Era Calamity Arrives

This trip had been worthwhile!

He Yu sighed inwardly. All in all, he had gained tremendous benefits from the Source of Heavenly Dipper this time. The damaged origin from the Primordial Sword's self-destruction would recover with time, and now that he had both Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend, his recovery speed had more than doubled.

He held the brand-new Primordial Sword in his hand. It was completely different from its predecessor. The old Primordial Sword had been a broad sword, but this one was a standard three-foot blade, its color a mixture of gold and black. The Primordial Sword, fused with two God-Devil Crystals, was indeed incredibly sharp. Yet making it harmonize with the Primordial Origin would be extremely difficult; it would likely take a long time to grow accustomed to one another. The old Primordial Sword, though far less powerful than this one, had been a perfect fit and could unleash its full power. As for the new Primordial Sword, it could not bring much of its power to bear—not even necessarily as much as its predecessor.

"Alas! There might not be enough time to bring the Primordial Sword and the origin into perfect harmony." He Yu sighed inwardly. He still had to restore his Primordial Avatar and fuse with and digest the Source of Heavenly Dipper to increase his cultivation!

He Yu was no longer sure whether fusing with the God-Devil Crystals had been a good thing or a bad one. The Primordial Qi he had gathered before had condensed into a sword from the same source as his origin, so harmonizing them had been easy. But after fusing with the God-Devil Crystals, matching the sword to his origin had become extremely difficult! The advantage of sharing the same source had been reduced by more than half. Now, achieving perfect harmony and unleashing the Primordial Sword's full power would likely take a considerable amount of time. This brought Donghuang Taiyi to mind. It was said that Donghuang Taiyi had been blessed by fate and had been born with the Chaos Bell, an innate supreme treasure, yet even after devoting his entire life to it, he had never fully refined it. And that was with the advantage of being born with a treasure that was already half in harmony with him.

"Heh, even fused with two God-Devil Crystals, the Primordial Sword is still nowhere near a supreme innate treasure like the Chaos Bell. It'll harmonize eventually, given a little time." He Yu gave a self-mocking smile. The Primordial Sword's future development, guided by the Primordial Avatar, was boundless—but reaching the level of a supreme innate treasure?

There was practically no chance!

"Perhaps... perhaps the Taishi Sword and Taixuan Sword might still have some hope!" As he pondered, he realized he seemed to be thinking too far ahead. He might not even be able to obtain the Light of Taishi or the Light of Taixuan!

Whoosh!

The Primordial Sword transformed into a streak of golden-black light and entered the Primordial Avatar's Heart Crystal origin, where it would be nurtured and tempered to improve their harmony, in the hope that it could unleash its full power before the Great Beast Calamity.

He looked down at the faintly visible Firmament Gale layer and couldn't help shivering. He remembered the countless wind blades that had carved him up not long ago, a pain beyond endurance. At the time, even with his cultivation at the early Loose Immortal stage, he had been unable to bear such agony. Now, with his origin damaged and his cultivation reduced to the late Hexu stage, what would happen if he entered the Firmament Gale layer?

At the thought, He Yu shuddered. He didn't want to experience that unbearable pain again, but he had no choice but to go down. His only option was to raise his cultivation and lessen the agony.

With that in mind, He Yu sat cross-legged in the air, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and turned his palms skyward. He began restoring the damaged Earthly Fiend origin of his Primordial Avatar. As for the Source of Heavenly Dipper, he could only fuse with and digest it when his Primordial Avatar was at its peak, so that he could raise his cultivation as much as possible. He Yu understood this perfectly and would not sacrifice the greater goal for a lesser one.

Under the circulation of He Yu's cultivation formula, his damaged origin quickly recovered. A faint golden-black radiance shone around him, making him look like a deity descending into the world. A deep, pitch-black halo slowly emerged behind his head. As time passed, the golden-black glow around him and the black halo behind his head grew stronger. The golden light blazed brilliantly, while the black light was deep and vast, like a black hole.

As the golden and black lights grew stronger, the Primordial Avatar's cultivation rose as well.

Late Hexu stage----early Loose Immortal stage!

After an unknown amount of time, the Primordial Avatar had fully recovered. He Yu did not stop; he continued circulating his formula to fuse with and digest the Source of Heavenly Dipper. In an instant, he focused his entire awareness on the task. He had not expected the process to be so difficult: Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend clashed and repelled one another, making progress extraordinarily slow. Even the slightest lapse in concentration might cause them to collide.

