Heavenly Dao's Slap Nearly Breaks Defense

The mournful cries of the shattered Primordial Era and the enraged roars of the Witch-Demon war, intertwined into a symphony of destruction, seemed to have finally crossed a certain threshold.

Within the Purple Heaven Palace, the Heavenly Dao core, which had completely fallen into deathly silence as if it had given up on itself, suddenly flared with a final, unwilling, hysterical ray of light!

It couldn't give up! The Primordial Era was opened by Pangu, bound by laws, and was its foundation! Even if its proxy was an irredeemable salted fish, it had to make a final struggle!

[Forced Execution: Consciousness Overwrite Protocol! Highest Authority Override!] [Target: Proxy Xiao Kuang!] [Objective: Seize control of the body! Intervene in the Witch-Demon War!]

A completely irresistible will, cold and vast to the extreme, poured down like the Milky Way from the heavens, instantly crushing Xiao Kuang's lazy and vacant consciousness defense line, forcibly occupying his body's control!

"Huh?!" Xiao Kuang (his body) who was leisurely watching the show suddenly sat up straight, the cynical, salted fish expression on his face instantly vanished, replaced by an extremely indifferent, supreme, and cold demeanor, as if containing the flow of billions of laws. In his eyes, there was no longer any trace of human emotion, only the pure radiance of the Heavenly Dao.

"This mortal shell... so indolent..." Heavenly Dao Xiao Kuang (temporary designation) looked down at his attire of an old man's undershirt, shorts, and flip-flops, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly, clearly extremely uncomfortable. He tried to mobilize his magic power to conjure Dao Ancestor robes, but found that the body's instincts seemed to resist such "proper" changes. In the end, he could only barely make the clothes slightly neater, but the style remained indescribable.

There was no time to dwell on these minor details.

Heavenly Dao Xiao Kuang took a step, his figure ignoring space-time, and directly appeared at the very core of the Witch-Demon battlefield, the area with the most violent energy storms!

At this moment, Gong Gong was roaring as he drew upon the power of the Primordial Era's water veins, transforming into billions of feet of ferocious water dragons, about to engage in a final showdown with the Grand Formation of the Stars driven by Di Jun Tai Yi! A destructive energy collision was imminent!

"Stop."

A plain, cold voice, devoid of any emotion, yet seemingly containing the ultimate principles of heaven and earth and the laws of all things, clearly resonated in the deepest part of the minds of every frantically fighting Witch and Demon!

The voice was not loud, but it was like a divine needle stabilizing the sea, or a decree from the nine heavens, carrying an irresistible majesty!

The booming sounds of divine ability collisions, exploding stars, and battle cries... under this single utterance, they actually came to a momentary standstill!

All the blood-soaked Witches and Demons, their hearts involuntarily shaken, slowed their movements slightly, looking towards the source of the sound with suspicion.

They saw that in the center of the battlefield, a figure had appeared at some unknown time.

Wearing strange clothes (barely presentable Daoist robes with flip-flops), with messy hair, but exuding a terrifying pressure that made their Primordial Spirits tremble, as if facing the entire Primordial Era! The cold radiance in his eyes made them afraid to look directly!

"The... Dao Ancestor?" Di Jun exclaimed, holding the River Diagram and Luo Script, his voice filled with uncertainty. This aura was indeed the Heavenly Dao, but this appearance...

"Is that lightning-struck bastard?!" Gong Gong also recognized the face, but it felt completely different. The previous flippant smile had turned into the current cold indifference, making him even more vigilant.

Heavenly Dao Xiao Kuang's gaze swept over the shattered land, the wailing living beings, and the intertwined, boiling, almost tangible karma and malevolent energy. His cold intent sounded again, with a judgmental tone:

"The conflict between Witches and Demons has brought chaos to the Primordial Era, with boundless karma, and shall..."

Just as it was about to announce the punishment and forcibly separate the two sides, it suddenly felt that the body's mouth was a bit uncontrollable, wanting to yawn, and a strong, lazy thought of "This is too troublesome, can't this be over quickly?" tried to invade its absolute rationality like a virus.

[Body Instinct Interference: ...Suggest... let them play rock-paper-scissors to decide the winner... best of three... saves time and effort...] Heavenly Dao Will: [!!!Refuse! Serious!]

It forcibly suppressed that damned salted fish instinct and continued coldly, "...shall receive divine punishment! Cease fighting immediately and return to your respective positions, otherwise..."

Before it could finish speaking, Gong Gong, that brute, although intimidated by the Heavenly Dao's aura, relying on his powerful Ancestral Witch true form and being blinded by rage, actually grunted and roared, "Pah! The Heavenly Dao is unfair! Favoring the Demon race! Fight if you want to fight! What's with all the nonsense! Take this punch!"

Saying that, he actually threw another punch imbued with the power of all waters!

If it were normal circumstances, a single thought from the Heavenly Dao could have annihilated him.

But at this moment, the one controlling this body was the Heavenly Dao, and the original owner's subconscious reaction to an attack was--to endure it!

Thus, under the dumbfounded gaze of billions of Witches and Demons, that cold and majestic "Dao Ancestor," facing Gong Gong's punch capable of shattering stars, actually... did not dodge or block, not even using a defensive spell, and stood there stiffly, as if saying, "Come on, hit here."

