Primordial Era: Starting with the repair of Penglai Immortal Island

The riot of billions of true spirits stirred up the blood deep within the sea of ​​blood, blood imbued with the aura of Pangu that had been accumulating for billions of years.

They surged in from all directions, converging into the light curtain where the True Spirit of Houtu resided.

With each drop of blood imbued with the essence of Pangu, the world within the light screen solidifies and expands.

Each time a true spirit falls into it, the world within the light curtain gains a bit more vitality.

Mountains transformed from phantoms into reality, rivers from illusions into real ones, and phantoms appeared within them.

The true spirit of Houtu slowly sank into the world as it evolved.

She sank into the earth, into the very core of this newborn world.

The true spirit merges with every inch of land, connects with every river, and rejoices with every phantom.

She became this world, and this world became her.

The underworld was opened here.

When the last mountain peak solidified and the last river took shape, the entire underworld erupted with a soft and vast ghostly light, occupying half of the sea of ​​blood, but the area of ​​the underworld inside was far more than that.

The eerie light pierced through the sea of ​​blood, illuminating the primordial land. At that moment, all living beings realized the existence of the underworld:

The primordial world is now complete.

Life and death are reincarnated, the true spirit has a place to return to, and the laws of heaven and earth are completed.

In the primordial world, heavenly flowers rained down, and golden lotuses sprang from the earth.

Thunder roared and symphonized in the heavens.

Above the sea of ​​blood, the pervasive blood mist dissipated, and golden clouds stretched for hundreds of millions of miles.

Those were not ordinary clouds, but rather a convergence of heavenly virtues and merits.

Amidst the rolling golden clouds, one could vaguely see myriad rays of light and the surging of Daoist energy—this was the highest reward bestowed upon those who had perfected themselves by the primordial world.

"Boom!!!"

A deep rumble of thunder came from the depths of the golden clouds of merit, a joyful resonance of heaven and earth.

The sea of ​​blood ceased all surging at that moment, and even the newly born Asuras instinctively prostrated themselves on the ground, kneeling devoutly in the direction of the golden clouds.

Huanglong stood on the Pure White Lotus, looking up at the sky.

A familiar scene!

Every time such a scene appears, a sage is added to the primordial world.

Nuwa molded humans from clay, the Great Master taught and enlightened the human race, and my own master and the Tongtian Uncle established a religion and became saints!

There were also two Western saints who made a great vow to heaven and earth and attained the position of saints.

Does this also signify the birth of a saint?

As Huanglong pondered, golden clouds began to descend.

Half of the golden clouds converged into a beam of golden light, like a celestial river pouring down, falling directly into the underworld and landing on the earth where the true spirit of Houtu resided.

That beam of light stretched for thousands of miles, and countless merits flowed within it.

The moment the beam of light touched the earth of the underworld, the entire new world trembled violently, mountains rose higher, rivers widened, and the entire underworld was shrouded in an eternal golden glow.

The true spirit of Houtu emerged from the earth.

She remained in an illusory form, but the moment the golden light enveloped her, the illusion began to solidify.

This newly formed body is no longer the true form of the Ancestral Witch, but some more mysterious existence, a primordial spirit born after the complete fusion of the true spirit and the origin of reincarnation in the underworld.

Her appearance remained that of Houtu, the ancestral witch, but there was now a touch of compassion in her brows, looking down upon all living beings, and deep in her eyes, she saw the struggles of all living beings seeking survival.

All the merit within the pillar of light was absorbed into her primordial spirit.

"Buzz!"

The aura of Houtu began to rise.

The speed at which it climbed was breathtaking.

In the blink of an eye, he recovered to the peak of Quasi-Saint, and then broke through the shackles that had plagued billions of living beings in the primordial world...

The insurmountable barrier between a quasi-saint and a saint.

There was no guidance from the Primordial Purple Qi, no preparation for severing the Three Corpses, and not even the step of entrusting the primordial spirit to the Heavenly Dao.

