Battle of Xuanwu

Pangu secretly cried out in his heart. The terrifying purple lightning had finally passed, and his taut heart relaxed—only for intense pain to shoot through his right arm. It began shattering inch by inch. He hurriedly circulated the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art, yet it could not repair the damage. For every inch restored, another inch cracked apart; the rate of destruction far exceeded that of recovery.

Perhaps this was the consequence of resisting something of the Great Dao. Next, half his body began to collapse. Fresh crimson blood floated through the air, bearing witness to the existence of that half-body.

Great Immortal Yang Mei noticed it. An opportunity—an absolute opportunity. Pangu was wounded. This was a chance to destroy Pangu.

"Ha ha!" In his excitement, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. The Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars had been forcibly broken, and he had suffered backlash as well.

"Pangu, your sins are monstrous. You have caused such slaughter that even the Great Dao cannot tolerate you!"

"Multiverse Space!" Great Immortal Yang Mei suppressed his injuries and unleashed a divine ability upon Pangu.

Xuanwu silently watched it all, his heart filled with sorrow. So many fellow Daoists had vanished so easily, as had E Xiao, who had lived alongside him for countless years.

They had discussed the Dao together and cultivated bitterly together. Yet they had departed just like that. He hated Pangu. He hated the Great Dao.

"Quake!" With a one-word divine ability, endless yellow sand appeared from nothing between heaven and earth. The sand rapidly gathered, forming an enormous fist. Wherever the fist passed, rings of ripples spread out. Wherever those ripples passed, all things shattered one after another. These were shockwaves produced by vibration, and they hurtled toward Pangu.

Xuanhuang poured all his strength into supporting his Exquisite Pagoda, driving its defensive power to its utmost. Xuanhuang Qi flowed around the pagoda, sheltering Pangu within. Xuanwu's fist struck later yet arrived first. The earth-yellow fist was equally unstoppable as it slammed into the Xuanhuang Pagoda, instantly scattering the Xuanhuang Qi wrapped around it and causing the Exquisite Pagoda to sway slightly. The force of that punch was evident.

Great Immortal Yang Mei's divine ability immediately tore a crack through heaven and earth—a Spatial Rift. In an instant, he created countless overlapping spaces within the rift. If one were drawn inside, who knew what might happen in some unknown space? Unable to find a way back in that unknown space was no different from being exiled. Xuanhuang hurriedly spat out a breath of Xuanhuang Qi, mending the Spatial Rift and sealing it with the essence of his true body.

"Seal!"

Seeing that his fist had failed, Xuanwu immediately launched another divine ability. Boundless yellow sand in the air swiftly gathered and transformed, forming nine grains of sand. These grains were even more monstrous than the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil of later ages. They swelled in the wind, their heavy aura filling space. They transformed into nine mountain ranges weighing more than a thousand jun, roaring as they pressed down upon Pangu and Xuanhuang.

If the two could not evade them, they might be crushed to pieces at best, their Primordial Spirits extinguished at worst. These nine mountain ranges were the main veins of "earth." They were not merely heavy—their greatest killing move was their sealing power. Layered atop one another, the mountain ranges formed terrain like a basin.

Basin-like terrain was undoubtedly the root of trapping people. No matter what one did, one would be like a frog fallen into a well, unable to leap out. Even if one possessed the ability to fly through the air, the mountain ranges would continue to rise.

These mountain ranges were not only incomparably hard, but also possessed the ability to repair themselves. Without overwhelming power, one might not even have a chance to punch a hole through them.

Pangu knew that if he were trapped within them, then unless the Great Dao destroyed them, he would be imprisoned there for the rest of his life. Though the right half of his body had nearly collapsed, he still had his left arm. He raised the Sky-Opening Axe with his left hand and cleaved at the nine roaring mountain ranges. This was a contest between strength and weight.

The Sky-Opening Axe cleaved directly into the mountain ranges, instantly severing the profound formation between the nine ranges. Without the power of the laws contained within, these nine mountain ranges were merely somewhat heavier.

Pangu roared, swung his single arm, and struck at one of the mountain ranges. An enormous Hand Shadow smashed into it. The mountain range shook violently, then broke in two with a crack. Taking the opportunity, Pangu pulled out the Sky-Opening Axe.

The other eight mountain ranges lost none of their momentum as they crashed toward the two. Xuanhuang stirred Xuanhuang Qi to hold up one of them, while the remaining seven instantly buried Pangu.

Pangu relied on his formidable body to endure them, slowly lifting the mountain ranges pressing atop him. Gaps rapidly opened between the mountains, and Pangu slowly extended a bronze-colored arm through one of those gaps, seized the uppermost mountain range, and hurled it into the sky.

Xuanwu roared, "Restrict!" As the word burst forth, the origin qi within his body surged out, and earth-yellow power swept across heaven and earth toward the mountain ranges. This Restrict-word divine ability increased gravity within the surrounding area. The heavier an object was, the greater the power it received. Since that force had already entered the mountains, the range that had been slowly rising rapidly crushed downward, and the gaps continuously narrowed.

Pangu used the Sky-Opening Axe to prop open the gap. He was in a wretched state. If both his arms had still been intact, how could this have taken so much effort? Now, perhaps he possessed only fifty percent of his former strength. Under this Restrict-word divine ability, even his left arm struggled as if wading through mire; simply lifting it was incredibly difficult. Xuanhuang was no better off. The mountain range he had been holding up suddenly became a thousand times heavier. He had no choice but to enlarge the Exquisite Pagoda and hide within it to resist the gravity.

