This moment, countless beings were aghast. Was this the might of Hunyuan? Was this the legendary Great God Pangu, whose mere form rendered him invincible?
The demon race, consumed by terror and confusion, lost all composure. How could such a formidable existence be defeated? Who dared to challenge Pangu? It was not cowardice, but an enemy that had surpassed all limits.
However, Pangu’s colossal body began to waver, showing signs of disintegration. The Twelve Ancestral Witches reinforced the great formation, and Pangu’s form momentarily stabilized.
Di Jun, rising from the dust, struggled into the air, wiping blood from his lips. His golden eyes fixed on Pangu’s giant form. His imperial robes were tattered, his hair disheveled, and his body covered in wounds. Yet, Di Jun spoke, his voice echoing through the heavens and shaking every demon heart.
“My demon race, I, Di Jun, by the mandate of heaven, accuse the Wu tribe of this desolate land. We have launched a great offensive, eradicating the enemy forces. Our armies gathered like clouds, the arrogant Wu melting like ice. The sound of our victory was like bamboo snapping, their inevitable downfall imminent. Our soldiers and warriors are the spirits of the Primordial World; our great demons and deities, the honored immortals of the four seas. You may have fallen to stray arrows, your souls submerged in the underworld; you may have been wounded by swords and blades, your spirits returned to the long night. In life, you were brave; in death, you achieved renown!”
Nuwa, witnessing this, raised her hand and summoned the Demon Subjugation Banner. Holding the banner in her left hand and a saber in her right, she cried, “I, Wa Huang, command, and all demons obey! Today, whether you fear or not, whether you are consumed by dread or despair, we have no choice! If we retreat, the ancestors whose souls have returned to the heavens will weep in the netherworld, for their unworthy descendants, in their timidity, have lost the glory of the demon race that they purchased with blood and life! If we retreat, your descendants, countless demon kin, your own flesh and blood, will become food, their bones sinking by the Wu tribe’s bonfires, their spirits spat upon by the Wu. Today, I, Wa Huang, swear to heaven and earth: while Nuwa lives, the Demon Banner shall not fall! Should Nuwa die, the Demon Banner shall still stand! The sun, moon, mountains, and rivers shall endure, and the demon realm shall persist!”
Rolling waves of demonic energy surged as the Demon Subjugation Banner moved, the realm of mountains and rivers eternal. Nuwa, wielding the demon race’s supreme treasure, cast myriad demonic energies to envelop heaven and earth, sun and moon.
Tai Yi’s Eastern Emperor Bell rang, the sun descending. Tai Yi merged with the sun, rising anew like the dawn, his Dao eternal light.
“I, Eastern Emperor Tai Yi, stand here. I would rather the mountains and rivers be stained with the blood of billions of demon gods than retreat even half a step! Tai Yi is with you all!”
One by one, the demons awoke from their despair. Seeing their supreme beings sacrificing themselves to protect them, they felt fear no longer. Their revered Eastern Emperor, the peerless Empress Nuwa, the esteemed Heavenly Emperor, were all fighting for them. How could they retreat?
Xi He stood serenely in the air, elegant and pure like the moon. “All mighty beings of the Heavenly Court, if the demon race perishes, your Dao will be extinguished. When the great tribulation of heaven and earth arrives, your Dao will be destroyed, and you will perish!”
The faces of all those who had sided with the Heavenly Court turned grim. They dared not leave.
Di Jun asked, “Daoist Fuxi, how is your injury?”
Fuxi appeared, replying, “Your Majesty, rest assured, I can still hold on.”
Di Jun nodded. “We are indebted to all of you. We must now deploy the Myriad Stars Array for any hope of survival!”
Nuwa looked at Fuxi with concern. Fuxi had sustained the most serious injuries earlier. If the Star Array were activated, Fuxi’s foundations might be damaged.
Xi He said, “But the Demon Ancestor is still in seclusion, breaking through his cultivation. We are one short!”
“I am willing to try!”
The Five Emperors turned to see Qing Xuan approaching. Di Jun hesitated, but Nuwa said, “This is excellent. Your Majesty, do not underestimate him. After all, he is a demon race avatar and naturally understands the Star Array!”
