Primordial Era: If I remain in Longevity Mountain, I will steadily attain sainthood.

Chapter 85 Slaying the Incarnation, Repaying Karma

Houtu pointed at the dozens of magical treasures, and instantly, the treasures scattered.

They fell into various places in the underworld, and then each gave rise to different structures, such as the Gate of Hell, the Bridge of Helplessness, the Mirror of Retribution, the Hall of Yama, the Judge's Court, the Eighteen Levels of Hell, and so on.

Only the twelve-petaled purple lotus of reincarnation, the Book of Life and Death, and the Judge's Pen remained, and these three items flew to Houtu's front.

The twelve-petaled purple lotus of reincarnation descends, supporting Houtu's body, while the Book of Life and Death and the Judge's Pen fall into Houtu's hands respectively.

Houtu held the Book of Life and Death in one hand and the Judge's Pen in the other, somewhat resembling Zhen Yuanzi holding the Earth Book and the God-Slaying Spear.

Houtu looked down at the entire Netherworld and suddenly sighed. Then, from her body, she separated an incarnation, which was a deity, formed by the faith and wishes of all living beings combined with Houtu's merits in reincarnation.

As soon as this avatar appeared, the golden wheel of merit behind Houtu diminished somewhat. However, this avatar was extremely powerful, possessing the cultivation of a quasi-saint, and settled down in one of the ten Yama Palaces.

This incarnation is none other than the Eastern Jade Treasure Emperor Heavenly Venerable, also known as the Great Supreme Mysterious and Vast True Lord of the Underworld Palace, King Qin Guangda, and the Yama Palace he presides over is called the Xuanming Palace.

Immediately afterwards, another incarnation slashed out, and at the same time, the golden wheel of merit behind Houtu diminished further.

This incarnation entered the second Yama Palace, the Ximing Palace, and the divine name of this incarnation was called the Southern Mysterious True Ten Thousand Blessings Heavenly Venerable, also known as the Yin Virtue Fixed Rest True Lord of the Second Hall of the Underworld, King Chujiang.

Another avatar was unleashed, entering the third Yama Palace. This was the Western Supreme Heavenly Venerable, also known as the True Lord of the Three Palaces of the Underworld, Emperor Song.

Another avatar was unleashed, entering the fourth Yama Palace, Taihe Palace. This was the Northern Xuan Shang Yu Chen Tian Zun, also known as the Underworld Four Palaces Xuan De Wu Ling Zhen Jun Wu Guan Da Wang.

Another avatar was unleashed, entering the fifth Yama Palace, the Jiulun Palace. This was the Northeastern Immortal Supreme Heavenly Venerable, also known as the Supreme Radiant Spirit True Lord of the Five Palaces of the Underworld, Yama King.

Another incarnation was slashed out and entered the sixth Yama Palace, the Mingchen Palace. This was the Southeast Good Life Salvation Heavenly Venerable, also known as the Sixth Palace of the Underworld, the Treasure Solemn and Illustrious True Lord, King Biancheng.

Another avatar was unleashed and entered the seventh Yama Palace, the Divine Palace of Yama. This was the Supreme Spirit Void Emperor Heavenly Venerable of the Southwest, also known as the True Lord of the Seven Palaces of the Underworld, the Great King of Mount Tai.

Another avatar was unleashed, entering the eighth Yama Palace, the Bizhen Palace. This was the Boundless Taihua Heavenly Venerable of the Northwest, also known as the Eighth Palace of the Underworld, the Flying Demon Yanqing True Lord, the Great King of the City.

Another avatar was unleashed, entering the Ninth Yama Palace, the Seven Palaces of the Underworld. This was none other than the Jade Void Bright Emperor Heavenly Venerable above, also known as the Supreme Righteous Lord of the Nine Palaces of the Underworld, the Great King of Equality.

Another avatar was unleashed, entering the tenth Yama Palace, the Suying Palace. This was the True Emperor Cave God Heavenly Venerable below, also known as the Ten Palaces of the Underworld, the Five Splendid Mighty Spirit True Lord, the Great King of Reincarnation.

These ten Kings of Hell each bear part of Houtu's merits and various karmic consequences. They are gods who are responsible for guarding the underworld and maintaining the order of reincarnation.

