"Big brother, you..."
At Ancestral Dragon's words, a bad feeling stirred in Candle Dragon's heart. He, too, was a powerhouse beyond the Great Firmament Realm. Though he could not compare to his elder brother, even the faintest premonition meant something profound to him. And this feeling had lingered in his heart since it appeared, spreading without cease.
"Don't worry. I won't die."
Ancestral Dragon reached out and patted Candle Dragon's shoulder. "Go on. Reassure our people. I'll be in seclusion for a while to heal."
"Yes, big brother."
Candle Dragon nodded. Worry and hesitation still lingered in his eyes, but he turned and left.
The vast Dragon Palace fell silent. Ancestral Dragon sat alone on his cold throne, gazing across the empty hall.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
After a moment, Ancestral Dragon's chest heaved with a harsh, muffled cough. Pale golden blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Has my Dragon Clan's fortune been eaten away by karma to this pitiful state...?"
A tiny dragon appeared in Ancestral Dragon's palm. It lay limp and listless, its form almost translucent.
It was the embodiment of the Dragon Clan's fortune.
When he had led the Dragon Clan to rule the entire Scaled Lineage, this dragon of fortune had been sturdy, vigorous, and brimming with life.
But now...
Ancestral Dragon looked at the faint, withered Fortune Golden Dragon in his palm. Resolve flashed through his eyes.
He knew the Dragon Clan stood at the brink of extinction.
Once Luo Hou's Sword Formation of Immortal Execution was complete, the three clans would meet their end. Worse still, boundless karma clung to the Dragon Clan like a disease gnawing at their bones, devouring their last chance of survival.
"I, Ancestral Dragon, have stood proud all my life. How could I let the Dragon Clan's bloodline end here?"
Ancestral Dragon sprang to his feet. Ignoring the tearing pain within him, he forced his remaining power into motion and became a streak of golden light that shot out of the Eastern Sea toward the Nine Heavens.
At the same time, deep within the Undying Volcano, Yuanfeng dragged her broken wings behind her. She raised her head and let out a piercing phoenix cry, then turned into a blazing fireball and soared skyward.
At the Northern Kirin Cliffs, Primordial Qilin was drenched in blood. Every step left a deep, bloody print upon the earth, yet he pressed on, shattering the void beneath his feet as he rose into the clouds.
The three rulers who had once towered over the Primordial World made the same choice.
High in the Nine Heavens, fierce winds howled.
Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin looked at one another from afar. The hatred that had driven them to slaughter was gone. In their eyes remained only the grief and resolve of those who shared the same fate.
"Old loach. Sanctimonious fraud. We fought our whole lives, yet we've come to the same end."
Yuanfeng gave a bitter laugh. Endless weariness filled her voice.
"Heaven's Way schemed against us, and the Epochal Tribulation showed no mercy. We were nothing but pawns." Primordial Qilin sighed.
Ancestral Dragon drew a deep breath, his gaze hardening. "Enough talk. Let's begin. It's the only way our clans will survive!"
The three exchanged a glance and nodded together.
In the next instant, three terrifying auras beyond the Great Firmament Realm erupted and surged into the sky, shaking the entire Primordial World.
"Heaven's Way, bear witness!"
Ancestral Dragon's voice rolled like thunder into every corner of the Primordial World.
"I am Ancestral Dragon, leader of the Dragon Clan! In our struggle to rule heaven and earth, the Dragon Clan committed boundless slaughter, amassed grievous karma, and brought ruin upon countless lives. I offer myself in atonement. I shall imprison myself within the East Sea Eye, forever guard the Sea Eye of the Four Seas, and set the waterways of the Primordial World in order!
"From this day on, the Dragon Clan withdraws from the struggle for dominion over the Primordial World and retreats to the Four Seas. They shall not emerge unless an Epochal Tribulation comes. May Heaven's Way bear witness!"
