Chapter 160: Returning to the Primordial World

Though the descent into the Netherworld was fraught with twists and turns, it ultimately yielded an abundance of treasures. Now that all matters were settled and the time had come to return to the Primordial World, Qingxu suddenly conceived a bold notion—or rather, an ambition: to preemptively establish the Netherworld. In doing so, it would naturally follow that he would control the Six Paths of Reincarnation in days to come. Such an ambition was by no means small. In the past, he would not have even dared to entertain the thought, but by a fortuitous coincidence, he now possessed three Netherworld deities: the Black and White Impermanences and the Three-Headed Hellhound. He could certainly give it a try. Should he succeed, he would reap unimaginable benefits; even if he failed, it would be of little consequence.

He transmitted all the knowledge regarding the Underworld from his memories of his past life directly into the minds of the Black and White Impermanences, subsequently adjusting the consciousnesses of the two nether deities and issuing execution commands much like a computer program. After giving detailed instructions to Ying Fan to ensure nothing went wrong, he immediately had Little Kunlun connect the Gate of Earthly Dimensions, and together with Xuanming, departed back toward the Primordial World.

At the convergence of the southeastern seas!

Qingxu and Xuanming parted ways. This trip to the Netherworld had been undertaken by Xuanming primarily to gather Nether Ice Essence for her cultivation. Having now obtained one-third of the Nether Ice Essence from the Ice Mountain Hell—a total combining the arm of the Underworld King shattered by Taishang and what she had covertly acquired—she also needed to enter seclusion. Moreover, numerous matters within the Xuanming Tribe awaited her resolution. At the same time, the winds and clouds were shifting among the Demon Clan, placing immense pressure on the Wu Clan. As an Ancestral Witch, she could not shirk her duty. Thus, despite her reluctance, she had no choice but to separate from Qingxu.

Watching Xuanming's figure vanish from his sight, Qingxu sighed inwardly. His mind remained in great turmoil. According to his memories, the Twelve Ancestral Witches were beings intolerable to the Heavenly Dao and might well perish by the end of this tribulation. He had no idea what he ought to do, but standing idly by while watching Xuanming meet her demise was something he could never bring himself to do. After all, she was now his woman. Yet, saving her was a feat beyond his current capabilities.

"Do I truly love Xuanming? Why do I feel so hollow inside? The love I felt back in the Netherworld now feels so illusory, as if it were merely a dream, devoid of any sense of reality. What on earth is happening? Furthermore, Taishang's actions were exceedingly bizarre. What was his true intention?" Calming himself down, Qingxu questioned his own heart. He did not love Xuanming as deeply as he had imagined. Upon repeated reflection at this moment, the sole remaining connection between them was merely a sense of responsibility. Examining the trip to the Netherworld carefully, it seemed as though some mysterious force was dictating everything behind the scenes. Otherwise, why would he have encountered Xuanming by such sheer coincidence, only to be shallowly captivated and infatuated by her beauty? Most importantly, the appearance of the Taichi Diagram hidden within Taishang's Yin-Yang Dao robe showed that every step had been meticulously calculated.

"The butterfly effect? Perhaps the moment I transmigrated, the Primordial World had already quietly changed, only my cultivation was too low for me to perceive it yet!"

Transmigrating to the Primordial World was not an absolute blessing. Everything in this universe followed the law of cause and effect. That Qingxu had become Qingxu, the disciple of the Heavenly Lord of Morality, could hardly be a mere coincidence; there was bound to be a predestined link.

"Brother, are we returning to Wanqiu now?"

Little Kunlun's innocent and carefree inquiry lifted the heavy burden from Qingxu's heart.

"Sigh! Why bother pondering so much? Eldest Master's warning still rings in my ears." Smiling self-deprecatingly, Qingxu patted Little Kunlun's head and forced a smile onto his face. "Let's return! Brother still has to guard the human race for a century. Having made a trip to the Netherworld, I've delayed things by half a month or so, and now I must start all over again."

Initially, Qingxu had promised to guard the human race for a century, but he had departed before the time limit expired. If he returned within nine days, it would not matter, but once nine days were exceeded, his previous efforts would be washed away, forcing him to begin anew from the very beginning.

Treading the clouds together with Little Kunlun toward Wanqiu, they felt the sea breeze brush their faces and the rolling waves crash below. Aquatic life and soaring birds played in a scene of absolute serenity that gladdened the heart and completely dispelled all vexations. Yet, naturally, something had to come and spoil the mood.

"Little bastard, you certainly know how to hide! But today, you've finally been tracked down by this king!" A figure materialized before them in the blink of an eye. With a pair of dragon horns on his forehead, a majestic expression, and a tattered, dark royal robe, it was none other than Ao Bei, the Dragon King of the North Sea.

