The deafening roar that shattered the heavens finally subsided.
Buzhou Mountain, this ancient, towering mountain, is now a shockingly vast graveyard.
The once glorious Heavenly Court has turned to dust, floating above the solidified blood clouds, like the skeletons of stars.
The colossal Ancestral Witch body of the Witch Clan lay scattered among the broken mountains, piled high with the shattered feathers of the Demon Gods and the torn armor of the demon general. Decaying blood soaked the Primordial Earth, which had remained unshaken for billions of years, solidifying into patches of dark red, almost black scabs. Intense Calamity Qi mixed with lingering resentment of death solidified into a tangible gray veil, low-hanging over this unparalleled land of desolation.
The air was so heavy it was hard to breathe, as if the weight of the entire world was pressing down on them. The remaining, wounded Witch and Demon struggled and writhed amidst the mountains of corpses and blood, silently dragging their severed limbs. In response to the cold decree of Hongjun, they instinctively searched for their tattered banners, their retreat faltering and desperate, each step shattering the glory of the past.
In the vast expanse of heaven and earth, only the cold, desolate crackling of the calamity fire remained, announcing the end of an era.
At the summit of Kunlun, purple mists swirl.
The Three Pure Ones' Daoist Abode is shrouded in churning clouds.
A giant Yin-Yang Fish Diagram slowly swirled in the void, casting Purity and Non-Action radiance.
However, even this ancient sacred mountain could not maintain its eternal tranquility at this moment.
"Boom--!"
The Taiji Diagram floating in front of Laozi suddenly trembled!
The eyes of the yin-yang fish suddenly cracked with fine, spiderweb-like fissures, and the Pure Light flickered rapidly, like a heart that could not bear the weight.
For the first time, a look of utter shock, as if mountains and rivers were collapsing, appeared on Lao Tzu's face, which had remained calm and still for Laozi thousand years!
His cloudy eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light that could pierce through the chaos, fixed on the distant east, and fine beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead.
That was not fear, but an instinctive tremor triggered when one's Dao heart was shaken by absolute power.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun established an ironclad rule...
However, the scene of Qing Huan tearing through the abyss and condensing that annihilation source, carrying a Destruction power sufficient to threaten the very foundation of the Ancestral Witch, its might... was already infinitely approaching that insurmountable boundary!
Where does this power come from?
How far is it from the Sage? Or perhaps...?
Laozi's fingers unconsciously tightened on the ancient, Flat Crutch, his knuckles turning white.
A sharp crack shattered the silence.
The futon where Yuanshi Tianzun was sitting instantly turned into dust!
He suddenly stood up, the Yuqing Immortal Light brightly, making his usually dignified and solemn face appear somewhat ferocious.
The jade Jade Ruyi to symbolize Heavenly Mandate.
He stared intently at the direction of Buzhou Mountain, his gaze piercing through endless space, as if trying to penetrate the pervasive ashes of calamity and see the figure named Qing Huan.
"Shaking the very source... it can actually shake the very source of the Ancestral Witch!"
Yuanshi's voice was low and suppressed, each word like ice squeezed from the depths of his throat.
"Such methods... such power... are not saintly, but close to saintly!"
A sense of unease, like a wildfire, spread through his heart. This Primordial Wilderness chess game was becoming increasingly unpredictable. A strong sense of rejection and vigilance grew deep within his Dao heart.
Tongtian long, flowing hair moved without wind, and the sword behind him emitted a long, excited tremor in the void. The fierce sword energy uncontrollably cut through the surrounding clouds, making a hissing sound. His eyes shone like cold stars, and his fighting spirit surged like a raging tide, almost detaching from his divine body and soaring straight into the heavens!
"Excellent! What a brilliant tearing through the abyss!"
He slammed his palm into the void beside him, and the Chaos Sword Qi bursting from the edge of his palm instantly shredded a thick sea of Kunlun clouds.
"Nirvana is the sharpest edge, pointing directly to the source! How exhilarating! This is the true Great Dao we seek!"
