Appetizer

Since you wanted to set me up, don't blame me for striking back!

"Fellow Daoist Hong Yun, this Eastern Emperor Bell is merely something I was born with."

Eastern Emperor Taiyi waved his hand, pretending to be nonchalant. In truth, he was saying this for the Twelve Ancestral Witches to hear. After all, they had no primordial spirits and could not refine treasures.

But Hong Yun's next words exploded like thunder, shocking everyone.

"This Eastern Emperor Bell was transformed from Pangu's World-Opening Divine Axe. Its original name was the Chaos Bell. You merely renamed it the Eastern Emperor Bell!"

In an instant, everyone froze.

Eastern Emperor Taiyi had renamed the Chaos Bell the Eastern Emperor Bell. This was an absolute secret.

How could Hong Yun know?

He was filled with doubt.

Dijun, standing nearby, was also utterly astonished.

This was the first time he had heard that his second brother's companion supreme treasure was actually the Chaos Bell.

That was something transformed from Pangu's divine axe!

Although it was only a portion of it, Pangu's might had been extraordinary.

To be honest, even Hongjun, who had already become a sage, was not worthy of carrying Pangu's shoes.

This was the true ruler of the Great Desolation!

The ancestor of the Great Desolation.

Then, wild joy surged across Dijun's face.

Since the Eastern Emperor Bell was the Chaos Bell, did that not mean the Demon Clan was favored by the Heavenly Dao?

They could even claim kinship with Pangu, causing their status to rise greatly.

On the other side.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches had initially intended to give up on beating the two Demon Emperors.

After all, teaching Dijun and Taiyi a lesson would merely vent their anger.

But taking the Ginseng Fruit could help them break through from the early to the mid-stage of the Great Unity Golden Immortal realm.

That temptation far surpassed beating someone up.

But upon hearing that the Eastern Emperor Bell was the Chaos Bell, all twelve Ancestral Witches revealed looks of shock.

"The Chaos Bell—that is Father God's supreme treasure!"

Dijiang blurted out.

"That's right. Although it is merely a fragment of the divine axe, it belonged to Father God. It absolutely cannot fall into the hands of the Demon Clan!"

Zhurong hurriedly agreed.

The other Ancestral Witches also came to their senses.

"The relics of Father God that we have searched for countless years are actually in the hands of the Demon Clan. Today, we must reclaim the Chaos Bell!"

Houtu also spoke loudly.

The Chaos Bell, Pangu Banner, and Taiji Diagram—the three relics of Pangu—had been sought by the Witch Clan for a long time.

Later, after learning that Pangu Banner and the Taiji Diagram had fallen into the hands of the sage Hongjun, they could only abandon their hopes.

After all, for mere Great Unity Golden Immortals to try to seize treasures from a sage was no different from wishful thinking.

But the whereabouts of the Chaos Bell had always remained a mystery.

Now that they had suddenly learned where it was, the Twelve Ancestral Witches could hardly believe it.

But looking at Eastern Emperor Taiyi's ever-changing yet irrefutable expression, they knew that Hong Yun had not been lying.

This Eastern Emperor Bell was definitely Father God's Chaos Bell.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The Twelve Ancestral Witches immediately abandoned their plan to seize the Ginseng Fruit. Transforming into twelve towering true forms, they surrounded Dijun and Taiyi.

Previously, they had merely wanted to teach the two Demon Emperors a lesson.

Now, however, murderous intent had arisen in their hearts. They wanted to kill the two emperors and reclaim the Chaos Bell.

Their bodies expanded from several thousand meters to 129,900 meters, fully displaying the might of their true forms.

"Oh no!"

Feeling the ancestral witches' auras multiply several times over, Demon Emperor Dijun's face turned deathly pale.

"It's over!"

Eastern Emperor Taiyi's heart sank into an icy abyss.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches intended to go all out and take their lives.

Even with the Eastern Emperor Bell protecting them, the two of them would find it difficult to escape death.

Although this treasure was powerful, Eastern Emperor Taiyi was only at the mid-stage of the Great Unity Golden Immortal realm and was far from refining all of its restrictions.

The ancestral witches' attacks passed through the bell's body and struck them again and again. Sooner or later, they would be blasted into dust.

"Ding! Congratulations, host. You have earned merit by causing chaos. Reward: one drop of Pangu's Essence Blood!"

At the same time, the system's voice rang out once more beside Hong Yun's ears in the distance.

Gasp!

"Pangu's Essence Blood!"

Upon hearing the notification, Hong Yun sensed that the reward was already in his grasp.

With a single thought, he could take out this treasure.

This was a supreme treasure capable of giving birth to ancestral witches, and it was countless times more precious than the Ginseng Fruit.

If he refined this blood and gained a body as powerful as an ancestral witch's, his strength would certainly soar several times over.

Although the great experts of the immortal path in the Great Desolation could control magic treasures and cast arcane arts, their physical bodies had always been their weakness.

If his body could rival that of an ancestral witch, he would be invincible in both close and long-range combat.

"This reward is far too generous!"

Hong Yun was ecstatic.

Boom, boom, boom!

