A black-robed figure with an evil and indifferent bearing sat on a lotus atop Mount Sumeru. The lotus was the Twelfth-Ranked Black Lotus of Destruction, one of the lotus formed from the six lotus seeds the Thirty-Sixth Ranked Jade Lotus of Chaos birthed before its destruction.
A moment later, a figure covered in black mist materialized in front of the black-robed figure. Not long later, five more mist-covered figures materialized, and one of them stepped forward. “Master, the three conflicts between the three clans have increased and war is imminent.”
The black-robed figure opened his eyes. It was black. The pupils, irises, and scleras, there was no color but darkness. He didn’t look at his subordinates, but gazed upward. To the casual observer, it looked ordinary, with the sun, moon, and stars all hanging above. Day and night intermixed, and created a breathtaking image, but he was not appreciating the beauty of the world.
Unseen by anyone but him, thin lines of black mist stretched from the rest of the Great Desolation and congregated on Mount Sumeru. The black mist entered the core of the sacred mountain with no one but the black-robed figure realizing.
“It’s too slow,” the black-robed figure muttered. He focused his gaze on the mist covered figure. “Accelerate the plan.”
One of the mist covered figure couldn’t help but speak, “But, Master, the three clans are already suspicious. If we speed up, they might realize the truth. Won’t it ruin Master’s plan?”
The black-robed figure stared at his subordinate. Although his eyes had no pupils, his gaze was obvious. The mist covered figure felt a chill crawl up his spine, causing him to shout, “Wait, Mast—”
But it was too late.
The mist covered figure slammed into the ground, dispersing the mist and revealing his true form. He was a qilin with blood-red eyes and dirty black scales. Unlike the noble aura most qilin radiated, he radiated an aura of sin and destruction. The qilin spat out a mouthful of blood filled with black dots. “F-Forgive me…”
“You should know what to do, right?”
The other mist-covered figures shivered and quickly obeyed. “Then, go.”
All the misty figures flew away, even the injured qilin. If his clan asked him who injured him, he could always blame the Phoenix or Dragon Clan, anyway. With all of them gone, only the black-robed figure remained. Instead of closing his eyes and resuming his meditation, the black-robed figure and black lotus disappeared from the surface of Mount Sumeru.
When he reappeared, he was inside the core of Mount Sumeru. As the center of the West, Mount Sumeru housed the largest spiritual vein that connected all the West. As such, Mount Sumeru exuded a wonderfully dense essence that was only exceeded by Buzhou Mountain. The density of essence allowed it to become a holy ground for cultivation.
The black-robed figure had to slaughter numerous other creatures in order to lay claim to this wondrous land.
The essence density would only exceed that of a surface, but the black-robed man hadn’t come to cultivate. No, he had come to inspect his embryonic trump card. Inside the core of the Mount Sumeru was a massive formation diagram that was continuously absorbing the essence of heaven and earth.
Although faint, the black-robed figure could see thin streams of black mist integrating into the formation diagram. Four faint shapes could be vaguely inside the formation diagram, all equal distances away from another. Despite their incomplete state, the black-robe figure could sense a heart-palpitating aura emanating from it.
The black-robed figure released a rare smile. “Hongjun, oh, Hongjun. The day my four Immortal Extermination Swords become completed is the day I step into the next realm and regain my as a chaos fiendgod!”
He was Rahu, one of the two protagonists of the Fiend Tribulation alongside Hongjun. However, he and Hongjun had another identity. The two were the reincarnations of the three thousand chaos fiendgods Pangu slew and used as nourishment for the Great Desolation.
Rahu wasn’t one of the ten strongest chaos fiendgod, but he ranked in the top thirty as the Chaos Fiendgod of Destruction. He didn’t know which chaos fiendgod Hongjun was the reincarnation was, but it was likely he didn’t rank among the top hundred.
The two weren’t the only chaos fiendgods to reincarnate into the Great Desolation. Many other chaos fiendgods sent a part of their remnant soul into the unborn world, waiting to be reborn. Some succeeded, while others failed. The fiends such as Shenni, Taotie, Qiongqi, Hundun, and Taowu could be considered incomplete chaos fiendgod reincarnations.
