"Please, Senior, pass down a way to save us!"
The Three Ancestors of the Innate Tribes wore sorrowful expressions, gripped by terror. Ancestor Dragon in particular had spent countless years plotting, only for everything to end in such tragedy.
"Your Three Innate Tribes have committed grave slaughter, leaving living beings in misery. Heaven's Dao can no longer tolerate you. Now, only by eliminating the devils and defending the Dao, restoring peace to the Primordial World, can you atone for some of your Karma. Take care of yourselves."
Hongjun finished speaking and let out a sigh before disappearing, leaving the Three Ancestors, including Ancestor Dragon, where they stood, utterly desolate.
"Fellow Daoists, the damage is done. Our Three Innate Tribes are now at the brink of life and death. As this Senior said, there may still be a chance of survival. We must decide quickly."
Now that the Three Ancestors had come to their senses, they had no desire to fight among themselves. Ancestor Dragon looked at Yuanfeng and Primeval Kirin and spoke solemnly.
The other two knew the state of their tribes as well. Yuanfeng stepped forward and bowed. "The Phoenix Clan is willing to follow the Dragon Clan's lead and fight the Devil Affliction together!"
"The Kirin Clan is willing to join you!"
"Then let us each return to gather our people and unite our forces. We'll eliminate the devils and defend the Dao, atoning for our tribes' sins."
"Agreed!"
The Three Ancestors returned, and the three tribes quickly ceased hostilities and made peace. They began working together to fight the powerful, ruthless devil cultivators.
At the start of the great battle, the devils had struck without warning, catching the three tribes off guard and slaughtering them. Now that the Three Ancestors, including Ancestor Dragon, had regained their senses and organized their cultivators to fight together, the situation quickly stabilized.
The calamity sweeping across the Primordial World also shifted from a war among the Dragon, Phoenix, and Kirin Clans to the Dao-Devil War, a struggle that would decide the fate of their fortunes.
At first, the united three tribes still had the advantage against the devil race. But once the Seven Emotions and Six Desires' Great Luo Golden Immortal Great Supernatural Beings joined the fight, the tide slowly began to turn.
East King Duke had been back in the Western Continent for many years. With Zhenyuanzi's help, the Earth Book had revealed the Spiritual Veins of the Primordial World in full. By channeling the Earth Veins, they had easily set up one Supreme Yang Array after another.
In less than a hundred years, the two had set up protective arrays around thousands of Spiritual Veins in the Western Continent. The arrays might not keep the Earth Veins completely unharmed, but at least they wouldn't be utterly destroyed. That was enough.
They had traveled nearly ten million miles. Even though East King Duke was now a Late-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, far stronger than he had been a hundred thousand years ago, and Zhenyuanzi was a Mid-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal with the Earth Book to aid him, protecting these thousands of Spiritual Veins was already the limit of what the two could do.
Trying to do too much would only lead to failure. They could have made further arrangements, but if they couldn't protect the Spiritual Veins and ended up damaging them, their efforts would be counterproductive.
Both were top-tier Innate Divine Demons and Heaven-Blessed Geniuses. They understood the wisdom of knowing when to stop.
With the Spiritual Veins protected, they only had to wait for the great battle to erupt. East King Duke had completed the first part of his plan. Next, they would have to exterminate the devils.
The two flew onward, searching for traces of devils. The Western Continent was in a truly terrible state. In just a hundred thousand years, it had fallen into ruin. From the clouds, they could see broken-down immortal mountains and blessed lands, drained of their spiritual energy, everywhere.
East King Duke was less affected by the sight, but Zhenyuanzi, whose cultivation ground lay at the border between the east and west, couldn't help but sigh. His hatred for the devils' deeds deepened.
One day, as the two traveled through an area, their Spiritual Senses picked up the sounds of battle shaking the heavens. Ten thousand miles away, devils were pursuing and slaughtering an Innate Race that had taken root in the west.
They exchanged a glance and, in tacit agreement, used their escape techniques to rush over.
