During the Primordial Era, it wasn't unheard of for a World Venerable to dominate a single world. However, most were either eradicated by the Immortal Dao or co-opted by it. Very few managed to maintain their exclusive rule over a world indefinitely. Jun Xuanji was one of those few.
Speaking of the name Jun Xuanji...
In the Great Desolate, especially during the Primordial Era, she was a truly earth-shattering figure.
One must know that Jun Xuanji was the illustrious Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden of the Great Desolate, hailed as the Princess of the Immortal Dao and respectfully addressed as the Nine Heavens Empress.
Alas.
This very Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden, whose status was transcendent even in the Great Desolate, fell in love with the Heaven-and-Earth-defying Nine Nethers Emperor. To be precise, at that time, Gu Qingfeng was not yet the Nine Nethers Emperor, but the Scarlet Sky Sovereign Gu Tianlang. While Gu Qingfeng wasn't exactly defying Heaven and Earth back then, he was a sinner who repeatedly acted against the heavens. Though he hadn't yet left the mortal world, his name, Scarlet Sky, already shook the Great Desolate.
Back then, the Scarlet Sky Sovereign, defying the judgment of the Immortal Dao, played the qin and performed a melody for Jun Xuanji right before the assembled immortals of the Nine Heavens, publicly declaring his love.
Everyone knew the Scarlet Sky Sovereign was merely toying with the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden.
Yet, the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden took it to heart...
She fell utterly and completely in love with the Scarlet Sky Sovereign.
This gave rise to the well-known tale: 'The Sovereign's Melody Plays the Nine Heavens, the Infatuated Empress, the Fickle Sovereign.'
Later, World-Venerable Lady Jun Xuanji, heartbroken and despairing, fell into the demonic path. From then on, the Great Desolate no longer had a Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden, but gained a Nine Nethers Demoness. The lofty Nine Heavens Empress transformed into the bloodthirsty Nine Nethers Empress.
In those days,
the demonized, maddened Jun Xuanji was utterly terrifying. She slaughtered until corpses littered the Nine Heavens, until rivers of blood flowed through the Nine Nethers Demon Palace, plunging the myriad realms of the Great Desolate into chaos and darkness.
Whenever Jun Xuanji appeared, it heralded a storm of blood. The great sun would turn into a blood sun, the full moon into a blood moon, and even the sky would become stained crimson. From then on, Jun Xuanji gained another name: the Blood Fiend.
However,
the great figures emerging from the Primordial World were not limited to just Jun Xuanji.
They also included the Nine Nethers Emperor Gu Qingfeng, who shook the Great Desolate during the Primordial Era,
and Su Hua, renowned throughout the Great Desolate and revered as the Holy Maiden Empress.
The Blood Fiend Jun Xuanji.
The Nether Emperor Gu Qingfeng.
The Holy Maiden Empress Su Hua.
These three, whether in fame or influence, each surpassed the other. The Primordial World also became widely known because of their existence.
The Primordial World was located within the Lingluo Heavenly Domain—not too far, yet not exactly close either. However, Gu Qingfeng possessed the ability of Treading the Void. With a mere thought, he could ascend to the heavens or descend to the earth. While Huode lacked such prowess, his speed of soaring through the air was not slow either.
Before long, the two returned to their homeland, the Primordial World.
On the way, Gu Qingfeng had already heard from Huode about the earth-shattering changes the Primordial World had undergone over the past ten thousand years of the Present Era. Gu Qingfeng was mentally prepared, yet when he arrived at the Primordial World, he was still taken aback.
The entire world was suffused with immortal spiritual mist. The first thing that caught his eye was a massive floating city suspended amidst the clouds. Gu Qingfeng focused his gaze and saw a stone stele, soaring straight into the sky, erected before the floating city. Carved upon the stele were two characters: Immortal Dynasty.
"Good heavens!
Since when did the Immortal Dynasty move up into the sky?"
