Tai Yi Strikes; What Is Pangu?

Ancestral Witch Houtu's intervention was something many had not expected.

The moment she spoke, she went straight for the Chaos Bell. It seemed she really wanted to strip Tai Yi bare.

Tai Yi was stunned at first, then said indifferently, "Since Ancestral Witch Houtu has such an idea...you'll have to defeat me first before you can find out whether it's feasible."

"Very well...let me experience just how vast the divine abilities of the two Ancestral Witches truly are."

Tai Yi smiled. As his thoughts turned, the ripples shaken out by the Chaos Bell swelled explosively. In an instant, its might increased by more than a thousand or ten thousand times!

At its fiercest, it seemed to sweep up the entire River of Time, control every possible variable, and suppress the two Ancestral Witches from above!

He intended to fight one against two!

"Clang!"

Amid the incomparably clear peal of the bell, the world seemed to stand still.

Dijiang and Houtu appeared, at that moment, like flies frozen in amber.

Tai Yi paired with the Chaos Bell was actually this terrifying!

He forcibly suppressed the two Ancestral Witches, displaying the Demon Clan's strongest battle prowess!

Of course, the two Ancestral Witches were boundlessly powerful, each possessing unfathomable divine abilities.

Moreover, with their terrifying physiques bestowed by Pangu's bloodline, they tore through the stagnant space-time after only a brief paralysis.

Tai Yi watched with a smile. At the same time, the Chaos Bell behind him continued to rise in might, and strange changes began to emerge. It seemed to unveil a corner of its profound secret, and the sight was utterly breathtaking.

On the chaotic bell wall appeared a wondrous scene...an endless, magnificent cluster of palaces, so vast that it was difficult to describe, jointly guarding a supreme hall. Within that hall, a supreme Heavenly Emperor with indistinct features sat high above, faintly visible, while several thousand or ten thousand Demon Gods knelt below and paid their respects!

It was a terrifying sight difficult to describe...when this image appeared, the Chaos Bell stood on a special level. It was as if the Great Dao, laws, and order of countless mighty beings had awakened and resonated under a transcendent principle, like a Heavenly Emperor ordering his subjects and commanding them to serve!

Even though only Great Dao imprints existed here, their combined power was still boundlessly ferocious!

As dazzling as Dijiang and as powerful as Houtu were, they were both suppressed for a time and could not advance even an inch.

However, the two Ancestral Witches were not particularly alarmed or flustered, as if they understood this bell very clearly.

That made sense...they had been formed from Pangu's direct bloodline. How could they not know of the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe and the Three Great Innate Supreme Treasures into which it had shattered and divided?

"Commanding the Three Thousand Demon Gods, supreme above all?" Ancestral Witch Houtu's gaze shifted. "Indeed, among the Three Great Innate Supreme Treasures, this treasure is very special...it controls the domain of space-time, while the essence of Great Luo is Eternal Freedom within Endless Space-time."

"This bell faintly represents orthodox principles and the protagonists of each era...what a pity!"

"And what of it?" Her aura surged and spread, shaking off the restraints of the surrounding space-time. Fiendish energy burst from her body, evolving and condensing into a terrifying scene—it seemed to be a person, yet also a battlefield. "Could you have forgotten Pangu's most famous achievement?"

"Slaughtering the Three Thousand Chaos Demon Gods!"

"The so-called myriad gods bowing their heads and worshiping the supreme...is nothing more than this!"

When the scene fully condensed, the sight manifested before all was a shocking one—it was the most ancient and desolate Chaos Era. A supreme divine being wielded an axe and struck down all kinds of bizarrely shaped Demon Gods that surrounded and charged at him like a swarm!

It was already obvious.

Pangu's battle!

The sorrow of Chaos!

The Ancestral Witches stirred the bloodline within their bodies. That inheritance originating from Pangu caused the scene to reappear...and it seemed to faintly suppress the principles manifested by the Chaos Bell, resisting the suppression imposed on the two Ancestral Witches by the resonance of the Three Thousand Great Daos.

"In the past, Pangu was the strongest being in Chaos and commanded the Three Thousand Demon Gods of Chaos...that is why this scene exists on the Chaos Bell." Ancestral Witch Dijiang broke through the restraints right behind her. "But in the end?"

"Pangu personally killed every Demon God and swept through Chaos...even though many of them had been his subordinates, companions who had walked the same path with him through the long years."

"Sacrificing one's teammates to Heaven grants boundless power." Dijiang smiled faintly. "Thus was the resplendent and eternal Primordial World created."

"You want to use the orthodox path hidden within the Chaos Bell to suppress us? It won't work!"

He and Ancestral Witch Houtu advanced side by side. A broad road unfolded beneath their feet, pointing straight toward Tai Yi!