Most of the fiends were just a mass of malevolent emotions and desires, and few could recall their memories as chaos fiendgods. Even though Fiend Emperor Shenni retained some of his memories, he was still driven by the desire to destroy the Great Desolation. In the end, the three overlords, Hongjun, and himself, allied together to eliminate the fiends.
Rahu’s realm had exceeded the Golden Firmament Realm, and even if the three overlords teamed up, he would not fear them. However, he had reached a bottleneck and, no matter what he did, he could break through. Furthermore, he had a feeling that Hongjun would become his biggest obstacle. In order to progress further on his path, he wouldn’t mind destroying the Great Desolation, much less killing Hongjun.
The former Chaos Fiendgod of Destruction gazed at the incomplete artifact with a gaze that could only be described as loving, but within that gaze was an endless abyss of slaughter and sin. “Dragon Clan, Pheonix Clan, Qilin Clan, kill each other, kill other life, kill all those that disobey you! The more slaughter, the better. Otherwise, how can else can I speed up the creation of my trump card?”
Rahu’s smile turned cruel, but it quickly vanished as he regained his indifferent bearing. He disappeared from the core of Mount Sumeru and appeared on the mountainside once more. Just as he was about to leave the West to personally take action, he stopped.
He turned his gaze and saw a towering tree with branches that continuously split. The leaves that grew from the branches seemed to contain all the profundities in the world. Rahu flew toward the tree. Moments later, his eyes lit up with delight.
“It seems that my luck is quite good. I didn’t expect to find one of the top ten connate spiritual roots, the Bodhi Tree, growing in my territory,” Rahu said.
The Bodhi Tree hadn’t opened its spirituality yet, but it still had instincts akin to a beast. When Rahu neared it, it started to vibrate, as if to warn him. If the Bodhi Tree could, it would pluck its root out and run away without a second thought.
“Stop resisting and obediently obey this seat, or else face destruction!” Rahu said. The vibrations formed an invisible force that would assault those nearby and make them dizzy. Although it didn’t have much effect on the former chaos fiendgod, it still annoyed him.
The Bodhi Tree didn’t understand Rahu’s words, but its instinct told it that if it continued, it would undoubtedly suffer, so it stopped vibrating. “At least you aren’t stupid.”
Rahu sat down at the base of the tree, closed his eyes, and started to meditate. Slowly, the corner of his lips curled upward. Although the shackle preventing him from breaking to the next realm didn’t loosen, he could still feel his strength increasing, giving him more confidence to deal with Hongjun.
After some consideration, a triangular shard appeared in Rahu’s hands. If Tongtian were here, she would have recognized the broken jade disk as a fragment of the Jade Butterfly Disk of Good Fortune. Even if it had been broken, but its grade was still a top-grade cardinal spiritual artifact. The current Jade Butterfly Disk of Good Fortune had below-average offensive and defensive capabilities, but it was Rahu’s most precious treasure.
Upon taking it out, Rahu opened his eyes and gazed toward the East. In a palace on Jade Spirit Mountain, an old Daoist, he also held a fragment of the Jade Butterfly Disk of Good Fortune, but twice as large, looked over. Their gaze intersected, but soon, the two looked away as if the incident had never happened.
“Hmpf, safeguard your piece well, Hongjun, because it will soon belong to me,” Rahu said as he closed his eyes once more.
As time passed, black mist began to shroud Rahu’s body. The black mist exuded an evil and slaughterous aura. If those without strength were to glance at it, they would immediately go crazy. While Rahu cultivated, Hongjun waited.
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Inside the palace with a plaque that read Violet Heaven Palace, Hongjun clutched his fragment of the Jade Butterfly Disk of Good Fortune. The Jade Butterfly Disk of Good Fortune had absorbed all the laws of the chaos fiendgods Pangu had slain. In other words, the three thousand laws that formed the Great Desolation were recorded within!
However, because of its broken nature, the law records were incomplete. Hongjun occupied the largest piece, and Rahu obtained the second largest piece after him. Since the Fiend Tribulation, Hongjun and Rahu had been collecting as many broken fragments as possible.
