The First Witch-Demon War

In the Primordial World, years went unrecorded, but what was meant to come would always come.

Three months later, at the northern foot of Buzhou Mountain, heaven and earth were steeped in killing intent.

The Demon Clan's Heavenly Court deployed in full force. Eighty billion demon soldiers swept across the land like locusts, blotting out the sky and sun.

Where the banners fluttered, three hundred and sixty-five main star array flags snapped in the wind. The Great Formation of the Stars had taken preliminary form—though it lacked the Solar Star's main flag and its power was diminished, the force of countless stars still descended, dyeing half the heavens into a magnificent sea of stars.

Di Jun stood atop the Nine-Dragon War Chariot, clad in the Golden Crow Emperor Robe and gripping the Witch-Slaying Saber.

The saber's black blade was wrapped in the wailing vengeful souls of three thousand elite Witch Clan warriors. Its baleful aura condensed into tangible black flames, scorching the surrounding space until it warped and twisted.

Taiyi stood beside his elder brother, bandages still wrapped around his chest—the wound left by the God-Slaying Spear had yet to heal.

He held the Chaos Bell Replica in his hand. After the genuine one had been taken by Lu Chen, the Demon Clan had hurriedly forged this substitute. Though its chime was nowhere near a fraction of the original's, when paired with the Great Formation of the Stars, it still possessed the power to suppress space and time.

"Witch Clan savages, today shall be the day your race is exterminated!" Di Jun's voice rolled across the heavens like thunder.

Opposite them, beneath Buzhou Mountain.

The eleven Ancestral Witches stood in a row, each towering ten thousand zhang tall, their blood energy piercing the skies.

Though Houtu had transformed into the Reincarnation Cycle, leaving the Great Heavenly God-Demon Array incomplete, the remaining Ancestral Witches burned their essence blood and forcibly condensed the Pangu True Body to sixty percent of its former might!

Ancestral Witch Dijiang held a blood-red battle flag. The flag bore totems of the Twelve Ancestral Witches' true forms, and it now crackled as it burned Ancestral Witch Essence Blood. "You furred and horned beasts dare act wildly before the spine of Father God Pangu?!"

Behind him, countless Witch Clan warriors beat their chests and roared. The waves of sound shook the surrounding mountains.

The Great Heavenly God-Demon Array unfolded, and blood energy gathered into a towering Pangu Phantom. Though only sixty percent solid, its savage pressure of Sky-Opening and Earth-Splitting faintly contended with the Great Formation of the Stars!

Zhu Rong stood at the forefront, tightly gripping the Demon-Slaying Sword.

The sword was crimson as blood. Countless demon souls howled within it, and wherever its edge pointed, Demon Clan soldiers trembled in fear.

Gonggong stood beside him, wrapped in Primordial Ren Water essence, with a ten-thousand-zhang water dragon beneath his feet. This was his ultimate innate divine ability, and for today's decisive battle, he spared no cost.

"Battle!" Dijiang roared.

"Kill!" Di Jun swung his saber.

Boom—!!!

The two strongest killing formations of the Primordial World collided with a deafening crash!

The Great Formation of the Stars revolved, and countless stars fell like rain. Every star contained destructive power sufficient to blast a Great Luo to death!

Where the stars passed, space shattered and time fell into disorder, as though the entire northern foot of Buzhou Mountain would be erased from the map of the Primordial World!

Within the Great Heavenly God-Demon Array, the Pangu Phantom threw back its head and roared, then swung down an axe!

There was no flourish in that strike, only power in its purest form! Wherever the axe light passed, countless stars burst like bubbles, forcibly carving a bloody path through the sea of stars!

In the first exchange, both sides suffered grievous losses.

On the Demon Clan's side, seventeen of the three hundred and sixty-five main star generals fell, while over a hundred million auxiliary star soldiers were killed or injured.

On the Witch Clan's side, three Witch Clan tribes were flattened by the stars' residual force, and a million Witch Clan warriors vanished without even leaving corpses behind.

But the war had only just begun.

"Change the formation!" Di Jun shouted. "The stellar river turns, Myriad Laws Return to Origin!"

The second transformation of the Great Formation of the Stars began!

The countless stars no longer fell chaotically. Instead, they formed a dazzling stellar river stretching across heaven and earth. As it rotated, it generated a terrifying suction force, seeking to drag the Pangu Phantom into the sea of stars and refine it alive!

"Hmph!" Dijiang sneered. "Unified Heavenly God-Demon Array, power breaks all laws!"

The Pangu Phantom clasped its hands together, condensing the shadow of a massive sky-opening axe in the void. Though it was less than one ten-thousandth as powerful as the Pangu Axe, its will to sever all things made the entire Primordial World tremble!

The second axe strike fell!

Crack—!!!

The stellar river was cleaved apart at its center! Countless stars exploded, and the Demon Clan formation was damaged once more!

Yet at the instant the Pangu Phantom swung its second axe, Lu Chen crouched on a mountain peak somewhere on Buzhou Mountain and narrowed his eyes.

"The timing is about right."

He held an earth-yellow talisman between his fingers—the Law Interference Talisman, refined from Zhu Rong's hair and Gonggong's sweat.

