Seeing that everyone had arrived, Hongjun rose and said, "Come. Follow your master to meet a few old friends."
With a wave of his hand, a pale gold curtain of light enveloped them. The next moment, they appeared within a mysterious space of Chaos.
There was no distinction between heaven and earth in this space, only gray Chaos Airflow drifting slowly by.
At the center of the space, three elderly men sat cross-legged. They were Yang Mei, Old Ancestor Yin Yang, and Old Ancestor Qiankun.
"Old friends, sorry to have kept you waiting." Hongjun stepped forward and greeted them with a smile.
"No matter, no matter!" Old Ancestor Qiankun was the first of the three to rise. He laughed heartily, his gaze sweeping over Haotian and the others.
"These must be the disciples you have taken in, Daoist friend. Every one of them has a pure aura and extraordinary talent."
"Especially this newly accepted little one. The Dao Rhythm around him actually carries traces of Pangu's will!"
"Greetings, seniors!" The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Haotian, and Jade Pool bowed in unison.
"No need for such formalities." Yang Mei smiled and waved his hand, his willow-like brows swaying gently.
"The Primordial Wilderness is far from peaceful. It is already rare for you to remain focused on cultivation at a time like this. Come, let us watch the farce of the Three Clans together."
Following his gaze, everyone looked into the void, where the scene of Cangwu Plain was reflected as clearly as in a mirror.
The brutal scenes of the Three Clans' war could be felt even in the Chaos Depths, carrying a bone-chilling killing intent.
Cangwu Plain had long ceased to resemble its former self. The once-unbroken Innate Spiritual Veins had been violently severed.
Spiritual energy gushing from the fractures mixed with blood, congealing into blackish-red crystals upon the ground.
The sky had been dyed dark purple by war. Tribulation aura and baleful aura intertwined into tangible black clouds.
Every drop of rain that fell was black blood infused with a killing Dao Rhythm. Golden dragon corpses of the Dragon Clan, broken fire-feathered bodies of the Phoenix Clan, and dark yellow Qilin Clan scales carpeted the earth.
Some corpses still radiated the lingering might of Golden Immortals and Grand Unity Golden Immortals, yet had long lost all life.
Farther away in the starry sky, countless stars that had once emitted gentle light were now slowly collapsing.
They had been caught in the aftershocks of great powers' battles. The white light bursting forth when their star cores shattered was even more blinding than the innate Sun Star.
"Kill!" Dragon roars, phoenix cries, and qilin howls rose one after another. The members of the Three Clans had long since killed until their eyes were bloodshot.
At first, they had still cared about casualties among their own kin. Now, they slaughtered anyone they saw.
A Golden Dragon plunged its sharp claws into a Fire Phoenix's chest, only to have its own neck bitten through by a qilin behind it.
Golden dragon blood and fiery phoenix blood mingled together, instantly steaming into a bloody mist as they fell to the ground.
An Azure Luan had just spewed Southern Bright Leaving Fire to burn a Dragon Clan hatchling when several water arrows pierced its wings. It continued to cry miserably as it fell.
Some Qilin Clan members even embraced their enemies and plunged together into ruptured chasms in the earth, perishing alongside them in the explosions of the Spirit Veins.
The thunderous booms rising from the depths of those chasms made all of Cangwu Plain tremble.
Time slipped away quietly amid the slaughter. In the blink of an eye, several thousand years had passed.
Over those thousands of years, the flames of war had not only failed to die down, but had spread to the mountains and rivers surrounding Cangwu Plain. Even the Great Desolation Starry Sky was drawn into the conflict.
Previously neutral innate clans, such as the Mystic Tortoise Clan and Spirit Ape Clan, were either forcibly conscripted by the Three Clans or wiped out in the flames of war.
The tribulation aura between heaven and earth grew increasingly oppressive, nearly crushing the clouds hanging low in the sky.
The baleful aura seeped deep into the Primordial Wilderness along the Earth Vein, nourishing demonic creatures lurking in the shadows.
This was precisely the scene Luohu most wanted to see. The self-destructions on the battlefield had also changed from scattered incidents into widespread eruptions.
A Grand Unity Golden Immortal of the Qilin Clan howled as he ignited his primordial spirit. The dark yellow spiritual light around him surged to its limit before exploding with a boom.
The power of that self-destruction was several times stronger than an all-out strike at his peak, directly shattering a cluster of hundreds of surrounding stars.
