Haotian raised the Eight Treasures Vast Heaven Pagoda above his head, and eight rays of light shot out, retrieving the remaining Golden Immortals and Profound Immortals. Then, he shot toward Jinchi.
He had confidence in Kong Xuan's ability. With his character, he should have prepared a method of escape. Although Haotian couldn't find Kong Xuan anywhere, he knew that the latter wouldn't leave his brother to die, so as long as he kept close, Kong Xuan would whisk them away.
"Jinchi, where's your brother? We have to flee before Tengri can capture us!" Haotian all but demanded.
In response, Jinchi cast an aside glance at him and resumed fighting the Tengri gods. Haotian bit back scolding words and quickly aided Jinchi. "Now's not the time to bother with these inconsequential people. Tengri is equivalent to a Saint, you should know what it represents!"
However, Jinchi still ignored him. Just as Haotian wanted to ask again, space constricted around him and Jinchi. The Tengri gods, unaffected by this phenomenon, took this chance and attacked them with ranged attacks.
Haotian spat out a mouthful of blood, but when they landed on Jinchi, cracks appeared all over his body. Jinchi cast a mocking gaze toward Haotian before his body shattered into tiny bits of green qi that dissipated into the air. All that was left was a green feather.
How could Haotian not understand? Jinchi had never been present. What had accompanied him and Kong Xuan was an incarnation, an exceptionally crafted one that fooled his senses. Without a doubt, Kong Xuan had already fled.
He should have already expected this. Haotian should have prepared against this, and it was not like there hadn't been a precedent for Kong Xuan's unscrupulous actions.
Before the Titan Tribe disappeared and the Demon Clan still ruled the Heavenly Court, a third force had dominated the world, Violet Manor. It was a time when the Three Realms had not existed, and the world was still known as the Great Desolation.
Kong Xuan had been one of the strongest Quasi-Saints of Violet Manor, led by Dong Wanggong and Xi Wangmu. The two were appointed as the head of male and female immortals respectively, bringing them into conflict with the Demon Heavenly Court. When Eastern Emperor Taiyi exterminated Violet Manor, Kong Xuan absconding contributed to Dong Wanggong's demise.
The Heavenly Lord of the Immeasurable, Tongtian, had saved Xi Wangmu's life. The latter now lived a reclusive life in West Kunlun and no longer partook in affairs of the world for eons.
And now, it was Haotian's turn to experience the bitter taste of betrayal.
"No! I won't let it end like this!" Haotian shouted. He spat a jade slip out and crushed it in his hand.
Before entering the World Nexus, Haotian had prepared several lifesaving trump cards for every situation he could think of. The Voidlight Traversing Talisman was one such trump card.
The light refracted around Haotian, turning him invisible. Moments later, a sudden turbulent wind blasted the nearby Tengri gods a distance away as the air exploded due to something breaking the sound barrier.
Up above, Tengri's giant form snorted as he reached out and clasped his hand together. At a spot over ten thousand meters away, space visibly distorted and shattered, revealing a blood-spattered Haotian. His aura flickered weakly due to the injuries caused by Tengri, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to fly up.
Haotian knew that he had no chance of escaping to the Three Realms. His only chance at survival was to flee to the chaos above the World Nexus and hope that the Saints would save him.
Tengri's fingers opened and moved toward Haotian, who took out his last Voidlight Talisman. Crushing it, Haotian's figure disappeared as he fled at hypersonic speed. Disdain entered Tengri's eyes as he grasped forward.
Once again, Haotian had been forced to show himself, but unlike last time, he was clad in armor. However, the spiritual light of the armor flickered weakly as cracks littered its jade scales.
Undeterred, Haotian threw a white ball toward Tengri before fleeing again. Space constricted around the ball, halting its movement. Just as it seemed that Haotian's action was meaningless, a fiery explosion burst from the white ball. It was reminiscent of Ulgen's nova-like suicide attack but twice as powerful.