Staring at Qingxu before him, Ao Bei could easily discern the underlying profundity—even though this was not the Xuanhuang avatar, the aura was identical. Boundless hatred welled up in his eyes. Remembering his recent ordeals, he felt an urge to devour Qingxu alive. Ever since the treasures left behind by the Ancestral Dragon had been preemptively snatched away by this fellow, along with the Dragon-Binding Rope which left him unable to give an accounting, he had eventually been investigated by the ten dragon elders for misusing secret treasures from the ancestral treasury. Had he not been quick-witted, his cultivation would have already been abolished and he would have been imprisoned for life. Why should he have been reduced to a stray dog like this, stripped of his lineage by the Dragon Clan and turned into a wild dragon?

Relying on the Heavenly Punishment Blade and the Retrospective Treasure Mirror, Ao Bei had fled all the way from the North Sea and Northern Continents to the Eastern Continent, where Daoist traditions flourished. First, the mixing of dragons and snakes made it easy to conceal his identity; second, it was to hunt down Qingxu, his mortal enemy. Following a faint trail, he had tracked him to Wanqiu, but yielded no results despite repeatedly using the Retrospective Treasure Mirror to no avail. These past few days had filled him with gloom. Never had he expected that a casual test today would successfully pinpoint Qingxu's exact location!

"Hide? Heh, you old loach, time and again you've sought to trouble me, your poor Daoist. I was just thinking of settling accounts with you, and now you've impatiently delivered yourself to my doorstep." Ao Bei's sudden appearance initially startled Qingxu, but it was immediately followed by cold laughter. He had been fretting over how to exact revenge in the North Sea Dragon Palace, never imagining that Ao Bei would court death of his own accord.

Ao Bei's cultivation was at the mid-stage of Da Luo Jinxian, surpassing Qingxu by a hundred thousand miles. However, times were different now; the Xuanhuang avatar's strength had greatly advanced, its divine body reinforced to the peak of Da Luo Jinxian, and its divine power incomparably pure. Though still at the early stage of Da Luo Jinxian, its might was no less than that of a mid-stage Da Luo Jinxian. Compared to Ao Bei, it was superior if anything, not inferior at all. As for magic treasures, Qingxu was equally well-endowed. In particular, the innate Yin-Yang Taichi Diagram possessed might by no means inferior to that of a Da Luo Jinxian, alongside Little Kunlun's spatial blades. With the three working in conjunction, slaying Ao Bei was a dead certainty!

"Is that so?" Hearing Qingxu's words, Ao Bei let out a grim, mirthless laugh before casting the Heavenly Punishment Blade with one hand and holding a four-inch-square golden seal with the other. Atop the seal coiled nine five-clawed golden dragons, radiating an astonishing spiritual aura and treasured might.

Strike first to gain the upper hand!

With a toss from Ao Bei, the golden seal surged into the sky, spinning ceaselessly. The four-inch seal body rapidly expanded as it rotated.

Eight inches... One foot... Four feet...

In the blink of an eye, the Nine-Dragon Seal had swelled to several dozen zhang in size, hovering directly above Qingxu's head. Brilliant golden dragon Qi cascaded downward, forming a Nine-Dragon imprisonment array that trapped Qingxu within.

Rumble!

Slash!...

The Nine-Dragon Seal crashed down with a deafening roar. Bolstered by Ao Bei's full strength, the Heavenly Punishment Blade also expanded to over a dozen zhang, slashing fiercely downward toward the crown of Qingxu's head right behind the Nine-Dragon Seal. Not yet satisfied after unleashing these two fatal blows, Ao Bei circulated his dragon power, settled his mindset, and prepared to employ the Dragon Clan's taboo secret technique: the Nine-Dragon Self-Mutilation Art.

"Attack!" Seeing Ao Bei strike with such viciousness, making it clear he intended to kill him without even bothering to test the waters and jumping straight to the climax with two consecutive fatal blows while brewing a taboo technique, Qingxu felt a surge of anger. He cursed Ao Bei for bullying him too far, and immediately gave the order to Little Kunlun while controlling the Xuanhuang avatar to meet Ao Bei head-on. As for himself, he deployed the innate Yin-Yang Taichi Diagram.

Vast divine power clashed and vied with dragon power. The Xuanhuang avatar's fist met Ao Bei's in a stalemate, neither yielding an inch and both holding their ground without losing the upper hand. However, aided by Qingxu and Little Kunlun, the Xuanhuang avatar gradually began to suppress Ao Bei. Judging by this momentum, it would not be long before Ao Bei met his doom.

