Chapter 157

"You kid, good thing you turned around……"

Seeing Jiao Ming decisively rein in his horse at the cliff's edge, Zhao Si gave up the idea of continuing to oppose the era's tide with his own strength, and couldn't help but let out a sigh.

What I fear is that he will be obstinate and unenlightened, learn from Er Shi Lao Bing to open a slaughterhouse, and walk the path to death……

Fortunately, Jiao Ming has died many times, the pits have almost been stepped through; although he still relatively has more opinions than Jin Bing, he is no longer a hotheaded youth.

As soon as he saw the situation was wrong, he immediately began to reflect on his own problems, and finally came to a conclusion:

This old thing of mine from the primordial era, my thoughts have clearly fallen behind the times……

The era ultimately moves forward; Jiao Ming's 'small state, few people' and 'anarchism' must yield to a true Primordial Wilderness unified regime, otherwise it harms others and himself.

But he can't bring himself to trust others, always fearing that war will kill people; even if it isn't due to the Three Ancestors' deliberate sacrificial actions, Jiao Ming also doesn't want to see excessive casualties in war.

And he himself lacks governance ability; he couldn't possibly take on a ruler's role, and if he forced it, he'd only repeat the mistakes of the Second Generation's reincarnation……

So he, whose mind has turned the corner, chose to find someone he could trust.

Thus, Jiao Ming's appointment of Di Jun to conquer the Primordial Wilderness came about.

After all the twists and turns, the position of Heavenly Emperor actually ended up on Di Jun's head……

Di Jun's rise to power made Zhao Si a little curious:

The primordial world line has been almost scrambled into a mess by Jiao Ming, differing greatly from the original plot, yet why did Di Jun still become the Heavenly Emperor?

Could it be…… that there really is some historical script?

"Probably not……"

After thinking it over, Zhao Si dismissed the so-called "world line convergence" theory, because this game version of the primordial wilderness never had any notion of "predestination".

If everything were truly predestined, then Jin Bing could not have repeatedly reversed the outcome of the demon-human conflict.

In Jin Bing's hands, humanity could be functionally exterminated, the witch-demon catastrophe could be avoided, and both Fengshen and Journey to the West could be wiped out ahead of time; talking to the Golden Heavenly Emperor about "plot convergence" is somewhat of a joke……

Likewise, Jiao Ming once made the most drastic change to the plot, even sending the future Dao Ancestor Hongjun ahead of time!

These examples all prove a basic fact: this version of the primordial wilderness simply has no predestined plot; if you think it does, it's surely because your micro‑control skills and strength aren't up to par……

If you're weak, just practice more.

"Since there's no such thing as heavenly mandate predestination, then it can only be personal ability that predetermines all this."

In the original plot, the reason Di Jun could become Heavenly Emperor, aside from the legitimacy of Hongjun's appointment, was actually because he could fight, had power, and moreover possessed political talent and ability!

In this life, Di Jun's several hard metrics haven't changed at all; under the careful guidance of the three top primordial experts—Jiao Ming, Hongjun, and Ancestor Phoenix—he even achieved the Daoist Golden Immortal of Great Luo earlier than in the original plot, and his siblings Xi He and Tai Yi are also Great Luo.

Moreover, his founding cadre includes the eight hundred second‑generation phoenix seeds directly assigned by Ancestor Phoenix to support him, with the outstanding Zhu Que also at the Great Luo level.

As for legitimacy and orthodoxy, having Jiao Ming, the factual ultimate boss of the primordial wilderness, personally appoint him, Di Jun's legitimacy is instantly maxed out!

More importantly, the average strength in the primordial wilderness now is extremely low, with hardly any Great Luo beings, and the various separatist regimes are tiny and weak—ridiculously feeble……

Under such a top‑tier setup and excellent matching mechanism, if Di Jun still couldn't become Heavenly Emperor, the only thing to say is: if you're weak, practice more!

