As millions of battles occurred throughout the entire world, death became a constant. Since the start of the tribulation, the rise and fall of heroes became part of daily life for the vast majority of living beings. Over the course of this time, billions of immortals had long perished, quintillions upon quintillions of mortal living beings had also lost their lives.
Da Hai had not appeared in the Great Wilderness for a while. He only sporadically appeared leading to questions from numerous powerhouses regarding his absence. What’s more, several powerful innate god heroes had also disappeared. Rumours were already circulating that those such as Zhunti or Yuanshi had fallen to the ‘brave heroes’ of the western Devilish Dao.
Beneath the constellations of the Four Symbols Divine Beasts, a long if steadily breaking stalemate had set in. Too many were unsatisfied with this result. Chief amongst them was the eldest disciple of Yingzhou, Zulong himself who currently situated within an arena of his own clouds.
Near the end of the yuanhui, Zulong found himself lamenting his inability to destroy all his enemies in one go. Years ago, there was an assurance in his mind of his innate superiority. No matter how much Da Hai tried to stamp it out, it remained.
Multiple yuanhui of dominance, of his people enjoying great prosperity thanks to the magnificent destiny he’d accumulated through his great karmic luck. Generations of powerful dragons both pure blood and ascendant grew under his eye. An entire era of pure dominance was now nearing its end.
As Soveriegn, Zulong could feel it. His empire clashing for so long against the devils had exhausted themselves. The immortal tide of the enemy was far beyond his understanding. Even without Da Hai’s directive, four hundred years ago he’d assaulted Mt Sumeru along with his fellow sovereigns.
Flashes of blinding light, a giant with numerous arms wielding his terrifying bow. An old enemy to be sure, but one who’s power was still above his own.
It had been a tough pill to swallow. The suppression effect was strongest around Mt Sumeru. Not even dozens upon dozens of Chaos Immortals could counteract it for long. Even Zulong could only utilize sixty percent of his power magical abilities.
“A…a…apo…logies…your…ma…majesty.”
A dying dragon, one who’d cultivated to the Chaos Immortal realm was on the verge of perishing before his eyes. One who’s now falling post battle after being unable to hold on with his injuries.
His Dao fruit was already shattered by an enemy devil formation. His true soul was damaged beyond repair and his flesh housed anything but vitality.
Zulong as upon a sea of clouds high above the safer regions in the West Continent. The Heavenly Cloud Gathering Sword hovered by his side, one of the few reasons they’d been able to maintain order.
“Another one huh?” Qi An said approaching him. The Qilin Sovereign had grown disensitized to the death of similar level mighty beings. “Those Devil Yin God formations are too strong.”
Another new deployment. It seemed even in death, devils found ways to innovate. Taking inspiration from the formations their enemies deployed to make their weaker troops able to fight on par with true experts. The Devil Yin God formation combined three dozens Devils Great Emperors into a single perfect entity.
Zulong grunted but otherwise did not respond. He silently wished the deceased dragon elder a peaceful prayer before turning away.
“But that least that guy’s machines are putting in work,” Qi An added.
That guy referred to Yuanshi the Jade Purity. Surprisingly to the two elder immortals, the innate god had a knack for crafting. After a short stay in the South Sea, he proceeded to contribute greatly to the war.
“You didn’t even try that karmic recalling trick on Mara,” Zulong suddenly spoke up.
“You were there, did he look like he’d even entertain the idea? Trump cards only work once.”
THOOM!
THOOM!
Both Chaos Immortals spread their senses out simultaneously. The shockwaves in the void between realms were ever ferocious, clear sightings of the combatants duking it out within barely visible.
The sole reason the three sovereigns had the courage to attempt a raid on Sumeru despite its defences. Da Hai was keeping Hundun busy in a prolonged battle. A battle which started centuries ago and lasted until now.
“They’ve stopped.” The dragon uncoiled his form, dissipating shrouds of auspicious cloud. The void had not returned to its tranquil state, but two titanic presences within it had disengaged. The one signifying Hundun was heading away while his own master remained where he was.
Through his divine sense, Zulong felt Da Hai’s gaze zero in on him. A momentary link between master and disciple was created and a message passed through.
“You’re sure?” He uttered aloud.
Qi An tilted his head at the invisible conversation. He’d had some suspicions himself, those only grew stronger.
Stolen story; please report.
“Okay, I’ll direct them your way.”
The dragon craned his neck back to face Qi An, simultaneously he sent a message to an dragon expert and told him to pass the same message to Zufeng.
