From beginning till now, the amount of experts gathered on Mt Buzhou's foothills were terrifying. Anyone of some renown to complete unknowns but still held strong abilities arrived in force. An act that pleased Hongjun greatly. Wether it was out of duty and respect for him words or necessity, they heightened the chances of overcoming the tribulation.
Hongjun could already see those who should already be paving the way for a new era. The dragons, phoenixes, and devils had long overstayed their welcome. He'd preferred it if they'd all just retired.
Luohu arrived with much fanfare. Similar to during the first tribulation eons ago, Luohu arrived came with an army of his best. Only this time, this army was composed of true monsters. The appearance of the devils marked an intimidating sight that was daunting for even the bravest of hearts to face.
They were like an ever expanding force. A series of rolling clouds that blotted out the sky eith every step they took. Every major devil figure, Great Emperors, elders, sect masters, rogue cultivators had all arrived.
Luohu stood at the very front on top of a giant twelve petaled black lotus. In his right hand was a long pitch black spear and surrounding him were four spinning swords. Mara stood right next to him barehanded except a bow on one of his six hands and a quiver strapped to his back.
Zulong met Luohu's eyes defiantly. The Devil Ancestor only chuckled before turning his full attention to Hongjun. It was then that he truly felt shocked. It wasn't Hongjun but rather the people who came with him.
"Qiankun and Yingyang, I remember you two from the last tribulation. But Sichen? Time god Sichen? How have you been. It's been too long since I've last saw you!" He exclaimed.
Those who were defending Mt Buzhou were startled to learn that some guy who accompanied Hongjun turned out to be such a big deal. Even Zulong and Zufeng were shocked upon hearing Luohu treat this man with such notice.
Sichen was tall and had the skin texture of sand emitting bronze light. His face constantly changed from young and old. On his back were ten feathery wings.
"Good old Destiny Demon God," Luohu greeted next. "I'm surprise someone of your exalted stature deign to greet us with your presence. I'm more surprise you'd lower yourself to help my former brother."
The monstrous amalgamation of mouths and eyes scoffed. "Luohu, surrender and bare your neck. This is your only chance," Destiny Demon God said. His voice was like the screech of a ten thousand different species of animals talking at once. It was horrifying to hear and even high level immortals on the primitive world's defence did not appreciate him speaking.
But those like Zulong, Zufeng, Qinglong, Yi Fei'e etc all realise one thing. This Destiny Demon god was powerful.
"Damn, wouldn't even give us any breathing room," Qinglong cursed admits the banter. It felt surreal to not be the main character of an event, especially when he looked at Zulong. The more senior stood on the side with a completely serious expression.
'It's almost likely this is just one big performance for these guys to show off. Just hen you think you've reached the peak, more powerful bigwigs unveil themselves,' he thought bitterly. Looking at Zulong, Qinglong secretly made a promise to get out of this alive and reach an even higher peak.
Their master was still not in the primitive world and though Zulong did not like asking Da Hai for help, he did need it at a time like this. Too bad communication within the Chaos Sea was so muddled.
"And you all, you all showed up!" Luohu gestured towards Zulong's group, Zufeng's group, and the parties from the unaffiliated forces. "Well I guess you can stay as I refine heaven and earth."
"Luohu," someone demanded. It turned out to be Chenghuang of all people. The soft spoken foxlike creature stood among a group of pale as snow humanoids with flowing white hair. The famed White Clan from the West Sea.
"You have np heart, destroying home that all share?"
'I think that's the most articulate he's spoken ever,' Qinglong was secretly amazed. Even during their short stay in the West Sea earlier he was very composed. Goes to show how field up people become when their homeland is threatened.
Zulong felt much the same. He could not and will not run. The primitive world was his everything and he will die defending it. Even the chaos godfiends who'd long grown accustomed to the primitive world did not wish to see it go.
"Luohu, last time you aided us in the preservation of the primitive world. Why destroy it now?" A mysterious special old man, Qiankun spoke. His expression was one of irritation and anger.
"Does it matter what he's reasoning is?" Zulong sniped. He glared darkly at Luohu with a ferocious look in his eye. "You played everyone in the world, killed my uncle master. You tried to assassinate my son. Then you make a blatant threat on the world. Is it any wonder at all?"
