In the demon realm, after the panic subsided, the demons saw a towering, majestic tree radiating pure spiritual energy. Beneath the ancient tree lay countless members of the snake tribe.
As the demons were trying to comprehend the situation, heavenly radiance shone down, and Empress Nuwa descended.
Upon seeing Empress Nuwa, the demons wept. Bai Ze presented the remaining treasures of the demon emperors—the River Diagram and the Luo Book, the Heaven-Slaying Sword, and the Finger-Pointing Sword—to Nuwa. The demons cried out in sorrow, "We implore Empress Nuwa to avenge our demon race!"
Nuwa looked at the wounded and broken old demons with sadness in her eyes. She gently helped them up, sighed, and said, "From this day forward, you shall reside here. This is the realm of our demon race, for our race alone."
Upon hearing this, many of the demons felt relieved, but more were astonished.
Presently, apart from the missing demon gods, the demon race only had Bai Ze, Baqi, and Bingyi as demon gods.
Bingyi, filled with indignation, declared, "Empress, the Wu clan has massacred countless of our kin. Great Emperor Donghuang, Empress Heavenly Empress, and His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor have all perished. The Wu clan now has merely three Ancestral Wu. This is the moment to annihilate them!"
Nuwa looked at the resentful demons and sighed again. "But were you not sent to the demon realm by the Demon Ancestor?"
Baqi nodded, "Indeed, it is so."
Nuwa inquired, "Did the Demon Ancestor strike the Ancestral Wu at that time? Did he ever strike the Wu clan when he was present?"
Bai Ze's expression grew serious. "The Demon Ancestor did not strike then."
"That settles it," Nuwa stated calmly. "If the Demon Ancestor would not act, then neither shall I."
Bingyi urgently pressed, "Why is that? With the Demon Ancestor's divine abilities and your saintly power, Empress, is the Wu clan not easily annihilated?"
Nuwa's gaze dimmed slightly. "If I annihilate the Wu clan with a single hand, will the other five saints then annihilate the demon race with theirs?"
The demons were stunned. Bai Ze hesitated, "Empress, you mean?"
Nuwa shook her head. "It is futile. If I do not explain clearly, I fear your resentment will not subside.
How potent was our Zhou Tian Xing Dou Formation? Yet, it was breached by an Ancestral Wu. Do you know why?"
Qi asked uncertainly, "Was it the Du Tian Shen Sha Formation?"
Nuwa nodded. "Precisely.
The Zhou Tian Xing Dou Formation, however powerful, was ultimately an array conceived by myself, a saint, and five demon emperors. But the Du Tian Shen Sha Formation originates from the inheritance of Great God Pangu.
Bai Ze inquired, "Is your power superior, Empress, or is Pangu Great God's inheritance?"
Nuwa looked up at the sky. "A saint can destroy the Primordial World, but only Great God Pangu could create it. Therefore, the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Formation cannot overpower the Du Tian Shen Sha Formation.
Back then, I used seventy percent of my saintly power to break the Pangu Giant Body of the Twelve Ancestral Wu, but I only needed fifty percent to break the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Formation.
Before Cheng Huang Ancestral Wu self-detonated, the Pangu Giant Body, comparable to Hunyuan power, had already damaged the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Formation. Cheng Huang was merely the final blow.
The Heavenly Emperor and Great Emperor Donghuang left the formation because they knew the Zhou Tian Xing array could no longer withstand the Twelve Ancestral Wu."
Bingyi was puzzled. "But what does this have to do with annihilating the Wu clan?"
Nuwa replied, "The world we inhabit was opened by Pangu. Do you truly believe you can exterminate Pangu's descendants?
During the great war, did you not witness me and the Three Pure Ones fighting in chaos? Did you not see the Demon Ancestor and the Two Saints contending at Jianmu? Do you think the Wu clan is merely the Wu clan?
If the Demon Ancestor were to act, the saints would intervene, for the Demon Ancestor is already a half-saint. The saints' rules limit him, and they limit me.
If I were to act, before the Wu clan is entirely annihilated, the five saints would cause the demon race to vanish from existence.
The Wu and demon races, while adversarial, are also symbiotic. If the Wu perish, the demons will not be permitted to exist.
