Pangu

Being a clear-headed observer was quite nice.

Kunlun Mountain, Taiqing Palace.

The water mirror formed by Laozi's Radiant Light Technique still clearly reflected the unimaginably brutal Witch-Demon War atop Buzhou Mountain.

Dao Xuan and the Three Pure Ones watched this calamity sweeping across the Great Desolation in silence, like spectators removed from the affair.

Within the water mirror, time flowed on.

The Witch and Demon Clans had already battled atop Buzhou Mountain for a full three thousand years!

Three thousand years of blood and fire!

Three thousand years of slaughter!

Buzhou Mountain, the Heavenly Pillar of the Great Desolation that held up heaven and supported earth, had long since lost its former majesty.

Gullies crisscrossed its body, and cracks covered its surface, as though it had been cleaved by countless giant axes!

Dark-red witch blood and multicolored demon blood had soaked into the rocks, congealing into thick scabs that emitted Resentful Fiend Qi soaring into the skies!

The divine mountain once wreathed in immortal spiritual qi had now become a Purgatory of asuras!

At the summit battlefield, corpses were piled like mountains. Broken weapons, shattered armor, snapped feathers, enormous bones... covered every inch of land!

Fewer than three out of ten Witch Clan warriors remained.

Of the countless witch soldiers whose blood and qi had once surged like dragons, whose fiend qi had pierced the heavens, only scattered battle formations remained. Many warriors were drenched in blood and missing limbs, yet they still roared as they fought.

Of the several hundred Great Witches, nearly half had fallen!

Xing Tian had lost an arm and a leg. His only remaining eye burned with mad battle intent as he wielded his shield and axe, but he no longer possessed his former might.

Hou Yi had nearly exhausted his divine arrows, his bowstring had snapped, and several poisoned arrows from the Demon Clan were lodged in his body. His aura was feeble.

Four of Jiufeng's nine heads had been severed, his feathers withered, and his wind and fire dimmed.

Feng Bo, Yu Shi, and the others were likewise covered in wounds.

The Demon Clan army had suffered grievous losses as well.

More than half of its tens of millions of demon soldiers had been lost!

Countless Demon Kings and Demon Saints had fallen. The demon clouds had thinned, and their formations were in disarray.

Among the demon commanders, Fei Lian had been severely wounded by an arrow from Hou Yi, Gui Che had one head severed by Xing Tian, and Qin Yuan's venom sac had ruptured, leaving him barely alive.

All ten demon commanders were injured, their former majesty gone.

Though Dijun, Taiyi, Fuxi, Xihe, and Changxi were Quasi-Saints, three thousand years of uninterrupted bitter fighting had greatly depleted their mana and exhausted their minds.

Dijun's Heavenly Emperor robe was torn, his face pale, while the light of the River Diagram and Luo Book above his head had dimmed.

Taiyi's golden crown hung crookedly, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and the Chaos Bell droned without cease. Even its Mysterious Yellow Qi was no longer as dense as before.

Two strings of Fuxi's qin had snapped, and the phantom of the Eight Trigrams flickered uncertainly.

The radiance of Xihe and Changxi's Sun-Moon Dual Wheels had withdrawn, their auras fluctuating.

The true bodies of the Twelve Ancestral Witches were likewise covered in wounds.

Dijiang's spatial power moved sluggishly.

Zhurong's blazing flames no longer burned the heavens.

Gonggong's heavy water had greatly diminished in power.

Houtu's Divine Light of Wu Earth had dimmed.

Jumang's life force of Yi Wood was withering.

After three thousand years of bloody battle, both sides had reached the end of their strength!

"Roar—!"

From within the water mirror came a roar from Ancestral Witch Dijiang that shook the universe, filled with endless grief, indignation, and fury!

He looked at the dreadful casualties among the Witch Clan below, at the witch corpses piled high as mountains, his eyes blood-red!

"Brothers and sisters!"

Dijiang's voice rang across the battlefield, filled with resolve and madness!

"Our children have been slaughtered almost to the last! This hatred cannot exist beneath the same sky!"

"Form the formation! Show these feathered beasts and egg-born wretches what we are capable of!"