"So with all due respect master Qiankun. Let's stop the talking and kill him already," he concluded.
This speech though simple invigorated all lifeforms against the devils. Even the devils under Luohu was shaken. Wether this was due to an unconscious use of Zulong's dragon roar ability or just natural charisma didn't matter. Because the words were agreed upon by many.
"How many times must I tell you that I didn't…you know what screw it," Luohu said. "Rise, Immor…"
A massive tidal wave erupted into the air without warning. It cut off Luohu's words and scattered his vanguard as they were all washed away by violent currents. Zulong have the devil no chance in already ordered his attack.
In perfect tandem, Nanming Divine Flames surfed the waves striking directly at multiple Primal Zenith Chaos Immortal Great Emperor devils. Luohu growled in annoyance as Sichen and Destiny Demon God jumped after him as well.
There was little coordination between Hongjun, Zulong, nor Zufeng but they had a tacit agreement. As such, the Dragon Sovereign accompanied by some of the oceans strongest experts began cultivating a tidal wave that worked to crush anyone in their way.
Simultaneously, Zufeng's avians rained down hurricane and fire like no tomorrow. Despite composing of opposing elements, the dragons and phoenixes worked surprisingly well. They were like two complementary pieces of a machine.
This was hardly surprising to Hongjun, they each represented the Yin and Yang. their ancestors came from both halves of Pangu's qi.
Already, devils suffered from injuries. The five elemental devils formed a pentagram and activated their own mechanisms. They dispersed nearby water creating an opening for their fellows. This was when Rippling Reflection led a strike force into Zulong's forces.
Wild fighting began as Yi Fei'e riding on top of Cinnebar Phoenix clashed against the devils leading various ocean elders. Her sisters accompanied her as well forming a stellar moth that met another giant in battle. Things were getting chaotic and hard to handle.
As Yi Fei'e clashed blades with Rippling Relfection Emperor, Zulong and Zufeng met Mara in combat. Luohu preferred fighting alone hence overall command was given to the demon king. As Zulong and Zufeng were the strongest threats, Mara confronted them himself.
Qinglong swam through the water after assuming his true form; taking sharp notice of the Immortal Extermination Formation forming high above them. He squinted his eyes and witnessed Hongjun stepping into it along with Sichen, Destiny Demon God, Qiankun, and Yingyang. He silently wished for their mutual destruction and swerved around. Let Hongjun deal with Luohu.
His own target, a growls Qiong Qi who had already noticed his approach. Qinglong had only heard of Qiong Qi from stories. This creature was a chaos godfiend who once followed the Demon Ape. He was a tiger with the muscular build of a bull and mighty wings. In more prehistoric times, Qiong Qi performed many atrocities in the North Continent.
As someone who'd witnessed first hand the condition the north was left in, Qinglong felt compelled to exterminate this pest. It was not just him, Xuanwu had also opted to join him.
"Qiong Qi of the four evils, you must pay for your crimes," the black tortoise said. Both his heads snapped at the tiger blasting frigid wind at him. Though this did not seem to hinder the winged tiger at all.
Qiong Qi brushed aside the cool air standing within a pool of filthy water. His teeth seemed to elongate into sabers as he pounced.
"You ants!" Qiong Qi leapt into action. His bulky physique wrestled against Qinglong even as Xuanwu's beak bit into his side. Yet his body was like iron as he not only withstood those attacks but also summoned muddy water to tear them both off.
The slap of this tiger rattled Xuanwu and staggered Qinglong.
"What does a few spoiled kids know of combat?" Qiong Qi chuckled. He was quickly silenced by a retaliatory slap curtesy of Qinglong's long tail. This threw him from his feet and he crashed into his own pool of filthy water.
"Having trouble?" Taowu asked his brother arriving with Hundun. Qinglong frowned even as he regained his balance. But he was soon pleased when Zhuque and Baihu also arrived.
"You jumped in ahead of us!" Baihu snapped at Xuanwu and Qinglong.
"Sorry, we got too excited," Qinglong said.
"Four Symbols I take it?" Hundun said an amused tone. "What a fitting matchup."
"I'll say," Zhuque said. "Though you three are missing a member aren't you."
