Chapter 712

However, due to the heavenly Dao's nirvana, the Honghuang world lacks the power to rely on, so Rahu cannot achieve the status of a heavenly Dao sage; he can only strive to become an innate sage. But to become an innate sage, one must gather the nine great Dao futons, fuse them into an innate holy position, and then break the heavenly Dao's restraint with the nine Dao Hongmeng purple qi.

Unfortunately, Rahu currently possesses only three strands of Hongmeng purple qi; despite his great strength, he has always found it difficult to cross the threshold to becoming a sage.

Even so, in the eyes of Honghuang beings, he remains the unequivocal strongest.

And the second strongest in Honghuang is undoubtedly the Dragon Court's Great Emperor, the Ancestral Dragon.

A hundred years ago, the Ancestral Dragon, relying on supreme divine ability, used the Chaos Dragon Pearl to open up a world in the hundred-thousand-zhang-high sky of the Honghuang Tianlong Shanmai, like a celestial realm in the air, named the Dragon's Domain.

This domain, with its mighty majesty, envelops the eastern lands of Buzhou Mountain and the entire Donghai.

The Ancestral Dragon integrated the Nine Dragon Jade Seal into the earth to stabilize the Dragon Court's earthly fortune; he fused the Dragon-Sealing List into the heavens to suppress the Dragon Court's heavenly fortune; and he himself self-proclaimed the Ninety-Nine Supreme Heavenly Emperor, controlling the Dragon Court's human fortune with his sacred dragon body.

The harmony of heavenly, earthly, and human fortunes converged into a powerful qi fortune, making the Dragon Court's momentum vast in Honghuang.

The Dragon Court, once, due to Ye Qin's influence, had many members fall into demonhood, but this was not the demonic path transmitted by Rahu; rather, they were eroded by heart demons, severing their path to the Dao.

However, after the Ancestral Dragon created the Dragon's Domain with the Chaos Dragon Pearl, relying on his mighty dragon prestige, he dispelled the heart demons of the Dragon Court's beings, allowing them to awaken.

These beings' aspirations, though damaged by long-term heart demon torment, became even more resilient after the baptism of the Ancestral Dragon's dragon prestige.

Thereafter, the Dragon Court's beings sincerely believed in the Ancestral Dragon from the heart, regarding themselves as members of the Dragon Court.

In the Dragon Emperor era, the Dragon Court relied on violent conquest of beings, using the Dragon-Sealing List to control their true spirits; this forced faith made the Dragon Court's qi fortune not pure enough.

Qi fortune is divided into heavenly fortune, earthly fortune, and human fortune; at that time, the Dragon Court only had the heavenly fortune brought by the Dragon-Sealing List and the earthly fortune formed by the Tianlong ancestral qi, but lacked human fortune due to not winning people's hearts, which also led to the Dragon Court enduring many tribulations.

Fate is thus wonderful: individuals or forces that fail to win people's hearts find it hard to smoothly prove the Dao.

As the saying goes, "Those who gain the Dao gain much help; those who lose the Dao gain little help." The people's hearts gathered by many can even shake the heavenly Dao—this is the innate Emperor Dao through the power of the dynastic fortune to gather qi fortune.

Although the Dragon Emperor is a tyrannical avatar of the Ancestral Dragon, he only inherited tyranny, lacking human warmth; to achieve his goals, he stops at nothing, completely disregarding the safety of the Dragon Court's beings.

Even after later developing independent spiritual wisdom, due to not obtaining true dragon essence blood, he remains forever imperfect.

Now, the Dragon Court has gathered the heavenly, earthly, and human fortunes, becoming an unstoppable powerful force, like a vast, surging flood of civilization.

As for the western lands, they are the domain of Buddhism. Elder Hun Kun made a great vow to spread the teachings through the Great Universal Salvation method, attracting countless beings to take refuge in Buddhism and seek the Pure Land.

The Buddhist Dao contains the great Dao of karma; it is easy to deeply enter people's hearts, allowing beings to let go of worldly worries and retreat into the empty gate.

