Advancing to Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal!

Kunpeng had already made up his mind, but he didn't agree immediately. If he agreed too readily, how could he drive a bargain?

Di Jun wasn't in a hurry; he waited quietly.

He knew exactly what kind of person Kunpeng was.

Kunpeng felt a bit speechless inside. Shouldn't you be the one to invite me again, and I'll hold out a little longer, then we reach terms for cooperation? Why aren't you saying anything?

A plan had been brewing in his heart for a long time, but with only his own strength, he could never pull it off.

Now that Di Jun had come to him, inviting him to join the Demon Heavenly Court, this was a golden opportunity.

The two of them were silent for a long time.

Kunpeng couldn't hold out any longer. Putting on an air of having made a firm decision, he said, "Daoist Di Jun, I can join the Heavenly Court, but... I have one condition!"

"Speak!" Di Jun's lips curled into a faint smile. If he had pressed the invitation again, Kunpeng would have made exorbitant demands.

But since the other party brought it up first, there was room for negotiation.

If it was something too difficult, he naturally wouldn't agree.

Kunpeng's voice was low and gloomy. "In the future, I need the Demon race to help me kill Hong Yun!"

"Back in the Purple Firmament Palace, if Hong Yun hadn't given up his seat, it wouldn't have dragged me into this. One of those seven Primordial Violet Qis would have been mine. Hong Yun blocked my path to sainthood—this enmity is irreconcilable."

Di Jun had already been mulling it over in his heart. There were seven saints in the Primordial Wilderness, as the Dao Ancestor Hongjun himself had declared, and they corresponded exactly to the seven Primordial Violet Qis.

He agreed readily, to keep Kunpeng from harboring resentment, and besides, they both understood each other without needing to spell it out.

"I accept this matter. In the future, I will lead the Demon race to help you kill Hong Yun!"

The two tacitly avoided mentioning the Primordial Violet Qi. After joining forces to kill Hong Yun, they would discuss the spoils.

In the Primordial Wilderness, the Demon race was vast in number, and from that immense foundation, many powerful beings had emerged.

As one Great Expert after another chose to join the Demon Heavenly Court, Demon Emperor Di Jun and Emperor Taiyi gathered a host of Demon race elites under their command, their strength skyrocketing.

The Primordial Wilderness had no reckoning of years.

In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of years had passed.

By now, the lifespans of living beings on the Primordial Wilderness continent were exceedingly long. A single nap could span tens of thousands of years.

Especially those Innate Beings—born with immense power, once they achieved the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm, they could leap beyond the river of time and share the heavens' lifespan.

So in the Primordial Wilderness, time was the cheapest thing.

And over these tens of thousands of years, the landscape of the Primordial Wilderness had been quietly undergoing massive changes.

On the surface, it seemed calm, but beneath lay surging undercurrents.

Like the stillness before a storm, as if brewing a tempest.

Three major races gradually began to show their fangs.

The Purple Mansion Immortal Court's Immortal Emperor, East Prince Gong, had been personally appointed by the Dao Ancestor as the Head of Male Immortals. With the addition of the Two Westerners, many powerful beings had also joined over these tens of thousands of years.

Now, they had embarked on a path of expansion. Though the Two Westerners were shameless, the entire Primordial Wilderness had to acknowledge that they were destined to become the Two Saints in the future.

And with the position of Head of Male Immortals, they could claim legitimacy.

The Demon Heavenly Court, meanwhile, had gathered countless Demon race experts. Fuxi became the Third Emperor of the Demons, Kunpeng the Demon Master, and the Ten Demon Gods had all reached the Quasi-Saint realm, each commanding countless Demons.

Nuwa was also fated to become a saint in the future.

The two major powers stood in opposition.

As for the Wu race, they had become the most stable faction, but their strength was not to be underestimated. The Twelve Ancestral Witches were all formidable, along with nearly a hundred Great Witches.

They claimed the area around Buzhou Mountain as their territory, holding steady without making moves.

