In the far west of the Primordial World, within that secluded cave abode, Luo Hou sat cross-legged. Four immortal-slaying swords floated around him, the killing intent and baleful energy on their blades growing ever stronger.
The plan he had laid over countless years had been snatched out from under him. Someone had absorbed every last trace of the ferocious beasts' baleful energy, leaving his Four Swords of Immortal Slaying without the tempering he had envisioned. But that did not mean he would give up.
Instead, Luo Hou had found a new target.
The Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans had struggled for supremacy for countless primordial cycles. The slaughtering energy and karmic force they had accumulated far exceeded the ferocious beasts' baleful energy within that seal.
If he could infuse this slaughtering energy into the Four Swords of Immortal Slaying, the power of his sword formation would rise to an unimaginable level.
More importantly, the war between the three clans was itself part of a great calamity of heaven and earth.
He only needed to fan the flames to make this calamity even more brutal, even more thorough.
Luo Hou opened his eyes, an icy gleam flashing through their pitch-black depths.
He began to act.
Luo Hou's methods had always left no trace.
He would not act personally-at least, not at the outset.
He only needed to plant a few crucial seeds in a few crucial places, then quietly watch them take root and sprout.
Between the East Sea Dragon Palace and the Undying Volcano in the south lay a vast stretch where land met sea, marking the border between the Dragon Clan's and Phoenix Clan's territories.
This region abounded in a spiritual material called "Fire-Spirit Coral," which was immensely useful to both clans.
The two sides had fought over ownership of this region for countless primordial cycles. Though no large-scale war had broken out, small clashes had never ceased.
An incarnation of Luo Hou appeared in this region.
Taking the form of a Dragon Clan elder, he infiltrated one of their outposts and advised the Dragon Clan commander stationed there:
"The Phoenix Clan has recently reinforced the Fire-Spirit Coral waters. They intend to seize this place while our clan is fighting the Qilin Clan. Unless we strike first, I fear the troubles ahead will be endless."
Similar words reached the Phoenix Clan.
Another incarnation of Luo Hou took the form of a Phoenix Clan elder and advised their commander, "The Dragon Clan is secretly massing troops, preparing to seize the Fire-Spirit Coral waters in one stroke.
"Unless we gain the upper hand by striking first, I fear our clan will lose this vital resource."
These claims were not wind blowing from an empty cave.
Both the Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Clan had indeed deployed forces in that region. They had simply been exercising restraint, unwilling to provoke a large-scale conflict lightly.
But Luo Hou's provocations made both sides begin to question the other's intentions, their wariness growing ever stronger.
At last, when two patrols happened to encounter each other, a clash broke out.
Under the weight of both sides' suspicion and vigilance, a minor skirmish rapidly escalated into a battle involving thousands of clan members.
When word reached Ancestral Dragon, he merely frowned slightly.
Clashes between the Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Clan were nothing new.
What he did not know was that, under Luo Hou's instigation, similar clashes were unfolding simultaneously along every border between the three clans.
Friction was rising sharply not only between the Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Clan, but also between the Dragon Clan and the Qilin Clan, and between the Phoenix Clan and the Qilin Clan.
Luo Hou's incarnations moved back and forth among the three clans.
Each time, they fanned the flames at precisely the right moment, magnifying minor disputes and driving formerly restrained sides to escalate again and again.
The members of the three clans grew restless, and the clouds of war gathered ever thicker.
The turning point came on a plain south of Mount Buzhou.
There, the territories of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans converged. Members of all three clans operated in the region, and although occasional friction arose, they had generally coexisted peacefully.
Luo Hou acted personally.
He laid an extremely well-hidden killing formation on the plain, then lured three patrols, one from each clan, toward it at the same time.
When the three patrols reached the killing formation almost simultaneously, Luo Hou activated it and slaughtered them all, leaving no survivors.
News of the three patrols' annihilation reached their respective clans and caused an enormous uproar.
The Dragon Clan believed the Phoenix Clan and Qilin Clan had joined forces to lay an ambush.
The Phoenix Clan believed the Dragon Clan and Qilin Clan had colluded in secret.
The Qilin Clan believed the Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan had planned it together beforehand.
