Primordial Era: The Great Serpent of Yunmeng

Chapter 417 Return? Scheme? Multiple Parties Join Forces (Final Chapter 2)

Outside Yunmeng Marsh, a figure was frantically running.

As it drew closer to Yunmengze, the lotus mark on its forehead shone brighter, and the black snakes that slithered across its body became increasingly ferocious.

"Faster, faster!"

At this moment, Qingyao became increasingly anxious. For some reason, ever since the sound of the Great Dao was played, a thought suddenly arose in his mind.

This thought kept urging him, even forcing him to rush towards Yunmengze. The sadness and anxiety in his heart made it impossible for him to stop.

It was as if a voice from the depths of his heart was telling him to hurry up, not to delay, because everything depended on him.

At this moment, Qingyao had a premonition that this was as if it were his mission at birth, the only meaning of his existence, and that the opportunity he had been dreaming of was contained within it.

The increasingly vibrant black snake patterns on his body and the changing white lotus mark on his forehead further confirmed his thoughts.

A golden rainbow streaked across the sky; it was the afterglow of the Golden Crow's Rainbow Transformation Technique.

A hint of anxiety flashed in Taiyi's eyes. Now that his elder brother had passed away, he still carried the dying wish left by Qi.

A ripple of emotion stirred in Taiyi's memory. Qi smiled and spoke to him:

"If something happens to me during this great calamity and I unfortunately pass away, please remember to do me a favor and send my physical body to Yunmeng Marsh."

"I came from Yunmeng Marsh, and when I leave, I will naturally also be in Yunmeng Marsh, just like a fallen leaf that will eventually return to the dust that nurtured it."

Taiichi still remembers that at the time he thought Inori was joking, so he even teased her:

"If that time really comes, I will naturally take care of my elder brother first. With the innate twelfth-grade Pure World White Lotus, what in the world can harm you?"

"Let's not say such unlucky things. With the power of the Heavenly Court, how could such a thing exist?"

"If you really are going to die, I will burn you to ashes and throw them into the Yunmeng Marsh. That would be a way for you to return to your roots."

Qi glared at Taiyi, but wasn't angry. She simply said:

"You don't need to worry about Di Jun. I have already prepared an escape route for him. In this great calamity, I will not be able to take his life."

"At most, I'll suffer the torments of reincarnation and be reborn to cultivate again. Don't say such nonsense. You must preserve my physical body well and send it to Yunmeng Marsh!"

"Once you reach the Yunmeng Marsh, everything that has puzzled you will naturally become clear."

After saying that, Qi left. Perhaps Qi had already told him at that time, but unfortunately he didn't notice.

A sense of urgency flashed through Taiyi's mind. The blood ties allowed him to sense that Dijun still existed in the world, but he was truly worried about Qi.

"Hopefully, once we reach Yunmengze, all the mysteries will be solved, and Qi will have the possibility of returning."

Taiyi muttered to himself, his voice tinged with self-reproach. If he had been stronger, could all of this have been avoided?

Taiyi was unaware of this, but he could only believe Qi's words and send his physical body back to Yunmeng Marsh.

When Taiyi stepped into the Yunmengze waters, countless waves were stirred up. An invisible force parted the waters, creating a path in the endless depths.

Taiyi looked at the waterway in front of him, which was barely wide enough for one person to pass through. After hesitating for a moment, he immediately stepped into it. He believed that Qi would not harm him.

As Taiyi stepped into the waterway, he discovered that it showed no signs of healing, and a hint of doubt flickered in his eyes.

"Besides me, Qi, is there anyone else you're waiting for?"

A faint question arose in Taiyi's mind, but the physical body that was constantly disappearing in his hands stopped after entering Yunmengze.

Taiyi looked at the body that was no longer changing and felt a little calmer.

"At least, judging from the current changes, entering Yunmengze is not a bad thing."

The waterway leads directly to the source of Yunmeng Marsh, but the once abundant water vapor has now disappeared. Taiyi is not surprised by this, after all, he watched Qi put it into the gourd.

However, as Taiyi entered the water eye, he discovered the changes. It turned out that there was another space beneath the water eye.

Upon entering the space, Taiyi looked at the scene before him, his eyes flashing with immense shock.

There was nothing else here, just an empty space. The only thing that caught the eye was a white jade bed, and on this jade bed lay a body without the slightest flaw.

Perfect and flawless, the Great Dao is naturally formed, thus becoming a primordial deity.

The face of this body was no different from Qi's; at least, with Taiyi's eyesight, he could not see any difference between the two.

Judging from the gentleness of his face, one could not discern any fierceness in him, nor did he possess any power or influence; he was a pure person.

