"I am the East Lord!"

When Song Lin spoke these words, the heavens and earth instantly changed color. The vast azure sky rippled, and purple Qi flowed eastward for thirty thousand miles.

All living beings felt a joy that surged from their hearts, an innate euphoria.

They cheered for the birth of a Great Deity, rejoicing in the protection they would gain.

"What? How could Taiyi favor him so specially?"

In the boundless cosmos, the Candle Dragon's expression betrayed a stunned astonishment.

Back then, he had made a momentous decision, convincing himself to devour the East Lord. After seeing that Taiyi had not taken action, his courage grew bold.

His stirring up chaos and storms hadn't attracted Taiyi's attention—so why could this person?

Deep within, the Candle Dragon felt a lingering fear.

Not fear of Song Lin, but worry over whether Taiyi might exact punishment upon him.

"Do not fret, Lord God. Beneath Taiyi, all beings are equal. He does not interfere with the natural order; perhaps this fellow simply stumbled into favor by accident."

"Perhaps so. But now, the Mortal World barely has any power left. Dispatch all the demon beasts."

In some unnamed corner of the Netherworld,

this place remained shrouded in perpetual darkness, the ashen earth veiled by a layer of eerie green mist. Limbless and broken specters wandered across the land.

Deep within the Netherworld lay a dreamlike, indescribably majestic palace.

Rumble—rumble!

A dragon car tore through the void, its pitch-black carriage flashing with blazing lights. The radiant specks on the carriage resembled myriad suns and moons; the Divine Dragon bared fangs and claws. Ghosts fled in terror, fearful of angering the divinities.

From the carriage stepped a figure clad in wide robes, flowing like clouds.

His white hair glowed like snow, his face concealed beneath a mask of alternating black and white, resembling the dharma image of the Netherworld God—his presence awe-inspiring.

He tread atop clear Qi, commanding Yin Yang and life and death.

At the moment of his arrival, all ghosts and gods knelt in reverence.

From the Netherworld Hall emerged a graceful woman, her pretty face painted crimson with rouge.

"Elder brother, you have finally returned! The Netherworld is overflowing thanks to Candle Dragon's havoc."

These two were the Great Destiny and the Junior Fate.

"A sage has emerged; we must intervene," said the Great Destiny, his voice weathered and ancient.

The moment Song Lin spoke, they sensed the birth of a new king.

"Has elder brother decided to support the Eastern King?" Junior Fate inquired.

"Hmm. He has finally grown wise. Without Taiyi's recognition, he could never hope to find us."

The Eastern King's reputation had long become widespread decades prior.

No matter his abilities, he had yet to earn the recognition of these ancient deities.

This was because Taiyi refused to acknowledge him.

In other words, he lacked assimilation with the order.

Though the Taiyi Divine Realm had been in decline for a long time, its dignity persisted. What these gods sought was not material benefit.

Despite the irresistible tides of history, an orderly Heavenly Court would inevitably replace the scattered myths. They hoped only to preserve the legacy of ancient myth, with no other desires.

"Come, let us go."

The two boarded the dragon car, dividing Yin and Yang as they crossed from the underworld into the mortal realm.

In the World in the Pot,

Song Lin's consciousness entered a sphere of light.

Within the sphere, he witnessed myriad fantastical scenes.

The birth of the Small Thousand World, the emergence of the Small Thousand Laws, and their eventual destruction.

A world is born from Qi and declines because of Qi.

Every ten thousand years, the Small Thousand World faces a Demon Tribulation, while the Medium Thousand World undergoes one every hundred thousand years.

Since the inception of worlds, chaos has been a constant trajectory, culminating in total obliteration.

Dust to dust, soil to soil; chaos begets creation and ultimately returns to chaos.

This is the nature of the world.

Song Lin seemed to transform into a Small Thousand World, experiencing countless cycles of birth and extinction.

He endured countless calamities, sinking deeper into the void.

Should this continue, Song Lin would be assimilated into this world, ultimately vanishing into nothingness.

All insights and cultivation techniques acquired in this realm would be obliterated.

Such an outcome would trigger great upheaval in the Real World.

