The Eastern Wasteland battlefield, the Four Great Guardian Envoys established the Four Spirits Life Protection Formation, sheltering the roots of the Jianmu tree and resisting the Xuanming winds, clouds, rain, snow, frost, and biting cold. As long as the Jianmu was not lost, even if the Four Ancestral Witches resisted head-on, it would take considerable time to reach the Jianmu's base.
The longer time dragged on, the more variables would arise, bringing opportunity. They knew the importance of weighing priorities rather than blindly charging forward.
Time slowly trickled by. In Kunlun, the two players grew slower and more cautious with each move, days or even longer passing for a single placement.
Qing Ling hesitated for a moment, then placed another piece, the "Moon" star position.
Yuanshi, having anticipated this, reached out and pointed. The white piece landed again, connecting to the central Tianyuan white piece, completing another encirclement.
In the Heavenly Court, Xi He emerged from the Empress's Palace, enveloped by a faint moonlight that cast the heavens and earth into twilight.
At this very moment, on Shouyang Mountain, Laozi opened his eyes. The heavenly secrets had been thrown into chaos, and he, the great master of the Xuanmen, personally intervened to disrupt them!
Xi He descended to the mortal realm, a cascade of light surging towards the gravely wounded Qing Xuan, blocking Emperor Jiang.
Qing Xuan, his face pale, managed to say to Xi He, "Thank you, Empress, for your timely assistance!"
Xi He's expression softened slightly. "It is good that you have preserved your life!"
Houtu's face was etched with hesitation, but she stood before Emperor Jiang.
Emperor Jiang let out a hearty laugh. "Sister Houtu, you depart first!"
Houtu shook her head. "Elder Brother, your injuries are severe, how can I leave with peace of mind?"
"Then leave it to me!" A rough male voice boomed, accompanied by flashes of lightning and gusts of wind.
It was the Ancestral Witches Qiangliang, Xizi, and Tianwu arriving.
"We have finally waited for the Empress. Since you have descended today, you shall not return to the Heavenly Court!"
Houtu was startled. "Fourth Brother, you all..."
Emperor Jiang spoke with a deep voice. "Sister Houtu, rest assured and go. We are here. The Demon God Qing Xuan must die!"
Houtu glanced into the distance at the majestic Jianmu and said in a low voice, "Elder Brother, are we, the Wu tribe, to willingly become pawns of the Saints?"
Emperor Jiang laughed. "Even if we become pawns, so what? Pawns and masters can be exchanged with a flip of the hand. As long as the Wu tribe is preserved."
Houtu's heart ached. She bid farewell to the four Ancestral Witches with reluctance. She did not wish to stay here, not only due to her heartache but also due to that moment of confusion.
She could not allow the entire Wu tribe to fall into tribulation and lose their way. Someone had to stand higher and see the end for the Wu tribe.
Houtu rose and walked towards the Sea of Blood.
Xi He coldly observed the Wu tribe before her, not wishing to utter another word.
Tian Wu chuckled. "Big Brother, since Tai Yi injured you, we will take it back from the Empress! Big Brother, your injuries are too severe, best to recuperate on the side and not engage."
Emperor Jiang nodded, not insisting.
"Swish—"
A pure white beam of light flashed. Tian Wu flickered, evading with wind遁 (wind escape), and roared, "Xi He, you demoness! Since you court death, I shall grant you your wish."
Xi He's gaze was icy as she looked at the three Ancestral Witches. Since a battle was inevitable, then battle they would. Further chatter would only reveal her weakness.
Xi He took a step forward. The Taiyin star ascended behind her, and boundless moonlight spread across the Divine Continent, enveloping Xi He in magnificent light, her form shimmering like a deity.
She was once the Moon Goddess of the Nine Heavens, a celestial being of supreme height, sanctity, and untouchability, worshipped by all. Even if she was no longer the Moon Goddess, she was still the Empress. In heaven and earth, even Saints would not dare offend her.
Qiangliang and Xizi clasped their palms together. Endless lightning raged in the firmament, purple, terrifying currents flowing with the might of world destruction, a divine punishment descending. Tian Wu sprouted wings on his back, conjuring chaotic hurricanes that devoured space and tore through anything obstructing them.
Xi He extended her palm, as clear and radiant as white jade. It was as light as a goose feather, yet swayed like a willow branch in the wind. Light flowed, time fragmented, and the endless lightning was severed by the cascading light, the terrifying hurricanes consumed and reversed by the light.
