Amid the clanging of hammer blows, a jar appeared in the Thunder Sea of the Myriad Dragon Nest. Ancient and weathered, it radiated a sacred, majestic aura.
The aura it gave off was profoundly mysterious and impossible to fathom.
It was the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar, forged by Li Ming from his former body.
Faint shadows of the stars throughout the heavens and all living things could be seen upon it.
Countless mysterious patterns interwove across it, forming supreme Grand Dao Laws and order.
Rumble!
Under Li Ming's guidance, endless Grand Dao Runes rose from the Thunder Sea of the Chaotic Dragon Nest. They became dazzling light that enveloped the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar.
The Immortal Dao Runes within that terrifying thunder were not to be underestimated.
Those endless thunder runes were like the finest hammers in the world, tempering the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar with supreme Grand Dao Runes.
Under that terrifying pounding, countless dense, mysterious Grand Dao Runes appeared on the jar.
Before long, it was covered in a dense web of cracks.
Yes.
Li Ming had first forged his own body into the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar, then shattered it with his own hands.
He intended to fuse it with countless heavenly treasures.
Rumble!
The Great Dao Flame and terrifying thunder hammered furiously at the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar.
Li Ming also used the Origin Essence Blood he had taken from those Dark Supremes to temper it.
Who else had so many astonishing materials when forging an Extreme Dao Weapon?
Now, Li Ming was using only the finest materials he could find to forge the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar.
Heavenly treasures and divine-grade materials piled up like mountains beside him.
All kinds of Immortal Gold, Chaos Divine Marrow, Mother Qi of All Things, and rare materials from the Immortal Domain gleamed with dazzling brilliance.
Every material was an exceedingly rare divine-grade treasure, enough on its own to forge an Extreme Dao Weapon.
Once melted, they fused with the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar and condensed anew into a wholly transformed jar.
Hum, hum, hum.
Li Ming sat cross-legged, golden light flashing in his eyes. Endless Grand Dao Runes flickered within them, as though he could see through every secret in the world.
His Chaotic Body had now transformed to perfection. His understanding and command of the Myriad Dao of Heaven and Earth had truly reached a level that shook the ancients and dazzled the present.
Resonating with the Myriad Dao of Heaven and Earth, he drew one complete Divine Chain of Order after another from the nine-colored Thunder Sea of the Chaotic Dragon Nest and fused them into the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar.
Endless visions manifested, accompanied by what sounded like the distant roars of gods and demons.
Endless Nine-Colored Divine Thunder and Chaotic Divine Thunder flew into the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar.
Day after day passed.
Then, one day, an earth-shaking crash suddenly rang out.
The Devouring Heaven Demon Jar was finally complete.
"Although it hasn't become an Immortal Weapon, the Immortal Dao Runes flashing across it show that it's rapidly evolving toward one..."
"Just like the Heavenly Demonic Saber. Perhaps one day it'll suddenly transform into an Immortal Weapon..."
Taking the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar with him, Li Ming left Myriad Dragons City and that world, returning to Ziwei Star.
He went above the Falling Star River and casually tossed the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar, which looked like an ordinary earthenware jar, into the water.
It fell like a meteor from the sky.
With a splash, it struck the Falling Star River.
It bobbed in the water, then sank to the bottom, swept away to parts unknown by the current.
"I wonder which lucky person will get their hands on this jar?"
"Why did the Ruthless Empress in the original story let the jar wander the world without ever taking it back?"
"There must be a reason!"
"I don't understand it, but that doesn't stop me from doing the same."
"Giving a treasure to someone fated to receive it might itself be a way to comprehend the Dao and cultivate through the trials of the mortal world!"
Li Ming gathered up the entire world of the Myriad Dragon Nest and moved it to the Reincarnation Sea Forbidden Zone.
After twelve thousand years of cultivating and comprehending the Dao inside the Chaotic Dragon Nest, Li Ming emerged.
Barring any accidents, Li Ming believed that after transforming into a complete Chaotic Body, he could live at least thirty thousand years in this lifetime.
Over those twelve thousand years of contemplation, he had found a way to live out his Third Lifetime within the Chaotic Dragon Nest.
He did not transform immediately. Instead, he left the Chaotic Dragon Nest and emerged from the Chaos Sea.
His gaze turned toward the Primordial Ancient Star—Earth, as it was called at this time.
He looked toward the Kunlun Mountain Forbidden Zone, home of the Kunlun Immortal Race.