She simply stood there, one with the underworld, resonating with heaven and earth. With accumulated merit, her aura naturally entered that realm.

The aura of holiness spread out of the underworld, sweeping across the sea of ​​blood!

The twelfth-grade karmic fire lotus beneath the feet of the Styx Ancestor trembled violently, its petals closing one by one to protect him at its core.

The Lord of the Blood Sea turned deathly pale, not from injury, but from being overwhelmed by the pure, vast, and supreme holy might that transcended all laws.

He cultivated himself for countless eons, learning from Nuwa to create the Rakshasa race, and from the Three Pure Ones and the two Western deities to establish the Asura religion.

We're just one step away from taking that step!

The front line...!

But this line is deeper than a sea of ​​blood.

But today, at this very moment, an outsider, amidst his sea of ​​blood, has attained the saintly status he has always dreamed of.

"How unjust is the way of Heaven!"

Huanglong sat cross-legged on the Pure White Lotus. Under the protection of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, the aura of the sage had no effect on him whatsoever.

However, his eyes were filled with shock!

Looking at Houtu, who was radiating golden light, was this... a sage?

It exudes the same aura as, yet subtly different from, that of the master, senior uncle, and senior master.

It is a majesty that is in harmony with the Way of Heaven, yet stands independently from it.

The Three Pure Ones stood silently in the void, each with a different expression.

The Primordial Celestial Venerable frowned slightly, and the Jade Purity Immortal Light flowed around his body, protecting the Yellow Dragon while keeping his holy might three feet away.

He looked at the Sage Taiqing, his eyes filled with inquiry.

The Tongtian Sect Leader narrowed his eyes slightly, and the phantom images of the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords behind him trembled slightly, not out of fear, but as an instinctive reaction when encountering a "fellow Daoist".

A playful smile appeared on his lips, as if he was pleased to have gained another fellow Daoist.

Only the sage Laozi remained calm and composed.

The magnificent and exquisite pagoda of heaven and earth rotated continuously around him.

The Tai Chi diagram slowly rotated beneath his feet, connecting with the Dao of Heaven and deducing cause and effect.

The golden clouds above the sea of ​​blood continued to transform into streaks of golden light that descended.

The second, third, and fourth rays of golden light descended upon the Three Pure Ones.

Each ray of golden light was not as vast as Houtu's, but the heavenly merit contained within was still immense. Clearly, the Three Pure Ones had contributed greatly to the opening of the underworld, and this was their deserved reward.

The three Pure Ones each raised their hands, lightly flicked their sleeves, and collected the golden light of merit into their sleeves.

The movements were unhurried, as if what they were receiving was not immeasurable merit, but a few wisps of breeze.

However, the Three Pure Ones showed satisfied smiles. Such merit was not insignificant for saints like them!

The fifth golden light fell upon the Styx Ancestor.

The Lord of the Blood Sea was stunned.

He never imagined that he could share in the merits. The Blood Sea was damaged, and Houtu opened up the underworld and became a saint. All of this was for the purpose of completely controlling the Blood Sea!

However, now that most of the Blood Sea has been destroyed, he, the Lord of the Blood Sea, almost became a sinner in the prehistoric world.

Unexpectedly, good deeds also came to him.

Heaven's justice is absolute!

Every action a person takes is imprinted on the Way of Heaven.

Golden light entered the body.

The depleted aura of the Styx Ancestor was restored at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Beneath their feet, the once-dimmed petals of the Twelve-Petaled Karmic Fire Lotus bloomed anew, and the karmic fire transformed from a faint flickering candle into a raging inferno.

In just three breaths, his cultivation level returned to its peak, even improving slightly—that was the tempering of his Dao Fruit by merit.

Although most of the Blood Sea was destroyed, his cultivation level improved, and Styx finally showed a smile!

Then, the Styx Ancestor took a deep breath and bowed towards the golden cloud of merit...!