The Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation and the Dutian God-Demon Array were two terrifying Hun Yuan–level killing formations. If they fought to the bitter end, today's Witch-Demon Calamity would surely escalate to another level and evolve into an Immeasurable Calamity!
By then, even the lofty Hun Yuan Sages would be unable to bear the backlash of such immense karma and karmic sin!
However.
Chen Xuan was prepared to die. He had long since cast life and death aside.
As always... decisive and ruthless!
Just charge ahead!
"Houtu, I know what you want to say, but it's already too late for regrets."
"Things have come this far. There's no stopping now!"
That was what Chen Xuan said.
But Houtu had her own thoughts.
From the very beginning until now.
Chen Xuan's actions had been far too radical, far too mad. She truly feared that one day...
This senior would go too far and completely ruin everything!
She was truly afraid!
Besides...
As thoughts churned through her mind.
Houtu swept her gaze over the Ancestor Witches struggling to hold on within the formation.
She looked down at the countless elderly, women, and children of the Witch Clan across the Primordial World, weeping bitterly in grief.
As well as the countless Witch Clan warriors still fighting bloodily without rest on the front lines.
Her heartstrings trembled for no reason!
It was not that she feared death.
What was there to fear in death?
What did death matter?
Rather, there were ties in her heart. She truly could not bear to watch more of her brothers and clansmen die innocent deaths one after another!
She could die, and she could abandon her Ancestor Witch body to transform into the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
But she only wished to preserve the Witch Clan's last remaining spark!
Was that wrong?
The proposal that demons ruled the heavens while witches governed the earth was unfair, but at the very least...
It could allow the Witch Clan to endure for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years!
But if they continued fighting to the bitter end and it escalated into an Immeasurable Calamity, the Witch Clan would be utterly annihilated in an instant!
She could not bear it. She truly could not bear it!
Chen Xuan saw through Houtu's worries at a glance, and he could understand them completely as well.
But...
At this point, there was no path of retreat left!
As his thoughts rose and fell.
Chen Xuan pointed toward the Ancestor Witches within the formation, as well as the countless Witch Clan beings in the Wu clan's ancestral land, and continued, "I'll say it again: calamity or not, whether it escalates or not, in the end, all Twelve Ancestor Witches will die, and the billions upon billions of Witch Clan members will be wiped out!"
"Since there is no retreat, then... I am willing to fight alongside the Witch Clan until the very end. I would rather die in battle than live on in cowardice and waste these short years!"
"Furthermore, strike one punch to open the way and spare yourself a hundred more. Even if we must prove our resolve with death, we must let all the sages of the heavens know that the Witch Clan is not to be bullied!"
"Whoever offends the Witch Clan shall be slain!"
"Now that the Witch-Demon Calamity has arrived, the Witch Clan must rise from ruin, transcend through slaughter, rebuild after destruction, and fight for survival from the brink of death!"
"Houtu, do you understand me?"
Every word Chen Xuan spoke was incisive, every sentence impassioned, all straight from his heart.
His voice was like a great bell tolling, its profound Dao sound exploding beside Houtu's ears.
It made her head buzz!
"Rise from ruin, transcend through slaughter!? Rebuild after destruction!"
Upon hearing this, Houtu felt as though she had been awakened by a sudden realization. His words struck her like thunder!
That was right. Whoever offended the Witch Clan would be slain, no matter how far away they were!
Even those Sages who always considered themselves lofty and supreme could not humiliate and bully the Witch Clan at will!
Better to die fighting than live in disgrace!
Only that was worthy of Pangu's unyielding will!
After thinking it through, determination flashed in Houtu's eyes, and shame appeared on her face.
As one of the Twelve Ancestor Witches of the Witch Clan and a descendant of Pangu's True Lineage, she should have inherited an unparalleled, unyielding will, fighting heaven and earth without fear.
Yet now, her resolve was not even equal to that of Senior Chen Xuan, an outsider.
She was truly ashamed beyond measure!
She had failed Senior Chen Xuan's painstaking intentions.
She had failed Father God!
"Senior Chen Xuan, Houtu knows she was wrong!"
"I failed to understand your good intentions. This junior was foolish!"
"But now, I understand! I truly understand!"
Having figured it out, Houtu nodded repeatedly at Chen Xuan, bobbing her head like a pecking chick, obedient beyond measure.
Perhaps she was too caught up in the moment, too excited, or perhaps emotion had overwhelmed her. After speaking, Houtu suddenly burst into tears, a pitiful sight to behold.