The space around the nova explosion distorted, pulling in all those nearby. Even in the World Nexus, its power reached the Quasi-Saint threshold. Tengri released an angry roar as he marched forward and enclosed it with his hands, suppressing the nova explosion until it disappeared.
He turned and glanced at the casualties. The millions of believers dead ripped at his heart, not because their lives matter but the prayers they could have given him. Not only that, but four of the gods also died. As each god was an aspect of him, their deaths reduced his peak power.
Tengri roared, and the remaining five gods turned into light that merged with him. His power grew, but so did the restriction imposed upon him by the World Nexus, but Tengri didn't care as he chased after Haotian, who was nearing the upper boundaries.
With Haotian, a slight exhilaration appeared on his face as he broke through the boundary, but what greeted him exceeded his expectation.
Ninety-four lights shot out of the Tengri Chaos World and stopped in the chaos outside the World Nexus. The ninety-four lights resembled tiny little stars, each exuding a different law. The tiny stars conglomerated and formed into one being, Tengri.
"Insignificant bug, how dare you destroy four of my aspects," Tengri said. His voice was deceptively calm, but it gave Haotian the impression of a volcano just before eruption.
Haotian snapped his head towards the World Nexus, where the first Tengri chased after him. "...No."
Before he could even react, Tengri had already grasped him in his palm. Cracks reverberated throughout his body as nearly every bone in his body was crushed to dust. Haotian bit back a scream of pain and shouted. "Teacher, save me!"
"Hmpf, no one can save you," Tengri said as he began increasing his grip force, just slow enough that Haotian could feel every bit of pain without killing him.
As Haotian reached his limit and despair began settling in, a sword-shaped qi slammed into Tengri's head before shattering into countless particles of gold and silver.
He turned to see Tongtian flying towards him, surrounded by four swords. Haotian's eyes lit up as he saw a glimmer of hope.
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The moment Haotian interacted with Kong Xuan, Tongtian started to pay attention from her throne within Eminence Heaven Palace. As one of the outliers to her memories of the mythological history of this one, the Five-Element Peacock had been of interest to her.
It would be a lie to say that she was entirely surprised when Kong Xuan deviated from Haotian's plan, but what shocked her was when Kong Xuan merged with the child-like god from the Tengri Chaos World. She didn't think it was impossible for Kong Xuan to somehow absorb a foreign lifeform.
But, it seemed that Kong Xuan came to the World Nexus specifically for that child-like god. Therein lay the problem. How did Kong Xuan know about the child-like god when even Saints didn't, or better yet, did he have a connection to the Tengri Chaos World?
Tongtian couldn't help but think of herself. She didn't think Kong Xuan was like her, a mortal from the previous iteration of the Great Desolation, but maybe an outsider who happened to gain a second chance at life in the Great Desolation. Or was he the reason the Tengri Chaos World discovered the Three Realms?
Whatever the reason, Tongtian made up her mind to capture Kong Xuan and get the answers out of him after the war with the Tengri Chaos World ended.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"I should get going," Tongtian said as she sensed Haotian reaching the upper boundary of the World Nexus. Her figure disappeared, seemingly merging with space.
When Tongtian reappeared, she was already in the chaos above the World Nexus. Neither Haotian nor Tengri detected her as she hid herself within the folds of spacetime. The four Immortal Extermination Swords appeared and rotated around her while her right hand grasped the Xuanhuang Qingping Sword.
With an audible sharpness, she unsheathed the sword in a single motion that shot sword-shaped qi toward Tengri. Tengri noticed it, but it was too late as it slammed into his head, but it shattered harmlessly and only left a white mark on his face. 'Is this the difference between the Advanced Primordial Origin Realm and the Intermediate Primordial Origin Realm?'
Still, that didn't deter Tongtian as she flew towards Tengri, belligerence radiating off of her.
Tengri had turned toward her, and in that instance, a change occurred that neither Tongtian nor Tengri expected. Haotian actually self-detonated. His act sent ripples in the chaos and even affected the upper boundary of the World Nexus.
