Lao Tzu is Ji Gong

After seeing all the monsters turn into white specks of light, Li Xiuyuan formed a hand seal with his right hand and pointed downwards, saying, "Everything is like a dream, a bubble, go!"

The light spots quickly dissipated; it turned out that Li Xiuyuan had sent them to the underworld to be reincarnated.

Although these monsters were dealt with, the black mist did not dissipate; on the contrary, it seemed to be intensifying. Li Xiuyuan knew that even bigger monsters were waiting behind. Only by eliminating these monsters in the black mist could the Azure Dragon truly regain its senses and become the divine beast that once protected the region.

With a snap of his fingers, Li Xiuyuan conjured a torch in the air, illuminating his path.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss~"

The fog grew thicker and visibility decreased as they went further. Even the Holy Light Flame couldn't be of much use under these conditions, so Li Xiuyuan waved his hand and put the Holy Light Flame back into his pouch.

Li Xiuyuan keenly sensed that something unusual was amiss on the ground around him.

"Sigh~"

Li Xiuyuan instinctively dodged to the left, his right hand pointing downwards. In a short while, the Divine Demon Sword appeared in his hand. Then, Li Xiuyuan floated into the air and slashed through the air, and the gloomy black mist disappeared.

He looked down at the ground and discovered that a large number of venomous snakes had gathered there, their heads flicking and poised to attack.

Chapter 1047 Saving the Azure Dragon

Nearly a hundred venomous snakes were writhing on the ground, their bodies glossy black, flicking their tongues, and emanating a chilling aura. Seeing that the black mist that had just been broken was showing signs of gathering again under the influence of these black snakes, Li Xiuyuan immediately twirled his sword and slashed towards the group of black snakes that were causing trouble.

"No wonder it's getting colder and colder. It turns out it's all because of you monsters causing trouble here. I'll wipe you all out!"

No sooner had Li Xiuyuan finished speaking than a burst of fire shot towards the snake swarm.

The snakes clearly sensed the danger and were unwilling to sit and wait for their deaths. They all mustered their last bit of strength to leap into the air, only to be killed by Li Xiuyuan.

"Tsk, a mere black snake, daring to cause trouble here." Li Xiuyuan looked at the snake corpse that must have vanished with the black mist, a disdainful smile appearing on his lips.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Hearing the harsh voice, Li Xiuyuan coldly said, "What other tricks do you have? Come at me all at once. Aren't you tired of this coming in waves? I can take care of you all in one go."

With a rumble and flying rocks, a huge figure appeared in front of Li Xiuyuan. The body was very strange, ten meters long, completely black, with extremely long hair, two legs and two arms, and its face was not visible. It was neither human nor non-human, and its whole body was covered with black scales.

"Could this be the final monster?" Li Xiuyuan glanced at it again and looked more closely. "Could this be the Azure Dragon in its human form? If so, it is indeed exceptionally burly."

"Azure Dragon?" Li Xiuyuan tried to greet it, but Azure Dragon did not respond. Li Xiuyuan examined the monster in front of him carefully and found that it was completely different from the Azure Dragon in his memory.

"It seems it's not the Azure Dragon, so I can attack with confidence." Li Xiuyuan stretched his neck and wrists, let out a roar, and punched the giant monster in front of him, making it stagger. But the monster seemed to have no feeling at all, as if it felt no pain. It showed no fear and instead became even more ferocious, rushing towards Li Xiuyuan without any regard for anything.

Seeing the monster's fighting spirit roused, Li Xiuyuan said contemptuously, "Tsk tsk, not bad, quite resilient. But a beast is a beast. So what if it can take a beating now? It's just a man's last struggle before death. I don't have time to play with you here. Nuwa is waiting for me outside."

The reckless monster pounced on him, but Li Xiuyuan felt no fear; instead, it ignited the violent rage deep within him.

Li Xiuyuan thrust his right hand forward, and the Divine Demon Sword in his hand flew out, piercing straight through the monster's head.

"boom!"

The massive body collapsed with a crash. After fulfilling its mission, the Divine Demon Sword returned to Li Xiuyuan's hand on its own, and the monster's corpse on the ground also disappeared, having been devoured by the Divine Demon Sword's malevolent energy.

After defeating the giant beast in front of them, the black mist in the air finally dissipated, revealing its true form.

The air was no longer so murky. Li Xiuyuan greedily took a few deep breaths of the fresh air; the foul stench from before had almost suffocated him.

