The Second Great War Was Imminent

"Treasure—without a doubt, it's a supreme treasure!"

"Quickly, take it!"

Dijun and Taiyi were both elated.

They had never expected to encounter such a supreme treasure right after entering the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Judging from its aura, it was clearly no ordinary item.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Everyone transformed into streaks of light and surrounded the Heaven Suppressing Coffin in the blink of an eye.

Within Fire Cloud Cave.

"Hm? They came so quickly?"

Through the remnant divine sense left on the Heaven Suppressing Coffin, Hong Yun sensed that Dijun, Taiyi, and the others had led the Demon Clan elites into the Thirty-Three Heavens.

They had also discovered the Heaven Suppressing Coffin he had left behind.

At that moment, they were standing around the coffin.

"Good. Then I'll give you a generous gift!"

With a thought from Hong Yun, he remotely activated the Heaven Suppressing Coffin.

Rumble!

Dijun, Taiyi, and the others surrounding the Heaven Suppressing Coffin suddenly jolted.

The enormous golden coffin began to tremble violently.

The coffin lid slowly opened.

"Quick! Don't let it escape!"

"Surround this supreme treasure tightly! If it gets away, finding it again won't be easy!"

Dijun and Taiyi hurriedly issued orders.

The great demons rapidly formed layer upon layer of encirclement, even using their bodies to block the coffin's path.

But at that moment, the Heaven Suppressing Coffin's lid opened completely.

The Reincarnation Remnant Soul sealed within it suddenly broke free of its seal.

The incomplete true spirits of Azure Heaven, Azure Sky, and Yellow Heaven also manifested along with it.

The Heaven Suppressing Coffin transformed into a streak of rainbow light and vanished into the void.

No matter how the others tried to intercept it, all their efforts were futile.

Bang!

Before everyone could recover from their shock, a thunderous explosion shook the heavens.

The newly unsealed Reincarnation Remnant Soul had originally been suppressed by Hong Yun while attempting to self-detonate.

Now that the seal was broken, it resumed its self-detonation and simultaneously triggered the incomplete true spirits of the Three Heavens beside it.

In an instant, an energy wave capable of destroying heaven and earth swept over the Demon Clan members.

One had to know that Beast Emperor Reincarnation had been an ancient giant and a peak powerhouse even when ferocious beasts ran rampant across the Great Desolation.

Even a self-detonation by nothing more than his remnant soul was beyond what the Demon Clan could withstand.

Not to mention that three incomplete true spirits had exploded alongside it.

In an instant, Dijun and Taiyi's faces turned deathly pale.

"This is bad!"

Eastern Emperor Taiyi reacted the fastest and hurriedly summoned the Innate Supreme Treasure, the Eastern Emperor Bell.

Hum!

The Eastern Emperor Bell hovered before the three of them, meeting the terrifying energy wave with a clear chime.

Fortunately, the treasure's defense was unparalleled, and the three of them avoided fatal injuries.

However, the tremendous force still sent them flying billions of miles, leaving them in a sorry state.

Because Kunpeng's body was so enormous, the Eastern Emperor Bell could not shield him completely. All the feathers on his wings were lost, his flesh melted away, and only stark white bones remained.

As for the other great demons of the Demon Clan, they were not so fortunate.

The terrifying energy wave swept over them like a raging tide.

They were utterly terrified, but had no time to react before the force devoured them like a swarm of locusts.

In the blink of an eye, more than half of the great demons had perished, while ninety percent of the lesser demons had died.

These were the Demon Clan elites carefully selected by Dijun and Taiyi.

They were by no means ordinary.

"No...!"

"How did things end up like this?!"

Billions of miles away, Dijun and Taiyi stared blankly, their hearts sinking into despair.

They had thought this trip would bring them a great opportunity. Who could have imagined that they would suffer such a calamity right after entering the Thirty-Three Heavens?

The Demon Clan had suffered a devastating blow!

"Ah~~! My wings!"

Demon Master Kunpeng let out a shrill howl.

Only white bones remained of his wings. Without an enormous amount of spiritual medicine, they would be difficult to restore.

Although Dijun and Taiyi had narrowly escaped death, the might of the self-detonation still left them terrified.

At that moment, they were like frightened birds and no longer dared to act rashly.

After taking stock, they found that this single explosion had cost the Demon Clan more than thirty percent of its combat strength.

At the same time.

Deep within Fire Cloud Cave.

"Ding! The host has made meritorious contributions by sowing chaos. Special reward: one hundred Enlightenment Tea Leaves."

The system's cold voice echoed beside Hong Yun's ears.

"Enlightenment Tea Leaves?"

Hong Yun was not surprised in the slightest when he heard the mechanical voice.

The reward this time was actually Enlightenment Tea Leaves, and there were a full hundred of them.