Although fusing with and digesting the Source of Heavenly Dipper was progressing very slowly, the Primordial Avatar's cultivation continued to climb step by step. The golden-black radiance surrounding He Yu had reached a terrifying level. Seen from afar, he looked like a golden-black sun suspended in the sky. Within it, a golden-black Taiji Diagram could faintly be seen: the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend Wheel behind He Yu's head. But the light of Heavenly Gang was still far weaker than that of Earthly Fiend. The black in the golden-black Taiji was deep and vast, while the golden light was faint and indistinct. The golden and black lights formed two rotating Yin-Yang fish. With each revolution, the golden light grew brighter, and its harmony with the black light improved by a fraction.

Early Loose Immortal stage----middle Loose Immortal stage!

Rumble!

A terrifying might burst out, spreading across the heavens and earth for over a hundred miles.

He Yu, who had been circulating his formula with his eyes closed, opened them. Two streaks of golden-black light shot from his eyes and faded after traveling a full zhang. He clenched his fists, feeling power surge within him like vast seas, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. He threw a punch straight ahead. It was swift as lightning, a flash to the eye, and its force condensed without dispersing.

"Bang!"

A tremendous explosion rang out. Sharp gales shot in every direction, like blades and arrows, covering a thousand-mile radius. The might of a single punch had reached such a level.

"Even an ordinary punch thrown casually has this much power. The gap between the middle and early Loose Immortal stages really is enormous!" He Yu thought to himself. By now, he had also finished fusing with and digesting the Source of Heavenly Dipper, and his cultivation had risen by an entire stage. Though the Tribulation of Heaven and Earth would come before long, with the Primordial Sword, the help of his demon body, and his many divine abilities and techniques, he would have no problem passing through it safely.

"It's time to go down." He Yu gave a helpless, bitter smile, closed his eyes, and turned into a golden-black rainbow plunging downward. In an instant, he entered the Firmament Gale layer.

His middle-stage Loose Immortal defenses were indeed much stronger than before, but they lasted only a few breaths before breaking amid the countless fierce wind blades. Then came the agony, as though ten thousand knives were slicing him apart. His middle-stage Loose Immortal cultivation did lessen the unbearable pain, and he gritted his teeth and held on, drawing on his previous experience. Yet as time passed, it was hardly any better than the last time.

His awareness blurred and fell into chaos. He had no idea how long had passed when he suddenly felt his whole body grow light, all suffering gone. The golden-black qi swirling around him gathered into his body. Golden-black radiance flowed over him, restoring him completely, though his mind remained somewhat weak. Crossing the Firmament Gale layer twice in succession had been an immense trial for He Yu's consciousness. It was now more than twice as compact and concentrated as when he had first gone up.

The benefits of this concentrated awareness were immense. He Yu could feel that his control over the Primordial Avatar had grown much stronger; it was on a completely different level from when he had gone up.

Raising his cultivation further would be difficult. Breaking through to the late Loose Immortal stage was no short-term matter, and He Yu knew he had no time to advance another stage. Earlier, within the Heavenly Gang layer, he had already faintly sensed the presence of the gods and demons.

The calamity of the Era of Giant Beasts----was already upon him!

"Alas! I'll have to make arrangements. I'm afraid I'll have to abandon Demon King City." He sighed inwardly. Once the Era of Giant Beasts began, with He Yu's cultivation, he would be unable to keep the demons under his command in check. Even the twenty-five Demon Kings whose consciousness origins he controlled might begin to harbor treacherous thoughts!

"Hmph! It doesn't matter if they do. They'll all turn into Giant Beasts, and the Heavenly Dao will surely abandon them in the future." He Yu thought to himself. Still, Giant Beasts would be able to run rampant for at least an era, making them immensely useful to him right now. Otherwise, with his demon body at the peak of the late Golden Core stage and his Primordial Avatar at the middle Loose Immortal stage, he would hardly be able to take a single step. Any Giant Beast could easily take his life.

Whoosh!

He shot downward at tremendous speed, his body turning into a golden-black streak of light as he headed toward the faintly visible Demon King City in the distance.

