"What did you mean by that, senior?"
Lu Chen gripped the Demon Abyss Token, which still held a trace of warmth. He stared into the Chaos where Luohu's remnant soul and the phantoms of the Three Clans' leaders had completely vanished, and alarm bells rang in his heart.
Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi exchanged a glance, their expressions equally grave.
"Young friend, the moment you accepted the token, you became connected to the fortune of the Devil Dao." Zhen Yuanzi calculated with his fingers, his brows furrowing. "Though it's only a thread of karma, the Heavenly Dao has recorded it. You'll have to be extra careful from now on."
Lu Chen gave a bitter smile. "If I hadn't accepted it, the four Quasi-Saints would've doubled back, and the three of us would already be dust in the Chaos."
That was no exaggeration. Luohu's appearance seemed like an attempt to recruit them, but it was really both a threat and a bargain. By accepting the token, Lu Chen had gained his help in temporarily luring away or intimidating Di Jun and the others, who might have turned back to attack. If he'd refused, the Demon Ancestor's remnant soul might not have protected them.
"Let's return to the Primordial World." Hong Yun made the decision at once. "We shouldn't linger here."
The three transformed into streaks of light and flew at full speed toward the boundary of the Primordial World.
On the way, Lu Chen sent a wisp of Divine Sense into the Qiankun Diagram to check on the three Kirin Eggs that were incubating.
Just as he'd feared, something had gone wrong!
The shells, which had originally been earthy yellow, were now covered in dense, dark-red demonic patterns. The life force within the eggs was no longer pure and peaceful. Instead, it radiated a chaotic, violent aura.
"Memories of the Chaos Demon Gods... Were they awakened by Luohu's demonic aura just now?" Lu Chen's heart sank.
He tried purifying them with Sky-Opening Merit and Three Lights Divine Water. The patterns faded slightly, but they weren't eliminated. Like living creatures, they crawled beneath the shells.
"This is troublesome." Lu Chen frowned.
These three eggs were the last seeds of the Kirin Clan, entrusted to him by Shi Qilin on his deathbed. The karma involved was no small matter. If they hatched into corrupted Kirin, then forget preserving the Kirin Clan's bloodline—the best he could hope for was to avoid a catastrophe.
"I need to discuss this with Senior Zhen Yuanzi as soon as possible..."
Just then, three rifts suddenly split open in the Chaos ahead!
"They're here." Lu Chen's gaze turned cold as he halted his flight.
Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi stopped as well, each bringing out a magic treasure.
Three figures stepped out of the rifts, blocking their path in a triangular formation.
On the left was Ancestor Minghe, standing atop the Twelve-Grade Karma Red Lotus, with the Yuantu Abi Twin Swords hovering beside him. His blood-red robe stirred despite the lack of wind. "Hong Yun, hand over what you obtained from the primordial violet qi, and I'll spare your life."
In the middle was Kunpeng, his face grim. Clearly, his anger over Lu Chen injuring his second Primordial Spirit hadn't faded. His gaze fixed on Lu Chen. "You little thief, I'll kill you today!"
On the right stood... a phantom clad in a star-patterned Daoist robe. It wasn't Di Jun or Taiyi in person, but a "Star God Incarnation" conjured by Demon Master Kunpeng with the power of the Great Formation of the Stars. Its aura had reached the Early Quasi-Saint level!
"Three Quasi-Saints. We must be quite the sight to bring out the big guns," Hong Yun sneered, crimson light flickering from his Nine-Nine Soul Scattering Gourd.
Zhen Yuanzi unfurled the Earth Book, covering the three of them with a phantom of mountains and rivers stretching for ten thousand miles. "If you want to fight, then fight!"
Lu Chen said nothing. He tightened his grip on the Black Brick with his right hand and held the newly acquired Immortal Slaying Flying Dagger Gourd in his left. He'd taken it from Treasure Distribution Cliff. This was the perfect chance to test its power.
"Kill!"
Minghe struck first. The Yuantu Abi Twin Swords transformed into two streaks of blood-red light and slashed at Hong Yun.
Kunpeng's true form pounced on Zhen Yuanzi, its talons tearing through the phantom mountains and rivers.
The Star God Incarnation stepped forward, stars revolving around it as it punched toward Lu Chen. The Chaos Qi along the punch's path was blasted into nothingness!
