
Zhisheng suddenly raised her head, a smile appearing on her face as she spoke with certainty.
"You're the smartest person in the human race. You'll definitely become a Quasi-Saint."
Jiang Haofeng smiled. "There's also Xuandu. Since a Sage accepted him as a disciple and personally taught him, Xuandu's talent definitely isn't inferior to mine."
On Shouyang Mountain, Xuandu, already at the late Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm, suddenly froze. Huh, why did it feel like someone was talking about him?
Forget it, no matter. Cultivate!
His cultivation had already caught up to Suiren and the others who had used merit. He was already among the strongest generation of the human race. If he worked a little harder, he would become the number one human!
Then, when he fought Haofeng again, he would definitely win back his loss!
On Central Phoenix Mountain, Jiang Haofeng and Zhisheng stood together, gazing out at the sea of clouds before them.
"By the way, how were our clansmen's casualties in the Witch-Demon War ten thousand years ago?"
"Very severe. When the two clans fought, the mountains collapsed and the earth split apart. It was like the end of the world. Some of our tribes were even buried beneath mountains, their entire populations wiped out."
"Some were crushed to death by collapsing mountains, some fell into the earth when it split open, and some were roasted alive by the blazing sun. Ten billion clansmen died in that war. Fortunately, ten billion is nothing to our human race, so our foundation wasn't damaged."
"Now that ten thousand years have passed, we recovered long ago. Our population has even surpassed what it was before that war."
Jiang Haofeng fell silent for a long while before nodding. "As long as our foundation remains intact."
In the Primordial Era World, mortals were simply too weak. The human race had not participated in the war, and its main battlefield had not been within human territory, yet the shockwaves alone had killed ten billion humans.
Moreover, there was no way to change this. Wars in the Primordial Era World would not cease, while the strength of ordinary human clansmen would not increase and might even grow weaker. They could only endure it themselves.
At present, Jiang Haofeng had no solution either. All he could do was ensure, as much as possible, that the human race would not suffer slaughter at the hands of the two clans.
After chatting with Zhisheng for a while, the two returned separately.
Jiang Haofeng stood atop Central Phoenix Mountain, mysterious light flashing in his eyes—one red, one blue. In an instant, the entire Primordial Era World fell into his sight.
Across the great land of the Primordial Era World, slaughter raged without end. At a glance, nearly ten thousand battles had erupted, all between members of the Witch and Demon Clans. The weak included Profound Immortals and True Immortals fighting one another, while the strong even included Grand Luo Golden Immortals clashing, their momentum vast and mighty!
The corpses of both clans could be seen from time to time across the land, while layers of blood-red baleful qi gathered in the void.
There were already ten thousand battles breaking out at this very moment, with even Grand Luo Golden Immortal experts taking part. One could imagine that over the past ten thousand years, the two clans must have fought without cease throughout the Primordial Era World.
After the Witch-Demon War ended, the true conflict between the two clans had only just begun. The great powers at the Quasi-Saint level had not acted, but the demon gods and great witches beneath the Quasi-Saint realm had not remained idle.
That afternoon, when the experts of both clans had ceased fighting, the Witch Clan's great witches acted and began clearing out demon clans across every region, slaughtering demon kings on the Primordial Era continent. For a time, the demon clan retreated again and again.
Later, the demon gods of the Heavenly Court descended to provide aid. Demons and witches arrived from the void, and the war between the two clans officially began.
By now, they had fought fiercely for ten thousand years with no intention of stopping. Instead, the conflict had only intensified, its scale escalating without end. As early as several thousand years ago, demon gods and great witches at the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm had begun to fall one after another.
Now, several of the Witch Clan's twenty-four great witches had broken through to the Quasi-Saint realm, while the Ten Directions Demon Saints commanded from behind the scenes. The two clans slaughtered one another endlessly, and living beings fell at every moment.
The number of beings that had fallen from the two clans had long surpassed one trillion.
The human race's calamity was drawing ever closer. It was time to raise their strength as quickly as possible.
Jiang Haofeng immediately gathered the Human Hidden Lineage and began preaching the Dao once more. At this point, the number of Golden Immortals within the Human Hidden Lineage on Central Phoenix Mountain had reached eight thousand. Excluding the fifteen hundred Innate Humans, there were still sixty-five hundred Golden Immortals, all Acquired Humans.
The Hidden Lineage's strength continued to grow. Since the tribal assembly had established its rules, every major tribe selected talented youths each year to enter the Hidden Lineage and cultivate the martial path. After several years of accumulation, the number of Golden Immortals had steadily increased.
Not only had the number of Golden Immortals increased, but there were also many more Grand Unity Golden Immortals. Of the fourteen hundred seventy-five Innate Humans in the Hidden Lineage, more than half had broken through to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. The rest were only a step away and would not need long before breaking through as well.
They were all Innate Humans with excellent foundations. Once they focused on cultivation, their progress was not slow.
Among the Acquired Humans, more than a dozen had also broken through to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. Though born acquired, their talents did not pale in comparison to those of the Innate Humans.
Jiang Haofeng had already made his plans. The human race's tribal army, the Heavenly Gang Camp, would forever remain at its current number: the fourteen hundred seventy-five Innate Humans.
As for the Earth Fiend Camp, it would consist of sixteen camps, commanded by the sixteen Grand Elders of the Hidden Lineage.
Among the Hidden Lineage's twenty-four Grand Elders, excluding himself, Huaxu, the keeper of Nuwa Temple, the three who cultivated the Grand Pure Immortal Method, and the three chief generals of the Heavenly Gang Camp, there were exactly sixteen remaining.
