Chapter 1 Is He... A Direct Lineage Zhuzhou?

This question was quite profound, momentarily stunning Yuan Cangmeng.

Instantly, the soul of this Shenmu (divine tree) Zhuzhou seemed to radiate light. The intense thought process even caused his entire canopy to glow with extreme brilliance.

[I am a manifestation of the void, not enlightened or directly born from the Original Zhuzhou—theoretically, I shouldn't be a direct lineage Zhuzhou, but it's possible that manifestation and gestation are equivalent to direct descendants. But in the end, I am a Shenmu Zhuzhou, and the Original Zhuzhou is mostly dragon-shaped. This shouldn't make sense biologically.]

[But then again, which powerhouse adheres to mere biology? The Original Zhuzhou probably doesn't have a gender, right? So, how should a direct lineage Zhuzhou be defined? Is it His descendants? Then, would the descendants of His siblings count as direct lineage Zhuzhou? Does this direct lineage Zhuzhou trace back three generations or five? If it's a transcendent being, dozens of generations shouldn't be a problem, right?]

It must be said that Yuan Cangmeng truly possessed the blood of the Zhuzhou. This entire process of self-questioning, self-doubt, and self-optimization could be considered a classic.

However, without a doubt, to the Tianyouminghai (Heavenly Nether Sea) powerhouse named Zhudiwen (Knowing All Lands) who asked the question, Yuan Cangmeng had simply stalled.

In his eyes, the other party was hesitating whether to tell him the truth.

[—Hoo, calm down, Zhudiwen.]

The massive crystal elephant appeared motionless, but his heart was filled with anxiety and tension.

He tried hard to calm himself: [Even when facing a Hedao (Harmony of Dao) powerhouse, he shows no fear... It seems that even if he's not a direct lineage Zhuzhou, he must be of extremely close bloodline.]

This Hedao powerhouse couldn't help but be nervous.

Not long ago, the multiverse experienced a pan-multiversal level resonance of the Great Dao. All the heavens and myriad Daos vibrated and resonated as a result. It was later proven to be the sacred advancement into the Hongliu (Great Current) realm by someone named 'Original Zhuzhou'.

For the sealed multiverse, this was indeed a major event worthy of being recorded in history!

The emergence of a new Hongliu was enough to influence countless universes for immeasurable time. Their existence itself could guide the direction of endless epochs in the heavens and myriad realms, proclaiming an infinite Great Dao, and even creating the prototype of a multiverse.

Many Hedao powerhouses standing at the pinnacle of the multiverse would naturally feel nervous about the appearance of someone surpassing them, but even more so, they felt anticipation and excitement.

—A new Hongliu meant a new opportunity!

Although every powerhouse knew that another's Dao was not their own, and that just because someone else could advance to the Hongliu realm using this method didn't mean others could as well.

But this didn't prevent these powerhouses from wanting to learn from other powerhouses' Daos to glean parts that could be comprehended by themselves.

Especially since the Original Zhuzhou's Great Dao foundation was 'Love and Trust'... Such a foundation for establishing a Dao was truly gentle as never seen before, and therefore even more alluring.

Of course, this didn't mean that anyone thought the Original Zhuzhou was some kind of benevolent person or super saint.

As everyone knew, in this multiverse, being a good person was far more difficult than being a bad or terrible person.

To be an evil god or wicked god, one simply had to forsake humanity, wantonly destroy and kill, concoct some conspiracies and tricks, and disgust others, and that was pretty much it. After all, no matter how evil you were, you couldn't destroy true spirits, hinder reincarnation, or even reverse time and manipulate karma—this multiverse didn't support evil people to that extent.

Although the lower limit was already so high, some beings still inexplicably wanted to oppress other lives. But in any case, being an evil god or wicked god was relatively easy, and it could be considered a choice made by the myriad beings themselves.

On the other hand, to be a good person, one had to be an enemy of all the troublesome and bad things in the entire multiverse, all the destructive maniacs, evil gods, mechanical gods, and rotten gods.

—If you can't beat all these trash down, what qualifications do you have to be a good person?

Putting aside everything else, Zhudiwen himself knew that in a corner of the multiverse, there was a Hedao peak powerhouse whose foundation was the Dao of 'Salvation'. His strength was so great that he was only a step away from the realm of the Five Supreme Sages, and he was one of the powerhouses in the multiverse who had a chance of achieving the Hongliu!

Salvation, sounds gentle, right? Too gentle, practically one of the greatest good people in the heavens and myriad realms!

But the Hongshi Zhendao Pagoda didn't care about your flattery!

—Lord Hongshi is kind-hearted and can't bear to see you die, so just enter the pagoda and be suppressed!

[Fortunately, I paid more attention to the situation of the Huntian (Primordial Heaven) Three Thousand Realms... otherwise, I'm afraid others would have gotten here first.]

Shaking his head, withdrawing his thoughts, Zhudiwen shook his head and touched his teeth with his nose.