After walking less than a hundred steps, Li Xiuyuan keenly sensed a groaning sound coming from several kilometers to his right.

Li Xiuyuan strode forward, passing through layers of vines, and after burning hundreds of man-eating flowers, he finally saw a cave.

Li Xiuyuan stopped in his tracks. What caught his eye was a stunningly beautiful woman with lips as red as lacquer, eyebrows as black as ink, hair as black as a waterfall, skin as smooth as cream, and an alluring charm.

Li Xiuyuan had seen many stunning beauties, but he rarely encountered a beautiful woman bound by chains. The black chains, gleaming with a cold light, bound the woman's graceful figure, making her skin appear even whiter and more delicate. The occasional red marks from the chains sparked endless imagination.

"Are you the Azure Dragon, one of the four ancient divine beasts?" Li Xiuyuan asked softly, his fierce aura from the battle gone.

"Yes, I am the Azure Dragon. What is it?" Although the woman was down on her luck, she still maintained the majesty of an ancient divine beast. Her two willow-leaf eyebrows were raised, giving people a sense of authority without anger.

Li Xiuyuan said solemnly, "I am Li Xiuyuan. You have been invaded by the Black Fiend, destroying countless farms and leaving corpses everywhere. This is not something a guardian beast should do."

Upon hearing this, the woman looked distressed and anxious.

"Azure Dragon, let me ask you, do you know the mistake you have made?"

"I, Qinglong, know nothing about this."

"Nonsense! You've killed so many people, how can you say you know nothing about it? Tell me quickly!"

"Alright, the fact that you've come this far and stood before me shows you have some skill. But you should leave quickly, lest I become a burden to you." Qinglong said, then leaned weakly against a nearby rock.

"Qinglong, since you say I'm a capable person, do you dare to take a gamble?" Li Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow and looked at Qinglong.

"What are we betting on?" Qinglong asked Li Xiuyuan, puzzled.

"Let's bet, I, Li Xiuyuan, can help you get out of this predicament, how about it?"

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope ignited in Qinglong's eyes, but it quickly vanished.

"I know that your current level of skill and cultivation must be the result of many years of diligent practice. You should leave quickly! The one who imprisoned me is not someone who can be easily dismissed. Even I am no match for him, let alone you. You should not waste your hard-earned cultivation for me." After saying this, Qinglong convulsed and groaned in pain. Soon, he broke out in a cold sweat from the pain, as if he were being tortured by iron chains.

Seeing her suffering, Li Xiuyuan felt a pang of pity. He hadn't expected that Qinglong was such a kind person. Even in such pain, she was still concerned about his difficult cultivation. This strengthened Li Xiuyuan's resolve to help Qinglong regain her senses.

Li Xiuyuan once again summoned the Divine Demon Sword, seized the opportunity, and slashed at the black iron chains binding the Azure Dragon.

After a "ding," Li Xiuyuan looked at the black iron chain in disbelief, unable to believe that the Divine Demon Sword, with its immense power, had failed to sever the chain.

However, Li Xiuyuan was not worried, because he had used less than 20% of his strength in that attack. He was concerned that the power of the Divine Demon Sword was too great and might accidentally injure the Azure Dragon, which was bound by black iron chains.

Qinglong, however, was greatly surprised when he saw Li Xiuyuan's weapon, exclaiming, "The Divine Demon Sword? Is that the Divine Demon Sword that shakes heaven and earth, makes ghosts weep, and can slay all spiritual beings in the world?"

"Yes! What? You know him?"

The Azure Dragon's expression, which had just been filled with despair and pain, instantly brightened. "Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I have heard of its power. You don't need to worry about me. Let's do it again!"

Chapter 1048 Subduing the Four Divine Beasts

A moment later, the Azure Dragon was finally free again.

"Thank you so much, my benefactor, for helping me regain my freedom! I, Qinglong, will do my utmost to repay your life-saving grace." Qinglong looked at his great benefactor, his cheeks flushed.

The Azure Dragon had been imprisoned here for hundreds of thousands of years and had never seen an outsider. The moment she saw Li Xiuyuan brave the thorns and brambles to rescue her, she had already secretly fallen in love with him.

"Hahaha, no need to be so polite." Li Xiuyuan looked at the delicate and beautiful woman before him, and his heart couldn't help but flutter. "Qinglong, you've been locked up here for so long, your body must be somewhat damaged, right? Why don't I take a look at you?"