Sixteen Earth Fiend Camps, each organized with five hundred members, would make eight thousand Golden Immortals!
They were still short by fifteen hundred at present. Once the ranks were full in the future, they would begin eliminating the weak and retaining the strong, gradually raising the Earth Fiend Camp's cultivation and making the human race's protective tribal army increasingly powerful.
Furthermore, once their numbers increased, the Human Hidden Lineage would have more room for selection. Those unwilling to become tribal soldiers could also be assigned elsewhere.
After preaching the Dao once, Jiang Haofeng entered seclusion to cultivate again, impatient to improve his strength as he quietly awaited the coming calamity.
Time slowly passed, and thirty thousand epochs went by. During those thirty thousand epochs, the human race remained as peaceful as before. The Hidden Lineage continued cultivating every moment it could spare, while the various tribes of the Visible Lineage developed independently. The disciples of Humanity Teaching also actively spread the Dao, and the Golden Core Great Dao and Grand Pure Immortal Method had spread throughout the entire human race.
However, although they had become widespread, most humans remained at the Qi Refinement stage. Those who attained the Golden Core realm were few, and those who became immortals were even fewer.
Even so, this was already much better than before. The entire human race flourished in prosperity.
Yet in the Primordial Era World, all races remained silent while the Witch and Demon Clans continued their endless war. A single conflict had lasted thirty thousand epochs without stopping. Battles could now be seen everywhere, and the living beings of the Primordial Era World suffered devastation as blood-soaked baleful qi filled the heavens and earth.
Suddenly, heaven and earth trembled, and an invisible force enveloped the entire Primordial Era World.
The baleful qi filling the sky transformed into Calamity Qi. Invisible blood-red calamity clouds covered all heaven and earth in the Primordial Era World. Every cultivator was jolted awake, their hearts filled with unease, their minds restless and agitated, unable to retain even the slightest calm.
I'll stop at two chapters for now. I'll write the rest after I finish my work, probably around dawn.
Inside the wooden house, Jiang Haofeng was startled awake. However, unlike the other immortals, he did not feel uneasy or restless. He only sensed an awkward, discordant aura pervading heaven and earth.
Jiang Haofeng pushed open the wooden door. Red and blue light flashed in his eyes as he saw baleful qi filling the Primordial Era World, the two clans slaughtering one another without end, and enormous corpses scattered everywhere.
"When Heaven gives rise to killing intent, stars shift and constellations change; when Earth gives rise to killing intent, dragons and snakes rise from the land!"
With memories from a later age, Jiang Haofeng immediately understood what had happened.
The Witch-Demon Calamity had finally arrived!
Jiang Haofeng's heart sank slightly. A calamity was the most terrifying thing in the Primordial Era World. Every calamity brought the deaths of countless living beings; even Quasi-Saints faced the danger of falling.
Jiang Haofeng waved his hand, and a streak of Dharma light flashed. A golden bell instantly rang, invisible ripples sweeping outward. Every human ancestor elder holding a Grand Elder Token immediately headed toward the Human Ancestral Land.
Other than the human ancestor elders holding the tokens, no one else could perceive the sound of the bell.
At the same time, mighty cultivators throughout the Primordial Era World were awakened. They immediately began calculating, but after repeated divinations, they found nothing. The heavenly secrets were utterly chaotic.
For a moment, everyone's expressions changed drastically. In particular, the ancient beings who had survived the previous calamity recalled the scenes of the Dragon-Han Calamity. They immediately sealed their cave abodes, waving their hands to lay down formation after formation and hide their dwellings.
Until the calamity ended, they would not take a single step outside their cave abodes!
Of course, those who had survived the previous calamity were ultimately few. More of the immortals in the Primordial Era World had only begun cultivating during this calamity. Disturbed by the Calamity Qi, they conducted their calculations but found nothing unusual. Gradually, they relaxed, though they remained somewhat wary.
However, as time passed, this matter would eventually be forgotten.
Of course, even more believed they had been secretly plotted against by their enemies and began seeking trouble with them, with no impact on their daily activities.
Within the Human Ancestral Pavilion, streaks of light flashed past. The ancestor elders of the Hidden Lineage arrived first, followed by escape lights descending from the sky from time to time. Three days later, the last human ancestor elder returned. Aside from Xuandu, who was listening to the Grand Pure Sage's teachings, all forty-nine other human ancestor elders had gathered.
As human territory expanded, travel had become troublesome. Even though the human race's fifty ancestor elders were all at least at the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, the Primordial Era World was incomparably vast. Though the territory occupied by the human race was still insignificant within the Primordial Era World, traveling between its regions had become increasingly difficult.
From the edge of the human race's current territory to its center, even with peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal cultivation and Earth-Traversing Golden Light, one of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Great Divine Abilities, it still required three uninterrupted days of flight.
"Haofeng, why have you summoned us?" Suiren asked after everyone had arrived.
"Everyone, did you sense anything unusual three days ago?"
"Yes!"
"At the time, my heart was restless and uneasy. Since my birth, I had never felt such a thing. Even on the way to Central Phoenix Mountain, I was several times more cautious than usual, afraid of being attacked."
"Haofeng, you felt it too?"
Suiren immediately nodded beside him.
Then the surrounding Innate Humans spoke one after another. Clearly, they had all experienced the same thing.
Only three days had passed, so everyone still remembered it clearly. But as time went on, that vigilance would eventually fade. If someone encountered their killing calamity and was affected by the Calamity Qi, what would this momentary unease amount to? It would have long been forgotten somewhere.
Before you continue