Traversing countless worlds from the primordial era

"Brother, what's wrong?" Zhenyuan Daxian asked when he saw Hongyun Laozu put down the ginseng fruit in his hand.

Ancestor Hongyun sighed softly: "I just learned that Lei Ming actually possesses a defensive innate treasure."

Zhenyuan Daxian hurriedly said, "That's impossible! There are only a handful of innate treasures in the primordial world. Could it be that Lei Ming obtained the Chaos Bell?"

"It's not the Chaos Bell. Lei Ming combined the Five Elements and Five Directions Flags into the innate treasure, the Chaos Flag. The Chaos Flag is not only unparalleled in defense, but also has the effect of suppressing chaos. Its power is no less than that of the Chaos Bell," said Ancestor Hongyun.

"That's troublesome." Zhenyuan Daxian stroked his long beard. "The Five Elements and Five Directions Flags are all top-grade innate spiritual treasures. Even a saint would find it difficult to combine them. Lei Ming's ability to fuse them shows that he has reached an extremely profound level in the Five Elements Laws. I'm afraid that even if his level is not as high as yours, it is not far off."

Ancestor Hongyun was taken aback, then realized: "Brother's words reminded me that I only focused on Lei Ming's magic weapon, but forgot about his attainments in the laws."

Zhenyuan Daxian sighed, "Brother, your premonition was correct. The only one vying with you for the opportunity to attain enlightenment is Leiming. Fortunately, sages rarely descend to the primordial world now, and the sages of the West will not sit idly by while Leiming attains enlightenment. You still have some advantages. But you must not be careless in the struggle for enlightenment."

Hongyun Patriarch nodded: "I beg your help, brother!"

"Given our friendship, even if you hadn't asked, I would have done everything I could to help you."

Zhenyuan Daxian's guess was correct; Lei Ming had made leaps and bounds in his mastery of the Five Elements Laws. After fusing with the Five Elements and Five Directions Flags, his mastery of the Five Elements Laws increased dramatically. Not only did his mastery of a single law reach 42%, but the combined power of the Five Elements Laws was comparable to 48% of a single law, far surpassing the late stage of Quasi-Saint, and only one step away from the 49% perfection of Quasi-Saint.

This is the source of Lei Ming's confidence in competing with Ancestor Hongyun for the opportunity to prove his Dao!

Moreover, the Five Elements World has finally crossed the limit of the Middle Thousand Worlds and is slowly transforming into the Great Thousand World. The Spirit Turtle is currently in a deep slumber, and its strength has reached the late Quasi-Saint stage, transforming towards the Perfect Quasi-Saint stage. Lei Ming estimates that the Spirit Turtle will reach the Perfect Quasi-Saint stage before him. Once the Five Elements World becomes the Great Thousand World, the Spirit Turtle will be equivalent to a Primordial Grand Luo Golden Immortal. At that time, Lei Ming will merge with the Dao and immediately possess the power of a Primordial Grand Luo Golden Immortal.

After listening to the Dao in Shangqing Heaven for more than ten years, Lei Ming left on his own. He had thoroughly figured out the method of severing the corpse and at the same time made up his mind not to sever the corpse.

The Holy Mother Wudang and the Three Immortals Sanxiao all remained in Shangqing Heaven. Among them, the Holy Mother Wudang, the Holy Mother Jinling, Wuyunxian, and Yunxiao all sensed an opportunity for a breakthrough and were making their final efforts.

Lei Ming calculated that over the past few thousand years, the ancestral star has undergone tremendous changes. The powerful Qin Dynasty has long since ended, and the Han Dynasty that followed the Qin Dynasty is also nearing its end. Now, warlords are vying for power, and the world is in chaos.

"Since the return of the Ancestral Witch, the seal on the Ancestral Star has been affected, various laws are in chaos, even the laws of time are disordered, the flow of time is uncertain, spiritual energy is declining, and the Ancestral Star is developing in an increasingly unpredictable direction," Lei Ming thought to himself.

With a shift in space, Lei Ming arrived at the ancestral star, where the seal no longer held any effect. Lei Ming didn't go to the Nine Provinces, but instead went beyond them. The regions beyond the Nine Provinces had been ruled by the Church of Light and the Church of Darkness for many years, during which time new religions emerged, such as Buddhism.

After becoming the Buddha, Duobao Daoren was reincarnated as Shakyamuni, who founded Buddhism on the ancestral planet. Buddhism quickly conquered the western lands. The Church of Light and the Church of Darkness relentlessly suppressed Buddhism, but its power was too great. Had it not been for Lei Ming's secret assistance, the two major cults would likely have been utterly defeated.

With a swift movement, Lei Ming captured both the angels from the Church of Light and the fallen angels from the Church of Darkness. The leading angel had twelve white wings, and the fallen angels had twelve black wings; they were the only two Taiyi Golden Immortal-level angels born from the Five Elements World.

"Greetings, my Lord!" Many angels and fallen angels knelt before Thunder.

"A great calamity is coming for Buddhism. Be prepared. I will give the order, and you will conquer Mount Ling," Lei Ming said. The Mount Ling he referred to was the Mount Ling of the ancestral star.

"Yes, sir!"

After explaining these things, Lei Ming went to the Nine Provinces and discovered that many human generals were reincarnations of celestial generals, indicating that the celestial court had intervened in human conflicts.

Lei Ming could understand Haotian's ambition: he wanted to gather the fortune of the three realms into his own body in order to attain enlightenment.

"Haotian is also a formidable opponent," Lei Ming thought to himself.