As the ancestral god of the 'Youhai (Nether Sea) Zhenyuxiang (Suppression Prison Elephant)', a native divine beast of the Huntian Realm, Zhudiwen could be considered in the first echelon among the Huntian powerhouses—those stronger than him were mostly the heads of various major forces and a few supreme elders who served as the foundation. As for the Five Supreme Sages, they were outside the scope of discussion, occupying the supreme power of the Original Timepoint of Huntian.

It was precisely because of this that he, who usually resided in the Huntian Realm after its opening, the separation of the clear and turbid, and the formation of the Youhai Timepoint, was able to detect the mighty power that shook the myriad realms, even the upper and lower reaches of the River of Time, at the first moment when the Hongliu was born. Furthermore, he keenly perceived that he had seen the aura of this Hongliu in one of the Three Thousand Realms of a later era!

In the eyes of the top major forces in the Huntian Realm, the Huntian Three Thousand Realms were merely 'residue' that the Huntian Realm didn't need. Naturally, they wouldn't pay attention to what value those residues would have after being transformed into worlds. As a universe of infinitely great Huntian theory, the endless sky islands in the 'Boundless Macro Heavens' were already enough for them to compete and game each other. Who would care about such a bit of chicken ribs that were tasteless to eat but a pity to discard?

But coincidentally, the Tianyouminghai Dao was one of the most powerful forces in the Huntian Realm, and also a major force that was most concerned and friendly towards mortals and many outer realms.

Zhudiwen's Dao, as the name suggested, was the Dao of 'Listening and Interacting'. His many incarnations stayed at various time nodes in the past and future, observing the interaction process between the entire Huntian Realm and the surrounding universe clusters, expecting that one by one, seeds that could return to Huntian and be received back into the Tianyouminghai would emerge from those universes.

In other words, he was the guide for the ascension after the 'Nether Reincarnation Tribulation' in the Nine Great Heavenly Tribulations of the Three Thousand Realms, so he naturally knew the situation of many universes.

When the Tian Sui Realm was reclaimed by Yuan Cangmeng, the Qi of Chaos was expelled, and it was formally incorporated into one of the Three Thousand Realms, it was already being observed by Zhudiwen—he was quite optimistic about Yuan Cangmeng's potential. If the other party could break through the peak of the Realm Creator in the future, then he would come and invite Yuan Cangmeng. If the Shenmu agreed, then he would receive the entire Tian Sui Realm into the Tianyouminghai, making the entire Tian Sui Realm a floating island on the Tianyouminghai. Yuan Cangmeng would also be guided by them to try to break through to the Hedao realm.

If he could achieve Hedao, then Yuan Cangmeng could become a core powerhouse of the Tianyouminghai Dao. If he couldn't, then he would at least be an island lord with a promising future—breaking through to Hedao wasn't a one-time thing. At most, the later the breakthrough, the lower the attention he would receive.

Now, the entire Huntian Realm, all the powerhouses of the past and future, were shaken by the emergence of the new Hongliu. Perhaps even the Five Supreme Sages who had set foot on the Original Timepoint would frown because of this. Only he, with the most well-informed news, could take advantage of this 'Shenmu Zhuzhou' relationship to see if he could contact the Original Zhuzhou.

Zhudiwen felt that compared to the gains, his efforts were practically zero! Whoever didn't do such a cost-effective thing would be stupid!

At the same time.

[All Heavens and Myriad Realms Zhuzhou Chat Group]

[Tree That Is Not Good At Sports]: [Brothers and sisters, a Hedao powerhouse from the Huntian Realm has come to my door. He's asking me if I'm a direct lineage of the group owner. Should I answer yes or no? Waiting online, urgent]

[Fun Demon]: [Of course, answer yes! Then take out the Shenmu Flying Ship design that the group owner gave you last time and let the other party admire the personal signature of a Hongliu powerhouse!]

[It's Peng Not Pigeon]: [If it were me, I'd directly show my chat history in the chat group and let the other party see how the group owner scolded us for being mud that can't be plastered onto a wall!]

[Dragon That Can't Be Fed]: [Without a doubt, choose yes. Do you think saying no will be useful?]

[Ruthless Chat Machine]: [You can try choosing no, dear]

Clearly, these replies and comments were useless.

They naturally knew that the Original Zhuzhou had advanced to the Hongliu, so they dared to joke like this—putting aside everything else, ordinary Zhuzhou would be left to their own devices if they courted death themselves. But if someone was bullying ordinary Zhuzhou in order to find the Original Zhuzhou (age 30+), then it was obvious that the Original Zhuzhou would not sit idly by!

Yuan Cangmeng glanced at the comments from the group members. Even though he had been mentally prepared for this, he couldn't help but click his tongue. [You guys only know how to talk glibly. When you guys are also found by Hedao powerhouses from other worlds, I'll definitely do the same!]

Even so, seeing that the group members were all answering his questions, Yuan Cangmeng felt a little more at ease.

At the very least, even a Hedao peak powerhouse couldn't prevent him from communicating with other Zhuzhou... Even if this powerhouse from the Tianyouminghai Dao wanted to harm him, he could just directly regard the sentient beings of the entire Tian Sui world as his 'possessions', give them to a certain group member, and then directly 'assist in the battle' himself, throwing his soul over, leaving only an empty shell of a world for the other party!

