Calamity

The moment Dijiang's words fell, his brows suddenly knitted tight. A violent, unprovoked palpitation surged from his heart.

This palpitation did not stem from danger in the outside world, but from the depths of his soul—the frenzied resonance of Pangu bloodlines born from the same source!

"Big Brother, what is it?" Houtu and Xuanming keenly sensed the fluctuation in Dijiang's aura and immediately scanned their surroundings with vigilance.

"It's Zhu Rong and Zhu Jiuyin!"

Dijiang's gaze instantly turned icy. The silver Space Law in his eyes gathered madly like a storm. "Due south, near the Undying Volcano. Their auras are in utter disarray. They've run into someone tough!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Dijiang tore forward with both hands.

Riiip!

The sturdy space of the Primordial World was ripped apart like a fragile painting, revealing a pitch-black, bottomless spatial passage.

"Go!"

With a sweep of his sleeve, Dijiang brought Houtu and Xuanming with him as he stepped into it.

Meanwhile, within the Ten Thousand Mountains of the Southern Continent of the Primordial World, less than a hundred million li from the Phoenix Clan's stronghold, the Undying Volcano.

This place had already become a purgatorial sea of flames.

The heavens had been burned crimson, the earth had split apart, and magma spewed forth.

"Good! Come again, you old bastard!"

Zhu Rong was drenched in blood, his once handsome face now filled with madness and wild defiance.

His upper body was bare, and violent, peerless Southern Bright Flame blazed across his skin. Every punch he threw carried terrifying force capable of burning the heavens and boiling the seas.

At his side, Tian Wu, the Ancestor Witch of Wind, was surrounded by Nine Heavens Astral Wind capable of tearing apart everything.

The wind fed the flames, increasing the might of Zhu Rong's Southern Bright Flame by severalfold.

Behind them, Zhu Jiuyin, the Ancestor Witch of Time, was pale as paper. His eyes were fixed on the enemy ahead, and with every opening and closing of his eyes, a phantom River of Time circled around him.

Whenever a lethal attack came at them, Zhu Jiuyin would endure the piercing pain in his Primordial Spirit and forcibly stir the Time Law, causing time in that region to briefly halt or slow. Again and again, he narrowly saved Zhu Rong and Tian Wu.

Though all three of them were Early Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals with incomparably powerful fleshly bodies, they were being completely suppressed and could only defend themselves in wretched fashion.

Because standing across from them were two elderly men clad in scarlet feathered robes, each surrounded by the terrifying pressure of a Late Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal!

They were elders of the Phoenix Clan.

"You insects know neither life nor death. Your fleshly bodies are rather strange, to be able to withstand my Phoenix Clan's Nirvana Divine Flame head-on."

A flicker of greed and ruthlessness passed through one Phoenix Clan elder's eyes as he stared fixedly at the crystal Zhu Rong clenched tightly in his hand, radiating seven-colored rays.

It was a Seven-Colored Fire Li Stone condensed from the Primordial Fire Origin!

Zhu Rong and the others had traveled here and, after much difficulty, broken through the restrictions of an innate grand formation to obtain this object. Yet the moment they emerged from the formation, they ran into these two Phoenix Clan elders patrolling the area.

Coveting the treasure, the pair relied on their superior cultivation and directly moved to seize it by force.

"Second Brother, stop wasting time with them. This may be the south, but there are plenty of Dragon Clan and Kirinkind spies here too. Delay may breed trouble. Use our origins and kill them outright. Draw out their essence blood and see just what sort of beings they are!"

The other Phoenix Clan elder snorted coldly and rapidly formed hand seals.

Screeeech—!

Accompanied by a phoenix cry that pierced the Nine Heavens, enormous phantoms of pure-blooded fire phoenixes, vast enough to blot out the sky and cover the earth, emerged behind the two elders.

Two streams of Late Great Principal mana fused together without reservation, transforming into a colossal flaming sword ten thousand zhang long, burning with world-destroying black flames.