The two emperors of the Demon Clan were trapped within the Twelve Ancestral Witches' assault, enduring a barrage as violent as a storm.

Divine light shimmered around the ancestral witches.

The twelve divine abilities of space, time, fire, water, earth, and the rest were unleashed in full.

These divine abilities possessed heaven-shaking might. If ordinary creatures of the Great Desolation had been subjected to them, they would have long since been reduced to ashes.

But with the Chaos Bell protecting them, Dijun and Taiyi still managed to hold on.

"This Chaos Bell truly is extraordinary. I'm afraid the Twelve Ancestral Witches won't be able to break through its defenses without several hundred or even a thousand years!"

Hong Yun nodded inwardly.

If he had the chance, he would not mind taking this World-Opening supreme treasure for himself.

"Forget it. If I seize the bell now, never mind whether I can succeed—even if I do, I'll incur the hatred of both the Witch Clan and the Demon Clan!"

Hong Yun no longer lingered. With a wave of his hand, he summoned an auspicious cloud and fled into the distance.

Seeing him leave, the ancestral witches and the Demon Emperors had no time to concern themselves with him.

To the ancestral witches, the Ginseng Fruit was far less valuable than the Chaos Bell.

As for the two Demon Emperors, they were busy dealing with the ancestral witches' attacks.

They had wanted to drag Hong Yun into the mess, but who could have expected that Hong Yun would turn the tables on them instead?

"This Hong Yun... They say he's a good-natured man, but I think he's even more cunning than I am!"

Eastern Emperor Taiyi gnashed his teeth.

"Second brother, think of a way to escape!"

Dijun's face was filled with worry. Feeling the ancestral witches' terrifying attacks, he was filled with apprehension.

He had originally intended to descend into the starry sky and dominate the lands of the Great Desolation.

Who could have expected that in their first battle with the Witch Clan, they would fall completely into a disadvantageous position?

The Witch Clan was simply too formidable.

Even top-tier Demon Emperors like them were completely helpless beneath the ancestral witches' hands.

"Big brother, I'm out of options. We can only hold on!"

Eastern Emperor Taiyi's expression was gloomy.

"Fortunately, with the ancestral witches' strength, they won't be able to break through my Eastern Emperor Bell for several hundred years!"

Since they could not escape, they could only hope for a turning point to appear within those few hundred years.

Several months later.

Hong Yun finally returned to Fire Cloud Cave.

Inside the cave.

He sat cross-legged and counted the gains from this journey.

Whoosh!

Hong Yun flipped his hand and took out the Great Dao Cushion.

"Cultivation still depends on this treasure!"

he murmured.

The Great Dao Cushion not only helped him comprehend the laws of the Great Dao, but also increased his cultivation speed a hundredfold.

This was precisely what had allowed him to advance from the early to the mid-stage of the Great Unity Golden Immortal realm during his three thousand years of listening to the Dao in Purple Cloud Palace.

From now on, he planned to sit on this treasure often during cultivation.

Only then would he not fail to live up to its value.

Whoosh!

Hong Yun flipped his hand again and took out a drop of Pangu's Essence Blood.

Buzz!

The instant this treasure appeared, a vast aura enveloped Fire Cloud Cave.

Fortunately, the cave's restrictions were extremely formidable.

Otherwise, if this aura leaked out, it might attract the attention of the great experts of the Great Desolation.

Especially Hongjun. If he sensed that there was Pangu's Essence Blood here, he would certainly develop designs on it.

Hong Yun knew very well that Hongjun was his greatest enemy. If he could not escape Hongjun's schemes, he would eventually die and have his Dao destroyed.

However, his strength was still weak for now, and Hongjun had yet to take him seriously.

"Time is pressing. Ten thousand years from now will be the second sermon, and another ten thousand years after that will be the third sermon. According to the original trajectory, that will be when I'm schemed against and killed!"

"That's only a little over twenty thousand years away!"

Hong Yun muttered to himself.

The Great Desolation did not keep track of years. In the eyes of the great experts, twenty thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

For him to contend with a sage was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Strength—only sufficient strength could break the deadlock!

Hong Yun calculated how he could improve himself.

As for his foundation, he was the first cloud in the Great Desolation to take human form, and this cloud had been formed from Pangu's exhalation when he supported the heavens.

In terms of origins, although he was inferior to the Three Pure Ones and the ancestral witches, he still stood firmly among the foremost beings of the Great Desolation, far surpassing Dijun, Taiyi, Nuwa, and Fuxi.

As for cultivation, he was currently at the mid-stage of the Great Unity Golden Immortal realm. He could not compare with sages, but he was absolutely not inferior to the other great experts.

Even the Three Pure Ones were currently only at the mid-stage of the Great Unity Golden Immortal realm.

Moreover, he had the Great Dao Cushion, so the possibility of his cultivation being surpassed was extremely small.

Techniques were his weakness.

Since taking human form, he had only cultivated the inherited Colorful Cloud Immortal Art, whose power was mediocre.

Compared with the Nine Revolutions Primordial Technique and the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique, the gap was enormous.

It was even inferior to the Three Pure Ones' immortal arts.

