The Finality of Dao and Demon

Sha Qi filled the heavens and earth as four pitch-black longswords stood at the four cardinal directions, shrouding the Five Elements, Yin-Yang, and even Hongjun within.

The Dao body of the Five Elements Demon God turned livid, glaring at Hongjun. "Hongjun! You actually dared to scheme against us!"

The Yin-Yang Demon God's Dao body was equally grim, but he regained his composure faster than the Five Elements. He swept a glance at the surrounding sword array, then looked at Hongjun not far away, and sneered.

"Hongjun, you are now within the array as well. You are a mere fifth-heaven Hunyuan Realm cultivator; it is not too late for us to destroy you first before breaking the array!"

Before the words had even faded, both men erupted simultaneously, lunging at Hongjun from left and right. The Law of the Five Elements transformed into five-colored divine light, while the Yin and Yang energies condensed into black-and-white sword qi, sealing off all of Hongjun's retreat paths.

Seeing this, Hongjun did not retreat; instead, he stroked his beard and smiled.

The next moment, an aura at the peak of the ninth-heaven Hunyuan Realm surged from his body, instantly shattering the offensive momentum of the Five Elements and Yin-Yang duo. With a wave of his hand, he pushed them both back with effortless ease.

"You... you have been concealing your cultivation realm all along?"

The Five Elements Demon God's Dao body steadied himself, his expression as ugly as if he had swallowed a fly.

Hongjun did not answer, standing there with a faint smile.

Just then, the attacks of the Immortal-Execution Sword Array arrived. A rain of swords whistled in from all directions, forcing the Five Elements and Yin-Yang duo to temporarily abandon Hongjun and turn to defend against the overwhelming onslaught.

Seizing the moment, Hongjun swept his horsetail whisk.

"Divine Punishment of the Immortal Dao."

Purple energy suddenly permeated the entire Immortal-Execution Sword Array. With a thunderous boom, endless purple divine lightning struck down directly upon the two.

The Five Elements Demon God and the Yin-Yang Demon God were exerting all their strength to block the sword qi of the Immortal-Execution Sword Array; they had no energy left to guard against Hongjun's sneak attack. The purple divine lightning struck them without obstruction, blasting them until blood sprayed everywhere.

"Hongjun! You..."

But it was not over yet. Before they could finish, Hongjun formed another seal.

"Five Decays of Heaven and Man of the Immortal Dao."

A scent of decay coiled around the Five Elements and Yin-Yang duo. In an instant, their Dao bodies began to show signs of decline, and their laws fell into chaos.

In a moment of distraction, a beam of sword light pierced through the Five Elements' defense, flashing past his brow.

The Five Elements Demon God's Dao body stiffened abruptly, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes before his entire body began to disintegrate.

"Hongjun... you loach... we will remember this... we will wait for you in the Hundun world!"

Following that, the Yin-Yang Demon God's Dao body also followed in the footsteps of the Five Elements under the pincer attack.

Hongjun retracted his horsetail whisk and looked toward the direction where the two had dissipated, smiling indifferently.

Waiting for me in the Hundun world? At worst, I will just hide in the palace of Dao Venerable Shichen. Do you really think you would dare to charge into the Hall of Time to beat me up?

He turned his head toward the outside of the array and spoke in a clear voice, "Fellow Daoist Luo Hou, the Dao bodies of the Five Elements and Yin-Yang have been destroyed. Please, withdraw the sword array and let me out."

Outside the array, there was silence.

Hongjun waited for a moment, his brows knitting slightly. "Fellow Daoist Luo Hou?"

Still, there was no response.

Not only that, but the four swords lit up once more. The operation of the sword array became even more intense, and countless sword qi condensed again, piercing toward Hongjun like a torrential downpour.

Hongjun's expression darkened. "Fellow Daoist Luo Hou, what is the meaning of this?"

From outside the sword array, the laughter of Luo Hou's Dao body finally rang out.

"Hahaha! Old man Hongjun, you didn't actually think I would let you go, did you?"

"The Immortal-Execution Sword Array cannot be broken without four Hunyuan Realm cultivators! Just stay honestly inside the array and wait for death!"

Hongjun remained silent for a moment upon hearing this.

Then, he shook his head and sighed deeply. "As I expected."

With a light sweep of his horsetail whisk, three identical figures stepped out from behind him, each radiating an aura nearly indistinguishable from his true self.

The Good Corpse, the Evil Corpse, and the Self Corpse, combined with the true self, made exactly four Hunyuan entities. (To prevent the esteemed readers from wondering why Hongjun did not manifest Dao bodies earlier: Dao bodies require the origin of laws to condense and take a very long time. Before the creation of the world, it took them countless Hundun epochs to condense their Dao bodies.)

Hongjun looked outside the array, his voice calm.

"This is the Method of Slashing the Three Corpses that I realized from the Dao of Immortality. Let me experience Fellow Daoist Luo Hou's Immortal-Execution Sword Array."

The four figures moved simultaneously, attacking the four corner eye-points of the Immortal-Execution Sword Array.

Luo Hou's Dao body urged the sword array to its limit from the outside, but Hongjun's realm was already higher than his, and now it was four against one. The Immortal-Execution Sword Array soon began to show signs of instability.