At this Hundun just laughed. "Unfortunately we are," he said. "But fortunately we aren't," he added cryptically.
As soon as he said that a cauldron appeared in his arms. This cauldron was bronze with an emerald sheen. On it was an antique carving of a face made of squarish shapes.
The Four Symbols Divine Beasts perked up at the sight. They all felt the cauldron's presence and all came to similar conclusions. Wordlessly, the cauldron resonated with Qiong Qi, Taowu, and Hundun and a faint image manifested out of it.
The ghostly image howled and nearby immortals looked over in nervousness. They felt as if portions of themselves were being swallowed by the cauldron as if the damn thing was an uncontrollable glutton feasting on what it was not suppose to.
Qinglong grunted before blasting a flurry of lightning at it. It successfully connected with the metallic exterior. However, it was not enough to do major damage. After all, Qinglong was testing the grounds.
Around him, Zhuque shed her human form becoming a majestic fire bird. Her feathers sent bright sparkles and her cries were healing songs that counteracted the cauldron's effects. Baihu assumed his true form as a metallic white tiger. Each hair follicle of his fur were like reflective steel blades. In his mouth gripped a sharpened sword.
"Heh, though he died long ago. Taotie is still with us in spirit," Hundun said casually. He drew six hatchets and pointed them at the divine beasts. "I always wanted to test the so called Four Symbols."
"Please," he said almost mockingly. At least it seemed that way to Qinglong. But Hundun's voice indicated nothing. He was like a void, expressing no complex emotion, no complex desire, no true self interest. It made Qinglong wonder what was Hundun's deal.
Far away, Zulong brawled against Mara. Alongside him Zufeng also brawled headlong against the six armed demon king. Mara's white hair fluttered and his white pupils were like stars in the black that was his sclera.
"Should've taken my warning Dragon Sovereign. Yet you still continue to parrot that lie and interfere in my brother's plans," he sighed dancing through the clouds. He was closely followed by the winding body of Zulong and the much smaller yet gargantuan body of Zufeng.
"And you Phoenix Sovereign. Seems brother Luohu's goodwill is being squandered left and right."
Though despite his talking, Zulong and Zufeng largely ignored him and attacked individually. They were simultaneously two opposing masses of rainbow, golden and black lights that had no coordination yet somehow made it difficult for Mara to overcome.
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The demon king had to draw bladed weaponry to avoid Zulong's claws and warp space to avoid Zufeng's flames. But he had no true difficulty surviving the battle. He dodged Zulong's crushing claw grips and repelled Zufeng's talons.
For an old experienced warrior who'd lived cycles of combat, it wasn't something difficult.
Though he too had to admit, Zulong's attacks were terrifying to behold. His gripping strength could even crush unsuspecting chaos worlds to nothingness. This was why he'd taken care to not be caught in them as even a body as strong as his own will not walk out of that in one piece.
Overtime, their dance became one of clashing elements. A flurry of blows admits a sea of water and fire, thunder and lightning. It was one of the few instances where Zulong truly felt pressured.
His scales chipped with every retaliatory blow Mara dealt, his own emotions seem to be on the verge of going rampant from just interacting with the demon king. Was it some sort of devil art? Something similar to what compromised so many avians and seafolk and what infected Bi An?
The last thought invigorated him and just cemented the urge to exterminate the Devilish Dao. As such he desperately tried to kill Mara. If he could he can rejoin the other battles and kill as many lesser devils as he can.
Powerhouses like him, his brothers and Zufeng can slaughter lesser beings with sometimes terrifying ease. If they were released from these battles, the amount of damage they'd be able to do would be staggering.
So the devils checked them with their own bigwigs. Zulong and Zufeng were held back by Mara. The Four Symbols Divine Beasts fought the Four Evils, outliers like Yi Fei'e faced the coordination of some of the strongest Devil Great Emperors.
All the while the Immortal Extermination Formation took form. The streaming energies of myriad blades were the environment in which Hongjun, Sichen, Destiny Demon God, Qiankun, and Yinyang traversed. They and Luohu were the true figures of importance of today.
The outside world, those who chose not to partake such as Haotian and Yaochi. They observed the history changing events from safe distances. Haotian in particular watched with unrest. His hands fidgeting the whole time.
