The Void Cracks, Demon Gods Appear, Sparks Ignite, Tribulations Rise

In the far east of the Great Desolation, at the edge of heaven and earth. In the past, although the Ruin of All Things was a place where all things perished, devouring the remains of myriad worlds, it maintained a chaotic yet relatively stable balance. Gray, misty chaos permeated the air, slowly rotating. Gigantic spatial rifts, like scars on the world, were dangerous but also a part of the Great Desolation's Heavenly Dao cycle. However, at this moment, the scene before him made even the well-traveled Tongtian feel a shock and chill emanating from his very soul!

The once relatively calm entrance to the Ruin of All Things had now completely transformed into a boiling, violent ocean filled with absolute darkness and destruction! Countless thick, twisted, writhing black tentacles, like materialized nightmares from the deepest abyss, were frantically squeezing out of the largest spatial rift. Each impact caused the entire eastern extreme of the Great Desolation to tremble violently, and the laws of heaven and earth wailed endlessly!

These tentacles were entirely composed of pure, exotic demonic energy, the complete opposite of the Great Desolation's spiritual energy. Their surfaces were covered in bizarre runes that constantly flickered in and out of existence, emitting a greedy, hungry, and all-consuming will to destroy! Wherever they passed, space shattered inch by inch like fragile Glazed Tile, turning into the most primal chaos currents, which were then swallowed and assimilated by the demonic energy!

And at the core, guarded by countless tentacles, a vast, distorted shadow, indescribably immense, could be vaguely seen struggling to cross the final barrier! The pressure it emitted had reached the Saint level! Perhaps even surpassed it! It was a power that existed purely for destruction, a power that brought despair!

"Realm Demon God," Tongtian's eyes were incredibly solemn as he recognized the origin of this terrifying existence. This was the vanguard of the Otherworld invasion, or rather, a destructive avatar condensed from the Otherworld's power itself! Its target was to tear through the Great Desolation's barrier and devour this world completely!

Beyond the Ruin of All Things, the battlefield was already set!

Haotian Shangdi did not personally appear, but the Heavenly Court's army had already deployed a world-shattering battle formation! The Myriad Stars Array (incomplete), composed of one hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, shone with brilliant starlight, like a galaxy stretching across the front of the Ruin of All Things. Countless starlight beams transformed into destructive pillars of light, fiercely bombarding the protruding black tentacles, causing them to explode and evaporate repeatedly!

King Li Jing, Nezha the Third Prince, the Four Heavenly Kings, and other fierce generals of the Heavenly Court displayed their Divine Abilities, unleashing their magical treasures. They fought fiercely against the monstrous beings of various forms and terrifying appearances that spawned from the broken tentacles. The battle was extremely intense. Every moment, Heavenly Soldiers and Generals were either corroded by demonic energy into pus and blood or torn apart by the monsters, their divine blood scattering across the sky!

Further away, Guangchengzi, Chijingzi, Yuding Zhenren, and other Twelve Golden Immortals (partially) from the Chan Teachings, along with their disciples, formed another great formation (seemingly a simplified version of the Immortal Execution Sword Formation). Sharp sword energy crisscrossed and sliced, possessing immense power, yet they maintained a subtle distance from the Heavenly Court's battle formation, even showing signs of mutual vigilance, fighting independently.

Figures from the Western Teachings also appeared, but they were not the main force. A few Bodhisattvas led some Arhats and Vajras, casting Buddhist light from afar to purify the pervading demonic energy. While seemingly helping, they appeared more to be collecting samples of demonic energy or accumulating merit by transcending souls, not truly engaging in the core battlefield.

The entire battlefield was chaotic and tragic! Although the Great Desolation side had a large number of people and fought in formation, the Realm Demon God's power was too terrifying and bizarre. Its demonic energy had a strong corrosive and polluting effect on the spiritual power and primordial spirits of immortals and gods. It often required several times, or even ten times, the cost to barely neutralize a single tentacle. Moreover, the Demon God's main body had not yet fully descended, and its pressure alone made many Heavenly Soldiers' minds waver, unable to exert their full strength.