Di Jun was startled, then relieved. “You honor us, Demon God! In the Myriad Stars Array, you only need to maintain the formation from the rear. I believe your safety will be greater!”
Qing Xuan bowed, “Thank you, Your Majesty!”
Di Jun addressed the other four, “I trouble you all. Let us arrange the stars!”
Everyone nodded in agreement, but no one spoke. They knew that without the starry expanse, how much power could the array truly unleash?
Below, tens of thousands of demons and tens of thousands of witches fought with bloodshot eyes. All sorts of divine abilities, spiritual treasures, and secret arts were displayed in myriad ways. With Buzhou Mountain gone, it was difficult for the Wu tribe to ascend to the heavens, but the vast majority of them had already landed in the Heavenly Court. Furthermore, with the appearance of Pangu’s giant form, the Wu tribe fought with reckless abandon, as if driven mad, becoming like frenzied demons, mere machines of combat.
On this day, all living beings on the Primordial World looked up, watching a colossal giant standing in the distant horizon, and seeing countless things, like ants, falling from the sky onto the land. These were the corpses of demons and witches.
The blood of demons and witches spilled across the mountains and rivers of the Primordial World, nourishing the land and irrigating the vegetation, giving birth to new life amidst endless slaughter. With the death of every demon and witch, their spiritual energy or malevolent energy returned to heaven and earth. The spiritual energy, absorbed by more living beings, and the malevolent energy, the pure rising and the turbid sinking, replenished the earth’s depth. The Heavenly Dao, powerful as it was, naturally did not wish for excessively powerful races to exist for too long.
The sky, at some point, had shifted from day to night, and countless stars twinkled in the night sky. The Sun Star emerged in the darkness, and the sun and the moon, stars of Yin and Yang, opposed each other, the sun and moon shining together. Even though Xi He was no longer the primary deity of the Moon Star, as the mistress of light and darkness, wielding the Moon Essence Wheel and the Lunar Mirror, she could still summon the power of the Moon.
Nuwa, holding the Demon Subjugation Banner, entered the Southern Pole Star Array. Fuxi entered the Western Pole Star Array. Qing Xuan, treading on three thousand derived spiritual chains, entered the Eastern Pole Star Array. Xi He and Tai Yi divided left and right, positioned in the center. Di Jun took charge of the Northern Pole Emperor Star, controlling the array’s six directions and four quadrants.
Billions of stars of the Myriad Stars Array descended like stellar seeds, the River Chart and the Luo Book moved rapidly, and the principles of the Great Dao drove the rotation of countless stars. The star fields, centered around the Sun and Moon stars, rotated with the shifting of stars and the alternation of day and night, forming a diagram of the Yin and Yang Great Dao.
The Yin and Yang diagram descended, suppressing Pangu’s colossal form. Pangu’s giant form, thus disturbed, unleashed world-destroying might once more. Pangu’s colossal body swung its fist, in the most primal, ancient, domineering, and direct manner, colliding with billions of stars.
“Rumble—”
Pangu’s colossal body shook, causing Buzhou Mountain to tremble. Countless rocks, accumulated over eons, rolled down, flowing like torrents in all directions. The Myriad Stars suddenly scattered, countless star seeds being struck, shattered, and sent flying. Stars fell from the sky like rain, brilliant and magnificent as fireworks, a unique beauty.
Within the Myriad Stars Array, Di Jun commanded the myriad stars, transforming the array comprehended by the six supreme beings into the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array, which he himself had comprehended. Because the array lacked offensive and defensive power, and was not situated in the expanse of space, within the Primordial World, the Zhou Tian Xing Dou array was superior.
The celestial bodies were drawn by the Sun and Moon stars, like a magnificent canopy, with the sun and moon at its center, myriad stars as adornments, and the universe as its cover. As the stars descended, six major stars among billions shone brightly, and three hundred and sixty-five primary stars of the Zhou Tian blazed, driving billions of smaller stars, their intersections forming an endless sea of stars, transforming the Primordial World into a starry sky at this moment.