“New plan, we marshal our forces and immediately to head to the Netherworld.”
…
“This will fully swing favours to our side?”
Atop a majestic throne decorated with feathery solar engravings, Di Jun leaned forward. By his side, his loyal brother Taiyi and his new wife Xihe appeared more unsure.
Fuxi stood lower down appearing equally unsure. Beside him was his sister, Nuwa who had over the course of years found herself collaborating with Di Jun’s Heavenly Demon faction. Compared to Di Jun’s people who wore scholarly robes or armour, she was incredibly underdressed.
Fuxi was much like her, only he had officially joined Di Jun in the last ten thousand years. Since the ferocity on the western front died, Fuxi decided he’d be of more use fighting back against invading devils attacking the rest of the world. Now fully a minister who also acted as a general, he had reunited with Nuwa through.
“Netherworld, drawing in the souls. Hm, would it even be possible to pull the true souls of all those ghost devils? The mass must be staggering,” Nuwa said with a finger on her chin.
Everyone, from Di Jun to his demon advisors all gazed at her since she was an authority on the subject.
“We’ve spent nearly thirty thousand years on this, well I haven’t been there that long but the Oceanic Heavenly Lord, Blood daoist Minghe and some others have,” Taishang the Grand Pure One said.
“My brother and he ran the numbers. The ritual can pull them in easily. The hard part would be to keep it in.”
“You’d need things to balance it out, ghost devils are extremely volatile. The randomness of the reincarnation system would be counter productive…” Nuwa half rambled, half realizing the possibilities.
“Which is why the they’d like you to come first, see what’s been worked on.”
Fuxi frowned, “My sister has been fighting non stop for countless years. She’s earned her rest. Surely a Limitless Supreme Chaos Immortal would know more.”
Nuwa quickly reassured Fuxi, but the latter tightened his fist. Truth be told, he felt a bit helpless. Yet it was hard for the innate god to see the little sister he played with as a supreme powerhouse of current year. Fighting for so long, even if not physically draining, was still mentally exhausting.
Di Jun meanwhile considered things wisely. The relatively young emperor had some mental conversations with Taiyi, Xihe, and ten other powerful demons surrounding them. But ultimately, they knew the decision will be for Nuwa.
She was affiliated with them, but not truly part of them. She was also too powerful to be controlled by him so he didn’t even bother.
“Well, it’s a solution. Might as well head over,” she quickly said.
“Sister you’ve already done so much, you…”
“And just keep things as they are? Come on Fuxi you’re smarter then that.”
“Actually, the Oceanic Heavenly Lord also requests all of you. When the time for the ritual comes, the commotion is calculated to be extremely loud. Having you all there to defend them while they work will be crucial,” Taishang added. He wanted to leave now that his message was passed.
“Hang on, you’re saying we should be meat shields for you all? You’re majesty you must not commit based on so little, especially since this might weaken us for the dragons to assault the East Continent once the war is…”
Di Jun’s glare silenced the Nine Infants Sage who’d just spoken up. The Golden Crow’s aura burned with so much heat that the nine headed demon felt like he’d combust.
“Such topics is irrelevant in a dire time like this,” Di Junior declared. “I’ll marshal my forces. Fellow daoist Nuwa’s wishes are her own. But my Heavenly Demons will defend this ritual at all costs!”
…
It was not only Taishang, Minghe, Houtu, Zhunti, Yanluo had all departed on Da Hai’s orders to help notify everyone on his side. The need for secrecy was important, but less so as the devils will inevitably find out in short order.
Minghe with all his bodies contacted various armies that had not been informed by the higher ups. Zhunti went to the Eastern areas to notify the dragon and phoenix forces that were too far away for Zulong and Zufeng. Houtu naturally went to her family.
Houtu had touched herself up before meeting Di Jiang and the rest. Her tired state buried, her melancholy mood suppressed. There was a bitter and helpless look in her gaze that also went largely unnoticed by her siblings.
Houtu didn’t even need to work hard to convince the rest of the Earthly Divinities. All twelve branches were eager to leap to what they assumed was her plan to end the eternally harassing ghost devil threat.
With their ability to now combine into stronger formations, even more simple divinities realized the need to invest in the ritual she’d told them. As such, armies of titanic weird creatures began running for the entrance to the Netherworld.
Yanluo though, went to track down his old friend. Haotian was not an easy man to find despite how widespread his name was to mortals. The white robed immortal was constantly on the move.
