Conferred God: Got cramped at the beginning

Chapter 1074 Phoenix Demon Kingdom
That commotion was none other than...

It was Xuanzang who traveled down the Huai River, protected by many dragon gods, who had already crossed the South China Sea and arrived in this Southern Continent from the Central Region.

During this process, even the Dragon King of the South Sea personally intervened, helping Xuanzang to push the waves...

It was precisely because of this that, under the protection of those many dragon gods, the vast South Sea—a sea that even Taiyi, who had never comprehended space, needed years to cross—was traversed in just ten days.

When the banquet officially began, Xuanzang had just stepped onto the Huai River and was sailing down its waves.

Meanwhile, the dragon gods of the Huai River were going against the tides of the Huai River, gradually consolidating their power over it.

Now, the banquet that brought peace to the world has ended in a disappointing way, and Xuanzang, under the protection of the Dragon Clan of the South Sea, has set foot on the Southern Continent.

—At that very moment, a streak of light traveled from the Southern Continent towards the depths of the South China Sea.

Amidst the flowing light, there was a hint of Buddhist atmosphere.

"I wonder which Bodhisattva is passing by?" Xuanzang sensed the Buddhist aura within the flowing light and his heart stirred. Just as he was about to greet the Bodhisattva in the Buddha's light, the Bodhisattva had already passed by without any hesitation.

"Has the Buddhist community's dissatisfaction with me reached this point?"

Seeing this, Xuanzang was taken aback, and then became even more determined to reform Buddhism.

"They cannot tolerate the slightest dissent."

"The Buddhist community has indeed been corrupted by Mara."

……

"Twelve years without war... but who knows how long the Great Sage Equaling Heaven's decree can be upheld in this Southern Continent."

In the Phoenix Demon Kingdom, nestled in a corner of Flaming Mountain, Zao Ge sat lazily on a paulownia tree, his eyes filled with confusion.

Under deliberate relaxation, her thoughts wandered wildly.

For a moment, I imagined the scene at the banquet where the emperor was pacified.

For a while, he pondered the changes that would follow in this demon kingdom.

A moment later, it finally landed on the smooth mirror surface in front of me.

On the other side of the mirror, the witch spirit told her that she had already relayed her message to the God.

But to this day, she has not received any response from the God.

She looked at her wrist; the golden mark of the nation's destiny on it had faded away once more.

It is unclear whether this change is due to the trace itself or whether Yun Zhongjun, having received her message, has already returned to Yun Zhong Cave.

"My Lord, are you really not going to let me go?" Zaoge's expression was somewhat dazed.

The Great Sage Equaling Heaven's Feast of Pacifying Heaven has been over for some time now.

And this was originally an extremely peaceful continent of Nanzhanbu.

The Southern Continent, which had always obeyed the decrees of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and never experienced any conflict, gradually became less peaceful over time.

The turmoil caused by Xuanzang became increasingly difficult to suppress.

And the numerous demon gods searching for Ling Xuzi are making their actions increasingly obvious.

At this moment, it was clear to everyone that the peaceful order of the Southern Continent was on the verge of complete collapse.

However, Zaoge couldn't be sure when that line would finally break.

—Almost every day, streaks of light streak across the sky above the Phoenix Demon Kingdom.

Or perhaps it is the light of Buddha.

If it is the Taoist practice of soaring through the clouds.

Or perhaps it was the demonic winds stirred up by the demon race.

Whether human, demon, Buddha, or immortal, they all pause for a moment when passing over the Phoenix Demon Kingdom to take a look at its environment.

On the edge of the Phoenix Demon Kingdom, several Buddhist temples have appeared unexpectedly.

Inside the temple, monks came and went, spreading their Buddhist teachings to the unique 'people' of the Phoenix Demon Kingdom.

Amidst his wandering thoughts, Zaoge's mind suddenly stirred.

In the next instant, she stood up without hesitation, and a brilliant flash of firelight streaked across the scene.

When her figure reappeared, she was already at the border of the Phoenix Demon Kingdom.

North of the border, a goddess slowly and gracefully approaches.

The goddess was not wearing any imposing armor, but simply a long dress.

But as it took its steps closer, the earth's veins in the Southern Continent seemed to echo it.

Wisps of primordial energy rose like dust as he walked, swirling briefly around the edges of his clothes before returning to the earth.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Zaoge felt as if the phoenix feathers around her were about to explode.

