Hongjun Unifies with the Dao, the Witches and Demons Reveal Their Edge

Above the skies of the Primordial Wilderness, purple qi came from the east for thirty thousand li, blanketing the nine heavens and ten lands; golden lotuses surged forth from the void, filling the land with fragrance as Dao resonance spread across mountains and rivers; ethereal celestial music drifted in from beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, cleansing the hearts of all living beings. Countless auspicious phenomena unfolded, while Dao Ancestor Hongjun, seated at their center, wore neither sorrow nor joy upon his face. In his eyes were reflected the birth and destruction of the universe, and the flowing traces of laws.

"My name is Hongjun. Today, I have preached the Dao to the Primordial Wilderness, and my merit is complete. I perceive that the Heavenly Dao is lacking, and shall use my body to make up for it. Thus, the Heavenly Dao is Hongjun, but Hongjun is not Heaven. From this day forward, I shall not emerge unless it is a great trend."

"Unify!"

BOOM! Heavenly thunder exploded, and boundless pressure descended from the skies. Every living being in the Primordial Wilderness fell to their knees—Li Cha excepted—as the Heavenly Dao Eye appeared.

"Granted!" After that single word, the figure seated amid countless auspicious signs slowly vanished, merging into the void. The phenomena transformed into golden spiritual rain and descended. The density of spiritual qi throughout the Primordial Wilderness immediately more than doubled, while the laws and Dao resonance became flawless and complete. Many living beings broke through their bottlenecks as a result. Countless beings marveled at the greatness of the Dao Ancestor; only a small group sneered at it.

Against the backdrop of the Heavenly Dao's celebration and the renewal of all things, within the divine palace at the core of the Sun Star, Di Jun and Taiyi sat facing one another. The magnificent phenomena outside and the supreme might of the Dao Ancestor unifying with the Dao brought little joy to these two innate emperors. Instead, they felt an added sense of urgency.

Relying on their own Origins/Background and comprehension, and through listening to Li Cha preach the Dao, they had long since understood their own Great Dao and broken through to the Early Primordial Golden Immortal realm. Their combat power was formidable enough to rival, or even suppress, cultivators who had merely attained the Mid-Stage Quasi-Saint Dao Fruit by severing two corpses. The "Three Corpses Method" transmitted by Hongjun rapidly swept through the Primordial Wilderness due to its relatively clear path and reliance on spirit treasures. Some cultivators with abundant wealth and numerous spirit treasures had already begun attempting to sever their third corpse, advancing their cultivation and mana still further.

"Big Brother." Taiyi frowned slightly as he looked toward the eternally burning True Sun Fire outside the palace. "Though the Three Corpses Method appears to be a shortcut, severing one's own obsessions through external objects is ultimately the inferior path. My Dao should emulate Great God Pangu's: Proving the Dao through Strength, breaking ten thousand laws with a single force. That is the grand and righteous path!" His tone was resolute. Above his head, the phantom of the Chaos Bell faintly rose and fell, emanating an aura capable of suppressing primordial chaos.

A trace of complexity flashed through Di Jun's eyes at those words. Before him appeared the phantom of the River Diagram and Luo Book, within which countless star paths and trigrams were born, perished, and evolved as they deduced the secrets of Heaven. How could he not know that Proving the Dao through Strength held limitless potential? Yet it was too difficult—nearly a dead end. The Dao of the Three Corpses, while flawed by its dependence on spirit treasures, was a path that could rapidly gather power. The undercurrents of the Primordial Wilderness were now surging. Though the two brothers possessed great ambitions, they stood alone and weak.

After pondering for a long while, resolve flashed in Di Jun's eyes. "What you say makes sense, worthy brother. But the times will not wait for us. Perhaps we brothers can each take a different road. As your elder brother, I am willing to first embark upon the path of proving the Dao through the Three Corpses Method—first, to test its truth; second, to swiftly raise my strength and become your support. Your talent surpasses mine, so you should hold fast to your own Dao and strive for that supreme realm. We brothers, one in the light and one in the shadows, one slow and one swift—this is the most reliable course."

Taiyi looked at his elder brother and understood that Di Jun was making a sacrifice for the greater picture. He nodded heavily. "Then go forward without worry, Big Brother. I will not disappoint your hopes!" From then on, the two emperors of the Sun Star chose different paths toward the Dao, yet became even more tightly united.

