Chapter 678

Returning to Penglai Island, Ye Qin showed no hesitation. He chanted the Primordial Chaos Secret Words, his primordial spirit formed a mysterious Dao seal, and the Fortune Jade Disc and fragments floating before him gradually joined, the cracks slowly disappearing until flawless.

But Ye Qin did not stop; he took out the Pangu Axe, continued chanting the Primordial Chaos Secret Words, and simultaneously his primordial spirit formed Dao seals. Instantly, an extremely terrifying aura surged from the Fortune Jade Disc.

Ye Qin did not panic; instead, he guided that aura from the Fortune Jade Disc to the Pangu Axe. This scene was witnessed by Yang Mei Laozi and Patriarch Hongjun; both looked at Ye Qin, especially Hongjun, who nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

That aura was all too familiar to him—it was Pangu's aura! The Fortune Jade Disc actually contained Pangu's aura!

Recalling the previous time Ye Qin summoned the Great God Pangu, he knew this aura should be the killing move stored by Pangu within this primordial chaos supreme treasure, possessing a single attack from Pangu's prime.

Watching this aura being drawn by Ye Qin into the Pangu Axe, Hongjun's face darkened.

He knew he had been deceived by Ye Qin! This shameless swindler! Ye Qin clearly wanted to repair the Fortune Jade Disc, yet he insisted on demanding compensation from him!

"Hongjun Daoist friend, what's wrong with you? Did your old injury flare up?" Yang Mei Laozi asked from the side, smiling on his face but with light flashing in his eyes.

Hongjun had no time to pay attention to Yang Mei Laozi; he stared fixedly at Ye Qin, gnashing his teeth. He had been schemed against by Ye Qin again!

At this moment Ye Qin had already put away the Pangu Axe; he looked at Hongjun and said, "Patriarch Hongjun, the Fortune Jade Disc has been repaired. According to our agreement, I will return it to you in ten years. Moreover, thank you for your insights; I will study them well."

Hongjun could no longer hold back; he spat out a mouthful of old blood, pointing at Ye Qin, unable to utter a word.

Ye Qin, however, ignored Hongjun; he nodded toward Yang Mei Laozi above Kunlun Mountain, then descended back to Penglai Island. He began secluded cultivation, obtaining from Hongjun the ten-year usage rights to the Fortune Jade Disc, naturally to comprehend the Fortune Dao Principle. Ten years was enough.

Five years later, Ye Qin emerged from seclusion, experimented with his newly grasped Fortune Dao Principle, then resumed seclusion.

Ten years later, he did not emerge, but the usage period of the Fortune Jade Disc had expired. He returned the Fortune Jade Disc to Hongjun's hands, then took out the jade slip Hongjun had given him.

The jade slip contained Hongjun's insights on the Dao Realm after uniting with the Dao; he diligently absorbed the useful experiences within.

Of course, he also wasn't afraid that Hongjun had mixed in falsehoods, after all their cultivation levels were similar; any problem would be obvious at a glance.

A hundred years passed in a flash; Ye Qin left seclusion and headed to Chaos Space. Having gained a deeper understanding of world evolution, he decided to first raise his cultivation level to the mid-stage Grand Luo Golden Immortal Realm!

Instantly, the entire Chaos Space became violent due to Ye Qin's cultivation. The endless chaos qi was refined by him, filling his dantian. Gradually, he felt a sense of bloating, drawing ever closer to the mid-stage Grand Luo Golden Immortal Realm.

Boom!

Finally, his dantian expanded a hundredfold once more! He successfully reached the mid-stage Grand Luo Golden Immortal Realm!

Boom rumble!!!

The Chaos Heavenly Tribulation arrived as promised; Ye Qin was in its midst, and the entire Chaos Space fell into chaos.

At this moment, in the Chaos Space, anyone without cultivation of Grand Luo Golden Immortal or higher who entered would be torn apart by the violent chaos qi!

This suffices to show how terrifying the Chaos Space is at this time!

Ye Qin stood within the Heavenly Tribulation; though his body ached, he also felt an indescribable comforting itch—a sign that his flesh was gradually strengthening under the tribulation's baptism! Each step was like crossing heaven and earth; his flesh, forged by the tribulation, had risen to the mid-stage Grand Luo Golden Immortal, its power multiplied more than tenfold compared to the earlier stage!

Finally, the thunder gradually subsided, the chaos tribulation clouds slowly dispersed, and the Chaos Space gradually returned to tranquility, but Ye Qin did not leave just yet.

His goal was not merely to stay at the mid-stage Grand Luo Golden Immortal; he longed to evolve worlds and create more heavens and earths!

He sat cross-legged, looked inward, found the ten worlds already opened, and began to evolve them.

Each of the ten worlds gave birth to a "Heavenly Dao"; this is the truth Ye Qin comprehended from Hongjun—the Heavenly Dao is the sovereign of world evolution, like an intelligent robot on a production line, controlling everything.