The refuge of many Buddhist disciples greatly increased the vow power of Mount Geluo, enabling the Buddhist Dao to flourish.

Elder Hun Kun, relying on great vow power, reshaped the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, opened up the Western Buddhist Realm, and beneath him sit five Buddhas: respectively, the Central Shakyamuni, the Eastern Medicine Buddha, the Western Amitabha, the Burning Lamp Buddha, and the Maitreya Buddha.

Elder Hun Kun transformed the five Buddhas through a unique Dharma; this is the wonderful method of his three-body Buddha incarnation.

The so-called Three-Body Buddha comes in two systems: horizontal and vertical. Horizontally, it spans spatial dimensions, corresponding to three Buddhas—Shakyamuni Buddha, who governs the central Saha world; Medicine Buddha, who oversees the Eastern Pure Lapis Lazuli world; and Amitabha Buddha, who rules the Western Pure Land. Vertically, it penetrates the river of time, encompassing the past Buddha Burning Lamp, the present Buddha Shakyamuni, and the future Buddha Maitreya.

Among them, the Central Shakyamuni Buddha can be called the foremost of the five Buddhas, and moreover possesses the ability to control time and space.

In Western Buddhism, Yingkou and Zhunti are merely the identities of the eldest and second disciples.

Yingkou took refuge under Amitabha Buddha; Zhunti followed Medicine Buddha. Buddhism, relying on exquisite teachings and cultivation methods, easily transformed the western lands of Honghuang into pure Buddhist lands, everywhere filled with Buddhist qi.

Of course, the vast lands of Honghuang are not entirely controlled by the three major powers. The northern Lingxiao Mountain, spanning ten million li in radius, is a place where no one dares to act recklessly.

This place is not only the holy land where Yangmei Laozi, Kunwu Laozi, and Qiankun Laozi transmit teachings and give instruction, but also the most mysterious place in Honghuang.

Unlike elsewhere's chaos and disorder and the traces of heavenly Dao hard to find, the surroundings of Lingxiao Mountain are permeated with a mysterious and powerful rule-force, making the place's qi abundant and the Dao rhythm flowing.

In the southern part of Honghuang, the Southern Wasteland appears and disappears intermittently; one can often see countless strong beings devoutly praying here, divine light flashing. A divine statue, ten thousand zhang tall, radiating Xuanqin light, stands there, releasing boundless divine power.

The Xuanqin light rises into the air, condensing into clouds of Xuanqin, as if nurturing a shocking secret.

This region has become a pure land in itself; its inner beings never go out, and outer beings find it hard to enter, as if severed from Honghuang.

Further south, the Southern Fire Domain has likewise become a pure land. Since the Phoenix Ancestor established her presence on Phoenix Mountain and realized the Dao, her pure yin will gradually enveloped the entire domain. With the passage of time, this will actually broke free from the Honghuang heavenly Dao's restraints, giving rise to the great Dao qi containing the Carefree Wanderer realm.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the Southern Fire Domain is no longer affected by the Honghuang heavenly Dao; even now, with the heavenly Dao's nirvana, the beings of this domain remain safe and sound.

In the eastern part of Honghuang, a certain mysterious sea area of the Donghai is also not under the Dragon Court's jurisdiction. This sea area hides a great heavenly-earthly formation, within which the heavenly, earthly, and human Dao are self-contained.

Within the sea area are three giant islands; the islands have abundant spiritual aura, as if independent small worlds, with qi circulating endlessly, life never ceasing.

The Heaven-Pillar Buzhou Mountain still stands towering and magnificent, piercing the clouds. Even though Pangu's will has long dissipated, the spirit of standing heaven-high and earth-firm contained in his backbone remains eternal.

Even if Buzhou Mountain sinks ten thousand zhang, that unyielding and unbreakable momentum has never changed, as if constantly conveying belief to the world—no matter how bumpy the road ahead, one must straighten the backbone and become an unyielding strong one.