Houtu then divided the Book of Life and Death and the Judge's Pen in her hands into ten parts each, and placed them in the hands of the Ten Kings of Hell.

At this time, the golden wheel of merit behind Houtu had decreased by nearly half. Houtu attained enlightenment through merit.

At this point, his merits had greatly diminished, and his cultivation level naturally weakened as well. However, his strength was similar to that of Hongyun before.

Originally, thanks to the merits of reincarnation, Houtu's cultivation had reached the mid-stage of the Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal realm.

He's not even far from reaching the late stage of the Primordial Golden Immortal realm.

This shows how immense the merits of reincarnation are.

However, now that she has separated into ten incarnations, Houtu's cultivation has greatly decreased, falling from the mid-stage of the Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal realm to the early stage of the Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal realm.

Even so, Houtu's strength is still extremely high, comparable to that of the Three Pure Ones, Hongyun, Zhenyuanzi, and others.

This made the two Western saints extremely envious.

Among all the saints, they had the least merit, especially Zhunti, who was always on the verge of being dethroned.

By now, both Jieyin and Zhunti clearly realized that they had probably been tricked by Hongyun.

Therefore, the two are now extremely wary of Hongyun.

However, Houtu's power was greatly reduced because she severed ten incarnations. However, she also reduced a lot of karma and was no longer bound by the karma of sentient beings. This was of great benefit to her future cultivation.

Hongyun and Zhen Yuanzi exchanged a glance, then Hongyun smiled and the Primordial Measuring Ruler appeared in his hand.

After looking at it, Hongyun threw the Hongmeng Measuring Ruler into the Netherworld, where it landed in front of Houtu.

"Fellow Daoist Houtu, it's time to return this Primordial Measuring Ruler to its rightful owner," Hongyun's voice rang out.

When Houtu looked over, Hongyun had already left with Zhenyuanzi.

Thirty-three heavens away, in the Pure Heaven, Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi sat together in the backyard of Wuzhuang Temple, under the ginseng fruit tree.

The two of them each took a ginseng fruit and ate it with relish.

"Hongyun, don't you feel any remorse at all for that Primordial Measuring Ruler?" Zhen Yuanzi laughed.

Upon hearing this, Hongyun said, "Feeling sorry? That was never mine to begin with, so why should I feel sorry? Now that it has been returned to its rightful owner, it's just as well to settle the matter."

"Perhaps this Primordial Measuring Ruler will be more useful in her hands."

As for me.

Hongyun laughed, "I don't need it anymore. Next time, if I fight Taiqing Laozi again, I can smash his Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda without even needing the Hongmeng Measuring Ruler!"

Upon hearing this, Zhen Yuanzi laughed loudly, "After all, he is the eldest brother, and he is the true Pangu, transformed from the primordial spirit of Pangu. How could he be so simple? Whether we are proving the Dao by severing the three corpses or proving the Dao through the world, we are still some distance away."

"Besides, he also severed his three corpses, which is similar to our current state. How dare you say that you will definitely be stronger than him in the future?"

Hongyun laughed and said, "If I fail to sever the three corpses and only attain enlightenment through worldly means, while he succeeds, he might be able to compete with me. But what if I succeed in both methods of attaining enlightenment? Or what if he fails?"

Before Zhen Yuanzi could speak, Hongyun answered his own question, "Then I am the most powerful among all the saints."

"He is not good enough for Taiqing, Yuqing and Shangqing are not good enough, and Jieyin, Zhunti and Nuwa are naturally not good enough either."

Hongyun spoke with extreme confidence.

Although Zhen Yuanzi felt that he was putting on an act, he had to admit that Hongyun did indeed have the ability.

Because now, he can only say that he has a fairly good chance of severing the three corpses to prove his Dao, but he is absolutely capable of proving his Dao in the world.

That Jianmu tree is too powerful; it has completely paved the way for the path to enlightenment in the Red Cloud World.

Hongyun doesn't even need to cultivate now. He only needs to patiently wait for the Qiankun World to grow, which will be enough to push him to the level of Hunyuan Daluo Jinxian.

(End of this chapter)