All Saints Gather, the Chaos Bell Returns to Its Heart

Leaving aside the exchange of Dao between Saint Taiqing and the two Saints Jieyin and Zhunti, within the Taiji Diagram, Li Yu and the Chaos Bell had fallen into a standoff.

As an innate supreme treasure, the Chaos Bell's spirituality had evolved into a will with an independent personality. It could already fully wield the Chaos Bell's power to resist Li Yu's refinement.

"Hey, you Daoist! Dream on if you think you can subdue your Lord Bell!"

Li Yu cast several hundred Dao inscriptions upon the Chaos Bell, seeking to leave behind his Dao imprint, but the Chaos Bell dissolved every one of them and even turned around to mock him.

Li Yu paused for the moment and said, "Then why did you follow Taiyi? Judging by how he ended up today, there was nothing particularly exceptional about him. Why did you follow him?"

"There was no reason. When Lord Bell opened his eyes, he saw him. That was fate. I am a creature of temperament," the Chaos Bell said carelessly.

"What you say does make some sense. But Taiyi is already dead and his Dao extinguished. Aside from me, there are currently two Saints outside who wish to subdue you. Before long, the remaining three Saints will likely arrive as well. You cannot run, and your best opportunity has already passed."

As Li Yu spoke unhurriedly, the Chaos Bell interrupted, "So what? Following a Saint is better than following you!"

"I heard Saint Taiqing say that you are the variable among innate supreme treasures. Looking at you now, you do not seem particularly sharp," Li Yu provoked.

"Hey, what do you mean by that? Are you calling Lord Bell stupid?" The Chaos Bell bristled.

"It is obvious. Given two choices, you avoided the right one and insisted on jumping into a fire pit." Li Yu smiled. "If you follow a Saint, you will merely be an innate supreme treasure, used to suppress the fortune of a sect. Most of the time, you will have to remain beyond the heavens. But if you stay by my side, you can witness the splendor of the Primordial World's future. You are a creature of temperament; surely you do not wish to spend every day in monotony and tedium?"

"That makes a tiny bit of sense, but it is not enough!"

Seeing some wavering in the Chaos Bell's tone, Li Yu brought forth his trump card and released the power of the New Dao. "How about this?"

The Chaos Bell fell silent. Unlike before, it did not immediately retort to every word Li Yu spoke.

"If that day truly comes, I will grant you freedom—absolute freedom. No one else will ever set their sights on you again," Li Yu added.

"Fine. Then Lord Bell will follow you and see whether you, Daoist, can truly reach that step!" the Chaos Bell said.

Hearing this, Li Yu finally let out a breath of relief. He had truly feared that the Chaos Bell would stubbornly oppose him. If that happened, he likely would have had no choice but to give up and let this bell be taken away by the Saints who led the sects.

Dong!

The Chaos Bell rang once, then shrank and flew into Li Yu's sleeve. Yet after this treasure acknowledged him as its master, Li Yu received an unexpected delight.

When he wielded the power of the New Dao, the Chaos Bell could actually deceive the heavens and conceal him from the Heavenly Dao's scrutiny.

In other words, Li Yu could now freely use his power within the Primordial World without worrying about drawing Heavenly Punishment or a Lightning Tribulation.

Seeing Li Yu subdue the Chaos Bell, the Taiji Diagram returned to Taiqing's side of its own accord. At that moment, Nüwa, Yuanshi, and Tongtian, the three Saints, also arrived.

The exchange of Dao between Taiqing and Jieyin and Zhunti came to an end. Saint Taiqing seemed unchanged, while Saint Jieyin appeared somewhat bedraggled. As for Saint Zhunti, his complexion was even more dim and sallow, as though his internal injuries were severe.

Li Yu was the only one present who was not a Saint, so he did not put on airs and immediately said, "The Human Sect's Vice Sect Leader greets the Saints!"

Seeing Li Yu like this, all the Saints already understood.

Saint Taiqing felt slightly gratified. Nüwa, Yuanshi, and Tongtian had merely been onlookers and had no particular objection, while only the two Western Saints felt profound regret.

Not only had they failed to obtain the supreme treasure, they had also been taught a lesson by Taiqing. Their journey out of seclusion had yielded nothing at all. At that moment, however, an anomaly appeared beyond the heavens. The Purple Cloud Palace, hidden for so long, suddenly emerged. All six Saints sensed it, and Saint Taiqing said, "Since Teacher has summoned us, let us go together."

Seeing that the other five Saints had no objections, Taiqing said again to Li Yu, "Return to the Primordial World and act according to circumstances!"

"I obey the Saint Sect Leader's command!"

When Li Yu raised his head again, all six Saints had vanished from before him.

As for why the Dao Ancestor had summoned the six Saints at this time, Li Yu could roughly guess. Naturally, the matter of the Investiture of the Gods was still far away, but the Dao Ancestor's establishment of the Heavenly Court was likely imminent.

Li Yu immediately returned to the Primordial World and made a special trip to the Demon Court. There, he saw only broken walls and crumbling ruins. The final life-and-death struggle between the Ancestral Shamans and the Demon Emperor had unleashed power too great to imagine, forcibly reducing a fine Demon Court to a miserable wreck.

The great demons fortunate enough to survive had long since fled without a trace.

With this, the calamity had passed. Though many demons of the Primordial World still remained, they could no longer amount to anything. They were merely scattered soldiers and wandering stragglers.

The era of the Wu Clan and Demon Race had passed. It was time for the Human Race to step onto the stage of the Primordial World.

The future would be the Human Race's golden age. The Demon Race still posed a threat, but as the Human Race grew stronger, it would be able to resolve that threat itself. Li Yu would no longer need to stand nearby as its guardian.

It was time for Li Yu to withdraw from the Human Race's history. The Human Sect's future direction lay in the Heavenly Court established by the Dao Ancestor.

After lingering for a while amid the Demon Court's ruins, Li Yu went to Mount Buzhou.

There were no longer any members of the Wu Clan here either. Presumably, before the final battle, those Wu Clan members who had not gone to fight and had been preserved as part of their bloodline's continuation had already left Mount Buzhou.

Li Yu had no desire to investigate where they had gone. The surviving Wu Clan posed even less threat to the Human Race, but so long as they remained in the Primordial World, they would meet again someday.

Within Human Race territory, Li Yu found Red Boy and brought him back with him to Five Villages Temple.

The Witch-Demon Calamity had ended, and no one needed to continue cultivating in seclusion at Five Villages Temple. Hongyun took Red Boy, and father and son returned to their former cave dwelling. Li Yu also bade Zhen Yuanzi farewell, though Zhu Lingzi remained at Five Villages Temple as before.

Li Yu returned to his dojo in the Eastern Sea. From afar, it seemed even more beautiful than he remembered, more like an immortal island secluded from the world.

In truth, after he had moved away Bitter Bamboo, the island's most precious innate spiritual root, its other spiritual fruits, though valuable, were no longer enough to make others covet them.

Li Yu had returned this time to see whether he could refine this immortal island into a treasure. He did not seek particularly high quality; it only needed to be portable, like a grotto-heaven carried at his side.

Black Armor, who had been cultivating, suddenly sensed something. He looked up at the immortal island, joy rising in his heart, and immediately hurried back.

"Black Armor greets Master!"

Li Yu looked at the little turtle before him. All these years, Black Armor had guarded this island tirelessly and without complaint.