Ming Xin Hidden, Awaiting the Moment

Ming Xin concealed himself deep within the clouds above the nine heavens, his aura merging seamlessly with heaven and earth, like a wisp of nothingness.

Even the Ancestral Witches and Demon Emperors locked in fierce battle below had not detected that a Half-step Primordial Unity existence was watching coldly from the sidelines.

His gaze swept calmly across the battlefield below, which resembled a hellish purgatory.

Witches roared, demons shrieked.

For thousands of miles, the once magnificent mountains and rivers shattered inch by inch under the terrifying aftershocks of divine abilities, turning into scorched earth.

Towering peaks were severed at their waists, surging rivers evaporated in an instant. Countless innocent beings living on the edge of the battlefield, unable to flee in time, were also caught.

--

Whether they were spirits that had awakened their intelligence or ignorant beasts and ordinary creatures—all were swept up in the reckless slaughter of both sides, instantly reduced to dust, their souls scattered.

Flesh and blood rained down, staining the dark red earth an even deeper hue.

The soaring resentment, death qi, and sha qi, mixed with the filthy aura unique to the Tribulation, formed thick, heavy clouds that blotted out the sun and moon, plunging this region into what seemed like an eternal night.

The Calamity Qi between heaven and earth, like oil thrown into blazing fire, surged and boiled at an unprecedented speed!

It was a terrifying aura enough to unsettle the hearts of even Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals and cloud their Dao hearts.

Ming Xin watched all this, his eyes still as an ancient well, but invisible laws of the Great Dao began to flow subtly around him.

The power of the Great Dao of Karma, like countless imperceptible threads, seeped covertly into the battlefield below, following his divine will.

These threads did not forcibly change anything, but acted like a catalyst, quietly connecting and amplifying the karmic links that already existed.

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The cause of a certain minor demon general once bullying the weak was now magnified, drawing a stronger Witch Clan warrior to him and hastening his downfall;

The karma accumulated by a certain Witch Clan warrior through bloodlust, guided by the Thread of Karma, caused him to lose focus at a critical moment, revealing a flaw...

The power of the Great Dao of Good and Evil also stirred, like an invisible tide, influencing the emotions of the combatants.

It did not directly twist their will, but made those already filled with violence even more frenzied and irritable, losing their reason;

It made those who still harbored a shred of conscience feel greater torment and discomfort amidst the slaughter, thus affecting their performance.

His actions were extremely subtle, like rain moistening things silently. Even a Sage, unless deliberately probing this chaotic battlefield, would find it difficult to detect these faint fluctuations of the Dao.

He was not directly intervening in the battle, but rather "following" and "propelling" this slaughter tribulation, allowing the due karma to manifest faster and the retribution of good and evil to be more direct.

He was waiting.

Waiting for an opportunity.

An opportunity for the sha qi and Calamity Power of this brutal war to reach their peak, and for the strength of both the Witch and Demon races to be depleted to a certain degree.

An opportunity for him to intervene in the most shocking and effective way, to completely end this battle, and to extract the maximum Tribulation luck and merit from it, perfecting his own Great Dao... the perfect opportunity!

His gaze was especially fixed on the core of the battlefield, where the twelve Ancestral Witches and Di Jun and Tai Yi were locked in a world-shaking duel.

Every wisp of energy emanating from there was enough to shatter stars. That was the heart of the Tribulation, and also the focal point of his wait.

Ming Xin, like the most patient fisherman, hovered silently above the ocean of slaughter, casting an invisible net, waiting only for the most crucial fish.

To swim into the net itself, or... to wait until this very ocean boiled to its extreme.

The slaughter below grew ever more brutal. Every explosion, every falling aura, made the Calamity Qi between heaven and earth even denser.

Ming Xin could feel the system in his sea of consciousness frantically recording and analyzing the various data of this Tribulation, and the newly comprehended Seal of Good and Evil Life and Death was also stirring restlessly.

Ming Xin, hidden in the nine heavens, his gaze like a torch, clearly observed the peak battle below that would determine the pattern of the Primordial World.

The most eye-catching of all was undoubtedly the earth-shattering duel between Eastern Emperor Tai Yi and four Ancestral Witches.

Eastern Emperor Tai Yi had the Chaos Bell above his head. This Innate Supreme Treasure exuded the supreme power to suppress the primordial chaos and stabilize Earth, Water, Fire, Wind. Countless chaotic qi streams cascaded down, shielding him airtight.

He held the bell's handle, wielding it like a chaotic world. Every swing carried the terrifying might to crush stars and re-establish order. The bell's sound was vast, shaking the void into constant collapse and reorganization.

