Primordial Era: The Three Senior Brothers of the Taiqing Clan

After Chen Qing went into seclusion, the years passed quietly like flowing water.

On Penglai Island, peach blossoms bloom and fade, fade and bloom again, repeating countless times.

Xuanming stayed in the Netherworld for a while, but found it boring, so he returned to Penglai Immortal Island.

Chen Qing had a servant boy welcome her in, without saying much. Unexpectedly, Xuan Ming went straight to the main hall where Chen Qing was in seclusion, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating as well.

Now that her turbid and malevolent energy has been completely eliminated, she is finally able to perceive the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. Meanwhile, Chen Qing is here refining the world and comprehending spiritual treasures, his body radiating Daoist energy and his laws frequently overflowing—it is the perfect time for him to comprehend the Great Dao. How could Xuanming possibly let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

Moreover, the reconstruction of her physical body largely consumed the essence of Chen Qing's microscopic world. The energy released when Chen Qing merged with the world held a fatal attraction for her.

Furthermore, Chen Qing saved her, and Chen Qing thoroughly understood her essence—in this situation, although the two did not officially become Daoist partners, it was already a fait accompli.

So she came here for two reasons: first, to protect Chen Qing, and second, to cultivate with him.

Chen Qing didn't think much of it and focused on his own cultivation.

Meanwhile, when Xuanyuan was three years old, Duobao officially began teaching him.

Xuanyuan was exceptionally intelligent, far surpassing ordinary people. He could grasp principles that others needed days to comprehend in half a day. He could master spells that others needed repeated practice in a single go.

He learns things by analogy and can apply them to other situations. Even Duobao couldn't help but nod in admiration—no wonder he was the reincarnation of the Xuan Turtle who supported the heavens and had countless merits back then. He was truly extraordinary.

Over the course of several years, Duobao imparted all the principles, military strategies, and methods of governance he could teach. Seeing that Xuanyuan was now capable of handling things independently, Duobao gracefully turned and left, returning to Jin'ao Island.

Xuanyuan returned to the Youxiong tribe. With the strong support of the old tribal chief, he became the new chief without any doubt.

Everything went exactly as the tribespeople had hoped. Under Xuanyuan's leadership, the Youxiong tribe's strength grew rapidly, its population increased, its harvests were plentiful, and its army became powerful and well-equipped, surpassing all the surrounding tribes in one fell swoop.

Xuanyuan's name spread throughout the primordial land, and more and more tribes came to submit to him and honor him as their common lord.

At this time, Lieshan was old and frail, with his beard and hair all white.

Over the years, he has traveled to various human tribes, sharing without reservation the medicinal remedies and edible grains he had discovered over decades of tasting hundreds of herbs with everyone who needed them.

Human life was greatly improved as a result; people no longer feared disease or died from accidentally ingesting poison. They were genuinely grateful to him and respectfully called him "Shennong".

Shennong knew his days were numbered, so he began searching for a successor. After much inquiry and investigation, his gaze finally fell upon Xuanyuan of the Youxiong clan.

Xuanyuan lived up to Shennong's expectations, quickly taking on the responsibility of leading the human race. He reorganized the military, pacified the people, and implemented laws, governing the human race in an orderly manner. Shennong saw this and was delighted, finally able to entrust the human race to him with peace of mind.

Reassured, Shennong, guided by Guangchengzi and others, arrived at the altar built by Fuxi and held a grand ceremony to worship Heaven.

Heaven, moved by his presence, bestowed merit upon him. Infused with the power of merit, Shennong instantly regained his memories as the Red Cloud Daoist of his past life and attained the position of Earthly Emperor. A vast aura surged from his body, and the golden wheel of merit slowly rotated behind his head, illuminating the heavens.

He glanced at Guang Chengzi, smiled slightly, and his eyes held a hint of vicissitude and understanding.

Like Fuxi, Shennong boarded the golden chariot and headed to the Fire Cloud Cave to suppress the human race's destiny.