With a light flick.

The talisman turned into an invisible ripple and silently merged into the battlefield, precisely attaching itself to the backs of Zhu Rong and Gonggong's necks. Both were focused entirely on maintaining the formation and noticed nothing.

The next moment.

"Hmm?!" Zhu Rong's expression abruptly changed.

He felt the circulation of the Law of Fire within his body suddenly become thirty percent sluggish!

It was not much, but in a formation like the Great Heavenly God-Demon Array, which demanded absolute balance, even the slightest obstruction was a fatal flaw!

Almost simultaneously, Gonggong grunted, and the water dragon beneath his feet swayed violently.

The Pangu Phantom's solidity instantly dropped from sixty percent to fifty percent!

"What happened?!" Dijiang cried out in shock and fury.

But the Demon Clan would not give them a chance to recover.

"Now!" Ruthlessness flashed in Di Jun's eyes. "Great Formation of the Stars—Yin-Yang Reversal, Chaos Return Ruins!"

Burning his essence blood, he forcibly activated the formation's third transformation!

This was the forbidden killing move of the Great Formation of the Stars. Once unleashed, even those who laid the formation would suffer backlash, but its power... was enough to severely wound any existence below a Saint!

The stellar river reversed, transforming into a Chaos vortex that devoured heaven and earth!

At the vortex's center appeared a point of absolute darkness. It simulated the Chaos Return Ruins from before the world was opened, capable of annihilating all laws!

The Pangu Phantom was firmly caught by the vortex, and its body began to collapse!

"Hold on!" Dijiang roared as the remaining Ancestral Witches frantically burned their essence blood.

But with the laws thrown out of balance, the formation was already on the verge of collapse.

Just as the Witch Clan was about to be wiped out—

"Tsk, time for me to take the stage." Lu Chen dusted off his hands and rose from the mountaintop.

He first activated the Morning Bell and Lunar Origin, simulating a trace of Solar Star and lunar power, then precisely sent it into the yin-yang formation core of the Great Formation of the Stars.

Then, he activated the Buddhist Salvation Seal left behind by Jieyin and Zhunti.

A double interference!

Bzzzzz—!!!

The Great Formation of the Stars shook violently!

The stellar vortex suddenly stuttered, and its devouring force dropped by thirty percent!

Di Jun spat out a mouthful of golden blood. "The formation... has been interfered with?!"

Taiyi discovered in horror that the Chaos Bell Replica in his hand had begun vibrating backward out of control, turning its backlash upon him!

"Now! Break the formation!" Though Dijiang had no idea what had happened, a chance in battle could not be missed!

The Pangu Phantom gathered its final strength and swung its third axe!

This strike landed on the Great Formation of the Stars' weakest node—the simulated formation core of the Solar Star!

Rumble—!!!

A colossal boom shook heaven and earth!

Of the three hundred and sixty-five main star array flags, one hundred and eight exploded instantly!

The Great Formation of the Stars was broken!

The Demon Clan army suffered catastrophic losses, and countless demon soldiers fell like rain.

"Retreat! Retreat now!" Di Jun's eyes were bloodshot, but he had no choice but to issue the order.

Though the Witch Clan had also sustained immense casualties, their momentum was soaring as they prepared to pursue—

"Enough."

A detached voice rang out above the Nine Heavens.

Purple qi stretched three thousand miles from the east as the phantom of Dao Ancestor Hongjun descended.

"The Witch-Demon War ends here." Dao Ancestor Hongjun swept his gaze across the battlefield. "For one thousand years, neither side may begin another war. Those who violate this decree shall be executed by Heavenly Punishment."

No one dared defy the decree of a Saint.

Di Jun gritted his teeth and led his defeated troops back to the Heavenly Court.

Though unwilling, the Witch Clan could only cease hostilities as well.

The First Witch-Demon War ended with both sides badly wounded.

But no one noticed—

At the heart of the battlefield, a faint, imperceptible golden glimmer flashed in the eyes of the Pangu Phantom just before it dispersed.

That was the Pangu Sky-Opening Imprint Fragment that Lu Chen had secretly recorded with the River Diagram and Luo Book. Though it was only one part in a hundred million, it was already an invaluable treasure to him.

And no one else noticed—

The Demon-Slaying Sword in Zhu Rong's hand had silently become covered in cracks within its blade.

At the hilt of the Witch-Slaying Saber in Di Jun's hand, three drops of Chaos Demon God Grudge Blood were slowly seeping into his palm.

Lu Chen crouched atop the mountain peak, watching the smoke of war gradually disperse, and grinned.

"The seeds have been planted. Next... I'll just wait for them to bloom and bear fruit."

He turned and vanished with Brick Escape.

Meanwhile, at Western Spirit Mountain.

Jieyin and Zhunti stared at the Buddhist Salvation Seal slowly fading from their palms, then exchanged bitter smiles.

"It seems... that kid used us as weapons."

"And after using us, he even broke the weapons."

The two sighed, but there was nothing they could do.

Upon the chessboard of the Primordial World, the most inconspicuous Old Sixth had quietly placed the most crucial piece.

A thousand-year truce?

For some people, that was enough time to accomplish many things.