Laying the Trap for the Demon Race

At night, within the Penglai Immortal Palace.

Fuzhu Da Bai and Bai Ze were reporting the situation and difficulties of the Demon Race to Qing Xuan.

"That's the gist of it, Boss. I plan to take the spirit beasts from the island and join the Demon Race for some training."

Da Bai finished in one breath, then crunched away on a Ginseng Fruit.

[I didn't expect the Twelve Ancestral Witches could already condense the formation. It seems the Heavenly Court's emergence isn't far off.]

Qing Xuan thought to himself. He didn't place much importance on the Demon Race's current predicament, because he knew that Di Jun and Tai Yi might turn misfortune into fortune this time, comprehending the 'Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation' from the Eastern Emperor Bell.

Afterward, Qing Xuan assigned some tasks to Bai Ze and Da Bai. Bai Ze was listening intently at first, but as he listened, he grew more and more shocked, until he finally couldn't help but ask.

"Will it really succeed?"

"Rest assured, I have everything under control!" Qing Xuan said confidently, then pondered for a moment.

"Bai Ze, is the Gold Spirit Pearl on you?"

Bai Ze was startled inwardly and produced the Gold Spirit Pearl.

Qing Xuan summoned a needle-type spiritual treasure and said.

"This is a high-grade acquired spiritual treasure, the 'Black Gold Ray'. I refined it from Chaos Refined Gold. It is indestructible and incomparably sharp. Once unleashed, it is sure to draw blood. How about trading this treasure for your Gold Spirit Pearl?"

Bai Ze, though puzzled inwardly, saw that trading a high-grade spiritual treasure for a mid-grade one was clearly a profit for him. So, without much hesitation, he dissolved the Primordial Spirit power on the Gold Spirit Pearl.

Qing Xuan accepted the Gold Spirit Pearl, sighing inwardly. Was it Kong Xuan's deep fortune, or his own? To gather the Five Spirit Pearls, such a difficult set of spiritual treasures to collect, this also made him think of the Five Directions Innate Banners, as he was only missing one of those as well.

Qing Xuan had Bai Ze and the other withdraw first, then summoned Kong Xuan. Before long, Kong Xuan arrived with a puzzled expression, wondering what his Master wanted with him so late at night.

Qing Xuan gave Kong Xuan a mysterious smile and said.

"Disciple, guess why your Master called you here?"

"Disciple does not know what matter Master has for me, but whatever Master arranges, Disciple will surely accomplish!" Kong Xuan said seriously.

Qing Xuan looked at Kong Xuan with a mix of amusement and exasperation, always feeling that this beloved disciple's personality was perhaps too serious.

"Enough, enough. Take this Gold Spirit Pearl. This way, your Five Element Pearls are complete. It just so happens you can now cultivate the Five Elements Law, so go down and meditate on it well."

"Thank you, Master!" Kong Xuan said.

Qing Xuan watched his departing beloved disciple. The fledgling had grown up and could soar the skies. If so, should he take on another disciple to teach?

"What am I thinking? I haven't even figured out my own path yet!" Qing Xuan muttered to himself, gazing at the star-filled sky.

A few days later, one hundred and twenty thousand spirit beasts flew over the East Sea. At their head were Da Bai and Bai Ze. Twelve figures followed behind Da Bai; these twelve were the original Twelve Protectors of the Myriad Spirit Alliance.

Da Bai hadn't expected that when he saw these Twelve Spirit Beasts again, they would all be at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal perfection, only one step away from entering the Zenith Heaven Realm.

Because of a special mission, Da Bai hadn't announced to his subordinates that Bai Ze was the Deputy Leader, so the Twelve Protectors still thought Bai Ze was just a friend of the Alliance Leader.

Da Bai had specifically selected one hundred and twenty thousand spirit beasts, led by the Twelve Protectors. The lowest cultivation among these spirit beasts was Golden Immortal perfection.

Seeing this, Bai Ze felt a slight anticipation for the position of Deputy Leader of the Myriad Spirit Alliance.

And just as Da Bai and the other were leading the spirit beasts towards the Demon Race Headquarters, Qing Xuan and his group on the Three Immortal Islands were also planning to travel through the Primordial Wilderness.

