Beneath the Fusang Tree on the Sun Star
Tai Yi and Di Jun had gathered a group of demons here. Besides the two of them, two other members of the Demon Clan had also reached the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
On the left stood a refined-looking figure with the body of a beast and the face of a man. Two horns sprouted from his head, and his eyes shone with wisdom. He was Bai Ze, an Innate Auspicious Beast who understood the nature of all things under heaven. He could speak the language of men, foresee fortune and misfortune, and was born with the ability to discern the secrets of heaven and divine blessings and calamities. He was a strategist whom Di Jun had personally recruited during his early travels through the Primordial World.
Bai Ze was no warrior, but his wisdom was unmatched. He knew the geography of the Primordial World, the strengths and weaknesses of its various clans, and when spiritual treasures would appear. He would become a key figure in the Demon Clan's future rise in the Primordial World.
On the right stood a figure with a man's body and a dragon's head, a pair of wings growing from his back. A faint dragon might flowed around him. He was Ji Meng. His ancestors had belonged to a collateral branch of the Dragon Clan, and he bore its pure bloodline. He commanded wind and rain, possessed formidable divine powers, and could overturn rivers and seas with his strength.
After the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, the Dragon Clan had declined. Unwilling to remain confined to the Four Seas, and impressed by the might of Di Jun and Tai Yi, the Golden Crow supremes, Ji Meng had led his followers to join them, becoming one of the Demon Clan's early mainstays.
Di Jun and Tai Yi stood at the front. Their true Golden Crow forms were concealed beneath their human shapes, and the Solar True Fire around them was restrained, yet the temperature nearby continued to rise.
Including the two of them, there were now exactly four Grand Unity Golden Immortals on the Sun Star.
Di Jun looked over the assembled crowd. Four Grand Unity Golden Immortals made for a considerable force in the Primordial World as it stood, but it still wasn't enough to unify the realm.
The recent triumph of Hongjun had also given him a powerful jolt. He had keenly sensed that competing for the Dao at the Purple Sky Palace was a great opportunity.
Of the forces currently in the Primordial World, whoever gained the most from the Purple Sky Palace would emerge from it with their position all the more secure.
At Longevity Mountain, Zhenyuanzi had gathered the scattered immortals of the world and established the Earth Immortal lineage, firmly holding the south and consolidating his power. Atop Kunlun, the Three Pure Ones came from the same school and possessed unfathomable cultivation. Though they stood apart from worldly affairs, no one dared underestimate them. In the depths of the Blood Sea, Ancestor Minghe wielded the twin swords Yuantu and Abi, unmatched in slaughter. He acted alone, yet remained a formidable power in his own right.
The only forces in the Primordial World that could threaten their group were the Witch Clan south of Buzhou Mountain and Kunpeng in the North Sea.
Today was the day he intended to prove that the Demon Clan could be founded.
He and Tai Yi swore an oath to the Heavenly Dao together.
"I am Di Jun. I, Tai Yi, have sensed that the Primordial World lacks order, and that the myriad clans remain unenlightened.
"Today, we proclaim to the Heavenly Dao: We shall gather the myriad spirits of the Primordial World, establish the Demon Clan, and found the Demon Court!
"We shall jointly govern Qiankun, suppress the Demon Clan's fortune with the Chaos Bell, and protect the Dao with the Zhou Tian Stars.
"We swear to protect all demons, prosper the Demon Clan's Dao lineage, and endure alongside heaven and earth, shining in harmony with the sun and moon!
"This oath shall reach the highest heavens and penetrate the deepest netherworld. Let the Heavenly Dao bear witness, and let all demons honor it!
"The Demon Clan is founded!"
As soon as his words fell, the boundless, cloudless sky abruptly changed.
Rolling black clouds gathered at a visible speed. Purple lightning flickered within them, and distant thunder rumbled. A vast, cold, merciless will of the Heavenly Dao slowly descended from the highest heavens, like a supreme god looking down upon all living beings. It fixed its gaze upon the entire Sun Star.
The demons felt the hair on their bodies stand on end and their souls tremble, as though they would be reduced to ashes at any moment.
Just then, behind Di Jun and Tai Yi, the fortune atop the heads of the assembled demons surged. Boundless demonic aura, spiritual energy, and faith intertwined in midair, coalescing into a golden, three-legged Golden Crow so vast it blotted out the sky. It raised its head and cried out, its voice shaking the stars. This was the manifestation of the Demon Clan's fortune.
As soon as the Golden Crow of Fortune took shape, the Heavenly Dao's tribulation lightning descended without hesitation.
