The Dragon-Phoenix Primordial Calamity and the Ancient Blood Sea Deep in the Universe

Xuanmen was established, and the Immortal Dao flourished.

In the half month after the first sermon at Zixiao Palace ended, the myriad worlds took on an unprecedented air of vitality and solemnity.

In the past, the strong had slaughtered at will while the weak survived like ants. Cultivators fought tooth and nail over meager spirit herbs and techniques, their horizons limited to the little worlds beneath their feet.

Now, after Dao Ancestor Hongjun had demonstrated the three thousand Great Daos and explained the five immortal realms—Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, Golden Immortal, and Daluo—the cultivation culture of the entire universe had changed beyond recognition.

In the Ziwei Star Domain, the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect abolished its old rules and made Xuanmen Virtue its foremost precept;

In the Primordial Demon Realm, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Ancestor, Tu Shanye, ordered all demons to curb their ferocity and forbade them from slaughtering ordinary beings at will. Violators would lose the right to receive the True Meaning of Listening to the Dao;

Even the Heavenly Demon Great Realm, long notorious for its cruelty and bloodshed, began to observe an order of "killing to protect the Dao, with cause and effect coming full circle" after the First Demon Emperor, the Netherworld Blood Emperor, took up the Asura Dao.

As for the Canglan Realm, the myriad worlds revered it as the "sacred land of Xuanmen."

Atop the Primeval Main Peak, Ji Changkong, who had attained the rank of Half-Step Human Immortal, sat among the clouds each day to expound the scriptures. His voice carried across the Canglan Nine Provinces, drawing beasts to prostrate themselves as celestial flowers rained down.

The First Holy Son, Lin Qiye, remained in seclusion deep within Falling Geese Peak. He continued to fuse the second level of the Eight-Nine Profound Art with the Zixiao Listening Dao Revelation, and the fighting spirit around him grew deeper and more formidable by the day. He was like an ancient war god poised to strike.

Yet beneath the splendor of this age, when the whole world rejoiced and all realms paid homage, something else stirred.

At the edge of the Primeval Holy Land, inside the quiet, peaceful Library Pavilion.

Su Chen sat behind a wooden desk, tapping his long, well-proportioned fingers lightly against the air. In his deep eyes lay the absolute calm of someone watching the rise and fall of the heavens from above.

Before him, a virtual system interface clearly displayed a "map of karma and fortune" spanning the star domains of the myriad worlds.

"Six million three hundred thousand Karma Points... The propagation value is off the charts across the board..."

Su Chen spoke softly. His voice was gentle, yet carried an unfathomable quality that seemed to stand above the Great Dao itself.

"The myriad worlds' faith in the Heavenly Court, the Netherworld, and Zixiao Palace has reached its peak. But this golden age is too quiet."

Su Chen pushed open the window and looked at the purple-and-gold auspicious clouds drifting across the sky. He shook his head slightly.

"Comfort makes cultivators lose their reverence for power; peace brings the production of Karma Points to a standstill."

"If everyone thinks following Xuanmen will guarantee them a smooth path to immortality, who will still fight for their fate? Who will feel emotions so intense they shake the soul?"

A truly enduring, vast, and fully realized mythic world needed more than supreme saints and magnificent Immortal Palaces.

It also needed a baptism of blood and fire, the destruction that came with the turning of ages, and a Calamity Cycle from which no living being could escape!

"The Heavenly Court Collapse is the outcome. The Netherworld claiming souls is the order. The sermon at Zixiao Palace is the source."

A glimmer of boundless chaos flashed deep in Su Chen's eyes:

"Then... it's time to reveal a corner of the first supreme catastrophe of the vast Primordial World."

"System, unlock fifth-tier exchange privileges and lock onto the entry—[The Primordial World's First Calamity Cycle: Dragon-Phoenix Primordial Calamity]!"

Hum—!

Deep within his sea of consciousness, the system's glow erupted like a violent storm!

Fifth-tier privileges were the highest domain, accessible only after the propagation value reached one hundred percent and the Heavenly Dao had been assimilated. At this level, Su Chen was no longer limited to manifesting illusory phenomena. He could create actual historical ruins of the ancient era deep within the real universe!

[Evolution entry: Battle Shadows of the Three Ancient Races—Dragon and Phoenix in Splendor, Heaven and Earth Stained with Blood (physical ruin grade)] [Description]: Manifest an ancient battlefield deep within the Ancient Star Abyss, a lifeless ruin at the farthest edge of the celestial star domains. It will bear the marks left by the battles among the three ancient overlords—Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Ancestral Qilin—including a nebula of True Dragon remains, eternal divine fire fed by phoenix blood, and a forbidden land of ancient baleful energy. [Karma Points cost]: 2,000,000.

[Evolution mechanism: Implantation of the Heaven and Earth Tribulation concept (rule reconstruction grade)] [Description]: Force the supreme concept of the Heaven and Earth Tribulation—accumulated karma, overflowing baleful energy, and all beneath the saints caught in the calamity—into the foundation of the Heavenly Dao of the current myriad worlds. Make every cultivator understand that cultivation not only defies heaven but also requires surviving periodic Heaven and Earth Great Calamities! [Karma Points cost]: 2,500,000.

Those two immense entries would consume a full four million five hundred thousand Karma Points!

Su Chen did not hesitate for an instant. His long finger came down hard:

"Deduct four million five hundred thousand Karma Points. Begin manifestation!"

"Deployment site—the northernmost dead star domain, the [Ancient Star Abyss], at the boundary between the Canglan Realm and the Ziwei Star Domain!"

"Manifest—the ancient war of dragons and phoenixes!"