Cultivation knows no time; a hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, several figures suddenly appeared outside Penglai Immortal Island. Upon closer inspection, they were none other than Daoist Duobao, Guangchengzi, Xuandu, and other disciples of the three religions.

Looking at the island-protecting array before them, its defenses fully activated and shimmering with spiritual light, the group looked anxious.

"What should we do? The vice leader has been in seclusion for a hundred years and still hasn't come out!" Guang Chengzi frowned deeply.

Duobao gazed at the grand formation before him and sighed helplessly, "For us cultivators, if we gain some enlightenment, it's common for it to take hundreds, even thousands or tens of thousands of years. The Vice Sect Leader is currently in seclusion. If all else fails, we should go back and discuss it with our Master."

Hearing Duobao's words, many disciples present pursed their lips. Thousands of years? How many years have they cultivated? If they had to go into seclusion for millions of years at a time, wouldn't they be bored to death!

However, upon considering their own deputy sect leader's cultivation level, everyone fell silent again. If it were the deputy sect leader, it was indeed possible that he would have been in seclusion for that long.

Just then, the great formation in front of them trembled. To everyone's surprise, the formation broke open, creating a passage.

A child's voice came from inside: "Dear senior uncles, the master is currently in seclusion for cultivation. Please come to the island quickly."

Duobao and the others exchanged glances and then filed in one after another.

Upon entering the immortal island, they were greeted by two young attendants who were respectfully waiting for them. Seeing the group, they quickly went forward and said, "Greetings, fellow martial uncles."

The matter was urgent, and Duobao and the others couldn't worry about anything else. They waved to help the boy up and asked directly, "Has your master come out of seclusion? We have important business with him."

Upon hearing this, the boy's expression changed slightly: "My fellow disciples, a hundred years ago, our master went into seclusion. A few years later, the Xuanming Ancestral Witch also came, and our master has not come out since. Moreover, the pressure inside the main hall is too great, and we cannot enter at all."

"This..." Duobao and the others looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

Xuan Du said in a deep voice, "Since we're already here, I'll go up and call out a couple of times to see what happens."

With that, he strode towards the main hall. The others naturally followed.

"What is it?"

Just as they arrived at the entrance of the main hall, before Xuandu could even speak, a voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone looked up and saw a crack appear in the space in front of the main hall, from which a Taoist priest in white robes walked out.

"Vice Leader!" Everyone was overjoyed.

Only Duobao, Xuandu, and Guangchengzi, whose cultivation levels were higher, had their pupils shrink sharply when they saw Chen Qing slowly walking towards them.

In their perception, Chen Qing seemed to have completely merged with the surrounding world. He walked slowly, accompanied by countless great Daos, and the void around him trembled slightly.

Strands of the power of laws emanated from his body, and just by glancing at him, they seemed to be drawn into that profound and mysterious realm, and even their own cultivation seemed to increase slightly.

Looking at the expressions of the others, Chen Qing felt somewhat helpless. He had refined a large number of innate spiritual treasures from the three religions, and the great Dao contained within them had been replicated into all the worlds within his body.

Because it needs to integrate with the world simultaneously and hasn't had time to fully stabilize, some of the aura of various laws are still leaking out. These laws themselves belong to the primordial world, so they naturally resonate with the laws of heaven and earth.

However, the body before them was not Chen Qing's original form, but rather a microscopic incarnation.

His true form continues to cultivate deep within the main hall in preparation for the troubles that may arise in the other world.

Don't underestimate this avatar; it has replicated most of the Great Dao Laws of the spiritual treasures of the three religions, and its strength is not much inferior to that of Donghuang Taiyi back then.

This is also why Chen Qing sent his avatar – one avatar is enough to handle most things.

As for his main body, as he continuously fused the microscopic world, the origin of the world grew stronger day by day, and Chen Qing had already faintly touched the shackles of the primordial world.

According to his estimation, once all the microscopic worlds within his body have been completely fused together, he will possess the foundation to attain the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.

