The instant the World-Extinguishing Millstone appeared, the entire battlefield seemed to have been paused, falling utterly silent.
The upper and lower halves of the stone mill were covered in profound Destruction Dao patterns.
It hovered above Shen Ni's head, slowly rotating. With every turn, the surrounding space twisted and shattered, exposing vast stretches of pitch-black void.
A suffocating pressure blanketed the entire Far West Lands.
"What... what is that?"
A trembling Alliance Army soldier asked, his voice filled with fear.
But no one answered him.
Zulong took human form and stood before the army, staring at the stone mill with an expression of utmost gravity.
He could sense that the millstone far surpassed an ultimate-grade Innate Supreme Treasure, containing a force capable of destroying heaven and earth.
"Retreat!" Zulong suddenly roared. "Everyone, retreat at once!"
However, it was already too late.
Shen Ni grinned savagely and raised his hands beneath the World-Extinguishing Millstone. The millstone suddenly shuddered.
A ring of gray ripples spread from the millstone. Everywhere the ripples passed, everything began to collapse and disintegrate.
The ground cracked apart, mountains collapsed in great swaths amid rumbling booms, and rivers ran dry.
The Alliance Army soldiers who failed to evade in time were reduced directly to dust the instant the ripples swept over them, scattering into the wind before they could even scream.
In a single instant, millions of Alliance Army soldiers were reduced to ash.
"No!" Yuan Feng's eyes nearly split with rage as she watched her clansmen vanish before her eyes.
Shi Qilin gritted his teeth and roared. He stomped the ground with all four hooves, drawing forth the power of the earth in an attempt to raise an earthen wall before the Alliance Army and block the gray ripples.
However, the earthen wall had barely risen before it collapsed with a thunderous crash under the ripples' assault.
"Useless," Shen Ni sneered. "Beneath the World-Extinguishing Millstone, all things perish."
With a wave of his hand, the World-Extinguishing Millstone shuddered again, sending another ring of gray ripples outward.
This time, they were aimed directly at the leaders of the Three Clans.
Zulong, Yuan Feng, and Shi Qilin all changed expression at once. They wanted to dodge, only to discover that an invisible force had locked onto their bodies, leaving them utterly unable to move.
At that critical moment,
A streak of white light flashed.
Hongjun appeared before the three of them and raised his hand, producing a jade disc that was pure, lustrous white throughout.
The jade disc floated in midair, casting down gentle white light that formed a barrier around the three of them.
The gray ripples slammed into the barrier with a piercing scraping sound, like fingernails dragged across glass. The barrier trembled violently, yet it ultimately did not shatter.
"The Creation Jade Butterfly?" Shen Ni's pupils contracted. "How do you possess such a thing?"
Hongjun did not answer. He merely stared gravely at the World-Extinguishing Millstone.
He silently rejoiced. Fortunately, Dao Venerable Shichen bestowed the complete fragment upon me. Otherwise, this World-Extinguishing Millstone truly would not have been easy to block.
"Fellow Daoist Zulong, withdraw first," Hongjun said without turning his head. "This treasure is too powerful. There is nothing to gain by remaining here."
Zulong clenched his teeth. Though unwilling, he knew Hongjun spoke the truth. He signaled Yuan Feng and Shi Qilin with his eyes, and the three of them simultaneously directed their armies to retreat.
"Trying to run?" Shen Ni sneered. "I said that none of you will leave today!"
He formed hand seals with both hands, and the World-Extinguishing Millstone abruptly began spinning faster. The Destruction Dao patterns upon it lit up with blinding black light as an even more terrifying aura erupted from the millstone.
"World Extinction!"
Shen Ni roared, and the World-Extinguishing Millstone violently shook. A thick black pillar of light shot from the millstone into the sky before crashing down toward the Alliance Army.
Hongjun's brow furrowed slightly. His hands rapidly formed seals, and the Pseudo-Creation Jade Butterfly shone brilliantly as three thousand Dao laws flickered across it in succession.
He pointed, and the jade butterfly fired a beam of white light that collided head-on with the black pillar.
BOOM!!!
The instant the two forces collided, the entire Far West Lands shook violently.
The shockwave swept across the land, flipping over the earth for hundreds of millions of miles around. The Ferocious Beasts and Three Clans soldiers who had not escaped far enough were swept up by the shockwave and reduced to dust.
The light faded.
Hongjun stood where he was, the Pseudo-Creation Jade Butterfly hovering above his head, its glow somewhat dimmer.
"Interesting." Shen Ni licked his lips, a glint of excitement flashing through his eyes.
"I never expected you to withstand an attack from this emperor. But how will you block the next one?"
He raised his hand, and the World-Extinguishing Millstone lit up with black light once more. This time, both layers of the millstone began spinning madly. The Primordial World's sky abruptly darkened, while a buzzing sound rose from every direction, as though heaven and earth themselves were wailing.
If this strike landed, perhaps eighty percent of the Primordial World's living beings would be ground away.
Hongjun drew a deep breath and tightened his grip on the Whisk in his hand.
He knew he had still underestimated the might of the World-Extinguishing Millstone. Though it was merely a Copy, its terror far exceeded his expectations. If it were allowed to continue, the Primordial World might truly be destroyed.
"Alas, it seems I still have to reveal some of my cultivation."
After muttering a few words, Hongjun's aura changed drastically. The pressure of the fifth level of the Hunyuan Realm spread through heaven and earth, and purple qi came from the east for thirty thousand miles.
The vast pressure made every living being feel as insignificant as an ant.
"Th-this... what realm is this?! Above the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal realm? So the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal realm is not the peak!"
Zulong, Yuan Feng, and Shi Qilin stared blankly at Hongjun's figure.
Meanwhile, Taotie, who had been secretly watching the battle from afar, felt his heart churn like storm-tossed waves.
System, what is going on? How does Luo Hou already possess Sage-level cultivation? What exactly is happening in this Primordial World? Could my transmigration have caused a butterfly effect?
Wait, can I steal a kill from a Sage?
At this point, he still did not know that the man was Hongjun, nor did he know that the Sage realm was the name for Hongjun's future realm after he preached the Dao—the Primordial Great Golden Immortal.
Since there were no immortals in Hundun, Hongjun's Dao of Immortality could not spread teachings in Hundun, so it was called the Hunyuan Realm instead. However, their strength differed.
The system did not reply, because it was somewhat dumbfounded itself. What it sensed was not the aura of a Sage at all, but the aura of the even higher Hunyuan Realm.
Everything seemed to have exceeded its expectations.
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