Tongtian hid within the spatial rifts, coldly observing the beginning of this catastrophe. He did not act immediately but was carefully observing, analyzing the Realm Demon God's attack methods, power characteristics, and the Great Desolation side's response strategies.

"As expected, they are a scattered mess," Tongtian sneered inwardly. The Heavenly Court, Chan Teachings, and Western Teachings each harbored their own intentions, making it difficult for them to truly cooperate. If this continued, once the Demon God's main body broke through, the defenses would collapse in an instant!

Just then, the Realm Demon God seemed to be enraged by the Great Desolation's resistance. The shadow at its core churned violently, letting out a piercing shriek that pierced through souls!

In the next moment, a main tentacle, a hundred times thicker than the others and covered in grotesque eyeballs, violently tore through a corner of the Myriad Stars Array and, with speed beyond comprehension, lashed out fiercely towards the Chan Teachings' formation! Its target was none other than Guangchengzi, who was at the heart of the formation!

The destructive power contained in this strike turned Guangchengzi's face instantly pale. He felt a fatal threat! Yuding Zhenren and the others nearby hurriedly activated the sword formation to rescue him, but they were already half a beat too late!

At this critical moment, "You beast! How dare you act so presumptuously!" a cold, furious roar echoed as if from beyond the nine heavens! It was not Tongtian who acted!

In the void, a Taiji Diagram phantom, vast enough to cover the sky, suddenly appeared. The Yin and Yang fish rotated slowly, stabilizing the elements, encompassing all things. It managed to block the main tentacle just in the nick of time!

Hiss! The terrifying main tentacle struck the Taiji Diagram fiercely, emitting a grating, corrosive sound! The black and white energy flowed, constantly eroding the demonic energy and eyeballs on the tentacle. However, the tentacle's power was simply too immense, pushing the Taiji Diagram phantom backward, its light flickering violently!

It was Grand Supreme Elder Laozi who had acted! Although his true body had not descended, this phantom of the Taiji Diagram, imbued with a Saint's Dao Fruit, still possessed earth-shattering power! However, the Realm Demon God seemed to have locked onto its target. The shadow at its core churned again, and another equally terrifying main tentacle shot out, joining the first to furiously assault the Taiji Diagram!

The Taiji Diagram phantom's pressure immediately doubled, its light dimming at a visible rate!

"Senior Brother, help me!" Guangchengzi cried out in horror, calling for help to Randeng Daoren in the distant Heavenly Court formation. But Randeng was entangled by several massive secondary tentacles and found it difficult to break free!

The Bodhisattvas of the Western Teachings retreated even further, chanting scriptures incessantly, yet none stepped forward to directly confront the onslaught!

Just as the Taiji Diagram phantom was about to be broken, and Guangchengzi and the others were in mortal peril, "Now is the time!" Tongtian, who had been hidden for a long time, felt a brilliant divine light erupt from his eyes!

The moment he had been waiting for had arrived! Laozi was being held back by the Demon God's main force, and all attention was drawn elsewhere. This was the perfect time for him to act, and also the best moment to test his new strength!

He no longer concealed himself, and his figure stepped out from the void! He did not charge towards the two main tentacles but appeared on the flank of the battlefield, where countless monsters spawned from the tentacles were surging like a tide towards the Heavenly Soldiers' defense line!

"Chaos Netherworld, Heaven Swallowing Earth!" Tongtian roared, and the dark gray chaotic Netherworld magical power erupted from his body without reservation! He did not use any magical treasures, only throwing a simple punch!

As his fist shot out, a massive, dark gray vortex of chaos appeared out of thin air. The center of the vortex seemed to connect to the Nine Nether Purgatory, exuding a terrifying devouring power!

The surging tide of monsters, upon touching this vortex of chaos, seemed to have met their nemesis! The exotic demonic energy on their bodies, capable of corroding immortals and gods, was frantically drawn, devoured, ground, and transformed by the vortex of chaos! The monsters let out terrified shrieks, their bodies shriveling and dissipating at a visible rate, turning into the purest energy absorbed by the vortex, thus replenishing Tongtian's consumption!

