As the ancient, gilded, and majestic gate opened, the figure of the demon race's Nuwa appeared before the Sanqing.
Nuwa's phoenix brows furrowed, and with a single step, space rippled, and the four chaotic phenomena exploded.
Laozi sighed, and a Taiji diagram materialized beneath his feet, its yin and yang spinning to stabilize the primordial chaos and block Nuwa's path.
Nuwa sneered, "Sage Taiqing, you blocked my dojo last time, and now all three of you have come to block my way again. Do you truly take this Empress as mere clay to be molded?"
Yuanshi Tianzun said with a hint of helplessness, "Fellow Daoist Nuwa, we are Sages, how can we associate with mere ants? The living have their ways of survival, and Sages have their uncrossable paths. Why must you defy the heavens and alter fate?"
Tongtian remained silent but showed no intention of leaving.
Nuwa, enraged, laughed heartily, "Good! Good! Good! Words are futile. Today, we shall fight, and only when a victor is decided will this end!"
Laozi felt a sense of unease, though he couldn't pinpoint why. However, since he felt it, he would not yield to Nuwa's will.
Laozi said sternly, "Fellow Daoist Nuwa, even if you attained Hunyuan over a hundred Yuanhui ago, with all three of us present, you should abandon any such notions."
Nuwa scoffed, "At times, the gap in strength cannot be bridged by mere numbers."
Tongtian's interest was piqued. "Fellow Daoist Nuwa, you are so confident. Why not spar with me? I have not engaged in a major battle since becoming a Sage. My hands are itching for a fight."
Nuwa glanced at Tongtian, this somewhat unreliable Sage, and said, "A fight there will be, of course. But the three of you need not come one by one; come all at once."
The Sanqing were stunned. She intended to fight all three of them alone? This was too arrogant, too dismissive of them.
Nuwa took a step back, distancing herself from the Wa Huang Palace. The Baolian Lantern bloomed with colorful light, protecting her dojo and the demon realm. She moved into the boundless chaos and coldly declared, "Sages of Sanqing, come!"
The Sanqing felt a loss of face, a mixture of emotions compelling them to accept.
Nuwa flicked her hand, and the Qiankun Ding stood behind her, suppressing all directions.
All emotion faded from Nuwa's eyes, replaced by divine orbs, the gaze of a supreme ruler judging all beings.
Behind Nuwa, the Qiankun Ding vibrated, and the Dao of Creation appeared. She made a sweep of her hand, carving a river of time and space from the chaos. The river's source lay beneath the Qiankun Ding, and Nuwa's divine gaze fell upon the Sanqing.
The Sanqing were also taken aback. Their gazes were drawn into the endless cycle of creation within Nuwa's eyes. The Taiji of life and death was subsumed within creation, their primordial spirits and true souls became the soul of creation, and Jian Dao Tongtian became its sharp edge, one Dao merging into myriad Daos, integrating into the Sanqing's own.
The Sanqing's Dao hearts trembled, and they were momentarily lost.
At this moment, Nuwa raised her flawless jade finger and pointed from afar towards the center of Taiqing's brow, Yuqing's brow, and Shangqing's brow.
Through the intertwined river of time and space, figures of Nuwa appeared. They simultaneously extended their fingers from afar, one finger fixing time and space, and manipulating creation!
This single finger transcended all distance between heaven and earth, all limits of time and space. Chaos erupted, and endless wind, earth, water, and fire were shattered. Innumerable chaotic markers were lost. A Saint's finger shifted time and world, a moment becoming eternity.
This finger did not target the Sanqing's physical bodies, nor their primordial spirits, but their Saintly Dao fruits, their Hunyuan Dao fruits. If this finger landed, even a Saint would lose half their life.
The moment this finger was unleashed, a primordial realm turned in Laozi's eyes. Laozi's vision captured this finger, and it entered his boundless worldview, the beginning of an unnamed heaven and earth, the dawn of primordial chaos.
Above Yuanshi's head, an immortal Pangu's true spirit manifested, extending a hand to grasp, breaking through time and space to intercept this finger.
Tongtian's gaze sharpened, and he drew his sword, cleaving through the finger of time.
However, Nuwa's finger continued its unstoppable advance. Countless Nuwas across all timelines extended their fingers simultaneously, making evasion impossible.
Laozi's eyes witnessed the primordial realm turning, the universe expanding. In an instant, it seemed to vanish into the chaos.
Laozi stood between life and death, neither living nor dead, neither existing nor perishing. The finger of creation entered the realm of life and death; if it were life, it became death; if it were death, it remained death. The Taiqing Sage could no longer be shaken.
Yuanshi Tianzun's expression grew solemn. He brandished the Pangu Banner, its power of destruction rending the chaos, shattering countless elemental energies. Chaos raged uncontrollably. Behind him, a colossal Pangu figure appeared, holding a Jade Ruyi, splitting heaven and earth, shattering world after world, all of which had been painstakingly created by reclusive mighty beings in the chaos.
Tongtian raised his sword once more. The Qingping Sword was incomparably sharp, the progenitor of sword dao, cleaving through creation, a single sword to break all laws, no matter how many came, he would斩 them.
Rumble～～～
The entire chaos trembled. Mighty beings were filled with rage but utterly helpless. They were Sages! Even if their hundreds of Yuanhui of hard work were destroyed, what could they say? What dared they say? However, these mighty beings had once been prominent figures in the Great Wilderness. Even after leaving, their foundations remained. These individuals would never again hold favorable opinions of the Sanqing, and this animosity would extend to their disciples and descendants, and to the Three Sects.
Nuwa's divine gaze noted that Laozi was the most at ease. She then extended another finger, and the Nuwas of countless timelines pointed again at Laozi.
Laozi's eyelids twitched. The Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Linglong Pagoda materialized above his head, standing firm to protect him.
He then looked towards the Qiankun Ding behind Nuwa, manipulating the item that suppressed the chaotic flow of time. If the Qiankun Ding ceased to suppress and devour time, the timelines would return to normal, and Nuwa would no longer possess such overwhelming power.
Laozi sighed. The Qiankun Ding was of too high a grade, even surpassing the Kaitian Axe by one level. It was a treasure for suppressing the primordial chaos, second only to the Thirty-Six Blue Lotuses. Even though it had lost a leg and its origins were damaged, causing its grade to fall, its foundation remained. It was a treasure that could suppress the origin of time and space, something even Innate Supreme Treasures could not achieve. With the power of the past and future, they could also achieve this. But they could not compare to Nuwa directly causing the timelines to become chaotic, as if countless true Nuwas were pointing at them.
Laozi raised the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Linglong Pagoda above his head and moved towards Nuwa's back. As long as the Qiankun Ding was moved, and the supreme treasure's suppression was gone, time would normalize, and Nuwa would no longer have the advantage.
Nuwa's divine gaze fell on Laozi again. A Qing Suo landed on the Xuanhuang Pagoda. She pulled, intending to fling it away. Laozi looked closely and saw it was the meritorious treasure for creating humans, the Creation Whip formed from the Innate Gourd Vine. He pointed at the Xuanhuang Pagoda again, and it transformed, becoming immeasurably vast, like a universe, unshakeable by any force.
Nuwa cast another treasure. The Mountains and Rivers Society and State Map opened widely, and a wall of mountains and rivers stood around Nuwa. To approach her, one had to first enter the world of mountains and rivers and then break through the society and state.
Nuwa knew Laozi's strength was considerable. With her attention divided, she couldn't suppress him. Therefore, she shifted her focus back to Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian, pressing them hard, intending to provoke their true anger. If the fire wasn't great enough, it couldn't burn.