The Willow Deity's entire body shone. The spheres of light formed from three thousand worlds sank into the deity's surface, becoming immortal brands, like an ancient, weathered suit of battle armor. That aura towered over the ages, its might bearing down upon the Nine Heavens!
At that moment, the Willow Deity unleashed the invincible Dao, unrivaled throughout heaven and earth. Nothing could bar the deity's path anymore.
There were no fluttering willow leaves, no circling Great Dao. The Willow Deity merely extended a lustrous white palm, which seemed to become an unmatched sword embryo, dazzling beyond measure, and cleaved the Pu Demon King in two!
"Aah!" The Pu Demon King screamed, his voice shaking heaven and earth. The cosmic firmament seemed on the verge of collapse. The white fluff filling the sky was annihilated, the Great Dao symbols dissipated, and the Willow Deity split his majestic, silvery-white trunk into two halves.
He roared, trying to reconstruct his body, but a mysterious power prevented it, making it all but impossible.
Beyond that, the Willow Deity continued to strike. Countless willow branches flashed with dazzling divine radiance, transforming into countless keen battle blades.
The willow branches were incomparably sharp, slashing down again and again, forcibly chopping him into fragments. Blood dyed the heavens red and showered the earth!
"Aah!"
The Pu Demon King howled in agony. Immortal divine flames ignited across his body, and towering fire swept through the entire great universe, burning through the star sea and illuminating the eternal darkness!
The Pu Demon King, whose name had once shaken the myriad realms and been known throughout the world, had fallen for good.
The primordial spirit imprint belonging to that once-unsurpassed titan was utterly destroyed, shattering into a rain of light that drifted across this world.
No one noticed a little pagoda appear, radiating the light of chaos. It enveloped the immortal flames, and the heavenly phenomena subsided. The entire world fell silent.
"What a pity. We couldn't obtain the Pu Demon King's Precious Art." Xi Yue sighed with regret. Although such a technique violated the harmony of heaven, it was undeniably formidable, one of the most powerful divine arts.
Little Pagoda returned, having undergone a slight change. He was even more radiant now, with what seemed to be hazy immortal light blooming around him.
The three-tiered pagoda body constructed from laws had also grown somewhat more substantial, but it ultimately lacked a physical form and could not truly solidify.
The phantom of the Immortal King Burial Shroud in the heavens dissipated as well. It was only an imprint and could not endure forever. Its energy was exhausted now, and it returned to nothingness.
The dozens of Reincarnation Disk fragments also dimmed. After suppressing the Pu Demon King for endless ages, the divine spirit remnant within them had become incredibly weak, as though it might dissipate at any moment.
Xi Yue felt a headache coming on. Repairing this thing would be far too troublesome. She could only find a way to locate the remaining fragments.
"He has fallen completely. He can never revive again."
The Willow Deity glanced back at Xi Yue, then looked toward the Reincarnation Disk. After a moment's consideration, the deity swept her up, opened a golden passage, and returned to Stone Village.
This battle had consumed a considerable amount of the Willow Deity's power as well, and the deity would soon fall asleep to recover.
Slaying a former titan was no simple matter. It was impossible to accomplish without paying a price.
Xi Yue was in very poor condition too.
It had looked like a clash between the Willow Deity and the Pu Demon King, but in truth, the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk and the Immortal King Burial Shroud had also acted, suppressing the Pu Demon King. Otherwise, destroying him so easily would have been utterly impossible.
Moreover, the Pu Demon King had tried to kill her several times. Although the Willow Deity had blocked every attempt, she had inevitably been caught in the repercussions.
On top of that, forcibly activating the Reincarnation Disk and the Immortal King Burial Shroud had nearly shattered her body and cracked her primordial spirit. Now, she was clinging to life by a single breath.
Fortunately, she had ample reserves. She had extracted the essence of Divine Medicine beforehand and swallowed it. It was now repairing her injuries, though it could only prevent the cracks from spreading further.
Still, she did not panic. Between life and death lay great opportunities too. In a world like this, she would almost be letting herself down if she did not brush against death a few times.