Now, the only two left were in each other’s hands. Both of them had surpassed the Great Firmament Realm and were only a step away from the Primordial Origin Realm.
However, no matter what they did, they could not break through. Each had a feeling that only after the other fell would they be able to break through into the next realm.
The Jade Butterfly Disk of Good Fortune disappeared from Hongjun’s hands, and he waved his hand; the door to Violet Heaven Palace opened. Two Daoists flew in. One wore a black-and-white robe, and the other wore a light green robe. Like Rahu and him, they were also reincarnations of chaos fiendgods.
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“Fellow Daoist Yin-Yang, fellow Daoist Kunwu,” Hongjun greeted them.
Yin-Yang Ancestor and Kunwu Ancestor nodded in greeting.
“Since both of you have arrived, you’ve agreed to my proposal?” Hongjun said.
“This is natural,” Yin-Yang Ancestor said. “But after Rahu is defeated, you won’t forget what you promised us, right?”
“Since I have promised you two, I will naturally keep my word,” Hongjun said.
Upon hearing this, both Yin-Yang Ancestor and Kunwu Ancestor’s eyes flashed with yearning and excitement.
Hongjun waved his hands and two prayer mats appeared next to him. Daoist Yin-Yang and Kunwu sat down on them and ironed out the details of their cooperation. Three months later, the two former chaos fiendgods left. The day Rahu took action would be the day the three of them besieged him.
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The battle between the Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan intensified. The small frictions exploded into all out war. It no longer matter whether the Dragon Clan or Pheonix Clan had offended the other. All that matter was that neither side could stand the other upon the piling grievance and corpses of their clan members.
Still, the Pheonix Clan fell to a disadvantage. The Dragon Clan originally possessed superior average strength than them and greater numbers. Compounded by their lustful nature, the Dragon Clan possessed many dragon-blooded descendants that bolstered their strength and numbers.
In light of the situation, the Phoenix Clan sought an ally.
Atop of the tallest Parasol Tree in the South, the strongest experts of the Pheonix Clan, including Phoenix Ancestor, gathered.
“Does anyone have a good idea?” Pheonix Ancestor asked.
One phoenix at the Great Firmament Realm suggested rounding up the remaining beast clans that had not sworn allegiance to any of the overlords. The Dragon Clan controlled the scaled beasts, the Phoenix Clan controlled the feather beasts, and the Qilin Clan controlled the furred beasts. The beast clans that did not fall in the three criteria were few in number and even if they joined the Pheonix Clan, they could not reverse the situation.
Another phoenix suggested gathering a large amount of experts and ambushing a squad of dragons. With their greater numbers, they would have confidence to bury the dragons with minimal loss, if any. But that suggestion was also rejected since that would require assigning phoenixes from one battle to another. If they possessed greater numbers, the plan might have been feasible. In fact, they had to be wary of the Dragon Clan of using such tactics.
Idea after idea flowed out of the phoenixes’ beaks, but none of them perfectly solved the problem. Finally, a phoenix wreathed in blue flames suggested. “How about allying with the Qilin Clan?”
The Qilin Clan was also one of three overlords and their numbers equaled the Phoenix Clan, yet they actually managed to prevent themselves from being embroiled between the conflict of the Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan. While the Phoenix Clan and Dragon Clan warred, the Qilin Clan watched from the sides, their intent obvious.
“The Qilin Clan is an appropriate ally, but we will have to pay a price for them to take action. For them, the best situation would be for the Dragon Clan and us to suffer major losses, paving the way for their supremacy,” Phoenix Ancestor explained.
Many of the phoenixes turned silent. Although a disparity existed between them and the Dragon Clan, the same wasn’t the case with the Qilin Clan. They could already imagine the devious expectation of the Qilin Clan. Once the Phoenix Clan weakened enough, they could swoop in and ally with the weakened Phoenix Clan. In such a situation, the Qilin Clan would hold the absolute advantage of the relationship.
