The Ancestor of All Demons

Xie Wuhua is a naturally cautious Loose Cultivator, who has been secluded for hundreds of years in the icy mountains and snowy seas of Southern Pole Island, cultivating deep beneath the thousand-foot ice mountains, isolated from the world with only two or three friends whom he rarely contacts. His goal is very clear: he does not wish to involve himself in any worldly matters, only to cultivate silently, then ascend to Heaven to enjoy eternal Immortal Blessings.

The Yuanyun Ball wasn't originally his, as it was entrusted to him along with a disciple by a friend years ago.

Now he has entrusted the Yuanyun Ball and that disciple to Shi Feiyang, allowing himself to ascend peacefully, as he cannot take the Yuanyun Ball to Heaven with his strength; it must remain in the Human World.

Moreover, if Shi Feiyang ascends in the future, his rank will surely surpass his own, and they could form a good relationship, allowing him to be protected by Shi Feiyang to overcome this Heavenly Tribulation, further repaying Shi Feiyang's kindness…

For all these reasons, he straightforwardly offered the Yuanyun Ball.

Shi Feiyang took the Yuanyun Ball and, with a slight casting, checked it to know that it is indeed a very powerful treasure.

In the original text, this Yuanyun Ball had never officially appeared, only mentioned once as something formidable, but neither Righteous nor Evil paths coveted it, so Shi Feiyang didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just boasting.

Now holding it in his hand, upon investigating, he realizes that this treasure is an Ancient Treasure, likely born from the Chaos at the beginning of the current Yuan.

Every thirty years is a Shì, twelve Shì is a Yùn, thirty Yùn is a Huì, and twelve Huì is a Yuan—a large time cycle above the Jiazi.

The so-called "one Yuan begins anew, all things renew" originates from this.

Theoretically, as long as the Mana is sufficient, one can use the Yuanyun Ball to survey the entire Yuan, which is 129,600 years, encompassing all major and minor Heavenly Tribulations and Earthly Changes, including all human affairs, with details as minute as a flower blooming in the mountains or a grain of sand rolling at the seafloor, all can be seen clearly!

However, this device consumes too much Mana, even more if cultivated with Lesser Cultivation Techniques.

With Xie Wuhua's hundreds of years of Lesser Cultivation Dao Level, he could only view within one Shì, that is, no more than thirty years, consuming a lot of vital energy and Mana, taking a long time to recover.

Of course, it can only check past events; predicting future events requires combining various techniques for calculation, consuming even more.

Shi Feiyang received the Yuanyun Ball, with the first thought of using it to check on everyone around him, to see what they had done in the past, and which, if any, would betray him in the future. Naturally, he also wanted to use it to pore over the Heavens, combined with the Circulation Light Disc, to see which world in the future could serve as a refuge.

However, this was not urgent. He put away the treasure and told everyone, "If the first two don't work, I will establish a Small Heavenly World based on the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, at least ensuring a thousand years of unceasing Spiritual Energy, to endure this Dharma Decline Era, waiting for the Spiritual Energy to recover in the future."

At this point, a Sword Immortal spoke, "I heard that this Dharma Decline Era is no small matter, all Small Heavenly Worlds cannot be preserved. Small Heavenly Worlds depend on the time and space of the Great Heavenly Worlds to exist. When the Spiritual Energy depletes to a certain extent, the Great Heavenly World becomes Mortal Land, the Small Heavenly World will all collapse and disintegrate, and the cultivators inside will suddenly encounter the outside environment, all turning into Zombies."

Shi Feiyang laughed, "The Small Heavenly World I plan to establish is different from theirs. I have the Chaos Dragon Ball, which contains a Chaos Core. It's a pity that my current Daoist power is still somewhat insufficient. Once I achieve Golden Immortal Perfection, I can truly use it to nurture a World Primordial Embryo, essentially a Cosmic Seed, which can grow into a Great Heavenly World."

The crowd listened, with some firmly believing, some half-believing, exchanging glances and whispering among themselves.

Divine Camel Yi Xiu waved his large hand, "I've lived for so many years, it's the first time I've seen someone nurturing a World Primordial Embryo. I, the camel, don't want to ascend to Heaven for the constraints of duties, I'm used to freedom; I won't go to the Immortal Realm, I'll stay here in the Lower Realm with Fellow Daoist Shi to witness Fellow Daoist's Divine Skills!"

Yi Xiu is quite loyal; during this Tribulation Crossing, he and Han Fairy greatly appreciated Shi Feiyang's kindness, and he took the initiative to step forward and say he wouldn't leave, wanting to accompany Shi Feiyang to the end.

The remaining Ancestor Hiding in Emptiness, Shaoyang God Monarch, and others also expressed not being in a hurry to ascend, especially Shaoyang God Monarch, who also wanted to save Cang Xu Elder.

In the end, thirteen Heavenly Immortals, including Xie Wuhua, decided to ascend as soon as possible.

Those with disciples entrusted them to Shi Feiyang, while those without disciples handed over their millenniums of accumulated wealth directly to Shi Feiyang.

Shi Feiyang arranged their ascension, choosing a date to protect them, sending thirteen people collectively ascending to the void.

During this period, Shi Feiyang assigned personnel to manage various affairs of the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain.

This time the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain was also considered "one Yuan begins anew, all things renew"; after this Tribulation, the entire environment has undergone considerable changes, with more Pure Qi and less Dull Energy, already possessing parts of the "Heaven and Earth" nature, making one feel mentally clear and physically comfortable staying here.