Within every crystalline tear...
Was her boundless gratitude toward Chen Xuan.
It also represented the Witch Clan's resolve to face death with tragic courage!
"It's good that you understand!"
Seeing that Houtu had come around, Chen Xuan nodded, greatly relieved.
"Ancestor Witch Houtu, what my third brother Tongtian said was not without reason. You still have a chance now. Do not make mistake after mistake and persist in your delusion. Listen to my advice. If you stop in time and withdraw the Dutian God-Demon Array, the Witch Clan... may yet have a sliver of hope!"
"Otherwise, once the Witch-Demon Calamity escalates and becomes an Immeasurable Calamity, the Witch Clan will not be able to bear the consequences!"
Not long after Tongtian's counsel, the sanctimonious Taiqing Laozi followed up in agreement.
Aside from stepping forward to make his presence known and display the bearing of the foremost of the Three Pure Ones.
He was also afraid that the madwoman "Houtu" would do something outrageous.
"Yes, ants... ahem, Houtu, just obediently transform into reincarnation and attain Sainthood. Achieve Hun Yuan—what a wonderful ending, isn't it?"
Yuanshi Tianzun then chimed in as well.
It was not only the Three Pure Ones.
Even the two Golden Crows held their breath at this moment, their nerves stretched taut throughout. Contrary to their usual behavior, they too hoped the Witch Clan would withdraw the Dutian God-Demon Array.
After all, the Demon Clan had played a part in instigating this great calamity, and they could not escape blame.
Once the Witch-Demon Calamity escalated into an Immeasurable Calamity, even the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court would be completely destroyed, with no possibility of recovery.
In the end, the Demon Clan simply could not bear such karma and karmic sin!
"Hypocritical Taiqing Laozi, shut your mouth!"
"I haven't even settled the matter of your schemes against the Human Clan yet. What are you barking about here now?! You have no right to speak to me!"
"And you, Yuanshi Tianzun. Of all the Three Pure Ones, you are the most hypocritical! Shut up!"
The moment Laozi and Yuanshi spoke, Chen Xuan's anger flared. He immediately shot back furiously.
Tongtian's counsel had come from good intentions.
But Taiqing and Yuanshi?
Heh heh!
When Chen Xuan publicly rebuked the Grand Pure Sage again, the beings of the Primordial World were unsurprised.
There was no other reason.
They had already grown accustomed to it. They were numb to it.
"The Witch Clan cannot bear it? Heh heh, then let me ask you: can you lofty sages of the heavens bear it?"
Chen Xuan snorted mockingly and asked in return.
"..."
"..."
Chen Xuan's words instantly rendered Taiqing and Yuanshi speechless.
During this, Yuanshi even shook his head unconsciously, as though possessed!
That was right. Every word Chen Xuan had spoken was incisive, his words sharp as blades, already stabbing deep into the hearts of the sages of the heavens.
He had spoken directly to their hearts!
They truly could not bear it!
"Since you all want to beguile me into transforming into reincarnation, then I refuse to grant your wish!"
"Since every one of you wants the Witch Clan dead, then none of you should dream of living!"
"Since this vast and boundless Primordial Desolation World has no place for the Witch Clan and cannot tolerate our existence, then it need not exist at all!"
Not long after.
Resounding thunderous voices rolled forth, instantly echoing through the nine heavens and spreading across all realms of the Primordial World.
In his words, his determination to die gloriously was not concealed in the slightest!
Rumble! Rumble rumble!!
As Chen Xuan's voice fell.
The Dutian God-Demon Array suddenly shook violently. Billions of blood-red rays shot into the heavens, tearing apart the chaotic starry sky. Heaven and earth collapsed, and endless stars fell.
Terrifying waves swept outward, blotting out the sky and covering the earth. With overwhelming force, they shattered the void.
In an instant, even the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation trembled violently!
The towering primordial divine mountains and the Pillar of the Primordial Desolation all swayed as if on the verge of collapse!
Even Hongjun's Daoist ground, Zixiao Palace, far away in the Outer Heavens of Chaos, shook as though it might crumble!
"Dutian God-Demon Array, explode for me—!!!"
The moment those words rang out.
The sages of the heavens all changed expression, seized by endless terror!
"This is bad! This woman wants to self-destruct the Dutian God-Demon Array and perish together with us sages of the heavens, even with the entire myriad realms of the Primordial World and all living beings!"
"Hiss—she's insane! This woman is absolutely insane!"
"Fuck!!!"
"Don't—!!!"
Before you continue