Still, a Quasi-Saint's self-detonation did not possess the power to injure a lifeform at the Primordial Origin Realm. But that momentary distraction was more than enough for Tongtian to enact her plan.
The Twelfth-Grade White Lotus of Purification appeared beneath her, while the Twelfth-Grade Black Lotus of Destruction appeared above them. White and black qi emanated from the two simultaneously and shrouded the four Immortal Extermination Swords.
The four Immortal Extermination Swords shot out and enclosed Tengri within their range.
"Originating under Mount Sumeru, they are neither copper, iron, nor steel."
“First held by the Devil Rahu, taken by Dao Ancestor Hongjun, but returning to its rightful place under the Heavenly Lord of the Immeasurable, Tongtian.”
"The reversal of yin-yang could smelt them, how can its edge be quenched without water and fire?"
"Exterminate immortality, slaughter immortal monarchs, argent light confines all immortals."
"Transform all immortals into limitless chaos; none shall be spared. Chaos Immortal of the Primordial Origin shall dissipate destiny."
"Arise, Immortal Extermination Sword Formation!"
A gigantic black-and-white lotus materialized in the chaos, severing all those inside from the outside. In Rahu's hand, he had used the Twelfth-Grade Black Lotus of Destruction with the four Immortal Extermination Swords to form a supreme killing formation, but Tongtian's version had exceeded his in all aspects, whether it be offense or defense.
The Twelfth-Grade White Lotus of Purification added a softness to the hardness of the Twelfth-Grade Black Lotus of Destruction. Solitary yang does not flourish; lone yin does not prosper. Coupled with Tongtian's mastery of the Law of Spacetime, Tengri found himself under the continuous attack of the formation.
The very space formed into blades that constantly lacerated his body from all directions, leaving white marks. Time slowed around him and stalled his thoughts. The formation also subtly corroded and damaged his body while also disintegrating him into energy to fuel the process.
Tengri roared and punched forward, but space remained stable. Although each spatial blade couldn't pierce his skin, the unaccountable number of them eventually broke through, causing his blood to flow out. The Immortal Extermination Sword Formation dissolved that blood and turned it into pure energy.
Seeing that one punch could not shatter the formation, Tengri unleashed one after another. Sometimes, his fist carried the ferocity of lightning; other times, it disappeared within darkness, and at other points, it exuded the sharpness of metal. The variety of the laws in his attacks astounded Tongtian.
Tongtian waved her hand, and the Vast Heaven Mirror, the Eight Treasures Vast Heaven Pagoda, and other artifacts appeared in front of her. Tengri seemed to have lost interest in Haotian's leftovers after he self-detonated, or so it seemed. Curiously, only the Vast Heaven Mirror and the Eight Treasures Vast Heaven Pagoda remained undamaged. Her eyes flashed for a moment before waving her hands and storing Haotian's spiritual artifacts, broken and undamaged.
After recovering Haotian's belongings, Tongtian focused on Tengri. The reason she wanted to trap Tengri in the Immortal Extermination Sword Formations was due to her insight into Tengri's existence.
She had a basic structure of the Tengri Chaos World's pantheon. The ninety-nine gods weren't just aspects of Tengri but his avatars. Each god would focus on a different law, and once they mastered it, it meant Tengri had mastered another law.
Such ambition astounded Tongtian, but it seemed that the method had its downsides. Aside from the time it took to split himself into ninety-nine avatars to cultivate different laws, it ran the risk of lowering his strength. It was fine when Tengri was the sole overlord of the world, and no one could contest his powers, but in the current situation, his split aspects proved a crucial weakness—one that Haotian revealed.
Explained in simple terms, if each of the ninety-nine gods presented one percent of his overall power, Haotian just destroyed five, which meant that his peak strength had been lowered to ninety-five percent. Granted, this was a giant oversimplification, but it conveyed the concept well enough.
Tongtian had wanted to trap the part of Tengri that exists inside the World Nexus, but it seemed that he stopped just before the boundary. If she entered, it would only lower her strength to around the Quasi-Saint Realm due to the restrictions. Instead, she focused on the Tengri trapped inside the Immortal Extermination Formation.
