The Last Oriole

"Space, swap!"

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

The Four Swords of Immortal Execution, scattered around Luo Hou with their light dimmed, vanished into thin air right under Hongjun's nose. The next instant, they appeared inside the twisted spatial rift!

"Who's there?!"

Hongjun's expression changed drastically. His ancient-well calm, unbroken for ten thousand years, finally shattered.

He swung the Pangu Banner, sending Chaos Sword Qi that could tear through Primordial Chaos hurtling toward the spatial rift.

Riiiip—

The spatial rift was torn open by force. Dijiang stepped out, toying with the Heaven-and-Earth Cauldron in his hand. The Four Swords of Immortal Execution floated behind him, and a mocking sneer curled his lips.

"Daoist Hongjun, you can't keep all the merit for slaying the demon and defending the Dao to yourself."

Dijiang spoke mildly as he watched Hongjun's face turn livid.

"Who are you?"

Sensing the Primordial Origin Golden Immortal auras radiating from Dijiang and the others, Hongjun's face shifted from green to white. He had never expected to become the snipe and clam, with Dijiang and his companions the orioles waiting behind him.

Hongjun searched his memory for every old monster still alive in the Primordial World, but none matched them.

Dijiang had no intention of announcing himself before a fight. Hongjun could keep guessing.

Then he moved toward the Taiji Diagram.

"How dare you, brat!"

When Dijiang reached for the Taiji Diagram, Hongjun, who never let joy or anger show, finally lost his composure.

Losing the Five-Elements Pagoda and the Heaven-and-Earth Cauldron was one thing. But the Taiji Diagram was an Innate Supreme Treasure formed from the back of the Heaven-Opening Axe. He could not lose it!

With an angry shout, Hongjun poured every last drop of his Peak Primordial Golden Immortal power into the Pangu Banner.

Boom!

The Pangu Banner swelled in the wind. With a violent shake, terrifying Chaos Sword Qi capable of tearing through Primordial Chaos crossed the distance in an instant and slashed straight at Dijiang's face.

Hongjun was truly furious. He swore to kill this unknown variable with a single strike!

Yet faced with that world-destroying blow, Dijiang did not even raise an eyelid. His hand did not pause as it reached for the Taiji Diagram.

"My elder brother is claiming a treasure. Who are you to stop him?"

Beside Dijiang, Zhu Jiuyin took a step forward.

His eyes opened and closed. In his left eye, a blazing sun fell; in his right, a bright moon rose. The vast phantom of the River of Time descended upon Hongjun and his Chaos Sword Qi.

"Time, halt!"

Hum—!

Under the Time Law, that wildly violent Chaos Sword Qi stopped in midair for the briefest instant.

Even Hongjun's charging figure seemed to sink into a quagmire, freezing for a split second.

For someone of Hongjun's power, that halt lasted less than a thousandth of an instant. Clear light flashed from the Jade Disc of Creation above his head, and he forcibly broke free of the Time Law's restraint.

But when masters clashed, a thousandth of an instant was enough to decide everything.

Swish!

Dijiang's hand passed unhindered through the void and seized the Taiji Diagram, which radiated yin and yang energies. He then tossed it into his own spatial dimension.

Boom!

Only then did the Chaos Sword Qi strike. It shattered nothing but the spatial afterimage Dijiang had left behind.

"The Time Law?! The Space Law?!"

Hongjun steadied himself and stared hard at Dijiang and Zhu Jiuyin. His gaze swept over the ten figures behind them, each radiating a Primordial Origin Golden Immortal aura and wreathed in a different Dao law. Shock he could no longer conceal rose in his eyes.

Twelve Primordial Origin Golden Immortals!

And every one of them controlled a complete Dao law!

When had such a terrifying force arisen unnoticed in the Primordial World?!

"Hahaha! Hahahahaha!"

Just as Hongjun wavered between suspicion and alarm, Luo Hou, grievously wounded and near death in the ruins below, burst into crazed laughter.

"You old dog, Hongjun! You schemed your whole life and fed three old friends to the formation. You thought you could swallow this heaven-sent opportunity whole, only to stitch the wedding robe for someone else!"

Luo Hou coughed black blood as he watched Hongjun's frustration with a gaze full of venom and satisfaction.

"What are you laughing at? Do you think you'll survive today?" Hongjun asked coldly, his face livid.

"Survive? My source is shattered. Of course I won't."

The smile vanished from Luo Hou's face, replaced by utter madness and resolve.

"But even in death, I won't let a hypocrite like you have your way!"

"Heaven's Way, bear witness!"

Luo Hou forced himself upright and burned the last trace of his Devil Dao source. His piercing voice rang throughout the Primordial World.

"I am Demon Ancestor Luohu! Though I fall today, the Devil Dao shall never die! I vow to turn myself into an otherworldly devil. Henceforth, when the Dao wanes, the devil shall rise; when the Dao climbs one foot, the devil shall climb ten! All beings of the Primordial World who harbor the seven emotions and six desires shall face the tribulation of the heavenly devil!"

"Western Lands' ley lines, explode!!!"

BOOM—!!!

With Luo Hou's final act of madness, his broken body exploded.

At the same time, the ley lines across the Western Continent, drained wildly by the Sword Formation of Immortal Execution and detonated by Luo Hou, lost all balance and erupted in a world-destroying explosion!

Earth, water, fire, and wind gushed forth without end. Spiritual veins snapped inch by inch. The Western Continent, once a land of blessed grottos, was reduced to barren, scorched earth.

"Luo Hou! You're insane!"

Hongjun's face changed drastically.

The destruction of the Western Lands' ley lines would bring boundless karmic debt!

Luo Hou had detonated them, but Hongjun had driven him to his death. When Heaven's Way settled the accounts, he would have to shoulder at least half that karmic burden!

If he did not suppress the ley lines at once, forget attaining sainthood—the crushing karmic debt would destroy the foundation of his Dao!

Hongjun could no longer spare a thought for seizing the treasures or investigating Dijiang and his companions. He hurriedly brought out the Jade Disc of Creation and the Pangu Banner, throwing all his strength into suppressing the rampaging ley lines and the ravaging storm of destruction.

"A fine opportunity."

Dijiang stood in the void, watching Hongjun scramble. A cold smile touched his lips.

His gaze flashed like lightning and locked onto two ownerless objects bobbing in the storm of destruction after Luo Hou's self-detonation: a black spear wreathed in towering Baleful Energy and a dim Twelve-Grade Black Lotus.

The God-Slaying Spear!

The Twelfth-Grade World-Destroying Black Lotus!

"I'll take those!"

Without a shred of courtesy, Dijiang shaped the Space Law into two invisible hands. They reached straight into the heart of the storm, seized the two supreme treasures of the Devil Dao, and drew them into his possession.

Thus, Dijiang alone claimed the Four Swords of Immortal Execution, the Heaven-and-Earth Cauldron, the Taiji Diagram, the God-Slaying Spear, and the Twelfth-Grade World-Destroying Black Lotus.

He had become the last oriole in the Dao-Devil War—and its greatest victor.

"Daoist Hongjun, thanks for taking care of this mess in the Western Lands. We have urgent business, so we won't keep you company. Until we meet again!"

Dijiang laughed, his voice echoing over the chaotic Western Continent.

Then he swept his sleeve, and silver Space Law enveloped all Twelve Ancestral Witches.