Pangu circulated the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art. Rather than repair his wounded body, he formed a phantom of a golden body. This was the first time he had fully activated it since achieving mastery. The golden body wielded the Sky-Opening Axe and hacked at the mountain ranges pressing down on him. Rubble constantly flew in every direction, but the results were poor.

The arm that had barely extended through the gap showed signs of breaking under the pressure of the mountain ranges. Pangu had no choice but to withdraw both the golden body and his arm. This was the most humiliating defeat of his life. He had actually been defeated by the Law of Strength he knew best. Though Xuanwu's law was the Earth Law, it contained a portion of the Law of Strength, as well as the Law of Weight.

Strength could not be broken or blocked; it could only be diverted. Pangu agonized over a way to break free. Yet he knew that he first had to recover from his injuries. The outcome of confronting an object of the Heavenly Dao was too miserable. Since he had not died in the direct clash, should he be grateful for the Great Dao's mercy?

Pangu struggled to use his ruined back to support the massive rocks above him, allowing his partially shattered arm to recuperate. Even the half of his body that had broken apart showed signs of recovery. The collapse was no longer so violent.

Great Immortal Yang Mei said to Xuanwu, "Ha ha, fellow Daoist, you are indeed the more skilled one."

Yet Xuanwu did not speak. He turned back with difficulty and said, "Fellow Daoist, we were deceived by you. We all became the points of your spear, yet in the end, we did not even know what we had been fighting for."

Great Immortal Yang Mei did not understand. "Fellow Daoist, you jest. The Great Dao designated a Tribulation Bearer. If we did not resist, we would be reduced to ashes."

Xuanwu said flatly, "But Pangu has done no wrong. Have you ever seen him take the initiative to attack? A blade is held to his throat, yet he is not even allowed to resist?"

Great Immortal Yang Mei shook his head. "Were we wrong? The Great Dao gave us a sliver of life. We struggled, we fought. Whether we lived or died was not for us to decide. Even if we died, we would have no regrets. Perhaps this was merely a meaningless struggle. We simply obeyed the Great Dao Will, so there was no such thing as right or wrong."

"Yes. We were not wrong, and Pangu was not wrong. All of this was merely the will of the Great Dao, the arrangement of the Great Dao. We fought, we struggled, we proved that we had existed—that is enough. No regrets in death, no regrets in death!"

After speaking, cracks spread across Xuanwu's entire body, as though porcelain were breaking apart piece by piece. The Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars had drained most of Xuanwu's Essence, Qi, and Spirit, and he had endured the tribulation of heaven and earth within that sea of purple. Had it not been for his powerful defensive methods, he might have long since turned to drifting ash. These successive divine abilities had completely exhausted his Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

The words "no regrets in death" summed up his entire life. Perhaps a person lived their whole life for these four words. They had strived, they had struggled, they had contested with heaven and contended with earth. Their life was already without regret.

Great Immortal Yang Mei saluted Xuanwu. "Farewell, fellow Daoist."

Great Immortal Yang Mei gazed upon this ruined world. A mountain range capable of running from east to west stretched across the land. It appeared chaotic, yet carried an aura of seamless wholeness. That aura was the momentum of the Great Dao, containing boundless might. Pangu was suppressed beneath the mountain range but not dead, while Xuanhuang had a pagoda protecting him. He was originally the color of heaven and earth, belonging neither to heaven nor entering earth; he acted without striving, without contention, merely following the will of the Great Dao.

"Brother Dao, as long as Pangu remains, we cannot attain the Dao." Dao Lord Lu Ya hurried over from afar. Because of the tribulation of heaven and earth, this small world had been severely warped. The sea raged violently, towering waves swallowing heaven and devouring earth. At the edges, the land cracked apart, volcanoes roared, and signs of a return to chaos appeared.

Great Immortal Yang Mei's eyes were filled with sorrow. "This chaos world is far too monotonous. Our fellow Daoists have paid too great a price for this. Since he can be suppressed, let him remain suppressed."

Dao Lord Lu Ya saluted. "I ask Brother Dao to reconsider carefully."

Great Immortal Yang Mei said, "My mind is made up. Dao Lord, there is no need to persuade me further."

Dao Lord Lu Ya said, "I will follow Brother Dao's arrangements."

Great Immortal Yang Mei pondered. "I wonder whether this heaven and earth can still be repaired. My companion spirit treasure may already be utterly ruined."

Xuanhuang hid inside the Exquisite Pagoda, agonizing over how to break this deadlock. Though the two were temporarily unharmed, they were already fish on the chopping block, left only to be slaughtered by others.

Moreover, Pangu had been injured by the Great Dao. Had his wounds improved at all by now?

After this battle, how many Chaos Living Beings still remained alive?

Everything had been so brutal and sudden. Over a thousand lives had fought one another to the death for a vague and intangible chance to control the Great Dao, only to end in Soul Scatter.

Could the Great Dao truly be controlled by ordinary Chaos Living Beings? Even the Myriad Stars Grinding Mill, which contained the Great Dao Will, had made those prideful Chaos Living Beings suffer greatly. With Pangu's peerlessly powerful body, merely striking at an object of the Great Dao had left one of his arms shattered. Had it been any other Gods and Devils, they might not even have been able to swing three axe strikes.

Were we laughably ignorant, or pitifully greedy?

The Great Dao was utterly impartial. It existed only to perfect this heaven and earth. It needed a spokesperson; it needed to choose. It gave everyone an opportunity—anyone could help it evolve heaven and earth. From among the three thousand Gods and Devils, it needed to select someone capable of completing its mission on its behalf.

This struggle was merely a test for us, an incomparably cruel test, with only life and death to choose between.