At the same time, beneath Buzhou Mountain, the Witch Race's power was developing at a furious pace. Thanks to Li Cha's "special care," as well as the strategic planning of Zhu Jiuyin, the Ancestral Witch of Time, the Witch Race's development far surpassed that of every other race in the Primordial Wilderness. Even before Hongjun unified with the Dao, they already possessed the bearing of overlords dominating one region and swallowing ten thousand li in a single breath.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches had been born from Great God Pangu's essence blood. Their physical bodies were incomparably powerful, and they controlled the Heaven and Earth Laws. After long years of cultivation and accumulation, coupled with the enlightenment gained from Li Cha's preaching, ten of them had successfully broken through to the Early Primordial Golden Immortal realm. Their strength even surpassed that of ordinary Mid-Stage Quasi-Saints. Only the youngest, Xuan Ming and Shebishi, had yet to take this crucial step.

Shebishi controlled weather, poison, and pestilence. His Dao was nearly at odds with the vital, tranquil Tea Dao passed down by Li Cha, making it difficult for him to gain enlightenment from it. He could only rely on bitter cultivation, and his progress was somewhat slow, inevitably leaving him restless.

As for Xuan Ming, the Ancestral Witch of Rain and Ice, though exceptionally gifted, she possessed the temperament of a child. She was enamored with the strange sights and amusing happenings of the Primordial Wilderness, always avoiding tedious cultivation whenever she could, and thus delayed her progress. Though her elder brothers and sisters occasionally urged her on, most of them spoiled her and let her do as she pleased, believing that with her Origin/Background, breakthrough was merely a matter of time.

After Hongjun's preaching ended, the three thousand Purple Heaven Palace guests returned to the Primordial Wilderness carrying new concepts of the Dao—but they also brought the seeds of chaos. Severing corpses required Innate Spirit Treasures, and the quality of a spirit treasure directly determined the strength of the severed corpse. In an instant, the Primordial Wilderness, already rife with undercurrents over resources, was utterly swept into a storm of bloodshed. For a single Innate Spirit Treasure, acts of exterminating clans and slaughtering households became commonplace; it was hardly strange for former fellow Daoists to turn against one another. This wind of greed and slaughter spread like a plague, soon reaching the territories ruled by the Witch Race.

The Witch Race did not cultivate the Primordial Spirit and were not skilled at wielding magical treasures in battle, but that did not mean they were poor. On the contrary, as Pangu's descendants occupying Buzhou Mountain—the richest and most ancient land at the heart of the Primordial Wilderness—the number of Innate Spirit Treasures accumulated in the Witch Race treasury was enough to make any great power green with envy. The Witch Race themselves mostly used them as ornaments, or studied the power of laws contained within them; they rarely used them in actual combat.

This discovery gave many great powers of the Primordial Wilderness—those who had lost out in the struggle for spirit treasures or whose greed knew no bounds—crooked thoughts. Among them was Hu Meng, the Tiger Clan Chief, who had heard the Dao at Purple Heaven Palace and reached the Early-Stage Quasi-Saint realm. Trusting in his greatly improved power and coveting the Witch Race treasury, he secretly contacted the leaders of the Fox Clan, Leopard Clan, Elephant Clan, Snake Clan, Flood Dragon Clan, Wolf Clan, and other races that had likewise occupied the lowest seats among the three thousand guests. Together, they formed Allied Forces, intending to launch a surprise attack while the Witch Race was unprepared, seize their spirit treasures, and even divide up Witch Race territory.

These "lowest-ranking existences" were far too confident and severely underestimated both the Witch Race's strength and vigilance. When the several races gathered more than a million beings in a vast mass and secretly crept to one side of Buzhou Mountain, preparing to strike, they discovered in horror that they had long since entered the Witch Race's encirclement.

Twelve incomparably powerful auras shot into the sky. Accompanied by earth-shaking battle roars, the Twelve Ancestral Witches each led their most elite Great Witches and Witch Race warriors, charging in from twelve directions like twelve indestructible blades and savagely plunging into the Allied Forces of the several races. This was not an encounter battle—it was a long-planned counter-encirclement annihilation!

