Jieyin swallowed hard and replied softly.
He appeared as steady as ever, but inside, his emotions had long been churning.
At the peak of Kunlun Mountain.
"Heaven is unfair! We are Pangu's Orthodox Lineage, so why does Heaven's Way always favor those demons?!"
Yuanshi's eyes were bloodshot, his expression nearly twisted.
Dijun and Taiyi had successively established their race and founded the court, and jealousy had long burned fiercely within him.
He knew that from this day onward, two more lofty figures would stand above him and his elder brother!
"What are you panicking for? Fortune and misfortune have yet to be determined. With you losing your composure like this, how do you still resemble Pangu's Orthodox Lineage in the slightest?!"
Laozi frowned and rebuked him, then turned his gaze into the distance—
That was Witch Race territory.
Dijun actually dared to establish the Heavenly Court over the Witch Race's heads. How could they possibly let it go?
Moreover, the Witch and Demon Races had harbored grudges against each other for a long time.
The slightest disturbance would be enough to stir up towering waves.
Thus, Laozi was not only not jealous, but even felt a faint sense of anticipation.
He had little fondness for either the Demon Race or the Witch Race.
No matter which side suffered losses, he would be happy to see it.
The Witch Race in particular filled him with disgust.
A race of brutes relying solely on brute strength dared call themselves Pangu's orthodox bloodline?
That point alone left him thoroughly displeased.
He had merely refrained from acting because there was still a gap in strength.
Within Wuzhuang Temple.
"No matter how this conflict ends, I fear it will not be easily resolved."
Zhenyuanzi sighed softly, his expression solemn.
As the saying went, onlookers saw clearly while those involved were confused.
Though he stood apart from the matter, he had already sensed a few signs of the calamity.
However, no conclusion could yet be drawn, and further observation was needed.
Inside the Ancestral Witch Hall.
"Big Brother, those two birds, Dijun and Taiyi, actually dare dream of educating all beings on Heaven's behalf. It is truly infuriating!"
Flames surged around Zhurong's body, his voice filled with rage.
The surrounding void was slightly distorted by the scorching heat.
"That's right! Who knows where they found the nerve to contend with our Witch Race for power? They truly do not know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth!"
Gonggong chimed in, unable to conceal the anger on his face.
Even they, Pangu's direct descendants, had never presumptuously claimed to govern Heaven and Earth on Father God's behalf.
What gave two mere birds the courage to say such things?!
"Enough. No need for more words. Today, the twelve of us siblings will charge straight into the Heavenly Court and let those two beasts taste our strength!"
With a wave of his hand, Dijiang stopped the other Ancestral Witches from continuing.
As the leader of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, his words naturally carried authority.
"Move out! Pluck their bird feathers!"
With that, the Twelve Ancestral Witches led a vast host of Great Witches toward Buzhou Mountain.
Their towering killing intent and baleful aura caused countless mighty figures throughout the Primordial Wilderness to turn their heads!
"How could you be certain that the Witch and Demon Races would inevitably fight?"
Nuwa had also sensed the Witch Race's movements, surprise evident in her expression.
She grew increasingly curious about the mysteries of the Saint realm.
"This is the Great Dao's art of deduction. Once cultivated to a profound level, nothing between Heaven and Earth can escape deduction."
Tongtian smiled faintly and explained as if it were nothing.
His expression made it seem as though he had merely stated something utterly ordinary.
Seeing that smug look on his face, Nuwa could not help rolling her eyes and ending the conversation.
She was afraid that if she kept asking, she would truly lose control and strangle him.
That expression of his seemed to say, "Isn't this simple?"
She casually picked up a few spiritual fruits, ate them, and waited for the show to begin.
Back atop Buzhou Mountain, the Cloud of Merit in the void finally finished gathering.
Then, beneath the envious gazes of countless cultivators, the cloud split into two and flew toward Dijun and Taiyi.