Of course, his worlds differed utterly from Honghuang. Honghuang is special because of Pangu; its Heavenly Dao is unbound by any constraints. Meanwhile, the Heavenly Dao within him obeys him completely, a faithful "servant".

This step of Ye Qin's is so vast it leaves one astonished.

Even if he does not deliberately pay attention, these ten Heavenly Daos will evolve worlds according to his will on their own. These ten worlds truly possess Heavenly Daos that control rules and self-evolve!

Consciousness returned; Ye Qin lifted his head to the sky, only to see the Heavenly Tribulation above him growing ever more turbulent, giving him a feeling of "dark clouds pressing down, the city about to collapse."

But he knew well that as long as the worlds were not fully evolved and he had not reached the peak of Grand Luo Golden Immortal, this apocalyptic Heavenly Tribulation would not easily descend.

Because the apocalyptic Heavenly Tribulation exists solely to destroy worlds. When the worlds within him are fully evolved and a new world is born, that is the day to face the trial of the apocalyptic Heavenly Tribulation.

If he can withstand this tribulation, he may enter the realm of Grand Luo Supreme Golden Immortal, that is, the Dao Realm; if not, he will be annihilated.

Ye Qin unhesitatingly continued to absorb chaos qi, while simultaneously opening new worlds! One after another, until forty new worlds were born! Adding the previous ten, he now possessed a total of fifty worlds!

Thereafter, he created Heavenly Daos for the newly opened forty worlds. Everything ready, he opened his eyes.

At this moment, Hongjun stood expressionless not far away, gazing at him.

"What is it?" Ye Qin asked.

Hongjun opened his mouth, intending to erupt, but for some reason he held back his words.

"What's wrong?" Ye Qin frowned, wondering what Hongjun meant—could he owe Hongjun something?

Hongjun pointed toward the direction of Zixiao Palace; Ye Qin turned his head and instantly felt remorse. It turned out that the tribulation clouds above his head were so vast they even enveloped Zixiao Palace far away at the ends of the earth!

Hongjun thus suffered an undeserved disaster; originally cultivating in seclusion at Zixiao Palace, he was disturbed by the terrifying tribulation aura and could not find peace. During the years of Ye Qin's seclusion, Hongjun had once fled in panic when the tribulation clouds covered Zixiao Palace, but later, seeing the tribulation appear yet not fall, he gradually put his mind at ease.

Thus, he came near Ye Qin and waited quietly. He had originally intended to scold Ye Qin after his seclusion ended, but as time passed, his anger had been worn away, and he could no longer bring himself to scold.

Upon hearing Ye Qin's apology, Hongjun nodded, accepting it. After a moment's hesitation, he finally spoke:

"I do not know what kind of worlds you have created, nor how you opened them, but I must remind you."

"Do not let the tribulation expand further; otherwise, when your worlds finish evolving or when you reach the Grand Luo Golden Immortal stage, the tribulation will descend, and you may be unable to bear it."

"Your current tribulation, even I, a peak Grand Luo Golden Immortal, feel my scalp go numb; you can imagine how terrifying it is."

Ye Qin rarely heard such earnest advice from Hongjun; he nodded and said, "I understand. However, the stronger the tribulation, the more it shows the Great Dao does not tolerate my cultivation—meaning the path I have forged has already made the Great Dao feel threatened."

"Is this not proof that my path is correct?"

Hongjun stared, then his brows furrowed tightly.

Seeing this, Ye Qin continued: "The stronger the tribulation, the more it proves this path's correctness; otherwise, how could such a vast tribulation loom above my head?"

"In Honghuang we went against heaven; now we go even further against the Great Dao!"

"Since we act against the Great Dao, the greater the tribulation it sends down, the greater our hope of proving the Dao!"

"Likewise, if you cannot threaten the Great Dao, it will not send down tribulation at all, for such a you is not worthy of its punishment."

"The tribulation is punishment; because it poses a threat, it receives punishment—and the greater the threat, the greater the punishment."

Hongjun suddenly understood, he looked at Ye Qin and solemnly bowed, "Today, we have truly found the direction of the Dao, thank you!"

Ye Qin was stunned for a moment, then immediately smiled and said, "Don't be so polite; if you really want to thank me, just give me the Fortune Jade Disc, that would be the most sincere."

Upon hearing that, Hongjun's face instantly darkened, he ignored Ye Qin and turned to leave.

Ah, don't go! I knew you, Hongjun, were a hypocrite. I told you these words that could affect your future, and this is how you repay me?

How petty! As Venerable Ye, my word is bond—this talk is worth far more than your Fortune Jade Disc.

Ye Qin muttered, his voice growing fainter until he fell silent.

