"I am Houtu, one of the Twelve Ancestral Witches!"
"Today, under the command of Father God Pangu, I establish the Earthly Court to protect the descendants of Pangu's orthodox Witch Clan!"
"All members of my Witch Clan shall take exterminating demons as their mission, cleanse the disasters plaguing the Great Desolation, and restore peace to Heaven and Earth!"
The voices of the Twelve Ancestral Witches resounded through every corner of the Great Desolation.
They even reached across the galaxy, booming between the Solar Star and the Lunar Star.
"Damn Witch Clan! My Demon Clan swears to crush you beneath our feet!"
When Dijun heard the Ancestral Witches' declaration, his fury blazed. He ground his teeth in rage.
"Big Brother, don't be angry. The ten-thousand-year peace agreement is about to end. When that happens, it will be time for us to kill the Twelve Ancestral Witches!"
Taiyi held the Eastern Emperor Bell, killing intent spreading through his cold gaze.
"Two Demon Emperors, although the Heavenly Court has been established, it still needs a broader foundation! The billions of living beings in our Demon Clan are far too numerous!"
Kunpeng advised Dijun and Taiyi.
Although the Solar Star was vast, it was still too cramped to serve as the Demon Clan's dojo.
The Demon Clan encompassed all the demons of the Great Desolation. Any being possessing demonic nature belonged to its ranks.
Their numbers exceeded those of the Witch Clan by more than ten thousand times.
"The Demon Master is absolutely right! The Witch Clan relies on the blessed land of Buzhou Mountain to be called the overlord of the Great Desolation. Yet our billions of demons don't even have a suitable dojo!"
Dijun deeply agreed.
"Big Brother, there's no need to worry. I've studied the Star Array of the Heavens for many years, and I've sensed that our clan's great fortune is about to reveal itself in the starry sky! When that happens, our dojo will naturally have a destination!"
Taiyi was brimming with confidence.
He had already deduced the Star Array of the Heavens to an exquisite level and understood the changes in the starry sky like the back of his hand.
He sensed that unusual phenomena would soon appear in the starry sky, bringing with them a great opportunity.
That opportunity was precisely the perfect moment for the Demon Clan to establish itself.
"Wonderful! The Heavenly Dao favors us! Since that's the case, how could our Demon Clan fail to rule the Great Desolation? Hahaha!"
Dijun threw back his head and laughed wildly.
Inside Fire Cloud Cave.
"The Demon Clan established the Heavenly Court, and the Witch Clan immediately established the Earthly Court. How lively."
Having heard the voices transmitted across the Great Desolation, Hong Yun pondered inwardly.
"Something's wrong. I feel like something has been overlooked!"
His brows suddenly drew tightly together.
After thinking for a moment, a flash of clarity passed through his eyes.
"No wonder it always felt wrong!"
Hong Yun slapped his forehead, suddenly enlightened.
The foundation of the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court wasn't the Solar Star. It should be the Thirty-Three Heavens.
According to legend, the Great Desolation originally had no distinction between day and night.
Later, the three primordial heavens—Azure Heaven, Azure Sky, and Yellow Heaven—descended into the world.
Only after the birth of the Three Heavens did day and night appear. They once ruled the primordial Heavenly Court.
However, after competing with the Mother of the Starry Sky for dominion over the star domain, they perished on the ground and returned to their origins, transforming into the thirty-three layers of heaven.
That was where the Demon Clan's future Heavenly Court would be located.
At the bottom layer of the Thirty-Three Heavens stood four great heavenly gates.
The eastern, southern, western, and northern gates all connected to the Thirty-Three Heavens.
After the calamity, the Witch and Demon Clans perished. Hongjun's disciples, Haotian and Yaochi, took charge of the Heavenly Court, and the four gates were guarded by heavy troops.
"But right now, the Thirty-Three Heavens haven't yet appeared in the Great Desolation!"
Hong Yun's brows furrowed slightly.
With the Thirty-Three Heavens yet to emerge, the Demon Clan still had no foundation for its Heavenly Court.
However...
He waved his sleeve and summoned an object.
It was the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler he had obtained from the Three Immortal Islands in the East Sea.
This was the foremost acquired offensive merit treasure.
Even better, it could measure the lands and heavens of the Great Desolation.
"The Sky Measuring Ruler truly is a divine object! I'll borrow your power to search for the Thirty-Three Heavens!"
Hong Yun laughed loudly.
He had never expected the first use of this treasure to be not for battle, but to search for the heavens.
Since the Thirty-Three Heavens could become the foundation of the Demon Clan and even its eternal Heavenly Court, their creation was extraordinary.
Hong Yun wished to cultivate the Mythical Grand Unity, and opportunities were indispensable.
How could he let such a blessed land slip through his fingers?
"The Thirty-Three Heavens will soon appear. I must find them first!"
He made up his mind.
Only by seizing the initiative could he reap all the benefits.
He left his true body and the Netherworld Blood Sea in Fire Cloud Cave, attached his consciousness to his Mythical incarnation, and sent the incarnation out.
This was a method of preserving his life.
Even if the incarnation perished, his consciousness could return and reconstruct it without hindrance.