Naturally, the Phoenix Clan had to think of a method to drag the Qilin Clan into war. Treasures were almost useless. As an overlord of equal strength, what the Phoenix Clan had, the Qilin Clan also possessed. If they sent half or even a quarter of their treasures, the Qilin Clan might join the war, but it would also severely weaken the Pheonix Clan. Not all members of the Phoenix Clan possessed the pure bloodline of the Phoenix, so they needed resources to strengthen themselves.
Finally, a phoenix with black feathers and wreathed in gray flames said, “Why don’t we create a conflict between the Qilin Clan and Dragon Clan?”
“What do you mean, Mofeng?” Phoenix Ancestor asked.
Mofeng sneered. “We already know the accusations of the Dragon Clan are weird. If they weren’t so arrogant, they would know who the true enemy is. I suspect that this conflict was instigated by the qilins to weaken our clan and the Dragon Clan.”
His words aroused the approval of his fellow phoenixes. Mofeng continued. “In that case, we’ll pay back the Qilin Clan by using their own scheme against them!”
“Are you sure that is a wise option? If we expose traces of our involvement, it will only make the Qilin Clan attack us and hasten our destruction,” Phoenix Ancestor said.
“Great Ancestor, I will personally take charge of this operation,” Mofeng said. His body and words exuded confidence, bringing an inexplicable sense of reassurance. Of course, if Mofeng didn’t possess strength, the other phoenixes would just call him arrogant. Among the Phoenix Clan, Mofeng couldn’t even clan top ten in strength, but if he wanted to hide, then not even Phoenix Ancestor could discover his traces.
“Since you will take charge of the operation, I’ll leave it in your capable hands,” Phoenix Ancestor said. Although she said that, she still couldn’t stop the feeling of unease. She shook her head and chalked it up to the pressure from the Dragon Clan.
“Ancestor, I have another suggestion,” a fiery red phoenix said.
“What is it?”
“Why don’t we recruit those two golden crows that live in the center of the Supreme Yang Star?” the phoenix asked. “As feathered beasts, they should obey the summoning of the Phoenix Clan.”
Phoenix Ancestor sighed. “Anyone with eyes can see this war will be as tragic as the battle with the fiends. Who would want to join unless there was no choice?”
“It should be the two crows’ honor to be valued by the Phoenix Clan.”
“It won’t work,’’ Phoenix Ancestor said with a shake of her head. “Not even we phoenixes can ignore the power of the Solar Truefire of the Supreme Yang Star. Only those two golden crows can.”
“Not even Great Ancestor can withstand the Solar Truefire?” Mofeng asked with shock.
“It’s not that I can’t, but the price is too high,’’ Phoenix Ancestor said. “The Supreme Yang Star is an integral part of the Great Desolation. If I forcibly break into the core, ignoring the damage to my body, I would negatively affect the world, making me and the Pheonix Clan sinners. This isn’t something I nor the Phoenix Clan can take at this moment.”
“That’s too bad,” Mofeng said.
After this, the discussion came to an end. Mofeng left with a squad of ash-feathered phoenixes to carry out the plan while the other experts returned to the battlefield. As for Phoenix Ancestor, she stayed in place. As the only phoenix above the Great Firmament Realm, her only job was to counter Dragon Ancestor.
The battle between the Pheonix Clan and the Dragon Clan intensified and more than a hundred phoenixes had fallen in battle. Over a hundred years later, the Dragon Clan possessed an overwhelming advantage, and soon moved out of the sea and encroached into the South.
Just as it seemed that the Dragon Clan would kill their way to the heart of the Phoenix Clan, a shocking new spread like wildfire. While the Dragon Clan waged war against the Phoenix, they did not lower their guard against the Qilin Clan. At the juncture between the Dragon Clan’s and Qilin Clan’s territory, both sides stationed guards. However, over ninety percent of the Dragon Clan’s guards existed because the Qilin Clan had killed them all and more than a hundred true dragons.
Blinded by rage, the Dragon Clan declared war on the Qilin Clan. Although the Phoenix Clan and Qilin Clan had not allied, the Dragon Clan was fighting a war on two fronts, greatly alleviating the pressure on the former.