After working out his own doubts, Zhao Si was no longer surprised by Di Jun's achievements, and turned his gaze to the final unification war launched by the Heavenly Court against the Dragon Clan:

"Without the Ancestor Dragon, the Dragon Clan's Azure Dragon four brothers can barely reach the edge of Great Luo in a short time, while on the Heavenly Court's side, Di Jun's three siblings plus Zhu Que exactly make four Great Luo beings."

"Four versus four, I'm afraid it won't be easy to fight……"

……

【Four versus four, indeed not easy to fight.】

【So, before the war began, Di Jun hurried back to Jade Capital Mountain to respectfully invite his foster father Jiao Ming to lend a hand.】

【If I can't beat them, I'll just call in reinforcements!】

【Di Jun: I have a foster father, you don't—that's my willful reason!】

【Azure Dragon: @#*@*!】

【Upon receiving the foster son's invitation, you had no hesitation and gladly agreed, causing the Heavenly Court camp's strength advantage to surge rapidly!】

【You were already a Great Luo Golden Immortal in your early years, and by now you have truly mastered the peak of Great Luo, genuinely capable of taking on three alone; adding Di Jun's three siblings and Zhu Que—these four standard Great Luo Golden Immortals—although totaling only five Great Luo beings, your actual combat power equals that of seven.】

【As for the Dragon Clan side, only the Azure Dragon four brothers have barely entered the Great Luo standard, and the strength gap between the two sides is extremely obvious……】

【Under normal circumstances, facing such a strength disparity, the Azure Dragon should simply surrender to avoid unnecessary casualties.】

【But the fact is, among the Four Seas Dragon Clan, whether orthodox true dragons or collateral second‑generation dragon seeds, they all clearly declared they would never surrender, even if it meant death, they would fight the Heavenly Court to the bitter end!】

【The Dragon Clan's resistance will is extremely firm; whenever anyone inside shows a tendency to surrender, the Azure Dragon immediately executes them and loudly recounts to the clan how you once slew the innocent Ancestor Dragon, as well as your recent misgovernance of the various Dragon Kings.】

【Tyrannical! Lawless! This is your true face, Jiao Ming!】

【The Azure Dragon threatens the dragons: once you surrender, ordinary dragon folk will become slaves of the Heavenly Court, while higher‑rank dragons will surely be exterminated by association under this demonic Jiao Ming……】

【In short, under its hate‑mongering, the originally somewhat wavering Four Seas Dragon Clan has now completely united, determined to fight the Heavenly Court to the death!】

【All the hatred seeds you once sowed have finally taken root and sprouted in the same soil of hatred, bearing a bitter fruit, which you must now swallow……】

Eastern Wasteland, seashore.

Gazing at this familiar expanse of ten thousand hectares of blue waves, and inhaling the salty sea breeze blowing toward him, Jiao Ming's vision gradually conjures up an old illusion:

Azure Dragon lying dead, blood‑stained scent on the wind……

He bears a weathered look, lets out a soft sigh:

When people grow old, they can't help but recall the past.

Indeed, he has grown old.

Whether in thought or mindset, Jiao Ming is clearly lagging behind the times; after repeated lessons from experience, the once free little bird has long become an obstinate old bird.

This seems like a kind of growth, and also like a kind of ravaging:

Having strived for three lifetimes of reincarnation to achieve world peace, he ultimately discovers that he himself is the biggest stumbling block preventing the world from entering an era of peaceful prosperity!

People of the old era always feel lost and at a loss when the new era arrives.

Oh humanity, the older one grows, the more one cannot help but question one's own life:

Whether his own sudden emergence into the world is, for all the myriad spirits of the primordial wilderness, ultimately a good thing or a bad thing……

Ah Jun.

Jiao Ming seemed to be talking to himself:

Am I old, so useless……

My adoptive father is an indestructible Great Luo peak—how could he be old!

Di Jun, standing quietly behind his adoptive father, felt his heart jolt at his adoptive father's words, and hastily shook his head, saying:

Don't say that!

After a moment's thought, Di Jun's eyes shifted, feeling he should say something to cheer his adoptive father:

Adoptive father, once I unify the Primordial, I will hold the grandest wedding for you and the Clan Chief, so you may enjoy great glory!

You're still an unmarried young man—you ought to be happier!