Each side clung to its own account, and fury spread rapidly through their ranks.
Almost simultaneously, Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin received vehement demands for war from their clans' warmongers.
At that moment, trust between the three clans collapsed completely.
War broke out, inevitable at last.
This war was utterly unlike the small clashes that had come before.
The three clans poured out in full force, hundreds of millions of their members plunging into an unprecedented slaughter across the Primordial World.
The Dragon Clan mustered countless armies of aquatic creatures from the four seas. Dragon silhouettes blotted out the sky and sun as they wheeled overhead, their roars shaking heaven and earth.
Ancestral Dragon personally led the Dragon Clan's elites westward from the East Sea. Wherever they passed, rivers reversed their flow and waves towered into the heavens.
The Phoenix Clan poured out of the southern Undying Volcano in full force, myriad birds taking wing as raging flames swept across the plains.
Yuanfeng sat atop the Undying Volcano, an icy gleam flashing in her phoenix eyes. Behind her were countless phoenix descendants, each radiating flames powerful enough to burn heaven and destroy earth.
The entire Qilin Clan surged out from the Foothills of Mount Buzhou. A hundred kinds of beasts thundered forth, shaking the earth and mountains.
Primordial Qilin stood upon Qilin Cliff, radiating pressure as heavy as a mountain. Behind him stood countless Qilin Clan members, each harboring the strength to trample mountains and rivers to pieces.
The armies of the three clans plunged into savage slaughter across the Primordial World.
The Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan occupied the sky, dragon roars and phoenix cries intertwining into a symphony of destruction.
Dragon claws tore through phoenix wings, while phoenix flames burned through dragon scales. The blood of both sides rained down upon the earth.
The Qilin Clan ruled the ground. Their iron hooves shattered mountains and rivers, and their furious roars split the earth.
Whenever members of the Dragon Clan or Phoenix Clan fell to the ground, the Qilin Clan's iron hooves trampled them into pulp.
On the battlefield, corpses piled into mountains and blood flowed in rivers. Dense baleful energy filled heaven and earth, turning even the sky a gloomy gray.
Those mighty beings who had once roamed unchallenged through heaven and earth were now mere numbers on the battlefield, consumed and destroyed in the endless slaughter.
The war's brutality far surpassed any previous clash between the three clans.
Their members fought with bloodshot eyes, hatred spreading like a plague through every heart.
At last, Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin entered the fray themselves.
Ancestral Dragon assumed his True Dragon Body, a hundred thousand feet long, his golden scales blazing in the sunlight.
His Dragon Might blanketed the entire battlefield as though it had taken tangible form. Each sweep of his claws felled countless members of the Phoenix Clan and Qilin Clan.
His roars could shatter mountains and rivers and rend the heavens.
Yuanfeng assumed a phoenix form a hundred thousand feet long, Southern Illumination Divine Flame burning all around her. Those flames could incinerate all things; even space warped and twisted within them.
Her Feng Ming could summon the fires of the nine heavens and turn the earth to scorched wasteland.
Primordial Qilin assumed a qilin form a hundred thousand feet tall, radiating pressure as heavy as a mountain. With every step he took, the earth trembled and mountains crumbled.
His furious roars could split heaven and earth and make all things submit.
With the three clan leaders fighting personally, the war's intensity instantly reached its peak.
Ancestral Dragon fought Yuanfeng in the sky. Dragon claws collided with phoenix talons, unleashing destructive shock waves that tore everything around them to shreds.
Ancestral Dragon fought Primordial Qilin upon the ground. A sweep of the dragon's tail toppled mountains; a stamp of the qilin's foot cracked the earth.
Yuanfeng fought Primordial Qilin in the void. Flames collided with earth and stone, sending lava splashing everywhere and blotting out the sky and sun.
The bodies of the three clans' members piled into mountains. Their blood gathered into rivers and flowed into the sea, staining even its waters red.
Dense baleful energy filled heaven and earth, robbing the sun and moon of their light.
The land of the Primordial World trembled, as though it too were mourning this catastrophe.
The three clans were locked in battle, none able to defeat the others in a short time.
