Hongjun's Deal

On the shores of the East Sea.

Hongjun, the future Dao Ancestor, stood on the shore, gazing out at the vast sea in the distance. In his hand was an exquisite jade disc that radiated a rich Dao resonance.

As the Jade Disc of Creation pulsed in his hand, Hongjun's gaze swept repeatedly across the East Sea.

At last, he fixed his eyes on one particular direction.

Is it over there? The Jade Disc of Creation Fragment that suddenly appeared... Hongjun narrowed his eyes and murmured inwardly.

Countless years had passed since he obtained the Jade Disc of Creation. Over those years, Hongjun had traveled nearly every corner of the Primordial World, searching for Jade Disc of Creation Fragments in the hope of making this supreme treasure of the Heavenly Dao whole.

He knew there was something strange about the sudden appearance of the Jade Disc of Creation this time. Perhaps one of his enemies had laid a trap and was lying in ambush, but...

The Jade Disc of Creation concerned his path to attaining the Dao. Even if it was a trap, so what? When had he, Hongjun, ever been afraid?

Neither Hongjun's gaze nor his expression wavered in the slightest. Without hesitation, he stepped onto the waves and headed toward the Jade Disc of Creation.

The East Sea of the Primordial World was vast. Even with Hongjun's cultivation now nearing the point of attaining the Dao, it took him several days to reach its depths.

He arrived outside Ao Changsheng's cultivation grounds.

The instant he saw his destination, the cultivation grounds that stretched for hundreds of millions of li, even Hongjun was shaken.

Then he flew into a rage.

What was he looking at?

A piece cut out of the Primordial World's heaven and earth?

Hongjun nearly lost control and pulled out the Pangu Banner to hurl a bolt of Chaos Sword Qi at it.

As the future spokesman of the Heavenly Dao, how could he stand by while someone carved up the Primordial World right under his nose?

How could he possibly tolerate such a thing?

Even so, Hongjun was not a hot-tempered man.

Even faced with this, he did not lose his reason. Forcing himself not to attack, Hongjun held the Jade Disc of Creation and connected directly to the Heavenly Dao to begin making deductions.

He wanted to know who was scheming against him.

And what method had been used to cut out this piece of the Primordial World's heaven and earth, why it had not drawn heavenly punishment, and what traps had been laid within.

But...

It wandered off and got lost!

What the hell did it mean, wandered off and got lost?!

The instant he saw the answer from the Heavenly Dao, Hongjun nearly failed to keep his face expressionless.

Though a stretch of heaven and earth hundreds of millions of li across was but a drop in the ocean to the Primordial World, too insignificant to matter, what was this about it wandering off and getting lost?

Though the answer was a little strange, Hongjun was now connected to the Heavenly Dao and observing from a higher vantage point, and he noticed something as well.

The hundreds of millions of li of heaven and earth before him did not appear to have been cut out.

It looked more as though someone had used some method to reconstruct it into a small world, using the Primordial World's heaven and earth as its foundation.

"Hiss-"

At the thought, Hongjun sucked in a sharp breath.

Which mighty figure could have used such a method? Hongjun began recalling the renowned mighty figures of the Primordial World.

Ancestor Cangqiong?

No, the one he tricked... was killed by Luohou.

Ancestor Yinyang?

Also killed by Luohou.

Ancestor Qiankun? Ancestor Wuxing?

Both killed by Luohou too.

Ancestral Dragon? Ancestral Phoenix? Ancestral Qilin?

All schemed against and killed by Luohou.

After thinking it over for a long while, Hongjun still could not come up with a living mighty figure of the Primordial World who might have such means.

Indeed, the Primordial World is so vast and conceals so many extraordinary people and strange happenings. Even though this old Daoist is close to attaining the Dao, I still cannot know them all!

In the end, Hongjun gave up thinking about it.

At Ao Changsheng's secluded cultivation grounds.

Having had his cultivation grounds discovered by Yangmei last time, Ao Changsheng had learned his lesson.

He had set up quite a few measures outside his cultivation grounds, so he had already noticed Hongjun the moment he arrived.

Hunyuan Golden Immortal Perfection cultivation, not much weaker than Great Immortal Yangmei. That should be Hongjun!

