Insufficient Cultivation Was a Fatal Flaw

Now, relying solely on his physical strength, Lu Xuan could fight the Twelve Ancestral Witches for five hundred rounds without falling behind.

Now that he also had the Pangu World-Opening Map's protection, Lu Xuan was absolutely confident he could hold on until the other ten Ancestral Witches arrived without being disadvantaged.

After all, no matter how high Kunpeng's cultivation was, it could not surpass any one of the Twelve Ancestral Witches. Thus, Lu Xuan was certain he could hold out until reinforcements arrived.

But once they began fighting, Lu Xuan regretted it. In terms of physical strength, he could completely suppress Kunpeng. Yet he had overlooked one thing: Kunpeng could use magical treasures.

Kunpeng was not like the Twelve Ancestral Witches, who cultivated only their bodies and not their Primordial Spirits. His strongest means against enemies was the countless innate spiritual treasures in his hands.

The moment they exchanged blows, Kunpeng suspended the Demon Master Palace above his head. Ripples immediately appeared around him, blocking all of Lu Xuan's attacks.

And that was merely the beginning. Soon, a great seal appeared in Kunpeng's hand—the Demon Master Seal that represented his status.

The next moment, Kunpeng directly unleashed the Demon Master Seal. In the blink of an eye, it expanded to the size of three moons and smashed down toward Lu Xuan's head.

Although the Demon Master Seal's offensive power could not compare to the Heaven-Flipping Seal, its might was certainly not to be underestimated. Without the Pangu World-Opening Map's protection, Lu Xuan would already have been blasted into Wuyi Mountain.

Even so, the powerful blow sent ripples spreading across the Pangu World-Opening Map. Fortunately, it did not cause Lu Xuan any substantial harm.

Lu Xuan knew that he could only gain the upper hand by engaging Kunpeng in close combat. Otherwise, with Kunpeng attacking from afar using spiritual treasures, he would have no choice but to take the hits.

The next moment, Lu Xuan vanished directly before Kunpeng's eyes. He had entered the Pangu World-Opening Map.

Originally, Lu Xuan had intended to secretly manipulate the Pangu World-Opening Map, circle behind Kunpeng, and then knock him out cold before robbing him blind.

But the moment he entered the Pangu World-Opening Map, Lu Xuan discovered that Red Cloud Ancestor was sitting cross-legged within it. Above his head, a vast expanse of crimson clouds spanning ten thousand mu had manifested.

Three Nine-Rank Lotuses floated above the crimson clouds. Upon each lotus sat a Daoist who resembled Red Cloud Ancestor by sixty or seventy percent.

Moreover, each Daoist held a spiritual treasure in his hands. The kind-faced Daoist held a precious pearl.

The fierce-looking Daoist held a sword. The Daoist who most resembled Red Cloud Ancestor was holding the Ninety-Nine Soul-Scattering Gourd.

Lu Xuan knew that these were Red Cloud Ancestor's Three Corpse Incarnations. The spiritual treasures they held were the treasures Red Cloud Ancestor used to house those incarnations.

Lu Xuan could not help shaking his head with a sigh. "These three spiritual treasures do not share the same origin. Even if you cultivate for countless yuanhui, it will be difficult for you to achieve Three Corpses Unification. In the end, the Way of Severing the Three Corpses will amount to nothing but empty effort."

Lu Xuan had merely voiced a heartfelt lament, yet it directly caused Red Cloud Ancestor to open his eyes. With a grateful expression, he bowed to Lu Xuan and said,

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for clearing up my confusion. Now I finally know where the problem lies. Since no amount of cultivation will yield results, I might as well stop cultivating it."

"Now that my injuries have fully recovered, I can join forces with Fellow Daoist to face Taiyi and Kunpeng of the Demon Race."

Lu Xuan had not expected Red Cloud Ancestor's injuries to recover so quickly. However, he had no time to investigate further, so he simply nodded.

Then, with a thought, Lu Xuan released Red Cloud Ancestor from the Pangu World-Opening Map and had him appear directly before Kunpeng.

As the saying went, enemies meeting face-to-face were especially jealous. The kindness had utterly vanished from Red Cloud Ancestor's gaze as he looked at Kunpeng, replaced by pure hatred.

Without wasting a single word, he unleashed a precious pearl and smashed it toward Kunpeng's head. At the same time, a sword appeared in his hand and stabbed directly toward Kunpeng's chest.

Kunpeng had not expected Red Cloud Ancestor to appear again, much less with his injuries fully healed. He could not help crying out inwardly that things were bad.

After all, he had no confidence in defeating Red Cloud Ancestor alone. Otherwise, he would never have joined forces with Nether River Ancestor to ambush him.

But it was equally impossible for Red Cloud Ancestor to kill Kunpeng. In the Primordial World, if Kunpeng wanted to leave, only a Sage could stop him.

Thus, Kunpeng already intended to retreat. As for the predicament Taiyi would face after he left, it was not within Kunpeng's considerations at all.

After all, in the original course of the Primordial World, he had been the sort to steal the Heavenly Court's spiritual treasures and flee at the most critical moment of the Witch-Demon Calamity.

Just as Kunpeng was about to use an escape technique and transform into a peng to flee, he felt a fierce wind strike from behind. It was so fast that he had no time to react.

That was right—the one attacking from behind was none other than Lu Xuan. The Compliant Iron Rod in his hand was already smashing toward the back of Kunpeng's head.

At the same time, he did not forget to shout, "A kun so big won't fit in one pot. A peng so big needs two barbecue grills."

"Today, this young master will see just how big a pot it takes to stew you, and just how big a grill it takes to roast you."

As he roared out this classic knockoff joke, Lu Xuan's Compliant Iron Rod had already struck the back of Kunpeng's head.

Yet the scene Lu Xuan imagined, with brain matter splattering everywhere, did not appear. Instead, it felt as if he had struck a block of raw iron, leaving both his hands numb from the impact.

At the same time, Lu Xuan clearly saw fish fins emerge behind Kunpeng. His strike had landed precisely on a fish fin at the back of Kunpeng's head.

Then, countless fish fins transformed into swords and shot directly toward Lu Xuan. They descended like ten thousand swords converging on one target, leaving him nowhere to dodge.

Fortunately, the Pangu World-Opening Map protected Lu Xuan, and those fish-fin swords failed to injure him. However, they did create an opportunity for Kunpeng to escape.

With a flash, Kunpeng transformed into a giant peng. Accompanied by a clear, resounding bird cry, he spread his wings and prepared to fly one hundred and eighty thousand li away.

Unfortunately, the space around Wuyi Mountain had already been sealed by Dijiang using the Great Dao Space Law. No matter how fast Kunpeng was, he could not escape.

Perhaps because he was too fast, or perhaps because he was too desperate to flee, Kunpeng ultimately crashed directly into the spatial seal. The recoil sent him flying back, and he reappeared beside Taiyi.

At the same time, Zhuyin and the other ten Ancestral Witches arrived at Wuyi Mountain one after another. They immediately trapped Taiyi in their midst.

Just then, a deafening boom rang out from the heavens. A massive book descended from the sky—it was Dijun's River Chart and Luo Writing.

As the River Chart and Luo Writing appeared, the space Dijiang had sealed was shattered as well. Immediately afterward, Dijun appeared above Wuyi Mountain with the Ten Demon Marshals.

Seeing that nearly all the top combatants of the Witch-Demon Clans had gathered, Lu Xuan could not help muttering inwardly.

Damn, don't tell me the Witch-Demon Calamity is going to begin early because of me?