[Tree That Is Not Good At Sports]: [I'm really thankful to you guys!]

He replied like this.

Then, Yuan Cangmeng, as well as many Zhuzhou who were chatting in other chat groups, saw a rather conspicuous reply.

[Original Zhuzhou]: [?]

[Original Zhuzhou]: [Who is this, so impolite?]

[Original Zhuzhou]: [@Tree That Is Not Good At Sports Tell him to wait]

Tian Sui World.

Cangmeng Shenmu shook his canopy, causing it to radiate brilliant light.

Zhudiwen, who was pondering and waiting, raised his head. He looked at the Shenmu Zhuzhou in front of him with some doubt.

[What's wrong?]

He said, [The question is very simple... Please, are you a direct lineage Zhuzhou? Don't worry, I'm just asking.]

[Uh, I'm just a messenger.]

And Yuan Cangmeng honestly said, [The group owner... the Original Ancestor asked me to tell you, He said...]

['Tell him to wait'] He repeated verbatim.

At first, Zhudiwen didn't understand the meaning.

But soon, a sense of horror came from the depths of his soul: [What...]

[No, wait, I really came with goodwill...]

But clearly, this explanation was too weak and feeble.

Buzz—a silver door shimmered, opening in a flash of thought.

Then, a hand, an ordinary hand, as warm and smooth as if it were cast from white jade, reached out from the depths and pinched the back of this Youhai Zhenyuxiang's neck.

Immediately afterward, it was gently lifted!

Boom!

Huntian Realm.

—The Beginning of the Tianyouminghai Sea—

In the endless, black Nether cloud sea floating above the sky, a crystal giant elephant whose body was incomparably huge, comparable to a world, suddenly opened its eyes in astonishment.

[Wait!]

It raised its trunk, seemingly wanting to shout: [I...]

This giant elephant, seemingly made of crystal throughout its body, was actually snow formed by the condensation of the misty Qi of the boundless Youhai Nether Sea, constructed by the interweaving of the most Yin and most cold Qi. The 'Dusheng Sanshengshi (World-Crossing Three Lives Stone)' that was born from the reversal of Yin to Yang was the stone of the gateway that connected the Nether Human Realm. It was also the stone that sealed all time and space and suppressed the divine prison.

In the Huntian Realm, the Youhai Zhenyuxiang belonged to the innate gods and demons. It had the cause-and-effect Great Dao passed down since the birth of Huntian and was a natural Hedao powerhouse—but in reality, all of this was just Zhudiwen using the power of the Huntian Great Dao to rewind the River of Time and create a 'setting' for himself.

And when he rewound to the beginning of the opening of the Youhai, he became one of the Supreme Elders of the Tianyouminghai Dao.

Theoretically speaking, the essence of his Great Dao would always exist in the past. All the Zhenyuxiang of the future were just his incarnations and Sambhogakaya (reward body)... but that was only for ordinary cultivators.

For a Hongliu powerhouse who had just learned the power of the 'Mandate of Heaven's Chart' and also possessed the ability of 'Reaching the Distant Dao'... no matter which world he was in, or what bizarre past and future time loop he was in.

Everything was the same!

There was no continuation.

Before Zhudiwen could finish speaking, the body, incarnation, and clone of this Hedao peak powerhouse all disappeared from the Huntian Realm.

[Enemy attack?!]

[What happened?!]

[Why did Elder Zhenyu suddenly disappear?!]

[The Three Lives Dao is still running—but the Ancestral Master is gone!]

For a time, even the powerhouses of the Tianyouminghai Dao were plunged into fear and panic—the fact that a Hedao peak powerhouse suddenly disappeared, and was clearly captured by other powerhouses, was enough to make them shudder.

However, no matter how they investigated, no matter how they swept the past, future, and present with their divine thoughts, they could not find any clues or traces.

Only one Hedao powerhouse with the sharpest eyes, without relying on divine thought, but relying on the most ordinary three-dimensional spatial light perception, saw an anomaly in the place where Zhudiwen's body was originally located.

It was a strange existence without any spiritual Qi fluctuations, Great Dao fluctuations, or even mass.

It was a pure 'light'.

[This is...]

The Hedao powerhouse who noticed the light's unit at the first moment cautiously observed the content of the light.

Then, he saw it.

A... leaflet.

[Preventing Bad Powerhouses from Bullying, Start by Reporting on the Spot!]

[Zhuzhou Heaven Reminds You of Some Common Oppression Methods and Case Characteristics in the Multiverse!]

[1. Looking down from a high position, claiming to be the only Great Dao...]

[...]

[Whether it is righteously worded, or disguised as justice, as long as there is suspicion that someone is oppressing sentient beings and hindering the progress and development of civilization, please immediately call the Zhuzhou Heaven Emergency Hotline!]

[One Hongliu and one Hedao peak powerhouse are always at your service, resolutely cracking down on all bad oppressors in the multiverse!]

[—Multiverse Police Department, Zhuzhou Heaven Central Prison]

[—Director Original Zhuzhou, Deputy Director and Warden Hongshi (Announce)]