Ao Changsheng Makes His Move

The Primordial World was a world created by the great god Pangu.

Even though Ao Changsheng had never traveled through Chaos, he could say with certainty that, even in the vastness of Chaos, the Primordial World was absolutely among the very largest of worlds.

Even a World Tree that had grown to its peak could not do much to strengthen a world of this caliber.

Instead, in its early stages, it would draw away a vast amount of the world's origin.

Thus, for a world the size of the Primordial World, having a World Tree sapling take root would do harm and no good.

Sure enough, it was just as Ao Changsheng knew.

Hongjun explained to Ao Changsheng how he had been guided by the Heavenly Dao's instincts to find the World Tree sapling, then used his Law Power to seal it.

"Fellow Daoist Changsheng, this Jianmu does harm and no good to the Primordial World," Hongjun said softly, looking at Ao Changsheng.

"But I imagine it would be of great use to you, Fellow Daoist Changsheng. Might I exchange it for the lives of Dijun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi?"

"Agreed! I won't kill Dijun or Eastern Emperor Taiyi during this great tribulation..." Ao Changsheng agreed without the slightest hesitation.

To Ao Changsheng, this Jianmu was a treasure a thousand, ten thousand times more important than Innate Spirit Roots like the Yellow Center Plum.

Never mind sparing Dijun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi once; what harm was there in sparing them ten or a hundred more times?

In any case, as far as Ao Changsheng was concerned, Dijun was bound to fall sooner or later during this great tribulation.

He would treat someone doomed to die sooner or later as a plaything for now, to pass the boring hours of secluded cultivation and find himself a little amusement.

"Good!" Hongjun naturally understood what Ao Changsheng meant. Smiling, he stepped back and gestured for Ao Changsheng to take the Jianmu himself.

Ao Changsheng looked at the seals still binding the Jianmu in the distance, then glanced at Hongjun, who showed no intention of removing them.

That rotten old man was full of tricks!

Ao Changsheng grumbled inwardly, then with a thought, reached out directly to his true body in the distant East Sea.

Using Ao Changsheng's avatar as a coordinate, a dragon claw clutching a vast world passed through the void, crossing an endlessly vast distance.

That boundless world squeezed out of the void. A mere tip of the iceberg descended here, yet it filled the cavern that stretched across a hundred thousand light-years.

It then drew in the Jianmu that reached into the heavens, along with Ao Changsheng's avatar and Hongjun, before slowly withdrawing into the void.

In the blink of an eye, the two appeared outside Ao Changsheng's cultivation ground, at the spot they had left.

It was Ao Changsheng's true body acting across the distance from within his cultivation ground.

Although his cultivation ground's power required him to be inside it to receive its enhancement, it had never said that the Sage's might he gained could only be used within the cultivation ground.

Ao Changsheng had known this ever since he drove back Great Immortal Yangmei, who had been standing outside the cultivation ground, with a single strike.

With a Sage's might, even if he remained in the East Sea, the entire Primordial World was absolutely within Ao Changsheng's striking range.

It was simply that Ao Changsheng usually cultivated in seclusion and had no need to use it.

Ao Changsheng's avatar was undoubtedly quite satisfied with the display before him. He glanced slightly at Hongjun beside him, a barely perceptible smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Although Ao Changsheng did not fully understand what Hongjun was thinking, he could roughly guess that Hongjun was testing him.

That went for both guiding the Ancestral Witch there and deliberately leaving the seals around the Jianmu in place just now.

Ao Changsheng could understand Hongjun's thinking as well.

After all, once empowered by the cultivation ground, he was equivalent to a Sage. A Sage with no known name or reputation had suddenly appeared in the Primordial World.

Naturally, Hongjun wanted to probe Ao Changsheng's identity and background as thoroughly as possible. He had no intention of attacking or scheming against him; it was only human nature!

And Ao Changsheng would continue cultivating in seclusion in the Primordial World for who knew how many years, so naturally he would not offend a true Heavenly Dao Sage like Hongjun over such a small matter.

Much less a super powerhouse who would one day merge with the Heavenly Dao.

Still... certain warnings were necessary, which was why Ao Changsheng had made his move with such fanfare.

"Impressive methods, Fellow Daoist..."

Hongjun looked at Ao Changsheng's avatar, his gaze somewhat complicated.

Originally, when Ao Changsheng revealed that he belonged to the Dragon Race, Hongjun had not harbored much hostility toward him.

He had only tested him this time because Ao Changsheng's avatar had performed so poorly in its earlier fight with Dijun that Hongjun had grown slightly suspicious.

However...

Hongjun looked at Ao Changsheng with a somewhat complicated gaze. This time, he had indeed uncovered a significant piece of information.

The vast world that had just brought them back and taken the Jianmu was definitely a Great Thousand World!

And it was a Great Thousand World independent of the Primordial World!

Perhaps Ao Changsheng had once underestimated the difficulty of creating a world because, even as a Daluo Golden Immortal, he had been able to carve an independent Small Thousand World out of Chaos.

But that was only because Ao Changsheng's view had been one-sided at the time.

A Small Thousand World created by a Daluo Golden Immortal was nothing more than a malformed product with no potential for growth.

A true world, even if it was only a Small Thousand World,

had to be able to function independently in Chaos and gradually grow stronger by absorbing the power of Chaos before it could be called a world.

The size and energy of such a Small Thousand World would be at least a thousand times greater than those of a Daluo Golden Immortal, and could even exceed them by more than ten thousand times.

A Great Thousand World, meanwhile, was comparable in size and energy to a Sage, a thousand or ten thousand times greater than a Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal.

That alone was manageable. A world was ultimately just a world: vast though it was, its power was difficult to unify, and it was not hard for a Sage or a Hunyuan to destroy it.

But if a Hunyuan who walked the Dao of the World refined that Great Thousand World and unified and integrated its power, the power he could unleash would be terrifying.

"You flatter me, Fellow Daoist Hongjun!" Ao Changsheng said, shaking his head slightly.

"You are a Heavenly Dao Sage, Fellow Daoist Hongjun, and wield the Jade Disc of Creation as a Heavenly Dao sacred artifact. Your divine might far surpasses mine."

As he spoke, Ao Changsheng recalled the dangerous presence Hongjun had unconsciously released when the Great Thousand World had enclosed him just now.

Aside from Pangu's Heaven-Opening Axe, it was absolutely the most dangerous presence he had ever sensed.

After exchanging a few words of mutual boast... modesty with Ao Changsheng, Hongjun took his leave. Given his current status, it was not proper for him to remain in the Primordial World for long.

Watching Hongjun's departing figure, Ao Changsheng's avatar still wore a bright smile, but his gaze was much more profound than before.

"For the sake of Heaven's mandate... that's a fine reason!" Ao Changsheng chuckled inwardly.

This epoch had only just begun. With Hongjun's methods as a Heavenly Dao Sage, never mind the deaths of Dijun and Taiyi, even if the entire upper echelon of the Demon Race were wiped out,

it would be all too easy to raise another group of demons capable of matching the Witch Race over the long years to come.

It would even be more reliable.

But in that case, the Heavenly Court would not emerge in time for him to merge with the Dao after his three lectures at the Purple Firmament Palace.

"Merging with the Heavenly Dao... I wonder just how grand a game of chess you're playing, Fellow Daoist Hongjun!" Ao Changsheng sighed inwardly.

He turned around, and his avatar dissolved into nothing.