Tongtian stood behind the vortex, his black hair wildly flying, his eyes cold, like a nemesis to demon gods, invincible! Wherever he passed, the tide of monsters melted like ice and snow, clearing a large area in an instant! The pressure on the precarious defense line of the Heavenly Soldiers was greatly reduced!

This sudden turn of events instantly shocked the entire battlefield!

"Is that Sect Master Tongtian?!" someone recognized him and exclaimed in disbelief!

"How can his power counter the otherworldly demonic energy?!" the Heavenly Court generals stared dumbfounded.

"Chaos energy and Netherworld Death Qi... what path has he embarked upon?!" the Golden Immortals of Chan Teachings were both shocked and suspicious.

The people of the Western Teachings had shifting expressions and flickering eyes.

Tongtian completely ignored the discussions. He fully operated his Chaos Dao Fruit, madly devouring the monsters, feeling the process of the exotic demonic energy being transformed into his own magical power, gaining a deeper understanding of the essence of the Otherworld's power. His aura grew stronger with each battle, and the dark gray light around him became even more brilliant!

Seemingly sensing the threat from the flank, the Realm Demon God let out an enraged roar. It actually detached a third main tentacle, abandoning the Taiji Diagram, and smashed down fiercely towards Tongtian! The eyeballs covering this tentacle opened simultaneously, shooting out countless beams of destructive light that twisted souls!

"Excellent!" Tongtian was not surprised but delighted. He wanted to test the strength of this Demon God's main body!

He let out a long roar, and the Otherworld destructive power he had obtained from a fragment integrated into his fist. The Chaos Bead phantom appeared above his head, casting down myriad streams of energy to protect his body. He did not dodge but met the world-destroying Demon God tentacle head-on with a single punch!

Rumble! A terrifying explosion illuminated the dim Ruin of All Things! The energy shockwave swept outwards like a tsunami!

Tongtian's body trembled violently, and he was sent flying backward, a trickle of golden blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. The skin on his fist was torn open, but his eyes shone even brighter! The Demon God tentacle was also hit by his punch, which contained multiple supreme powers, causing its demonic energy to dissipate and retract by more than half!

He could injure a Saint-level Realm Demon God! Although it was only a repulse and not a severe injury, it was enough to prove the power of his current path!

Just as he stabilized his body and prepared to charge again, the Taiji Diagram phantom, which had been stalemating with the two main tentacles, suddenly accelerated the rotation of its Yin and Yang fish, erupting with unprecedented light, and forcefully pushed the two tentacles away for a moment!

At the same time, Laozi's indifferent and lofty voice clearly entered Tongtian's ears, but only he could hear it:

"The spark has appeared, why rush to set the prairie ablaze? The water here is still deep. Beyond the chaos, there is also chaos." As the voice faded, the Taiji Diagram phantom swept up Guangchengzi and the other Chan Teachings disciples and instantly disappeared, having directly withdrawn from the battlefield!

Laozi had acted again, saving the Chan Teachings disciples, yet he left behind an even more obscure and difficult-to-understand message, once again sparing Tongtian!

Tongtian stood frozen, chewing on Laozi's words, his heart surging with emotion. Was Laozi reminding him to hide his strength? Hinting at even more powerful enemies beyond the Great Desolation? Or did he mean something else?

And without the Taiji Diagram's restraint, the Realm Demon God's full fury instantly focused on Tongtian and the heavily damaged Heavenly Army below!

Countless tentacles, like wildly dancing demonic dragons, descended, blocking out the sky!

Haotian Shangdi still had not appeared!

The situation instantly became precarious!

Tongtian looked at the overwhelming fury of the demon gods descending upon them, then at the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals below, struggling to hold on amidst heavy casualties, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

Among these Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, there might be fellow disciples from the Jie Teachings, or even their reincarnated forms.

The next moment, a resolute glint appeared in his eyes. A spark, however small, could still illuminate a corner of the world! He took a deep breath, the Chaos Bead shining brightly, its dark gray magical energy surging into the sky to meet the demon gods' wrath head-on!

"The tribulation has arrived, and it begins today!"

"I, Tongtian, am here!" His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly resonated across the entire battlefield, carrying an undeniable resolve and responsibility, like the first spark piercing the darkness, resolutely charging into the monstrous tide of demons!