"Since Emperor Zun could use Kunlun Mountain to create the Immortal Ascension Cauldron, and even indirectly bring about the Tongtian Nether Treasure, an Immortal Weapon..."
"Then perhaps my Heavenly Demonic Saber can become an Immortal Weapon ahead of its time."
Li Ming's Heavenly Demonic Saber had drawn closer and closer to becoming an Immortal Weapon.
Yet something was still missing.
Looking at the Immortal Dao Runes shining across it, he decided to forge the saber at Kunlun Mountain and turn it into a true Immortal Weapon.
Rumble!
Terrifying thunder pealed.
Kunlun Mountain shook violently, and chaotic qi surged like raging waves.
The violent aura unique to the Demon Venerable shot into the sky, instantly sweeping across the Primordial Ancient Star and the Kunlun Mountain Forbidden Zone.
Every living creature trembled in fear when it sensed that dreadful aura.
They had sensed the Demon Venerable's unmistakable aura more than once before.
"What?"
"The Demon Venerable has emerged again?"
"Is he going to attack the Kunlun Restricted Area?"
The Demon Venerable's aura rolled outward, and countless visions appeared throughout the universe.
The many Dark Supremes were awakened once more.
They all looked toward the Primordial Ancient Star and that terrifying figure.
The many Quasi-Venerables and Great Saints suddenly felt a chill of terror.
The Demon Venerable's aura was so powerful and domineering that it shook the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. All living things had to submit and bow before him.
Li Ming stepped forward, chaotic qi surging around him like a boundless sea.
Dazzling bolts of thunder coiled around his body, while radiant Immortal Ascension Light fell from above his head like a galaxy.
The countless beings of the Primordial Ancient Star looked upon that godlike figure and bowed in worship.
Countless Extreme Dao Formations across Kunlun Mountain activated at once to protect it.
Innumerable Immortal Dao Runes flew into the air to resist that terrifying aura.
But the moment they touched the dreadful aura around Li Ming, the formations collapsed as though they had never existed.
"The Demon Venerable has entered the Primordial Ancient Star!"
"He's set his sights on Kunlun Mountain!"
"Is the Demon Venerable going to attack Kunlun Mountain?"
"Could he be after the Kunlun Immortal Bell?"
"The Supremes of Kunlun Mountain are unbearably arrogant. At last, they've met someone who'll put them in their place! Hahaha..."
Sensing the Demon Venerable's earth-shaking aura, powerful figures throughout the universe activated their formations to watch everything happening on the Primordial Ancient Star.
When the Demon Venerable attained Enlightenment as Supreme, nearly everyone who had attacked him was killed.
Those who survived had paid a heavy price, surrendering countless treasures to buy their lives.
No one knew how Kunlun Mountain had offended the Demon Venerable, but now he had set his sights on it.
It seemed the Kunlun Immortal Race was in deep trouble.
Li Ming knew that the Kunlun Mountain Forbidden Zone held many Dark Supremes, almost all of them from the Kunlun Immortal Race.
He had initially wondered whether provoking this Forbidden Zone without warning would bring trouble, whether he was overestimating himself.
But then he thought: if Emperor Zun had been able to attack Kunlun Mountain and destroy the Kunlun Immortal Race there, then by comparison, Li Ming should be able to do it alone.
So he had come alone.
Chaos Thunder roared, its vast aura rolling outward.
No powerful figure had set foot on Kunlun Mountain in ages. Now Li Ming had arrived.
"Stop there, Demon Venerable! This is the territory of the Kunlun Immortal Race!"
"Demon Venerable, what do you want?"
"If you've come as a guest, we naturally welcome you. But why arrive with such threatening force?"
One cold voice after another rang out, plainly belonging to the awakened Dark Supremes.
Supreme Zhulong, Hu She, Xiangliu, Jiuying, Taotie, Qiongqi, Taowu, Zhuyan, Bai Ze, Lu Wu...
Good grief. Li Ming had only just stepped into the Kunlun Mountain Forbidden Zone, yet he already sensed the auras of ten Dark Supremes.
Every one of them was a renowned figure of legend.
They all belonged to the Kunlun Immortal Race.
They were not of the same species. Rather, because they lived together on Kunlun Mountain, they shared a collective name and were known as the Kunlun Immortal Race.
Li Ming had not expected so many Dark Supremes here. No wonder ordinary people dared not provoke Kunlun Mountain.
"Demon Venerable, do you intend to flatten Kunlun Mountain?"
"You've chosen the wrong enemies!"