As the merit entered their bodies, the momentum that had been growing slowly around them paused slightly before suddenly soaring.
Using that power, they swiftly severed their Evil Corpses and entered the middle stage of the Quasi-Saint realm.
Yet less than half of the power of merit had been expended.
Knowing that opportunity could not be missed, the two did not pause and continued charging toward a higher realm.
A moment later.
They sensed that they had reached the threshold of the late Quasi-Saint stage, separated by only the finest margin.
Dijun and Taiyi both shouted:
"Break!!"
Their cultivation arts surged to their limits, madly absorbing the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth across hundreds of millions of miles as they attempted to break through in one stroke!
Boom!
A deafening roar erupted from within their bodies.
Immediately afterward, a terrifying pressure that suffocated all who felt it suddenly erupted!
With the aid of merit, their Obsession Corpses were successfully severed.
The formidable power of late-stage Quasi-Saints instantly spread across hundreds of millions of miles.
All living beings within that range fell prostrate to the ground, unable to move.
Their subordinates, who had long been waiting nearby, were overjoyed and shouted in unison:
"Congratulations, Heavenly Emperor! Congratulations, Eastern Emperor!"
"Congratulations, Heavenly Emperor! Congratulations, Eastern Emperor!"
But before the cheers could end, Dijun and Taiyi's expressions suddenly changed.
They had sensed the Twelve Ancestral Witches approaching menacingly.
"Big Brother, it seems they have come with ill intent!"
Taiyi sent a voice transmission as he summoned the Chaos Bell from within his body.
Battle intent surged in his eyes like a raging tide.
"Perfect. We can use them to establish our authority. Since they came looking for death themselves, don't blame us for showing no mercy!"
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Dijun's lips.
Though they had not personally taken part in the frictions between the Witch and Demon Races over the years, they had long been holding back a bellyful of anger toward the Witch Race.
Now that their cultivation had greatly advanced, they naturally had no reservations.
"They are nothing more than a pack of crude fools with strong limbs. I have disliked them for a long time!"
Contempt flashed through Taiyi's eyes.
It was not that he underestimated the Ancestral Witches' strength, but that the rage he had suppressed for so long had already ignited.
Only after entering the Quasi-Saint realm had he truly realized that even the difference of a minor realm was like an unbridgeable gulf between Heaven and Earth.
With the Twelve Ancestral Witches currently only at the early Quasi-Saint stage,
he was confident that even alone, with the Chaos Bell in hand, he could remain invincible!
Just as he was pondering this, an angry roar like thunder suddenly sounded in the distance.
Twelve black dots rapidly expanded on the far horizon, arriving before them in the blink of an eye.
"You feathered beasts, your Ancestral Witch grandfathers have come today to pluck your feathers!"
Hearing such arrogant words, Dijun and Taiyi's faces immediately darkened.
To be humiliated so openly before countless living beings instantly ignited towering fury in their hearts.
There was no warmth left in their eyes, only icy killing intent.
Meanwhile, the mighty figures floating in the void all wore expectant expressions.
"I wonder who will come out on top in this battle. I rather hope the Dijun brothers suffer a little. They have truly been far too arrogant these past years."
"Hard to say. Even if they just broke through and have yet to stabilize their realms, they are still late-stage Quasi-Saint experts.
Though the Twelve Ancestral Witches hold the advantage in numbers, whether they even have a fifty-percent chance of victory remains unknown."
"I think Dijun and Taiyi have better odds.
Not only do they suppress their opponents in cultivation, they also possess the Innate Supreme Treasure, the Chaos Bell, along with the Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the River Diagram and Luo Book. Their advantage is obvious."
"Hmph, they only dare act so mighty in front of us. If they were this presumptuous before Saint Tongtian, they would likely have long since been reduced to nothing in body and soul."
"Exactly. Beneath a Saint, all are but ants. That is no joke.
