The days in seclusion were quite leisurely.
Ever since Houtu attained the Dao and became a Sage, the Primordial World had regained its long-lost peace.
Wary of Houtu's might, the Demon Race temporarily ceased hostilities.
The demons governed heaven.
The witches governed the earth.
The two poles stood divided.
Thus, a relatively peaceful period took shape.
Yet only Mu Chen knew that this was temporary.
After the Great Witch-Demon Catastrophe, the Human Race would become the protagonists of heaven and earth.
The Sages would scheme against one another in the mortal world over the foundations of their doctrines.
By sentiment or reason, they would never let the witches and demons coexist in peace.
One could even say that the Sages were fanning the flames behind the Great Witch-Demon Catastrophe!
So the next time their conflict erupted, it would mark the complete destruction of the witches and demons.
Only this time, Mu Chen could do nothing about it either.
Three hundred years later.
Mu Chen opened his eyes after his seclusion.
Little Seven, Little Eight, and Little Nine hovered beside the pool, wanting to speak but hesitating.
They were now adults, their true forms towering a thousand zhang tall, and were exceedingly powerful.
Coupled with Mu Chen's special training in the sea of lightning, they had tremendous confidence in themselves.
Mu Chen asked mildly.
"Do you want to go out and travel?"
The three fire phoenixes nodded repeatedly.
Mu Chen thought for a moment and did not refuse.
He also taught them the Samadhi True Fire Method and Zhurong's Fire-Controlling Divine Ability.
"Once you leave, you must not join the Demon Race."
"Help the Human Race more when you have time."
"Make your own decisions when something happens. You must not invoke my name."
After giving those three warnings, he let them leave.
Before departing, the three little phoenixes reluctantly circled ten times above Mu Chen's head before leaving the sea of clouds amid phoenix cries.
Dragons, phoenixes, and qilin had long since ceased to be the protagonists of heaven and earth, so they would face no great calamity.
Another hundred years later.
Xiao Shi came to the pool.
Judging by the growth rate of a Long-Armed Ape, he had now awakened his intelligence and reached adulthood.
Mu Chen said nothing.
He simply bestowed the True God Lightning Control Method and Hong Yun upon him.
After giving the same three warnings, he let him leave.
Xiao Shi respectfully knelt and kowtowed three times with resounding thuds.
Then he rode Hong Yun and left the sea of clouds with a single somersault.
The sea of clouds became empty once more.
Fortunately, Mu Chen's state of mind was already as firm as a boulder, and he recovered after a brief period of discomfort.
"Go on, all of you. The road to becoming stronger is forever a lonely one!"
Mu Chen sighed with the air of an old man.
Then he quietly entered seclusion again.
His mind was free of distractions.
And because he had sent off the three phoenixes and the Long-Armed Ape, a trace of insight stirred within Mu Chen's Dao heart, which had been like dead ashes.
Partings in life and separations in death.
Even Sages could not help being moved by them, let alone him.
Thus, Mu Chen continued cultivating.
This time.
He vowed to advance to Daluo Golden Immortal!
Mu Chen entered the most earnest period of seclusion he had ever undertaken.
Tens of thousands of years passed in the blink of an eye.
Blue seas turned into mulberry fields.
After tens of thousands of years of calm winds and tranquil waves, life gradually multiplied in the waters beneath the Cloud Sea Grand Formation.
Fortunately, thanks to Prime Minister Turtle's diligent work and the deterrence of the Demon Suppression Pagoda, no one dared stir up wind and waves here.
Over time, this place even became an excellent refuge or place to cultivate in peace for countless living beings.
Some great witches and demons who no longer wished to provoke disputes came here as well.
On this day.
The air suddenly fell deathly still.
An imposing presence that made hearts tremble spread from the sea of clouds.
Immediately afterward.
The four seas shook with thunderous rumbles, and the boundless ocean surged toward the very center.
Dark clouds pressed down overhead, filled with countless terrifying, thick bolts of lightning that resembled lightning serpents.
The sight was like the end of the world, suffocating all who witnessed it.
Countless creatures in the seas trembled, involuntarily leaving their cave abodes and coming ashore.
Their faces were filled with horror.
"What... what is happening? I've never seen such might before!"
"If I'm not mistaken, a mighty being is breaking through a realm. Could it be a Primordial Unity Mystic Immortal?!"
"Primordial Unity? How could that be! Heavenly flowers rain down, extraordinary phenomena arise one after another, and even heaven and earth are stirred. This might is definitely at the Daluo level!"
"No way! A Daluo Golden Immortal presides over our remote stretch of sea? How did I not know?"
This moment was simply too shocking.
Everyone erupted in discussion, their faces wide-eyed and slack-jawed.
Above the sea of clouds.
Mu Chen stood proudly in midair, his long hair fluttering in the wind to reveal a pair of bright, clear eyes.
A single glance seemed filled with endless might.
The Daluo Golden Immortal Realm!
Mu Chen had finally reached it!