The Dark Supremes' voices were icy. Clearly, Li Ming was not welcome.
Li Ming was just as cold.
The Heavenly Demonic Saber appeared in his hand. Its killing intent and chaotic qi rolled outward, sweeping across the entire Kunlun Mountain Forbidden Zone.
"I'm going to forge the Heavenly Demonic Saber into an Immortal Weapon here!"
"I need this place's Immortal Dao Runes—and the Kunlun Immortal Bell!"
Li Ming looked at Kunlun Mountain's ten Dark Supremes and walked forward, step by step.
It was as though he took none of them seriously.
The Dark Supremes fell silent, but anger blazed in their hearts.
Li Ming was provoking them!
Had he come to discuss the matter politely, bearing gifts and asking to use some of Kunlun Mountain's mysterious sites, they might have allowed it.
Instead, Li Ming had drawn the Heavenly Demonic Saber outright, looking ready to kill and burn everything down at the slightest disagreement.
It had been ages since they had encountered anyone so arrogant that he dared to press them like this.
"Stop at once!"
"Demon Venerable, you've gone too far!"
"Take one more step and see what happens!"
The ten Dark Supremes sealed within Kunlun Mountain unleashed earth-shaking Dao shouts that made stars across the universe burst apart.
"Heh..."
"What would I be afraid of?"
"You rats, get out here—all of you!"
Li Ming stamped down on Kunlun Mountain. With a thunderous crash, countless formations and mountains shattered.
Even the Immortal Source encasing the sealed Dark Supremes burst apart.
Countless rocks flew into the starry sky, smashing one star after another.
The entire Primordial Ancient Star shook as though struck by a cataclysm.
He kept the ripples of the Dao confined to Kunlun Mountain, sparing the Sacred Spirits of the Primordial Ancient Star from heavy casualties.
Li Ming's approach was that simple and brutal: he looked determined to flatten Kunlun Mountain.
The terrifying aura spread throughout the world, leaving everyone incredulous.
Li Ming had truly attacked Kunlun Mountain.
With a thunderous crash, a terrifying battle erupted.
The blocks of Immortal Source shattered. The ten Dark Supremes struck with their Extreme Dao Weapons and the Kunlun Immortal Bell.
With a single step, they reached the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland and the Mythical Battlefield.
They knew that fighting on the Primordial Ancient Star would destroy the entire planet, along with Kunlun Mountain.
By unspoken agreement, they waged their earth-shaking battle among the stars.
Dazzling light illuminated the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. Terrifying ripples of the Dao shook them all.
Everyone was stunned by the battle.
The light from the Heavenly Demonic Saber blazed like Immortal Light.
Every sweep cleaved a Dark Supreme apart.
The Dark Supremes' essence blood stained the starry sky red.
Each of the ten Dark Supremes possessed a Forbidden Secret Art of their own.
Attacking together and aided by the Kunlun Immortal Bell, they managed to withstand Li Ming's terrifying assault.
One expanse of stars after another was destroyed. Their battle was simply too dreadful.
To everyone's astonishment, even with the Kunlun Immortal Bell shielding them, Li Ming drove the ten Dark Supremes back again and again.
It was not that they lacked courage. Li Ming was simply too strong.
Every Dark Supreme had once ruled the world and possessed an invincible conviction, believing themselves the strongest of all.
But now, Li Ming alone was driving them back.
No one knew how the battle had unfolded. They only knew that the blood of the ten Dark Supremes had stained the starry sky red.
The Dark Supremes were being killed and forced back at every turn.
Crimson radiance rose again and again, only to be smashed apart each time.
"Demon Venerable, you truly are powerful!"
"But if you force us into Extreme Sublimation, we can drag you down with us!"
"Demon Venerable, why don't we both take a step back?"
"Go ahead and use Kunlun Mountain's secret realm to forge your Heavenly Demonic Saber!"
"Kill!" Blood had already been spilled. How could Li Ming possibly sheathe his blade?
Boom after boom rang out. The Myriad Dao of Heaven and Earth wailed as one Dark Supreme after another burst into ash, their blood staining the cosmos.
"Supreme Zhulong has been killed!"
"Supreme Huashe has been killed!"
"Supreme Bai Ze has been killed!"
"..."
Cries of astonishment rose from the crowd. They could scarcely believe it.
Li Ming had challenged the Kunlun Mountain Forbidden Zone alone, yet he was killing Dark Supremes one after another as easily as slaughtering chickens and dogs.
As their bodies burst apart, vast swaths of chaos at the edge of the universe were dyed red.