Fragments of stars rained down upon the battlefield like meteors, smashing deep craters thousands of zhang deep into the earth.
Immediately afterward, a Primordial Origin Golden Immortal of the Dragon Clan, unwilling to perish, resolutely chose to self-destruct both his body and primordial spirit.
The force of the explosion instantly tore through the barrier of the starfield, causing the entire starry sky to twist.
The laws briefly froze at the center of the explosion. Even several nearby Primordial Origin Golden Immortals were grievously wounded by the aftershock and fell on the spot.
The fragments of their dissipating primordial spirits were swept up by baleful aura and drifted toward the Western Demon Domain.
"This cannot go on." Old Ancestor Yin Yang frowned deeply as the Yin Yang Two Qi on his black-and-white Daoist robe fluctuated violently.
"The heavier the baleful aura grows, the more advantageous it becomes for the demon race. Once Luohu gathers enough nourishment, he will likely reveal himself directly."
"What can we do?" Old Ancestor Qiankun spread his hands, his tone helpless.
"Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, and First Qilin have been invaded by tribulation aura. None of them are in their right minds. If we go to mediate, they will only join forces and treat us as enemies."
"Better to wait a little longer. They have fought for thousands of years already; their clans can no longer hold on."
Yang Mei nodded as well, his willow-like brows swaying gently.
"The Three Clans may have deep foundations, but they cannot endure such consumption."
"More than half of those below the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm have died or been wounded, and only a little over a million Grand Unity Golden Immortals remain."
"Even the Golden Immortals of the Origin Level have lost more than half their number. Most of those remaining are injured as well. They will not last much longer."
Hongjun said nothing. He merely stared at the scene in the void, his fingers unconsciously tapping against the Jade Disk of Creation.
The unease in his heart grew stronger and stronger, yet he could never grasp the source of that variable.
A faint black demonic pattern occasionally flashed across the golden runes on the jade disk, too swiftly to be caught.
Just as Old Ancestor Qiankun had said, after thousands of years of bitter fighting, the Three Clans were already utterly exhausted.
The auras of the Grand Unity Golden Immortals were chaotic, and even their movements as they wielded weapons and clashed laws had slowed.
Some even had to absorb the residual spiritual energy of the Spirit Veins to maintain their combat power.
The Primordial Origin Golden Immortals were no better off. Though they could still maintain their combat power, they were in an extremely miserable state.
Some had lost arms, while others had wounded primordial spirits. Even sustaining their Law Power had become difficult.
Yet no one was willing to bow their head. Once they admitted defeat, not only would they lose their position as clan overlords, they might also be exterminated by the other side.
The clan inheritances accumulated over ten thousand yuanhui would also be destroyed in an instant.
Such scenes could be seen everywhere across the battlefield. When the self-destruction of a Dragon Clan Primordial Origin Golden Immortal reached Ancestral Dragon, the violent law Origin finally dispersed the tribulation aura within him.
"No—!" Ancestral Dragon let out a low, majestic cry of grief, his voice filled with unimaginable sorrow and disbelief.
He lowered his head to look at his clan. The Dragon Clan, which had once numbered in the tens of millions, now had only a few million left, each one wounded.
The golden scales on their bodies were stained with the blood of both kin and enemies.
Some Old Ministers who had once followed him into battle were reduced to half their bodies, while others had even had their primordial spirits scattered.
Even the Dragon Clan's Grand Elder, whom he trusted most, had been reduced to a broken head, his eyes wide open with unwillingness.
Soon after, First Qilin and Primordial Phoenix were also shaken awake by the aftershocks of self-destruction.
First Qilin's voice was heavy and hoarse, filled with endless remorse. "What... have we done?"
Primordial Phoenix let out a clear yet raspy phoenix cry. Her gaze swept over the battlefield before falling upon a young multicolored phoenix lying heavily wounded on the ground.
It was a junior who had only recently begun to display promise within the clan. Its wings had been torn apart, and most of its fire feathers had fallen away, yet it still struggled to breathe as it gently groomed the broken feathers of its companion with its beak.
Fiery red tears fell from Primordial Phoenix's eyes, and her heart was filled with guilt.
These younger members of the clan should have been the Phoenix Clan's hope for the future. Yet they had been reduced to such a state. If the fighting continued, the Phoenix Clan would likely be completely annihilated.
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