On the other side, Qingyao was still accelerating frantically. His anxiety even caused him to involuntarily burn the life force he had painstakingly accumulated.

However, the white lotus on his forehead was now emitting a faint halo, protecting his heart and primordial spirit, burning in place of his life force and cultivation to prevent them from being harmed.

Until the distant horizon, the sun's halo reflected off the shimmering water, which came into Qingyao's view!

Only then did Qingyao feel a sudden sense of relief, and his steps quickened slightly.

Even so, Qingyao's speed did not decrease in the slightest; on the contrary, it became even faster.

As Qingyao drew closer, the weather suddenly changed, with countless thunderclaps and dark clouds gathering, as if a natural disaster was about to strike.

A strange beast suddenly leaped out of the mountains and fields for some unknown reason, its huge mouth snapping at Qingyao. Its eyes were bloodshot, clearly indicating that it had lost its mind and was enraged.

The beast resembled a blue lion, but had wings on its back, eyes that were the color of the sun and moon, and six eyes and six ears; it was extremely ferocious.

His cultivation was no less than that of an ordinary Great Luo Immortal, and he had the advantage of launching a sneak attack. Qingyao was shocked and thought to himself that his life was over.

The vortex in its mouth was like a sea eye, emanating a devouring force that rendered Qingyao completely immobile.

Just when Qingyao felt that his mission was hopeless and everything was coming to an end, at this critical moment, a black light flew in from all directions, and Qingshi stood there dumbfounded.

The next instant, right in front of Qingyao, the Azure Lion collapsed to the ground, lifeless, with black blood flowing from its mouth and nose, clearly having already passed away.

At this moment, in the Heavenly Demon Realm, Luo Hou smiled slightly and continuously pushed the World-Destroying Millstone to turn with both hands. Strands of black light flew out from it and fell into the primordial world.

Along the way, Qingyao encountered countless maddened beasts, natural disasters such as landslides, earthquakes, and magma eruptions, or strange phenomena of divine fire appearing out of nowhere to obstruct his path.

However, all of these were stopped by the constantly shooting black light. If it encountered a strange beast, the beast would perish; if it was meant to cause a natural disaster, the disaster would cease. Before the divine fire phenomenon could even appear, it would immediately dissipate.

If Qingyao still cannot realize that someone is protecting him on this path, then he is truly a fool.

It was precisely because of this discovery that Qingyao became even more focused and single-minded.

Only when he saw the waterway that had been separated from the main channel did Qingyao feel a surge of joy. He then poured himself into it and fell into a deep sleep.

After it fell, the black snake that had been clinging to its body poked its head out and, with just a few tugs, swam into the waterway.

As the black snake moved an inch, the waterway behind it closed an inch, making those who followed it unable to discern the path ahead.

But the black snake seemed to have no sense of its surroundings, and often its head would hit the water wall as it swam around.

The black snake tried to retreat, but found itself blocked behind it. Helpless, it could only swim along the waterway.

Despite this, the black snake moved with lightning speed, and every sway of its body could cover a distance of millions of miles.

However, it took a full seven days to enter the water eye of Yunmengze.

Taiyi looked at the black figure before him, sensing the familiar aura emanating from it, and finally couldn't help but smile, saying:

"Excellent method, excellent method! I will protect you!"

With that, Taiyi strode out of the water eye. Sitting quietly outside the cave, the Eastern Emperor Bell emitted a faint glow.

As soon as the black snake entered the water's eye, it seemed to immediately sense it. It first swam around Qi's body, and after probing several times and finding no reaction, it swam back to the body on the jade bed.

A deafening roar of thunder echoed between heaven and earth, and the sky above Yunmeng Marsh was now filled with a relentless storm.

The strong winds made it impossible to open one's eyes, and the torrential rain fell like golden pearls and jade beads, making it too dangerous to catch.

Taiyi sat alone outside, untouched by external things. A bolt of lightning crashed down, but after entering Yunmeng Marsh, it quietly dissipated into nothingness.

In the Purple Cloud Palace, Hongjun suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze wide with anger, and he roared:

"Human greed knows no bounds; they even dare to attempt to alter the will of Heaven. Gods and the Way are one; how dare they overstep the bounds of the Way and the Gods!"

After Hongjun finished speaking, he immediately rose from the futon, but after taking only a few steps, he stopped and said:

"Fellow Daoist Yangmei, your uninvited visit is not a kind gesture, but rather an unwelcome guest."

"I have no intention of arguing with you today. If it's not important, please leave on your own. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Hongjun frowned coldly, his eyes filled with a chilling aura, staring intently at the palace gate. A figure slowly appeared before Hongjun.

"Fellow Daoist Hongjun, you should know that those who attain the Dao receive much help. It is a rare opportunity to witness such a secret matter today. The person who witnessed it is a person of great merit. Why should we be such unwelcome guests?"

