Primordial: From a grain of soil to the ancestor of all paths

"boom!"

"Long!"

"Long!"

"boom!"

"..."

Taiqing's clones and Pangu's true form engaged in a terrifying, world-destroying battle.

The laws of earth, wind, water, fire, as well as time, space, and the five elements, appeared so fragile under their attacks!
If it weren't for the restrictions and barriers set up by Houtu in advance, which limited all the aftershocks of the battle to a radius of one million miles, many of the great gods of the primordial world, who had not even reached the level of a Grand Luo Golden Immortal (sage), would not even have had the qualification to watch the battle up close!
However, since both Taiqing's clone and Pangu's true body have reached the limit of the Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal (Saint) realm, it is impossible for them to determine a true winner without external interference!

However, as time went by, Taiqing's clones gradually became illusory, and Pangu's true body also showed signs of dissipating.

The former was merely an avatar, and the latter was nothing more than the true body of Pangu condensed by the twelve Ancestral Witches, whose cultivation and combat power were all at the peak of Quasi-Saint, through the "Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation." Neither of them was destined to exist for long.

Ultimately, Taiqing's clone and Pangu's true form disappeared almost simultaneously, signifying that the two sides had fought to a draw!
Of course, considering that none of the twelve Ancestral Witches were as powerful as the Primordial Golden Immortal (Saint), it was clear that this avatar of Taiqing lost this battle!
"Ha ha!"

"You Buddhists want to deal with my Underworld? Dream on!"

"Your Heavenly Dao is nothing but a nobody compared to our Underworld!"

"..."

A moment later, the Ten Kings of Hell had the upper hand from the beginning, and because there was no interference from Taiqing's clone, they successfully defeated Buddhist disciples such as Ksitigarbha, Bhaisajyaguru, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra!

"It's over!"

On the side of the Fengdu Emperor, relying on his two Fengdu clones with the same cultivation level as himself, he soon defeated the combined forces of Jieyin and one Taiqing clone by virtue of their numerical advantage!

"boom!"

"boom!"

"..."

Houtu's clone continued to bombard Hongyuan with pure physical power.

"boom!"

As time went by, the defenses created by Hongyuan using the acquired merit treasure "Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda" and the creation treasure "Taiji Diagram" were forcefully blasted open by Houtu's clone with her fists!
"Goodbye, Hongyuan!"

Without any hesitation, Houtu's clone pressed her advantage, unleashing two more powerful punches in quick succession.

The first punch severely injured Hongyuan, and the second punch killed him!

As a result, apart from Zhunti's cooperation with a Taiqing clone, the outcome of the various battlefields between the Heavenly Dao and the Underworld was either mutual destruction or direct defeat!
Overall, with neither Hongjun Daozu nor Houtu's true forms participating, the Heavenly Dao side suffered a major defeat!

“It’s terrible, so terrible!”

"Is this the true power of the underworld? It's terrifying, truly terrifying!"

"Unexpectedly, not only Buddhism, but even the entire Heavenly Dao faction couldn't do anything to the Underworld without the intervention of Dao Ancestor Hongjun?"

"So what if Dao Ancestor Hongjun intervenes? Unless he wants to directly destroy the Underworld, Houtu, as the lord of the Underworld, is invincible!"

"..."

This battle horrified countless ancient gods!

It should be noted that in the present prehistoric world, there are forces such as the human and demon races, the Jie Sect, the Underworld, Tianyuan Mountain, as well as rogue cultivators such as Yang Mei Ancestor and Xi Wangmu, all of whom stand on the opposite side of the Heavenly Dao!

As a result, the Heavenly Dao side is now unable to suppress even a single underworld.
If it weren't for the extremely powerful Hongjun Daozu in charge, in the eyes of the prehistoric gods, the Heavenly Dao side would have been destined to fail!

"After this battle, all living beings in the primordial world will see the power of the Underworld and the entire 'Anti-Heavenly Dao Alliance', and the weakness of the Heavenly Dao!" After seeing the Underworld's overall victory, Tianyan's beautiful eyes revealed joy: "Afterwards, there should be more primordial beings willing to join the Anti-Heavenly Dao Alliance, right?"

"Don't be careless!" Qinglian said relatively calmly, "The truly terrifying aspect of the Heavenly Dao is never the Heavenly Dao Saints or those Saint sects, but Hongjun!"

"Furthermore, the Heavenly Dao is planning to use the Demonic Path to carry out its scheme. While its main purpose is to deal with Hongjun, if we allow it to proceed smoothly, it will inevitably be detrimental to us as well!"