Jiao Ming couldn't help but glance at this kid, sighing helplessly:

Don't talk nonsense; she never said she'd marry me…… If she hears this, you'll regret it!

Di Jun: ……

Di Jun suddenly felt like laughing:

His adoptive father constantly says he's old, yet in matters of the heart he's so childish?

Given the Clan Chief's usual attitude, how could he not like you?!

If she won't say it, can't you say it?

If you, adoptive father, dare to speak up, the Clan Chief would agree; if you'd said it earlier, who knows, you might already have many clutches of eggs……

Regarding his adoptive father's various divine maneuvers and thoughts, Di Jun really can't follow!

However, it is precisely because of his adoptive father's stifling maneuvers that juniors like himself have room to act.

If my adoptive father could really do anything, what need would there be for me to be a measly Heavenly Emperor!

Di Jun secretly rejoiced:

Although the carefree cultivation life on Jade Capital Mountain is great, the position of Heavenly Emperor is clearly vaster for me……

At this moment, Di Jun wore a solemn azure dragon robe, symbolizing his supreme authority now.

As for why it's an azure dragon robe?

Um… actually, given Di Jun's taste, he prefers to embroider his garments with 'golden crows', 'phoenixes', 'fire birds' and such avian patterns.

But helplessly, since all beings under heaven bear the Ancestral Dragon's bloodline, to better win hearts and unite, Di Jun had to follow the trend, abandoning the 'bird robe' and choosing the 'dragon robe' as a symbol of power.

This too can be counted as a small influence Jiao Ming has wrought on future developments……

Adoptive father, when you slew the Ancestral Dragon back then, you should have outright eradicated the Azure Dragons as well!

Having finished everyday talk, Di Jun began solemnly to discuss the current war:

Slaying the Ancestral Dragon inherently invites the hatred of the orthodox Dragon Clan; since enmity exists either way, better to eradicate it root and branch—then today's war would not have happened……

Di Jun's words left Jiao Ming somewhat silent.

I…… cannot do it.

Jiao Ming shook his head.

He slew the Ancestral Dragon only because the Ancestral Dragon, upon embarking on the path to Dao, would inevitably threaten the safety of all beings in the Primordial; no matter how great the Ancestral Dragon's faults, he could not vent his wrath on the innocent.

This conflicts irreconcilably with his lifelong belief……

Adoptive father, you're always like this…… weak!

Di Jun, stifled by those words for a while, finally couldn't help uttering an offensive remark:

If you could eradicate it root and branch, the Azure Dragons would have no chance to spread hatred; the other second‑generation and ordinary dragon clans are essentially slaves of the Ancestral Dragon, with no fondness for it, so without provocation there's no need to avenge the Ancestral Dragon.

That way, today's great war would be entirely unnecessary; once the Heavenly Court's army arrives, they will immediately kneel and surrender……

Your approach would instead cause even more unnecessary casualties!

Jiao Ming's eyes showed struggle:

He naturally knows this reasoning, for Hongjun once said something similar back then.

Sacrificing a few to save many, though cruel, is actually the optimal solution……

But the reason Jiao Ming has undergone three lifetimes of reincarnation is precisely to avoid such sacrifice, right?

Sacrificing the Azure Dragons to save more of the dragon clan…… isn't that also a kind of sacrifice?

Jiao Ming muttered to himself.

Hearing that, Di Jun's mouth twitched:

Alright, still useless……

Adoptive father……

Di Jun let out a faint sigh:

After this battle ends, don't meddle in worldly affairs anymore—leave everything to me!

My adoptive father is even more merciful than the sage ideal; this is destined to be a mixed blessing.

The benefit is, he truly cares about every person's life and safety—whether innately divine or ordinary mortal—this is an unparalleled moral peak, enabling him to look down on all of Primordial in morality!

The downside is, he often means well but ends up doing harm, turning himself into a big boss……

Perhaps just as my adoptive father himself said:

He has grown old; a person of the old era, in the new age, finds no vessel to carry him.

Let my younger self make all things of the old era drift away with the wind!

……

(End of chapter)