BOOM!!! A solid punch landed squarely on Heavenly Dao Xiao Kuang's chest.

Energy exploded, and the Daoist robes (barely presentable) were completely unharmed. Heavenly Dao Xiao Kuang's body didn't even sway. Gong Gong, on the other hand, had his arm numbed by the recoil, stumbled backward, and looked bewildered.

The Heavenly Dao Will was also stunned for a moment, then became enraged (if it could be enraged): [This body's instinctive reaction?! Why not counterattack?! Why not defend?! Just take it head-on?!]

It felt that its "entrance deterrence" effect was greatly diminished by this bizarre "taking it head-on," and even a bit... cheapened?

What made it even more frantic was that after taking the punch, the body's mouth again felt uncontrollable, wanting to mutter, "The force is okay, haven't you eaten?"

[Body Instinct Interference: ...Comment on the attack's force... attempting to initiate taunt...] Heavenly Dao Will: [Shut up! (Forcibly silenced)]

Heavenly Dao Xiao Kuang's expression became even colder, but beneath that coldness, there seemed to be a faint, almost imperceptible... sense of grievance and breakdown?

It stopped wasting words, fearing that the body would do anything more astonishing, and directly used its highest authority!

Hum--!

Invisible Heavenly Dao laws, like the most tenacious chains, instantly entangled every Witch and Demon! Whether it was an Ancestral Witch or a Demon Emperor, regardless of their strength, at this moment, all were forcibly frozen! Mobilized magic power was forcibly suppressed back into their bodies, and unleashed divine abilities were forcibly dissipated into nothingness!

The entire world-destroying battlefield seemed to have been paused.

Only those cold eyes of the Heavenly Dao swept over all beings.

"The Witch and Demon races have violated heavenly laws, brought chaos to the Primordial Era, and are punished--" Heavenly Dao Xiao Kuang was about to announce a lengthy confinement or reduction of luck, when that salted fish instinct struck again!

[Body Instinct Interference: ...Confinement is too troublesome... requires food... reducing luck is even more troublesome for accounting... suggest... labor reform... for example... cleaning the zoo in the backyard of the Purple Heavens Palace for ten thousand years...] Heavenly Dao Will: [...(Violent struggle)]

Finally, after a fierce struggle between the Heavenly Dao Will and the salted fish instinct, the punishment that came out was: "--You are all... confined to your respective tribal lands for three thousand years! During this period... you must reflect on your mistakes daily, write... eight thousand words of repentance letters! And... regularly submit ideological reports to the Purple Heaven Palace!"

Repentance letters? Eight thousand words? Ideological reports? All the frozen Witches and Demons had their brains short-circuited. What kind of new divine punishment was this?!

The Heavenly Dao Will itself almost "spat out," it had no idea how it had uttered such a punishment! This was completely unlike the Heavenly Dao's style! It was all the fault of this damned body!

It forcibly stabilized its almost breaking mentality and finally added coldly (trying to regain its dignity): "If you sin again... it won't be as simple as repentance letters!"

After saying that, without giving the Witches and Demons any time to react, Heavenly Dao Xiao Kuang (or rather, the Heavenly Dao) vanished from the spot as if fleeing a plague, returning to the Purple Heaven Palace.

As soon as it returned to the Purple Heaven Palace, the Heavenly Dao's will withdrew from Xiao Kuang's body as if exhausted.

Xiao Kuang's own consciousness returned, he shook his head, looking utterly bewildered, "Huh? Was I sleepwalking just now? It felt like a nightmare, dreaming about grading homework? Scary, scary..."

He slumped back into the massage chair, continuing to watch the "live broadcast," only to find that the Witch-Demon battlefield seemed to have stopped? Were both sides stunned?

"Huh? Is it over? Who won? Did Gong Gong win by headbutting?" He craned his neck curiously.

On the Primordial Era battlefield, the Witch and Demon races, released from the freeze, looked at each other, then back at the other side. They recalled the Dao Ancestor with his peculiar style and even more peculiar punishment, and for a moment, the life-or-death killing intent actually dissipated by more than half.

In its place was a strong sense of absurdity and... a hint of confusion.

They fought to the death, only to be punished by writing a letter of repentance? Was this Calamity... not quite right somewhere?

Di Jun and Taiyi's faces were ashen, not from injury, but from feeling stifled and humiliated. The Twelve Ancestral Witches also exchanged glances. Gong Gong even subconsciously touched his fist, recalling the feel of his strike just now. The low-level witches and demons began to whisper amongst themselves, "How do we write a letter of repentance?" "Eight thousand characters? Our Witch race can't even write eight hundred!" "What's a thought report?"

The first Witch-Demon War, with the Heavenly Dao's proxy barely holding on and the salted fish's instincts indirectly intervening, came to a temporary close in a way no one had ever expected, an extremely bizarre manner.

Although heaven and earth were still in ruins, at least... they wouldn't be fighting for now, right? Probably.

The progress of the Primordial Era's Calamity seemed to have been invisibly steered by that salted fish in a completely new, unprecedented direction.

Heavenly Dao (entering hibernation again): Zzz... (code twitching intermittently, as if suffering from severe after-effects)