"Yes, Qinglian is right!" Taichu nodded and said, "We need to deal with Hongjun, but we also cannot let our guard down against the Heavenly Dao!"

"Ideally, when the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun wage a great war in the future, and one side gains the upper hand, we can appropriately help the other side!"

"Understood!" Qinglian smiled. "As long as the Heavenly Dao and Hongjun have not yet determined a true victor, they will continue to deplete and restrain each other's power!"

"That way, we can take advantage of the chaos!"

"Once we have enough strength, we'll deal with them all at once!"

"Alright!" Tai Chu glanced at the battlefield, which was gradually returning to calm, and said to Qing Lian and Tian Yan, "Judging from the current situation, Hong Jun should not be involved!"

"Let's wait a little longer. Once everything here is settled, we should go back to continue our secluded cultivation!"

Neither Qinglian nor Tianyan would object to this!
On the battlefield!

The deities from both sides, including Hongyuan, Yuanshi, Taiqing, Jieyin, and Minghe, have all been resurrected.

The deities of Heaven and the Underworld glared at each other, but neither of them took any further extreme actions!
"Hongyuan!"

"Since your Heavenly Dao side has already lost the battle just now, shouldn't you keep your promise and hand over Ksitigarbha to my Underworld for disposal?"

Houtu, in the posture of a victor, declared to Hongyuan and the others.

"..."

Jieyin, Zhunti, Ksitigarbha, and others all looked grim and found it difficult to refute.

Most importantly, the battle just now proved that if the Heavenly Dao side were to fight to the death with the Underworld side, they would be the ones to suffer!

Paying such a huge price for a small Ksitigarbha statue is clearly not worth it!

Moreover, even if they do manage to preserve Ksitigarbha, the benefits the latter can bring them will be quite limited.

"Alright!" Hongyuan nodded helplessly, but still couldn't help asking, "But what do you plan to do with him?"

Although Hongyuan and his colleagues believed that the underworld would probably execute Ksitigarbha directly, what if something unexpected happened?
"Humph!"

"Is that even a question? Such a scoundrel who acts so recklessly in my underworld should of course be killed on the spot as a warning to others!"

Before Houtu could respond, the ancestral witch Zhurong snorted coldly and spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"..." Upon hearing this, Hong Yuan and the others' expressions darkened.

Ksitigarbha's heart was filled with despair!
“Killing Ksitigarbha directly is indeed a very simple, direct, and brutal solution, but I have another suggestion!” However, Houtu shook her head and said meaningfully, “The reason why our Underworld is making such a big fuss over a mere Ksitigarbha is twofold: firstly, he made a grand ambition that would affect our Underworld without our permission; secondly, we do not want the Underworld’s power to fall into other hands!”

"However, if Ksitigarbha were willing to leave Buddhism and join my Underworld, then everything would be different!"

In fact, Houtu had already devised this method the moment Ksitigarbha made his great vow. But the best time for her to propose this idea was only after the underworld had demonstrated sufficiently powerful strength!
"what?"

"Should we separate Ksitigarbha from Buddhism and let him join the underworld?"

As soon as Houtu finished speaking, Jieyin and Zhunti's expressions changed.

Ksitigarbha is a disciple of Buddhism, and it was for the benefit of Buddhism that he made the great vow, "I will not become a Buddha until hell is emptied."

If Ksitigarbha were to perish, it would simply mean that Buddhism lost a sufficiently outstanding second-generation disciple, and that the plan of Jieyin and Zhunti to interfere in the underworld had failed.

But if Ksitigarbha were to turn around and join the Underworld, wouldn't that just strengthen the Underworld's power?

Moreover, as long as Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva lives on, all living beings in the primordial world will forever remember how Buddhism shot itself in the foot!

However, even if Jieyin and Zhunti were unwilling, they could not possibly stand up and say things like "We would rather Ksitigarbha die than have him join the underworld."

"You want me to betray Buddhism and join the underworld?"

At this moment, even Ksitigarbha, who was involved, was completely bewildered.

He never expected things to develop this way.
However, problems followed!

Did he follow Houtu's advice and go to the underworld, or did he simply commit suicide to preserve the reputation of Buddhism to some extent?
To be honest, this is a really difficult choice for Ksitigarbha!
If he could, he wouldn't want to be a traitor, but he also didn't want to perish like this!