By relying on the profundity of the Time Laws, Zhu Jiuyin had glimpsed this farce and laid a net that covered Heaven and Earth. Di Jiang tore apart space, Zhu Rong burned Heaven and destroyed Earth, Gong Gong raised waves ten thousand zhang high, Ru Shou unleashed Geng Metal Qi... Even Xuan Ming, who had yet to break through to the Primordial Golden Immortal realm, could press down and beat those Early-Stage Quasi-Saint clan chiefs who had severed corpses through spirit treasures and possessed unstable foundations! Facing the frenzied attacks of the Ancestral Witches, Hu Meng, the Fox Clan Chief, and the others finally realized in horror just how utterly vulnerable they were before absolute strength.

The Allied Forces' morale collapsed, and they scattered in every direction, wishing their parents had given them two more legs. Some of the battered remnants, including Hu Meng and the Fox Clan Chief, fled in blind panic. Whether by coincidence or guided by fate, they actually fled all the way to the vicinity of the Sun Star. Seeing the pursuers draw ever closer behind them, these scattered Demon Race beings, driven by despair, seized upon their last straw and fell to their knees toward the resplendent great sun, crying out hoarsely in supplication:

"Lords of the Sun Star, His Majesties Di Jun and Taiyi! We belong to the Demon Race lineage of the Primordial Wilderness, and now we are being slaughtered by the Witch Race, with our lives hanging by a thread! We beg Your Majesties, for the sake of our shared Demon Race kinship, to take pity on us, grant us refuge, and preserve our lives! We are willing to swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao: from this day forth, we shall look only to Your Majesties' lead. Through boiling water and raging fire, we shall not refuse!"

Their voices were mournful, carrying their final hope.

Within the Sun Star, Di Jun and Taiyi swept out with their divine senses and immediately understood the entire course of events. A sharp gleam flashed in Di Jun's eyes as he said to Taiyi, "Second Brother, this is a Heaven-sent opportunity! We can use it to gather hearts and establish our prestige!"

Taiyi nodded. "Just so!"

The brothers immediately transformed into two golden rainbows and flew out of the Sun Star. Vast True Sun Fire and the pressure of Primordial Golden Immortals swept forth, causing the Witch Race pursuers to pause. Di Jun seized the opportunity to unfold the River Diagram and Luo Book and lay down a formation, temporarily sheltering these battered remnants. Taiyi, meanwhile, held the Chaos Bell and stepped forward. Its mighty chime directly forced Zhu Rong and Gong Gong, the two Ancestral Witches pursuing them, back several steps.

Zhu Rong, hot-tempered as ever, roared, "Di Jun, Taiyi! Are you two planning to become enemies of my Witch Race as well?"

Gong Gong's face was also dark. "Hand over these vermin at once, or do not blame us for showing no courtesy!"

Di Jun smiled calmly. "This place is already near the Sun Star, the Dao field of my brother and me. For the sake of our shared ties as Purple Heaven Palace guests, why not let this matter end here, two Ancestral Witches?" His tone was mild, yet carried unquestionable majesty, the aura of an emperor pervading his entire body.

Taiyi was even more direct. The Chaos Bell floated above his head, chaotic qi cascading down from it, and he looked ready to fight at the slightest disagreement.

Though Zhu Rong and Gong Gong were powerful, facing Taiyi with the Chaos Bell and Di Jun with his unfathomable aura—especially after sensing that their opponents' strength was not the least bit inferior to their own—they knew they could gain no advantage. Moreover, their opponents' stance was unyielding, and this was not the core territory of the Witch Race. The two Exchanged a Look and snorted coldly.

Zhu Rong left behind a harsh warning. "Hmph! We shall give you two face today! But this matter is not over! Once we return and cultivate properly, we will surely come demand an explanation in person someday!" With that, he and Gong Gong withdrew sullenly with their warriors.

Di Jun and Taiyi had successfully stopped the Ancestral Witches and sheltered the remnants of the Demon Race Allied Forces. This deed swiftly spread throughout the Primordial Wilderness. Many small and medium Demon Race tribes oppressed by larger clans, as well as unaffiliated demons seeking support amid the chaos, came one after another to pledge allegiance. For a time, the Sun Star became a sacred land and refuge in the eyes of the Demon Race. The title "the Two Demon Emperors of the Sun Star" spread without need of advertisement, its prestige growing by the day.

After this battle, the Witch Race's fierce reputation grew even greater, thoroughly establishing their position as overlords of the Primordial Wilderness. Together with Di Jun and Taiyi, who had begun gathering power upon the Sun Star, they faintly formed the beginnings of a Heaven-and-Earth standoff. The protagonists had already taken the stage of the Primordial Wilderness, and an even greater storm was brewing.