"Ever since you, brat, ignited the Sinful Flames on Wudao Mountain and turned to ashes, the Immortal Dynasty was rebuilt. Not just our world—the Immortal Dynasties of other worlds are also mostly built atop the clouds. Moreover, the Immortal Dao has long established the rule that only the Immortal Dynasty may be built upon the clouds. No other sect is permitted to imitate this, otherwise it's considered a grave transgression, a serious offense."
"Is that so?"
Gu Qingfeng asked, "Does the Immortal Dynasty now control the origin of this world?"
"No."
Huode replied, "Jun Xuanji remains the World-Venerable Lady. However...
I've heard the Immortal Dao has gestated a new origin within this world. I don't know if it's true or false. Young Gu, you've seen much of the world. Isn't the origin of a world supposed to be one origin per world?
Could there really be a second one gestated?"
"Given the capabilities of the Immortal Dao, conjuring up a second origin isn't anything strange. However, even if they create a second origin, it would only be an origin in name, a facade. It might serve for appearances, but that's about it."
"It's not just for appearances. I've personally witnessed the Immortal Dynasty wielding the power of this world's Laws."
"That's all it amounts to."
Gu Qingfeng fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Over the years, have you seen Jun Xuanji?"
"No."
"Not even once?"
"That's right."
"Heard any news of her?"
"None either."
"Anyway, ever since Wudao Mountain vanished that time, Jun Xuanji has never appeared again. There's been no news about her whatsoever. I heard...
she seemed to have disappeared along with Wudao Mountain..." Gu Qingfeng shook his head.
He knew Jun Xuanji had not vanished with Wudao Mountain. At the very least, he knew that after he ignited the Sinful Karmic Flames back then, Jun Xuanji, Genggu Wuming, and Canyang Wuyou had still appeared in the Liusha Minor Secret Realm. What exactly happened afterward, where Jun Xuanji went—he had no idea.
Regarding Jun Xuanji,
Gu Qingfeng's heart was filled with immense complexity.
He had once felt affection for Jun Xuanji.
Jun Xuanji was also the only woman he had ever felt such affection for in his entire life.
There had never been a second.
At the same time,
Jun Xuanji was also the woman he hated most in his life.
If asked which woman he most wished to see in his life, it was still Jun Xuanji.
Yet if asked which woman he least wished to see in his life, it was also Jun Xuanji.
Between Heaven and Earth, there had never been another person who made him so utterly conflicted. Jun Xuanji was the only one.
So conflicted that he no longer even knew whether his feelings for Jun Xuanji back then were love or hate, fondness or annoyance, a desire to see her or not, longing or forgetting. Gu Qingfeng simply didn't know anymore.
Jun Xuanji's existence was too ethereal, too elusive, too mysterious, too bizarre—truth mixed with falsehood, falsehood mixed with truth. Gu Qingfeng had never been able to see through her.
He couldn't see through her before, and he still couldn't see through her now.
In Gu Qingfeng's mind, Jun Xuanji's existence was an enigma.
And strangely enough, having lived until now, many of his past memories—whether of people or events—had mostly blurred. Some had even faded completely. Yet, his memories of Jun Xuanji remained as clear as ever, so clear that even now, thinking of them felt like it was just yesterday.
With a sigh of lament, Gu Qingfeng shook his head and did not dwell on it further.
At that moment, Huode pointed downward and said, "Young Gu, do you know what this place is?"
Gu Qingfeng followed the direction Huode pointed and looked over. Below was a formation, and a massive one at that. Within the formation were numerous mountain ranges, gardens, various structures, and also quite a few cultivators.
"What is this place?"
"This used to be the Great Northwest."
"The Great Northwest?
Who had nothing better to do than to envelop the entire Great Northwest with a formation?"
"Heh heh, young Gu, I haven't finished. This place *used* to be the Great Northwest. But now... it's Yunxia Sect."