With a raised eyebrow and a smile, a verdant branch grew into the void, and the lush willow leaves had unknowingly spread throughout the entire Zixiao Palace.

Hongjun coldly ignored this, and simply said:

"In the primordial chaos, there exists a Dao, and gods are one with the Dao. To surpass the gods is to surpass the Dao. Yet, gods may be surpassed, but the Dao cannot! Fellow Daoist Yang Mei, please step aside!"

"The actions taken at Yunmengze were not a secret; it's not like we were unaware of them. Are you really going to just stand by and watch the same mistakes be repeated?"

"The three ancient sovereigns failed to achieve their goals and instead left behind a legacy of calamities. It took us a long and arduous effort to finally eliminate them. Have you not yet learned your lesson and intend to repeat this tragedy?"

Hongjun was furious, and refused to even address him as "fellow Daoist." Upon hearing this, Daoist Yangmei's expression also turned cold, and he spoke:

"Should we, as successors, be forced to stagnate because our predecessors failed?"

"If that's the case, why did you go through all that trouble to merge with the Heavenly Dao in the first place? Why didn't you go into the Void with your teacher? What's the point of being a Dao Ancestor?"

"The fact that the way of our ancestors is not possible does not mean that it is difficult for later generations to achieve. In the end, no matter how great the Three Sovereigns were, their cultivation was ultimately no more than that of a Luo Tian Venerable God."

"If we were to meet again today, let alone you and me, I'm afraid that the vast majority of the innate deities in this primordial world would be of a higher realm than those of that time!"

"Yet you remain stagnant and closed-minded, unaware that this is a path to your own destruction. If you don't believe me, look around this primordial world and see who exactly is protecting your path."

Hongjun's face darkened, and suddenly clouds gathered in the primordial sky, transforming into a giant eye. Even the Heavenly Demon Realm was not exempt from this, falling into its gaze as well.

At this moment, Rahu was constantly pushing the millstone. When he saw the giant eye in the sky, he couldn't help but smile slightly and wave at it.

As Rahu moved, a beam of black light suddenly flew out from the Great Millstone of Annihilation and landed in the giant eye in the sky.

The next instant, the clouds collapsed and scattered across the primordial world. Hongjun in the Zixiao Palace suddenly felt a darkness before his eyes and a faint stinging pain in his eyes.

Meanwhile, in the Yunmeng Marsh, Taiyi looked at the giant eye in the sky, a sense of being spied on constantly churning in his heart, and boundless malice seemed to surge up from his back!

Without hesitation, Taiyi immediately grabbed the Eastern Emperor Bell and slammed it down on the giant eye in the sky.

The sound waves shot into the sky, and in the next instant, the clouds collapsed, and Hongjun's vision went dark.

At this moment, Yang Mei smiled, his whisk trembling slightly. Seeing Hongjun's reaction, he asked:

"Well? Can you see it clearly now? You admire the Three Sovereigns the most, so do you know their plans now?"

Hongjun gritted his teeth and insisted:

"His Majesty the Emperor opened up the Ruins of Return, not to allow those ancient gods to run rampant and roam freely within it!"

Yang Mei shook her head at this and said:

"His Majesty the Emperor opened up the Ruins of Return, voluntarily increasing the foundation of the primordial world, and will never return."

"However, this does not mean that those ancient gods entered it voluntarily."

"And who knows, maybe they don't want to go back?"

Hongjun remained silent, then turned and sat back down on the futon, and spoke:

"With you blocking my way today, I'm afraid I won't be able to leave this Zixiao Palace. So, I'll grant your wish."

"But I've already said that you must resolve the trouble you've caused yourselves. If you allow chaos to erupt in the primordial world..."

"I will kill them!"

At this point, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in Hongjun's eyes. After raising his eyebrows and remaining silent for a moment, he nodded in agreement.

Seeing Yang Mei agree, Hongjun's expression softened, but he still spoke again:

"Regardless of your plans, and whether those ancient gods will return, I have only one request: such people must not remain in the primordial world for more than one eon!"

"If anyone disobeys, I will personally punish them!"

Yang Mei, however, remained indifferent, saying:

"You can go find them yourself then. It has nothing to do with me. As long as you can bring yourself to do it, I will have no objection if you eliminate the three emperors together."

Seeing this, Hongjun simply snorted and said nothing more. Meanwhile, in the Yunmeng Marsh, the figure on the jade bed stirred slightly.

PS: Qingyao is the character's name. He first appeared in the chapter "The Death of the God General". He is the most powerful cultivator in the Deer People tribe and was transformed from the lotus flower that Qi flew out back then.

(End of this chapter)