"Heh~"
Shi Tian Supreme chuckled, "Out of respect for the Azure Dragon Ancestor, I haven't made a move against you. What else do you wish to settle?"
Qing Ling shook his head, "One matter is one matter. The karma of the past is the karma of the past. The karma of today is the karma of today.
I planted a flower in Mu Gong's heart, disrupting his internal balance and causing the spiritual energy of the Great Luo Dao Scripture Realm to diverge. Before long, your Death Dao will suppress your Life Dao, and Mu Gong will either die or be injured. You, Senior, can then enter the pinnacle of Great Neng!
The favor of assisting your Dao cannot be considered insignificant."
Shi Tian Supreme sneered, "Junior, do not court death. I am not a subordinate of the Dragon race. Even if the Azure Dragon Ancestor is a pinnacle being, he cannot do anything to me if I take you."
"Senior, even if you capture me, you only need a moment. I can plant a flower in your heart as well. Although it won't lead to your demise, you can forget about reaching the pinnacle realm, Senior."
Shi Tian Supreme grinned sinisterly, "I would like to see if your divine ability is truly inescapable! If I don't look at you, how can you plant it?"
Qing Ling couldn't help but smile in surprise, "I never said that the Eye of Life and Death could only be planted through direct eye contact. Senior, you wouldn't actually think I would easily reveal my life-saving means, would you?
All I seek is one permission. Senior might as well hear it."
Shi Tian Supreme's eyes narrowed slightly. His expression was gloomy for a moment, then he said, "Then tell me first."
Qing Ling pointed at the ground. In the desert, a flower suddenly sprouted from the sand, standing alone amidst the desolate wind and sand.
"I hope Senior will allow this flower to grow here. When Senior achieves the pinnacle, the flower will naturally bloom, and I shall return."
Shi Tian Supreme's eyelids twitched. "You clever brat, you actually played a trick right under my nose.
However," his tone shifted, "the day the flower blooms is the day I achieve the pinnacle!
This statement holds meaning, and I am pleased. I permit it!"
Qing Ling quickly bowed and smiled, "Congratulations, Senior."
"Heh, don't be glib, you brat. If I achieve the pinnacle, I'll call you little brother." Shi Tian Supreme's eyes narrowed, finding the little fellow increasingly pleasing to the eye.
Qing Ling's face brightened, seizing the opportunity. He quickly said, "Little brother pays respects to elder brother!"
Any one of the supreme Great Neng in the world was an immensely powerful ancestor, whom even the three race ancestors treated with respect.
For every Great Luo, there might be one in a hundred billion.
And among a hundred Great Luo, each was a being of peerless talent and extraordinary origins. Yet, even so, only one in a hundred might become a Heaven and Earth Great Neng.
As for Heaven and Earth Great Neng, they were all top-tier beings with origins comparable to gods and demons, even surpassing those of the future Six Sages.
As for Pinnacle Great Neng, they were the rarest treasures born from the endless beings of each era.
There might not even be one among dozens of Heaven and Earth Great Neng.
The emergence of every pinnacle being caused the heavens and earth to boil. Each one ascended to the extreme, rivaling all the great Dao beneath the Heavenly Dao.
In the current Primordial World, there were nearly a thousand Great Luo, only a hundred Heaven and Earth Great Neng, and less than twenty Pinnacle Great Neng.
This was not speculation but deduced from the observations of the myriad Daoistic phenomena on the River of Destiny by the True Spirits of the Great Luo.
Therefore, the favor of a pinnacle Great Neng was truly rare.
Qing Ling left the Great Barren Land, his heart filled with joy.
Mu Gong, the enemy of the Great Dao, might no longer be a formidable foe in the future.
Moreover, by resolving the karma with Shi Tian Supreme, he had also forged a good relationship.
Mu Gong and Shi Tian Supreme, one life and one death, were destined to be adversaries, a conflict of the Great Dao.
Actually, the Azure Dragon Ancestor was also a Great Neng of the Wood Dao, the apex of the Wood Dao. However, Shi Tian Supreme was too far from him to suppress him through the Great Dao.
Therefore, Mu Gong became his only chance to enter the pinnacle! Without Qing Ling planting the flower, Mu Gong could have held on for at least a hundred Yuanhui. But with so many variables over a hundred Yuanhui, Shi Tian Supreme did not have that much time.
But Qing Ling, this variable, reversed the fate. Originally, Mu Gong should have won and become the East King Gong in the future, but now it was reversed.
