Chapter 938

That is an As Saint.

When the Three Sovereigns first emerged, their human-path As Saint status was once fiercely contested by countless beings.

An As Saint is also half a Sage.

Though lacking the prestige of a Sage, they wield power superior to that of a Semi-Sage.

Such beings, Ancestor Hongjun pulled out five at once.

One can only say, the Dao Ancestor deserves to be called the Dao Ancestor.

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Wo Palace.

"The Sacred Beasts Bai Hu and Zhu Que. Indeed, we were merely the Dao Ancestor's visible pawns. In secret, the Dao Ancestor must have planted countless others—beyond the Five Sacred Beasts, there are likely other As Saints."

Seeing the Sacred Beasts Bai Hu and Zhu Que, Pingxin Niangniang could not help but sigh.

She too felt Ancestor Hongjun must have hidden many backup plans.

Sages are merely the surface tools Ancestor Hongjun uses to control the Three Realms.

In secret, Ancestor Hongjun surely possesses other means to govern the entire Three Realms.

After all, Sages are not as obedient as imagined.

If Ancestor Hongjun relied solely on Sages, his control over the Three Realms would be pathetically weak.

The Heavenly Dao that defeated countless Chaotic Divine Demons and ultimately seized the Primordial World—how could Ancestor Hongjun possibly be so simple?

Compared to Sages, beings like the Sacred Beasts Bai Hu and Zhu Que are certainly far easier to control.

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Yu Xu Palace.

"The Five Sacred Beasts—Master Yuanshi truly concealed many backup plans. But how many such backups are there? With these in place, reversing the Heavenly Dao's grand tide is certainly no easy feat."

Watching the Sacred Beasts Bai Hu and Zhu Que appear in the Western Continent of Niu He, Master Yuanshi voiced his thoughts for the first time.

As a Sage, how could Master Yuanshi not see what the Heavenly Dao's grand tide truly was?

Yet Master Yuanshi cultivates the path of compliance with Heaven.

Compliance with Heaven means ensuring the Heavenly Dao's grand tide unfolds according to its natural course.

In other words, if Master Yuanshi were placed in Ancestor Hongjun's position, he would choose the same course of action.

Though their goals differ, in method, Master Yuanshi is closest to Ancestor Hongjun.

Of course, Ancestor Hongjun's backup plans still gave Master Yuanshi a small shock.

He too guessed that Ancestor Hongjun must possess many more such beings.

Though As Saints are inferior to Sages.

Yet the sudden appearance of several—or even dozens—of As Saints remains startling.

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Jin Ao Island.

"The Five Sacred Beasts—Master's backup plans are indeed formidable. But mere As Saints—can they even block my sword? Since Master's backups have been forced out, I too shall soon act. How eagerly I await it!"

Sharp sword qi, mixed with battle intent, surged from Saint Tongtian's body.

Compared to plotting schemes and hidden strategies, Saint Tongtian preferred direct, open battle.

In Saint Tongtian's view, with sufficient strength, no scheme or trick could withstand a single slash of his sword.

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Ba Jing Palace.

"The Five Sacred Beasts, the Demon Ancestor Luo Hou, Luo Fu—this wildcard is truly formidable. He has truly forced Ancestor Hongjun's hand. With the Five Sacred Beasts, the Twelve Yuan Chen must also exist."

Gazing at the approaching Sacred Beasts Bai Hu and Zhu Que in the Western Continent of Niu He, Saint Taishang's eyes shimmered with black and white hues, as if truly probing the depths of these two Sacred Beasts. For the first time, his usually serene face showed a serious emotional shift.

"Having controlled the Primordial World for so long, Ancestor Hongjun has indeed cultivated many backups. If we are not obedient enough, we may soon be purged."

The yin-yang energies in his eyes faded, and Saint Taishang slowly withdrew his gaze, ceasing further scrutiny.

That single glance had shown him all he needed to see.

As suspected, tracing the threads of cause and effect, Saint Taishang detected over a dozen beings similar to the Sacred Beasts Bai Hu and Zhu Que, hidden across the Primordial World.

These backups were clearly accumulated by Ancestor Hongjun over countless aeons.

A Sage position cannot be easily condensed; each one requires permanently severing a sliver of Heavenly Dao's primordial essence.

Heavenly Dao's primordial essence is not Heavenly Dao's power.

Heavenly Dao's power, so long as the Heavenly Dao is not severely damaged, can be endlessly generated. But primordial essence is different—each world's Heavenly Dao possesses only a finite amount.

Only when the Heavenly Dao grows can new primordial essence emerge.

The Heavenly Dao is closely tied to the world, growing only as the world grows.

Even swallowing and suppressing the Human Dao and Earth Dao cannot increase Heavenly Dao's primordial essence.

For the Human Dao and Earth Dao are both parts of the world; the Heavenly Dao can only swallow and suppress their authority, not their primordial essence.

The primordial essence of the Human Dao and Earth Dao is also one of the world's pillars.

If the Heavenly Dao were to swallow them, the Three Dao—Heaven, Earth, and Human—would become unbalanced at their source.

For a world, this is not a good thing.

Dao transforms all things; all things are one.

Time, space, yin and yang, the Five Phases, sun and moon, stars, all things—everything is born from the Great Dao.

Though all things appear complex and varied, their essence is fundamentally similar.

Thus, though all things seem to follow their own laws, at the level of the world and the Great Dao, they are a unified, balanced harmony.

Balance among all things is the Great Dao's iron law.

Even if Ancestor Hongjun fully controls the Dao of Heaven and becomes the Lord of the World, he cannot alter the Iron Laws of the Dao, unless he wishes to destroy the entire Honghuang.

The Three Dao—Heaven, Earth, and Humanity—are among the world's vital pillars; if they become unbalanced, it is highly likely to lead to the world's destruction.