309: Hongmeng Yuanqi

In a flash, two months passed.

During this month, the Blood-Eyed Demon Ape Clan captured many Human Race members and executed many suspicious individuals, but the murderer they sought remained elusive.

Meanwhile, inside the nine-dragon carriage, sixty years had already passed.

After refining all the blood-colored energy, Xu Qing further devoured the treasures from Tu You Mountain and the Mad Ape Clan's vault. Coupled with spending over three hundred billion family points, his Body Refining cultivation finally broke through to the Middle Stage Dao Lord Realm.

The Physical Body of a Middle Stage Dao Lord was an entirely different concept from that of an Early Stage Dao Lord.

He felt every cell in his body radiating with brilliant light, filled with immensely powerful strength. With a mere lift of his hand or foot, he could shatter an Early Stage Dao Lord.

With his Physical Body enhanced, Xu Qing could now focus on breaking through his Qiankun cultivation.

He extended his Dao thought, and after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Xu Qing retracted it.

The outside world was in Chaos, just as he had anticipated.

When he eliminated the Tu You Mountain Lord that day, Xu Qing already knew the opponent's identity, so after killing him, he used the System to erase all traces of his own aura.

When Yuan Tongtian arrived at Tu You Mountain, Xu Qing was cultivating below the battlefield, hidden within the nine-dragon carriage. Three days after Yuan Tongtian left, Xu Qing went to the Mad Ape Mansion, wiped out the Mad Ape Clan, and plundered their countless years of accumulated wealth.

He also erased all traces, as for the recording stone, Xu Qing had overlooked it, but he didn't care.

He cultivated the Myriad Daos and Myriad Laws, and his Dao of Transformation had long reached the pinnacle. He could still travel in the Sky Ape Dao Domain under a different identity.

However, his strength was still too low. That day, he witnessed Yuan Tongtian's power and realized he had underestimated the Dao Lord Realm.

The opponent was already an Early Stage Dao Lord, not far from the Middle Stage Dao Lord Realm.

If he were to fight Yuan Tongtian, he could suppress and kill him, but he would also suffer severe injuries. And this was the Yao Race's main base; if he made a move, he would easily be hunted down by other Immortal Dao Lords.

The Dao Lord Realm is divided into five minor stages: Early Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage, Peak, and Perfection. A Dao Lord Supreme Sovereign wishing to break through to an Immortal Dao Lord needs to continuously absorb Chaos Profound Qi, evolve it into Chaos Primordial Qi, and enrich the foundation of their Major Thousand Worlds. Then, they can attempt to evolve living beings.

Only when the Major Thousand Worlds are complete can one break through to the Dao Lord Realm!

And for an Immortal Dao Lord to break through each minor Realm, he needs to absorb nine strands of Hongmeng Primordial Qi, requiring forty-five strands to reach Dao Lord Perfection.

Hongmeng Primordial Qi is a supreme power, a powerful energy released during the creation of heaven and earth, possessing the mysterious ability to create and evolve all things.

A Dao Lord must absorb Hongmeng Primordial Qi to condense a Great Dao World. The birth of Hongmeng Primordial Qi can only occur at the genesis of creation or within some Ancient Dao Realms.

Ancient Dao Realms are Dao Realms that either formed after the fall of an Eternal being or evolved through continuous nurturing by the Chaos Sea.

Such Dao Realms are already equivalent to Eternal Dao Realms because their Great Dao is complete, and they spontaneously generate Hongmeng Primordial Qi after a certain period.

However, as soon as such Dao Realms appear, many powerful cultivators flock to them. Furthermore, some Dao Realms even harbor races not weaker than those in Eternal Dao Realms, making it very difficult for ordinary Dao Lords to obtain it.

At this time, a Dao Lord will use the Major Thousand Worlds within his body as a breeding ground. Every kalpa, he will re-create the world, allowing it to return to Chaos, then expend his Origin to reforge the elements of earth, wind, water, and fire, and recreate the flow of time, thereby obtaining a strand of Hongmeng Primordial Qi from the moment of creation.

One kalpa is 12.8 billion years, which translates to roughly 98,765 epochs. Currently, one epoch is merely ten thousand epochs.

Although a Dao Lord can accelerate the speed of the Major Thousand Worlds within his body, recreating the flow of time causes internal emptiness and requires expending his own Origin.

Therefore, every ten thousand epochs, a Dao Lord expert can perform a kalpa a maximum of nine times on their Major Thousand Worlds. Some weaker ones can only perform two to three kalpas.