"Let them see what it means to be Pangu's true lineage!"

"Twelve Capital Gods and Fiends Formation—rise!!!"

Boom—!!!

At Dijiang's command!

The Twelve Ancestral Witches moved at once!

They took their positions in an incomparably profound and unfathomably strange stance!

It was as though they had aligned with some unseen trajectory of Heaven and Earth Creation!

"Roar!!!"

Twelve roars originating from the depths of their bloodlines erupted at once!

In an instant!

Heaven and earth lost their color, and sun and moon lost their light!

Endless Chaos Fiend Qi burst forth from the bodies of the Twelve Ancestral Witches!

The fiend qi was thick as ink and viscous as blood, instantly shrouding the entire summit of Buzhou Mountain!

The image in the water mirror twisted violently, as though it had been cast into the primordial chaos before creation!

A terrifying aura from the beginning of creation—vast, ancient, supreme, and enough to make all living beings tremble—erupted thunderously from the heart of that Chaos Fiend Qi!

Crack—!

Kunlun Mountain, Taiqing Palace.

The Mystic Mirror condensed from Laozi's mana was unable to bear the impact of that aura, and cracks instantly spread across its surface!

For the first time, a grave expression appeared on Laozi's normally tranquil face.

With a flick of his finger, he sent a stream of clear light into the mirror and forcibly stabilized the image.

Primordial Heavenly Venerate abruptly rose to his feet, brilliant light flashing in his eyes as he stared fixedly at the water mirror!

The excitement on Sect Master Tongtian's face had long vanished, replaced by unprecedented shock and... a faint, indescribable stirring!

Dao Xuan's heart and mind shook violently. The phantom of the Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus deep within his primordial spirit swayed frantically, while the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal buzzed, as though it had encountered its natural nemesis!

Bolstered by Laozi's mana, the water mirror's image barely became clear again.

The Chaos Fiend Qi enveloping Buzhou Mountain slowly dispersed.

A figure that stood between heaven and earth, so towering it could not be described in words, stood there!

Its height was beyond reckoning, countless hundreds of millions of zhang! Its head touched the chaotic firmament, and its feet stood upon the land of the Great Desolation!

Its body was corded with muscles like Primordial Divine Mountains, containing the supreme power of Heaven and Earth Creation!

Its features were indistinct, obscured by streams of Chaos Qi. Only its eyes could be seen, like two primordial suns born at the dawn of chaos, looking down coldly and mercilessly upon all beings of the Great Desolation!

Pangu!

The great god Pangu who had created heaven and earth!

Though it was merely a phantom condensed from the Essence Blood of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, fiend qi, and will!

The pressure originating from the source of their bloodline, and the supreme Dao rhythm of Heaven and Earth Creation, were utterly real!

Pangu True Body!

The ultimate profundity of the Twelve Capital Gods and Fiends Formation—summoning the Pangu True Body!

At this moment!

The entire world of the Great Desolation fell into deathly silence!

All sounds vanished!

Every living being, regardless of cultivation or location, felt terror and submission rising from the depths of their souls!

It was the instinctive awe of an ant before a creator god!

Kunlun Mountain, Taiqing Palace.

Primordial Heavenly Venerate's face turned ashen. His body trembled slightly, and his eyes were filled with complex, unreadable emotions—reverence, excitement, and an anger at having been offended!

Sect Master Tongtian's expression was equally grave as he murmured, "Father God... is this the might of Father God...?"

Laozi's gaze was profound, as though it had pierced through time and space to witness that great feat of Heaven and Earth Creation. He slowly spoke, his voice carrying an almost imperceptible tremor:

"Pangu Father God... though this is but a phantom, its power is already close to the Primordial Unity..."

Dao Xuan felt as if his primordial spirit were about to split apart. Had Laozi not protected him, even the faint aftershock of pressure transmitted through the water mirror would have been enough to grievously injure him!

He was horrified. So this was the power of one of the Great Desolation's ultimate killing formations? Summoning the Pangu True Body! How terrifying!

Within the water mirror.

The towering phantom of Pangu slowly lowered its head.