Of course, to truly break free from the shackles of the primordial world, one probably needs to thoroughly comprehend the Three Treasures of Creation; otherwise, the chances of success are not high.

"Vice Master, you've become a saint?" Xuan Du asked in surprise.

Upon hearing this, the other disciples all looked surprised, wondering why Xuandu would say such a thing.

However, they soon noticed that their senior brothers, Duobao and Guangchengzi, were both looking at the vice leader with surprised expressions.

At that moment, a question flashed through their minds simultaneously: Could it be that the vice leader has really become a saint?

Seeing everyone's expectant expressions, Chen Qing shook his head, his tone indifferent: "Becoming a saint? Without the Primordial Purple Qi, how can one become a saint? It's merely a further advancement in cultivation."

He paused, then said, "However, I also want to thank you for your help this time. I have thoroughly understood the spiritual treasures you lent me, so I will return them to you now. Please go to the island and fetch some Three Lights Divine Water as a token of my gratitude."

As Chen Qing spoke, he returned the spiritual treasures he had comprehended to the disciples of the three religions one by one.

Hearing Chen Qing's words, everyone couldn't help but feel disappointed. If only their Vice Leader had truly become a saint! Then their three sects would have four saints, and who in the primordial world would dare to provoke them?

However, upon hearing the rest, everyone's faces lit up with joy—they hadn't expected such an unexpected surprise! As expected of the wealthiest vice-leader of the three religions, he was indeed generous.

"Then what brings you here?" Chen Qing asked.

Everyone then came to their senses and remembered the important matter. Duobao, with a distressed expression, began to recount what had happened during this period.

Since Lieshan Shi attained enlightenment and went to Huoyun Cave, the position of the supreme ruler of the human race fell to Xuanyuan. With the foundation laid by the previous two supreme rulers, and with Xuanyuan himself being extraordinary, the human race developed extremely rapidly.

But later, a guy named Chi You emerged from a remote tribe, raised an army to attack Xuanyuan, and fought for the position of the supreme ruler.

Moreover, Chi You himself was extraordinary, and he had many talented and extraordinary people under his command.

Since Xuanyuan couldn't defeat them, it was naturally the three religions' turn to intervene.

Although Chen Qing borrowed most of Duobao and the others' innate spiritual treasures, he only borrowed those naturally formed innate spiritual treasures; he didn't borrow the spiritual treasures he had refined himself. Although those spiritual treasures weren't of high grade, they were by no means weak in combat.

Even so, they were still no match for Chi You, which showed that Chi You was indeed extraordinary. They had no choice but to come to Chen Qing for help.

After listening, Chen Qing's expression turned strange. He looked at the group of people in front of him and asked curiously, "Even if Chi You is extraordinary, surely none of you could defeat him?"

Everyone felt a little embarrassed upon hearing this. However, Chen Qing was just saying it casually; Chi You was the reincarnation of an ancestral witch, so it was understandable that they couldn't do anything to him.

However, Chen Qing naturally wouldn't refuse when Duobao and the others came to him for help.

Moreover, he also wanted to see what Chi You could do to cause trouble now that he had arranged for the Wu clan to be in the underworld and had a calm mind to watch over them.

The situation was urgent, so the group quickly left Penglai Island and flew towards the inland wilderness.

When Chen Qing arrived at the battlefield with Duobao and the others, they saw blood covering the sky and a murderous aura soaring into the heavens. Amidst the shouts of battle, millions of human warriors were engaged in a bloody massacre below.

What made Chen Qing's expression darken slightly was that there were many huge figures charging around on the battlefield, and each attack killed a large number of Xuanyuan's taxi soldiers.

He recognized them as members of the Wu tribe. This puzzled him greatly—could it be that Pingxin was also providing support in this matter?

On one side of the battlefield, Xuanyuan, clad in golden armor, stood with a grim expression. These two sides in this battle were both human! Had humanity, having just established itself in this world, already been forced to endure a massive internal conflict?