"I am Yuanfeng, leader of the Phoenix Clan! The Phoenix Clan's sins of slaughter weigh heavily upon us. I offer myself in atonement. I shall forever guard the Undying Volcano and set the earth's fires in order. From this day on, the Phoenix Clan withdraws from the struggle for dominion over the Primordial World and retreats to the Southern Bright Undying Mountain. They shall not emerge unless an Epochal Tribulation comes! May Heaven's Way bear witness!"
"I am Primordial Qilin, leader of the Qilin Clan! Karma coils around my clan. I offer my body to become Qilin Cliff, forever guarding the Primordial Wilderness and setting its earth veins in order. From this day on, the Qilin Clan withdraws from the struggle for dominion over the Primordial World and becomes a clan of auspicious beasts. They shall not emerge unless an Epochal Tribulation comes! May Heaven's Way bear witness!"
Rumble!
As their vows rang out, a vast rift suddenly split the sky above the Nine Heavens, where endless clouds of tribulation had gathered.
Within the rift, an immense eye slowly appeared, cold, merciless, and devoid of all emotion.
The Eye of the Heavenly Dao!
The Eye of the Heavenly Dao gazed down at the three of them. A moment later, three dazzling beams of Black-Yellow Golden Light of Merit descended.
Vast as the Golden Light of Merit was, it did not enter their bodies. Instead, the three beams fell upon the Four Seas, the Undying Volcano, and Qilin Cliff. They became their clans' last chance of survival, offsetting the terrible karma that would have wiped them out.
"Thank you, Heaven's Way!"
Seeing their clans' karma dissipate, Ancestral Dragon and the others finally smiled in relief.
Then, drawn by Heaven's Way Power, Ancestral Dragon's colossal body became a streak of light and plunged into the Sea Eye at the bottom of the Eastern Sea. Yuanfeng became an undying mass of Southern Bright Flame and merged with the lava of the Undying Volcano. Primordial Qilin's body broke apart with a roar and became the towering Qilin Cliff, holding down the earth veins of the Central Continent.
Thus, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans, once unrivaled rulers, left the stage of the Primordial World for good.
On Mount Sumeru in the Western Lands.
Luo Hou, deep in seclusion to heal, snapped his eyes open. Sensing that more than half the Tribulation Aura between heaven and earth had suddenly vanished, his face turned livid.
"Damn it! Those three fools swore an oath to Heaven's Way and sacrificed themselves to hold the Primordial World in place?!"
Luo Hou trembled with rage.
With the three clans abandoning their struggle for supremacy, the Baleful Energy and resentment between heaven and earth dwindled in an instant. His Sword Formation of Immortal Execution, one step from completion, had lost the very source that fed it!
Luo Hou threw back his head and roared, Demonic Qi surging into the sky.
He knew that with the three clans gone, the next conflict would be between him and Hongjun.
He knew Hongjun was a sanctimonious, scheming old bastard.
And Hongjun had connections everywhere.
Next, Hongjun would surely gather the great powers of the Primordial World and come after him with righteousness on his side!
He had forged the Four Swords of Immortal Execution precisely to prepare for that day. Now that the three clans had withdrawn, he lacked the sacrifices he needed. His odds of victory had been cut in half!
"I can only use the power of the earth veins to nurture them now."
A trace of desperate resolve flashed through Luo Hou's eyes.
He struck his chest, forcing out three drops of dark-golden demonic blood from his very essence, and drove them into the Immortal Execution Formation Diagram.
"With my essence, I offer a blood sacrifice to this killing formation! Four Swords of Immortal Execution, devour!"
Boom!
Beneath Mount Sumeru, the Four Swords of Immortal Execution, which had fallen dormant, erupted once more with blinding blood-red light.
This time, they did not absorb the Baleful Energy of the battlefield. Instead, their sword energy stabbed deep into the earth veins of the Western Continent and began madly drawing out the essence of the entire land!
Luo Hou meant to destroy the whole Western Continent to force the Sword Formation of Immortal Execution to completion!
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