Although all possessed the method of secret door control, Ancestor Xuanhuang, who had once cultivated to the half-step Great Dao realm and could contend with Pangu, was far beyond the Sage Taiqing.
The methods he created naturally had their marvels.
The power of bloodline could not increase strength after birth, it was only inherently powerful.
While the immortal path possessed post-natal growth potential, a human with only the strength of Void Refining and Dao Integration, as long as they cultivated the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao, could potentially reach Golden Immortal post-natally.
Most importantly.
The cultivation requirements for the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao's aptitude were a different system from bloodline power.
A first-generation human, whose bloodline power could rival a Great Luo Golden Immortal, and even fight a Hunyuan Golden Immortal.
But this did not mean that this first-generation human had a higher aptitude for cultivating the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao than a thousandth-generation human.
Bloodline power was fixed, and the further one was from the source of the bloodline, the weaker the power.
It was impossible for a thousandth-generation human to exhibit any "ancestral return phenomenon."
However, the aptitude required for cultivating the immortal path did not necessarily mean that descendants were weaker than their ancestors.
The aptitude of parents was not necessarily stronger than that of their children.
Although the cultivation of the immortal path had notions of aptitude, roots, and talent, compared to relying on bloodline power, this method was superior by several levels.
The change had begun.
Among the human race, cultivators and immortals who practiced the immortal path were everywhere.
The high echelons of the human race did not pay much attention when the immortal path had just spread to the lower strata of the human race.
They were already another species from the lower-level cultivators, so even though the knowledge of the immortal path had spread to almost all human groups with the strength of cultivators, they viewed it with an indifferent attitude.
But when the first human, by cultivating the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao, reached the realm of Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
Grand Unity Golden Immortal was the strength possessed by second and third-generation humans.
This level of immortal human attracted the attention of the first-generation humans.
The first-generation humans saw the threat that the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao posed to bloodline power. If the immortal path were allowed to flow freely, they, the first-generation, would no longer be supreme, and the entire power structure of the human race would be overthrown.
Therefore, several first-generation humans, whose combat power rivaled that of Hunyuan Golden Immortals, issued an order to ban the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao.
Although the first-generation humans were decadent and indulged in bloodline power, it did not mean their methods were not ruthless.
Countless cultivators and immortals were executed, stirring up a bloody storm.
Countless books on cultivating the immortal path were burned.
However, with the support of Ancestor Xuanhuang behind the scenes, the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao that was being spread was not so easily suppressed.
When more than 99.9% of the books on the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao were destroyed, and cultivators were about to be exterminated, Ancestor Xuanhuang continued to spread the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao throughout the Great Desolation world.
The spread of the immortal path could no longer be stopped.
Cultivators of the immortal path at the Grand Luo Golden Immortal and even Hunyuan Golden Immortal levels, immortals who could fight the first-generation humans, also grew up.
When fourteen Hunyuan Golden Immortal cultivators, at the foot of Mount Buzhou, annihilated all the first-generation humans,
The era of the immortal path had arrived.
The era of bloodline had been swept into the dust of history and cast down to the mortal realm.
Ancestor Xuanhuang, without personally appearing, directly guided the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao to overturn the rule of bloodline power and the first-generation humans.
At this time, all humans in the immortal path era cultivated the Xuanhuang Immortal Dao.
The Xuanhuang Immortal Dao contained secret doors and fallback plans laid out by Ancestor Xuanhuang.
It could be said that Ancestor Xuanhuang had truly grasped the hegemony of the Great Desolation.
However, the Heavenly Dao will of the Great Desolation world was not willing to accept this outcome.
Originally, when the heaven and earth were first divided, half of the pure qi floated up and was taken over by Ancestor Xuanhuang, becoming his physical body.
Half of the pure qi and half of the turbid qi returned to the center, transforming into the first-generation humans.
Where did the other half of the turbid qi go?
It went to the Little Moon Cave, giving rise to the Mackerel.
Unlike the first-generation humans, who were formed from half pure qi and half turbid qi, a mixture of pure and turbid, and because the first-generation humans were not few in number, their strength was at most comparable to Hunyuan Golden Immortals.
The Mackerel from the Little Moon Cave, however, was different.
As an individual, it condensed half of the turbid qi of the Great Desolation world, its roots were already comparable to the pure qi body that Ancestor Xuanhuang had taken over.
Coupled with Ancestor Xuanhuang's power and his rule over the Great Desolation, seizing its hegemony, the Heavenly Dao was unwilling and secretly aided the Mackerel's growth with the power of Heavenly Dao.
Thus, when the Mackerel truly gained sentience, it was already a Heavenly Dao-level existence.
The Mackerel possessed vast divine abilities, and its hard power was ten times greater than Ancestor Xuanhuang's.
Its true form was born immense, capable of resting its head on Mount Kunlun and its feet on the Land of Misty Illusions. The entire Great Desolation world could barely accommodate its mackerel body.
The Mackerel was born too large, but because the Great Desolation world's physical realm was narrow, it shifted its body from the physical realm to the illusory realm.
The Mackerel's strength terrified Ancestor Xuanhuang. He had never expected such a being to be born after the Chaos.
Ancestor Xuanhuang secretly laid plans, and over several kalpas, he sought to weaken the Mackerel.
However, after the passage of several kalpas, Ancestor Xuanhuang, as the overlord of the Great Desolation, actually controlling the human race, could not gain the upper hand in his struggle with the Mackerel.
When the Mackerel advanced further, encompassing the physical realm with the illusory realm, and dragging the three realms of creation into the Mackerel's illusory realm,
Ancestor Xuanhuang, all humans, and even the entire Great Desolation world were covered by the Mackerel.
Entering the realm of emotion, one sees the emptiness of the roots of the world's emotions; exiting the realm of emotion, one recognizes the reality of the roots of the Dao.
With such achievements, the Mackerel naturally attained the Dao and became a Great Dao Saint, its Dao fruit entrusted to the nonexistent, becoming an indigenous ancient sage.
...
The Mackerel, who was the young girl in green, ended her recollection.
She said, "The world and the world beyond, joy and sorrow, love and hate, the separation and reunion of individuals, all sorts of illusions, are all created by the mind."
"Dream of thought, nightmare, true dream, fearful dream, joyful dream, waking dream."
"I wonder what harm my six illusory realm techniques can cause to the master of this place, the Human Heavenly Court?"
By the sea, there was a village.
In the village, some human children, boys, and girls were playing.
The young girl in green smiled without speaking.
She said in her heart, "I once made a vow of six dreams, to fulfill three lives."
"Let me test the methods of the Human Heavenly Court with this."
Slowly, the young girl in green shifted from the physical realm to the illusory realm.
Between heaven and earth, creation had three realms.
One was the formless realm, one was the illusory realm, and one was the physical realm.
The true form of the young girl in green was immense; even the Great Desolation world, which had expanded countless times, could not contain it.
The Great Desolation world, and even the entire Chaos, was the "physical realm."
Now, the girl was transitioning from the "physical realm" to the "formless realm," moving towards the "illusory realm."
This precisely revealed her true form, which was seen by the Human Heavenly Court for a fleeting moment.
There was a mackerel body.
Her head rested on Mount Kunlun, and her feet trod upon the Land of Misty Illusions!
...
The Human Heavenly Court, and many humans, were not fools.
They naturally discovered this extremely colossal mackerel!
"What a huge fish!"
"The entire Great Desolation world might not even be able to contain this fish's body!"