Thinking this, Xuanyuan's eyes flashed like lightning as he looked at the tall man on the other side of the battlefield, his eyes seemingly spitting fire.

If it were truly just for the position of the human race's overlord, what harm would it do for Xuanyuan to abdicate and yield the throne to a more worthy successor? However, Chi You is extremely cruel and is simply not suitable to be the human race's overlord.

If things are done his way, the human race's hard-earned foundation will likely be completely squandered.

At the same time, the numerous figures of the Wu Clan traversing the battlefield made him feel that things were not so simple.

"Don't panic, junior disciple! We're here to lend you a hand!"

A clear voice rang out in the sky. Streaks of light swiftly streaked across the sky, landing in front of Xuanyuan and transforming into the figures of disciples from the three religions.

Xuanyuan was overjoyed upon seeing this and hurriedly stepped forward, saying, "Xuanyuan greets all my senior uncles. Thank you all for your trouble!"

Having just finished his greetings, Xuanyuan looked up and was immediately taken aback when he saw the white-robed figure at the head of the group. He quickly bowed and said, "Xuanyuan of the Human Race greets the Holy Master!"

Chen Qing nodded and said gently, "No need for formalities. Now that you are the ruler of the human race and a disciple of Junior Brother Duobao, just call me Senior Uncle."

"Xuanyuan dares not. The Holy Master has done a great favor to our human race. As the common leader, it is only right that Xuanyuan bows." Xuanyuan insisted on completing the grand ceremony, his attitude respectful and sincere.

Seeing that Xuanyuan insisted, Chen Qing didn't say anything more and directly ordered, "You all go and stop those witches. I want to see just how powerful Chi You, the reincarnation of the Ancestral Witch, really is."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then Duobao seemed to remember something and exclaimed, "Senior brother, what about the ancestral witch Chiyou who fell in the war between the witches and demons?"

"That's it! I originally thought it was just a coincidence of names, no wonder the witch clan helped me!"

"Yes, it's that guy. Go." Chen Qing wasn't surprised that Duobao knew about this. Many disciples from the three sects probably had guesses, but since Chi You had already perished, they weren't certain.

Suppressing their horror, the group rushed toward the battlefield.

At this moment, due to the astonishing fighting power of those witch clansmen, Xuanyuan's side was already showing signs of defeat on the battlefield.

The sudden arrival of disciples from the three religions instantly reversed the situation. The witch clan members mixed among the humans were slaughtered and forced into retreat.

"Hmph! Disciples of the three religions!"

On the other side, Chi You watched his men being slaughtered, his rage reaching its peak. The huge battle blade in his hand hummed, and a murderous aura and baleful intent spread out.

This sword was forged by Chi You when he raised his army, using the soul of a demonic tiger, along with some precious natural materials and turbid evil energy.

The blade exudes a terrifying aura, its blood-red aura filling the air; it is a thoroughly demonic blade, named Tiger Soul.

Holding a battle blade, surrounded by malevolent energy, Chi You stood on the battlefield like a demon god.

He took a step forward, and a tiger's roar resounded through the sky, as if the entire battlefield was about to freeze.

The enormous blade of light slashed towards the disciples of the three religions on the battlefield.

In an instant, both Xuanyuan's and Chiyou's own troops were shrouded in the fear of death.

"This guy is really ruthless, he doesn't even spare his own people." Chen Qing looked calmly at the earth-shattering attack, casually took out a chain from his sleeve, grabbed one end, and swung it forcefully.

The chain was entirely black, forged from turbid and malevolent energy. Wherever it passed, malevolent energy permeated the air, and turbid energy roamed freely.

The disciples of the three religions felt as if they had encountered their natural enemy when they saw the chain, and their primordial spirits trembled involuntarily.

This is the Turbid Fiend Chain that Chen Qing forged from the corpses of the Witch Clan. It is specifically designed to counter the primordial spirit and is exceptionally domineering.

The chains, like a black dragon, rushed towards the enormous blade of light.