A pure obsession with power was ignited.
"Yingzhou Island... Qing Huan."
Tongtian muttered the name to himself, a sharp glint in his eyes.
"It seems I must go and have a match with this Qing Huan! I should go and watch!"
A powerful impulse surged through his chest, urging him to immediately draw his sword, break through the misty waves of the Eastern Sea, and confront the spiritual treasure capable of severing the very essence of the Ancestral Witch!
Upon their return, the figures of Jieyin and Zhunti slowly coalesced in the dim Buddhist light.
Spiritual Mountain barren land beneath my feet echoed with desolation. In the distance, the Eight Treasures Merit Pool rippled faintly, devoid of the spiritual aura of this blessed land of the East.
"Senior brother."
Zhunti's voice sounded as if it had been honed by the desert winds and sands, carrying an inescapable weariness and resentment.
"Eastern opportunities... are truly utterly unavailable to us in the West."
He opened his palm, and a tiny, almost invisible speck of dust floated in it. It was a Magic Power Calamity Qi dust that he had forcibly extracted from the very edge of the battlefield, from the place where Karma were most sparse, by using his great magical power and risking angering the remnants of Hongjun's will.
This speck of dust fell into the Eight Treasures Merit Pool without even causing a ripple.
The Jieyin's face trembled, and the look of sorrow seemed to melt away.
My gaze turned eastward, as if piercing through endless space, and I saw once again that devastated battlefield, where the spiritual energy had not been extinguished, and those scattered fragments of spiritual light that could have filled the lintel of the West.
"A stroke of incredible opportunity..."
His dry lips moved, his voice low and hoarse like the autumn wind rustling through withered branches.
"It was all just a fleeting dream. How unjust is the Heavenly Dao..."
His thin, bony fingers clenched tightly into his palms.
"Yet this hatred, this regret..." The murky light in his eyes flickered violently.
"It will surely be hidden deep within! It will transform into the day when the West prospers, to ferry across the torrent of talented individuals from the East!"
A deep and unwavering conviction took root in his chest.
Deep within the Volcano of Immortality, the lava remains eternally silent.
The Yuanfeng perched atop a massive Phoenix Tree Divine Wood, its magnificent plumage covered in a thick layer of ash.
The clamor of the Primordial Wilderness seemed to be blocked by the eternal lava barrier of the Volcano of Immortality.
However, the instant the Qing Huan Universe tore through the abyss, gathering its ultimate aura of annihilation and pointing directly at the origin of the Ancestral Witch—
"Clang--!"
A clear, resonant phoenix cry, capable of piercing the clouds and splitting rocks, echoed without warning throughout the volcano!
Yuanfeng's tightly closed eyelids suddenly snapped open!
In those ancient and weathered phoenix eyes, the golden pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints, burning with an almost frenzied, scorching flame!
The light pierced through layers of rock and space, fixing itself firmly on the distant eastern battlefield!
Her magnificent tail feathers stood upright, each tip bursting with an invisible sharpness that could tear through the void!
"The Origin of the Ancestral Witch... Qing Huan..."
Yuanfeng's voice carried a strange tremor, like the friction of metal, containing unbelievable ecstasy and near-out-of-control violence.
"How could they do this! How dare they do this!"
Her massive body trembled slightly with excitement, and the Phoenix Tree Divine Wood beneath her groaned under its immense weight.
The Blood Sea of the Dragon-Han Primordial Calamity, and the eternal suppression exerted on her by the Ancestral Witch as Pangu Bloodline, were all pierced fiercely by that desolate sharpness! "The power of the Abyss..."
Yuanfeng's eyes became incredibly deep and sharp.
"The Phoenix True Flame burns across the eight wastelands; can it... refine that annihilation for my own use?"
His head suddenly turned eastward, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of earth veins, looking towards the Pangu Hall, the birthplace of the Twelve Ancestral Witches. A chilling killing intent, brewing for billions of years, quietly spread out.
The Nirvana Divine Fire flowing on its tail feathers faintly revealed an ominous darkness.