The ground beneath their feet had transformed into an incredibly terrifying den of dragons and tigers.

The visitor was none other than the Western Extremity Ruler, the White Tiger Military Supervisor.

“The ruler of the Four Symbols,” Zaoge uttered with great difficulty.

Just by observing the rise and fall of the primordial energy, she knew exactly what she was seeing.

Within the heavens, there are four celestial deities.

Meng Zhang, the Azure Dragon of the East.

The Western White Tiger, the Divine Lord of Military Supervision.

The God of the Vermilion Bird Mausoleum in the South Pole.

The Northern Black Tortoise, the Divine Lord of Wisdom.

These four, their authority and their positions, can be said to be among the most mysterious positions in the world.

When the Azure Dragon Mengzhang Divine Lord of the Eastern Pole determined these karmic positions, he established the system of the four karmic positions.

The four cardinal directions: east, west, south, and north.

It governs the heavens above and controls the earth below.

Then, the four poles returned to their origin, transforming into the four phases—ultimately, evolving into the four symbols.

These are the four elements: earth, wind, water, and fire.

Of the four, the easternmost point reflects the wind, just as all things are born and die in a cycle that never ends.

The South Pole is associated with fire, and the North Pole with water.

The westernmost point is the land.

Compared to the ever-flowing, ceaseless winds of the East, the land of the West is steadfast and unmoving, bearing everything... Of course, the ultimate transformations of the Four Symbols and Four Phases are, in the eyes of most immortals and gods in the world, nothing more than empty talk.

That's just a hypothesis, or even a delusion.

After all, those are changes in the earth, wind, water, and fire, one of the pillars of the evolution of heaven and earth.

One interpretation of the collapse of heaven and earth is that heaven and earth will return to the four elements... One can imagine how ominous and difficult these changes in the four elements are.

The fact that the four symbols have not yet clearly manifested in the world is an extremely obvious piece of evidence.

The Four Symbols Gods have yet to grasp the essence of the Four Symbols—at least, the three besides the Azure Dragon of the East are still untouched.

--However……

Seeing the earth respond to his footsteps and the sacred aura of primordial chaos rising, Zaoge was absolutely certain that the Four Symbols were already manifesting before his eyes.

There's no need to ask about the East Pole—and no need to concern ourselves with the South and North Poles.

But the image of the westernmost land appeared right before his eyes.

What he was seeing was precisely the process by which the Western Celestial Venerable, the White Tiger Military Supervisor, touched upon the earth's phenomena.

That is the process of 'proving the Way'.

"Is the power of killing and conquest merely a part of his cultivation?" Zaoge thought with utter shock, acutely aware of the gap between himself, a top-tier demon god, and those transcendent Taiyi.

—For a top-tier demon god like her, the power of killing alone is already a clear path to the Great Luo realm.

With such a path existing, all energy will be focused on that path.

Even though it's impossible to rush things and consolidate power immediately, all we can do right now is quietly wait for the time to come and eliminate any enemies who threaten our authority...

Once this path is grasped, nothing else matters, let alone anything else.

But actually...

For those truly transcendent Taiyi masters, the path to enlightenment is merely a part of their cultivation.

Just as Zao Ge saw, the powerful beings in this world recognized her as the saint who would wield the power of killing and conquest, the saint who would use the power of killing and conquest to obtain the Dao Fruit and achieve the Great Luo—what she was doing at this moment was actually pushing forward a path that was contrary to killing and conquest.

That's right, they are contradictory!
The Western Regions correspond to the element of metal in the Five Elements theory, representing the killing and power of warfare, making it a perfect match made in heaven.

However, the killing it defines is the ultimate upheaval, the ultimate subversion, the ultimate activity, and an unprecedented movement.

However, the Earth element among the four elements of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire is stable and still, a constant tranquility... completely opposite to the 'movement' that corresponds to killing and warfare.

“Killing and killing, though it is a movement, is still a state of stillness before the movement.”

As if sensing Zaoge's doubts, the White Tiger Supervisor Goddess slowly approached, and her voice rang in Zaoge's ears, describing her own cultivation system.

The earth element, one of the four elements of wind, water, and fire, serves as the true foundation, bearing everything.

Then, the four symbols give rise to the five elements, with metal being produced from the earth, serving as a reflection of the four directions and the western extreme.

