As Yuan Yan revealed his true form and connected with the Primordial Gourd Vine, he entered a state of enlightenment. Three thousand laws manifested and intertwined between heaven and earth, endless Dao rhymes spread through the air, mist swirling upward as the canyon filled with an unfathomably profound aura.
Gradually, Yuan Yan's comprehension of the three thousand laws deepened. Through the Five Elements, chaos, destruction, Creation Dao, life and death, and other laws he had already comprehended to perfection, he also grasped their corresponding Great Daos.
He gradually opened the Reincarnation Dao and World Dao as well, using reincarnation and worlds to expound and evolve his understanding of everything in existence. His Reincarnation Dao and World Dao continued to evolve and improve.
Yuan Yan secluded himself within Mount Buzhou to cultivate wholeheartedly, but the Primordial World was far from peaceful.
At the summit of Mount Sumeru stood the towering Demon Palace. The Twelfth-Rank World-Destroying Black Lotus floated at the heart of the palace, and Rahu sat cross-legged upon its lotus platform. He wore a dark black robe, his handsome face covered in a bone-chilling coldness. Whenever his eyes opened and closed, demonic qi surged, concealing killing intent.
Four resplendent yet baleful treasure swords floated quietly at his side: Slay, Massacre, Trap, and Exterminate. They were the Four Swords of Slaying Immortals, which would one day become renowned throughout the world.
At that moment, demonic seals danced between Rahu's fingertips. Endless demonic qi and the world's vicious baleful energy continuously poured into the four swords. Their blades hummed without cease as they merged with a formation diagram, and the Dao rhythm of slaughter swept across all of Mount Sumeru.
He was refining the Slaying Immortals Sword Formation with all his strength, intending to use the grand formation's power to sweep through the Primordial World and attain the Hunyuan Great Firmament.
Demonic mist churned around him. Thirteen figures with strange forms and sinister auras stood bowed beneath the hall. They were Rahu's most elite subordinates, the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Thirteen Demon Envoys:
The Seven Emotions Demon Envoys of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire; and the Six Desires Demon Envoys of sight, sound, fragrance, taste, touch, and dharma. Every one of them excelled at beguiling hearts and demonizing living beings.
Rahu slowly opened his eyes. His demonic voice pierced through the clouds of demonic qi and echoed throughout the hall. "Thirteen Demon Envoys, receive my command!"
"Your subordinates obey the decree of the Ancestor of Demons!" The thirteen Demon Envoys all knelt, their voices sinister yet respectful.
"The time has come. Go separately to the territories of the three clans. Conceal your tracks, demonize their members, amplify the Seven Emotions and Six Desires in their hearts, secretly create conflicts among the three clans, provoke their hatred, and ignite an all-out war between them."
"Yes!" The thirteen Demon Envoys did not dare object and hurriedly accepted the order.
The thirteen Demon Envoys departed under his command, their forms turning into thirteen streams of black mist that silently slipped into space-time. They separately infiltrated the territories of the Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, and Qilin Clan, hiding in the shadows as they began carrying out their poisonous scheme.
First, a guardian of a Dragon Clan prince was demonized. He beguiled the prince into leaving the East Sea and setting foot upon the Primordial Land, where he encountered a phoenix maiden by chance.
The instant they met, the prince saw the phoenix maiden's peerless beauty and was overwhelmed by desire. He ordered her guardian slain, then abducted and violated her to death.
And at that exact moment, the phoenix maiden's plea for help, which had previously been impossible to send, finally went through.
In an instant, a Great Firmament Golden Immortal of the Phoenix Clan crossed the void and arrived. Enraged beyond measure, he reduced the dragon prince and his guardian to ashes with a single palm strike.
At that moment, a Great Firmament Golden Immortal of the Dragon Clan also arrived. Seeing the dragon prince dead, he too flew into a rage. The two fought fiercely, but their battle ended without result.
However, upon learning that the phoenix maiden had been violated, several Phoenix Clan experts were furious. They secretly entered the shores of the East Sea, destroyed several primordial spirit springs, and slew the Dragon Clan cultivators guarding them in retaliation.
The Dragon Clan also sent experts into the Southern Continent, where they seized several phoenix spirit trees and killed the Phoenix Clan guards to avenge the dragon prince.
Across the lands governed by Qilin Mountain on the Eastern Continent, many Earth Veins were shattered, countless beast tribes were massacred, and traces of conflict between the Dragon and Phoenix Clans remained at the scenes.
