Dust Settles

Luohu's laughter faltered as the three streaks of light drew his attention.

The three streaks of light shot toward him at incredible speed.

They landed before Luohu and revealed three Daoists.

One wore a white robe and had a calm expression.

Another wore a blood-red robe and had a ferocious look.

The third wore a green robe and wore a faint smile.

The moment Luohu saw the three Daoists, he froze on the spot!

For although their expressions differed,

they all looked exactly like Hongjun!

There were three Hongjuns!

"Luohu, today you are defeated."

All three Hongjuns spoke at once.

Before Luohu could recover,

the three Hongjuns soared into the air together, transforming into streaks of light.

Each flew into one of the three empty formation eyes: Immortal-Severing, Immortal-Slaying, and Immortal-Trapping!

"A mere clone technique! What use is that!? Hongjun! You will die!"

Luohu suddenly came to his senses and hurriedly shouted in fury, preparing to form a hand seal.

But it was already too late!

The Immortal-Slaying Sword's formation eye, which had been motionless all this time, suddenly erupted with boundless red auspicious light!

Golden lotuses, colored clouds, auspicious energy, and jeweled tassels of every kind rose into the air, completely suppressing the Immortal-Slaying Sword's formation eye!

In an instant, the Immortal-Slaying Sword's formation eye was fully revealed.

Hongjun stood within it, his expression calm.

Above his head floated a red Auspicious Cloud, three zhang and three chi across.

It blocked the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation's sword qi, leaving Hongjun completely unharmed!

Li Xuan watched, green with envy.

That red Auspicious Cloud was none other than

the Myriad Heavens Auspicious Cloud!

The Myriad Heavens Auspicious Cloud had formed from the righteous energy within the great god Pangu's chest!

It countered all the killing and evil forces between heaven and earth!

It was the finest of defensive treasures!

It was only a little inferior to Li Xuan's own Thirty-Six Grade Creation Green Lotus Platform!

With the Myriad Heavens Auspicious Cloud above his head, Hongjun's Original Self looked at Luohu and said calmly, "Luohu, today you are defeated."

Rumble!

Another boom rang out from the Immortal-Severing Sword's formation eye.

The Immortal-Severing Sword had already been shaken by the blast from Daoist Yin Yang's self-detonation.

At last, it could no longer withstand the pressure.

The green-robed Hongjun raised a hand and took it down.

The Immortal-Severing Sword's formation eye was broken!

Another boom!

The formation eye where the Immortal-Trapping Sword stood

was also broken by the white-robed Hongjun.

The Immortal-Trapping Sword fell into his hands as well.

With two swords gone, the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation could no longer sustain its endless cycles of sword intent and ceaseless killing.

The only remaining formation eyes, those of the Immortal-Slaying Sword and the Immortal-Slaying Sword, both fell silent.

The blood-robed Hongjun laughed wildly, and the Immortal-Slaying Sword's formation eye shattered with him.

The blood-robed Hongjun emerged, already holding the Immortal-Slaying Sword.

Only then did Hongjun's Original Self, who had been within the Immortal-Slaying Sword's formation eye, calmly raise his hand. The Jade Plate of Creation turned slowly,

suppressing the Immortal-Slaying Sword's intent.

At last, he grasped it in his hand.

Thus, all Four Swords of Zhu Xian fell to Hongjun!

Covered in blood, Luohu sat dazed atop the Twelve Grade World Destroying Black Lotus Platform.

The world truly was like a game of chess.

The situation had turned upside down just like that!

In the blink of an eye, certain victory had become total defeat!

"Pfft..."

He had been gravely wounded by the backlash from the self-detonation. Now the four swords had been forcibly taken from him, severing their spiritual connection by force and badly damaging his soul.

At that moment, Luohu finally spat out a mouthful of heart's blood, shimmering with light!

Above them, the four empty spaces had vanished.

The four Hongjuns stood together, each holding one of the four swords.

Now,

he was the only protagonist in all of heaven and earth!

Hongjun looked at Luohu and asked calmly, "Luohu, do you concede?"

Luohu coughed a few times, then spat out several more mouthfuls of blood.

Before their very eyes, his hair rapidly turned white, and his face grew old.

Yet his eyes shone with fierce light!

He looked up at Hongjun and asked slowly, "Hongjun, what trick was that?"

