The heat grew unbearable. Even with his newly forged Chaos-Phoenix Immortal Body, Wu-Ji could feel the air singing his lungs. Below them, the earth was a mosaic of cracked clay and charred forests. This wasn't just weather; it was a scorched-earth policy enacted by the arrogance of the Monster Race (Yao).
"Master, look!" Yun'er pointed toward the horizon.
A giant was running across the plains. Every step he took shook the mountains. He was Kuafu, a hero of the Witch Clan (Wu), chasing the suns with a staff of peach wood. But as they watched, the giant's skin began to blister, and he collapsed, his body transforming into a vast forest of peach trees in a final act of defiance.
"The tragedy has begun," Wu-Ji said, his violet eyes reflecting the ten spheres of fire. "The Karma of the Monster Race is peaking. When the suns killed Kuafu, they signed their own death warrants."
[Ding! Mission Update: 'The Archer's Shadow'.]
Objective: Protect Hou Yi from the sneak attack of the Monster General 'Cai Ling' while he shoots the suns.
Reward: 2000 Units of Energy and a 'Fragment of the Sun-Shooting Bow'.
"System, run a combat simulation for the upcoming battle at Mount Pili."
[Simulation Beginning!]
[Year 1 (Minute 1): You arrive at Mount Pili. Hou Yi is drawing his bow. You wait for the monster general to strike. You intervene too early, revealing your presence. The Ten Suns focus their heat on you. You are vaporized. Death!]
[Year 1 (Minute 5): You wait until the ninth sun falls. The Monster General Cai Ling, a Peak Nascent Soul bird, strikes Hou Yi's back with a poisoned talon. You block the strike. Hou Yi survives and shoots the final sun. But the Monster Emperor Di Jun senses you and kills everyone in a 10,000-mile radius. Death!]
[Year 1 (Minute 10): You use the 'Hidden Mountain Seed' to create a temporary spatial fold around Hou Yi. He is invisible to the heavens while he shoots. You kill Cai Ling in the void. After the suns fall, you vanish before Di Jun's consciousness arrives. Success!]
The Battle of the Nine Suns
Wu-Ji and Yun'er arrived at the peak of Mount Pili just as a man with muscles like coiled pythons stepped onto the summit. He carried a bow made of ancient wood and bone—the God-Killer Bow.
This was Hou Yi. He didn't look like a god; he looked like a man possessed by grief for his fallen brothers.
"Stand back, Yun'er," Wu-Ji whispered. He activated the 'Heaven-Veiling' power. The space around the mountain peak began to ripple, effectively cutting it off from the external world's detection.
Hou Yi didn't notice them. He only saw the suns. He pulled the string. The air screamed.
Twang!
An arrow of pure white light soared into the sky. A second later, one of the suns exploded in a burst of golden blood and feathers. A giant Three-Eyed Golden Crow fell from the sky, its fire extinguished.
Twang! Twang! Twang!
One by one, the princes of the Monster Court were being slaughtered. The sky was raining golden fire.
Suddenly, a shadow detached itself from the clouds. It was a monstrous bird with emerald feathers and eyes full of malice—General Cai Ling. He saw Hou Yi's vulnerability. He dived, his talons glowing with a green, corrosive poison.
"Die, slave of the earth!" Cai Ling shrieked.
But before his talons could reach Hou Yi, a hand made of swirling purple mist emerged from the void and grabbed the bird's throat.
"The Void has no shape, but it can crush a General," a cold voice echoed.
It was Wu-Ji. He didn't use a weapon. He used the 'Innate Gravity' to increase the bird's weight by ten thousand times.
CRUNCH.
The General's neck snapped instantly. His soul tried to flee, but Wu-Ji's Nascent Soul opened its mouth and inhaled, swallowing the General's essence whole.
[Ding! You have killed a Peak Nascent Soul General. Energy +500.]
Hou Yi, oblivious to the assassination attempt thanks to the spatial fold, fired his ninth arrow. The sky grew dark as nine suns were now gone. Only one remained, trembling in the distance.
"Enough!" a voice thundered from the 33 Heavens. It was Di Jun, the Demon Emperor.
Wu-Ji grabbed Yun'er and Hou Yi. "We leave! Now!"
He used the 'Chaos Void Step'. In a flash, they were gone, leaving only an empty mountain peak for the Emperor's fury to strike.
The Soul of the Emperor's Brother
They reappeared in a hidden cave near the East Sea. Hou Yi was unconscious from exhaustion, but Wu-Ji didn't care about the archer anymore. He looked toward the center of the battlefield between the Liches and the Monsters.
There, a man with a phoenix-feather robe was fighting twelve giants at once. It was Fuxi. He was the brother of the Goddess Nuwa, and the brightest star of the Monster Court. But he was surrounded. The twelve Ancestral Witches were using their 'Great Formation' to grind his life away.
"Master, why are we here?" Yun'er asked, her face pale.
"To steal a king," Wu-Ji said.
In that moment, Fuxi's body exploded. His physical form was destroyed by the Witches. A glowing, majestic soul emerged, carrying the 'Innate Bagua' diagrams. It was headed toward the Six Paths of Reincarnation to be reborn.
But the Saints—Laozi and Yuanshi—were already reaching out their spiritual hands from their distant palaces to claim this soul for their own plans.
"System! Use all 3000 units of energy! Activate the 'Chaos Simulation Interference'!"
[Ding! Warning! You are competing with the Saints for a soul. Risk of being erased: 99.99%.]
"Use the 'Haotian Mirror Fragment' as a catalyst! Hide the soul within the void!"
The mirror in Yun'er's hand suddenly glowed with a light that rivaled the sun. Wu-Ji pointed his finger at Fuxi's flying soul.
"Chaos Law: Void Reversal!"
The soul of Fuxi suddenly vanished from the sight of the Saints. They "saw" it enter the reincarnation cycle, but in reality, it was pulled into the Heaven-Veiling Pavilion.
In the silence of the cave, a tiny, glowing soul sat in the palm of Wu-Ji's hand.
[Ding! Mission 'The Human Fate' Completed!]
[Reward: Access to the Chaos Treasury & The Karma of the Human Ancestor.]
Wu-Ji looked at the soul. "Welcome to the Pavilion, Fuxi. In your next life, you won't be a Monster King. You will be the First Emperor of Humanity... and you will be my disciple."
He looked at the sky, where the furious roars of the Monster Emperor and the confused whispers of the Saints echoed.
"The board is set," Wu-Ji smiled. "And I am finally a player."