Her origin was transformed from divine metal, taking the form of a white tiger—which perfectly complemented the four symbols of the land and the five elements of metal.

And that killing... is the final evolution of the metal element of the Five Elements.

Between heaven and earth, the five elements give rise to the five calamities... This is part of the path of the sage Queen Mother of the West.

Ao Bing understood this step, and naturally he wouldn't hold back anything from his Daoist partner—he would naturally share his understanding of the Five Elements Calamity with the White Tiger Supervisor God.

As a result, the White Tiger Supervisor God also comprehended the ultimate transformation of the metal element in the Five Elements as she understood it.

The Calamity of Gold — the calamity of war and slaughter.

At the same time, this is also the manifestation of that power of killing and ruthlessness.

"This is the limitless." The White Tiger Supervisor God slowly explained—before them, there was more than one path.

And every single one of those paths is passable.

At the same time, each of those roads complements the others.

This mutual complementarity, this endlessness and lack of beginning, constitutes the existence of the 'transcendental' level.

—No weaknesses!
It surveys all directions, nurtures the past, and has no weaknesses.

To eliminate such an existence, the only option is to forcefully crush it with power at the Great Luo level...

Apart from this, no amount of other means, schemes, or calculations can pose any threat to the Taiyi, who has transcended the limits.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Zaoge." The White Tiger Supervisor God Lord stopped in front of Zaoge.

"Greetings, White Tiger Supervisor God." Zaoge returned the greeting, his eyes filled with unimaginable admiration.

She suddenly realized that, for countless millennia since the fall of the Chu Kingdom, she had been hiding in a corner of the Southern Continent... and in hiding, she had become so outdated that she was now considered to be lagging behind the rest of the world.

She couldn't help but recall the time when she followed Yun Zhongjun and met Baihu Jianbing Shenjun, who was traveling with Chengtian Shenjun.

At that time, although the White Tiger Supervisor God was strong, it was a strength that she could understand... At that time, she was even confident that she could fight the White Tiger Supervisor God.

We may not win, but we certainly won't lose badly.

But now... after countless millennia, her cultivation remains unchanged.

The White Tiger Guardian God, whose back could once be seen, has now reached a point where his true nature is beyond comprehension.

As Zao Ge looked at the White Tiger Supervisor God before her, she saw that with the rise and fall of the Xuanhuang Qi beneath his feet, her own magical power seemed to be eroded and suppressed by that Xuanhuang Qi, making it impossible for her to lift it up.

"But I wonder why the Divine Lord has come here?" Zaoge asked cautiously.

As is well known, after the Great Sage Equaling Heaven's Feast, the White Tiger Supervisor God did not return to the Heavenly Court, but remained in the Southern Continent.

—That power of killing and conquest is scattered among the countless demon races of the Southern Continent.

This White Tiger Supervisor God also followed the killings in the Southern Continent, gathering the aura of killing along the way to prevent the traces of killing from evolving into more killing power.

At this moment, seeing the White Tiger Guardian God arrive in the Phoenix Demon Kingdom, and thinking about the few Buddhist temples that had appeared around his own demon kingdom, Zao Ge couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

"Could it be that someone from the Buddhist sect wants to conquer my demon kingdom—there will be a bloodbath in my demon kingdom, so this White Tiger Supervisor God came to the Phoenix Demon Kingdom?" Zao Ge thought to himself.

Even now, the decree of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven to cease hostilities still hangs over the Southern Continent.

In the Southern Continent, although the demon gods had their own disputes and frictions, and some even clashed with the pilgrim Xuanzang... these disputes were merely between 'individuals' and were far from enough to cause the demon gods' kingdoms to collapse...

Those disputes and frictions all occurred outside those demon kingdoms, one after another...

But now...

"Could it be that my Fengqi Demon Kingdom is destined to become the first demon kingdom to perish in this Southern Continent?" Zaoge thought, feeling a pang of pain in his heart.

Normally, she didn't care much about the 'people' of her own demon kingdom.

Regardless, she had already accepted the offerings from that demon kingdom for tens of thousands of years—even if someone raises a nest of ants for tens of thousands of years, it's inevitable that they will develop some feelings for it.

Moreover, the creatures in the Phoenix Kingdom are not mindless ants and insects, but living, breathing 'people' with emotions, desires, and different personalities.
"I have come for you," said the White Tiger Guardian God, raising his hand to reveal a mark.

(End of this chapter)