CHAPTER 1941: CHAPTER 1223: THE SAINT’S CHOICE (PART 2)

If even the Heavenly Dao can be controlled by others, what freedom is there in the Prehistoric World? Only an independent Heavenly Dao can grant true freedom to the Prehistoric World, giving all life a chance to transcend.

Because the Heavenly Dao is free and cannot be fully mastered by anyone, the saints, as extensions of the Heavenly Dao, are difficult to restrain, even for Jiang Chen.

"Although the Prehistoric World is still the Prehistoric World, it is ultimately different compared to before, akin to being newly established. So, in this new era, what are your plans?"

After glancing at the Six Saints of the Heavenly Dao, Honjan Daizu remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.

The implication of his words was to ask these six saints whether they wanted to relinquish their sacred positions and regain their freedom.

Can the sacred position be abandoned? Under normal circumstances, it indeed cannot. But the current Prehistoric World is clearly not a normal situation.

The saints have a term of service, as long as the lifespan of Heaven and Earth. In other words, as the Immeasurable Kalpa erupts, causing Heaven and Earth to perish, the saints will pioneer the sky and earth in the chaos, recreating the Prehistoric World.

Once all this is completed, the saints’ term will also end. At this time, the saints face a choice: to continue as saints in the new Heaven and Earth or to abandon their sacred position and regain their freedom.

The current Prehistoric World, though not destroyed by the Immeasurable Kalpa, is more or less equivalent to being newly established. Thus, the current Prehistoric World can be viewed as a new Heaven and Earth.

Since it is a new Heaven and Earth, naturally, the saints’ term is also complete. This is why the Daoist Ancestor asked if they would continue to be saints.

During the Six Saints’ tenure, it cannot be said they achieved nothing, only that their merits are far less than their faults. Therefore, theoretically, they are not qualified to continue being saints.

Yet, when Heaven and Earth were about to perish, all Six Saints abandoned everything, willingly self-destructing to save the Chaos World.

This act undoubtedly earned them the opportunity to continue serving as saints.

Sanqing, in rescuing the Chaos World, not only abandoned their pioneer sky and earth merit but even merged the mark given by Pangu Great God into the Chaos World.

Empress Nuwa, there’s nothing to say, she not only returned all the merit the Heavenly Dao bestowed upon her but also invested a lot more.

With the four of them making such sacrifices, even if the Heavenly Dao was dissatisfied with what they did before, it couldn’t just strip them of their sacred positions. In any case, it must show an attitude to retain them.

If the four voluntarily gave up their sacred positions, that would be ideal. The Heavenly Dao would grant them the honor they deserve. However, if they do not wish to relinquish their sacred positions, the Heavenly Dao will not say much, only raising the requirements for saints.

The lack of experience before caused the saints to act recklessly, leading to the repeated destruction of the Prehistoric World. Having learned from the lessons of the Old Era, the Heavenly Dao clearly will not make the same mistakes in the New Era.

No matter who serves as a saint, the Heavenly Dao will raise the requirements. At the very least, it will restrict some of their actions so they cannot act recklessly.

As for Jieyin Zhunti, do they have a choice?

Sanqing and Empress Nuwa have meritorious deeds to Heaven and Earth, so they have a choice.

Jieyin Zhunti, although also meritorious to Heaven and Earth, are unfortunately indebted to the Heavenly Dao. Since they still owe their debt to the Heavenly Dao, they truly have no choice until the debt is cleared.

The saints must continue their roles until the debt is fully repaid.

However, thanks to Jiang Chen, there’s not much of this debt left now.

Back then, Jieyin Zhunti promised the Heavenly Dao that if they were allowed to become saints, they would devote all their efforts to restoring the Western land and ensuring the prosperity of the West.

Thinking of the benefits brought to themselves once the West prospered, the Heavenly Dao agreed to Jieyin Zhunti’s request, lent them boundless merit, and helped them become saints.

Knowing they were different from other saints, their sacred positions were not stable. So ever since becoming saints, Jieyin Zhunti were diligent in finding ways to restore the West and promote its prosperity.

After countless years of effort, the West indeed underwent earth-shattering changes. However, it was still a long way from fully restoring the Western land and bringing great prosperity to the West.