"Kong Xuan, Peng Xuan, with your cultivation, you can protect yourselves in the Primordial Wilderness. Go out and explore. Your Master and I, along with these two Fellow Daoists, will go to Wuzhuang Temple to cultivate. If you encounter danger, you can come to Wuzhuang Temple to find me."

"Yes, Master!"

"Alright, Master!"

Peng Xuan had long wanted to go out and play, and was determined to have a great time this time.

"Take these. Your Master refined them on a whim." Qing Xuan gave each of them a cauldron.

The two brothers put away the spiritual treasures and left the Three Immortal Islands. They glanced at each other in the air, and Peng Xuan asked excitedly.

"Big Brother, where do you want to go?"

Kong Xuan thought for a moment. "I'm going to take a look in the south. Will you come with me?"

Peng Xuan was taken aback, then curled his lip and said, "I'm not going. I want to go play in the North Sea."

Kong Xuan didn't insist. "Alright then, we'll part ways. Remember Master's words: if there's danger, go to Wuzhuang Temple."

"Got it!" Peng Xuan transformed into his Original Form, flapped his wings once, and vanished into the horizon.

Kong Xuan watched his younger brother's retreating figure, smiled faintly, transformed into a five-colored peacock, and flew south.

Then, Qing Xuan and the other two left the Three Immortal Islands together. The three of them weren't in a hurry to go directly to Wuzhuang Temple, as they still planned to go together to listen to Hongjun's second sermon. Since there were still two thousand years until the sermon, the three decided to first take a trip to Buzhou Mountain.

In the blink of an eye, a thousand years had passed. During this millennium, the conflict between the Witch and Monster Races had grown increasingly intense. The Witch Race tribes, led by the Twelve Ancestral Witches, had given birth to many Witch Race Clansmen, among them powerful Great Witches like Hou Yi, Kuafu, and Xing Tian.

The Demon Race's power had also grown immensely, now gathering a Hundred Billion Demon Race clansmen, with an incalculable number of great demons among them. For ease of management, the Demon Emperor Di Jun enfeoffed his younger brother Tai Yi as the Eastern Emperor, and then enfeoffed ten great demons as the Ten Great Demon Marshals, thereby commanding the multitude of Demon Race clansmen.

Among the Ten Great Demon Marshals were the great demons Fuzhu Da Bai and Bai Ze. The one hundred and twenty thousand spirit beasts Da Bai had brought from the Three Immortal Islands had lost several tens of thousands in battle over the years. However, every Hundred Years, Da Bai would return to the Three Immortal Islands to replenish their numbers, so Da Bai still commanded twelve teams of Demon Beasts.

Leading these twelve teams were the Twelve Zodiacs, who had become famous throughout the Primordial Wilderness. Over the thousand years of battle, the Twelve Zodiacs had lived up to expectations, all breaking through to the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm. Among them, Chen Dragon's combat power ranked among the top in the Demon Race.

When Di Jun established the Ten Great Demon Marshals, he had once asked Chen Dragon if he wanted to be a Demon Marshal. Chen Dragon refused, so now, the twelve teams under Da Bai's command were among the top fighting forces in the Demon Race.

With the Demon Race so powerful, several hundred years ago, led by the Demon Emperor Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor Tai Yi, they launched an all-out war against the Witch Race across the lands of the Primordial Wilderness.

This Witch-Demon War saw everyone from Golden Immortals to Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals join the fray. The Demon Race, relying on their numerical advantage, engaged the Witch Race Clansmen in two-on-one, three-on-one, and even four-on-one battles.

In an instant, the once-dominant Witch Race was beaten back, their territory shrinking. The war raged for a full hundred years before it finally ceased. The turning point came when the Twelve Ancestral Witches deployed the "Twelve Capital Celestial Evil Formation" at the foot of Kunlun Mountain.

A colossal Pangu's True Body stood between heaven and earth, shaking the minds of countless mighty beings. Even Qing Xuan, watching from afar, felt his spirit waver, as if the Great God Pangu had been reborn into the world.

But just as everyone thought the Witch Race would win again, Di Jun and the others among the Demon Race actually broke into smiles. Then Di Jun spoke to the crowd.

"Let these brutes witness our power. All demons, form the formation!"