If they truly angered Sect Master Tongtian, a single thought could likely make their souls scatter and spirits perish!"
While the immortals discussed the matter heatedly, the Twelve Ancestral Witches had already appeared.
Each stood millions of zhang tall, their Ancestor Witch True Bodies comparable to Low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, making countless eyes gleam.
Jieyin and Zhunti, in particular, were deeply tempted.
There was no other reason: the West was barren, and spiritual treasures were scarce.
If they could comprehend a body-refining method, would that not be equivalent to handing their disciples one spiritual treasure after another?
Though such bodies could not be used to sever corpses, they would be immensely beneficial in actual combat.
After all, compared with using the Primordial Spirit to control treasures, the physical body reacted more directly and swiftly.
The two exchanged a glance, and a decision had already formed in their hearts.
"Dijun, Taiyi, why haven't you birdmen shown yourselves? Let your Ancestral Witch grandfathers teach you a lesson!"
As soon as the words fell, a giant with a savage aura across his face stepped forward.
It was Zhurong, whose temper blazed like fire.
Rolling vitality and baleful aura shot into the sky, triggering Heaven and Earth Anomalies.
The sky immediately darkened as wind and clouds surged.
Blazing flames churned endlessly around his body.
As rivals in the same field, those who played with fire could least tolerate others doing the same.
In his words, aside from himself, everyone else who played with fire followed a wicked path!
Thus, the moment he reached the battlefield, he leaped out before Dijiang could speak.
Before his words had even faded, he gave the two no chance to catch their breath and directly activated the Law of Fire.
In an instant,
endless waves of fire swept forth like raging tides.
The flames came in countless varieties—Samadhi True Fire, Five-Flavor True Fire, Nine-Flavor True Fire... everything was present!
Wherever they passed, the void was scorched into layer upon layer of distortion,
like a stone shattering the surface of a lake and sending ripples outward.
Even the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth was evaporated by the scorching heat.
"Good!"
Taiyi put away his contempt and shouted coldly.
He did not immediately bring out the Chaos Bell,
but instead circulated his mana and summoned Solar True Fire that blotted out the sky to meet the attack.
Its intensity was no weaker than Zhurong's flames.
With a thought, it crashed violently into the oncoming sea of fire.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The collision of the two supreme fire powers sent the temperature of the void soaring once more.
Under such terrifying heat,
even if a Grand Unity Golden Immortal arrived in person, without a spiritual treasure protecting their body, they could only be reduced to ashes.
Due to the gap in their realms,
before long, Zhurong's flames began to show signs of weakening.
Seeing this, he roared and swung his giant fist straight at Taiyi.
One had to know that aside from their mastery of laws, the Ancestral Witches' greatest strength was their physical bodies.
Because the path of the Primordial Spirit was difficult for them to break through, they focused on tempering their bodies.
For this reason, the Ancestral Witches' strength in close-quarters combat could truly be called the finest in the Primordial Wilderness!
A fist as huge as a palace rapidly enlarged in his pupils, yet Taiyi remained calm and utterly fearless.
With a slight movement of his mind, the Chaos Bell appeared above his head.
"Clang—clang—clang—!"
The bell's chimes echoed as ripples spread across the void like waves on water.
As for Zhurong—
the instant the bell rang, the space around him seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand. His movements immediately became sluggish, and his speed sharply decreased.
Taiyi's eyes flashed brightly at the sight.
He immediately controlled the Chaos Bell and smashed it fiercely toward Zhurong.
With a thunderous boom, Zhurong was struck heavily and staggered backward.
His million-zhang Ancestor Witch True Body retreated repeatedly for a full million miles.
"Zhurong, do not panic! I will aid you!"
With a loud shout, Jumang, the Ancestral Witch of Water, and Xuanming, the Ancestral Witch of Ice, both rushed forward to support him.
"Shameless!"
Seeing this, Dijun roared and was about to step in to help.
Before you continue