At this moment, countless mighty beings and divine saints between Heaven and Earth witnessed this scene. As they watched the images of the Three Thousand Demon Gods worshiping and being slaughtered reappear, many had a dazed look in their eyes.

"Born from the same Pangu, yet ultimately becoming enemies...creation truly toys with people!"

"I overlooked that." Tai Yi's brows creased slightly before relaxing. "But it doesn't matter."

"The Great Dao imprints of the Three Thousand Demon Gods are merely embellishments..." He sighed. "After all, the Chaos Demon Gods swarmed forward, only to be slaughtered completely. Pangu still had enough strength to do other things...I knew I couldn't place too much hope in them."

"What's truly powerful is the bell itself!"

"Its authority is astonishingly powerful, nearly able to sweep aside every Great Luo beneath the Primordial Supreme."

Tai Yi looked at the two Ancestral Witches who had reached him and smiled faintly. The Chaos Bell rang...

In an instant, the stars shifted and Heaven and Earth transformed.

The Primordial World was still the same Primordial World.

But the sequence of time...had changed!

The history of the entire world reversed at this moment, all the way back to the source of everything—to the time when Pangu Created Heaven and Earth!

—In ancient times, Pangu wielded an axe and opened Heaven.

The Heaven-Opening Divine Axe shattered the principles of the Chaos Era, destroyed chaos and disorder, and buried the entire ancient epoch.

Within the remains of Chaos, he engraved entirely new laws and defined the process of the Innate Five Primes, from the Infinite to the Supreme Ultimate.

From absolute nothingness, it derived the divine, qi, form, substance, and body one by one, until all the conditions for the world to take shape and living beings to be born were fulfilled.

The Heaven-Opening Divine Axe shattered during this process, giving rise to the Three Great Innate Supreme Treasures, each bearing its corresponding responsibility.

The Pangu Banner bore creation and opening, the driving force that propelled the changes and circulation of the Five Primes.

The Tai Ji Diagram bore existence, the symbol of the "being" represented by Heaven and Earth in the Primordial World.

And the Chaos Bell...was the tangible embodiment of the transformation of space-time throughout the entire process!

At this moment, Tai Yi wielded this bell and selected a specific point in time, dragging this battlefield down into it.

That place was the starting point of All Heavens and All Realms, the fundamental starting point of every parallel space-time and every world.

This place was wondrous.

Calling it a starting point was not entirely accurate...because through this starting point, one could see the true and unfalse future.

Yet, after looking away for an instant and then looking again, what one saw and gained had subtly changed...these changes could even in turn interfere with the state of the starting point.

It was changing every moment, and it had no end.

It was like a circle.

A circle with neither a beginning nor an end, undergoing countless cycles of repetition.

As the tip of the brush advanced endlessly, only colors changed, overlapped, and covered one another, forming immeasurable parallel space-times.

Pangu Created Heaven and Earth, creating the framework of the circle and the foundation of the Primordial World...yet it was not limited to these things.

Containing countless space-time dimensions and All Heavens and All Realms, every fantastical and bizarre thing that surpassed the limits of imagination had been created by his hand!

At this moment, the Chaos Bell dragged the two Ancestral Witches into this place. With a trace of authority and spirituality driving it, it guided the outpouring of the root space-time's power, instantly creating an endless labyrinth of billions upon billions of space-time universes, suppressing and sealing the two Ancestral Witches.

Even though they possessed the essence of Eternal Freedom within Endless Space-time, when facing the spontaneous restraints and resistance of the Endless Space-time where their innate numinous light's reflected incarnations existed, they would still fall into dire straits for a time.

The Chaos Bell might be called the treasure that most restrained Great Luo!

Had the two Ancestral Witches not been astonishingly powerful, having already reached the level of one thought, one breath, one self, walking to the utmost limit of "being" amid the division of time—perfect, flawless, and without weakness—they might already have been suppressed, their indestructible Dao bodies shattered, and a trace of their innate numinous light imprisoned!

Even so, they were trapped and could barely move...as they broke through millions upon millions of space-time labyrinths, billions upon billions more evolved and formed. It was endless!

The two Ancestral Witches fell into a predicament.

Watching this, Tai Yi sighed softly. "Pangu's might is truly unfathomable."

"Even though this is merely a supreme treasure he left behind, whenever it displays its power, every time I see it, I can't help but feel admiration and awe..."

"Going backward from the future, opening up the past, using it as the foundation, inverting cause and effect without end, making the sequence of time form a circle and repeatedly cycle—Pangu...Pangu!"

"Manipulating the epochs, All Heavens and All Realms, and all space-time, making everything dance in his palm...Pangu truly is an unmatched divine hero!"

What was Pangu?

"Ancient" referred to an epoch, to time; "manipulating" meant turning it over and playing with it.

—Look at the Primordial World, at that space-time, past, present, and future. It is full of bumps and dents, not smooth or rounded at all, and does not suit my wishes.