"BOOM—!"
A purple bolt of divine lightning, thick as a barrel, crashed down from the lightning pool with the force to annihilate all things, striking the Golden Crow of Fortune. This was the Heavenly Dao's trial for a newly established great clan. If it endured, it would be recognized as a legitimate force in the Primordial World. If it failed, it would vanish, unrecognized by the Heavenly Dao.
Tai Yi's eyes sharpened. He held nothing back.
"Chaos Bell, appear!"
A simple, unadorned little bell of chaotic hue appeared above his head. It expanded with the wind until it filled the sky. Compared with the days when he had discussed the Dao with Randeng as a Taiyi Golden Immortal, Tai Yi had now entered the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. He wielded this Innate Supreme Treasure with effortless ease, as though it were an extension of his arm.
A vast, elusive power of spacetime, encompassing the past, present, and future, erupted. An invisible barrier firmly shielded the Golden Crow of Fortune. The purple lightning struck the bell with a muffled boom, then was completely dispelled.
Seeing this, Di Jun acted at the same time.
"River Diagram and Luo Book, suppress!"
A diagram and a book flew from his embrace. The diagram depicted the stars of the heavens, while the book recorded the Great Dao of heaven and earth. The River Diagram and Luo Book hovered above the Golden Crow of Fortune, and the power of countless stars poured down from the highest heavens, forming an immensely thick shield of starlight. It complemented the Chaos Bell, and together they protected the Demon Clan's foundations.
Yet as soon as the first bolt dispersed, the second and third followed close behind, one after another.
Eighty-one bolts of Heavenly Dao lightning came in succession, each stronger than the last. Purple lightning writhed like dragons, crashing down in a relentless barrage.
The Sun Star was a land of utmost yang, yet the tribulation battered it until mountains collapsed and lava erupted. The Fusang Tree stood firm by virtue of its Innate Spiritual Root power, but the vast region around it was left devastated. The earth cracked, and fragments of stars flew everywhere.
Di Jun and Tai Yi had expected this. They had summoned every Grand Unity Golden Immortal and peak Taiyi Golden Immortal they had recruited, and all joined the effort to withstand the tribulation. Bai Ze divined the lightning's path and warned the others in advance; Ji Meng summoned wind and rain to weaken its force. The assembled Demon Clan powerhouses unleashed their divine abilities, demonic aura soaring as they clashed head-on with the Heavenly Dao's lightning.
Heaven and earth shook. The sun and moon lost their light.
At last, when the final bolt of purple lightning faded, the boundless dark clouds slowly dispersed from the sky.
A gigantic eye, formed from supreme Daoist essence, hung quietly in the heavens. It was detached and majestic, showing neither joy nor sorrow: the Eye of the Heavenly Dao.
Its gaze slowly swept over the demons on the Sun Star, battered yet more imposing than before. At last, a voice that spanned past and present, cold and boundless, rang out.
"Approved."
The single word fell like a decree of the Heavenly Dao, settling Qiankun.
Di Jun and Tai Yi were overjoyed, almost ready to throw back their heads and howl.
The Heavenly Dao had officially recognized the Demon Clan!
The Eye of the Heavenly Dao slowly faded away. In the next moment, wondrous signs appeared across the sky.
Heavenly flowers drifted down, Golden Lotuses Springing from the Earth, and boundless golden merit poured from the highest heavens like a downpour, falling upon the Sun Star. This was the immense merit earned for founding a clan and establishing order, bringing peace to the myriad spirits. It was so abundant as to defy imagination.
Di Jun and Tai Yi each received thirty-five percent of the merit, as the chief contributors. Bai Ze, Ji Meng, and the other high-ranking demons received twenty percent together. The remaining merit turned into golden raindrops that drifted across the Primordial World, falling among the clans that had already set their hearts on joining the Demon Clan. They felt an urge to submit and no longer harbored any thoughts of rebellion.
Di Jun and Tai Yi immediately sat cross-legged and closed their eyes to refine the merit.
The merit entered their bodies, cleansing their Primordial Spirits and strengthening their flesh. Their cultivation, already firmly established at the early stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, broke through under the torrent of merit.
Their auras soared, and their might swept across the stars.
Both of them advanced to the middle stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!
Beneath the Fusang Tree, the demons knelt and cried out in unison.
"Greetings, Demon Emperor!"
"May the Demon Clan flourish! May all demons come to pay homage!"
Their cries surged into the highest heavens, shaking the sun, moon, and stars.