One had to know that the Enlightenment Tea Tree was one of the top Innate Spiritual Roots in the Great Desolation. It produced only forty-nine leaves every nine epoch cycles.

Although it was not as rare as the Yellow Middle Plum, it was not far behind.

The Yellow Middle Plum naturally contained the Dao of Reincarnation and could help Hong Yun comprehend the mysteries of that great Dao.

The Enlightenment Tea Tree was different. Its effects were similar to those of the Great Dao Cushion, allowing one to become intimately connected with the laws of the great Dao.

If Hong Yun drank this tea regularly, he might become like a favored child of the great Dao.

Moreover, this reward contained a full hundred leaves, far exceeding the ten Yellow Middle Plums he had obtained before.

"With these tea leaves, my speed of comprehending laws will surely improve by leaps and bounds!"

Hong Yun was overjoyed.

He had now reached the peak of the Mythical Foundation Establishment Second Layer.

If he could cultivate any one of the Laws of Devouring, Light and Darkness, or Reincarnation to the minor mastery stage, he would be able to enter the Foundation Building Third Layer.

At that time, his cultivation realm would be comparable to the late-stage quasi-sage realm.

Looking across the Great Desolation, apart from Nuwa and the Three Pure Ones, there were probably only a handful of quasi-sages.

Even Nuwa and the Three Pure Ones might not have reached the mid-stage quasi-sage realm.

The late-stage quasi-sage realm was even more remote.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

With a thought, Hong Yun took out three Enlightenment Tea Leaves and steeped them in spiritual spring water.

A rich Dao-rhyme aura instantly spread through the entire Fire Cloud Cave.

"What an exquisite fragrance!"

Before the tea even reached his lips, Hong Yun already felt his mouth watering.

He lifted the teacup and drained it in one gulp.

He then took out the Great Dao Cushion, sat cross-legged upon it, and began to cultivate with complete concentration.

Time passed, and several hundred years vanished in the blink of an eye.

On this day.

Inside Fire Cloud Cave.

"I never expected the Law of Light and Darkness to be the first to reach minor mastery!"

Hong Yun opened his eyes, and his aura seemed subtly different.

He had thought that the Law of Devouring, as an extension of his innate divine ability, would be the first to break through.

However, ever since receiving the Origin of the Light and Darkness Demon God from the system, his progress in the Dao of Light and Darkness had advanced by leaps and bounds.

In just a few hundred years, he had gone from merely grasping the basics to the stage of minor mastery.

By contrast, the Laws of Devouring and Reincarnation remained at the entry level.

"With the Law of Light and Darkness at minor mastery, the Mythical Grand Unity Dao Fruit can advance another step!"

Hong Yun rose to his feet, his aura slightly surging.

With a wave of his hand, the power of the Law of Light and Darkness emerged.

Above his head, a Mythical Grand Unity Dao Fruit slowly materialized.

"Condense!"

"Fuse!"

Hong Yun controlled the minorly mastered Law of Light and Darkness and infused it into the Dao Fruit.

After only a few breaths, the Dao Fruit visibly swelled by an entire circle.

At the same time, the aura around him surged more than tenfold.

"Whew. I've finally entered Mythical Grand Unity Foundation Building Third Layer!"

Hong Yun let out a long breath, his heart filled with delight.

The Foundation Building Third Layer was equivalent to the late-stage quasi-sage realm.

Moreover, he could be called invincible among late-stage quasi-sages.

Of course, this referred only to his personal realm and cultivation.

The strength of cultivators in the Great Desolation depended not only on their realm, but also on their divine abilities and magical treasures.

Magical treasures were especially crucial and could often create an enormous gap in combat strength.

But now, Hong Yun was inferior to no one in terms of divine abilities, laws, or magical treasures.

Considering his overall strength, he could dominate an entire region among late-stage quasi-sages.

After entering the Foundation Building Third Layer, he did not continue his seclusion.

Cultivation required opportunity. At this moment, even if he sat on the Great Dao Cushion and comprehended the laws, his progress might not be significant.

There was no other reason: over the past several hundred years, he had consumed all the Enlightenment Tea Leaves.

Unless he went out to sow some chaos and obtain system rewards, or searched for a great opportunity, his cultivation speed would be far too slow.

Of course, this "slow" was only relative to Hong Yun.

If it were any other great expert of the Great Desolation, even Dao Ancestor Hongjun could not match his cultivation efficiency on the Great Dao Cushion.

Several hundred years passed.

The Demon Clan had now claimed the Thirty-Three Heavens as the grounds of the Heavenly Court.

However, unlike the original trajectory, although the Demon Clan had occupied the Thirty-Three Heavens this time, it had not obtained a single resource.

That was because Hong Yun had already plundered all the treasures within.