Boom—!!

At Su Chen's command, an immense force of karma instantly pierced the barrier of the physical universe!

Deep along the boundary between the Canglan Realm and the Ziwei Star Domain, the Ancient Star Abyss—a pitch-black expanse devoid of life and filled with endless meteorites and dead stars—underwent a terrifying transformation beyond imagination!

The Ancient Star Abyss.

It was the most desolate forbidden zone among the celestial star domains. Divine Astral Death Wind capable of destroying the flesh blew through it year-round, and even mighty cultivators at the Mahayana Stage or Dao-Slaying realm rarely set foot there.

But at that very moment.

Roar—!!

Screech—!!

A supreme roar and a phoenix cry rang out without warning across the entire dead star abyss. They seemed to pierce countless ages and carried the power to destroy heaven and earth!

These were no illusory sounds. They were terrifying waves of sound that struck the material universe itself!

Crack! Crack!

Across a radius of hundreds of millions of li, hundreds of thousands of dead meteorites and barren planets silently crumbled into stardust like brittle clods of earth the instant those two cries arrived!

Then.

Deep in the black star abyss, two utterly different yet equally immense lights burst forth!

On the left rose towering azure divine waters and boundless purple-gold dragon energy! From a rift in the void, the enormous remains of a dragon slowly emerged. Longer than several solar systems, its entire body seemed forged from ancient divine metal!

Though the dragon had long been dead, leaving only dry bones, the pressure it radiated crushed great swaths of the surrounding void into black hollows! One claw still gripped half the core of a long-extinguished star!

On the right blazed an endless sea of crimson divine fire that had burned for untold tens of thousands of years!

At the center of that blazing solar fire, hot enough to melt all arts, the phantom of a pair of heaven-spanning wings burned fiercely. Spread wide, they could have covered a small star domain! Every falling feather became a Phoenix-Blood Nebula stretching hundreds of millions of li across the void!

Dragon might suppressed the stars!

Phoenix fire burned across the heavens!

And at the very heart of the boundary between the dragon's remains and the phoenix-blood divine fire, an ancient Blood Sea surged and roared, violent and filled with endless resentment and baleful energy!

Heaven and earth lost their color. The Great Dao wailed!

Baleful energy from a Heaven and Earth Tribulation beyond anything cultivators of this age could comprehend surged out of the ancient battlefield, now returned to the world. Like a dark-red tsunami, it swept toward dozens of surrounding great worlds!

The Canglan Realm, atop the Primeval Main Peak.

Ji Changkong was expounding the scriptures to hundreds of thousands of disciples when his voice suddenly caught in his throat.

The Primeval Holy Lord, who had only just attained the rank of Half-Step Human Immortal, sprang to his feet among the clouds. His face turned paper-white in an instant!

And he was not alone.

On the sheer cliffs of Falling Geese Peak, Lin Qiye, who had just broken through to the second level of the Eight-Nine Profound Art, changed expression sharply. The Broken Sword on his back rang out in a violent, uneasy clash!

Deep in his forehead, the Heavenly Eye Talisman Seal began to throb uncontrollably, sending wave after wave of burning warnings that felt like needle pricks!

"What terrifying killing energy..."

Lin Qiye stepped off Falling Geese Peak and landed atop the Primeval Main Peak, gazing as far as he could into the depths of the starry sky:

"This isn't ordinary killing intent. This is... baleful energy that makes even heaven and earth tremble! Deep in that northern star abyss, something buried since ancient times... has awakened!"

At almost the same moment.

The Ziwei Star Domain, at the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect!

Sect Leader Supreme Mystery True Lord was leading the entire sect in reciting the True Scripture of Xuanmen passed down by the Dao Ancestor when a sudden palpitation nearly made him spit blood. He flew into the heavens in terror and stared toward the northern Ancient Star Abyss, his Dao heart trembling violently.

In the Primordial Demon Realm, Ancestor Tu Shanye transformed into a towering celestial fox, the fur on all nine of his tails standing on end;

In the Heavenly Demon Great Realm, the Netherworld Blood Emperor burst out of the Blood Sea, his eyes streaked with crimson and filled with incredulous panic;

Even the wandering cultivator Old Daoist Canghai and the untalented young Ye Chen, who held Zixiao Dao-Hearing Edicts, felt the suffocating "baleful energy of a Heaven and Earth Great Calamity" from wherever they were!

"Something's happened!"

Supreme Mystery True Lord's voice rang in terror beside the ears of Dao Listeners across the heavens through their Divine Sense Jade Slips:

"Deep in the Ancient Star Abyss... violent baleful energy beyond the Heavenly Immortal level has erupted! The Laws of the entire star domain are collapsing!"

"Nine-Tailed Fox Ancestor! Netherworld Blood Emperor! Holy Son Qiye! Holy Lord Ji!"

"A disturbance of this magnitude may threaten the entire heavens! We received the Dao Ancestor's teachings. We must go and investigate at once!"

"Let's go!"

Lin Qiye did not hesitate. With the Broken Sword on his back, he stepped beyond the barrier of the Canglan Realm!

Ji Changkong, Supreme Mystery True Lord, Tu Shanye, the Netherworld Blood Emperor, Old Daoist Canghai...

The six strongest Dao Listeners of the heavens, newly returned from Zixiao Palace, and young Ye Chen, whom Old Daoist Canghai had brought along, tore through the void. They became seven streaks of light crossing the stars, racing toward the Ancient Star Abyss and its towering baleful energy with utmost gravity and vigilance!

A brutal ancient epic of "the Primordial World's First Calamity Cycle" was about to unfold before the eyes of the strongest beings in the heavens!