Hongjun looked at the defeated man before him and said simply, "I don't mind telling you. This technique of mine is called Slaying Three Corpses. It is the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth."

"Slaying Three Corpses?"

Luohu naturally knew nothing of this technique.

After all, Hongjun had comprehended this Great Dao from the Jade Plate of Creation.

If he did not teach it, how could anyone else learn it?

After thinking for a moment, Luohu shook his head slightly and let the matter go.

He simply looked at Hongjun and said slowly, "You hid this so well! You calculated all of this in advance, didn't you?"

Hongjun replied indifferently, "How could you understand the will of Heaven's Dao? Your Dao ends today."

"Ha ha ha! Ahahahaha!"

Luohu suddenly let out a thunderous laugh.

As Luohu laughed,

an incredibly terrifying, frightening aura burst from his body!

Hongjun raised an eyebrow, and all four figures retreated at once.

Luohu laughed long and loud, then shouted, "My Dao will not end! My spirit will never die! Though I die today, I will become an Outer-Realm Celestial Demon! From now on, whenever any living being of the Mystic Gate seeks the Dao, I will come and interfere! Even Grand Unity Golden Immortals will suffer my tribulations! Hongjun! Your Dao will not last! Your Dao will not last!! Ha ha ha! Hahahaha!"

Boom!!!

An indescribable power erupted in that instant!

Every living being present, including Li Xuan,

turned pale and fled in every direction with all their might!

Boundless, terrifying power began to sweep across the land!

The entire western region shook.

This had once been an excellent cultivation paradise.

In the wake of this world-shaking explosion,

it became a place starved of spiritual energy, with deserts spreading everywhere!

The Western Ox Continent had been ruined...

Li Xuan fled tens of thousands of li before finally using his divine abilities to withstand the shockwave, which had already weakened.

Even so, it blew him back several hundred li before he could steady himself.

If even someone as strong as he was had been driven back, others had it far worse.

Large numbers of Grand Unity Golden Immortals were killed outright in the blast.

Only a small number of the strongest Grand Unity Golden Immortals, the Grand Unity Golden Immortals, and the four of Wufawutian and Formless and Emotionless

managed to escape by sheer luck. They did not dare linger, and headed straight farther west.

The Demon Cult was utterly destroyed!

The dust had settled.

Li Xuan praised the spectacle inwardly. It truly had been a fine show.

Then he moved and headed back the way he had come.

With Hongjun's destruction of the Demon Cult, the Mystic Gate was destined to flourish.

And within a kalpa, this Dao Ancestor Hongjun

would become the first Heavenly Dao Saint in the Primordial Wilderness, wouldn't he?

Li Xuan thought this over, then chuckled. "But five strands of Heavenly Dao Primordial Violet Qi are with me now. Whether you can successfully attain the Dao, Hongjun, is far from certain. Ha ha ha..."

Mount Taixuan.

Li Xuan's Original Self calmly opened his eyes.

He shook his head and sighed. "Sigh, I really can't show myself in the Primordial Wilderness anymore. Five strands of Heavenly Dao Primordial Violet Qi... Hongjun would come looking for me with bloodshot eyes, wouldn't he? Tsk, tsk..."

"Ding."

"Watched the Mystic-Demon Great Tribulation through to its conclusion. Reward: five years of tenfold cultivation speed, a thirty-thousand-year cultivation experience scroll, an immortal pill, a Nine Revolutions Golden Pill, and an Innate Spiritual Treasure: Treasure-Dropping Golden Coin."

As Li Xuan muttered to himself, the system's voice sounded in his ears.

In an instant, the spiritual energy and laws around him surged tenfold once more.

The long-missed feeling of blissful ease made Li Xuan draw in a deep breath, nearly groaning aloud.

Then thirty thousand years of cultivation experience came rushing in!

Li Xuan's entire body heated up in an instant. He felt as if his cultivation realm were about to break through!

But that was only an impression.

For his Original Self to advance from Golden Immortal to Grand Unity Golden Immortal

was no ordinary challenge.

He put away the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill, of course.

Li Xuan had four of them now.

He would save up a gourdful and eat them all at once someday!

Then he could use them to break through an entire major realm!

At last,

Li Xuan looked at the object slowly appearing,

flying back and forth before him.

A copper coin with wings!

The Treasure-Dropping Golden Coin!