The corpse using innate god spent several decades before finally encountering him on a village in the North Continent.
“It’s good to see you brother Haotian,” Yanluo said as soon as he saw him. Haotian had not changed much physically, perhaps more grim but otherwise he was unchanged. He was also accompanied by another two innate gods.
“Who’s this?”
Working off his surprise, Haotian was quick to speak up. “Well if it isn’t lord Fengdu. These are my comrades Dong Wanggong and Xi Wangmu. They’ve helped me greatly over the years.”
“Tis true,” Dong Wanggong put aside his dragon headed staff and saluted the red skinned innate god. “My wife and I are sworn brothers of fellow daoist Haotian.”
“We’ve heard about you, a puppeteer of corpses,” Xi Wangmu added with slight hints of interest. “I’ve always been fascinated with death related topics.”
Yanluo proceeded to explain the situation to the trio. But while Dong Wanggong and Xi Wangmu were illuminated, Haotian sucked in his breath.
“Did he specifically tell you to reach out to me?” Haotian suddenly asked. Yanluo was surprised by the question, but he shook his head.
“Well I assume he’d want to. I mean he didn’t say anything specific but I figured with your strength,” he trailed off to something Haotian wasn’t quite listening to him.
Haotian reached deep within him and tugged at the semi visible strands of he and Da Hai’s shared Dao fruit. To his sadness, he didn’t receive a proper response. Just a simple, ‘leave it to me, don’t get involved.’
“Setting up samsara huh.” Haotian muttered with a wondering gaze. “I don’t remember it needing so many.”
“You say something?” Xi Wangmu asked.
“No, I think it’s imperative we go to the Netherworld. It’ll be for the betterment of the future,” he said.
…
Da Hai sat in a quiet Netherworld. Only the chimes of Yuanshi tinkering with some gadgets. Beside him sat a mass of chaos, a remnant of his co-conspirator. A fact Da Hai still found confounding.
“I hope you don’t mind. But I’m gonna inform Luohu,” Hundun’s remnant said. “After burning his Nascent Soul for power, I’m sure you know but last several thirty thousand years is too little to properly heal.”
“With the threat to their defences, I’m sure even Mara will recognize the need to disturb him. And if he doesnt, I have the authority to anyway,” he continued despite Da Hai appearing disinterested.
“And he’ll come on your words alone?” Da Hai asked.
“He knows he’s more fucked without the formation defending him. Even if it risks further injury, you can assume he’d make an appearance. Either way, he’ll be weakened. You won’t be too harsh on devil cultivations I take it?”
“It’s war, no promises,” Da Hai said.
“No promises on my end either,” Hundun replied in kind.
“You two…” a third voice manifested in the same location. Yuanshi did not notice him as Hongjun appeared holding a swirling ball in his hand.
Serpents immediately manifested along Da Hai’s hair while Hundun did not visibly react. The ball in Hongjun’s hand barred unending contempt Da Hai’s way, but otherwise did not move to attack.
“You’re both unwanted and unneeded,” Da Hai said flatly. “Crawl back to where you were hiding coward.”
“Rude,” Hongjun replied. “I did not and still do not wish to be your enemy Da Hai, I’ve been recovering all the same. But I see we have similar goals to Luohu’s downfall. I’m just here to see what you’ve planned.”
“Better then yours. Go jump in headfirst and got what you deserve.”
“You just can’t help yourself,” Hundun muttered with no small amusement after observing the two.
“You are more unexpected Confusion Demon God,” Hongjun said to the remnant. “What do you seek to gain?”
“Why do you care? I want Luohu gone just as you. That’s all that matters. I have no stake in you two’s grudge, as long as we all achieve our common cause.”
Da Hai stood up with a glare. “You’ve seen what I’ve been doing. Now fuck off!”
“Hmph,” Hongjun snorted despite himself. Is palm clenched the whirling ball in his arm preventing some tendrils from spilling out. “No my friend, he’s an ally for the Primitive World.”
“Heaven,” Da Hai said with unsure feelings.
“Well I’m satisfied with this. I will aid you when the battle starts. This is non negotiable.”
“Inserting yourself where you don’t belong? You should follow Qiankun’s example.”
“On the contrary, I…no we are very much part of this tribulation as you are.” He gestured towards the Heavenly Dao’s weakened self in his grasp. His eyes flashed purple and he was gone.
Only after an hour did Da Hai finally relax.