Pangu’s colossal form became a giant in the starry sky. He struck out punch after punch, each blow shattering the star curtain and dimming the stars. But immediately, more stars rotated to fill the gaps, great stars shone, small stars hid, and the stars revolved around Yin and Yang, leading towards the boundless starry expanse. Every punch from Pangu’s colossal body was shifted and divided, weakened to the extreme. Yet, even so, the Myriad Stars Array trembled incessantly, and those maintaining the array struggled to endure. After all, the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array had not truly channeled the primordial essence of the celestial bodies. This mere stellar power was insufficient to contend with the might of Hunyuan!
Pangu’s colossal body roared repeatedly, reaching out and, from the bottom of the starry sky, the Primordial World, grabbed a divine axe! The divine axe pulsed with a malevolent aura that sent shivers down the spines of even the most powerful beings. This was the Heaven-Severing Axe, forged in Pangu’s Palace from Pangu’s bone and endless malevolent energy!
Pangu’s colossal body swung the axe downwards, as if cleaving the heavens. A brilliant light blade split heaven and earth, stars, tore through the star curtain, and felled countless stars.
At the Eastern Pole of the array’s eye, Qing Xuan suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his spirit wilting. He was merely an existence who had severed one corpse. Even with the protection of the other five emperors, he could hardly endure the impact of Hunyuan’s power!
Pangu’s colossal body swung his axe again and again. The as-yet-unhealed array was on the verge of breaking.
In this moment of crisis, Nuwa threw out the Qiankun Cauldron, which transformed into a world, absorbing this force of Hunyuan into the cauldron. The divine cauldron trembled violently, its light flashing intensely, but it managed to absorb the axe light. After all, it was once a Primordial Creation Supreme Treasure. Even though Nuwa’s strength was still inferior to that of Hunyuan, she could barely manage to absorb one strike.
Taking advantage of this moment, Di Jun commanded ten thousand stars, their starlight flowing like water, to seal this breach. Pangu’s colossal body was enraged and, with a backhand swing, a massive light blade slashed towards the Eastern Pole where Qing Xuan was located. Di Jun hurriedly maneuvered stars to collide with the giant axe, but they shattered before it, offering no resistance.
Nuwa’s heart ached at this sight. She directly threw out the Qiankun Cauldron again, this time using its body to resist. Absorbing one strand of Hunyuan axe light had already pushed it to its limit; now, it relied on its original body.
“Bang—”
A violent clash of metal pierced the ears of countless beings, rendering them deafening. Nuwa spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and almost stumbled to the ground, but the Qiankun Cauldron managed to withstand the blow. However, the light in the southern star domain where Nuwa was located dimmed, and the Myriad Stars Array remained precarious.
At the same moment, atop the Jianmu tree, Qing Ling’s primordial spirit merged with the Jianmu, his Wood Dao true form merging with the starry sky, breaking through to the thirty-third heaven. The Jianmu grew madly, continuing its growth even after reaching the thirty-third heaven. Qing Ling’s physical body manifested the Wheel of Wood Dao behind him, and the vast laws of the Wood Dao entered his body. At this moment, Qing Ling’s primordial spirit, merged with the Jianmu, drew his physical body towards the Jianmu. As the physical body and primordial spirit fused within the Jianmu, the Wheel of Wood Dao blazed with light. Trillions upon trillions of Wood Dao beings in heaven and earth were drawn by a thread of Wood Dao law into the Wheel of Dao. Qing Ling’s mind roared: “Wood Dao encircles the mountain, transform!”
At this moment, the Wood Dao encircling the mountain transitioned from illusory to real, and the fundamental principles of Wood Dao in heaven and earth condensed onto the Wood Dao encircling mountain. Within the Jianmu, Qing Ling’s primordial spirit advanced further, reaching the thirty-second heaven of Great Luo Golden Immortal. Simultaneously, his Dao body and realm broke through the shackles of heaven and earth, reaching the thirty-first heaven of Great Luo Golden Immortal, half a step into Hunyuan!