He entered through the window atop Demon King Palace, a route so familiar it felt second nature, then slipped into the center of his demon body's brow and entered the small Plane Space to suppress it. The moment his middle Loose Immortal cultivation entered the Plane Space, an enormous transformation began. Under the influence of the Primordial Avatar, the Plane Space started evolving at incredible speed. The small, square Plane Space, originally five hundred meters high and five hundred meters long and wide, rapidly grew taller and broader beneath the Primordial Avatar's suppression and the radiance of the golden-black light.

The dramatic transformation of the small Plane Space was also within He Yu's expectations. Normally, when the Primordial Avatar advanced by one stage, the Plane Space would be affected, but its rate of evolution would at most double. Yet now, with both Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend present, the origins of heaven and earth had gathered together, making this extraordinary.

Five hundred meters!

Five hundred and fifty meters!

Six hundred meters!

One thousand meters!

The small Plane Space continued growing until it reached one thousand meters on each side, then stopped. Under the influence of the Primordial Avatar and the light of Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend, it had doubled in size.

"Time is short now. Otherwise, I could really develop the Plane Space properly. After all, it's the embryonic form of a world!" He Yu understood how important the Plane Space was to him. It had now merged with his sea of consciousness and was entirely under his control. Once he allowed it to develop into a world, he would be able to wield the power of an entire world. How formidable would that be!

Thump!

He waved away the Lesser Five Elements Formation, opened the palace doors wide, and emerged in his enormous crab body. The twenty-five Demon Kings came clearly into view.

"Your subordinate pays respects to the Great King! Congratulations on emerging from seclusion!" The twenty-five Demon Kings were shaken when they saw He Yu. They sensed that his cultivation was still as unfathomably deep as before, but his eyes were now so deep and vast that meeting his gaze felt as if their own consciousness were being dragged into an endless, pitch-black world.

Terrifying!

Once they came to their senses, all twenty-five Demon Kings lowered their heads, not daring to look again. They knelt and bowed with utmost reverence, still shaken inwardly. "The Great King has grown even more terrifying. Even his gaze can seize one's consciousness."

"You've worked hard during this time. I won't forget your contributions. I'll reward you appropriately in the future." He casually made an empty promise; it could only benefit him and cost him nothing.

Sure enough, the twenty-five Demon Kings were delighted to hear this, though they all said they would not dare claim any credit.

"Enough. There's one more thing I need you to do. Gather all kinds of spiritual treasures, spiritual soil, and spiritual water that are at least ten thousand years old." Spiritual soil and spiritual water were things formed in certain special places in the Primordial World, when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth fused with earth or water. They were extremely rare.

A world was divided into the One Origin, Two Aspects, Three Powers, Four Forms, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Eight Trigrams, Nine Palaces, and Ten Directions. Only when all were present could it be a great world like the Primordial World.

At present, his small Plane Space had none of them. It had only the One Origin, chaos; it lacked the Two Aspects, Yin and Yang. The Three Powers could be formed using the origins of Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend, but he could not damage the Primordial Avatar's origin now, so that was out of the question too. For the time being, he could only start with the Four Forms. He could not obtain the origins themselves, but stealing a little from the Primordial World would not matter much. First, the Heavenly Dao had not yet emerged, so there would be no repercussions. Second, the great Primordial World was incredibly wealthy. Stealing a tiny bit would not harm its origin—not even enough to remove a hair from nine oxen.

At He Yu's order, the twenty-five Demon Kings immediately went to work. He Yu first collected all the ten-thousand-year-old spiritual treasures, soil, and water in Demon King City into the Plane Space. The spiritual soil became land, the spiritual water gathered into lakes, and the spiritual treasures were planted across the land. In an instant, spiritual energy filled the entire Plane Space. Suspended in the center of the space, the Primordial Avatar continuously used that spiritual energy, under He Yu's control, to improve and develop the Plane Space.

Time passed. Countless ten-thousand-year-old spiritual treasures, spiritual soil, and spiritual water poured in from all directions. Eight thousand feudal lords came to pay court, and hundreds of millions of lesser demons came to worship. He Yu also took the chance to enjoy the last of his glory.

As he plundered the Primordial World, an oppressive atmosphere began to spread across the heavens. The Light of Taichu, which illuminated the Primordial World, also began to dim more and more. This sight terrified all the living beings of the Primordial World, but He Yu understood: the Great Beast Calamity had arrived!

"So it's finally coming?" His heart was uneasy. All his success or failure, glory or shame, rested on this.