The Anti-Demon Alliance Disbands, The Blood Sea Is Sealed

Previously, the Anti-Demon Alliance had charged the Demon Court, hoping to launch a sneak attack while the demons were vulnerable. They hadn't expected Di Jun to leave Bai Ze guarding the court, entrusting him with the Star Array of the Heavens to protect it.

The Alliance's rash assault resulted in heavy losses! Then Di Jun and Taiyi returned to cut off their retreat, annihilating the main force. Only Pāpīyas managed to escape with a handful of his people.

Netherworld Blood Sea

Turbid waves surged, and endless Sha Qi condensed into substance, howling and swirling above the Blood Sea. Within the Blood God Palace, atop the Blood Lotus Throne, Old Ancestor Minghe was wreathed in blood light. The Twelve-grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus bore his seat, its lotus flames leaping, casting his face in a sinister, cold light. The pressure around him was suffocating.

Pāpīyas was a mess—his battle armor shattered, his robes stained with blood, even his Primordial Spirit exuding a wilted air. He stumbled and knelt before the Blood Lotus Throne, his head bowed low, his voice trembling with the terror of survival: "Old Ancestor, disaster... I led the Alliance to attack the Demon Court, but we fell into a demon ambush. The main force is wiped out; only I escaped with a few dozen clansmen, fighting tooth and nail..."

Before he could finish, blazing fury erupted in Minghe's eyes. That rage, wrapped in boundless Sha Qi, sent the surging Blood Sea beneath him churning into waves tens of thousands of feet high. The flames of the Karmic Fire Red Lotus flared several feet taller, scorching the void with a sizzling crackle.

"Worthless!"

A thunderous roar shook the Blood Sea. Minghe raised his hand, and a beam of blood light, condensed to its utmost, lashed out like a blood-colored whip. With the force to split heaven and earth, it struck Pāpīyas viciously.

Boom!

Pāpīyas was sent flying, crashing into the blood-crystal cliffs deep within the Blood Sea. The cliffs shattered with a thunderous crack. He coughed up mouthfuls of essence blood, several ribs broken, and slammed heavily into the blood waters, struggling to rise. His eyes were full of terror; he even forgot to beg for mercy.

"This Seat ordered you to lead the Alliance in attacking the Demon Court, intending to seize some of their foundation and crush their remaining arrogance while they were weakened by their great calamity. And you—" Minghe's form flickered, appearing before Pāpīyas. He stomped his foot onto Pāpīyas's chest, pinning him into the blood waters. His voice was ice-cold, each word a blade, "A vast alliance of cultivators, and you let it be broken by a single garrison of the Demon Court! Tell me, how do you command troops?!"

Pāpīyas could barely breathe under the pressure, his chest aching unbearably. He forced his head up, his voice hoarse and tearful: "Old Ancestor, spare me... I didn't know... I didn't know Di Jun had left Bai Ze to guard the court! That Bai Ze understands all things in heaven and earth; he foresaw our attack and activated the Star Array of the Heavens in advance. The moment we attacked the South Heaven Gate, we were trapped and slaughtered by the array, countless dead... Then Di Jun and Taiyi returned with the demon remnants. The Chaos Bell sealed the void, the River Map and Luo Book evolved a killing formation. We couldn't resist at all; I could only lead a few to break out with our lives..."

He spoke faster and faster, terrified that Minghe would kill him in his rage. His forehead pressed into the blood waters as he kowtowed repeatedly: "I underestimated the enemy, I am incompetent. I beg the Old Ancestor for mercy, give me another chance to atone for my crimes!"

"Atonement?" Minghe sneered, pressing down harder, the crunch of Pāpīyas's bones audible. "You fool, your reckless attack not only cost this Seat tens of thousands of Blood Sea warriors but also made the Primordial World laugh at me! Do you know—Bai Ze held the court, using the Star Array of the Heavens to block and kill the Alliance; Di Jun and Taiyi returned to cut down our main force. Now, in the Primordial World, who doesn't mock my Anti-Demon Alliance as a bunch of clowns overreaching themselves?!"

The Sha Qi around him raged wildly. Minghe was furious to the extreme; the Twelve-grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus and the Yuantu Abi Twin Swords trembled faintly, as if eager to devour. Pāpīyas, Shiva, and other Blood Sea confidants stood at his sides, silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to breathe. Everyone knew the Old Ancestor was at the peak of his wrath—Pāpīyas likely wouldn't survive.