Those chaos-filled eyes swept indifferently over the Demon Clan army below, which was as insignificant as ants.

Wherever its gaze fell, supreme Quasi-Saints such as Dijun, Taiyi, and Fuxi felt suffocating pressure, as though the entire heaven and earth of the Great Desolation rejected them!

The Pangu phantom slowly raised its enormous hand, seemingly capable of supporting chaos and cleaving open the primordial void.

It did not attack directly.

Instead, it lightly beckoned toward the void!

Buzz—!

Buzz—!

Buzz—!

Three entirely different hums, each containing the Dao rhythm of creation, instantly resounded throughout the Great Desolation!

The first came from the Chaos Bell in Eastern Emperor Taiyi's hand!

The Chaos Bell shook violently, Mysterious Yellow Qi surging wildly from it as it seemed ready to break free from Taiyi's control and fly toward the Pangu phantom!

"Not good!" Taiyi's expression changed drastically. With a furious roar, he madly poured the Solar True Fire and the power of his primordial spirit into the Chaos Bell, suppressing it with all his might!

The second came from Taiqing Palace on Kunlun Mountain!

The Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda above Laozi's head poured down Mysterious Yellow Qi like a waterfall. At this moment, even the Taiji Diagram trembled and buzzed faintly, as though it wished to break through space and fly away!

Laozi's eyes narrowed. The clouds of celebration above his head churned, the Three Flowers swayed, and the Five Qi in the Chest returned to their origin. A vast and detached surge of mana flowed forth, instantly fixing the Taiji Diagram in place!

The third sound!

The Pangu Banner before Primordial Heavenly Venerate fluttered violently. Chaos Sword Qi surged out of control, tearing apart the void, while the banner pole trembled furiously as though it wished to return to its true master!

Primordial Heavenly Venerate snorted coldly. Jade Purity Immortal Light erupted, and the phantom of the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi emerged from his clouds of celebration, pressing down heavily and forcibly stabilizing the restless Pangu Banner!

With a single gesture, the Pangu phantom had caused the three great creation treasures to stir simultaneously, seeking to return to their rightful place!

This sight left every great power in the Great Desolation trembling in fear!

If the three supreme treasures were truly summoned away and fell into the Pangu phantom's hands... the consequences would be unthinkable!

When the Pangu phantom saw that its summons had failed, those chaos-filled eyes seemed to flash with the faintest trace of... disappointment?

Then, its indifferent gaze locked onto the Demon Clan army once more.

Especially upon Dijun, clad in his tattered Heavenly Emperor robe!

Dijun instantly felt as though he had fallen into an icy abyss, as if the entire world had abandoned him. The shadow of death shrouded his heart!

The Pangu phantom did not hesitate any longer.

That enormous hand which seemed to hold up chaos slowly clenched into a fist!

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling display of light.

It simply threw a punch!

The punch came forth!

Chaos split apart!

Earth Water Fire Wind were remade!

Before that punch, time and space seemed to lose all meaning!

Dijun's pupils contracted sharply!

He felt it! It was pure, ultimate, world-opening power!

It could not be evaded! It could not be resisted!

"Your Majesty!" Taiyi's eyes split with rage!

"Big Brother!" Fuxi cried out!

"River Diagram and Luo Book! Stars of the Heavens! Block it for me!" Dijun let out a desperate roar, pouring every last bit of his mana into the River Diagram and Luo Book above his head without reserve!

The River Diagram and Luo Book shone brilliantly as phantoms of the Stars of the Heavens spun madly, forming a dazzling barrier of stars!

Xihe and Changxi's Sun-Moon Dual Wheels also transformed into phantoms of the sun and moon, merging into the barrier!

The notes of Fuxi's qin grew frantic as layers upon layers of Eight Trigrams Formation diagrams shielded Dijun!

Yet.

Before the Pangu phantom's seemingly slow punch, which in truth contained World-Opening Power.

All those defenses were as fragile as paper!

Crack!

The Eight Trigrams Formation diagrams shattered first!

The phantoms of the sun and moon instantly dimmed and dispersed!

The dazzling stellar barrier of the Stars of the Heavens exploded like glazed glass struck by a boulder!

