Rise of the Three Clans

The Great Dao was formless, giving birth to Heaven and Earth. The Great Dao was emotionless, governing the sun and moon.

Calamity Qi filled every corner of the Primordial World, evolving into the first Calamity since the creation of Heaven and Earth.

Beneath this Calamity, karma became entangled, Karma turned into a sea of suffering, and countless living beings were reduced to ashes.

As the Sun Star, Lu Yang felt this deeply.

As the saying went: when Heaven unleashed its killing intent, stars shifted and constellations changed; when Earth unleashed its killing intent, dragons and snakes rose from the land.

Under the Calamity, some sealed themselves within their dwellings, while others actively entered the Calamity.

The Fierce Beasts being targeted had only one path: use slaughter to end slaughter.

Only through battle could they carve out a path amid blood and warfare.

The Heavenly Realm was still evolving, and some Fierce Beasts had also infiltrated it.

At such a time, killing Fierce Beasts meant accumulating Merit.

Even killing Fierce Beasts without Karmic Power brought Merit, though less of it.

That said, Fierce Beasts without Karmic Power were extremely rare.

As for Fierce Beasts with Merit, they seemed not to exist.

Even if a Fierce Beast truly possessed Merit, killing it would not incur much Karmic Power.

Was this unfair to Fierce Beasts? This Calamity had been aimed at Fierce Beasts from the start.

It was the Heavenly Mandate, the greater trend. No one could defy it.

"Heaven and Earth are heartless, treating all things as straw dogs." Lu Yang felt inexplicably sentimental.

Sunlight illuminated more than half the Heavenly Realm, and most of the Fierce Beasts hiding there stood beneath its rays.

Masses of heavenly fire flew from the Sun Star, crossing the void and turning into streams of light.

Somewhere within the Heavenly Realm, a Fierce Beast suddenly felt its scalp tingle as an unprecedented sense of danger seized it.

This Fierce Beast was a grotesque and terrifying strange bird with two heads and three tails. Its gaping maw could swallow Archaic Stars, and fleshy tumors covered its ugly heads.

Though only at the Mystic Immortal level, its body was enormous. When its bat-like wings spread, most consisted of dark-red bones, with only a small portion covered in membrane.

It had lurked in the Heavenly Realm for several thousand years.

Recently, it had felt as if disaster was about to strike.

And now, heavenly fire descended.

Though it was merely a single mass of heavenly fire, it contained immense magical power.

Despair appeared in the Fierce Beast's eyes.

It could neither evade nor block it.

A dead end!

"Boom!"

The heavenly fire crashed down and refined the Fierce Beast into Calamity ash in an instant.

A mere Mystic Immortal-level Fierce Beast was insignificant beneath this Calamity.

At the same time, many other Fierce Beasts in the Heavenly Realm were refined by heavenly fire, all suffering the destruction of body and soul.

There had not been many Fierce Beasts in the Heavenly Realm to begin with, only several hundred thousand. Once the Sun Star released some heavenly fire and expended a little magical power, more than half were wiped out.

Such a massive disturbance also alerted certain great powers.

Deep within the Heavenly Realm, atop a vast floating immortal land thick with immortal flowers and jade grass, a mass of light and shadow emerged as Grand Unity Dao Charm circulated.

"Why has the Sun Star suddenly released such a vast amount of heavenly fire? Some great power must have acted. Could it be that one of our fellow Daoists has reached the Hunyuan level?"

"Run!"

"Help!"

On the East Sea Coast, a Chi Dragon over a thousand meters long pursued and killed a Fierce Beast. In the aftermath of their battle, a Human Tribe was destroyed.

Gales suddenly rose, torrential rain poured down, lightning flashed and thunder roared, while Primordial Water swept in every direction.

The earth was ravaged.

Vegetation was flattened, and birds and beasts died miserably.

Though it was merely a Heavenly Immortal-level Chi Dragon, its stirring of winds and waves turned the region into a flooded land, drowning countless living beings.

Not a single Earth Immortal-level cultivator existed in the Human Tribe caught in the disaster.

To the weak humans, this was no different from a natural catastrophe.

After the Chi Dragon killed the Fierce Beast and flew away, the area gradually fell quiet.

Of a tribe numbering tens of thousands, only several hundred survivors remained.

The surviving humans threw themselves to the ground and wailed, hating their own weakness.

It had only been a Heavenly Immortal-level Chi Dragon.

A Fierce Beast chased down by a Heavenly Immortal-level Chi Dragon.

The mere aftermath of their battle had destroyed a human tribe of tens of thousands.

This was only one place in the Primordial World.

Human Tribes scattered throughout the Primordial World suffered grievous casualties.

Under the Calamity, the human race could not avoid being caught up in it.

And because they were weak, the human race suffered enormous losses.

After several dozen years, more than ninety percent of the Fierce Beasts had been exterminated.

Even counting every remaining Fierce Beast, there were fewer than a hundred trillion.

A hundred trillion was merely a small number in the Primordial World.