In the same realm, the Immortal Extermination Sword Formation cannot be broken unless four immortals in the same realm as the caster enter. Of course, this statement had its caveat.
The Immortal Extermination Sword Formation trapped Tengri, and he could not break out of it no matter what he did despite Tongtian being in the Intermediate Primordial Origin Realm while he was in the Advanced Primordial Origin Realm. However, Tengri's resistance was not meaningless.
Tongtian had to use her qi to support the formation. Although the Immortal Extermination Sword Formation had the Twelfth-Grade White Lotus of Purification to gather more energy, it could not offset the upkeep. If she did not do anything, she would run out of qi before she killed Tengri.
If she did not do anything.
With the Xuanhuang Qingping Sword in hand, Tongtian charged at Tengri. She materialized behind him and slashed down, but against her expectations, a wolf pelt materialized over his back, blocking her attack. Her sword slid over its fur, barely slicing off a few strands.
Tengri turned around in one swift motion and launched a blue orb at Tongtian. The orb contained a hundred laws merged together. Despite her mastery of the space inside the formation, she couldn't teleport at all.
Tongtian pointed at the blue orb, covering it in a silver-gold sheen. The blue orb faltered as the laws composing it destabilized and split apart into nine orbs, each shooting toward her at different speeds. Tongtian felt the shackles around her disappear, but she didn't teleport away immediately.
She tightened her grip on her sword and unleashed nine consecutive sword strikes. Each slash collided with the incoming orbs, destroying them, but in the end, Tongtian was forced back by a hundred steps.
"The power disparity is really huge," Tongtian muttered as she dissipated into the air.
Tengri roared in an alien language. The wolf pelt merged with his flesh, turning him into a beastman with wolfish eyes, ears, and sharpened canines. His nails turned into claws as long blades formed over each of them.
His attacks turned more ferocious, almost bestial. The Immortal Extermination Sword Formation's attacks continued to deal damage, but they weren’t as effective. Tengri's attacks disrupted the internal workings of the formation and brought disunity. Although it was far from enough to shatter the formation, it gave him more breathing room and drained Tongtian's qi faster.
At the core of the Immortal Extermination Sword Formation, Tongtian's Past, Present, and Future Incarnations surrounded her. All four held one of the four Allheaven Flags, something Tongtian had refined using their blood essences and spirits and modeled after the Titanomachy flag.
Silver and gold light burst out of the flags and covered the four figures. Initially, it was the shape of an orb, but soon, it shifted into a humanoid form and then into a perfect replica of Tongtian, except only a thousand times larger. "Allheaven Genesis Formation, complete."
The Xuanhuang Qingping Sword had also scaled with the Allheaven Genesis Formation, and the giganticized Tongtian grasped the sword's grip again. The Allheaven Genesis Formation disappeared from the core of the Immortal Extermination Sword Formation, and when it reappeared, it was in front of Tengri.
Tengri, upon seeing it, immediately attacked. The Allheaven Genesis Formation also attacked, drawing out its sword. "Heaven Opening Sword Art First Strike - Splitting Chaos."
The AllHeaven Genesis Formation cleaved through Tengri's attack and sliced through his fur and into his flesh. Tongtian frowned when she saw that her attack couldn't even reach his bones. 'Although the Allheaven Genesis Formation gives me the sheer power of an advanced Chaos Immortal of Primordial Origin, I still can't compare to the real thing, huh?"
Despite this revelation, Tongtian didn't retreat and continued to clash with Tengri. The following exchange of blows would have surely shattered the Three Realms if not destroyed much of its foundations at the very least.
As the two duked it out, the Allheaven Genesis Formation suddenly faltered, allowing Tengri to land a solid hit. Tongtian's formations unraveled and destabilized before breaking apart, revealing Tongtian and her three incarnations.
Tengri seized the chance and attacked with all his might.
"Did you think you can do as you like just because I granted you the right to spar with Third Sister?" a cold voice asked.