A few days later, Yang Jiao arrived at Liyuan Island and sent Lei Ming an invitation.

"Master, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother are holding a Peach Banquet and have specially invited you," Yang Jiao said.

Lei Ming hadn't attended the previous Peach Banquets, but this time he agreed.

Yang Jiao found it a bit strange. Peaches of immortality had a great attraction for immortals below the Golden Immortal level, but for Lei Ming, they weren't even a matter of satisfying his appetite.

"Haotian's invitation this time is different from the past. It is both a test and a demonstration of his strength," Lei Ming said.

Yang Jiao still couldn't understand, so Lei Ming laughed and said, "You're not strong enough to see through these things."

Yang Jiao's strength was not weak. Over thousands of years, his Nine Revolutions Profound Technique had reached the seventh level, and his magical power had reached the late stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. Few below the Quasi-Saint level could rival him. However, even with such strength, he was still unable to participate in the battle between Lei Ming and Haotian.

"Master, is the Three Realms about to descend into chaos again?" Yang Jiao couldn't help but ask.

"The Three Realms won't descend into chaos for now, but turmoil is inevitable. To be honest, even I can't foresee the future," Lei Ming said. "Your strength is more than enough to protect yourself. If anything happens, take your family and seal off Ziwei Star."

After Lei Ming finished speaking, the Star Fruit Tree appeared in his hand.

"Since you joined my sect, I haven't bestowed upon you any powerful magical treasures, for I feared you would become too reliant on external forces and neglect self-cultivation. Now that you have achieved some success in your studies, I will bestow upon you a few magical treasures," Lei Ming said.

Yang Jiao immediately prostrated himself on the ground: "Master saved my life, taught me skills, and planned my path to godhood. I could never repay such great kindness, even if I died ten thousand times!"

"You don't need to be so reserved. You're my only disciple. Who else could I give these treasures to besides you?" Lei Ming said, quite satisfied with his disciple.

"You should recognize this Star Fruit Tree. It is one of the Ten Primordial Spiritual Roots, corresponding to the stars in the heavens. If you refine it, with your divine position as the Great Emperor Ziwei, you will be able to control the power over the primordial stars, which may save your life in the future." Lei Ming handed the Star Fruit Tree to Yang Jiao.

Lei Ming then took out several more magical treasures: "The Five Elements Spirit Pearl is no longer useful to me, so I bestow it upon you. You must study it carefully; this treasure is both offensive and defensive, and is extremely rare. I have collected nine kinds of innate flames in the Supreme Yang Gourd, and nurtured an innate flame with these nine flames. If you refine this innate flame, you will be able to comprehend its many wondrous abilities. As for the Emerald Cloud Peak and the Mountain-Driving Whip, they are only mid-grade innate spiritual treasures, and their help to you is limited. You can give them to your close relatives."

Yang Jiao reluctantly accepted the magical treasures, his eyes filled with worry.

"Master, what exactly happened? Although I am weak and have limited skills, I am willing to risk my life to help you," Yang Jiao said.

Lei Ming shook his head with a smile: "Do you think I'm making my final arrangements? Not at all. At my level, even a saint wouldn't find it easy to kill me, let alone with your grandmaster around. A saint wouldn't easily lay a hand on me."

"What exactly happened?" Yang Jiao was still uneasy.

Lei Ming said, "Very well, let me explain it to you clearly. When we cultivate in this world, we must both rely on and transcend it. Our ultimate goal in comprehending the laws of heaven and earth is to become independent of them, so that we can truly achieve immortality. To achieve this, we need to master half of the laws. Once we master half of the laws, we can attain the status of a Primordial Golden Immortal. I have cultivated for so long, going through several eons, and I am getting closer and closer to the Primordial Realm in the Five Elements. However, attaining the status of a Primordial Golden Immortal is not so easy. First, we must repay the karmic debts we owe to the Primordial World, otherwise, a great calamity will descend upon us when we attain enlightenment."

"But other saints who attained sainthood did not face a great calamity," Yang Jiao asked.

"Saints and Primordial Golden Immortals are at the same realm, but there are still differences. Saints are Primordial Saints; they can borrow the power of the Primordial Heavenly Dao, but they also have to maintain the stability of the Primordial World. Once they leave the Primordial World, they may not be able to keep their sainthood. Primordial Golden Immortals are different; they have no dependence on the Primordial World and remain Primordial Golden Immortals in any world," Lei Ming explained.

Yang Jiao then understood: "Master, are you not confident that you can survive the tribulation to attain enlightenment?"

Lei Ming did not deny it: "It's too early to talk about this now, but attaining enlightenment is an extremely dangerous thing, and I still need to make some preparations. You don't need to worry about your master; I wouldn't easily attain enlightenment if I wasn't confident."

Yang Jiao nodded, secretly vowing that he would continue to cultivate diligently upon returning to Ziwei Star, striving to break through to become a Quasi-Saint as soon as possible so that he could help his master.

"Alright, I have nothing else to do here. You should return to Heaven as soon as possible." Lei Ming said, waving his hand. Yang Jiao felt the space shift, and when he opened his eyes, he was already outside the South Heavenly Gate.

"Master's supernatural powers are becoming more and more incredible," Yang Jiao praised.

After returning to Heaven, Yang Jiao went to the Lingxiao Palace and told Haotian and Yaochi Leiming that he would be attending the Peach Banquet, and then he left. Back on Ziwei Star, Yang Jiao drew upon the power of the celestial bodies, channeling endless stellar energy into Ziwei Star to help him refine the Star Fruit Tree.