Suddenly, a tremendous sound broke the tranquility. In the immortal realm atop Buzhou Mountain, two figures wrapped in true solar fire shot out swiftly, followed by a gorgeous woman. Her phoenix eyes widened, her face full of anger, and in her hand blossomed out white fresh flowers, which instantly gathered into a flood of flowers. The great Dao aura flowing between them formed a flower-sea domain, enveloping the two figures ahead.

Behold, countless golden crows appeared out of thin air, rushed into the flower sea, and instantly melted vast expanses of flowers.

However, this flower sea seems to contain endless creative power; after absorbing the true solar fire, it instead condensed into blossoms of gorgeous red flowers, burning with an eerie blood-red flame, faintly emitting the aura of reincarnation.

Donghuang Taiyi sneered: "Daoist Nüwa, why must you be angry? My teacher is honored as the Heavenly Emperor; which point does not match you? Moreover, my teacher possesses the Nine Yang Body; who knows how many women vie to cultivate dual cultivation with him to prove the Dao! Even the Moon God on the Moon God Star has already agreed to become the heavenly consort of the Dragon's Heavenly Court, being favored by my teacher is your blessing!"

Nüwa angrily rebuked: "Lackeys of the Ancestral Dragon, get out! You two, who betray teacher and destroy ancestors, the Moon God Wang Shu and Lu Ya have deep friendship. If it weren't for you scheming to break the Great Yin Star formation, letting the Ancestral Dragon bewitch the Moon God's disciples with his Nine Yang Eye, the Moon God would not have agreed to his terms!"

"This can only be blamed on my teacher's surpassing charm! Moreover, what right does that Moon God have to always act aloof? Every time she sees Teacher Lu Ya, she mocks and ridicules him; we are merely upholding justice for Teacher Lu Ya! If he knew this, he would surely support us! Since you don't know how to appreciate favors, don't blame us for being impolite—take this move, Chaos Bell!"

With a "dong" sound, a strange sound wave surged toward Nüwa.

Emperor Jun rose into the air with graceful posture, stepping on the Hetu Luoshu, displaying mysterious formations, coordinating with Donghuang Taiyi's Chaos Bell to construct a closed space where bell echoes reverberated, trapping Nüwa within.

Rolling true solar fire transformed into millions of golden crows; a majestic imperial will followed, pressing toward Nüwa's heart and mind, as if a lofty emperor looking down on ants, giving a sense of oppression.

At the critical moment, Nüwa's body suddenly rose with a nobler aura, as if a deity descending to the world.

Countless flowers of various forms appeared around her, and a strange great Dao aura surged forth.

At this moment, she seemed like a flower deity, with countless illusory flowers surrounding her, gathering into points of starlight-like faith power.

"Flower God Domain!"

With a light shout, the flower sea surged; flowers of various colors and differing auras swayed gracefully, constructing a flower world that tightly protected Nüwa.

This flower sea became a Dao realm, containing endless creation; though it seems like a dreamland transformed by the Great Dream of Eternal Autumn technique, it is even more mysterious.

Because this Dao realm gathers all the Dao comprehension essence of the Flower Fairy clan; each Flower Fairy is a unique existence in heaven and earth, and the Dao it contains differs from one another.

This makes the Dao realm possess a unique divine ability—it can both deprive others of their Dao comprehension and draw beings into illusion.

Emperor Jun and Donghuang Taiyi's faces changed instantly, as if desperately resisting the hallucinations constantly surging in their hearts, then suddenly they threw back their heads and laughed loudly.

Emperor Jun shouted: "I alone am honored under heaven and on earth!" A king's domineering aura burst from his body. Donghuang Taiyi then roared: "I am Donghuang, the Dao is one and only!" With the Donghuang Bell on his head and demonic aura surging to the heavens, he fully displayed the bearing of a demon clan sovereign. The two's domineering aura was exposed; they pointed at the void, as if before them stood tens of thousands of horses awaiting deployment, and they had already become the masters of heaven and earth. In a daze, the thirty-three layers of heaven appeared in their eyes; a demon clan heavenly court rose from the ground, countless great demons waved flags and cheered, and a great banner bearing the two characters "Recruit Demons" stood tall.