Since all Demons dislike Pure Spirit Qi, the invisible demonic presence here has greatly reduced, making less disturbance during cultivation, and Heart Demons are less likely to appear, making one's mind easily settled, without random thoughts and without spontaneous anger or desire.

Even the Primordial Spirit can naturally condense.

The Immortals all joyously praised, "Cultivating here for one year is equivalent to ten years outside; truly getting twice the result with half the effort!"

In such an environment, not only the cultivators but even ordinary fish, turtles, shrimps, crabs, flying beasts, and beasts have begun to evolve, becoming different from the outside world.

Sacrificial Refinement of treasures also more easily grows spiritual nature.

Mo Zhui, managing various herbs, noticed many that had existed for hundreds of years quickly opened their intelligence.

This is not only due to the cleansing of the Heavenly Tribulation, the reason for the world's sublimation, but more core is that Shi Feiyang's Chaos Dragon Ball is merging with the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, the deeper the fusion, the more this place resembles the environment of Heaven and Earth at the beginning.

Feeling this change, Shi Feiyang was also very pleased.

He calmed his heart, using the Yuanyun Ball in concert with the Heavenly Mirror and Circulation Light Disc to survey the heavens, discovering that the future Dharma Decline Era was truly formidable, as the spiritual energy of all the Heavenly Worlds would be exhausted...

Except for the Spiritual Space Immortal Realm, and even the spiritual energy of the Spiritual Space Immortal Realm would diminish.

Shi Feiyang saw that, in the future, the Immortal Power in the Immortal Realm would also decline, especially for the "lower" immortals.

After Pangu split heaven and earth, pure qi ascended to become heaven, and dull energy descended to become earth.

Even the pure qi varied, with the purest and most spiritual being Taixu Qi, floating in the uppermost layer, where the Heavenly God resided, with the densest spiritual energy; the Purple and Blue Duoluo Fire was nurtured there.

Layer by layer beneath that, down to where the normal Heavenly Immortals resided.

This time, the spiritual energy in the Immortal Realm where ordinary immortals dwelled would also drastically decrease, with more "Fallen Immortals" descending to the Lower Realm in the future.

In the past, when Heavenly Immortals were demoted, they could still cultivate in the Human World, continuing as top masters, and ascend back after some cultivation period.

But future Fallen Immortals coming down would become mere mortals!

Not only the Spiritual Space Immortal Realm, but all gods, demons, monsters, and ghosts from the other Heavenly Worlds would descend to the Human World, with demons from all realms reincarnating as mortals.

Even the Buddha Country Pure Lands... that is somewhat complicated. Buddhism doesn't emphasize the physical body or appearance, focusing instead on the mind's nature.

Because all techniques manifest solely from the heart, and perception alone changes, cultivating the First Fruit Sotapanna requires breaking the attachment to the body, recognizing that this body is not self, deterring any trace of greed.

If one clings to their physical body and seeks to make it stronger, that's violating the teachings of Buddhist Law.

The so-called Purple Gold Body is created from the heart, not through Qi Refinement, consumption, or physical exercise.

Thus, while Daoists engage in Dual Cultivation of Life and Nature, Golden Immortals strive for Body Ascension, Buddhism, even at the level of Three Monks and Two Nuns, sees the body as just a decaying shell, ready to be abandoned at any time.

As for relics, they are essentially no more than ashes, not something the individual cares about, unless they serve a special purpose, only the disciples and descendants treat them as a crystallization of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, building towers to worship them, viewed as rare treasures in the world, in reality, mistaking the casket for the pearl within.

The Buddha Country Pure Land, only the realm of Constant Light in cultivation remains unaffected, whereas Mixed World undergoes the processes of Righteous Skill, Image Skill, Dharma Decline, and Dharma Destruction.

By then, many Bodhisattvas will enter reincarnation again, going with the flow to worlds where the Dharma hasn't been fully eradicated to enlighten the beings.

In conclusion... this calamity is extremely formidable; the shift of the Ziwei Emperor Star has occurred many times before, but this time is particularly severe.

Shi Feiyang, through the Yuanyun Ball, saw this, feeling that none of his previous upper, middle, or lower plans could be achieved...

The last hope must rest on my Chaos Dragon Ball!

Thinking of this, he felt a chill of fear, grateful that he had voluntarily taken on many burdens and kept an open heart, welcoming Sword Immortals coming to cross tribulation for the better, shouldering most of the calamities himself, which led to a qualitative improvement of the Chaos Dragon Ball; had he only cultivated silently, the Chaos Dragon Ball would hardly prove of significant use.

Aside from this matter, he also meticulously calculated the people around him, trying to see who would ultimately betray him in the future.

He started with Lin Han, Mrs. Deng, and Huo Wuhai, including the Mo Zhui brothers, and then Yi Xiu, Han Fairy, Ancestor Xian Kong, Shaoyang God Monarch, Zhenyue God Monarch...

He did not randomly check but systematically screened, regardless of suspicion, relying not on intuition but thoroughly investigating each person.

The result was that none of these people were traitors.

Shi Feiyang was puzzled; he even checked the disciple Li Hou entrusted by Xie Wuhua, and it wasn't him either.

The divination suggested it would arise from within close quarters, implying that person was right before him, not distant.

Yet, even after checking beyond "five closenesses," he couldn't find it!

Could it be that the adversary's mana is so high, obscuring the Heaven's Secret, that he couldn't discover it even with these efforts?

But who on earth could possess such capabilities? Not even Deng Yin, Xin Ru, or the Giant Wood God could achieve this!

However, on second thought, if it's not from this world, could it be from heaven?

Just when he found it inexplicable, he recalled something else:

Indeed, the divination indicated it would arise in the close quarters, but it never said it had to be a person!