"Damn, I've played with fire for tens of thousands of years, and this is the first time I've ever been burned this badly." Zhu Rong patted the flames on himself and cursed.
Gong Gong stood nearby. He wanted to laugh, but couldn't. Solar True Fire had them completely under control.
"Should've let that old geezer Zhu Jiuyin handle this job!" Gong Gong muttered.
While the two Ancestor Witches were stunned, the boundless sea of fire suddenly transformed into a Three-legged Golden Crow, beating its wings. Its fiery eyes fixed on Zhu Rong, the Fire Ancestor Witch, and Gong Gong, the Water Ancestor Witch.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi stood with his arms crossed atop the Three-legged Golden Crow conjured from Solar True Fire. The Chaos Bell hovered above his head, making him seem like a god of war wreathed in flames.
Zhu Rong swallowed and pointed at Gong Gong beside him. "You go first this time!"
Gong Gong rolled his eyes. Water and fire had never been compatible. He gave a low shout, and ripples spread across his hands. Behind him, a vast, towering wave rose, its waters churning!
"Go!"
Gong Gong shouted again. Eastern Emperor Taiyi didn't back down. He stamped his foot, and the Three-legged Golden Crow shot straight toward the enormous wave before Gong Gong!
Would water overcome fire, or would fire overcome water? It all depended on a single thought!
"I'll help you!" Zhu Rong roared. Somehow, he produced a gigantic Heaven-Opening Axe and leaped thousands of zhang into the air, bringing it down hard toward Eastern Emperor Taiyi atop the Three-legged Golden Crow!
The corners of Eastern Emperor Taiyi's mouth lifted slightly. He neither dodged nor evaded. Golden light flowed around the Chaos Bell above his head. In moments, the bell conjured a colossal mountain peak that appeared above him.
A Heaven-Opening Axe?
Then I'll give you a mountain to split!
The Heaven-Opening Axe struck the mountain conjured by the Chaos Bell. The bell's ringing echoed without end, one peal following another!
The backlash from the bell's toll sent Zhu Rong flying thousands of li.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi flashed into existence before Gong Gong and struck without hesitation. Gong Gong's heart sank. He crossed his arms, trying to block the blow.
Bang!
The palm slammed into Gong Gong's crossed arms. He grunted, feeling an intense heat surge through his chest, then spat out a mouthful of blood. He fell like a kite with its strings cut.
"If you keep standing around watching, I'm going to die!" Gong Gong cried. Zhu Jiuyin and Ju Mang below him immediately flashed into action.
Ju Mang caught Gong Gong, while Zhu Jiuyin, his entire body exuding a sinister aura, charged straight at Eastern Emperor Taiyi.
A black halberd appeared in Zhu Jiuyin's hands. Its point aimed directly at the head of the Three-legged Golden Crow beneath Eastern Emperor Taiyi.
"You're asking for death!" Eastern Emperor Taiyi said coldly. He swung the Chaos Bell like a hammer, smashing it toward Zhu Jiuyin's head!
Zhu Jiuyin roared. The muscles in his body burst through his robe, and an overwhelmingly powerful force of blood and qi surged toward them.
In the blink of an eye, Zhu Jiuyin became a primordial giant thousands of zhang tall.
"Ancestor Witch True Body!" Eastern Emperor Taiyi's eyes lit up. He retreated as a gigantic fist crashed down on the spot where he had just stood.
"I'm coming too!" Zhu Rong roared from afar. His blood and qi surged as well, and a giant wreathed in flames appeared in Eastern Emperor Taiyi's view.
"Take this punch!"
Zhu Rong roared, his fist imbued with blood-and-qi and fire, sweeping toward Eastern Emperor Taiyi.
"Chaos Bell, rise!"
Eastern Emperor Taiyi roared too. The Chaos Bell, which had been no larger than an ordinary bell, suddenly expanded. Its open mouth faced the oncoming fist.
Ju Mang wasn't about to be outdone. He manifested his Ancestor Witch True Body, then somehow hefted a mountain and hurled it straight at Eastern Emperor Taiyi's head.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi's body swelled. He still couldn't match the Ancestor Witches' thousand-zhang forms, but he had become a giant all the same.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi braced Ju Mang's incoming mountain with his left hand and met Zhu Rong's flaming fist with the Chaos Bell in his right!
For a time, the armies of both clans watched as Eastern Emperor Taiyi alone held off the combined assault of two Ancestor Witches!
"Break!"
Veins bulging, Eastern Emperor Taiyi roared. Golden light blazed from the Chaos Bell, turning the entire battlefield in the sky gold!
"Vooooom!"
The Chaos Bell rang without pause. Zhu Rong, who was taking its full force head-on, felt agony throughout his body. The bell's toll rang incessantly in his ears.
Moments later, blood poured from Zhu Rong's seven orifices, and his vision blurred!
Gong Gong had returned to the battlefield. Seeing this, he knew something was wrong. He maneuvered behind Zhu Rong and joined Zhu Jiuyin in hauling him out of danger.
Meanwhile, Ju Mang felt the pressure mounting. With Zhu Rong no longer holding Eastern Emperor Taiyi back, Ju Mang felt as though his body had been filled with heavy weights, making it hard to move.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi suddenly exerted force with his left hand. The Spiritual Energy within him surged through thirty-six great cycles, and he struck out with another palm. Ju Mang was sent hurtling thousands of li backward!
Seeing Ju Mang driven back, killing intent flashed in Eastern Emperor Taiyi's eyes. He suddenly hurled the Chaos Bell at the gravely wounded Zhu Rong.
A streak of golden light shot forth. Zhu Rong's pupils contracted. This time, he truly felt death bearing down on him!
"Stop!"
A cool voice rang out. The Chaos Bell, hurtling forward with tremendous force, seemed to hit some invisible restraint and halted for an instant.
That instant was all Zhu Rong needed to escape the Chaos Bell's range.
Seeing this, Eastern Emperor Taiyi stopped attacking. He opened his left hand, and the Chaos Bell returned to his grasp.
Di Jiang appeared slowly before Zhu Rong, his robe billowing. "Fellow Daoist Zhu Rong, are you all right?"
Zhu Rong clutched his chest. "I'm fine. That old, filthy bird really is formidable!"
Di Jiang's brow furrowed. One-third of the twelve Ancestor Witches of the Witch Clan had already taken on Eastern Emperor Taiyi.
Four Ancestor Witches had joined forces against a single Eastern Emperor Taiyi, yet some were wounded and others had been soundly defeated.
But Eastern Emperor Taiyi was struggling too. Though his cultivation was a level above these Ancestor Witches, those who had manifested their Ancestor Witch True Bodies wielded immensely powerful blood-and-qi.
This was a real headache!
Seeing this, Di Jun only sneered. Those brutes of the Witch Clan actually thought they could fight the Demon Clan?
Dream on!
"All members of the Demon Clan, attack!" Di Jun raised his left hand, then swung it down!
In an instant, the Demon Clan's hundreds of millions of troops surged toward the Witch Clan's army. Creatures with scales and armor charged into the Witch Clan's ranks, whether flying overhead or racing across the ground!
For a time, the field became a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, filled with cries of grief. Countless bodies lay strewn across pools of blood, those of both demonic beasts and the Witch Clan.
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