The Blood Sea churned violently from Minghe's fury. Blood waves crashed against the walls of the Blood God Palace with deafening roars. Countless Blood Sea creatures hid, not daring to show themselves.

Pāpīyas, crushed into a daze, kept spitting essence blood from his mouth, despair in his eyes. He knew he had truly provoked this decisive Old Ancestor this time.

Just as the cold gleam of the Yuantu Abi Twin Swords was about to tear through the void and strike Pāpīyas, Minghe's movement suddenly halted.

He gazed at the churning waves of the Blood Sea, and a scene from above the Primordial World flashed through his mind—Pangu's will manifesting, golden light piercing the sun, the Heavenly Dao's multicolored radiance filling the sky, the sages joining forces to suppress the Heavenly Dao. Such majestic divine might was far beyond what a Quasi-Sage like him could reach. Though the Demon Race had suffered this great calamity, they still had Di Jun and Taiyi in command, Bai Ze to assist in governance, and the Star Array of the Heavens to protect their court—their foundation was unshaken. His Anti-Demon Alliance was nothing but a rabble, gathered for petty gains, how could it contend with the long-established Demon Race?

Moreover, the pattern of the Primordial World was now set. The sages guarded the central realm, the Wu Race held the underworld, the Demon Race allied with the Western Religion and took refuge in the west. The Great Dao was impartial; the grand trend was already formed. He had insisted on forming the Anti-Demon Alliance, hoping to seize fortune and break through to the Mixed Yuan realm amid the chaos. Now, it seemed nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot—utterly futile.

If he remained stubborn and continued to oppose the Demon Race, once they recovered and with the Western Religion's aid, the Blood Sea would become the target of the entire Primordial World. That day would mark the Blood Sea's destruction.

His anger gradually subsided. The violence in Minghe's eyes gave way to a cold clarity. He slowly withdrew the pressure from his foot, glanced at the dying Pāpīyas, and said in a flat voice: "Get lost."

Pāpīyas froze, thinking he had misheard. He looked up at Minghe's icy face, dared not hesitate, scrambled to his feet from the blood waters, clutched his chest, bowed, and retreated, not daring to look back, afraid the Old Ancestor would change his mind.

Once Pāpīyas had left, Minghe turned and returned to the Blood Lotus Throne. The Sha Qi around him gradually receded, and the Blood Sea slowly calmed. But in his sinister eyes, there was no longer any ambition to contend for supremacy in the Primordial World.

"Pass this Seat's decree." Minghe's voice echoed across the Blood Sea, carrying an unassailable authority. "Immediately disband the Anti-Demon Alliance. All Blood Sea members are to return to the Blood Sea and never set foot beyond the Netherworld again. All outside cultivators are to be expelled from the Blood Sea, never to be readmitted."

"Also, set up the Blood Sea Boundary Sealing Array. From today, the Blood Sea is closed. Devote yourselves to cultivation, and ask nothing of the Primordial World's affairs!"

Pāpīyas, Shiva, and the others understood in their hearts and quickly bowed in acceptance: "As the Old Ancestor commands!"

One by one, decrees spread from the Blood Sea, reaching the scattered remnants of the Anti-Demon Alliance across the Primordial World. Those cultivators, already demoralized and depleted, heard Minghe's order and felt as if pardoned, scattering in all directions.

Within a few days, the once-boisterous Anti-Demon Alliance vanished like smoke and clouds, dissipating between heaven and earth in the Primordial World.

Above the Netherworld Blood Sea, the Boundary Sealing Array slowly rose. A blood-colored light curtain enveloped the entire sea, cutting off all connection with the Primordial World. On the Blood Lotus Throne, Minghe gazed at that blood-colored curtain, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

The grand trend of the Primordial World could not be reversed by mortal force. Rather than fight for a moment's gain, it was better to guard the Blood Sea's foundation. When his cultivation was perfected, he could then discuss the rise and fall of heaven and earth.

At that moment, in the Demon Court, beneath the South Heaven Gate, Bai Ze stood at the core of the Star Array of the Heavens, watching the demon soldiers and generals cleaning the battlefield below. A glint of wisdom shone in his eyes. Di Jun and Taiyi stood beside him, looking toward the Blood Sea, where the fading blood light gradually vanished. They exchanged a glance and both let out a cold smirk.

Petty scoundrels, daring to covet the Demon Court—utterly overreaching themselves.