Yi Fei’e directed her gaze at the expanding Immortal Extermination Four Swords and felt dread. That dread superseded any sadness she felt for thousands of promising young talents being snuffed out. Clutching her pearl and sword, she readied herself in case she needs to move into it.
She knew the situation was not ideal, but if push come to shove, she was one of the few who’s power qualified her to fight somewhat against Limitless Supreme Chaos Immortals.
THOOM!
Her sharp eyes caught glimpses of semi transparent screaming energy flowing past her. It took her mere moments to recognise them as the specific yin qi that ghost devils are comprised of.
“They’re flowing from where Luofu activated the four swords. Towards, huh?”
She followed the trail to where the Phoenix Sovereign and Demon King Mara was tussling a distance away. The phoenix was concentrating her focus to fire beams of hot energy towards her multi armed opponent. But he seemed to shrug the vast majority of them off.
But while Mara dedicated three of his arms to hold Zufeng off, the other three on his right side moved in positions. Around him, circular rings seemed to open up like doorways.
Crooked gaunt hands emerged followed by hollowed out faces. Ghost devils were emerging one after the other. In much greater speed then those who’d spawned in the Great Wilderness in the few times Yi Fei’e caught sight of them.
She did not hesitate to launch a slash Mara’s way.
“HM?” Mara raised his knee and kicked away the sword strike she launched at him. “Primitive, such power but your technique is lacking.”
Mara took a hand away from Zufeng and punched towards her. Distance became irrelevant as his hand seemed to grow. From the moth fairy’s perspective, that fist transformed into an arrow filled to the brim with destructive power.
“A million years of cultivation cannot stop billions of years of perfection,” he boasted.
She gritted her teeth at his taunts and revealed her wings to envelop her surroundings in her own universe. Nine rings of cosmos emerged from her physique and swallowed Mara’s attack. In conjunction, Yi Fei’e danced a war dance with the pearl she clasped in her hand.
Numerous more arms and heads seemed to emerge from her body. Her figure was simultaneously enchanting and ferocious. A war dance that seemed to redirect all the destructive power of Mara’s attack.
Sweat glistened from her forehead. Mara’s punching force became a storm that quickly started to tear apart her cosmos. Cutting her losses, she chose to retreat. ‘Between him and Luohu, I struggle to tell who’s stronger.’
She gritted her teeth at her inability to stop the generation of more ghost devils. She absentmindedly saw Di Jiang’s figure charging into the the ghost devil tide and shook her head. Even here, every enemy they kill came back almost immediately.
She would continue to help Zufeng harass Mara until she saw Zulong seemingly arguing with their master. Da Hai had a serious look and was sending a message she wasn’t privy to in Zulong’s direction.
The giant dragon seemed to grow agitated and roared anyway. Her master’s sword as still clutched in his claw, being unable to penetrate the Immortal Extermination Formation. But he released the Twenty Four Seam Calming Pearls and changed their shape into twenty four whirlpools.
Separated, their power was reduced, but they still formed divine soldiers who each seemed to contain entire universes within them. Once that was done, Zulong ignored Da Hai and charged into the formation towards Qi An.
“ARGH!” Da Hai screamed out. His hand hesitated to let go of ritual, but Yuanshi and the others quickly called out to him. Yi Fei’e chose this moment to reach out to him.
“Master, I can…”
“Don’t even think about it you stupid girl!”
She had fully grasped the situation without even needing to ask. Her senior brother wanted to help Qi An since losing him would be a huge loss to their side’s fighting ability. But It was also extremely risky to go into that formation, who knew if even Zulong and Qi An teaming up could escape.
“Father!” The battle formation containing the nine dragon children were starting to turn around. Obviously, Qiu Niu intended to turn the power of the Overbearing Nine Songs Formation towards the Immortal Extermination Four Swords, a terrible idea if you asked her.
“You all, stop this at once,” She said. She surrendered total control of a spell she’d cultivated, allowing it to leave her body to take on an incarnation’s role as a spell body. It wasn’t ideal, as if that spell was destroyed, she’d be unable to use it until she recultivated it. But she needed a way to block those idiots fast.