"Heh!" At this moment, Styx chuckled and said, "Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Cihang, and Julusun of the Chan Sect were able to betray the Chan Sect and join Buddhism, so why can't you, Ksitigarbha, betray Buddhism and join the Underworld?"

"Does Buddhism, which once accepted traitors, not want to accept a traitor emerging from its own ranks?"

Upon hearing this, Yuanshi's eyes flashed with anger, and his gaze toward Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Cihang, and other former disciples of the Chan Sect was filled with obvious killing intent!
If the timing hadn't been inappropriate, he probably would have taken action to eliminate the traitors at any time!

Jieyin and Zhunti looked embarrassed, with a bitter smile on their lips.

Having learned from the mistakes of Manjushri and his companions, they were even less inclined to voice any objections!

Ksitigarbha's resistance also lessened somewhat!
"Moreover, Ksitigarbha, the benefits of joining my Underworld are far greater than those in Buddhism!" Styx pressed on, saying to Ksitigarbha, "Firstly, you can, based on your previous great vows, gain some authority over my Underworld to a certain extent."

"When you become a member of my underworld, this will be a natural progression!"

"Secondly, my Underworld possesses the complete Three Thousand Great Dao Laws. You can abandon the Three Thousand Heavenly Dao Laws you originally cultivated and instead cultivate the Three Thousand Great Dao Laws, thereby gaining even greater power!"

"Thirdly, you've seen the results of the previous battles. My Underworld is far more powerful than Buddhism."

"Is your future in my underworld any better than it is in Buddhism?"

"If you are willing to join my Underworld and make great contributions to it in the future, I can bestow upon you a strand of Primordial Purple Qi to help you become an Underworld Saint!" Houtu added meaningfully.

"Hiss!" Ksitigarbha gasped.

If what Styx said had already moved him quite a bit, then Houtu's words were the most powerful force to break through his heart!

That's the position of a true saint!

With the number of Heavenly Saints unlikely to increase further and Human Saints becoming increasingly rare, the status of Earthly Saint is arguably the greatest opportunity in the hearts of countless primordial deities!
Ksitigarbha was well aware that compared to the other deities in the underworld, his chances of obtaining the Dao Fruit of the Earthly Saint were extremely slim, but that was still better than having no hope at all.

"what?"

"The Goddess Houtu promised that she might bestow upon Ksitigarbha a wisp of primordial purple energy in the future?"

"No, what makes him so special, a mere Ksitigarbha?"

"If we had known, we should have been the ones to make this grand vow!"

"..."

At this moment, countless ancient gods looked at Ksitigarbha with envy and jealousy, wishing they could take his place.

Even some Buddhist disciples looked at Ksitigarbha with a hint of envy.

At least within Buddhism, they have absolutely no chance of becoming a sage or saint!
"Rest assured, everyone, anyone who is willing to join my Underworld and make corresponding contributions will be granted Primordial Purple Qi!"

"Just like Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun!"

Noticing the reactions of the gods, Houtu reiterated her promise.

She wouldn't let go of this great opportunity to "advertise" for the underworld!
"The Goddess Houtu did not lie. Fellow Daoists Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun were not originally deities of the Underworld. Now that they have obtained the Primordial Purple Qi of the Underworld, it will probably not be long before they become Underworld Saints like the Lord of the Styx River!"

"Then what are we waiting for? We're willing to join the Underworld too!"

"That's right, we'd like to too!"

"..."

In an instant, many ancient deities decided to join the Underworld.

The remaining ancient deities were also somewhat tempted.

"Thank you, ma'am!"

"Ksitigarbha is willing to leave Buddhism and join the underworld!"

Ksitigarbha couldn't help but speak up to Houtu!

"Ugh!"

Jieyin and Zhunti sighed deeply. This time, Buddhism had truly suffered a huge loss.

If they had known this would happen, they would never have let Ksitigarbha make that grand vow!

"Now that the matter of Ksitigarbha has been resolved, it's time for us to leave!"

Hong Yuan, his expression equally gloomy, spoke.

This is not only a significant blow to Buddhism, but also to the entire Heavenly Dao faction!

then!

Not long after, Hongyuan, who was unwilling to stay any longer, along with Taiqing and Yuanshi, left the Underworld with their disciples!
"Oh!"

"We won! We've won completely!"

"In my opinion, the so-called Four Sages of Heaven and One Region of Heaven are nothing more than this!"

"The underworld will prevail!"

"..."

A huge cheer erupted from the underworld! (End of Chapter)