Just as Emperor Jun and Donghuang Taiyi were immersed in their beautiful dreams, their souls swaying, two three-legged golden crow primordial spirits floated out from their heads, about to be assimilated by the Flower God Domain. These golden crow primordial spirits are their Dao foundation, yet unknowingly they were controlled by Nüwa's domain.

At the critical moment, two strands of pure white dragon-shaped vital energy suddenly surged from the Golden Crow's primordial spirit, their scorching aura far exceeding that of true solar fire, and carrying a bewildering, immense power.

As this vital energy emerged, it instantly shattered Nüwa's Dao realm and released a potent Nine Yang Desire Qi that directly assailed her mind and spirit.

Donghuang Taiyi could barely conceal his excitement, his voice breaking: "Haha, so this is it! The demon heavenly court... actually looks like this! Elder brother, do you see? This is the demon race's holy land we've been seeking!"

Emperor Jun's expression was solemn as he said in a deep voice: "Second brother, I have seen it. We have finally found our own Imperial Dao path. But the time is not yet ripe; the demon forces are still weak, and for now, primordial beings still rule heaven and earth. Only, what great Dao has Nüwa cultivated? This realm seems illusory, yet it can aid our mental state, though it also hides danger. Were it not for the master's Nine Yang Qi protecting us, our souls would likely have been devoured long ago."

Donghuang Taiyi wore an envious expression, saying: "Elder brother need not worry. The master's Nine Yang Qi is overwhelmingly dominant; no force can rival it. Look at Chang'e and Xiyue—we merely leaked a trace of Nine Yang aura, and they were bewitched. Nüwa will surely not escape; sooner or later she will become the master's alchemical furnace. The master's Nine Yang Qi is truly..."

Emperor Jun and Donghuang Taiyi turned misfortune into blessing; within Nüwa's Dao realm, they not only fully comprehended the Imperial Dao transmitted by the Ancestral Dragon, but also established a unique cultivation system upon it. They saw the future direction—establish the demon heavenly court, become demon emperors, control heavenly order, and reshape worldly rules with the clan's mighty power.

Meanwhile, Nüwa's face flushed crimson, her eyes full of bashfulness, as several figures involuntarily appeared in her mind. She had long been troubled by inner demons, confused about emotions, unsure whether her beloved was Fuxi, Ye Qin, or that blurry figure from memory.

Under the influence of the Nine Yang Qi, her inner demons were infinitely magnified, her expression constantly shifting—sometimes painful, sometimes sweet—seeming to endure a long spiritual journey, during which she gained many insights.

The flower sea suddenly surged violently, illusory blossoms merging into her body, her aura growing ever more divine. Nüwa silently reflected: "The mind can only be governed by oneself; the seven emotions and six desires are merely scenery on life's path, needing no fear or confusion. Matters of the heart depend on fate, destiny elusive. The Nine Yang Qi—years ago it was you who gave me inner demons, trapping me for millions of years; now it is you who aids me in mastering the mind's power. This karmic cycle is truly hard to fathom."

As her thoughts clarified, Nüwa's Dao heart grew ever steadier, no longer entangled in emotional affairs. She once again deployed the flower sea realm, preparing to trap Emperor Jun and Donghuang Taiyi. Sensing danger, Emperor Jun cried out: "How is this possible! Quickly, flee—display the Golden Crow Transformation into Rainbow!"

The two turned into streaks of light, relying on the Rainbow Transformation Divine Ability transmitted by Ancestor Lushu of the Red Bright Patriarch, vanishing instantly; this divine ability is astonishingly swift, nearly like teleportation.

Nüwa coldly snorted: "Consider yourselves lucky. Alas, Chang'e and the others are still in the Dragon Court—I know not their current state, nor whether Moon God Wang Shu can rescue them. If only Carefree Wanderer were here, he surely would have a way." Having spoken, she entered the cave dwelling, saw the white peony transformed from Qin Chibai still unformed, and sat cross-legged beside it, continuing to comprehend the mysterious Floral God's Great Dao. (End of Chapter)