Although Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin ranked among the mightiest beings in heaven and earth, their strength was evenly matched. None could overcome the others.
Their clan members were also fighting to the death, and no side was willing to yield.
Just as the battle reached a stalemate, a piercing killing intent suddenly rose from the edge of the battlefield.
So powerful and savage was that killing intent that even the three battling clan leaders turned to look.
They stopped fighting at the same time and looked toward its source.
At the battlefield's edge stood a black-robed man with his hands behind his back.
Four long swords floated around him, their blades radiating killing intent and baleful energy that soared into the heavens.
Those four blades were none other than the Four Swords of Immortal Slaying: the Immortal-Slaying Sword, the Immortal-Killing Sword, the Immortal-Trapping Sword, and the Immortal-Ending Sword.
"Luo Hou!" Ancestral Dragon shouted in a deep voice, a trace of gravity flashing through his golden dragon eyes.
Yuanfeng and Primordial Qilin also recognized the black-robed man.
He was Luo Hou, a being from the same era as the three clan leaders, a mighty figure renowned throughout the Primordial World for his Dao of slaughter.
Luo Hou did not respond. He merely surveyed the carnage on the battlefield coldly, the corners of his mouth lifting into an icy smile.
"Have you fought enough?" Luo Hou's voice was quiet, yet it reached every ear clearly. "If you have, then it's my turn."
He waved a hand, and the four immortal-slaying swords flew out together, becoming four streaks of light that landed in four directions around the battlefield.
The killing intent and baleful energy on their blades erupted, becoming four pillars of light that shot into the heavens and enclosed the entire battlefield.
"Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation-rise!"
At Luo Hou's shout, the four immortal-slaying swords shuddered together, the killing intent and baleful energy on their blades intertwining.
They became an immense sword formation, trapping Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, Primordial Qilin, and the hundreds of millions of members of all three clans within.
Inside the sword formation, murderous energy permeated the air and baleful energy surged skyward.
Countless streams of sword energy crisscrossed the formation, sweeping toward the trapped clan members like a raging storm to cut them down.
The sword energy was incomparably sharp and carried the power to destroy everything. The members of the three clans could not withstand it at all and fell in swathes.
"This is bad!" Ancestral Dragon's expression changed dramatically. He unleashed his Dragon Might at full strength, trying to break through the sword formation's blockade.
But the formation's power far exceeded his imagination. The four immortal-slaying swords resonated with one another, forming an indestructible barrier that blocked every one of his attacks.
Yuanfeng also fought back with all her strength, her Southern Illumination Divine Flame becoming towering blazes as she tried to burn away the sword formation's foundations.
But the killing intent and baleful energy within the formation were too dense. Even her Southern Illumination Divine Flame could not burn them away completely.
Primordial Qilin was likewise trapped within the formation. Though his power of the earth was immense and weighty, it could not shake the sword formation formed by those four immortal-slaying swords.
The three clan leaders struggled to resist within the sword formation. With their strength, they could still protect themselves.
But their clan members had no such ability.
Ordinary members of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans were crushed like ants beneath the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation's onslaught.
Sword energy swept in every direction, and killing intent filled the air.
Countless members of the three clans fell within the sword formation. It absorbed their blood, turning it into nourishment for the Four Swords of Immortal Slaying.
After absorbing this blood and slaughtering energy, the four swords grew ever stronger, and the killing intent on their blades grew ever denser.
"Luo Hou! How dare you!" Ancestral Dragon roared, unleashing his Dragon Might at full strength as he tried to break through the sword formation and save his clan members.
But the sword formation was too powerful. He could not break through it alone.
Yuanfeng and Primordial Qilin also fought with all their strength, trying to break the formation's blockade.
But their power likewise failed to shake the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation in the slightest.
Luo Hou stood outside the sword formation, coldly watching everything within.
There was no pity in his eyes, no hesitation-only icy killing intent and endless greed.
This slaughtering energy, this blood, these souls would all become nourishment for the Four Swords of Immortal Slaying.
Once the sword formation had slaughtered all the hundreds of millions of members of the three clans, his Four Swords of Immortal Slaying would grow unimaginably powerful.
