"It's finally over." The surviving cultivators let out a long sigh of relief, their faces filled with joy. It had been too brutal. As they gazed across the blood-red battlefield, they still couldn't help shuddering.
The severity of this calamity had far exceeded everyone's expectations. Saying that fewer than one in ten had survived would not have been an exaggeration.
Of the nearly ten trillion cultivators, only a little over two hundred billion remained. The more than fifteen trillion ferocious beasts had been all but wiped out. Even among mighty figures like Grand Unity Golden Immortals, only a little over three hundred remained. The devastation had been immense.
While everyone was still sighing over the losses, sacred, solemn Immortal Music suddenly sounded from the sky, resounding across the entire Primordial World. Boundless Spiritual Qi transformed into golden flowers that drifted down.
The mountains and ley lines damaged during the calamity gradually recovered under the nourishment of Spiritual Qi. The remaining killing intent and baleful energy were purified in a short time.
In an instant, the entire Primordial World felt fresh and new. Flowers bloomed beneath clear, cloudless skies. Everyone stared in bewilderment, wondering at the strange phenomenon.
But that wasn't all. Streams of profound yellow light descended from the heavens. Some even landed on people present, while the three largest beams flew off—one toward the Western Region and two toward the east.
Whenever a great calamity struck, there were great opportunities despite the near certainty of death. The Heavenly Dao did not distinguish between good and evil. As long as one's actions during the calamity benefited the workings of Heaven and Earth, one would be rewarded.
Therefore, even Luo Hou received a tremendous amount of Golden Light of Merit.
Of course, not everyone could receive Golden Light of Merit. Only when one had contributed enough to Heaven and Earth and earned its recognition would the golden light descend.
As soon as the calamity ended, Li Yi returned to Penglai Island. His injuries were severe, and it wasn't wise to wander outside.
At that moment, Li Yi sat cross-legged atop Penglai Island's main peak, examining his body inwardly. A dazzling golden light in his sea of consciousness was slowly merging with his soul, and an indescribable feeling swept through his heart.
Li Yi didn't dare neglect this rare opportunity. He immediately quieted his mind and body, entering a state of emptiness without a single thought, and silently sought to comprehend that sliver of profound mystery.
He spent fifty years in that state. Li Yi's tightly shut eyes suddenly opened, and two beams of gray light shot out. A crack appeared in space.
"My sea of consciousness has expanded by a quarter. My will is nearly solidified. I've reached the peak of the Golden Immortal realm, and my Nirvana Sword Dao is complete." A smile touched Li Yi's lips. He was clearly very satisfied with what he had gained from this seclusion.
"It's a pity Golden Light of Merit is so hard to come by. If I had just a little more, I might have touched the edge of the Reincarnation Sword Dao." Having experienced the tremendous benefits of Golden Light of Merit, Li Yi couldn't help feeling a little greedy.
"Forget it. In the end, I still have to rely on myself." Li Yi put aside that unrealistic fantasy and flew to the edge of the island to test the power of his perfected Nirvana Sword Dao. By merging with Golden Light of Merit, his will had grown tremendously, enough to manifest his sword intent without relying on the power of the Green Lotus Ancient Sword.
Li Yi pointed his right hand at the sea below. A gray, crescent-shaped arc of light sliced toward the water. It carried a will of annihilation, before which everything seemed destined to perish. Without a sound, a massive trench tens of thousands of feet long appeared, its seawater vanishing into thin air.
Li Yi raised his head slightly and pointed toward the sky. A spinning Taiji Diagram appeared among the clouds. In moments, every cloud within its boundaries vanished into thin air, and the entire sky grew dim. Even light could not pass through the Taiji Diagram; every ray that entered its area turned to nothingness.
"It should be even more powerful if I use the Green Lotus Ancient Sword, and it would cost me less, too." Li Yi pondered for a moment. "Next, I need to comprehend the Reincarnation Sword Dao as soon as possible and advance to Grand Unity Golden Immortal."
Northern Primordial World, Blood Prison City.
The Blood Prison Five Ancestors hovered above a mountaintop, with the people of Blood Prison City gathered behind them. Everyone gazed excitedly at the Main Body above.
"To create a Small World! Just thinking about it gets me excited," one Golden Immortal stammered.
"Our Lord's power is beyond our ability to fathom," someone said with a sigh.
"Hmph, our Lord is one of the Five Great Supremes. Of course his divine abilities defy the heavens."
The people of Blood Prison City continued to chatter, but they all spoke about one thing: creating a Small World.
The Main Body's long hair fluttered in the wind, and dazzling white light shone from his cold, merciless eyes. Lines of illusory golden rule-threads appeared in his vision.
The Main Body extended a pale finger. Mysterious runes coiled around it, and faint pressure radiated from his fingertip.
Before long, the Main Body tapped a node in the rules. "BOOM!!!" Like the start of a chain reaction, space collapsed, section by section.
Two beams of golden light shot from the Main Body's eyes. As soon as they appeared, they transformed into countless runes, each more than ten zhang tall, which flew into the chaotic fragments of space.
Gradually, the entire area settled. A small world spanning several hundred li appeared before everyone.
The Main Body furrowed his brows slightly and swept his sleeve. An immense surge of Magic Power struck the Small World. "RUMBLE!!!" The world continued to expand—from a thousand li to ten thousand, then a hundred thousand. At last, it stopped when it stretched for tens of millions of li.
Once it had fully stabilized, the Main Body's boundless will descended upon the Small World. Winds rose and clouds gathered as mountain ranges, flowing waters, earth, and sky gradually took shape.
The Blood Prison Five Ancestors and the others watched, dumbfounded. It was done? With a casual point and a few beams of golden light, a simple Small World had appeared.
Truly, his divine powers were boundless. Everyone looked at him with awe.
After the Small World was created, the Main Body stayed there. The Blood Prison Five Ancestors moved the nine Black Giant Coffins into it, and all the Grand Unity Golden Immortals entered to cultivate in seclusion. Blood Prison City itself was left in the hands of the Golden Immortals.
After the calamity, Hongjun and Yang Mei had both withdrawn from the world, and many Grand Unity Golden Immortals had also chosen to cultivate in seclusion. The three tribes made up more than half of the surviving cultivators, and Ancestral Dragon, Heavenly Phoenix, and Ancestor Lin were all safe and sound. No force in the Primordial World could now contend with the three tribes. Blood Prison City was the sole exception. The three tribes had formally become the leading powers of the Primordial World.
Ancestral Dragon, Heavenly Phoenix, and Ancestor Lin were ambitious. Besides, opportunities were now better than ever, with almost no rivals. If they didn't act now, they would never get such a good chance again.
If they could seize vast territories, gather a great momentum, and use it to cultivate, they might yet become the next Supreme. Whenever they thought of the Supremes' power to destroy the heavens and earth and shake the starry sky, excitement surged through them.
The Dragon Clan began to seize the rivers and coastal regions within the Primordial World, in addition to claiming the oceans. The Phoenix Tribe settled in most of the volcanic regions, while the Qilin Clan also refused to fall behind, taking Buzhou Mountain as their center and beginning to claim the lands of the Primordial World.
The Dragon Clan also gathered most of the scale-armored races and proclaimed itself the Lord of Scales and Armor. The Phoenix Tribe subdued many flying races, while the Qilin became the Lord of Beasts.
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