The River Diagram and Luo Book gave a mournful cry, their light completely extinguished as they flew back into Dijun's body!

Pfft—!

Dijun was struck as though by an ancient divine mountain. His Heavenly Emperor robe was utterly reduced to dust!

His chest caved deeply inward, every bone shattered!

Mouthful after mouthful of golden-red imperial blood mixed with fragments of his organs spewed wildly from his mouth!

His aura instantly withered to its lowest point. Like a candle flame in the wind, he fell from the high heavens!

One punch!

Just one punch!

After advancing to the late Quasi-Saint stage through the merits of the Heavenly Marriage, Heavenly Emperor Dijun, wielding the River Diagram and Luo Book, was gravely wounded and on the verge of death!

The might of Pangu's Phantom's punch was terrifying beyond measure!

All living beings of the Great Desolation were struck speechless!

Dao Xuan, before the water mirror, drew a sharp breath!

Sect Master Tongtian clenched his fists.

Primordial Heavenly Venerate's face darkened like still water.

Laozi's gaze was profound, and no one knew what he was thinking.

After severely injuring Dijun with one punch, Pangu's Phantom did not stop.

Those indifferent, chaotic eyes locked onto the falling Dijun as its other giant hand rose once more and clenched into a fist!

It was clearly intent on utterly ending the Demon Clan's Heavenly Emperor!

"Big Brother—!!!"

Eastern Emperor Taiyi had gone completely mad!

His eyes were bloodshot, and the Golden Crow imperial robe on his body burst into blazing Solar True Fire!

"Do not harm my brother!"

Taiyi transformed into a streak of burning golden light and instantly positioned himself before the falling Dijun!

He raised the Chaos Bell with both hands, pouring his remaining mana, blood essence, and even the power of his primordial spirit into it without reserve!

"Chaos Bell! Block it for me!!!"

"Dong—!!!"

The Chaos Bell let out an unprecedented toll, tragic yet vast and majestic!

The Mysterious Yellow Qi became denser than ever, nearly solidifying into substance and forming a massive Mysterious Yellow Bell that enveloped Taiyi and Dijun!

Pangu's Phantom's second punch arrived!

Boom—!!!

An indescribable thunderous crash!

Like the first clap of thunder from Heaven and Earth Creation!

The massive Mysterious Yellow Bell formed by the Chaos Bell shook violently!

The Mysterious Yellow Qi on its surface scattered madly!

Fine cracks actually spread across the bell's surface!

"Puh!"

Taiyi spat out a mouthful of blood essence. His golden crown shattered, his black hair flew wildly, and Golden Blood seeped from all seven of his orifices!

His body shuddered violently, while the bones in his arms groaned under the unbearable strain, nearly snapping apart!

Yet he gritted his teeth, burning his origin and forcibly withstanding this second punch of Heaven and Earth Creation!

The Chaos Bell gave a mournful cry, its radiance dimming as it shrank back into Taiyi's hand.

Taiyi held the heavily wounded, unconscious Dijun. His own aura had withered to the extreme, and he swayed unsteadily, no longer capable of fighting!

Two punches!

Two punches from Pangu's Phantom!

Heavily wounded Heavenly Emperor Dijun!

Crippled Eastern Emperor Taiyi!

The Demon Clan's two great pillars collapsed in an instant!

The Entire Great Desolation fell into deathly silence.

Fear!

Boundless fear, like an icy tide, flooded the hearts of every living being who witnessed this scene.

Kunlun Mountain, Taiqing Palace.

Before the water mirror, there was only silence.

Primordial Heavenly Venerate slowly sat down, his expression incomparably grim.

Sect Master Tongtian loosened his clenched fists. Not a trace of excitement remained in his eyes, only deep wariness.

Laozi silently watched Pangu's Phantom standing tall against the heavens in the water mirror, along with the Demon Clan camp's miserable state below. In the end, he merely slowly closed his eyes.

Only one thought remained in Dao Xuan's heart:

"Pangu... was this the power of Heaven and Earth Creation?"

"The heavens of the Great Desolation... were truly about to change..."