…
Nuwa didn't know what was going on with the world anymore. Things were so simple for a long time. A long time that she didn't even bother counting the days. Just simple singing and dancing with her beloved elder brother in the forests of Mt Buzhou.
The snake woman was currently holding her head beneath a barrier of boulders bound together by mechanisms Fuxi built. Speaking of Fuxi, he was right beside her hiding. Seriously, why was everyone so interested in little old Buzhou?
Nuwa wasn't inept by any means, she easily recognised the sheer power of hundreds of thousands of power beings that started brawling right outside Buzhou. Scratch that, some fighting had already spilled onto the lowlands of Buzhou.
And she wanted nothing to do with any of that.
Fuxi and her were not fighters. They were just them. They liked playing, singing, drawing, dancing, stone skipping, and building forts with rocks. Not whatever death match other immortals insisted on having. In fact, they weren't even aware of others besides themselves until recently.
Nuwa gulped as the soil beneath her trembled, her slender fingers reached for a five coloured rock. She massaged its surface and prayed to heaven.
This rock had come into her possession some time ago. Finding it pretty, Nuwa decided to keep it as a good luck charm. It also helped that it was a powerful natural formation of heaven and earth only possible in a spiritually dense location like Mt Buzhou.
As lighting roared, wind howled, fire scorched, and earth overturned. Nuwa tucked her tail tighter into her body, fully in the shade of Fuxi's earthly barrier.
"You know I don't think this will hold," Nuwa blurted out. "Maybe we should run."
"Right through the active warzone?" Fuxi gave her an incredulous look. He sighed and tried to give her a reassuring look.
"Look, big bro here's work is second to none. My defensive barrier won't break from just a little ruffling."
And that was exactly when it broke.
Fuxi had constructed their shared forte in a cave, one part of a much larger network of caves in Mt Buzhou. It blended in with the background and kept out the fighting. But now all of a sudden, a figure had burst out of the ground right alongside the cave wall. There were actually multiple figures that came through.
Though not from any attack by anyone. No devils were close to their hiding spot yet. Neither were any immortals. These beings who barrelled through had no quality that indicated cultivation at all but rather an energy that Nuwa nor Fuxi could put their finger on. What's more, this figure who barged in was a muscular brute with charcoal skin and fiery eyes. He saw her feral position and immediately turned hostile.
"You! You think you can just come in here and destroy Mt Buzhou?" Zhurrong snarled. He immediately formed a ring of fire around his fist in an attempt to punch.
Luckily for him Nuwa was not only a skilled dancer but also much faster. She easily rolled out of the way while he destroyed Fuxi's fortifications.
"What the? Are you insane?" Fuxi screamed. Now that his hiding formation came crashing down, they were now exposed to the fierce fighting outside. Within moments, a beautiful fox like creature with horns swerved near them with what appeared to be a dark raven in his mouth. The fox rammed the raven into the mountain before tearing its head off with a snarl.
"Tho…those are the aura of Primal Zenith Chaos Immortals!" Fuxi uttered in awe. His inherent knowledge of heaven and earth filled his brain with the necessary information; but even still being in the presence of one was another thing entirely.
On paper, Primal Zenith Chaos Immortals and Great Principle Chaos Immortals are the same type of existence, being of the same realm. But the magnitude of differences between them was unimaginably diverse.
The charcoal skinned man was wide eyes when he saw the fighting. He was temporarily frozen and unprepared for Nuwa's revenge slap. This slap subsequently sent him flying into another half sea snake half man creature, Gonggong.
"We live here!" Nuwa snarled back pointing below her legless body. "Why on earth would we want to destroy Mt Buzhou?"
"You live here?" A gruff voice said. The various newcomers opened a way for an ugly sag of flesh and wings. "How come we've never seen you before?"
Nuwa was taken aback by its appearance. But she nevertheless answered, "Who knows? Buzhou is a big place."
The now numbered twelved entities nodded in understanding. How the fat sack thing managed to nod with no face or any head for that matter was beyond her.
Suddenly, the ground shook again as the headless corpse of a dragon crashed nearby. A monkey with a crocodile's head landed nearby and beat its chest in victory. This pair was much weaker being only Da Luo Golden Immortals.