“But auntmaster,” Suanni said.
“You’ll only be walking to your death. Turn your attention to the devil army or I’ll evacuate you all myself,” her incarnation said. She shot a quick look at several of her own sisters across the battlefield who no doubt felt similarly. “None of you will interfere with that tier of battle.”
Zulong and Qi An were now fighting in the midst of the Immortal Extermination Four Swords against Mara. Neither had perished so far, but they were the only ones left alive aside from Luohu.
“Who else would you suggest master? The life of myself is not worth you leaving that ritual.”
She flew towards Zufeng and called towards the phoenix, ignoring Da Hai’s reply.
“Daoist Zufeng, the Immortal Extermination Four Swords have been revealed. Let us join my senior brother and daoist Qi An to defeat it,” she said aloud.
“And what about him?” Zufeng’s talon pointed at Mara. “If I let up the pressure, he’ll rampage through the battlefield.”
Luohu, Mara, and Hundun formed an impossible power block. Hundun was fighting numerous Primal Zenith Chaos Immortals led by Di Jun and his Ten Demonic Grand Sages as well as the Twelve Divine Ancestors. If any of these three were allowed to roam free, the anti-devil alliance was finished.
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“Well this doesn't look good, I thought you had Zhunti managing the reincarnation creation process.”
A sudden voice broke out beside Da Hai. The sea god turned his head slightly to see Hongjun’s incarnation taking form. A look of contempt crossed Da Hai’s eyes. “I thought you’d lend your support. Great help by the way.”
“You’ve been alive for eleven chaos cycles. Have some more patients,” Hongjun sighed. “Give me a break. We’re moving the entire fucking sky.”
Da Hai’s head snapped to Hongjun. Yuanshi, Houtu, Nuwa, Minghe all looked with dawning realization as to what Hongjun’s ‘help’ came in the form of. They’d just assume he’d be taking physical action in the fighting.
“I’m in no condition to be doing the fighting myself,” Hongjun said as if reading their minds.
“What’s he talking about?” Yanluo asked but no one answered.
Da Hai breathed in and out, maintaining the integration of karma into reincarnation.
“They would not be accomplishing anything sitting idly in the Great Wilderness.”
“He is my son. Not some puppet for you to use,” Da Hai said in a low grave voice.
“I may’ve suggested the idea, but I personally do not have the authority,” Hongjun corrected. “And you realize ‘they’, are more the Azure Dragon right?”
Zulong and Qi An were trapped together for now. Luohu was either still too injured to kill them quickly, or their own defences were high enough to resist him for now. The demons and the divinities were turning away from living devils to fight ghost devils.
Da Hai felt irksome that he had to put the lives of his disciples in Hongjun’s hands. He silently cursed Zhunti’s absence again.
“Yuanshi, move on to the next phase.”
“What? But the equilibrium of the six paths have not fully set in place yet.”
“We can bind it for it to settle while we integrate the cleansing and redistribution functions.”
“Ok. Alright I understand.”
The Jade Pure One motioned with his hands and begun the opening of the next phase. Minghe raised more water from the Blood Sea and Yanluo forced more of the Netherworld’s power. The latter couldn’t help but feel violated from Mara who also drew from the Netherworld.
Da Hai struggled to concentrate fully. But he nevertheless helped Yuanshi invoke the shift for the Reincarnation Disc to take a more concrete form. As a result, the former illusionary energy flow congregated into a spinning disc that, while still transparent, it’s features were fully identifiable.
Luohu and Mara both grew alarmed, especially the latter. He folded two arms and drew a bow and arrow aiming right for Da Hai’s group. But he couldn’t fire immediately after suffering another barrage by Zufeng.
“Damn it!” Luohu growled. He shifted the Immortal Extermination Formation to travel upwards. He tunnelled through an army of weaker immortals. Because Zulong and Qi An were fighting within, they couldn’t halt the momentum of the actual formation moving.
