After the Three Pure Ones entered seclusion, Li Yunjing also began a long period of closed-door cultivation. These three thousand years were unlike the peaceful years before—the war between the Witch Race and the demon race had already erupted.
Some mighty divine practitioners made deductions and sensed the arrival of the World-Ending Tribulation. Remembering the previous Dragon-Phoenix-Qilin Tribulation, those who had been lucky enough to survive felt a chill in their hearts. They all closed their mountain gates and stopped venturing across the Primordial World.
At this time, the Primordial World had already split into two great factions: the Witch Race and the demon race. One ruled the lands of the Primordial World, while the other ruled the Thirty-Three Heavens. As for the other forces, such as the Three Pure Ones' Mount Kunlun, Minghe's Sea of Blood, Zhen Yuanzi's Wuzhuang Temple, the other reclusive mighty divine practitioners, and even the Dragon Clans of the Four Seas, they had all kept a much lower profile. They strictly forbade their disciples from leaving the mountains or clashing with the Witch Race and the demon race.
Although the Witch Race and the demon race had not launched a decisive battle, small-scale clashes could be seen everywhere. At every moment, tens of thousands of members of both races were dying.
The prolonged clashes deepened the enmity between the two races. In these days when they could barely guarantee their safety from one day to the next, the Witch Race gradually gathered its people, slowly forming a large tribal alliance led by the Twelve Ancestral Witches. By concentrating their strength together, they avoided losing too many people to surprise attacks by the demon race.
Pangu Opens the Sky and the earth, then died and transformed into all things, giving birth to the Twelve Ancestral Witches. Their physical bodies were incomparably powerful. They could swallow the heavens and devour the earth, control wind, water, thunder, and lightning, Move Mountains and Overturn Seas, and wield Vast Divine Abilities. Every one of them was in the quasi-sage realm.
The leader of the Ancestral Witches was Dijiang, the Ancestral Witch of space and speed; Gou Mang, the Ancestral Witch of eastern wood; Zhu Rong, the Ancestral Witch of southern fire; Rushou, the Ancestral Witch of western metal; Gonggong, the Ancestral Witch of northern water; Xuanming, the Ancestral Witch of ice; Houtu, the Ancestral Witch of central earth; Qiangliang, the Ancestral Witch of thunder; Zhujiuyin, the Ancestral Witch of time; Tianwu, the Ancestral Witch of wind; Xizi, the Ancestral Witch of lightning; and Shebishi, the Ancestral Witch of poison.
After the Witch Race formed its vast tribal alliance led by the Twelve Ancestral Witches, its cohesion and combat strength both improved tremendously. Moreover, the Witch Race was warlike and fierce. For a time, the great tribes led by the Twelve Ancestral Witches frequently swept across the Primordial World.
In the face of the Witch Race's brutal raids, even the various demon clans found it difficult to contend with them. Some weaker clans even became food for the Witch Race, hunted down at will.
Under these circumstances, Demon Emperor Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi established the Heavenly Court in the Thirty-Three Heavens. More and more demons gathered there. Basically, all the birds and beasts of the Primordial World joined the Heavenly Court, greatly increasing its strength and turning it into the domain of the demon race. Di Jun's ambition also steadily grew, and he desired to wipe out the Witch Race and dominate the Primordial World.
The mighty divine practitioners who had also listened at Zixiao Palace were won over by Di Jun and Tai Yi. Fuxi became the Emperor Xi of the Heavenly Court, while Nuwa followed her elder brother Fuxi and became the Empress Wa of the Heavenly Court. Another mighty divine practitioner, Kunpeng, created the written language of the demon race and assumed the position of Demon Master.
Under the five mighty quasi-sage divine practitioners, the demon race's Jimeng, Ying Zhao, Feilian, Jiu Ying, Shang Yang, Qinyuan, Citie, Jiu Feng, Bai Ze, and Feidan became the demon race's Ten Great Saints. All of these Great Saints were at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. The strongest were even one step away from severing one of their corpses and advancing to the quasi-sage realm.
The many powerful demons joined forces, forming a mighty force that shook the Primordial World.