After several hundred years of recuperation, the Demon Clan's strength gradually recovered.

Its battles with the Witch Clan also grew increasingly intense.

Hong Yun wandered across the lands of the Great Desolation, hearing plenty of news about battles between the Witches and demons.

"Looks like the second great war between the Witches and demons is imminent!"

He muttered softly, his gaze profound.

Whoosh!

Just then, a figure transformed into a rainbow and streaked past tens of thousands of miles ahead of him.

"Hm? Isn't that Ancestor Minghe?"

Hong Yun extended his divine sense and immediately froze.

The person fleeing at high speed was none other than Ancestor Minghe, whose expression was extremely disheveled.

Several thousand years had passed, yet Ancestor Minghe remained at the peak of the Grand Unity realm, without the slightest progress.

"After losing ninety percent of the Netherworld Blood Sea, he probably has no hope of advancing to the quasi-sage realm!"

Hong Yun secretly rejoiced.

After all, Ancestor Minghe had been the one to provoke him first. It was only natural that he would suffer the consequences.

Moreover, he had been tricked twice in a row.

Ancestor Minghe had originally been flying toward Hong Yun, but the moment he sensed Hong Yun's aura, he immediately changed direction.

Otherwise, he would probably have collided with him head-on just now.

At that moment, Ancestor Minghe's face was as gloomy as water, as though it might drip.

"That thief Hong Yun! If not for you, how could I, your ancestor, have ended up in such a state?!"

His hatred for Hong Yun soared to the heavens.

Yet he was utterly helpless and did not even dare show himself before Hong Yun.

Only a few breaths after Minghe fled.

A giant mosquito howled past tens of thousands of miles ahead of Hong Yun.

Its body was covered in mottled blood patterns, and a huge mouthpart grew from its front.

It was none other than Blood Mosquito Daoist.

"Old ghost Minghe, no matter how far you flee, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth!"

The Blood Mosquito Daoist flapped his wings and gave frantic chase, roaring nonstop.

"Hmm? The Blood Mosquito Daoist's proboscis has actually been restored? And his aura has risen to the peak of the Great Principle realm!"

Hong Yun swept over him with his divine sense, seeing him with perfect clarity.

When the Blood Mosquito Daoist had ambushed him, he had only been at the late Great Principle stage.

His proboscis had even been shattered in its collision with the Great Dao Treasure Gourd.

Yet who would have thought that several thousand years later, he would not only have restored his proboscis but also caught up to Ancestor Minghe in strength?

Otherwise, he would never have been a match for Minghe.

"Tsk, tsk. These two sworn enemies are going to put on quite a show!"

Hong Yun smiled calmly and did not interfere.

With his current strength, whether it was Minghe or the Blood Mosquito Daoist, he could annihilate either of them with a single palm.

But killing them would gain him nothing, and there was no system reward, so he could not be bothered to expend the effort.

Letting Ancestor Minghe experience the pain of being hunted might be more satisfying than killing him.

Above the lands of the Great Desolation.

Two figures were busily traveling about.

"Senior Brother, we've brought quite a few life-forms into the Western Lands by now, haven't we?"

Zhunti turned his head and asked Jieyin.

"Indeed. The conflict between the witches and demons is growing increasingly fierce, and life-forms across the Great Desolation are suffering terribly. This is the perfect opportunity for the Western Lands to rise!"

Jieyin nodded.

Ever since the two of them had abandoned the Dao and decided to cultivate Buddhist Dharma after Hongjun's third lecture, they had stopped secluded cultivation.

Instead, they traveled throughout the Great Desolation, persuading various races to move to the Western Lands.

Originally, the races of the Great Desolation had lived and worked in peace. Who would willingly go to the barren Western Lands?

Thus, the two of them resorted to trickery and deception.

The method had indeed worked, and they had conned quite a few races into migrating to the Western Lands.

Especially over the past few hundred years, as the war between the witches and demons had erupted repeatedly.

The Great Desolation was no longer as peaceful as it had been ten thousand years ago.

Some weaker races had migrated westward after being persuaded by the two of them.

Their results over the years had been quite impressive.

The Western Lands now showed faint signs of vitality.

One day.

"Senior Brother, it's difficult to find any moderately powerful races in the Great Desolation. The groups we converted before were all too weak!"

Zhunti spoke to Jieyin as they flew.

If they wanted the Western Lands to truly prosper, they needed to convert more powerful races.

Otherwise, it would take far too long for the weaker races to grow.

Moreover, with such shallow foundations, it remained uncertain whether they could rise at all.

"What you say makes sense, Junior Brother. But the moderately powerful races in the Great Desolation are extremely difficult to convert! If a powerful race were willing to enter our Western Lands, that would naturally be ideal!"

Jieyin sighed, looking somewhat helpless.