With another palm strike, the light rippled like water waves. The already trembling space shattered like glass. Time and space, universe and cosmos, merged at this moment. The temporal-spatial storm reversed, bringing with it lightning, thunder, hurricanes, and space, all of which were returned to them by the movement of light.
The expressions of the three changed. Qiangliang roared at the sky and stomped on the lightning gate behind him. Xizi let out a long cry, and a gate of lightning materialized behind him. Two ancient and majestic divine gates opened wide, merging endless lightning and electricity into one, like two world-ending divine venerables, suppressing all for eternity, a prison of lightning, invincible.
Tian Wu spread his wings and soared high, his palms clasped. There was no longer any wind on the primordial land, for all the wind was in Tian Wu's hands!
Spring winds, summer winds, autumn and winter winds, gale-force winds, spiritual winds, soul-chilling winds, cold winds, hurricane winds, bone-gnawing winds. Winds from heaven and earth, boundless winds, belonged to him, Tian Wu, at this moment! The eternal hurricanes were like a natural disaster of nothingness, causing fear among all living beings, billions of souls in anguish, weeping tears and praying to heaven and earth.
Xi He's eyes were like the clear, untainted moon, her white robes like snow. The bright moon hung high, her beauty unparalleled.
Xi He casually pointed at the Nine Heavens. The Nine Heavens' bright moon ascended, and endless stars appeared, surrounding the moon like a galaxy. An infinite sea of stars connected the cosmos, and countless dazzling starlights descended. One layer of starlight, one star; ten thousand layers of starlight, ten thousand stars.
Terrifying lightning destroyed star after star, tearing through layer after layer of starlight. Hurricanes swept through countless star layers. Stars continuously fell from the sky, meteor showers brilliant and dazzling!
Qing Xuan, stunned, heard Xi He's telepathic message: "Quickly retreat to the Heavenly Court. I cannot hold on for much longer!"
Facing the combined might of the Wind Ancestral Witch and the Lightning Ancestral Witch was akin to facing two Half-step Hunyuan experts. Even Xi He could not hold out for long.
She had not brought her accompanying spiritual treasures. The Moon Essence Wheel and the Taiyin Mirror were suppressing the eye of the Heavenly Court's Zhou Tian Star Formation, protecting it from any deviation, lest it escalate into a decisive battle between the Wu and Yao clans!
Qing Xuan heard this and immediately retreated from behind Xi He, soaring towards the heavens.
But at this moment, Emperor Jiang, who had been recuperating nearby, spread his palm. The space beneath Qing Xuan's feet solidified, preventing him from taking a single step further.
Kunlun. Yuanshi Tianzun smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, it seems your pieces are all depleted, and there is no longer any hope, is there?"
Qing Ling remained unfazed. "Until the very last moment when the pieces are set and the game is decided, anything is possible!"
As his words fell, he placed a piece to the west, and karma arose anew.
In the west, on Mount Sumeru, the two Saints exchanged glances. Jieyin sighed lightly. "Junior Brother, you may go."
Zhunti was surprised. "Why do you not go, Senior Brother?"
"If both of us go, Tongtian Daoist will surely stop us, and we will be unable to influence the grand momentum of this game. Rather than Qing Ling Daoist exhausting his karma, it is better that when he faces certain death, I shall go and preserve his life."
Zhunti smiled and nodded. "Senior Brother's considerations are thorough! Then I shall make this journey!"
As Zhunti stepped out of the west, Tongtian, sword in hand, was already guarding the border between east and west, his eyes narrowed in a smile. "Fellow Daoist Zhunti, matters of the East are best decided by us in the East."
Zhunti clasped his hands together. "Amitabha, Amitabha! Fellow Daoist Qing Ling is in distress, and I cannot help but go and help him."
"Then you must first ask my sword Qingping!" Tongtian raised his long sword, standing between the east and west.
Yuanshi smiled. "Fellow Daoist, it is time."
"Time for what?"
"Naturally, it is time to conclude the game!" Yuanshi placed a white piece, filling the last gap in the Tianyuan.
At the highest point of the Jianmu's Guanglu land, atop the celestial ladder, layers of auspicious clouds suddenly appeared, along with golden lamps and glazed divine flames that sealed the void. At the peak of Jianmu, the stars of the heavens instantly dimmed. The Grand Teleportation Array was held in place by the Jade Void Glazed Palace Lantern with the Ten Golden Immortals.
