Chapter 1175

But Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist, never imagined that Luo Fu's trump card came from the Primordial World—and specifically from the very human Dao he had always feared.

Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist, understood perfectly the relationship among the Three Dao: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.

Precisely because he understood this relationship, after seizing control of Heaven's Dao, Hongjun spared no effort in suppressing the Human Dao.

In fact, on this point, Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist, performed exceptionally well.

The Human Dao was almost entirely dismantled by Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist.

The vital fortune of the Human Dao was scattered across countless individuals, making it nearly impossible for anyone to gather enough to form the stature of a Human Dao Sage.

One of the purposes of the Journey to the West calamity was to further suppress humanity, ensuring the single human who might have gathered the Human Dao Sage's stature became his puppet.

Yet Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist, never imagined that Luo Fu had forged a new path, gathering the vital fortunes of the strongest several races beneath humanity, forcibly assembling enough to form Human Dao's vital fortune.

A faint sense of dread rose in Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist's heart.

In countless Yuanhui, this was the first time Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist, had such a premonition.

In truth, Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist's, premonition had already become reality.

After Luo Fu gathered vast amounts of vital fortune, the Human Dao, long suppressed by Heaven's Dao, erupted violently—its still-unformed essence surged furiously against Heaven's Dao's blockade.

As vital fortune accumulated, the Human Dao showed signs of coalescing, and its force striking against Heaven's Dao's blockade grew rapidly stronger.

Heaven, Earth, and Human Dao were beings of equal rank.

Under normal circumstances, Heaven's Dao could never fully blockade the Human Dao.

Especially as Wan Ling's numbers and strength continued to grow, Heaven's Dao stood no chance of blocking the Human Dao.

The strength of the Human Dao was intrinsically tied to Wan Ling; as Wan Ling grew stronger, so too did the Human Dao.

At this moment, the Human Dao possessed the power to resist Heaven's Dao.

Heaven's Dao could suppress the Human Dao, but it could never fully blockade it.

Just like Earth's Dao.

Though Earth's Dao was weaker than Heaven's Dao, Heaven's Dao could at most suppress it, preventing Earth's Dao's power from extending beyond Gai Jiuyou.

Within Gai Jiuyou, Earth's Dao was the absolute sovereign—even Heaven's Dao, upon entering Gai Jiuyou, would be suppressed.

Once Heaven, Earth, and Human Dao coalesced into form, they could never be fully blocked.

At worst, they would merely retreat, like Earth's Dao, to some hidden corner of the Primordial World and carve out their own domain.

Of course, the prerequisite for carving out a domain was the ability to coalesce into form.

The Human Dao had been completely blocked by Heaven's Dao precisely because it had not yet fully coalesced.

The hallmark of Earth's Dao's coalescence was the establishment of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

Only with the Six Paths of Reincarnation did Earth's Dao become complete.

For the Human Dao to coalesce, it required a Human Dao Sage's stature.

The ability to form a Human Dao Sage's stature proved the Human Dao had reached a stage sufficient for full coalescence.

In truth, had Heaven's Dao not interfered, the Human Dao would have coalesced long ago.

Not to mention the emergence of humanity.

Even in ancient times, had Heaven's Dao not suppressed them, the Wu Clan and the Yao Clan could have, through their own strength, gathered enough vital fortune to form a Human Dao Sage.

After all, the Wu Clan and the Yao Clan had nearly monopolized the entire Primordial World's land and sky.

As the central race of Wan Ling, humanity was jointly recognized by both Human Dao and Heaven's Dao; humanity's prosperity was undoubtedly the perfect moment for gathering Human Dao's vital fortune and bringing the Human Dao fully into being.

Unfortunately, humanity, upon its birth, fell victim to Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist's schemes.

First, several Sages, under the guise of civilizing humanity, siphoned off most of humanity's vital fortune.

Then, Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist, used the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to divide humanity's vital fortune equally among eight individuals.

He imprisoned the Three Sovereigns in Huoyun Cave and sealed the Five Emperors.

Thus, they could not gather more of humanity's vital fortune, nor transfer their own vital fortune to others.

Yes, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors could not freely transfer their vital fortune.

If the vital fortune on the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors could be freely transferred to others, as with Zu Long, Daoist Yuan Feng, and Beginning Qilin,

the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors would have long ago transferred their vital fortune to form a Human Dao Sage, allowing the Human Dao to coalesce.

The seal on Huoyun Cave not only forbade the Three Sovereigns from leaving freely, but also severed the connection between their vital fortune and the outside world.

This was also why the Three Sovereigns had not immediately transferred their vital fortune to Luo Fu.

It was not that they did not wish to—it was simply that the timing had not yet come.

Only when the seal outside Huoyun Cave was struck could the Three Sovereigns seize the opportunity to transfer all their vital fortune to Luo Fu.

That moment would be when the Human Dao fully coalesced.

Once the Human Dao fully coalesced, its power would inevitably resonate with all Human Dao vital fortune.

Ordinary people's vital fortune could not draw forth Human Dao's power, but the vital fortune of the Three Sovereigns would inevitably summon Human Dao's power.

The seal on Huoyun Cave, designed to block Human Dao vital fortune, would also block Human Dao's power.

Thus, it would inevitably be struck by Human Dao's power.

Only then, at that moment, could the Three Sovereigns send their vital fortune outward.

One must admit, Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist, had indeed invested tremendous effort to restrict the Human Dao.

The seal on Huoyun Cave alone, capable of severing Human Dao vital fortune, was no ordinary thing.

Unfortunately, Hongjun, the Ancestor Daoist, had met Luo Fu.

If Luo Fu had sought to gather vital fortune directly from humanity, he would have needed to unify all of humanity and gain the near-universal approval of every human.

Only then would the gathered vital fortune be sufficient to form a Human Dao Sage's stature.

Unifying all of humanity would create immense commotion.

Humanity was not confined merely to the Earth Immortal Realm—many layers of the Thirty-Three Heavens also held human populations, even human kingdoms.

To unify the human race, even these nations must be conquered.

Even Luo Fu, to unify the human race, must spend a great deal of time.

To gain the human race's recognition, even more time would be required.

That time would be enough for Ancestor Hongjun to notice Luo Fu's actions.

Then, Ancestor Hongjun would only need to, as before, bestow the title of Emperor Xuanyuan upon someone, and sever Luo Fu's path from the standpoint of righteous principle.

The titles of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors are the cages Ancestor Hongjun set for all human emperors.

This is merely one of the shackles.

Since the Divine Conquest War, two more shackles have been added above the human race's heads.

One shackle is that no one in the human race may again become Emperor Xuanyuan.

The Divine Conquest War erased Emperor Xuanyuan from the human race at its source and in principle.

The second shackle is the restriction on strength and territory.

The restriction on strength is primary.

After the collapse of the Honghuang Continent, spiritual energy across the Three Realms dropped drastically, especially in the Earth Immortal Realm, where the concentration of spiritual energy is less than one percent of what it was on the Honghuang Continent.