Hongjun watched dispassionately at Luohu. The two old friends locked gazes wordlessly, but the former held only pity when he saw Luohu. It was not one a pity born of the difference in combat ability, but of their attainments in the Dao.
“You were injured on the verge of destruction many years ago. I believe its time to settle that debt,” Hongjun said. With that, the sky above the Netherworld started shimmering.
Da Hai blinked at those words. He observed a stream of karma linking Luohu to the light beyond the outer skybox of the Netherworld. “Heavenly Dao,” he whispered.
Above everyone’s heads, the eternal starless night sky of the Netherworld changed. Numerous constellations manifested, interlocking four enormous shapes split into four quadrants.
“What’s going on?”
“Isn’t that?”
“But weren’t they the new sky of the Great Wilderness?”
The confusion caused fighting to pause on both sides. The devils, living and ghost alike felt dread as starry light penetrated the land of the dead. The roars and chirps of the Four Symbols Divine Beasts flooded the battlefield.
Zufeng raised her head, at first in confusion then into joy. “Sister?” She cried out. It was a sight she’d prayed for but never believed would happen. How could she not be overjoyed?
But soon that joy transformed into rage. A similar rage that Zulong immediately felt when he too saw the Four Symbols arriving in the Netherworld. “How dare that thing,” he said.
“Dragon Sovereign, there is not point in stewing in your anger. This is good fortune for our side of the war,” Qi An said in reprimand. ‘How come I wasn’t aware it recovered to this extent?’ He added mentally.
The will of heaven, the Heavenly Dao that governed the Primitive World had pulled the Four Symbols Divine Beasts from the Great Wilderness and forced them to form the Four Symbols Formation within the Netherworld. Their power was not diluted one bit from when the Four Symbols Divine Beasts were still their own individuals.
The Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, Black Tortoise were only images outlined by constellations. They possessed no flesh, nor blood, nor even a hint of cultivation. Yet their presence felt so real, it caused weak willed devils’ heats to burst in fear.
“Is that meant to scare me? I bested that formation ages ago!” Luohu screamed. He commanded the Immortal Extermination Four Swords to envelope the reincarnation disc, hoping to destroy it all when they’re within.
But the Four Symbols Divine Beasts roared in response. They moved their own circular formation out of the skybox and towards Luohu’s formation. The two formations were enormous compared to any other on the battlefield. Each one qualified as entire realms in and of itself.
Both formations crashed into each other and started a power struggle. Zulong and Qi An nodded in understanding and moved while Luohu was distracted by the brawl. The trapping of their bodies were lessened to the point where they were able to move into the Four Symbols Formation’s protection.
“With the Four Symbols, we have a really good chance of tearing the Immortal Extermination Formation apart,” Qi An analysed. “Phoenix Sovereign, we request your aid.”
The tides of battle had shifted again. While the Four Symbols kept everyone distracted, Da Hai activated portions of the Reincarnation disc without warning. Aside from building it, completed functions were already fully capable of drawing deceased spirits on.
Mara noticed the change too, but was powerless to stop Da Hai. The gathering of ghost energy in his palm was slipping, forcibly transferred to the Reincarnation Disc. Now the silvery yin attribute qi spun on the Reincarnation disc’s whims.
“Keep it up comrades, we may not be able to initiate reincarnation for now, but we can delay ghost devil reinforcements,” Yuanshi enthusiastically said. He waited a moment before side eying Houtu. For her part, she had an exited look on her face.
Mara gritted his teeth, something Zufeng observed. She considered her options and came to the conclusion that Luohu is the easier target. He was already being besieged, so once she joins in there would be a good chance they can score the skill.
Mara in his wrestle for control could not believe what was happening. All six of his arms had to be fully committed but even then he couldn’t take back full control. The doors he’d created for ghost devil resurrection were fading one after another.
“Mara,” Luohu called out through their mental connection. “We don’t have a choice left, take your true form and fight back against that wheel of theirs.”
“But brother, if I transform I’d be immobile and fully committed to that sole function. I’d be vulnerable.”
“Damn it all. Hundun, protect Mara!”