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“Dammit! Who schemed against my Qilin Clan!? Once I find out, I’m going to hang the culprit by their entrails and have birds slowly eat away at them!”
The top echelons of the Qilin Clan shivered as Qilin Ancestor stamped the ground with his hooves, shattering the ground. They all back away for fear of drawing Qilin Ancestor’s ire. However, one brave qilin with sea blue scales stepped forward. “Ancestor, it must have been those despicable birds who want to drag us down.”
Qilin Ancestor glared at the blue-scaled qilin. “Nonsense, do you think I don’t know?! It’s those damn dragons. Even a child can see this is a scheme, yet he still declared war on us? Does he have no brains?!”
After venting a bit more, Qilin Ancestor finally calmed down. He gnashed his teeth. Like the Phoenix Clan thought, he wanted to be the oriole watching the mantis stalk the cicada. Qilin proposes the Way of Heaven disposes.
“Speak. What ideas do you guys have?” Qilin Ancestor asked.
This time, an azure-scaled qilin exuding a calming aura spoke. “How about allying with the Dragon Clan?”
At his outrageous proposal, all the qilins stared at him in shock and anger. The Dragon Clan had already declared war on them. Did they have to swallow their pride and beg the Dragon Clan to reconsider? However, Qilin Ancestor didn’t say anything yet, so these other experts of the Qilin Clan didn’t speak out and rebuke the azure-scale qilin.
“Tell me your ideas,” Qilin Ancestor said.
“Yes,” the azure-scaled qilin said. “As long as the Dragon Clan publicly states that the dragons killed were from the results of the Phoenix Clan, and reimburses for the damages they caused, we will ally with them against the Phoenix Clan. Naturally, we won’t send our full force. The best-case scenario would be for the Phoenix Clan to grind the Dragon Clan’s expert and make it easier for the Qilin Clan to become the sole hegemon of the Great Desolation.”
“Your idea is good, but impossible.”
“Why, Ancestor?” the azure-scaled qilin asked. In his view, this should be an easy deal for the Dragon Clan. Once the Dragon Clan exterminated the Phoenix Clan, the Dragon Clan would only have to worry about the Qilin Clan. Why waste effort to deal with two clans at once?
“Hmpf, you were born after the Fiend Tribulation, so you don’t know how prideful those dragons are,” Qilin Ancestor said. His eyes glazed over as he recalled the calamitous war that determined the fate of the world.
At this time, a qilin with ink-black scales and a man of ghastly flames stepped forward. The qilins near him stepped away. Qilins liked purity, and this included members of their own kind. The soiled aura surrounding the ink-black qilin made them uncomfortable.
“Ancestor, how about allying with the Phoenix Clan?” the ink-black qilin proposed.
A frown appeared on Qilin Ancestor’s face, but he didn’t directly reject it. “Tell me your reasoning, Molin.”
Molin paused. He felt that if he didn’t give a satisfactory answer, Qilin Ancestor might punish him. He smiled helplessly. The reason he sought refuge with Rahu was because he was alienated by his clan for a problem not of his fault. He didn’t ask to be born as a sinful qilin.
“Answering Ancestor, instead of letting emotions cloud our minds, why not think logically? It’s already a fact the Dragon Clan will attack us. Even if the Phoenix Clan plotted against us, it’s pointless at this stage. Instead of stalling and letting the Dragon Clan ravage our territory, why not ally with the Phoenix Clan? Revenge won’t be too late after defeating the Dragon Clan.”
Qilin Ancestor fell silent and digested Molin’s words. Seeing his hesitation and the pride in his eyes, Molin inwardly sneered. “Ancestor, we can also ask for some compensation from the Phoenix Clan. We know they attacked us, they know they attacked, and only the Dragon Clan would be so foolish as to blame us. If they don’t compensate us adequately, we can threaten to attack them.”
The qilins stamped their feet nervously. Although they weren’t as arrogant as the Dragon Clan, pride was embedded into their bones, and they disliked such trickery. However, they also know that they couldn’t put their pride before the future of their clan.
After looking at the unconscious support of Molin’s proposal, Qilin Ancestor made up his mind. “Send someone to contact the Phoenix Clan.”