BOOM!!!

With a deafening roar, the Immortal-Execution Sword Array shattered!

Luo Hou stood in the void, watching Hongjun emerge from the broken array, his face shifting between pale and green. "Hongjun... what a formidable Hongjun..."

The next moment, he raised his spear and charged directly at him.

But this time, the situation was entirely different.

Hongjun attacked with his full strength, while Luo Hou, having already fought the Five Elements and Yin-Yang, was severely wounded. He was completely suppressed by Hongjun. After only a few dozen exchanges, a bolt of purple lightning struck Luo Hou squarely on the head.

Luo Hou spat out several mouthfuls of blood, and cracks began to appear on his Dao body.

A flash of madness crossed his eyes. "Old man Hongjun! You want to destroy me? Then let us die together!"

Luo Hou formed a seal with both hands, and the entire Western Continent began to shake violently!

Deep within the earth, the energy of the ley lines was drawn by a violent force, converging toward Luo Hou.

Hongjun's expression changed drastically. "Luo Hou! Have you lost your mind? It is only a Dao body being destroyed; you would actually detonate the Western ley lines! By destroying the Primordial World like this, are you not afraid of the Dao Venerable in the Hundun punishing you!"

But Luo Hou's reason had been completely eroded by the Law of Slaughter; he could not hear a word of it.

The energy of the ley lines grew increasingly violent, and it looked as if it were about to spiral completely out of control.

Just then, a power of time flowed out from the void.

Time across the entire Western land began to rapidly reverse. In an instant, everything returned to its original state, and the Law of Slaughter on Luo Hou was forcibly suppressed by that power of time.

A vast and majestic Dao sound echoed from the void.

"Luo Hou, have you forgotten the agreement of us gods?"

Hongjun's expression turned solemn, and he quickly bowed toward the void. "I have seen the Dao Venerable. It was Hongjun's lack of discretion that nearly caused a catastrophe. I hope the Dao Venerable will forgive me."

Luo Hou's face turned pale, and he slowly loosened his grip on the God-Slaying Spear, bowing toward the void.

"It was I who lost my composure."

"Since I have lost, I accept my defeat. I will have the Devil Race withdraw from the Primordial World and establish the Demon Realm, serving to fill the Dao hearts of the Primordial creatures on their path of cultivation, becoming their inner demons. As for this Dao body..."

He looked down at the body that had already begun to disintegrate.

"I shall disperse all the origin of the Law of Slaughter within it to repair the Primordial World."

"Good."

After a few moments of silence, the Dao sound from the void echoed again. "Hongjun."

Hongjun quickly bowed to listen. "Hongjun is here."

"The world coordinates are being opened. You may begin your preaching."

"Yes."

The Dao sound dissipated, and the green light slowly receded.

The battle between the Dao and the Devil thus came to a complete end.

Luo Hou's Dao body snorted coldly at Hongjun, said nothing more, and waved his hand to carve out a small world at the edge of the Primordial World, ordering all the Devil Race to retreat into it.

Then, his Dao body began to slowly dissipate, and all the origin of the Law of Slaughter transformed into a rain of light, scattering across the entire Primordial land.

The Primordial World suddenly shuddered violently, and all living things sensed that something had been born.

Nourished by the origin, the Heavenly Dao was finally fully formed.

With the birth of the Heavenly Dao, the Great Dao retreated. From then on, except for the three thousand Demon Gods, the Great Dao would not easily manifest again.

The next moment, a massive amount of Heavenly Dao merit descended from the sky. Five parts fell into Hongjun's body, three parts fell toward those who had contributed significantly in the fight against the Devil Race, and the remaining two parts drifted toward a remote island in the East Sea.

On the island, Zhulong stared dumbfounded at the Dao Venerable Shichen, who was playing with the Heavenly Dao merit, feeling that his brain was completely unable to process this.

Who... exactly was this person?

To be able to make Senior Hongjun bow in respect, to make Luo Hou lower his head in defeat, to be able to stop the detonation of the ley lines with a wave of his hand...

Zhulong swallowed hard, not daring to think any further.

At this moment, across the entire Primordial world, the Laws of the Immortal Dao began to surge violently.

Hongjun sat cross-legged above the clouds, a massive golden Merit Dharma Wheel slowly rotating behind him. His voice spread to every corner of the Primordial World:

"Lying high on the nine-fold clouds, the prayer mat settles the true Dao."

"Beyond the mysterious yellow of heaven and earth, I shall be the master of the teachings."

"The leader of the Mysterious Gate, one breath transforms into Hongjun."

"I, Hongjun, establish the Mysterious Gate in the Primordial World today to open the path of immortality for all living things. Three thousand epochs from now, I will preach three times at the Purple Heaven Palace in the Heaven Beyond Heaven, each time for three thousand years. Those with affinity may all come to listen."

As his words fell, his figure slowly dissipated into the clouds.

The entire Primordial World was in an uproar.

Yet, unnoticed by anyone, at the very moment Luo Hou's Dao body dissipated, countless extremely secretive streams of light fell into every corner of the Primordial World.