But the two saints of the West did not lose heart and continued their efforts, then they encountered Jiang Chen.

Before the two’s incredulous gazes, Jiang Chen single-handedly restored the Western land, fulfilling half of their grand aspiration.

Indeed, doing nothing and the aspiration being half accomplished brought an immense shock to the two saints, Jieyin Zhunti.

Indeed, the astonishment overwhelmed the joy!

The restoration of the Western land is certainly a joyful matter, but isn’t Jiang Chen’s action indirectly implying that the two are complete failures?

Their efforts over billions of years compared to Jiang Chen’s achievements over a few thousand years made their prior efforts seem like a joke.

Jieyin and Zhunti were frustrated for a long time because of this matter. However, the restoration of the West was indeed a good thing.

Next, they only need the West to prosper to fulfill their grand aspiration and fully repay their debts to the Heavenly Dao.

And to achieve this is not difficult; they just need to relinquish power and hand everything in the West over to Jiang Chen, then the prosperity of the West would naturally follow soon after.

This is indeed good news, but it also left the two Western Saints deeply frustrated. The more Jiang Chen was like this, the more it highlighted their incompetence.

Some like to win by doing nothing, others feel guilty for lying flat. The two Western Saints are such people.

They were really upset, they truly didn’t want to be saints anymore. If they had a choice, they’d give up their sacred positions right now, but unfortunately, they have no choice.

It’s hard to say for others, but for Zhunti, he certainly doesn’t want to continue being a saint for even a moment. If possible, who would want to be looked down upon and despised?

With the shame of the saint’s name hovering for countless years, Saint Zhunti had long grown tired of it. He wanted to abandon the sacred position, so at this moment, Saint Zhunti urgently wished for the immediate prosperity of the West.

As for Jieyin Saint, he longed to pass the sacred position to Red Cloud, knowing his true desire in his heart.

They no longer want to be saints, but some are willing to continue, like the Saint of Taiqing and Primordial Heavenly Sovereign.

The reason the Saint of Taiqing wants to continue being a saint is simple; though he lost his identity as Pangu’s orthodoxy before, due to Primordial Heavenly Sovereign and Upper Qing Saints handing over their imprints to him before sacrificing themselves, he evolved into the Pangu Yuanshen.

Pangu Yuanshen, the strongest Yuanshen in the Prehistoric World; because the Saint of Taiqing condensed Pangu Yuanshen, he underwent an earth-shattering transformation, being a step away from stepping into the realm of creation.

Even so, he remains unsatisfied; he wants to become stronger. The Heavenly Dao, as the overall principle of the Prehistoric World, contains all the mysteries of the Prehistoric World, as well as the mysteries of Pangu Great God.

The Saint of Taiqing feels his Yuanshen is incomplete, and if he could merge with the Heavenly Dao, it would undoubtedly allow his Yuanshen to continue transforming.

Besides the Taoist Ancestor, the saint is closest to the Heavenly Dao, so he is unwilling to give up the sacred position.

The Saint of Taiqing has reasons not to abandon the sacred position, and so does Primordial Heavenly Sovereign. Because of Primordial Heavenly Demon King, under no circumstances can he give up the sacred position.

If at this moment Primordial Heavenly Sovereign relinquishes the sacred position, then without the identity of Pangu’s orthodoxy, facing the unfathomably powerful Demon Ancestor, he is highly likely to succumb to demonic influence.

Therefore, before resolving his problem, Primordial Heavenly Sovereign must continue serving as a saint to utilize the power of the Heavenly Dao to counter the Demon Ancestor.

The saints Jieyin and Zhunti wish to relinquish the sacred position but cannot. The saints of Taiqing and Primordial Heavenly Sovereign, for their reasons, cannot give up their sacred positions either.

Conversely, Empress Nuwa and the Upper Qing Saint appear much more carefree. Both expressed their willingness to relinquish the sacred position.

"The Saint Nuwa sacrificed herself to save the Chaos World. Now she is only Nuwa of the Human Race, wife of Fuxi."

The Daoist Ancestor glanced over, and Empress Nuwa calmly spoke.