But the Wu race was warlike, and their individual combat prowess was fearsome.

Moreover, they preyed on the Demon race, often capturing them for food.

At this moment, in the eyes of the Demon Heavenly Court's many experts, the Purple Mansion Immortal Court's East Prince Gong was their primary target. They had no time to bother with those brutish Wu.

In the Primordial Wilderness, the strong devoured the weak. If you got eaten, you could only blame your own lack of strength.

Kunlun Mountain

All was harmonious.

Of course, there were occasional minor frictions, but nothing serious—they were quickly resolved. If they truly couldn't settle something, they would immediately inform Niu Ben and let him make the call.

The Three Pure Ones had not yet become saints. The paths of Primordial Heavenly Lord and Tongtian were opposed to each other.

Primordial Heavenly Lord preached interpreting heaven's will and following it, while Tongtian sought to Seize a Thread of Life for all living beings under heaven, which amounted to defying heaven and disobeying its intent.

Their disciples naturally cultivated the respective paths of their masters.

Inevitably, all sorts of conflicts arose.

And Primordial Heavenly Lord's arrogance was etched into his bones. He looked down on those born with fur, horns, wet skins, or from eggs—yet most of Tongtian's disciples were exactly that kind.

Although Niu Ben was mediating, it couldn't be resolved in a short time.

Today.

Niu Ben was basking in the sun.

Bixiao was beside him, massaging his shoulders while pestering him to tell stories.

If every day could be this leisurely, Niu Ben felt he could lie down forever and never get up.

But just then.

Niu Ben suddenly opened his eyes, as if sensing a hint of opportunity.

The flow of mana within his body abruptly quickened.

"Is this... finally about to break through to Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal?"

Niu Ben recalled that tens of thousands of years ago, he had already reached the late stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

He was only one step away from Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, yet he simply couldn't break through. At the time, he felt the opportunity hadn't arrived. Now, after tens of thousands of years of accumulation, he had finally sensed it.

"Senior Brother Niu Ben, what's wrong?" Bixiao noticed something amiss and asked urgently.

"Junior Sister, I need to go into seclusion. I feel my cultivation is about to break through."

Niu Ben stood up, a smile gradually spreading across his face.

In this Primordial Wilderness, strength reigned supreme—whoever had the bigger fist called the shots.

Bixiao was genuinely happy for Niu Ben. "Senior Brother, go quickly! The opportunity to break through is fleeting!"

Niu Ben nodded and hurried back to his Cave Dwelling.

Then he sat cross-legged inside, circulating the Chaos Divine Ox Scripture.

Endless Qi of Earth Sha formed a massive funnel, pouring rapidly into Niu Ben's body.

Niu Ben closed his eyes, focusing entirely on his breakthrough.

He ceaselessly assaulted the realm of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

Cultivation knew no time.

Time slipped by quietly.

Ten years!

A hundred years!

Not until a thousand years later—

Suddenly, the entire Kunlun Mountain sensed a terrifying aura descending.

An immense pressure crushed countless living beings on Kunlun Mountain to the ground. Only those at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal level could barely withstand it.

The Three Pure Ones were the first to detect this aura.

They opened their eyes simultaneously, their gazes piercing through the void toward Niu Ben's Cave Dwelling.

"Is this the aura of a Thunder Tribulation?" Primordial Heavenly Lord said in surprise.

Tongtian's eyes lit up, envy flickering within them. Big Brother, how did he manage to take in such an excellent disciple?

At first, he too thought it was a Heavenly Tribulation descending.

But then he sensed something off.

"Could it be a Form Transformation Heavenly Tribulation?"

Yet as he probed further, it didn't quite fit.

With a thought, his figure appeared in the void above Niu Ben's Cave Dwelling.

Taishang was already there, looking up at the terrifying Heavenly Tribulation force gathering in the sky, then shifting his gaze to Niu Ben's Cave Dwelling. A trace of doubt appeared in his eyes.

Could this be caused by that ox again?