"Bring it on!"
Lu Chen charged forward instead of retreating. The Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner shielded him as he swung the Black Brick at the incoming punch.
"Boom!"
Fist and brick collided. Lu Chen was sent flying a hundred miles, the web between his thumb and forefinger split open, but the Star God Incarnation was also forced back three steps.
"A Grand Unity Golden Immortal can block one of my punches?" The Star God Incarnation looked surprised, then sneered. "Then block another!"
The second punch was even stronger. Three hundred and sixty phantom stars appeared across its fist—the Great Formation of the Stars in miniature!
Lu Chen's pupils contracted.
Taking it head-on would mean certain death!
"Gravity Brick!"
He activated his newly comprehended divine ability. The gravitational field around the Black Brick warped, slowing the Star God Incarnation's punch by a hair's breadth.
That was all he needed!
"Treasure, please turn around!"
Lu Chen brought out the Immortal Slaying Flying Dagger Gourd. A streak of white light shot from its mouth, moving faster than the very concept of space and time. It circled the Star God Incarnation's neck—
"Pfft!"
The incarnation's head flew off, dissolving into specks of starlight.
One strike, and he'd beheaded a Quasi-Saint incarnation!
It was only an incarnation, and Lu Chen had benefited from his opponent's underestimation and the Immortal Slaying Flying Knife's surprise attack. Even so, the feat was enough to shock everyone present!
"The Immortal Slaying Flying Knife?!" Minghe exclaimed in anger. "How did you get your hands on that treasure?!"
Kunpeng was even more furious. "You little thief, just how many treasures have you stolen?!"
Lu Chen didn't answer. He put away the Immortal Slaying Flying Dagger Gourd. It could only be used once and needed to be nurtured again. But he'd achieved his aim: intimidation.
"Senior, it's our turn to fight back!" he shouted.
Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi's spirits lifted, and their attacks grew fiercer.
Minghe was entangled in Hong Yun's soul-scattering mist and couldn't break free for the moment.
Meanwhile, Zhen Yuanzi's mountains and rivers from the Earth Book trapped Kunpeng fast, drawing furious roars from him.
"Let's take out Kunpeng first!" Lu Chen sent them a voice transmission.
The three acted in perfect concert, turning on Kunpeng at once.
Crimson poison mist spewed from Hong Yun's gourd, corroding Kunpeng's protective demonic light.
Zhen Yuanzi's Earth Book transformed into a mountain ten thousand zhang tall and came crashing down.
Lu Chen circled behind Kunpeng. Golden Light of Merit blazed around the Black Brick as he brought it down on the back of Kunpeng's head—
"That trick again?!" Kunpeng roared in fury, sweeping his wings backward.
But this time, Lu Chen used his new divine ability.
"Malevolent Qi Brick!"
The Black Brick's surface was wreathed in the vicious aura of the God-Slaying Spear Fragment. Combined with the Law of Strength, it ignored defenses and struck straight into the Primordial Spirit!
"Thud!"
The blow landed squarely.
"Argh!" Kunpeng screamed. His Primordial Spirit shuddered, and his vision went black.
"Imprison him!" Zhen Yuanzi seized the chance to turn the Earth Book into a cage and temporarily trap Kunpeng.
"Go!" Hong Yun swept Lu Chen up, about to flee.
"Trying to leave? Did you ask me?" Minghe sneered. The Karma Red Lotus erupted, and countless Blood God Sons poured out, sealing off every direction.
"Blood Sea Formation!"
The entire Chaos turned blood-red. Endless Blood God Sons surged toward them, each with the strength of a Golden Immortal!
"Troublesome." Zhen Yuanzi's expression darkened.
As long as the Sea of Blood remained, Minghe couldn't die. The old fiend was the hardest of all to deal with.
As Lu Chen stared at the Blood God Sons filling the sky, he suddenly remembered something in the Qiankun Diagram.
"Senior, hold them off for ten breaths!"
He flashed into the Qiankun Diagram.
Inside, he quickly took out an item: the drop of Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood he'd obtained from the Dragon Palace treasury!
Then he brought out the aura of the Primordial Phoenix Heart Core and the Kirin Heart Core.