After saying that, Li Xiuyuan walked to Qinglong's side and carefully examined Qinglong's injuries. His movements were light and gentle, like playing a beautiful musical instrument. The wounds on Qinglong's body were shocking, with many places covered in bruises. Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but feel sorry for him after seeing them.

With a wave of his hand, divine power surged, and the wound instantly healed. Seeing this, the Azure Dragon was very grateful and fell to his side.

........................

After a flurry of activity, Li Xiuyuan's primordial spirit returned to its place, and the enormous, dark azure dragon before Nuwa transformed into a delicate and alluring woman, whose injuries had mostly healed.

"Azure Dragon, now that you have regained your senses, stay here and protect the peace of this region!"

"Yes!"

After Li Xiuyuan and Nuwa subdued the Vermilion Bird and the Azure Dragon, they soon subdued the White Tiger and the Black Tortoise respectively.

With the human race now at peace, it's time for the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to make their appearance.

In the great war between the Lich King and the Demon King, the heavens and earth trembled, many powerful beings perished, the Great Dao was enraged, and punished the Heavenly Dao by redividing the four directions.

From then on, the Wu tribe ruled the land, and the demon tribe ruled the heavens. Nuwa even took the Thirty-Three Heavens as her sacred ground, becoming the Queen of the Netherworld, and lived in the Nuwa Palace.

The fact that the Lich and Demon races must never wage war again has created a favorable environment for the survival and reproduction of the human race.

Among those most affected by the Lich War were the humans, who suffered countless casualties. However, in a peaceful environment, the human race experienced tremendous growth.

Although the Wu tribe ruled the land, their descendants were all formed from essence and blood, and their reproductive ability was far inferior to that of humans born from union. Therefore, after thousands of years, the earth was filled with traces of humans, and the Wu tribe gradually declined after the great war.

Although humans are everywhere, very few have truly awakened their intelligence and become powerful beings, since they do not have the innate advantages of the witch and demon races.

Nuwa was already the Empress and had many duties to attend to, so Li Xiuyuan had no choice but to bid farewell to Nuwa and go to the human race alone to contribute to the revitalization of the human race.

Of course, Li Xiuyuan was very reluctant to leave Nuwa, this beauty. So before leaving, he fought a fierce battle with the tearful Nuwa in the Nuwa Palace for ten days and ten nights.

Li Xiuyuan embarked on his journey through the primordial world once again. Along the way, he witnessed all kinds of birth, aging, sickness, and death, until all these people would eventually turn into a handful of yellow earth and fly into the six realms of reincarnation. He couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.

"Ahhh, the heavens are angry! Run!"

"Ah! I beg the gods in heaven to calm their anger!"

...

A group of people scattered in all directions after witnessing the sudden thunder and fire. Li Xiuyuan shook his head helplessly; these people were terrified to such an extent. It seemed that helping these people awaken their intelligence would require considerable effort.

Suddenly, Li Xiuyuan noticed a goat that was different from the others. This person did not flee with the main group, but instead threw a wild rabbit into the fire.

"Hey, what are you doing? Why aren't you running away? Aren't you afraid of fire?" Li Xiuyuan teased the man intentionally.

"Aren't you afraid? Aren't you afraid either?"

"Haha~ Of course I'm not afraid!"

"Great! After all these years, I've finally found someone who shares my interests. Here's the deal: I'll share half of that rabbit with you once it's cooked." The little boy clapped his hands excitedly.

"Haha~ You're quite an interesting kid. Not only are you not afraid of fire, but you're also very interested in it."

Seeing that Suirenshi was still a child, Li Xiuyuan decided to help him become one of the Three Sovereigns as soon as possible, revitalize the human race, and accumulate good fortune.

"Tell me, what's the use of fire?"

Suirenshi was very excited that someone would discuss this with him every day, as he had never had anyone discuss such interesting things with him before.

"Roasted food tastes especially sweet, and I've also discovered that some wild animals are terrified of fire. Once, when I was carrying a torch, even the usually arrogant wild animals avoided me like the plague and didn't dare come near me at all." Suirenshi spoke with the pride and self-satisfaction of a young man.

Li Xiuyuan then supplemented Suirenshi's knowledge with a lot of information about fire. Suirenshi listened with great interest and immediately decided to spread the various wonderful uses of fire.