The four Ancestral Witches besieging him were the Fire Ancestral Witch Zhu Rong, the Water Ancestral Witch Gong Gong, and two other powerful Ancestral Witches, Tian Wu and Xi Zi.

Zhu Rong's whole body burned with the all-consuming Heavenly God Fire. Wherever he passed, space twisted. While swinging his flaming giant fists to smash against the Chaos Bell's defense, he roared and cursed:

"Little bird Tai Yi! What skill is it to rely on that broken bell! If you have the guts, come out and fight your Zhu Rong granddaddy in close combat! Let's see if I don't pluck all your bird feathers and roast you!"

"You feathered beast, only daring to hide in a turtle shell? You've utterly disgraced your Demon Race!"

Gong Gong was surrounded by surging floods. These were not ordinary waters, but the essence of innate Ren Water and Gui Water, containing extreme cold and corrosive power.

He controlled a ten-thousand-zhang water dragon, constantly crashing against the Chaos Bell's light barrier, producing deafening booms. Though not as loud as Zhu Rong's curses, he coldly chimed in:

"What Brother Zhu Rong says is true. If the three-legged chicken only relies on the power of his treasure, it is rather disappointing. We sons of the Witch Clan stand tall between heaven and earth; when have we ever feared a fair fight!"

The other two Ancestral Witches also displayed their divine powers, one driving gale-force winds to tear the sky, the other summoning ten thousand thunderbolts to strike, coordinating with Zhu Rong and Gong Gong, attacking fiercely from all four sides.

However, Eastern Emperor Tai Yi's expression was cold and stern. Faced with the siege and verbal harassment of four Ancestral Witches, he remained completely unmoved.

The Chaos Bell in his hands was both offensive and defensive, grand and sweeping. With every ring of the bell, he could freeze the incoming water, fire, wind, and thunder.

With every collision of the bell's body, he could forcibly repel the Ancestral Witches' heavy attacks, even rebounding them!

Though outnumbered four to one, relying on the Chaos Bell's supreme divine might, he actually held the upper hand, forcing the four Ancestral Witches to constantly shift positions.

Forced to resist the omnipresent Chaos Bell waves and impacts as heavy as a world crashing down, they could not form an effective coordinated attack.

His reputation as "the number one under the Sage" was displayed to its fullest at this moment!

On the other side, Demon Emperor Di Jun faced off against Di Jiang, the Ancestral Witch of Space and Speed, and Zhu Jiuyin, the Ancestral Witch of Time.

Di Jiang's form shifted unpredictably, shuttling through space, appearing and disappearing like a ghost, his claws tearing through the void as he struck straight at Di Jun's vital points.

Zhu Jiuyin was even more eerie, the power of time flowing around his body, sometimes accelerating himself, sometimes slowing the space-time around Di Jun, trying to disrupt his rhythm.

Di Jun, relying on the He Tu Luo Shu to deduce the heavenly secrets, always managed to evade Di Jiang's ambushes at the last possible moment. The power of the Myriad Stars Array enveloped him, starlight like swords.

It continuously clashed with Zhu Jiuyin's time power, canceling each other out, the battle fierce and deadlocked.

Demon Master Kun Peng manifested his sky-covering true form, his claws tearing at the heavens as he fought against Xuan Ming, the Ancestral Witch of Ice.

Xuan Ming summoned endless profound ice, freezing the void, clashing repeatedly with Kun Peng's extreme speed and claws—ice shards and feathers flying everywhere.

The remaining ten Demon Saints of the Demon Race—Ji Meng, Ying Zhao, Fei Dan, Fei Lian, Jiu Ying, Shang Yang, Bai Ze, Qin Yuan, Ci Tie, and Gui Che—formed a battle formation.

They joined forces to besiege the remaining Ancestral Witches: Ju Mang, Ru Shou, She Bi Shi, and others. Each Demon Saint displayed their unique abilities, the light of their treasures clashing wildly against the Ancestral Witches' physical strength and innate divine powers.

Though individually inferior to the Ancestral Witches, relying on their numbers and the battle formation, they barely managed to hold their opponents at bay.

The entire battlefield, centered on the clashes of these peak powerhouses, radiated outward, forming a brutal slaughter of billions of Wu and Demon soldiers. Energy storms raged, and countless lives withered away every moment.

Ming Xin watched quietly. The laws of Cause and Effect, good and evil, continued to seep in silently, influencing the subtle details of the battle.

He was waiting—waiting for a variable to appear in this peak showdown, waiting for the moment when the Sha Qi and Calamity Power accumulated enough for him to secure the final victory with a single move.

Eastern Emperor Tai Yi's ferocity was somewhat beyond his expectations, but this did not disrupt his plan. Instead, it made him look forward even more to the target he was about to seize.