So let me play with it and make it smooth and round!

Sweeping aside every Great Luo, suppressing the ancient, present, and future, and making the development of all history change according to one's own will—that...was Pangu's true meaning!

Pangu was not necessarily a specific individual.

In essence, he was a title for the strongest Great Luo!

Apart from that one who Created Heaven and Earth, others also had the hope of reaching that level and earning the title of Pangu.

Every Great Luo had the hope of transforming into Pangu—even if that hope was minuscule.

Thus, every Great Luo with ambition and grand aspirations wanted to contend for this supreme position.

This was also the true root of every cataclysm in the Primordial World—there would always be someone who wanted to eliminate all competitors and ultimately be crowned king!

The Chaos Bell twisted space-time and trapped Dijiang and Houtu.

This alarmed countless Grand Unity Divine Beings, causing them to regard the Chaos Bell with tremendous fear.

Tai Yi felt the many wary and solemn gazes resting upon him. He smiled calmly and did not take them to heart.

Instead, he reached out with one hand and neutralized the Black Hand of Dijiang that had fallen behind Qingyou Demon God's past trajectory.

Qingyou Demon God sensed the warning in his heart vanish. With the calamity of losing himself eliminated, he immediately relaxed. "Eastern Emperor, this subordinate will forever remember your life-saving grace!"

"There's no need for that." Tai Yi said indifferently, "You serve my Demon Court and thus stepped into a dead end. In reason and in sentiment, I should save you."

"Now that you have escaped, return with me to our main base."

"Your Majesty!" Qingyou Demon God's expression twisted for an instant, and his gaze turned vicious. "You just displayed such great divine abilities, trapping the two Ancestral Witches in one move...why not go one step further, gather our forces, and kill them here?!"

"If we succeed...we'll gain another thirty percent chance of victory in the Witch-Demon Cataclysm!"

Qingyou Demon God hated them deeply—

After all, Ancestral Witch Dijiang had pinned him down and beaten him mercilessly, treating him like a dead dog with casual ease. In the end, he had even faced the grave danger of losing himself, in which living was little different from dying...

How could he not hate him?

But Qingyou also knew that the difference between him and Ancestral Witch Dijiang was like the distance between Heaven and Earth...perhaps he would never have the slightest chance in his entire life to personally take revenge.

But it did not matter.

With the Demon Clan's power behind him, there was still hope.

At this moment, he incited Tai Yi, hoping that the Emperor would continue to act, gather the various Demon Gods, and pursue their advantage!

"Now is not the time for a true war." Tai Yi glanced at him. "Neither side is prepared."

"Moreover...these two Ancestral Witches are not beings we can kill whenever we wish."

"The other ten Ancestral Witches are watching this battlefield...once the situation expands, they will certainly interfere."

"Who can say that, as Pangu's direct descendants, they have not mastered the most terrifying move for overturning the chessboard and killing their enemies?"

Qingyou Demon God was speechless.

"Also, I dislike others making decisions for me." Tai Yi looked at Qingyou, his tone deep and distant. "I treat my subordinates kindly, but that is not capital for you to overstep your bounds."

"This subordinate was at fault." Qingyou Demon God immediately became cautious and did not even dare breathe loudly.

"Enough. I hope there will not be a next time." Tai Yi said, "Now, come with me!"

He leisurely walked toward the starry sky. Qingyou Demon God lowered his head and lifted his foot to follow.

Suddenly, the Demon God's eyes widened violently. His mouth opened as if he wanted to shout, yet he could not utter even a single word.

Tai Yi sensed something unusual and abruptly turned around. One hand reached for Qingyou Demon God, while the other carried the Chaos Bell and hurled it out, attacking with the most violent force.

Only then did a cold and emotionless voice finally resound through Heaven and Earth, arriving as if belatedly. Its murderous, iron-blooded aura was unmistakable.

"Rest assured. He will not have the chance for a next time!"

A bloody palm landed on Qingyou Demon God at the same time as Tai Yi.

Covered in bloodstains, Ancestral Witch Dijiang had broken out of the source point of space-time and reappeared in the world!

As his palm descended, it locked onto not only the Demon God's body and Primordial Spirit, but also his roots and past life...he had experience from before and had left traces behind, so doing it again would only be easier.

Qingyou Demon God's face turned despairing. He frantically inverted his own cause and effect, attempting to alter the secrets of Heaven and preserve his self-awareness, but...it was useless!

"Ah!"

With a howl of utter misery, Qingyou Demon God discovered...that he was being torn apart!

A completely new personality was born within the history of his life under Dijiang's weaving...one inside and one outside, alongside his overt personality.

It had existed from beginning to end, remaining dormant and maintaining the same appearance as the main body.

But now, under Dijiang's control, it raised the banner of rebellion and usurped the Dao fruit of Great Luo!