He naturally knew Hongjun wouldn't give him the Fortune Jade Disc, so his earlier remark was just a joke. Yet he never expected Hongjun to take it seriously, fearing Ye Qin really wanted his Fortune Jade Disc, and he hurried away.

Right and wrong, yes and no—these have never mattered; strength alone determines the standard of justice.

Cultivators' dispositions are always changeable, especially those who have lived for ages; it's not strange for them to occasionally show kindness to their opponents.

Just like Hongjun and Ye Qin, though they have always been rivals, Hongjun occasionally gives Ye Qin a reminder, which does not hinder their competitive relationship.

Ye Qin's principle is simple: for every bit of kindness shown to him, he returns an equal bit, never giving even a fraction more.

Exactly, that's how fair it is—no extra bit allowed!

The journey to pursue the Great Dao is lonely, solitary, and cold at the heights. On this path, although there are rivals, sometimes those rivals can make Ye Qin feel a hint of companionship.

So, he had once helped Hongjun a bit—of course, merely pointing him in a direction; he could not possibly impart all his insights to Hongjun.

Likewise, Hongjun might not even want it, after all they each follow their own Dao; if Hongjun learned Ye Qin's Dao, he would forever lose the chance to stand against Ye Qin.

Watching the heavenly tribulation above disperse, Ye Qin felt relieved; he first went to find Hou Tu to catch up, then returned to Penglai Island to reconnect with the Three Heavens, Nüwa, and others.

Gazing at the sky, Ye Qin couldn't help but reflect: he didn't know when it started, but the hostility between him, Hongjun the Patriarch, and Yangmei Laozu had faded away.

The Great Dao is distant and lofty; they are all strugglers against fate on this Great Dao.

Former enmity and scheming now seem quite interesting.

When a person reaches a new height, he occasionally looks back at the past—those joys, anger, sorrow, pleasure, schemes, and life-and-death battles seem to have happened just yesterday, clearly within reach yet impossible to return to. It's not that one cannot traverse time and space, but that one's mindset has changed.

However, there is one matter Ye Qin has always doubted.

Did Pangu really die?

Ye Qin felt bewildered, for this Honghuang world seemed like a living being, sometimes making him feel that he actually lived inside the inner world of a sentient entity.

But is that sentient being Pangu? He doesn't know. He merely feels that Pangu could not truly have died, yet Pangu has never appeared.

Hongjun had been observing Ye Qin's departure from the shadows, his brows furrowed.

He was certain Ye Qin had devised a completely new method of opening up the world, but Ye Qin was unwilling to pass it on to him.

This stirred his heart incessantly, especially after Ye Qin's guidance, using the scale of the apocalyptic heavenly tribulation as a reference, he grew even more eager to obtain Ye Qin's method of opening up the world.

This idea lingered in his mind, impossible to dispel.

He hesitated for a few days, then went to Kunlun Mountain to seek Yangmei Laozu.

After more than a day of persuasion, he finally convinced Yangmei Laozu.

The two then went together to Penglai Island.

This matter concerns attaining the Dao; therefore, regardless of shame, they both wanted to learn from Ye Qin how he opened up the world.

Ye Qin saw the two arriving side by side, and his brows immediately furrowed.

"Honored fellow Daoists, what brings you here?"

Ye Qin naturally didn't know the calculations in Hongjun and Yangmei Laozu's minds; or rather, he already knew these two were shameless, but he didn't expect them to be this shameless.

"Venerable Ye, could you lend us your method of opening up the world for a look?"

Ye Qin was startled, then realized. The two had come together to demand his method of opening up the world; how could he not understand their intention?

"You really are... shameless!" Ye Qin even laughed in anger.

"Cough, this concerns attaining the Dao, and Venerable Ye's method might have flaws; if we three study it together, perhaps we can perfect your method. After all, one person's power is limited."

"Oh? Then could you lend me your method for a look?"

"Sure!" Hongjun nodded without hesitation, and Yangmei Laozu nodded after a moment's hesitation.

Ye Qin felt pleased; Hongjun's Dao and method were already known to him inside out, even his recent insights into the Heavenly Dao Realm were crystal clear. Thus, Hongjun's Dao and method were of no use to him anymore.

"What Dao and method can you give me?" Ye Qin asked, looking at Hongjun.

Hongjun fell silent for a moment; he indeed could give Ye Qin nothing. His method of merging his body with the Dao had long been rejected by Pangu, and even if he produced it, no one would want it.

Seeing Hongjun silent, Ye Qin turned to Yangmei Laozu and asked, "And you? Wanting my method, what can you give me?"

Yangmei Laozu furrowed his brows in thought, then said, "I can give you the method of opening up the world within a Chaos Supreme Treasure."

【105】 Ye Qin glanced at Yangmei Laozu with disdain and said, "If I wanted to open up the world using a Chaos Supreme Treasure, that would be trivial." (End of chapter)