Consequently, without other channels, a Dao Lord can obtain a maximum of nine strands of Hongmeng Primordial Qi per ten thousand epochs solely through kalpas.

This illustrates the difficulty of obtaining Hongmeng Primordial Qi, which leads to a huge disparity even among Dao Lord experts of the same Realm.

For example, under identical conditions of Bloodline, talent, and other factors, a Dao Lord who has condensed two strands of Hongmeng Primordial Qi can completely overwhelm a Dao Lord with one strand.

As for Yuan Tongtian, he had already condensed seven strands of Hongmeng Primordial Qi. It could be said that his cultivation was only two steps away from the Middle Stage Dao Lord Realm.

Although Xu Qing could suppress and kill him, there were still powerful cultivators in the Sky Ape Dao Domain. If he, a Human Race member, killed a Yao Race Dao Lord, he would likely be jointly targeted and hunted by the Yao Race immediately.

Xu Qing had always adhered to the Dao of Prudence, and he would never allow himself to fall into danger.

Therefore, he did not act that day, choosing instead to endure.

Having too low a cultivation was ultimately not a long-term plan; diligently improving his strength was the true path.

With ample family points in hand, it was better to continue cultivating. If his Qiankun System broke through to the Late Stage Dao Lord Realm, which was equivalent to a Middle Stage Dao Lord, he could then overwhelm a group of people. And the strongest cultivator in this Sky Ape Dao Domain had only just broken through to that Realm.

Xu Qing once again entered secluded cultivation... In the Lower Realm, on the Eternal Continent, the Central Heaven Divine Continent!

Central Heaven Dao Domain!

Since ancient times, this place has been the continental center of the Eternal Continent. Here, a hundred flowers bloomed and a hundred schools of thought contended. Legends say that in distant eras, countless powerful cultivators emerged from here, and countless powerful methods were born.

Because of this, for countless years, this place became a Holy Land in the hearts of the Human Race. Consequently, this special region was given the title of Dao Domain, to distinguish it from Emperor Domains, implying its superiority over many Emperor Domains.

Of course, its ability to transcend numerous Emperor Domains, apart from various legends, was more importantly due to the many Peak continental powers hidden here.

The most well-known was the continent's foremost power, the Heaven Suppression Hall, followed by One Tower, Two Academies, Three Associations, Four Palaces, and Eight Clans.

The One Tower was the Heavens Secret Pavilion. This power was extremely mysterious, renowned for divining the secrets of Heaven, and was collectively known as the 'Three Ones' of the Central Heaven Divine Continent alongside the Heaven Suppression Hall and the Yin Yang Divine Dynasty: the First Hall, the First Dynasty, and the First Pavilion!

The Two Academies were the Dongxuan Academy and the Azure Lotus Academy, both possessing Legacy from the Upper Realm. The Three Associations were the three major guilds of Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and Formation, serving as Holy Lands for numerous Alchemists, Artifact Refiners, and Formation Masters. The Two Academies and Three Associations were also powers left over from the Upper Realm.

The Four Palaces were the Heavenly Dao Palace, Wuji Palace, Misty Palace, and Xuanming Palace. The Heavenly Dao Palace was as mysterious as the Heavens Secret Pavilion, having no power in the Upper Realm but capable of standing on equal footing with various major powers. It is said that its history can be traced back to before the Darkness Upheaval.

The latter three palaces were also hegemonic powers in the Upper Realm, possessing immense strength.

The Eight Clans were the Ji, Jiang, Si, Ying, Yun, Gui, Ji, and Yao clans. Legend has it that these eight clans were the most ancient surnames of the Human Race, traceable to before the Darkness Upheaval. However, the current Eight Clans are merely branches; their main lineage is in the Upper Realm and holds strong prestige even within the Human Race Holy Temple.

As time drew near, the Mandate of Heaven Contention also reached its competitive moment.

Prodigies from various major powers across the continent, led by their elders, flocked to the Central Heaven Dao Domain, solely to obtain one of the Mandates of Heaven in the Mandate of Heaven Contention's grand competition, thereby achieving the status of a Mandate of Heaven Great Emperor.

Cloud Mist Mountain!

Xu Yuan, accompanied by Wang Yanan, led a group of Family Prodigies onto the spatial gate.

He already knew that his elder brother had gone to the Upper Realm. After this Mandate of Heaven, he too would follow in his elder brother's footsteps and head to the Ancient Land of Dao...