The source essences of the Three Clans' leaders, united!
"With the essence blood of the Three Clans, I'll break your Blood Sea Formation. Let's see who the real ancestor is!"
He fused the three streams of essence blood and poured them into the Black Brick.
Red, gold, and yellow light burst from the Black Brick. Phantoms of a dragon, a phoenix, and a Kirin appeared across its surface, raising their heads and roaring.
"One brick to settle the universe!"
Lu Chen rushed out of the Qiankun Diagram and slammed the Black Brick into the core of the Blood Sea Formation.
"Boom—!!!"
The Three Clans' essence blood erupted, naturally suppressing the Sea of Blood. The Sea of Blood had been formed from the filthy blood that emerged from Pangu's navel, while the Three Clans were descendants of Pangu. Their source essences were of a higher order!
The Blood Sea Formation shook violently, and countless Blood God Sons screamed as they vanished.
Minghe grunted, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "The Three Clans' essence blood?! Where did you—"
Before he could finish, Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi's attacks had already arrived.
"Let's go!" Minghe gritted his teeth, withdrew the Sea of Blood, and fled as a streak of blood-red light.
He was immortal, but he still needed time to recover from his wounds. He didn't want to risk his life.
Kunpeng was still pinned inside the Earth Book's cage. Seeing Minghe flee, he roared, "Minghe, you—"
"Fellow Daoist Kunpeng, fend for yourself." Minghe's voice faded into the distance.
"Damn it!" Kunpeng struggled with all his might.
"You're next." Lu Chen and the other two closed in.
"You dare kill me? Di Jun and Taiyi won't let you get away with it!" Kunpeng shouted.
"Then let them come." Hong Yun sneered, aiming the mouth of his gourd at Kunpeng.
Just as Kunpeng was about to fall—
"Clang—!"
The Chaos Bell rang from far away.
Time and space froze.
A figure in golden robes strode toward them. With every step he took, a golden lotus of Solar True Fire bloomed beneath his feet.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi had arrived in person!
"Release him," Taiyi said impassively.
Zhen Yuanzi's expression darkened. "Fellow Daoist Taiyi, Kunpeng was the one who started this—"
"I'll say it once more. Release him." A phantom of the Chaos Bell appeared in Taiyi's hand, and the bell rang again.
"Crack!" The Earth Book's cage developed a fracture.
At the peak of the Quasi-Saint realm, with the Chaos Bell in hand, Taiyi's strength completely overpowered the three of them.
Lu Chen's thoughts raced. Then he sent Kunpeng a voice transmission. "Want to live?"
Kunpeng froze.
"Give me the complete formation diagram of the Great Formation of the Stars, and I'll make sure you survive," Lu Chen said quickly.
"Don't even think about it!" Kunpeng snapped.
"Then die." Lu Chen shot Hong Yun a meaningful glance.
Hong Yun understood. The poison mist pouring from his gourd thickened.
"Wait!" Kunpeng panicked. "I'll give it to you! But you have to swear to keep me alive!"
"I swear that if you're rescued and then fail to give me the formation diagram, may Heaven strike me down," Lu Chen said casually.
Kunpeng gritted his teeth. A jade slip glittering with starlight flew from between his brows and shot toward Lu Chen.
Lu Chen caught it and swept it with his Divine Sense. It was indeed the complete formation diagram of the Great Formation of the Stars. The central section was obscured by restrictions, but what he had was enough.
"Fellow Daoist Taiyi!" Lu Chen suddenly shouted. "We're willing to release him, but I ask you to make him swear that, from this day on, he won't hunt down the three of us again!"
Taiyi frowned and looked at Kunpeng.
Kunpeng hurriedly said, "I swear! If I hunt you down again, may I never attain the Dao for all eternity!"
Taiyi nodded. "Agreed."
Zhen Yuanzi withdrew the Earth Book's cage.
Freed, Kunpeng flew to Taiyi's side in a sorry state. He glared at Lu Chen with venom in his eyes but didn't dare attack again.
"Let's go." Taiyi gathered Kunpeng up and turned to leave.
From beginning to end, he didn't so much as glance at the formation diagram in Lu Chen's hand. Perhaps he didn't care. Or perhaps he had other plans.