When they reached the battlefield, they saw that only a few dozen cultivators from the Innate Race remained. Their cultivation was low, with the strongest no more than a late-stage Golden Immortal. A group of devils led by a Taiyi Golden Immortal was close behind them.
Seeing that the group was about to be caught, East King Duke had yet to move when Zhenyuanzi landed and blocked the devils.
"Who dares to stand in the way of our devil army?"
The devils shouted threats, but Zhenyuanzi paid them no heed. He swept out a hand, unleashing wave after wave of the Power of Earth. It was as heavy as mountains, and in an instant, most of the devil cultivators were killed.
The Taiyi devil cultivator was horrified and retreated again and again, shouting, "We are all generals under the Lust Desire Demon Venerable! Our lord is a Late-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Great Supernatural Being. If you don't move aside at once, when our lord arrives, he'll pull out your soul and refine it, leaving you unable to reincarnate!"
The devil cultivator was bluffing through his fear. Before Zhenyuanzi could act, East King Duke gave a cold snort.
"Enough noise!"
He landed and raised a hand. The spiritual energy around them froze. Every devil cultivator left, including the Taiyi cultivator, was immobilized on the spot. They could do nothing but tremble in terror.
East King Duke had no wish to waste words with them. He flicked a finger. Without casting any visible spell or divine ability, he reduced the entire group of devil cultivators to ashes in an instant. Their souls vanished, and their spirits were scattered.
The sudden turn of events left the pursued group of the Innate Race stunned. Having escaped death, they realized that East King Duke and Zhenyuanzi were both mighty figures and hurried forward to pay their respects.
"We thank you both, Seniors, for saving our lives!"
East King Duke nodded slightly.
"No need for formalities. The west is dangerous, but there are no devils within a million miles of here. You should head east as soon as possible, find a safe place to hide, and recover. When the time comes, the devil calamity will surely pass."
After East King Duke finished, Zhenyuanzi added, "You can head east. Five million miles from here is Wanshou Land. There's a Wuzhuang Temple in the mountains. Go there to take shelter, and you'll be safe."
As he spoke, he pointed lightly, placing a strand of the Power of Earth within the Spiritual Sense of each of the weaker cultivators. He intended to shelter them.
The devil race was powerful, but unless Luohu himself came, they would have a hard time breaking through a mountain gate's protective array set up with the Earth Book and the Power of Earth.
With Zhenyuanzi's protection, they would be perfectly safe. The weaker cultivators thanked him profusely once more, then hurried off toward Wanshou Land.
After they had left, Zhenyuanzi said solemnly, "Supreme Yang Fellow Daoist, the devils' brutal actions go against Heaven's will and do great harm to the Primordial World. We must stop them as soon as possible and exterminate as many devils as we can."
East King Duke nodded. "Agreed!"
The two were about to take to the clouds and search for devils when East King Duke's Dao body trembled. He suddenly stopped, and after a long pause, his expression turned thoughtful.
"Fellow Daoist, why have you stopped?"
Zhenyuanzi asked in confusion.
East King Duke pondered for a moment. "Fellow Daoist, I'm afraid we'll have to part ways."
"Why?"
"I had previously agreed with Senior Hongjun to exterminate the devils, killing the Great Luo devils beneath Demon Ancestor Luohu. Now, the Seven Emotions Heavenly Demons and the Six Desires Demon Venerables have all joined the battle against the Three Innate Tribes. The Dragon Clan and the others are losing ground. Senior sent me a message, inviting me to help them fight and slay the devils. I must go."
After hearing his explanation, Zhenyuanzi was about to say something, but East King Duke stopped him. "We set up thousands of protective arrays around the Spiritual Veins. Someone must oversee them. Protecting the Spiritual Veins is a great service to the Primordial World, and not the slightest mistake can be allowed. You're the Great Supernatural Being who wields the Earth Book, so you're the best person for the task."
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. I won't let you down!"
Seeing that Zhenyuanzi had accepted the task, East King Duke felt at ease. He gave a few more instructions and left him some Three Lights Divine Water in case of emergency, then used his escape technique to leave.
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