None of these were as important to Qing Ling as the Luo Sheng Flower.
A flower planted in the heart of a Heaven and Earth Great Neng of the Wood Dao, representing life.
A flower planted in the death domain of a near-pinnacle Great Neng of the Death Dao, representing death.
One life and one death, yin and yang united yet separated, wandering between the life and death of heaven and earth.
Qing Ling even had a bold thought: that in later generations, there was a flower in the underworld, its color like blood, always accompanying the Yellow Springs...
Outside the Great Barren Land, Qing Ling's robes billowed, his steps unhurried as he traversed mountains and rivers for ten thousand miles.
He passed through towering mountains, vast lakes, and long rivers of the Primordial World, witnessing various exotic beasts and countless living beings.
This journey lasted ten thousand years.
He traveled the land with the luck of the Jianmu, carrying the luck of heaven, while the luck of the earth could only be borne by him.
Qing Ling greatly wished to visit Gui Xi Mountain, but he was destined not to reside there permanently.
The Snake clan could not withstand the luck of a future Heavenly Dao Saint, nor could they bear the luck of him, the Master of the Heaven-bearing Jianmu Dao.
Although the Heavenly Dao had not yet dominated heaven and earth, Hong Jun's grand plan was already in motion, and the Immortal Dao was being nurtured. While fate was still vague, it was subtly set.
Although there was no such thing as a Heavenly Dao Saint, the destinies of the two beings on Fengqi Mountain were already noble.
Some innate gods were destined for nobility from birth. The Twin Golden Crows on the Solar Star, the Twin Star Lords on the Lunar Star, the Three Brothers on Kunlun Mountain, the Flower Tree Lotus on Mount Sumeru, the Killing Life Man in the Sea of Blood, the Kind God within the Earth Veins, and the Divine Fish Peng at the peak of the Northern Darkness.
Their destinies were such that ordinary races could not bear them.
Now, Qing Ling had appeared earlier than them. Although he lacked innate gestation, he gained opportunities in the post-natal period.
Qing Ling walked across the ancient wilderness, dust-covered yet leisurely and unrestrained.
In the sky, vultures preyed upon exotic beasts, their blood falling like rain. Qing Ling walked by, a purple leaf above his head acting as an umbrella, deflecting the blood rain, as he gazed at the lake scenery below the fierce battle.
Large fish swayed in the lake, an old turtle peacefully basking on a rock. A lake monster hunted, but the ancient turtle, immense and powerful, remained unfazed, motionless.
The surrounding fish were being hunted, but the lake monster did not attack the old turtle, nor did the old turtle open its slumbering eyes.
The battle raged beside them, yet it felt as if they were in two different worlds.
The old turtle was like Qing Ling, the vultures in the sky were like the lake monster, and the flock of birds was like the schools of fish.
With transcendent strength, one could find stability and establish oneself.
Qing Ling shook his head and turned to leave.
In the great world, each had their own destiny. He would not interfere with the fate of all beings. This place had nothing to do with him.
Where Qing Ling's green robes passed, barren lands transformed into prosperity. Withered ground gave birth to myriad grasses, a thousand flowers bloomed, and ten thousand trees grew.
During his journey, Qing Ling sometimes recalled that in later generations, there was also a person. Wherever his red robes passed, no grass grew, the land was scorched for a thousand miles, and living beings suffered.
He longed to meet them, to see whose life was greener, or whose crimson was more absolute.
One day, he passed one mountain and then saw another.
Below the mountain, there was a stele. This place had a master.
This signified that Qing Ling had reached a place inhabited by cultivators.
He had traveled along the chaotic lands, traversing uninhabited areas. He entered the buffer zone between the Qilin and Phoenix tribes.
The earth was thick, water vapor diverged, the four seas were distant, and the yellow soil stretched endlessly.
Before a towering mountain, the spring breeze he carried from the east halted, or rather, it was stopped.
Qing Ling looked up. The inscription on the stone tablet below the mountain met his gaze.
"Xiao Feng Land"
It was the first time he had encountered such an interesting place name, and he imagined its owner must be an interesting person.
However, Qing Ling's brow twitched. With a wave of his sleeve, the Mi Tian Rope bloomed into a thousand threads, binding a figure in the empty space north of the mountain, who then stumbled out.
"Spare me, Senior! Spare me, Senior! I won't run anymore, I won't run anymore."
A young boy, with a bitter yet panicked expression, was pulled back by the Mi Tian Rope.