Then the entire Primordial World would submit at his feet.
"Struggle," Luo Hou said, his voice like ice from beneath the Nine Netherworlds. "Your struggles will only make my swords stronger."
Within the sword formation, the three clans' casualties grew ever more devastating.
The mighty dragons, phoenixes, and qilins who had once roamed unchallenged through heaven and earth were like ants before the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, slaughtered in swathes.
Blood gathered into rivers, killing intent condensed into tangible form, and an endless aura of death filled the entire sword formation.
Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin fought desperately within the formation, but they could only protect a small number of clan members beside them. They could not safeguard everyone.
They could feel their strength steadily draining away while the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation's power steadily increased.
As one waned and the other waxed, sooner or later they too would die trapped within this sword formation.
"Luo Hou, you're making an enemy of the entire Primordial World!" Ancestral Dragon roared.
Luo Hou sneered. "An enemy of the entire Primordial World? Once my Four Swords of Immortal Slaying reach completion, the entire Primordial World will be mine."
Just as the three clans fell into utter desperation, four powerful auras rapidly approached from afar.
The man in the lead had white hair and white eyebrows. His aura was peaceful yet profound, as though he had become one with heaven and earth.
He held a diagram of yin and yang, within which the Yin-Yang Qi circulated endlessly. This was none other than Yin-Yang Ancestor.
Beside him was a man in fluttering azure robes, his aura ethereal and unworldly, as though he stood beyond worldly things. A mass of Chaos Qi churned ceaselessly before him. This was Yang Mei.
Beside him stood another man with plain, timeworn features and an aura as vast and weighty as heaven and earth. This was Qiankun Ancestor.
The last man's aura was as unfathomable as an abyss. A small banner floated before him, Chaos Qi surging across its surface. This was Hong Jun.
The four mighty figures had sensed the aura of the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation and hurried over from their respective places of cultivation.
Their expressions changed dramatically when they saw the plight of the three clans' members within the sword formation.
"Luo Hou, stop!" Yin-Yang Ancestor shouted. The Taiji Diagram in his hands abruptly unfurled, its Yin-Yang Qi becoming a pillar of intertwined black and white light that blasted toward the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation.
Yang Mei struck at the same time. His Chaos Qi became a torrent that slammed toward the sword formation alongside Yin-Yang Ancestor's attack.
Qiankun Ancestor unleashed the power of heaven and earth, making both tremble. An incomparably immense force pressed in from every direction, attempting to crush the sword formation.
Hong Jun unleashed the Pangu Banner. Chaos Qi churned endlessly across its surface, becoming a force like the splitting of heaven and earth that slashed savagely into the sword formation.
Under the four mighty figures' simultaneous attacks, the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation finally buckled, and a crack appeared.
Luo Hou's expression darkened. He had not expected the four of them to arrive so quickly.
His original plan had been to slaughter every last member of the three clans before dealing with these four.
But now they had arrived before he could achieve his goal.
He snorted coldly. At a thought, the gates of the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation suddenly opened, releasing Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, Primordial Qilin, and the few surviving clan members beside them.
"I'll let you go for now," Luo Hou said coldly. "Once I've dealt with these four, I'll come back for you."
Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin led their surviving clan members out of the sword formation and retreated into the distance.
When they looked back, they saw that Luo Hou had already activated the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation and trapped the four mighty figures within.
Yin-Yang Ancestor, Yang Mei, Qiankun Ancestor, and Hong Jun were trapped inside the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation. The four immortal-slaying swords circled around them as countless streams of sword energy swept toward them to cut them down.
The four each unleashed their own methods to withstand the sword qi's attacks.
Yin-Yang Ancestor unfurled the Taiji Diagram, and the Yin-Yang Qi formed a gigantic millstone, grinding the surrounding sword qi to pieces one after another.
Yang Mei channeled Chaos Qi, devouring all the sword qi that drew near.
Qiankun Ancestor shielded himself with the power of heaven and earth, preventing the sword qi from coming close.
Hong Jun shook the Pangu Banner, and the Chaos Qi on its surface swept the sword qi aside one after another.
Although the four could withstand the sword formation's attacks, breaking free of it was no easy task.
The Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation's might far exceeded their expectations. The four Immortal-Slaying Swords resonated with one another, forming a nearly indestructible barrier.
Luo Hou stood at the center of the sword formation, the four Immortal-Slaying Swords circling him, his eyes filled with killing intent.
"Hong Jun, Yin-Yang, Yang Mei, Qiankun, since you've come, don't even think of leaving."
Luo Hou's voice was icy and arrogant. "Let me show you the true power of the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation!"
He drove the sword formation with all his strength, and the four Immortal-Slaying Swords erupted simultaneously with even fiercer killing intent.
Countless streaks of sword qi swept toward the four within the formation like a raging tempest, seeking to shred them.
Within that sword qi lay endless slaughter qi, as though it would utterly annihilate everything.
The four fought desperately to withstand it, but the sword formation was far too powerful. They could barely protect themselves, let alone strike back.
Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin stood in the distance, watching this scene with heavy hearts.
They lowered their heads to look at the clansmen around them. Of the hundreds of millions they had originally had, fewer than a tenth remained.
The blood of their fallen clansmen had stained the earth red, and their souls had been devoured by the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, becoming Luo Hou's power.
Ancestral Dragon suddenly sensed a dense karmic force entwined around him.
It was the karmic force of slaughter, the cause and effect brought about by war. Over these cosmic cycles, the Dragon Clan had slaughtered countless beings in its struggle for supremacy over the Primordial World, accumulating endless karmic force.
He had never cared about any of this before, but now, looking at those fallen clansmen and that dense baleful qi, he suddenly understood: all of this was the consequence of their own actions.
Yuanfeng and Primordial Qilin also sensed the karmic force upon them.
That karmic force weighed on them like a mountain, leaving them unable to breathe.
To contend for supremacy over the Primordial World, they had not hesitated to wage war or sacrifice countless clansmen.
Now, that karmic force had finally come for them.
The three exchanged glances, each seeing the same realization in the others' eyes.
Ancestral Dragon drew a deep breath and let out a long cry toward the heavens, his voice filled with boundless sorrow and resolve:
"Great Dao above! I, Ancestral Dragon, in my name as patriarch of the Dragon Clan, swear this oath to the Great Dao!
From this day forth, the Dragon Clan shall withdraw from the struggle for supremacy over the Primordial World, forever guard the Four Seas, and protect the Primordial World! Should we break this oath, may heaven and earth reject us!"
Yuanfeng followed close behind, her phoenix cry piercing the sky. "Great Dao above! I, Yuanfeng, in my name as matriarch of the Phoenix Clan, swear this oath to the Great Dao!
From this day forth, the Phoenix Clan shall withdraw from the struggle for supremacy over the Primordial World, forever guard the Undying Volcano in the south, and protect the Primordial World! Should we break this oath, may heaven and earth reject us!"
Primordial Qilin spoke last, his voice steady as the earth, yet laden with boundless heaviness:
"Great Dao above! I, Primordial Qilin, in my name as patriarch of the Qilin Clan, swear this oath to the Great Dao!
From this day forth, the Qilin Clan shall withdraw from the struggle for supremacy over the Primordial World, forever guard the earth, and protect the Primordial World! Should we break this oath, may heaven and earth reject us!"
As the three oaths concluded together, heaven and earth trembled.
At that moment, the karmic force entwined around the three clan leaders seemed to lessen considerably.
The Great Dao sensed their oaths, and a profoundly mysterious power descended from the heavens, enveloping the surviving members of the three clans.
Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin turned at the same time and led their surviving clansmen away in three different directions.
The Dragon Clan retreated to the Eastern Sea, the Phoenix Clan to the Undying Volcano in the south, and the Qilin Clan to the Foothills of Mount Buzhou.
They withdrew from the stage of the struggle for supremacy over the Primordial World.
Behind them, within the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, the battle between Luo Hou and the four mighty beings continued.
But the three clan leaders no longer had the mind to concern themselves with that battle.
They knew only that, from this day forth, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans would no longer be the overlords of the Primordial World.
All their former glory, all their former struggles for supremacy, all their former slaughter would become things of the past.
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