Sky Cry descended upon heaven and earth. Everywhere, bloody winds and rains swept through the skies amid the wailing of ghosts and the howling of gods.
Such a sight appeared only when a Dark Supreme fell.
The other Dark Supremes watched from afar. Seeing that Li Ming had grown even stronger, they feared him deeply.
Every Dark Supreme fell silent, staring in stunned disbelief.
Blood-red radiance shot skyward from the Cosmic Frontier Wasteland. One Dark Supreme after another entered Extreme Sublimation, seeking to regain their peak strength.
But that was all they could do.
They were no match for Li Ming.
Some were shattered by a punch; others were cleaved apart by his saber.
Heaven and earth cracked. Ruin swept across all creation.
The wailing of ghosts and the howling of gods sounded everywhere.
Dazzling Immortal Ascension Light blossomed.
Terrifying Chaos Thunder flashed.
Li Ming had single-handedly driven the ten Dark Supremes to the brink of collapse.
Their bodies were blown apart, and moonlight surged like a boundless sea.
No one had imagined that, after so many years of peace and quiet, Divine War would suddenly erupt again.
Far too many Dark Supremes had fallen this time.
Far too many had died at Li Ming's hands.
No one had imagined that something so terrible would happen in the final years of the Age of Mythology.
Li Ming truly lived up to his title of Demon Venerable.
He had always done as he pleased, with no regard for morality or justice.
Who could have imagined that, merely to turn the Heavenly Demonic Saber into an Immortal Weapon, he would storm Kunlun Mountain and kill its Dark Supremes?
"Are all ten Dark Supremes dead?"
"The Demon Venerable killed ten Dark Supremes by himself?"
After a moment of silence, dazzling light burst forth once more.
Drawing on the Origin Essence Blood they had left within the Kunlun Immortal Bell, the Dark Supremes revived.
It was not that they possessed undying bodies. The Kunlun Immortal Bell was simply that mysterious and powerful.
Li Ming looked at them, his face full of disdain.
So what if they had come back to life?
A flash of brilliant saber light swept past, like the most resplendent Eternal Immortal Light in the world.
Carrying endless chaos and thunder, along with Great Dao Chains, it swept toward the Dark Supremes.
Pfft, pfft, pfft...
One Dark Supreme after another was cut down just like that.
Who could have imagined that the renowned Kunlun Immortal Race would become history so easily?
A single slash swept across the sky. Heaven and earth lost their color, and the sun and moon went dark.
One Dark Supreme after another was driven into a desperate corner.
Saber light blazed, overwhelming and fierce, like a flying immortal descending from beyond the heavens.
The saber light poured forth without end, its murderous aura shaking the entire universe.
All living beings throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands saw that streak of red saber light illuminate the starry sky.
After the Dark Supremes were cut down, the Heavenly Demonic Saber dragged them in and devoured them.
Their corpses and Dao origins became part of the Heavenly Demonic Saber.
After devouring still more Dark Supremes, the Heavenly Demonic Saber began to evolve again.
The dazzling light and Grand Dao Runes it emitted grew even more mysterious and powerful.
Despite its name, the entire Heavenly Demonic Saber shone with Immortal Ascension Light. It was utterly sacred, without a trace of baleful aura.
Everyone who saw it marveled.
Even after so many supreme materials had been smelted into it, the Heavenly Demonic Saber had not changed color. Instead, it had grown ever more translucent and lustrous, as warm and smooth as jade.
And with that, the battle came to an end.
Through the lives of ten Dark Supremes, Li Ming had once again shown the world just how extraordinary the title Demon Venerable was.
The Demon Venerable could not be defeated!
With the death of Qiongqi, the last Dark Supreme, the battle was over.
The outcome sent a wave of uproar through the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
Li Ming watched the Kunlun Immortal Bell flee into chaos at breakneck speed and was left rather speechless.
Its Weapon Deity had clearly awakened during the battle, yet it had wanted no part of the fighting and had flown off on its own.
If the Kunlun Immortal Bell had fully awakened and sided with the Kunlun Clan, Li Ming would have had a harder time bringing down those Dark Supremes.
He had never expected the Kunlun Immortal Bell to be so slippery.
Even when Li Ming tried to communicate with it, the bell flew into chaos without looking back.
"Damn it, you piece of junk! Next time I see you, I'll smash you to bits!"
"Looking down on me, are you?"
"Pah!"
Li Ming spat hard in the direction of the retreating Kunlun Immortal Bell.
Before you continue