As the thirteen Demon Envoys continued demonizing members of the three clans, secretly creating conflicts and provoking hatred, the enmity between the three clans grew ever deeper, and their clashes became increasingly severe.
Hatred and conflict gradually spread from the lower ranks to the middle ranks, then to the upper ranks. They also spread from the three clans to the Myriad Tribes of scaled creatures, birds, and beasts. Every living being in the Primordial World was drawn into it.
However, Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, and Primordial Qilin had divided the Primordial World among themselves and become the overlords of heaven and earth. Naturally, they were no ordinary figures.
Although the thirteen Demon Envoys were unusual and had Rahu secretly assisting them by concealing the Heavenly Secrets, preventing the three leaders from finding those behind the schemes, they still sensed that something was wrong.
Moreover, aside from Rahu sending the thirteen Demon Envoys to secretly sow discord and create slaughter, other Innate Fiendgods in the Primordial World were also unwilling to remain idle. Some acted personally, while others secretly sent people to act.
They did not possess Rahu's abilities, much less the unique traits of the thirteen Demon Envoys. Their actions naturally could not be flawless, and quite a few of them were exposed.
Furthermore, although each conflict created by the thirteen Demon Envoys appeared seamless, careful examination could still reveal inconsistencies.
Knowing that great experts were secretly sowing discord, and knowing that a war between the three clans would most likely end with all sides grievously damaged, Ancestral Dragon, Primordial Phoenix, and Primordial Qilin were naturally not fools. They would not follow the calculations of so many great experts and launch a full-scale decisive battle.
Instead, they suppressed the desire for internal war while secretly consolidating their strength and preparing for battle. They also left themselves several escape routes, followed the clues to uncover those stirring up trouble in secret, and used this to arouse a common hatred of the enemy within their clans, killing a few to warn the many.
Before long, Azure Dragon grew disgusted by the Dragon Clan's arrogance and oppression of all living beings. During a discussion in the Dragon Palace, he raised the matter, only to be mocked and suppressed by Ancestral Dragon. Enraged, he left the Dragon Clan with Black Tortoise and some True Dragons.
One branch of Vermilion Bird was dissatisfied with Primordial Phoenix's rule and sought to seize power. After failing, they were expelled from the Phoenix Clan.
The White Tiger Clan committed insubordination and started a great fight within the Qilin Ancestral Land. After being taught a lesson by Primordial Qilin, they angrily severed ties with the Qilin Clan and defected.
Yet surprisingly, when faced with Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and White Tiger leaving their clans, the Primordial Three Clans did not pursue them to the end. The matter was simply left unresolved.
Moreover, batches of exceptionally gifted newborns and younger generations from each of the Primordial Three Clans—Great Firmament Golden Immortals with shallow Karmic Force or even Merit upon them—vanished without a trace.
At the same time, the Primordial Three Clans tacitly joined hands in attacking the living beings who had secretly incited conflict among them. A bloody storm swept through the Primordial World.
Anyone discovered was exterminated, whether they were remnants of tribes destroyed by the three clans or great experts dissatisfied with the current state of affairs.
Thus, the Primordial World entered its darkest era! The Myriad Tribes either submitted to the three clans or were wiped out. Of the Innate Fiendgods who had survived the Calamity of Ferocious Beasts, fewer than one in a hundred remained, apart from those who joined the three clans.
Only a handful of great experts, such as Hongjun, Rahu, Yang Mei, Yin-Yang, Qiankun, and others, escaped disaster.
Yet as the three clans purged the Primordial World, their circumstances did not improve. Instead, they continued to worsen.
This further stirred up the baleful energy of the Calamity Cycle. Calamity qi clouded their minds, and with the hatred accumulated by the three clans, conflicts continued and escalated even without anyone provoking them—let alone with someone stirring things up from behind the scenes.
Furthermore, the Innate Fiendgods who had survived the Calamity of Ferocious Beasts all possessed Fortune and Merit. Slaughtering Innate Fiendgods and massacring countless races naturally deepened their Karmic Force.
At this point, if a great expert could see through the Fortune of the three clans, they would discover an abnormality within the immensely powerful Fortune manifestations of the three clans.
Dense black-red Bloodshed Karmic Force, so thick it could not be dispersed, had already tainted nearly eighty or ninety percent of their Fortune manifestations, and it continued to spread.
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