It was unclear how much time passed.

Suddenly, Song Lin's consciousness transcended the Small Thousand World, arriving at an unknowable realm.

This realm was higher and vaster; Great Divine Ability wielders could traverse even time itself.

Here, both time and space materialized tangibly, with distinct separations.

He sensed a supreme and peerless emperor of the heavens governing all existence here.

The emperor's eyes opened and closed, causing the creation and destruction of Small Thousand Worlds.

Time flowed across his form, each region representing a different world, each Small Thousand World holding uneven flows of time.

The moment Song Lin perceived this mysterious emperor, he understood that this was likely the legendary Taiyi God.

It was uncertain whether this was his true form or simply the manifestation of Song Lin's inner thoughts.

Taiyi remained silent, steadfast as an eternal statue.

Perhaps it was simply a matter of Song Lin's vantage point experiencing a different time scale—what felt like one glance there could be a million years here.

Amidst the cycles of creation and destruction, Song Lin gained profound insights.

First was the origin of Laws and the source of Demon Tribulations.

Secondly, the nature of cultivation realms.

Despite differing names, their essence is the same.

Harmonization involves uniting with the Dao of a Small Thousand World, and upon reaching Harmonization Perfection, one may attempt to break free of the Small Thousand World, entering the realm of the Heavenly Immortal—beyond the Three Realms and detached from the Five Elements.

Within the Small Thousand World, one may dominate the Great Dao; beyond it, one's power remains profound.

Above Heavenly Immortals are the Immortal True Immortals.

Those who comprehend the Laws and evolve a world in their image become creator-level beings.

Beyond that are the Golden Immortals, who grasp the Dao of Medium Thousand Worlds and often bear celebratory clouds above their heads—Taiyi was such an entity.

And further still are the Daluo Immortals who govern the Great Thousand Worlds.

It is unclear whether beings at such a tier even exist.

Of course, this was not a time for idle contemplation.

The urgent priority was to seize this rare opportunity to rapidly advance his comprehension of Harmonization.

With this resolve, Song Lin calmed his mind and entered deep meditation.

Nothing aids enlightenment more than personally witnessing the essence of worlds.

Even after returning to the Real World, this accumulated experience would benefit his cultivation profoundly.

This Taiyi God was uncommonly generous.

As time passed, Song Lin's Harmonization progress accelerated steadily.

Fifty percent, sixty percent, seventy percent, eighty percent, ninety percent, ninety-nine percent.

The process was long, and Song Lin lost the sense of years and months.

The Four Great Fierce Beasts led the Mountain and Sea Demon Beasts on a relentless rampage. Lacking Song Lin's protection and with the divinities nearly drained of mana, the humans were forced into retreat, shrinking steadily southward. Just as they reached their limit—

A dragon car appeared across the sky.

Even without seeing who was inside, merely glimpsing the ghostly Netherworld Divine Dragon pulling the carriage revealed the identity of its rider.

"Salutations to the Great Destiny and Junior Fate!"

"No need for formalities. Where is the East Lord?" Great Destiny gestured dismissively.

"The East Lord remains in seclusion."

"Very well. If the East Lord is absent, who is the interim Heavenly Court Master?"

"That would be me," Yaoji replied.

She, previously the Goddess of Wushan, had since seen Wushan transform into the Heavenly Court. With Song Lin absent, she served as the Court's second-in-command.

"From now on, we are colleagues."

With a wave of Great Destiny's hand, the barren earth regained vitality.

Junior Fate enabled humans to resume reproduction, even awakening Lord Yunzhong to wield wind and thunder.

The Taiyi divinities reclaimed their rightful places, the Heavenly Court resumed proper function, and the twelve-hour system formally operated—although the sun could not yet descend from the sky, at least it marked the hours.

The Chu Country began reclaiming its lost territory, and the demon beasts retreated in defeat.

Yet both sides knew the true battle had yet to be decided.

Finally, Song Lin emerged from his state of enlightenment.

"The East Lord."

"The East Lord!"

Song Lin stepped out of the Palace of the Polestar, and the crowd surged forward to pay their respects.

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