Yuanshi stood atop the peak of Kunlun Mountain, watching the impending doom of the Witch Race with a sense of profound gratification.
In his mind, the script was perfect: once the Luck of both the Witch and Demon Races was extinguished, he would use Di Jun and Tai Yi as pawns to draw Ling Xiao—that troublesome "Variable"—back into the Honghuang World. At that point, he had a hundred ways to put the Three Crows to death. Everything was moving exactly according to his design; it was truly wonderful.
The Vulture Strategy
Elsewhere, Jieyin and Zhunti were also monitoring the Yao Race's every move.
"Heh, excellent. The Yao haven't let me down," Zhunti said, nodding in approval as he watched the demonic tides surge.
"Junior Brother, do not be so quick to celebrate," Jieyin remarked flatly, reminding his brother to keep his composure. "Our goal is for both races to be ruined. If the Yao become too dominant, it isn't necessarily a good thing." He knew Zhunti was simply giddy at the prospect of finally settling his blood-grudge with the Crows. As the elder, Jieyin felt the need to provide a "sobering" caution.
Upon hearing this, Zhunti paused, then offered a startlingly shameless solution: "That's easy. If the Witches can't hold them back, I'll just step in and 'reclaim' our Green Lotus Precious Color Banner. I'll claim the Yao stole it from us."
"Returning the item to its original owner—it's perfectly righteous."
Jieyin was stunned. He stared at Zhunti as if seeing a miracle. For a long moment, he couldn't find any words. Even after eons together, he realized he still understood far too little of his Junior Brother's true depths.
The Despair of the Empress
At Empress Wa Heaven (Empress Was Heaven), Nuwa stood in her palace, her phoenix-eyes fixed on the world below. After a long silence, she let out a helpless sigh.
The two races had finally reached this point. She could already see the end: with the proud nature of the Ancestral Witches, they would never accept a total defeat. They would choose to self-detonate and take the Yao with them. The Yao appeared to have the upper hand, but a final, desperate struggle by the Witches would leave both sides in ruins.
"I know the ending, yet I am powerless to change it."
Nuwa's brow furrowed, her eyes filled with a mix of helplessness and sorrow. She was once the master of the Yao, but she couldn't stop the Great Trend of the Heavenly Dao (great trend of the heavenly dao). Watching her people march toward extinction was a unique kind of torture. Beneath the Great Trend, who could truly escape?
The Siege of Mount Buzhou
"Charge! Exterminate these savages once and for all!"
On the Primordial Great Earth, the roars of Great Demons echoed through the heavens. After their long march, the Yao army finally entered the territory of Mount Buzhou. On the horizon, they could see the sprawling Witch settlements and the Pangu Temple (Pangu Temple), which stood like a titan at the edge of the world.
The Yao warriors were ecstatic. In the past, they wouldn't have dared to even breathe near Mount Buzhou without being vaporized. Now, they were at the gates. The air was thick with Evil Qi (Evil Qi), yet the silence was eerie.
"Heh, it seems the Witches know we're here. They're all huddled around the temple, too afraid to show their faces," Kunpeng sneered, walking at the vanguard. He already carried himself with the air of the Yao's sole ruler. Seeing the Witches gathered around the temple, he laughed. "Today, we net them all in one go!"
With a wave of his hand, he gave the order. The Yao erupted in a heaven-shaking war cry that tore through eons of space-time. They descended upon the Witch heartland like a black cloud of doom. The invasion had begun!
"You dare run wild in our home?! Today, we make sure none of you return!"
Zhu Rong, Gonggong, Xuan Ming, and Qiang Liang charged out to face the billions of Yao.
"Hah! I didn't plan on leaving," Kunpeng laughed arrogantly. "From today on, Mount Buzhou belongs to the Yao! Tell me, where is Di Jiang? Has he already run away in fear?"
"Hmph! My big brother is in seclusion," Qiang Liang bellowed. "When he comes out, you'll see what's coming for you!"
Kunpeng and the other Great Demons burst into laughter.
"Seclusion at a time like this? Does he think he can reach Sainthood (achieve sainthood) in a few days?" "It's a futile effort. When it's time to die, no one escapes." "It doesn't matter if Di Jiang stays inside. I'll send the rest of you on your way first!"
Kunpeng waved his hand, and the Yao formation specialists moved instantly. The Five Elements Grand Array (Five Elements Grand Array) manifested once more, anchoring the five directions and radiating a boundless, crushing aura.
"Kill! After today, the Witch race will be a memory!" Guiche and the others roared. In a winning position, they were at their most vicious.
The Ancestral Witches roared, assuming their true forms and charging the elemental walls.
RUMBLE...
The Five Elements inverted, and an infinite killing intent washed over the Witches. Those with lower cultivation were vaporized instantly, their blood staining the Void Realm (Void Realm). Without Di Jiang and the fallen Shebishi, the Witches were failing to hold the line.
It was a slaughter. A war of survival. The lands around Mount Buzhou were littered with broken bodies and rivers of blood. The Yao used the array like a scythe, harvesting lives by the million. Even the Ancestral Witches were sustaining heavy wounds, trapped in a slow crawl toward death.
"Victory is within my grasp!" Kunpeng's sharp eyes flashed with excitement. After his previous failures, he was finally rising to the peak. "Hunt the Ancestral Witches! Give them no room to breathe!"
Just as the Great Demons were about to launch their final assault, a sudden, world-shaking aura erupted from the Pangu Temple below!
The shockwave rattled the vast earth, the stars, and the entire cosmos.
In that single heartbeat, the billion living beings of the Honghuang World and every Great Expert felt their Divine Souls (Divine Soul) tremble. They turned toward Mount Buzhou in absolute horror.
They felt a Saintly Aura (Saint的Qi息). Something that completely transcended the realm of a Quasi-Saint.
"An Ancestral Witch... has achieved Sainthood?"
The Great Powers were dumbstruck. For those who had heard the sermons at Zixiao Palace, this shattered their understanding of reality. Witches don't have souls—how could they possibly become Saints?
Above the temple, the Yao army was frozen. Kunpeng, Guiche, and the others stared down, their expressions of triumph replaced by a paralyzed, elder-like confusion. Fear began to leak into their eyes.
"This... how is this possible!?"
As the Yao stood in stunned silence, the silhouette of Di Jiang stepped slowly out of the Pangu Temple.