Only after Taiyi was far away did the three finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Young friend, you really mean to protect Kunpeng?" Hong Yun asked with a frown.
"Protect him?" Lu Chen grinned. "He made the oath himself. What does that have to do with me? Besides, I only said I'd keep him alive. I never said I'd keep him in one piece."
As he spoke, he shook the jade slip glittering with starlight. "I've got the formation diagram of the Great Formation of the Stars. That's the real prize."
Zhen Yuanzi smiled wryly. "You... You really are too bold."
"Fortune favors the bold." Lu Chen put away the formation diagram. "Senior, let's return to Wuzhuang Temple first. There's something wrong with the three Kirin Eggs."
"Very well."
The three picked up speed, finally flying out of the Chaos and back into the Primordial World.
As soon as they entered the Primordial World, the Heavenly Dao sensed their return.
"Hum—"
Three streams of Golden Light of Merit descended, merging into each of them.
This was a reward for maintaining stability in the Primordial World by driving back Minghe and suppressing Kunpeng. It wasn't much, but every little bit helped.
Lu Chen's cultivation advanced another step, stabilizing at the late stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
"Let's return to Wuzhuang Temple first," Zhen Yuanzi said.
The three flew toward Longevity Mountain.
On the way, Lu Chen studied the formation diagram of the Great Formation of the Stars. The more he read, the more astonished he became.
"What a brilliant formation... It uses three hundred and sixty-five primary stars as its foundation and fourteen thousand eight hundred secondary stars as support, gathering the power of the stars. It can rival a Saint... Wait, there's a flaw here?"
He noticed that the markings in one part of the diagram were blurred, seemingly on purpose.
"The Lunar Star's position is unstable... Does it need the two Lunar Goddesses, Changxi and Xihe, to hold it? If anything happens to them, the formation's power drops by thirty percent?"
Lu Chen's eyes lit up.
In the future, Di Jun would marry Xihe and Changxi in the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court, and they would have ten Golden Crows. But Changxi didn't seem to truly love Di Jun. Perhaps he could...
He was still pondering when they arrived at Wuzhuang Temple.
The moment they landed, Qingfeng Mingyue came running over in a panic. "Master! Something's wrong! Those three Kirin Eggs... They've hatched! But, but they..."
Beneath the Ginseng Fruit Tree, three young qilin were playing.
One was entirely scarlet, with flames beneath its feet; another wore golden armor and had dragon wings growing from its back. The last was the strangest of all—half qilin, half twisted demonic body, radiating the aura of a Chaos Demon God!
"The Chaos Kirin bloodline has awakened?!" Zhen Yuanzi exclaimed in shock.
The Half-Demon Qilin saw Lu Chen and suddenly spoke, its voice old and hoarse:
"Young one... you carry... a finger bone of Father God—the Chaos Kirin..."
Lu Chen's heart lurched. "You're... the Chaos Kirin's remnant?"
"No... I am newly born... but I inherited his memories..." The Half-Demon Qilin's eyes were deep and inscrutable. "Before Father God died... he told me to pass on a message to you..."
"What message?"
"In the deepest part of the Demon Abyss... there is something... Pangu left behind... Luohu is looking for it too..."
Something Pangu left behind? In the Demon Abyss?
Lu Chen's breathing quickened.
"And one more thing..." The Half-Demon Qilin looked west, fear in its eyes. "Beware... Jieyin and Zhunti... they've already joined Luohu..."
What?!
Lu Chen, Hong Yun, and Zhen Yuanzi all changed color at once.
Just then, a Buddhist Chant came from outside Wuzhuang Temple:
"Amitabha... Fellow Daoist Hong Yun, Young Friend Lu Chen, would you care to come out and talk?"
It was Jieyin's voice!
Jieyin and Zhunti had suddenly arrived at Wuzhuang Temple, asking specifically to see Lu Chen and Hong Yun! The Half-Demon Qilin trembled and sent a message to Lu Chen: "They have... Luohu's Demonic Seeds on them!"
At the same time, the Demon Abyss Token in Lu Chen's arms suddenly grew hot. A message entered his mind—it was Luohu's summons: "Kid, come to the Demon Abyss. I'll give you a grand gift: the karma of Jieyin and Zhunti becoming Sages. Want to... snatch it before they can?"
Before you continue