Under the shockwaves of their ferocious battle, towering waves churned across the Eastern Sea. Flocks of birds shrieked as they fell to their deaths, leaving a colorful expanse of corpses floating upon the sea surface—at the very least, several hundred thousand living beings!

Streaks of innate Yin-Yang Taichi divine light swept outward, and crisscrossing spatial blades slashed through the void, driving Ao Bei into a state of utter wretchedness. His entire body was scored with numerous gasps and cuts of varying sizes, from which golden dragon blood dripped continuously.

"Ah!" Roaring up to the heavens, Ao Bei transformed into his true form. In an instant, a hundred-zhang five-clawed golden dragon soared into the air, glaring majesty at Qingxu with its mane and whiskers bristling in fury. Its massive tail whipped about, sending ripples of distorted void-waves echoing with unending dull thuds. Under the permeating dragon might, the heaven and earth within ten thousand miles felt heavily oppressed.

The Dragon Clan was uniquely endowed by nature, innately fierce and matchless. After transforming into his dragon body, Ao Bei, a mid-stage Da Luo Jinxian, saw his overall strength surge explosively, instantly reaching the late stage of Da Luo Jinxian. His combat prowess was by no means inferior to the peak of Da Luo Jinxian, and coupled with his two innate spiritual treasures—the Heavenly Punishment Blade and the Nine-Dragon Seal—he was truly like a tiger given wings, a soaring dragon entering the firmament.

"Transformed into a dragon? A five-clawed golden dragon?" Watching Ao Bei transform into his true golden dragon form, Qingxu's expression remained unchanged as he pondered, though his mind was racing with chaotic thoughts. He recalled a miraculous function of the Yin-Yang Dragon Pearl: the enslavement of dragons and sub-dragons across heaven and earth. The sole restriction was that it could not be used on first-generation true dragons, and the enslavement method was only effective on dragon bodies—making it somewhat of a tasteless chicken rib, since dragons capable of taking human form rarely reverted to their dragon bodies, while those unable to transform possessed low cultivation and were of little use once enslaved. Yet now that Ao Bei had assumed his true dragon body, this was a once-in-a-millennium golden opportunity!

Ao Bei was an orthodox true dragon of the second generation from the Primeval era, a son of the Ancestral Dragon. The renowned Nine Divine Dragons of the Primordial world were, strictly speaking, his elder brothers.

Dragons were lustful by nature, mating indiscriminately and producing countless offspring. As the very first true dragon in heaven and earth, the Ancestral Dragon had been strict in selecting mates, yet his crossbred offspring still amounted only to the Nine Divine Dragons. However, second-generation true dragon offspring numbered no less than several hundred. Presently, the Four Sea Dragon Kings and the various dragon elders were all descendants of the Ancestral Dragon and the Murky Dragon.

"Should I enslave him or not? After all, he is also the Dragon King of the North Sea, and his status and position are not low. Although offending him is not something to fear with Primordial Lord of Heaven as a backing, the trouble won't be small either." Qingxu was not yet aware that Ao Bei had already been struck from the Dragon Clan's registry; at this moment, he felt deeply indecisive. The enslavement secret technique within the Yin-Yang Dragon Pearl beckoned to him like a demon, and a voice seemed to echo in his mind: "Do not hesitate! Enslave him! Imagine it—the noble Dragon King of the North Sea becoming your servant, how exhilarating would that be? Moreover, with this servant, you can gradually seize control of the North Sea Dragon Clan. Coupled with the assistance of Yazi, secretly controlling the Dragon Clans of the Four Seas might not be entirely impossible!"

"Enslave him, enslave him, enslave him...!" Qingxu's evil corpse seed began to eagerly stir, bewitching and inducing him to enslave the Dragon King of the North Sea.

If a cultivator does not sever the Three Corpses, miscellaneous thoughts will fill their mind. While low in cultivation, this causes little harm; but once the seeds of the Three Corpses are cultivated, distracting thoughts swarm forth endlessly, impossible to guard against. Through a fortuitous coincidence, Qingxu had cultivated the seeds of both the benevolent and evil corpses. Now facing temptation, a momentary lapse in caution caused the evil corpse seed to subtly guide his inner thoughts, attempting to usurp control over his decisions. All of this transpired invisibly, and Qingxu remained unaware of it. After all, whether benevolent, evil, or obsessive, the Three Corpses were entirely facets of oneself. This precisely illustrated the adage: those embroiled in the game are blind to it.

He still trusted himself implicitly, harboring not the slightest vigilance toward himself. In this regard, mortals and cultivators alike were unable to escape convention. Yet perhaps this trial on the path of Dao cultivation was extremely perilous; a single misstep could plunge one into a state of eternal damnation.