“…sure.”
Hundun for the first time since the invasion began, started moving back towards Mara. He easily threw off Di Jiang and Nine Infants Grand Sage. He roared and blasted Xuanming into Zhu Jiuying. With another slap, he blew Xihe into a tumble towards Di Jun.
The Heavenly Demon Emperor caught his wife in anger. The Celestial River Diagram in his hands tried to envelop Hundun in a projection of the Starry Sky, but Di Jun could not catch Hundun.
“You brats are all good, without a doubt you’ve all surpassed many of the Three Thousand Godfiends,” Hundun praised. “Especially you.”
He singled out Taiyi who wore a ferocious look on his face. “Grand Duke Taiyi of the Heavenly Demons. You are truly a lucky star. Not like those born under Luohu.”
“Enough talk, you won’t get away,” Taiyi said.
“Unfortunately, you still have some distance before you can stand on par with the apex of my generation.” Hundun transformed into a mass of thumping shadow and teleported toward Mara. But the latter had greatly changed.
The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven could no longer be called a man anymore. Gone were his legs, gone were his arms, even his had was no longer there. No ounce of flesh remained, as if the cultivator known as Mara never existed at all.
Hongjun, even Da Hai had a look of bewilderment at the transformation. Mara may’ve taken the shape of something Da Hai recognized as an Asura from Hindu legends before, but now he was a towering structure. A building with a stone base but constructed entirely out of wood.
It was a pagoda built with nine floors. An ominous air hovered around each floor and the cries of innumerable souls were contained within. It’s doors were partially opened, allowing one to see imprisoned devils within.
The gigantic pagoda stood towering over all living beings, even the true forms of Zulong stretched out could not cover one twelfth of the first floor of that pagoda. Even divinities standing at a hundred and eight thousand kilometres were ants in comparison.
“Is that? No can’t be,” Da Hai muttered. Even Hongjun wasn’t sure who Mara really was. He was not a living being, he may’ve once been but evidently no longer. He was a treasure spirit, one that had somehow hidden his true nature.
“Chaos grade at least,” Hongjun said. “I wield the Pangu Banner and Taiji Painting. The signals I’m receiving are no less than them.”
“Chaos spiritual treasure. He’s the Reincarnation Pagoda. Demon king Mara was never real to begin with. It has always been just the Reincarnation Pagoda,” Da Hai said. “But, wasn’t he once a deva of the Fourteen Realms? Back then, he would’ve been the equivalent of a dream lifeform who isn’t real outside that Chaos World. Since he’s a treasure spirit, did he become realm by sacrificing everything to become a treasure?”
“By Reincarnation Pagoda, do you mean the one that belongs to the monk Kistigarbha?”
“Why am I not surprised you already know of it.”
The Reincarnation Pagoda immediately started roaring. The movement of yin qi quickly became a tug of war between the pagoda and the illusionary disc. But as a real treasure, of course the pagoda was tremendously stronger.
From all nine floors, the Reincarnation Pagoda opened up its gates. Billions of devils poured out like a bursting water hydrant.
“Person or Pagoda, die for me!” Yi Fei’e struck out towards the Pagoda. Her blow carved into the wooden surface of the chaos treasure causing it to groan.
“Hundun, protect me!” Mara’s voice called out.
“Little busy here,” Hundun replied. He’d started brawling against Taiyi, Di Jun, Di Jiang, and Zhu Jiuying again. The number one and two from both the demons and divinities had seemingly tied Hundun down.
The tide of ghost devils charged mindlessly for Yi Fei’e and like minded cultivators. They were desperate to shield the vulnerable pagoda from her strikes.
Luohu screamed with frustration, his hope to turn things around had not gone as well as he’d hoped. All three beast sovereigns were besieging him alongside the Four Symbols Formation. He glared at both Hongjun Da Hai and worked tirelessly to push all of his obstacles back.
“Hundun, what are you doing? Kill those bugs already!”
Meanwhile, In the outer layers of the Primitive World. A willow tree emerged from a portal.