"Invasive pests!"
One of the twelve, a woman with seven hands on her back no less, jumped up. In the blink of an eye, Houtu took the monkey crocodile's head clean off its body using her teeth. She spat out the head and watched in satisfaction as the body collapsed.
"You killed brother Er!" Another devil, a large bull charged down from the sky. Nuwa, Fuxi, and the twelve strangers jumped out of the way as the bull landed. The dust kicked up became a storm and quickly formed a hurricane that the bull shot at them.
The sack, Di Jiang grunted in annoyance. He quickly charged through it and grabbed hold of the bull's horns. Using his great strength, he wrestled the bull around and threw it into the air. This was when Jumang and Rushou hit the bull simultaneously with their fists.
This was when Nuwa's divine sense went haywire. It was like she was sensing part of the Heavenly Dao in play. Like complete manifestations of the Dao Law of Wood and Metal had appeared here. But that should be impossible as those were part of the core of the primitive world.
"What are you?" Fuxi uttered in shock.
"We are genuine authentic descendents of the father god Pangu," Di Jiang announced.
By now, their presence was fully noticed. Even as the devil bull got onto its feat, seafolk, avians, dragons, and devils alike had their eyes on them. The fox creature from earlier landed near them and glared at the bull. The bull snarled and changed targets for the fox creature.
However, mid charge it stopped and changed directions. Then it changed directions again. Then its head turned dizzily and it staggered around in confusion. This was when the fox creature struck.
Before the bull had a chance to fully react, the fox's tail hair shot through the air and impaled the bull through its eye. The trail of blood marred the otherwise soft beautiful fur of the fox.
"You. Enemies? Allies?" Chenghuang inquired. "Buzhou. Destroy or save?"
"We live on Buzhou! Of course we won't destroy it!" Nuwa immediately said. Fuxi nodded furiously beside her. The twelve behind her grunted as well.
"Then join. Fight. Devils enemies," Chenghuang said pointing at the ones with similar aura to the bull and monkey crocodile. Nuwa and Fuxi nodded uneasily but the twelve turned their heads in confusion.
"Which ones are the devils?" Zhu Jiuying asked before any of his hotheaded siblings could open their mouths. Chenghuang widened his eyes in some surprise. From a single glance he could tell these twelve beings did not posses a nascent soul. Yet they were certainly not mortal beings and Chenghuang found this disturbing.
His blood soaked tail shrunk into his body and a beautiful man with flowing white hair and pale skin with red make up appeared. "Devils kill you. Not devils ignore you," Chenghuang said. It was the best way of describing it that he thought of.
Logically speaking, seafolk, avians, and East Continent Cultivators should only attack devil cultivators because they recognise their rather distinct aura through their divine sense. The devils meanwhile are attacking to get to Mt Buzhou, slaughtering any in their way. So even if these twelve can't tell the difference, they shouldn't be targeted by the side trying to save the mountain.
The twelve took a second to talk with each other. But Di Jiang chose to heed Chenghuang's words. "Brothers, attack the vile devils who dare attack the father god!" His roaring command echoed through this side of the battlefield irritating many devils including Great Emperors.
They immediately jumped into the air going after the devils utilising the power of nature. This left Nuwa, Fuxi and Chenghuang.
"Uh…thank you senior for your aid. My sister and I will go now," Fuxi cupped his hands graciously then tried to urge Nuwa to leave.
"Home threatened. Not fight?" Chenghuang asked.
Fuxi and Nuwa looked at each other. "With all due respect, we're just some small fries. What can we do to change this battle?"
"All. Small. Big. Matter," Chenghuang said. He turned around and rejoined the chaos in the sky just in time for another corpse to fall out of said chaos.
Nuwa rubbed her rainbow stone nervously. "He kinda does have a point."
Fuxi turned to give her an exasperated look. "And what do you think you can accomplish? We're Da Luo Golden Immortals now. There are tens of thousands of Da Luo Golden Immortals up there at least. And those are the small fries. You'll be killed."
"But if Buzhou blows up, won't we all be killed?"
"But you've never been in a fight before sister. You don't know what you're doing!"
"Well no time like the present."
And like that, two more numbers were added to the defense of Buzhou.