The Dao-Demon Conflict Ends, A Brief Respite

"Hoo..."

Zhou Ming let out a breath of turbid air, his gaze falling upon the twelve enormous blood cocoons within the hall.

The consciousnesses of the Twelve Ancestral Witches had awakened one after another. Under his guidance and with the Dao Origin Divine Pearl's assistance, they had begun instinctively circulating the "Nine Revolutions Fiend Quenching Art."

This was a good sign.

But Zhou Ming knew that relying solely on the Blood Pool essence within Pangu Hall, along with the Cultivation Method's spontaneous circulation to refine fiendish aura, was still far too slow.

Though the fiendish aura within Pangu Hall was dense, it was ultimately limited.

As the Ancestral Witches' consciousnesses awakened, their instinctive thirst for energy grew by the day, and their rate of refining fiendish aura also increased faster and faster.

"We can't just rely on Pangu Hall's meager reserves..." Zhou Ming stroked his chin, sinking into thought.

"Outside, the Dragon-Phoenix-Kirin Tribulation has only just ended. The boundless fiendish aura and resentment produced by the struggle for supremacy among the three clans haven't yet fully dissipated. By my reckoning, the Dao-Demon Conflict will likely begin soon as well."

"To other living beings, this fiendish aura is deadly poison. But to me—to the Wu Clan—it is a divine pill and wondrous medicine."

A bold idea rose in his heart. He would go outside and gather fiendish aura!

He would use the Dao Origin Divine Pearl to collect the fiendish aura, bring it back to Pangu Hall, and supply it to the Twelve Ancestral Witches as "nourishment" for refinement.

Not only would this greatly speed up their cultivation, it might even...

"Sorting out the fiendish aura of the Primordial World and dispelling the lingering aftermath of the Tribulation... perhaps I could even scoop up some Merit?"

Merit was hard currency in the Primordial World, with wondrous uses beyond measure!

Though dangerous, it was worth trying!

The Primordial World had only just endured a great war. The powerful had withered away, and as long as he kept his activities near Buzhou Mountain and proceeded carefully, there should not be much of a problem.

Having made his decision, Zhou Ming did not act immediately.

He first inspected the Twelve Ancestral Witches' condition, ensuring that the "Nine Revolutions Fiend Quenching Art" was circulating steadily and that the protective imprints left by the Dao Origin Divine Pearl remained as stable as ever.

Then, after adjusting himself to peak condition and activating the Dao Origin Divine Pearl to shield his entire body, he cautiously left the bounds of Pangu Hall.

The instant he stepped beyond Pangu Hall's protective barrier, a dense stench of blood and fiendish aura, so thick it nearly solidified, rushed straight at him!

Even though the Dragon-Phoenix-Kirin Tribulation had ended and the three clans had already sworn to withdraw from the stage, the fiendish aura and Karma born from the deaths of countless living beings still pervaded the Primordial World.

He did not venture deep into the heartland of the Primordial World, only moving around the region at the foot of Buzhou Mountain near Pangu Hall.

Zhou Ming activated the Dao Origin Divine Pearl and began slowly absorbing the drifting fiendish aura nearby.

This fiendish aura was impure and violent, brimming with negative emotions such as slaughter, resentment, and unwillingness.

The Dao Origin Divine Pearl trembled gently, drawing in the impure fiendish aura. Using Law Power, it slowly ground away the negative wills within, refining the aura into relatively pure energy.

The process was not fast, but it was indeed effective.

Zhou Ming did not dare be greedy. Each time, he collected only a suitable amount of fiendish aura before immediately returning to Pangu Hall.

He carefully guided the energy refined by the Dao Origin Divine Pearl toward the twelve blood cocoons, helping them circulate the "Nine Revolutions Fiend Quenching Art."

With the replenishment of fiendish aura energy from the outside world, the Twelve Ancestral Witches' speed in refining fiendish aura clearly accelerated by a great deal!

The life auras within the blood cocoons also became more active.

Zhou Ming could even sense a little more delight and dependence within the hazy thoughts transmitted by Di Jiang and the others.

"It worked!" Zhou Ming rejoiced inwardly, his motivation surging all the higher.

And so, Zhou Ming began living a life spent traveling back and forth between Pangu Hall and the foot of Buzhou Mountain.

On one hand, he cultivated diligently to raise his own realm. On the other, he periodically went out to gather fiendish aura, "feeding" his Twelve Younger Siblings.