Beneath the glaze, the energies of life, death, illusion, and destruction appeared. Chi Jingzi threw out a Two-Elements Illusion-Destruction Talisman. The Yin-Yang Taiji rotated, protecting the ten Golden Immortals of the Chan School.
The Grand Luo experts of the Five Clans, rushing madly, saw this scene and felt despair. With the teleportation array fixed, the Ancestral Witches beneath Jianmu would have to rely on this array to put up a fight!
Kunlun. Yuanshi placed another piece, then another, each piece supporting the next, sealing all directions. The white pieces closed in, on the verge of a great victory, the black pieces having no power to turn the tide.
At Jianmu, the Life Protection Formation was broken. Beside Xuanming, Gou Mang emerged, his face hesitant. "Must we really do this?"
Xuan Ming said coldly, "For the sake of the Yao clan, it must be so! Next, you shall stabilize the spirit of Jianmu. It is most fitting for the Wood Ancestral Witch to control Jianmu!"
In the East, within Tanggu, the restrictions vanished. The Ten Golden Crows rejoiced, believing their father or uncles had allowed them to go out and were no longer restricting their freedom.
The Ten Golden Crows were overjoyed and joyfully flew out of the Eastern Sea. Instantly, ten suns appeared, bathing the heavens and earth in great light. The water of the Eastern Sea dried up by a hundred feet, and from east to west, all along the way, countless trees withered and died, living beings perished from dehydration, aquatic creatures suffered terrible deaths, and all races were terrified.
When the Ten Golden Crows saw this, they were greatly alarmed. They did not know that merely by looking at the heavens and earth, they had caused such widespread extinction.
In their understanding, their father, mother, uncles, and even the ancient Fusang tree were not afraid of them. They never imagined that all living beings were so fragile.
The Ten Golden Crows hastily tried to return, but they found themselves lost, unable to find their way back.
The Ten Golden Crows flew in the sky for a long time, and then saw a giant chasing after them. The giant immediately swung his staff at them. The Golden Crows, startled, scattered in all directions, angrily asking, "You giant, how can you be so rude? Why do you hit us upon seeing us? Have we offended you?"
The giant roared, "You ten-feathered beasts are a scourge to all living beings! Today, I, Kuafu, will surely beat you to death!"
With that, he swung his staff, beating the Ten Golden Crows into a sorry state, forcing them to continue flying and fleeing.
Kuafu pursued relentlessly, the Ten Golden Crows flew incessantly, yet they could never find Tanggu.
Kuafu chased for too long, drank the waters of two great rivers, and ate countless aquatic creatures from them, regaining his strength to chase again.
The Ten Golden Crows, enraged, spat out solar golden fire, burning Kuafu. Although Kuafu was a Great Witch, he could not withstand the life-consuming energy of the solar golden fire. His vitality gradually dwindled, until he finally died.
Kuafu chased the sun, exhausted, and died. His staff transformed into a peach forest, his spirit commendable, his courage admirable, but he lacked calculation, or perhaps he should not have been born in a world full of schemes.
After Kuafu's death, the Ten Golden Crows finally breathed a sigh of relief. But at this moment, a cold light flashed across the sky like a meteor, its blinding brilliance forcing all living beings in heaven and earth to close their eyes.
A majestic and handsome man, carrying a bow and arrows, shot an arrow of light that dazzled the world!
"Swoosh—"
A Xuanming arrow pierced through a Golden Crow, passing through its body. A great sun fell from the sky.
The nine Golden Crows, startled and enraged, glared at the archer.
At the same time, Di Jun, who was confronting Yuanshi Tianwang, felt a pang in his heart. He counted his fingers, but the heavenly secrets were muddled, unknowable.
Xi He, too, felt a pang in her heart. She was greatly alarmed and looked towards Tanggu in the East, only to see a void.
Xi He instantly guessed something. A cold light flared in her eyes, more chilling than the deepest frost.
For the first time, she sharply commanded the Ancestral Witches, "Open!"
The Taiyin star erupted with brilliant light. The bright moon of the Nine Heavens momentarily flowed through time, illuminating heaven and earth. The moonlight was gentle yet filled the starry sky. Where the moon shone, all was within her heart.