Whoosh!
He transformed into a streak of light and sped through the starry sky of the Great Desolation.
Several years later.
Hong Yun stood deep within the starry sky.
Stars densely filled the region, glittering like precious jewels, as though they were treasures embedded in the heavens.
Swish!
He summoned the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler.
Buzz!
Vast merit energy spread in all directions.
The treasure expanded explosively in the wind, reaching hundreds of billions upon hundreds of billions of miles in an instant, yet it still showed no sign of stopping.
Its length seemed boundless, leaving him awestruck.
He then held the ruler and measured the starry sky, searching for the Thirty-Three Heavens.
Three centuries later.
On this day, he stopped in his tracks.
"The Thirty-Three Heavens are actually here!"
After enduring countless hardships, he finally found their traces.
The Great Desolation was boundless, and so was the starry sky.
It had taken him three hundred years to find them, relying entirely on the power of the Sky Measuring Ruler.
Otherwise, even if his cultivation rose several realms, the future Thirty-Three Heavens would still have been impossible to find.
At that moment, the Thirty-Three Heavens were hidden behind a barrier and had yet to emerge.
But with the Sky Measuring Ruler in hand, he had nothing to fear.
This treasure could measure the heavens, but its offensive power was even more unmatched among acquired treasures.
"Let's see whether this treasure's might lives up to its reputation!"
He muttered softly.
With a thought, he summoned the Sky Measuring Ruler. Gripping one end as though wielding a giant blade, he hacked downward.
Boom!
A thunderous crash shook the heavens, and the starry sky trembled.
The ruler's edge struck the barrier, and cracks immediately appeared.
"As expected of the foremost acquired offensive merit treasure!"
Hong Yun nodded in delight.
One strike had broken through the obstruction. A few more would be enough to enter.
"The creation of the Thirty-Three Heavens—I'm coming!"
He shouted and swung the ruler down again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Within a few breaths, an entrance large enough for one person was blasted open.
His figure flickered, and he slipped inside.
He had been inside for only a moment when the entrance unexpectedly sealed itself.
The wonders of the Thirty-Three Heavens were fully revealed.
"Phew! This place truly is profound!"
The moment he entered, boundless spiritual energy surged toward him.
Spiritual mist drifted through the air, several times denser than that of the Three Immortal Islands.
It could be called the greatest blessed land beneath Buzhou Mountain.
"No wonder the Demon Clan would later be able to contend with the Witch Clan. With such fortune, it would be strange if they failed to prosper!"
"But now, all of this belongs to me!"
He murmured under his breath.
Then he began plundering the place.
The Thirty-Three Heavens were divided into the lower, middle, and upper regions.
For now, he searched for treasures in the eleven layers of the lower region.
The first layer, the second layer, the third layer...
He searched layer by layer and gained a great deal.
Each layer contained spirit fruits, immortal herbs, rare treasures, and even a few magical treasures.
Although the magical treasures were scarce, none of them could be considered top-tier.
The spirit fruits, immortal herbs, and rare objects, however, were extremely numerous.
All of them contained spiritual power, which he refined using the Devouring Divine Ability.
The spiritual energy was not absorbed by his body.
His Mythical incarnation had no need for spiritual energy to nourish it.
He transmitted the spiritual energy across the distance to Fire Cloud Cave, pouring it into the Netherworld Blood Sea.
The Blood Sea absorbed the spiritual energy and gradually recovered its former appearance.
This was the wondrous power of the Mythical Grand Unity Technique.
The incarnation absorbed spiritual energy in the Thirty-Three Heavens, yet it could transfer it into the Blood Sea through the true body.
It was unfathomably profound.
"If I refine all the spiritual objects in the Thirty-Three Heavens into spiritual energy for the Blood Sea, it will be enough to increase the gestation of another incarnation once!"
He estimated this inwardly.
The spiritual objects in each layer were no inferior to those of the Three Immortal Islands.
Such spiritual energy could only be described as a gift from Heaven.
Before long, he reached the peak of the lower region—the eleventh layer of heaven.
Buzz!
The moment he stepped inside, a fierce, murderous aura surged toward him.
Unlike the spiritual energy before, this aura could bewilder the mind.
He circulated his Grand Unity art, and in an instant, his clarity returned.
Looking up, he saw a gigantic golden coffin suspended tens of thousands of miles away.
That terrifying murderous aura was flowing from within the coffin.
"This... could it be another supreme treasure?"
He whispered speculatively.
Relying on nothing but its aura, it had already made him, a Quasi-Saint at the early stage, feel wary.
This object was certainly no ordinary thing.
Whoosh!
His figure moved, and he approached the golden coffin.
Half an hour later.
He stopped a hundred meters before the coffin and looked up at it.
The coffin's surface was densely covered in golden inscriptions, and its restrictions were extremely formidable.
All of its might was sealed away, not leaking out in the slightest.
Because of this, he was unable to probe it more deeply.
"I'll have to break the restrictions before I can learn its secrets!"
He pondered inwardly.
Swish! He released his primordial spirit.
Having cultivated the Nine Revolutions Primordial Technique to the eighth revolution, his primordial spirit was astonishingly powerful.