"Hey, Willow Deity, wait for me!" Bear Child cried out. In the end, he could only watch the golden passage disappear, his face filled with frustration.
"Young miss, I haven't left yet!" Qing Shuang called out as well, wanting to cry but finding no tears. Xi Yue had gone off herself, only to forget all about her.
Not long afterward, in Stone Village.
The Willow Deity returned along the golden passage and transformed back into a charred willow tree, putting forth more than a dozen tender branches. Their color had dimmed, however, and they were no longer so translucent and gleaming.
This was a loss of the deity's own divine essence. Fortunately, the foundation remained unharmed, and time alone would replenish it.
The Willow Deity entrusted Xi Yue to Shi Yunfeng's care. The willow tree had dimmed all over, and its bright green branch no longer glowed. The deity was about to sink into slumber.
Even Shi Yunfeng was startled. Her injuries were horrifying. Savage lines of blood covered her body, like ancient porcelain on the verge of shattering.
"Wait... Willow Deity... this is for you..."
At the last moment before losing consciousness, Xi Yue handed the Willow Deity a divine stone that radiated dazzling divine light.
It was a Life Stone from the Primordial Ancient Mine, something she had acquired recently. It possessed unfathomable divine power and could even extend the lives of beings above the sect-master level.
For now, this item was too high-level for her to use. After cutting off a portion, she gave everything remaining to the Willow Deity.
After all, earning the goodwill of the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit of Immortal Ancient was an enormous gain.
At present, this item was still of great use to the Willow Deity. Divine treasures were too scarce in the Lower Realm, and undergoing nirvana meant relying solely on bitter endurance, waiting for dead wood to greet spring and blossom with life anew. With the Life Stone now, recovery would be much faster.
From that day onward, the entire Desolate Region was shaken, and endless waves of upheaval arose.
The major powers spread accounts of the world-shaking battle in the Hundred Broken Mountains from beginning to end. The news swiftly swept across the Desolate Region and even reached the Outer Realm.
As the matter continued to stir, some powers of the Outer Realm were alarmed as well. They crossed regions, seeking to investigate the details.
The major powers, such as the Heaven Mending Pavilion, the Deer-Chasing Academy, and the various Ancient Kingdoms, all investigated. Yet no one knew where that divine willow had come from, nor who that young girl was.
The Eight Regions of the Lower Realm were a land of exile to begin with-a prison, in truth. No one recognized the Willow Deity. Even in the Three Thousand Provinces, few would have been able to do so.
Bear Child, the only one who knew the truth, plainly would not divulge anything about the Willow Deity, leaving this great battle shrouded in mist for later generations.
As for the Pu Demon King, even fewer knew of him. Everyone believed that the Pu Demon Tree of ancient times had survived on its last breath and lain dormant until this era.
That ancient Pu Demon Tree had come from No-Man's Land in the Upper Realm. It should have grown from one of the Pu Demon King's seeds, accidentally fallen into the Lower Realm, and finally been slain by the combined efforts of All Saints.
This also had to do with the break in the historical record of Immortal Ancient. Many truths had been sealed away with the end of Immortal Ancient, and only the ranks of the strongest beings of the present age knew some of those secrets.
Of course, a day would eventually come when those long-sealed histories resurfaced in the world, ushering in a Great Reckoning.
At that moment, in the Great Wilderness spanning three hundred thousand li, a travel-worn young woman staggered onward, blood staining the hem of her clothes.
Qing Shuang was utterly miserable.
Her young miss had caught a convenient ride and vanished, leaving her alone to trudge bitterly along.
Fortunately, Xi Yue had left her the Void she carried. Otherwise, the journey from the Hundred Broken Mountains to the Great Wilderness was a full million li. With her cultivation, crossing that distance would have taken at least half a year, if not a whole year.
The Great Wilderness stretched boundlessly, ancient forests standing deep and silent everywhere. Countless places looked alike, making it far too easy to lose her way. Over the past half month, she had already taken the wrong route innumerable times.
Finally, on this day, she found Stone Village. By then, her dress was somewhat tattered, her face and hair caked with dust, and she looked like a savage who had emerged from some primitive tribe.