As Zhou Ming absorbed and refined this fiendish aura, Merit descended from heaven and earth, merging into his Primordial Spirit and the Dao Origin Divine Pearl.

"So this is Merit?"

Though there was not much, grains of sand could build a tower. It was good news, in any case.

In the Primordial World, years went uncounted; in cultivation, time had no passage.

Zhou Ming had already lost track of how many times he had repeated these journeys.

He only knew that the Twelve Ancestral Witches' condition was getting better and better. The day of their Form Transformation seemed not far away.

As for himself, his foundation at the mid-stage Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm was steadily deepening as well.

One day, while Zhou Ming was cultivating within Pangu Hall, a sudden palpitation swept across the Primordial World. The worldly aura became oppressive and violent once more—more suffocating even than the previous Dragon-Phoenix-Kirin Tribulation!

"The Dao-Demon Conflict... has begun!" Zhou Ming's expression turned grave.

Hongjun and Luohu! The ultimate battle that would decide who inherited the Dao lineage of the Primordial World's future!

Though he had expected it long ago, when this great war that would determine the Primordial World's future structure truly arrived, Zhou Ming still felt immense pressure.

He had no intention of going to watch the excitement.

A battle of that level—at his current cultivation, even watching from far away could get him killed by the aftershocks.

"Keep a low profile! Keep lying low!"

Zhou Ming drew a deep breath, forced himself to gather his mind, and continued his Seclusion.

The outside world could fight to the death all it wanted; as long as it did not reach Pangu Hall, it had nothing to do with him for the time being.

Increasing his strength was the true path!

On this day, Zhou Ming was guiding the Dao Origin Divine Pearl to help the last few Ancestral Wu—whose consciousnesses had formed relatively late—sort through their baleful intent.

Suddenly!

BOOM—!!!

A heaven-shaking explosion rang out from the distant west!

The entire Primordial Wilderness trembled violently!

In the distant western sky, an incomparably massive pillar of black Demonic Qi that pierced heaven and earth exploded with a crash, like the final roar of a dying beast!

Immediately afterward, an apocalyptic force swept madly across the entire Western Lands!

Mountains shattered, the earth collapsed, and countless living beings were reduced to ash in an instant!

Under that terrifying self-destruction, eighty or ninety percent of the Western Spiritual Veins were forcibly blown apart!

"Luohu!!!" A cold, furious voice echoed throughout the Primordial Wilderness!

It was Hongjun!

"Hongjun! You want to attain the Dao? Even if I perish body and soul, I will never let you have your wish! Hahaha!" Luohu's frenzied, venomous laughter reverberated between heaven and earth.

To stop Hongjun—or rather, simply to make things difficult for him—Demon Ancestor Luohu had actually chosen to destroy himself, ruining the foundation of the Primordial Wilderness's west!!

This time, the west was utterly ruined! It would likely take countless Epochs to recover its vitality.

This earth-shaking final battle between Dao and Demon ultimately ended with Luohu's defeat and self-destruction, while Hongjun claimed a miserable victory.

The price was the exhaustion of the spiritual veins throughout the western world, as well as the near-total fall of almost all peak quasi-Saint Great Powers in the Primordial Wilderness, aside from Hongjun and Yang Mei, during this Great Calamity of Dao and Demon!

Although Hongjun had seized victory, the Western Ancestral Veins had been destroyed, and he himself had suffered enormous depletion.

After confiscating the Four Swords of Zhu Xian and the formation diagram, and suppressing the rampaging Demonic Qi in the west, he returned to Jade Capital Mountain and entered Seclusion, preparing to charge toward the final realm of Hunyuan.

After being successively tempered by the two Great Calamities of Dragon Han and Dao-Demon, the entire Primordial Wilderness entered an unprecedented vacuum in terms of high-end combat power.

The calamitous baleful aura permeating heaven and earth finally began to slowly disperse with Luohu's death and Hongjun's suppression.

Though the west had become barren and desolate, the entire Primordial Wilderness unexpectedly welcomed a brief yet precious period of peace.

Within Pangu Hall, Zhou Ming sensed the gradually calming aura outside, yet his heart did not relax in the slightest.

He knew this was only the stillness before the storm.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun was about to attain the Dao. The Purple Cloud Palace would begin its lectures, and the Primordial Wilderness would usher in a brand-new age.

And the Wu Clan and Demon Race, these two newborn overlords that had inherited the Fortune of the Primordial Wilderness, were also about to step onto the stage of history.

"The time left for me... is running out." Zhou Ming murmured, his gaze falling once more upon the twelve blood cocoons.