Moreover, Houtu, who transformed into the cycle of reincarnation, would she stand by and watch the Wu clan be wiped out? Even if the Demon Ancestor holds great sway in the Earthly Dao, with the passage of time, the master of the Earthly Dao who forever remembers the hatred of annihilation, a master of great wisdom and perseverance, hates the demon race to the core. Are you not afraid?"
A demon saint declared indignantly, "Are we to bear this deep-seated hatred indefinitely?"
Nuwa sighed. "The five saints have preached the Dao, and the protagonist of heaven and earth has shifted. This is the grand trend of the Heavenly Dao.
The grand trends of the demon race and the Wu clan have already occupied the Primordial World. The rise of the new protagonist necessitates the departure of the old. This is the grand trend of the Heavenly Dao!
The Wu clan must not forget their deep-seated hatred.
But you must understand, even the Wu clan are merely pawns of the Heavenly Dao, as are we demons. The Heavenly Dao dictated that the Wu must consume the demons to be born, and this is the root of the profound enmity between the Wu and demon races.
And for our demon race, the original intention of our existence, the glory of the demon race ruling heaven and earth, how many of you still remember?"
The demon saints fell into silence.
Qi said coldly, "To survive."
A trace of relief appeared in Nuwa's eyes. "Precisely. Our struggle with the Wu clan, at its core, is for survival. Not for ruling heaven and earth, not for being the protagonist, but simply for survival and propagation.
The demon realm is the spoils of our demon race.
The deep-seated hatred the Wu owe us, I will not avenge, nor will the Demon Ancestor. You must rely on yourselves, this generation, the next, and all generations to come. Only then will the demon race have a source of conviction to continue existing.
Otherwise, the demon race will merely be the demon race of the five emperors, one ancestor, and one master, not the demon race of its citizens.
The Heavenly Dao uses us demons as pawns, the Wu clan are enemies, and the Heavenly Dao itself is an enemy.
You cannot escape the game, nor see through the truth, but with me, Nuwa, here, I will help you see the truth. With the Demon Ancestor, he will guide your direction."
Nuwa swept her gaze over nearly a hundred demon saints and numerous silent old and great demons, and said softly, "Rest and recover here in the demon realm."
She turned and departed slowly.
The demons bowed respectfully.
Bai Ze asked, "Empress need not return to the Primordial World; it is about to shatter."
Nuwa turned back and said calmly, "Then I shall go and mend it."
In the demon realm, ten thousand demons remained silent. They feared they had hurt the Empress's heart and the Demon Ancestor's heart, who had tirelessly schemed for them.
They had only pursued victory and pride, unaware that their survival was the result of Empress Nuwa and the Demon Ancestor's utmost efforts.
Had Qing Ling not manifested and immediately sent away the ten thousand demons, choosing instead to kill the three Ancestral Wu and the remaining Wu clan, the Three Pure Ones in chaos would have immediately returned.
As long as Qing Ling was delayed for a time, and the Three Pure Ones arrived to control him, the demon race would have been annihilated by the Wu clan led by the three Ancestral Wu. The Wu clan, in turn, would have suffered devastating losses from the demons' desperate resistance, leaving both races severely weakened and unable to recover.
In the Primordial World's firmament, the five saints were desperately maintaining the stability of heaven and earth, but the Primordial World was already shattered. They could only suppress the collapse of heaven and earth, but not heal it. For how could the heavens and earth, which were extraordinary, be mended by ordinary means?
Upon Jianmu, Qing Ling's primordial spirit and Dao body merged, his wood Dao integrated, and beyond the thirty-third heaven, his Dao ascended further into the Great Dao. His true spirit was refined and sublimated, breaking free from the karma of heaven and earth's reincarnation, transcending the constraints of fate and time.
The life force of all things in heaven and earth surged. Countless ancient trees grew in the chaotic flood, bringing a glimmer of hope for survival to all beings.
An immortal will was born. Heaven and earth, the universe and the Primordial World, the Heavenly Dao, the Earthly Dao, all beings, and the six saints were shaken.
A ethereal and void voice echoed through the nine heavens and ten earths, resounding throughout immeasurable worlds: "I, Qing Ling, Lord of Jianmu, after cultivating the Dao for five hundred and thirteen Yuanhui, enduring countless tribulations, have gained the creation of heaven and earth, the creation of all beings, and have now attained the position of Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal!
With a heart of gratitude and joy, I thank the grace of heaven, the kindness of earth, and the affections of all beings."