With countless demons and every great clan having a backer, the war between the Witch Race and the demon race grew increasingly fierce. What had begun as individual brawls became large-scale battles between organized forces with powerful support.
Faced with this situation, Li Yunjing dared not leave the mountain easily. The great tribulation was approaching, so there was no reason for him to descend the mountain and incur more karma. If someone killed him, he would be wronged beyond measure. As a mere minor figure in the Golden Immortal realm, he was better off cultivating obediently on Mount Kunlun. With the Three Pure Ones backing him, whether it was the demon race or the Witch Race, they had to show the Three Pure Ones some respect. No one dared come looking for trouble.
Over the course of three thousand years, Li Yunjing raised his cultivation to the peak of the Golden Immortal realm, only a hair's breadth away from advancing to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
It was not until the third lecture at Zixiao Palace, when all three thousand mighty divine practitioners of the Primordial World left the continent and entered the chaos, that Li Yunjing awakened from seclusion.
With ambitious schemers like Di Jun and Tai Yi gone, the Primordial World temporarily became somewhat more peaceful. Moreover, the Dao Ancestor had strictly ordered that before he completed his union with the Dao, the Witch Race and the demon race were forbidden from launching a decisive battle. Only then did the bloodshed and violence of the Primordial World subside somewhat.
Although large-scale wars had ceased, countless small-scale battles still erupted every day. Each one ended with the sun and moon dimmed, and the heavens and earth plunged into darkness.
After making a quick calculation, Li Yunjing's heart stirred. His figure flashed, and he flew out of Mount Kunlun. The day the Enlightenment Tea Tree matured had arrived. Taking a little risk to show his respect to the Three Pure Ones was still worthwhile.
This time, as he traveled across the Primordial World, Li Yunjing became extremely cautious. The corpses of the Witch Race and the demon race were everywhere, all mangled beyond recognition. They had not only been killed but also eaten as food by the opposing side. This showed how deep the hatred between the two races had grown. Their patience had already reached its limit, and the outbreak of a great war was unavoidable.
Carefully avoiding the many tribes of the Witch Race, Li Yunjing was halfway through his journey one day when he suddenly sensed another battle breaking out ahead.
Sweeping the area with his spiritual sense, he saw a group of members of the Witch Race engaged in a fierce battle with a ten-thousand-strong army of demons. All kinds of witchcraft and demonic arts emerged one after another as the two sides fought, while surging killing intent shook an area spanning a hundred thousand li.
Suddenly, with several whooshing sounds, dozens of sharp arrows shot toward Li Yunjing. Each arrow carried supreme demonic arts designed specifically to pierce all kinds of protective astral energy. The arrowheads were dark green and shimmered with a sinister, eerie light. Clearly, they had also been coated with an extremely vicious poison.
"Bastards!"
Li Yunjing's expression changed. He protected himself with the Supreme Purity Immortal Method and wielded the Nine Heavens Divine Sword in a seamless defense. Rumble! The Nine Heavens Divine Thunder crashed down, shattering all the arrows. Seeing the broken arrows smoking with a pungent green vapor after being struck by the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, Li Yunjing's expression grew even uglier.
"Witch-Slaying Arrows? Hah!"
Li Yunjing let out a cold laugh. Before he could decide whether to strike, a huge Bear Demon had already pounced at him. The Bear Demon swung the two great hammers in its hands at Li Yunjing, causing layers of ripples to spread through the void.
"Looking for death? I have no enmity with your demon race. How dare you attack me?"
Suppressing the fury in his heart, Li Yunjing moved and instantly flashed behind the demon. Great Zhou Heavenly Annihilation Divine Light shot toward the Bear Demon's back with a sharp hiss.
"Hey, you Daoist! You hid nearby in secret, clearly harboring ill intentions and trying to profit from the situation. His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor has issued an order: The countless beings of the Primordial World have only one choice, and that is to join the Heavenly Court. Otherwise, they will all be exterminated!"
The Bear Demon stood ten zhang tall. Although its body was enormous, it moved with extreme agility. With a single motion, it dodged the Great Zhou Heavenly Annihilation Divine Light, then opened its mouth and sprayed out rolling black smoke. Within a full three li, everything turned pitch-black.
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