Lotus, come

The fighting of the Kalpa would ultimately sweep across the entire Primordial World, engulfing countless living beings. It was a catastrophe that endless beings wished to flee, yet found it hard to escape unscathed.

The southern continent, the main battlefield where the three clans clashed, had become a living hell.

The light of spirit treasures and Divine Abilities illuminated the Primordial World, but brought not the slightest warmth. Each flash took a life.

At nearly every moment, thousands upon thousands of beings died amid anguished cries.

Once-clear rivers ran red with blood, while beautiful mountains and Spirit Veins were shattered in the fighting.

Thick blood stench, resentment, and Sha Qi filled the air, merging into the Tribulation Qi and casting a dark red veil over the sky of the Primordial World.

Blood rained from the sky, the earth wailed, and the seas churned and roared.

The world was weeping.

Why...

A vague thought surfaced in the depths of Xiang Dong's consciousness.

Why slaughter one another?

The mournful cries of heaven and earth, and a tremendous sorrow that came from nowhere, pierced Xiang Dong to the core and brought his muddled consciousness back to clarity.

In his current state, it was as though he had taken countless forms, his "sight" present everywhere.

Thus, he could see what was happening on every battlefield, seeing more and seeing it all more fully.

At the foot of Buzhou Mountain, several true dragons surrounded and attacked a qilin. Unable to withstand them, it was torn to pieces, its scalding blood splattering onto the face of a sunflower.

Even an Innate Spirit Root could not withstand such an enthusiastic watering; it was a little too weak to absorb such nourishment.

Near the East Sea, a freshly sprouted sunflower seed let him see a phoenix turn into a ball of fire and plunge straight toward the earth, its dying cry piercingly mournful.

The northern plain had once been a field of ice, but as the three clans fought, the ice had been dyed blood-red.

Xiang Dong took in countless sights and sounds, an impact beyond words.

He knew of the Beast Calamity, but he had not taken part in it. He also understood what it meant for living beings to be plunged into misery, but he had never "seen" and "heard" it so directly.

Knowing, understanding, and experiencing something firsthand were completely different.

At that moment, Xiang Dong could even feel the pain of the entire world.

As he watched one vibrant life after another vanish meaninglessly before his "eyes," an unfamiliar emotion began to grow in his heart.

He could not tell whether it was anger, unbearable pity, or regret.

But he knew he did not want to see this scene, did not want everything before him to happen.

Once that thought arose, it spread like a prairie fire and could no longer be contained.

Enough... truly enough...

This could not go on.

I have to... stop them!

But how?

It was a difficult problem. His consciousness had cleared, but his true body's origin had yet to recover, and his alt was still gestating in the blood pool. He did not even have a body capable of moving.

Even if he did, what could he accomplish at the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm?

Never mind Primordial Unity Golden Immortals like Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, and Primordial Qilin—even an ordinary Great Unity Golden Immortal could give him more than he could handle.

Did that mean there was nothing he could do?

Not entirely. Once he possessed the Light and Creation Principle, Xiang Dong had entertained a bold idea, but at the time it had not been fully formed and was difficult to put into practice.

Now, his current state was instead well suited to putting that idea into practice.

He acted at once. With a thought, the Acquired Spirit Root sunflowers that had spread and grown across the Primordial World, along with the innate sunflowers at the foot of Buzhou Mountain, in his true body's space, and in Nuwa's spirit field, all burst into brilliant golden light at once.

Every sunflower became an energy node, a coordinate.

But that alone was not enough. Lotus, come!

In the blood pool of Pangu Hall, the Twelve-Rank World-Cleansing White Lotus floating above his alt's head seemed to sense its master's summons and trembled slightly.

Sacred white light shot into the sky, piercing through Pangu Hall's barrier and disregarding the distance of space. Following the network of Principles Xiang Dong had constructed, it arrived in an instant.

At the center of the battlefield, the three clan leaders' eyes had gone red with slaughter. They madly exchanged Principle Divine Abilities as though they cost nothing, fighting until heaven and earth darkened, the sun and moon lost their light, and even the Great Dao was on the verge of being ground away.

Just then, a light appeared without warning.

It was a pure white light, rippling outward like water from the center of the battlefield.

Xiang Dong's own light had the property of purifying Sha Qi. Combined with the Pure World White Lotus's power to purify evil and filth—and even wash away Karmic Force and dispel evil and heart demons—it made for a thorough purification service, inside and out.

Whether Tribulation Qi or Devil Qi, both were impurities the Pure World White Lotus could purify.

Tribulation Qi was difficult enough to deal with, but the lotus was the natural bane of Luohou's Devil Qi. Before the purifying light of the Twelve-Rank World-Cleansing White Lotus, the Devil Qi rapidly melted away, and more than half the Tribulation Qi was dispelled outright.

And so, the three mighty Quasi-Saints, Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, and Primordial Qilin, seemed to have a bucket of cold water poured over their heads. Their eyes cleared in an instant.

But once they came to their senses, they were mostly left bewildered and at a loss.

What had happened? Why had their three clans fought to such a bitter end, with nearly half their people killed or wounded?

Had their minds not been affected, they would have chosen a truce as soon as their casualties exceeded thirty percent. With over fifty percent of their people dead or wounded, their foundations had already been damaged.

Even if they won, who knew how many years it would take them to recover?

Yet before this white light appeared, they had shown no intention of stopping. They had plainly been determined to fight until one side was dead and the other ruined, settling both life and death and who stood above the other.

What alarmed them most was that, of the Three Primordial Clans, the Dragon Clan now had the greatest numbers and the greatest overall strength. In a head-on exchange of losses, the Dragon Clan would come out ahead.

Yet throughout the war, the three clans' losses had remained much the same, maintaining a relative balance.

It was as though a giant hand had been quietly adjusting the three clans' losses behind the scenes, preventing any one side from falling into an obvious decline and being defeated too quickly.

Luohou wanted to use the Three Primordial Clans to move the Heavenly Dao and create an opportunity for himself.

Another had the same idea and was making adjustments in secret, using the influence of providence, merit, and karma to keep the three clans' fighting strength evenly matched. But his intention was to have the three clans destroy one another, allowing the Heavenly Dao to become more complete and perfect.

The way of heaven was to take from what had a surplus and supplement what was lacking.

In the present Primordial World, the three clans had far too much.

Just as Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Qilin, and Primordial Phoenix realized they had been schemed against and felt alarm in their hearts,

Countless golden points of light converged from every direction, weaving together above their heads into a gigantic screen of light.