Aside from Hongjun, he considered himself number one in the Great Desolation. The Three Pure Ones were far inferior.
If he couldn't break the restrictions, no one else could hope to do so.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The restriction inscriptions were gradually refined.
With each restriction he refined, his control over the coffin increased by a fraction.
Ten years later.
He had refined three layers of restrictions.
As he rose, he stored the Great Dao Cushion in his avatar's spatial domain.
This space held all the treasures of his true body.
Even if the avatar perished, the treasures would remain unharmed.
He still did not understand the mysteries of the Great Law of the Great Firmament.
With thirty percent of the restrictions under his control, he could initially control the coffin.
Buzz!
A vast stream of information surged from the coffin into his mind.
A moment later, he had comprehended it all.
"The Heaven Suppressing Coffin is actually the Heavenly Dao's foremost sinister treasure!"
The information revealed that this was the Heaven Suppressing Coffin.
It shared the same origin as the Six Souls Banner and the Saint Slaying Pill, having been forged from the essence blood of a Chaos Demon God.
Anyone who entered the coffin would have all their Saint abilities nullified and would be sealed forever after forty-nine days.
It was terrifying beyond compare!
It could even suppress Saints, making it superior to the Great Dao Treasure Gourd.
Whoosh!
He waved his hand, intending to store the treasure in his spatial domain.
He had refined thirty percent of the restrictions, so he should have been able to control it.
Crack, crack!
The coffin shifted only slightly, letting out a thunderous sound before becoming motionless again.
"How can I not take it away?"
He was utterly astonished.
This made no sense.
"Little friend, if you wish to take this treasure, you must undo the restrictions you have refined!"
Suddenly, a voice came from inside the coffin.
Hiss!
His heart jolted.
Was there a living being inside the coffin?
He immediately steadied his mind.
The Heaven Suppressing Coffin specifically sealed powerful beings; even Saints could not escape it.
If there was a living being inside, it must already have been sealed.
It could speak, but it had no power to use divine abilities.
He let down his guard.
Besides, this was only an avatar. It would not matter if it perished.
Whoosh!
He stepped forward and opened the coffin lid.
With thirty percent of the restrictions under his control, opening the coffin was effortless.
The moment the coffin opened, he saw what was sealed inside—a remnant spirit.
Three human faces emerged.
One was the face of a middle-aged man, azure in color.
One had the appearance of an elderly old man.
The last had the form of a yellow-faced child.
The three faces were bound tightly by a colossal web of restrictions, unable to move.
"Who are you? Why were you sealed here?"
He asked curiously.
"I am Azure Sky!"
The elderly face answered.
"I am Azure Heaven!"
The middle-aged face said.
"I am Yellow Heaven!"
The child's face declared.
"Little friend, undo the restrictions you have refined, and you can take this treasure!"
"Hurry and remove the restrictions. This is the Heavenly Dao's foremost sinister treasure!"
"Remove the restrictions and take the treasure. You will be able to roam the Great Desolation unhindered in the future!"
The three urged him on anxiously.
As soon as they finished speaking, lightning from the coffin struck their faces, twisting them in pain.
After hearing this, he sneered inwardly.
Undo the restrictions?
They were probably trying to trick me!
He guessed that undoing the restrictions would likely free the three of them.
"If I am not mistaken, you are Azure Heaven, Azure Sky, and Yellow Heaven?"
He did not touch the restrictions and asked calmly.
"This..."
The three froze.
Then they said, "Since you know our identities, fellow Daoist, you should know of our former glory!"
"Now that we are trapped in this coffin, if you take the treasure, we are willing to become your servants!"
"The Thirty-Three Heavens were transformed from our origins. All their treasures will belong to you!"
"Hurry and remove the restrictions. We eagerly wish to serve you!"
The three continued persuading him.
He curled his lips and scoffed inwardly.
Who were they trying to fool?
Who would be eager to become a servant?
Yet at present, he truly could not take the coffin.
With these three powerful beings suppressing it, the supreme treasure could not enter his spatial domain.
He could only release them by undoing the restrictions.
Moreover, the origins of Azure Heaven, Azure Sky, and Yellow Heaven had already dispersed and transformed into the Thirty-Three Heavens.
Only their remnant spirits remained now.
After thinking it over, he decided not to take the risk for the time being.
He had yet to finish exploring the upper levels of the Thirty-Three Heavens.
There was no hurry to take the coffin after he had plundered everything.
No one could enter this place as long as it remained undiscovered.
Besides...
These three wanted to trick him into undoing the restrictions. If he did not strike back, how could he live up to the system?
"I can remove the restrictions!"
He paused, then looked toward the three.
"Then hurry up and do it! Why are you hesitating, little friend?"
"Could it be that you do not want us as servants? We reached the late-stage Quasi-Saint realm billions of years ago!"
"If we had not fought the Mother of the Starry Sky over the starry sky, how could we have perished? We might already have dominated the Great Desolation by now!"
"I wonder whether the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans are dominant now. Back when we were around, they were merely newly rising minor clans!"
The three reminisced about the past, sighing with emotion.
"The Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans?"
He nodded slightly.
Before you continue