Ao Changsheng looked at the old man in Daoist robes outside his cultivation grounds and thought to himself.

However, his true body had already entered seclusion and would not emerge before the time was up, so Ao Changsheng sent an incarnation toward Hongjun.

"Fellow Daoist, I am Changsheng. I have been waiting for you for some time!" Ao Changsheng looked at the old man in Daoist robes outside his cultivation grounds and spoke with a smile.

Hongjun was startled when Ao Changsheng suddenly appeared.

With his Hunyuan Golden Immortal Perfection cultivation, he had failed to notice how Ao Changsheng appeared. Didn't that mean the man before him... had already attained the Dao?!

No, it's impossible for anyone to have attained the Dao at this time.

It must be some Divine Ability, one connected to this strange expanse of heaven and earth stretching hundreds of millions of li!

Hongjun immediately thought to himself. As the wielder of the Jade Disc of Creation, a supreme treasure of the Heavenly Dao, he was without question the cultivator closest to the Heavenly Dao.

If anyone in the Primordial World attained the Dao, there was no way he would not know.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist Changsheng. I am Hongjun. May I ask why you have drawn me here?" Hongjun cupped his hands in salute and asked.

It really is Hongjun.

Ao Changsheng thought to himself.

But although he had intended to lure Hongjun here, he could not say so outright.

Ao Changsheng kept his expression unchanged and said with a faint smile, "I did not deliberately draw you here, fellow Daoist Hongjun. I merely wished to find a fellow Daoist to make a deal with."

As he spoke, he opened the cultivation grounds and invited Hongjun inside to discuss it.

"A deal?"

Hongjun was somewhat skeptical. Through the entrance Ao Changsheng had opened, he glanced inside the cultivation grounds.

Sure enough, the expanse of hundreds of millions of li became much clearer when viewed from within.

Although this stretch of heaven and earth still belonged to the Primordial World, Hongjun could tell that it fully qualified as another world.

Moreover, looking at Ao Changsheng's incarnation from this angle, he could clearly see the power of heaven and earth that had merged with the other man's body.

A hint of surprise appeared in Hongjun's eyes.

This is...

The merging of the Dao?

No, not the merging of the Dao?

Rather, it is the merging of the body with heaven and earth.

A Hunyuan Golden Immortal who primarily cultivates the Dao of heaven and earth?

Hongjun made a few guesses. Such a wondrous method surely belonged to a Hunyuan Golden Immortal who primarily cultivated the Dao of heaven and earth or the Dao of the world.

Possibly even a Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal who primarily cultivated those two Daos.

At that thought, Hongjun's gaze grew a shade more grave as he looked at Ao Changsheng.

"This old Daoist will stay out here. Fellow Daoist Changsheng, please just tell me what deal you wish to make!" Hongjun stroked his beard and said with a smile.

Ao Changsheng did not mind that Hongjun was unwilling to enter. Rather, it was only normal that Hongjun would not wish to.

"I imagine you are no stranger to this, fellow Daoist Hongjun." Ao Changsheng took out the fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation.

The instant he saw the Jade Disc of Creation Fragment, Hongjun's eyes trembled slightly, but that was all.

"Do you intend to use this to trade with me, fellow Daoist Changsheng?" Hongjun asked, looking calmly at Ao Changsheng.

The sight left Ao Changsheng clicking his tongue.

Although Hongjun had not entered the cultivation grounds, at this distance Ao Changsheng could still faintly sense the intense desire that had arisen in Hongjun's heart the moment the Jade Disc of Creation appeared.

Yet even so, he could not see the slightest trace of it on the other man's face.

Sure enough, another old schemer!

Though he grumbled inwardly about Hongjun, Ao Changsheng smiled and nodded.

"That's right. Because I was born relatively late, I have cultivated diligently here ever since my birth. I have little to my name, only this Jade Disc of Creation Fragment that I obtained by chance, but it is of no use to me."

"Therefore, I did not conceal its presence. Instead, I intended to exchange it with whichever fellow Daoist came looking for some Innate Spirit Treasures and Innate Spirit Roots to add to my possessions," Ao Changsheng continued.