"Die!"

The giant sword came crashing down, sealing off every possible avenue of escape in the surrounding space.

This strike was enough to instantly erase an ordinary Mid-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal!

"We can't block it..." Tian Wu gritted his teeth, preparing to manifest his true Ancestor Witch form and fight to the death.

Blood streamed from Zhu Jiuyin's eyes. The Time Law operated beyond its limits, yet he still could not fully freeze this killing blow that surpassed him by two minor realms.

Zhu Rong threw back his head and laughed wildly. There was not the slightest fear in his eyes—only endless madness. "You want to kill your grandpa? Even if I die, I'll still smash out two of your front teeth!"

Just as the three great Ancestor Witches were about to stake everything on this desperate moment.

The void above their heads suddenly twisted violently without warning.

Then, an icy voice, as though it had come from the Nine Nether Abyss, pierced through the sea of flames and rang between heaven and earth:

"Who does your Phoenix Clan think it can kill?"

The voice was not loud, yet it carried an unquestionable, supreme dominance.

Before the words had faded, a slender, fair hand casually reached out from the distorted void.

The hand made no flashy movement. It merely faced the ten-thousand-zhang flaming sword descending upon them and gently closed its five fingers.

"Space, annihilate."

Buzzz—!

In an instant, the space surrounding that giant sword, formed from the full power of two Late Great Principal Phoenix Clan elders, became like a ball of paper being frantically kneaded by an invisible giant hand.

Crack, crack...

Under the ghost-stricken gazes of the two Phoenix Clan elders, that sword capable of destroying heaven and earth shattered inch by inch in midair, turning into sparks that filled the sky. Not even a trace of residual force reached Zhu Rong and the other two!

The void split completely open.

Dijiang, dressed in azure robes with black hair cascading like a waterfall, stepped out of the void with his hands behind his back.

Houtu and Xuanming followed close behind, standing at his left and right.

"Big Brother!!"

At the sight of that familiar figure, Zhu Rong, who had already prepared himself for death, suddenly reddened around the eyes and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Zhu Jiuyin and Tian Wu also let out long breaths of relief. Once the taut strings in their hearts loosened, they nearly collapsed to the ground.

Dijiang swept his gaze over his three younger brothers, covered from head to toe in blood. His eyes instantly turned cold to the extreme.

He turned toward the two Phoenix Clan elders, whose faces were full of uncertainty and alarm, his voice carrying undisguised, biting killing intent:

"My younger brothers—are they people you can lay a hand on?!"

Dijiang's voice was not loud, but every word struck like thunder, freezing even the rolling magma below in an instant.

The two Phoenix Clan elders stared fixedly at Dijiang, who stood in the air. Sensing the aura of an Early Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal on him, their eyes flickered with uncertainty.

"Early Zenith Heaven? How is that possible!"

The casual move with which he had crushed their combined attack was absolutely not something an Early Zenith Heaven could accomplish.

"Who are you?"

One of the Phoenix Clan elders forcefully suppressed the unease in his heart and barked with a fierce front hiding inner weakness, "This is Phoenix Clan territory. These three thieves stole our Phoenix Clan's supreme treasure, the Seven-Colored Fire Li Stone. Does Your Excellency intend to become enemies with my entire Phoenix Clan for the sake of a few insects?!"

He directly invoked the Phoenix Clan as a towering mountain, attempting to use the prestige of one of the three great overlords to cow his opponent.

"Stole? Thieves?"

Dijiang laughed in extreme anger, his laughter filled with boundless mockery.

"Treasure is bestowed by heaven and belongs to the virtuous. My younger brothers relied on their own ability to break an innate formation and obtain a Spirit Treasure, yet in your mouths, it has become the theft of your supreme treasure?"

Dijiang's gaze suddenly turned cold. Silver Space Law danced madly around him, warping even the light in the surrounding area.

"As for becoming enemies with the Phoenix Clan?"