The Primordial World was simply too vast. Fierce Beasts represented an era, and before the Calamity, their numbers had been immense.

Although a hundred trillion Fierce Beasts remained, they would likely all be exterminated within a few years.

Those who killed many Fierce Beasts gained fame throughout the Primordial World and accumulated great amounts of Merit.

Some used Merit to refine magical treasures, some used it to raise their cultivation, while others used it to improve their Dao attainment.

Some even used Merit to cultivate divine abilities.

Merit could be called a universal remedy.

Lu Ya and Yuan Feng fought side by side and slew quite a few Fierce Beasts as well.

By killing Fierce Beasts alone, they had accumulated vast Merit. If they used it to improve their Dao attainment, attaining a Grand Unity Dao Fruit would not be difficult.

The Merit accumulated by the Sun Star was even more immense, enough to create several Grand Unity Dao Fruits with ease.

However, using Merit to improve one's Dao attainment also had drawbacks.

Moreover, if Merit were used to improve Dao attainment, it would reveal that the Sun Star was a living being.

Even if Merit were to be used to improve Dao attainment, it should only be considered after attaining a Grand Unity Dao Fruit.

With Lu Yang's current Merit, once he attained a Grand Unity Dao Fruit, he should be able to use Merit to elevate it into a Hunyuan Dao Fruit.

As for the drawbacks of using Merit to improve Dao attainment, they could be slowly resolved after obtaining a Hunyuan Dao Fruit.

In short, it was best if the fact that the Sun Star was a living being remained undisclosed.

Long-term planning was necessary.

That day, another astonishing phenomenon appeared.

Above Yuan Feng's head and over Immortal Volcano, Heavenly Light burst forth. Divine radiance illuminated the heavens, countless auspicious colors filled the sky, innate flowers fell in profusion, and Golden Lotuses Springing from the Earth emerged.

Spiritual Qi swirled and lingered.

It seemed real and illusory at once, strange and dazzling, magnificent beyond measure.

In the unseen depths, Heavenly Mandate blessed the Phoenix Clan.

Not only did the powerful members of the Phoenix Clan sense it, but the powerful members of other clans and great Rogue Cultivators sensed it as well.

Last year, the Dragon Clan had received Heavenly Mandate and become the true lord of Scaled Insects.

Now, the Phoenix Clan had also received Heavenly Mandate, becoming the Lord of Feathered Insects.

Without the blessing of Heavenly Mandate, it would never truly be legitimate.

And with Heavenly Mandate came many tangible benefits.

Just like now: as the Phoenix Clan received Heavenly Mandate, the Fortune of its entire clan soared.

Several months later, the Kirin Clan also received Heavenly Mandate, becoming the lord of Hairy Insects.

Winged Insects regarded the human race as their spiritual leader, but the human race was too weak. It was unrealistic for them to obtain Heavenly Mandate during this Calamity.

Among Insects, the Spiritual Tortoise was the strongest.

However, Ancestor Dragon's divine might was unmatched, and the Spiritual Tortoise bowed its head in submission.

Within the heavens, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Kirin Three Clans rose to power.

As the three clans rose, dividing up Winged Insects and Insects between them, it became nearly impossible for any other race within the heavens to receive Heavenly Mandate.

Even before its rise, the Dragon Clan could already be called the greatest clan in the Primordial World.

With this rise, the Dragon Clan's rate of development became terrifying.

Whether in the number of its powerful members, its Fortune, or the blessed lands and spiritual treasures it occupied, no other clan could compare.

The Phoenix Clan, already inferior to the Dragon Clan, now saw the gap widen further.

Under such circumstances, the Phoenix Clan and Kirin Clan began cooperating.

A tripartite balance among the three clans emerged.

If the Phoenix Clan and Kirin Clan did not join forces, they would sooner or later be defeated one by one by the Dragon Clan.

But once the Phoenix Clan and Kirin Clan formed an alliance, a delicate balance emerged.

Ancestor Dragon was not troubled for the time being.

After all, a hundred trillion Fierce Beasts still remained.

Until the Fierce Beasts were exterminated, the task would not be complete.

Judging by the Calamity Qi between Heaven and Earth, the Calamity was also nearing its end.

Even if they stopped exterminating Fierce Beasts, the Calamity could still end, though it would take some time.

But the three clans that had received Heavenly Mandate would not stop there.

To eliminate evil, one had to eradicate it completely. The Fierce Beasts had to be slaughtered to the last.

Incidentally, as their living space was compressed, some weaker Fierce Beasts fled into lower worlds.

Some powerful Fierce Beasts escaped into the Outer Chaos.

As for the Fierce Beasts that were killed, their flesh and blood almost all nourished the Primordial World.

There were also some frenzied living beings who devoured Fierce Beasts.

Others used Fierce Beasts to refine magical treasures.

From the Fierce Beasts' perspective, it was far too tragic.

With the casualties among the Fierce Beasts and the rise of the three clans, the era belonging to the Fierce Beasts could come to an end.