Great cultivators watched through the void as the battlefield where the Wu and Yao determined victory unfolded beside Buzhou Mountain.
Even if victory was achieved on the Wu and Yao's terrestrial battleground, it was merely a bargaining chip, not the decisive factor.
The crucial element, naturally, lay in the demon race's ancestral formation, the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Formation, and the witch race's Twelve Du Tian Shen Sha Formation!
These three formations, unparalleled in the Primordial World, along with the Zhuxian Sword Formation of the ancient era, were the most formidable arrays in the Primordial World.
They also marked the ultimate destination of all formations under heaven.
Pangu's colossal body roared and bellowed, like a demon god awakened from eons of slumber, shaking the primordial void. He raised his divine axe, and with each descent, it was the ultimate manifestation of the Great Way of Strength, a breathtaking display of martial prowess.
In Pangu's colossal form, he possessed but one axe. Against the myriad stars, the countless celestial bodies, and the vast cosmic expanse, he could shatter all techniques with sheer power.
Di Jun's brow furrowed deeply. The Hetu Luoshu deduced to its peak, endless stars descended from the firmament, layer upon layer. Within the Great Sun star, Taiyi wielded the Sun Mirror, while Xi He brandished the Moon Mirror. Layer upon layer, page by page, starlight and star motes accumulated. On Kunpeng, the reciprocal forces of wind and water, he guided the movements of the myriad stars. The motion of the stars, a pull and a tug, drew its power from here.
Countless stars twinkled with stellar radiance, interwoven like a celestial tapestry, forming an absolute defense, a perfect and impregnable entrapment formation. Mysterious rays of light, like myriad stellar threads, bound Pangu's colossal body in all directions, imprisoning him within this boundless sea of stars.
Pangu's colossal body roared in fury, his consciousness becoming frenzied, his eyes filled with rage and hatred. His axe, wielded repeatedly, smashed through star after star, domain after domain, yet as one stellar domain shattered, another would light up, filling the void.
The might of the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Formation lay not in offense, but more so in its ability to trap and contain.
The Zhuxian Sword Formation, however, was both an offensive killing formation and a defensive entrapment formation. Its profound utility meant that in the hands of a Saint, it could break through both the Du Tian Shen Sha and Zhou Tian Xing Dou formations.
Were it a Saint, they could break it even without the sword formation.
But if it were not a Saint wielding the Zhuxian Four Swords, then the claim of only four Saints being able to break it would not hold.
Therefore, it was truly difficult to declare a winner among the three.
Thus, they were collectively known as the three ultimate formations of the Primordial World.
At Buzhou Mountain, the earth trembled. Countless beings, filled with dread, prostrated themselves to heaven and earth, praying for peace.
Innumerable meteors and streams of fire descended upon the Primordial World, celestial fires blazed, and the immense impact force of falling stars devastated land after land.
The entire Primordial World was in upheaval. Great cultivators, distracted, protected their own dojos, disregarding the lives of the common folk.
Those who wished to show compassion for the multitude were powerless, unable to render aid.
The Primordial land began to fracture, starting from Buzhou. The frequency of the earth's tremors reached the shores of the four seas, triggering countless tsunamis and hurricanes. Ocean waves churned the heavens and earth, engulfing the lives of countless beings along the coast.
In the underworld, the Black and White Impermanence, along with the Ox-Head and Horse-Face, transformed into millions of welcoming emissaries, guiding countless souls into the Netherworld, towards the Hall of Yama, where the Earthly Path of Reincarnation began to operate at an accelerated pace.
The speed at which Black and White Impermanence and Ox-Head and Horse-Face guided souls could not keep up with the speed of death. The speed at which judges made their decrees could not match the speed at which souls were delivered. The Yellow Springs Road was crowded with souls, a dense, black mass. There was no loneliness on the Yellow Springs; one was surrounded by tens of thousands of spirits.
The Naihe Bridge was extremely congested, with many souls being forcibly pushed off and falling into the River of Oblivion, where they were devoured by asps and scorpions, their souls dissipating into heaven and earth.