The physical body was a common weakness among immortal cultivators. Not to mention him—even the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa had no particular advantage in this regard.

Only the Witch Clan cultivated their physical bodies exclusively, making them incomparably powerful.

But at this moment, Hong Yun gazed at the Pangu's Essence Blood in his hand.

"From now on, my physical body will absolutely not be inferior to the Witch Clan's!"

After refining this blood, he was certain that his physical body would improve dramatically.

Foundation, cultivation, techniques, and physical body were the foundations of cultivation for all living beings in the Great Desolation.

At present, what he lacked most was a cultivation technique.

Apart from that, magic treasures were also of vital importance to the living beings of the Great Desolation.

"As for magic treasures, I only have a single innate auspicious cloud. When the Gourd Vine on Buzhou Mountain matures, I can take one of its gourds!"

Hong Yun pondered.

According to the original trajectory, the Gourd Vine on Buzhou Mountain would bear seven gourds. The red one would belong to him and be refined into the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Gourd.

That was a top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

However, he now felt that, apart from the red gourd, the other gourds were worth considering as well.

If he took the entire Gourd Vine, his lack of magic treasures would certainly be made up for.

"First, I'll refine Pangu's Essence Blood!"

The Gourd Vine had yet to appear, so Hong Yun decided to strengthen his physical body and improve his strength first.

Whoosh!

He waved his hand and guided a wisp of Pangu's Essence Blood into his body.

"Ah!"

In an instant, a heart-rending pain struck him, and he could not help crying out.

"This Pangu's Essence Blood is truly overbearing!"

Feeling the searing pain, Hong Yun clicked his tongue inwardly.

The blood essence was exceptionally fierce.

Even a mere wisp entering his body made him feel as though he had been thrown into a furnace.

Of course, this burning was part of the process of transforming his bloodline.

As his bloodline gradually changed, he felt his physical body becoming far stronger than before.

It took him a full three years to refine that wisp of blood essence.

Now, the strength of his physical body had increased more than tenfold.

"Just a wisp took three years, even with the Great Dao Cushion's enhancement!"

"No wonder the birth of the Twelve Ancestral Witches took an entire kalpa!"

Hong Yun muttered.

The Ancestral Witches had been nurtured from Pangu's Essence Blood. Each one had been formed from no more than a drop, yet their transformation had taken tens of thousands of years.

With the Great Dao Cushion, he could refine a wisp in three years. To refine the entire drop, he would probably need several hundred years, or even a millennium!

Still, the drastic transformation of his physical body left him both in pain and delight.

"Continue refining!"

Hong Yun estimated that if he refined this entire drop of blood essence, he would be invincible among mid-stage Great Leaders.

He might even defeat a late-stage Great Leader!

At present, in the Great Desolation, there was no late-stage Great Leader apart from Hongjun.

After refining this blood, he was confident that when the Gourd Vine emerged, no one would be able to contend with him.

At the same time, in the land of the Nine Netherworld.

"Ancestor, the Great Desolation is now an age of great competition. The Witches and demons are fighting over the destiny of Heaven and Earth. Are we, the Netherworld Clan, really going to hide away in this lightless Nine Netherworld?"

A woman whose black hair covered her body looked toward the white-eyed man beside her and spoke.

If Hong Yun had been there, he would have recognized this person as Ancestor Minghe.

Minghe's eyes were pure white and pupil-less. Rolling his white eyes, he stroked the woman and said, "Wumo, I've long wanted to enter the Great Desolation and compete for destiny, but..."

"What is the Ancestor worried about?"

Heavenly Consort Wumo gathered her long hair like hands, revealing a breathtakingly beautiful face.

"Enough. Since that's the case, I'll go to the Great Desolation and find a blessed land to establish a foundation for our Netherworld!"

Minghe did not voice the worry in his heart.

Previously, he had not entered the Great Desolation to compete for destiny because he had sensed, in the depths of the unseen, that it would be unwise to get involved.

But now that Wumo had suggested it as well, he decided to give it a try. At worst, if he failed, he could retreat to the Nine Netherworld.

Five hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, above the lands of the Witch Clan.

"Hahaha, little Dijun, you mangy Taiyi! Today, you'll be buried here!"

Dijiang laughed heartily. Divine light coiled around his massive fist as he once again slammed it toward the Chaos Bell.

Bang!

The tremendous boom shook Heaven and Earth.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The other Ancestral Witches each unleashed their divine abilities, furiously bombarding the Chaos Bell.

The force of the impacts penetrated the bell and struck Dijun and Taiyi.

Pfft! Pfft!

Their faces went deathly pale as blood gushed from their mouths.

Their chests were already splattered with blood. Over the past five hundred years, they had lost count of how many times they had vomited blood.

"Big Brother, my Eastern Emperor Bell has held out for five hundred years. Today, it has reached its limit."

Eastern Emperor Taiyi's face was as pale as paper, and his voice was despondent.

After struggling to hold on for five hundred years, he had reached the end of his strength.

"Second Brother, it seems that we brothers will perish here today. I truly cannot accept this!"

Dijun was in a wretched state, his eyes filled with unwillingness.