At the Naihe Bridge, Meng Po's stall had never been so lively, nor had it ever had so many customers. The soup in Meng Po's cauldron was finally nearing its bottom. Meng Po was helpless; the number of souls waiting for reincarnation grew larger and larger. Before Meng Po were truly mountains of ghosts and seas of spirits.
Purple lotuses bloomed on the waters of the River of Oblivion, originating from countless generations of seeds from the Purple Nether Lotus. They now bore a new name: Reincarnation Purple Lotuses.
The main ingredients for boiling Meng Po's soup were the Reincarnation Lotuses from the River of Oblivion, the Petals of the Other Shore from the banks of the Three-Path River, the light of reincarnation from beside the Three-Life Stone, and Meng Po's Dream Soul Great Way. These combined to create this bowl of Meng Po soup, which erased all karmic debts of past lives, opening up infinite possibilities for a new beginning.
Meng Po had not been this busy in a long time. Her old bones felt tired for the first time. She summoned dozens of underworld escorts. As soon as the soup was ready, she had these escorts carry it to the souls to help them on their way.
As for Meng Po, she had the leisure to focus on boiling the soup, or sometimes personally served soup to extraordinary souls.
Without identity or origin, you wouldn't even get a bowl of soup served by Meng Po.
Beyond the Naihe Bridge lay the majestic Six Paths of Reincarnation. The Gates of the Six Paths of Reincarnation stood eternal and indestructible in space-time. Each soul, based on the good deeds they performed in life as determined by the King of Hell and the judges, was directed towards a specific path.
After drinking Meng Po's soup, all their memories vanished, their personalities and wisdom reduced to zero. They would only follow their instincts, guided by their good deeds, towards one of the Gates of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, entering it to begin their new era, their new life.
With each soul that entered reincarnation, a portion of its soul power was automatically extracted, becoming a base value. The base soul power of all beings was the same, always one.
Depending on their rebirth, their soul power would gradually increase during the gestation of the new life. Some might achieve enlightenment and cultivate to surpass their previous lives, their soul power potentially becoming hundreds of times the initial value of one. Others might be reborn as weak creatures, their souls scattered, or quickly enter reincarnation again, their souls further weakened, destined to dissipate into heaven and earth.
Every soul that entered reincarnation had a portion of its soul power extracted by the cycle, ensuring that the base value remained one. Over time, as reincarnation accumulated, it absorbed more and more soul power from sentient beings, and the strength of the Earthly Path would grow increasingly powerful.
Under the law of conservation of energy, there would inevitably be a loss somewhere.
As the Earthly Path grew stronger by absorbing the souls of sentient beings through reincarnation, it appeared to weaken the beings themselves. However, as beings began new lives, their souls would strengthen again. This enhanced energy was drawn from heaven and earth, more specifically, from the enlightenment of the Heavenly Way.
Therefore, the Earthly Path was drawing blood from the Heavenly Way through the human realm, strengthening itself.
Even if this blood was meager, the countless beings undergoing reincarnation, over countless ages and countless cycles, would accumulate into a terrifying force.
Thus, the Earthly Path was most pleased when the Heavenly Way initiated calamities and tribulations. The Earthly Path would never hinder the actions of the Heavenly Way, as long as they did not target the Earthly Path itself. The more beings died, the happier the Earthly Path would naturally be.
As the Earthly Path grew strong, it would reciprocate to the great cultivators of the Earthly Path, and enhance the strength of the Lord of the Earthly Path.
Within the Wa Huang Palace in the chaos, Nuwa sensed the Three Pure Ones outside her palace. She let out a cold laugh. The Three Pure Ones had miscalculated; they should not have come to block the Wa Huang Palace themselves and instead sent the Two Sages of the West to block Qing Ling.
She then turned her gaze back to the Primordial World. The demon race held a slight advantage, so she did not need to worry for now.
With that, Nuwa raised an eyebrow. The act had to be performed thoroughly.
She slowly rose and walked outside the palace. The moment she opened the gates of the Wa Huang Palace, Nuwa's expression instantly turned somber and enraged as she looked at the Three Pure Ones.