Daqin Zhentiansi

The shattered fragments of memory, like a flood bursting its banks, accompanied by indescribable grief and ecstasy, swept away the millennia of chaos!

“Light…it’s light…” He trembled as he reached out his withered hand, trying to grasp a wisp of drifting golden light. His voice was hoarse and broken, and tears streamed down his face like a turbid stream. “Barrier…altar…guard…guard…”

“It is… the light of the fortress! It is… the light of home!” Another middle-aged survivor suddenly knelt down, pressing his forehead against the cold ground, and let out a beast-like howl. In that cry was the pain of being lost for millions of years, and the ecstasy of seeing his faith again.

"It's back...it...it's back...Waaah..." The surviving members of the remnant race, regardless of age or gender, were enveloped by the pure aura of the primordial heavenly Dao, like lost children finally seeing the light of home.

The ancient bloodline within them cheered and resonated!

That instinct to protect has finally found a clear source and meaning!

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

Dozens of survivors, no longer harboring any hostility or confusion, knelt heavily towards the center of the altar ruins—the place where the golden light shone the brightest—and towards the mysterious figure in black ink who had triggered this miracle!
They kowtowed with all their might, their foreheads striking the cold ground with dull thuds, mixed with uncontrollable, heart-wrenching sobs.

This cry is an outpouring of emotions after millions of years of darkness, a stirring of blood reconnection, and the most humble yet most devout submission and gratitude to the "Fire General" who brought light and a way home.

Tears mingled with blood and dust, carving deep lines into their ashen faces.

Zhang Yuan slowly opened his eyes, looking at the kneeling, weeping comrades before him, and at the ancient ruins bathed in golden light, which seemed to have been briefly purified and soothed.

The chaotic and primordial light in his eyes slowly subsided, transforming into a deep sigh and a sense of understanding.

He raised his hand, his voice not loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of every member of the remnant clan, carrying an undeniable gentle power.

"Arise. The fortifications are not broken, the beacon fires are rekindled. This place is clean; come with me... home."

The words "going home" were like the final key, completely unlocking the long-sealed gates in the hearts of the survivors.

The cries grew even louder, but they were no longer of despair; instead, they were the tearful joy of finally finding their way home after wandering for millennia.

----------------

Jielu Pass.

Council Hall.

"Another one? Chenxingtai? Is Zhang Yuan planning to burn the beacon towers as firewood?" Venerable Lixing's sneer echoed in the hall. "Three forts and six beacon towers are already a stroke of luck. If he opens another one, how will he defend it? With those 300,000 burdensome troops?"

Venerable Zhaowu clenched his fist, about to retort, when Venerable Zichen's beaded curtain moved slightly, and he said calmly, "Let's observe."

On the sand table, the marker representing the "Sinking Star Platform" node did indeed flicker slightly.

However, the light did not soar into the sky like the black wind and meteors. Instead, it quickly dimmed and disappeared, eventually vanishing completely from the sand table. Even the remaining earth veins and light and shadows in that area became blurred.

"Huh?" The steward in charge of monitoring looked on in surprise. "The fluctuations at the Starfall Platform node... have disappeared? Did the ignition fail, or..."

A fierce glint flashed in Li Xing's eyes: "It must have triggered a backlash from the remaining restrictions, causing the altar to collapse completely! Those few people involved have probably perished in the demonic miasma! They overestimated themselves!"

Zhao Wu frowned, his divine sense trying to penetrate the chaotic mist of that area, but he only felt emptiness, as if there had never been an altar there, and no one had ever set foot there.

A sense of foreboding rose in his heart, but he couldn't put it into words.

Deep within the chaotic demonic clouds, an elite demonic army, led by three "Heart-Eating Demon Lords" and composed of a skeletal tyrannical warrior formation, a horde of rotten lizard demon kings, and a large number of Shadow Blade Soul-Eating Demons, was marching towards the ruins of "Sinking Star Platform" according to their predetermined plan.

The orders they received were clear and cruel.

While Zhang Yuan was still establishing his position after igniting the new altar, we should strike with overwhelming force to not only annihilate that small team, but also take advantage of the situation to attack the flank of the Chentieling defense line and disrupt the deployment of the 300,000-strong army.

however--

When the ferocious claws tore apart the last wisp of filthy cloud obscuring the view, the "Sinking Star Platform" area, which should have been the scene of fierce fighting or at least intense energy fluctuations, presented an unusually desolate scene.

There was no soaring golden light from the beacon towers.

There were no earth-shattering shouts or demonic howls.

Even... there's no familiar outline of that landscape!

Before them was only a slowly flowing, slightly dark, chaotic mist, no different from the surrounding demonic realm.

The divine sense swept over it, but there was nothing there. It was as if the ruins that held the remains of the ancient altar, along with any living beings that might have existed on them, had evaporated into thin air.

"What's going on?!" The Heart-Eating Demon Lord, resembling a multi-eyed mountain of flesh and dripping with viscous venom, roared in bewilderment. Hundreds of compound eyes swirled wildly, scanning the empty void. "Where's the altar? Where are the blood offerings? Was the intelligence wrong?!"

"No...that's not right!" Another demon lord, resembling a giant skeleton pieced together with eerie green soul fire burning at its joints, suddenly stopped. It extended its bone claws and cautiously probed into the seemingly ordinary mist.

Where the claw tip touched, the mist rippled slightly, and a very subtle but extremely high level of Dao repulsion force emanated from it!
That wasn't natural chaos, it was more like...

A disguised barrier formed by some deliberately guided and solidified laws of nature!

"The Great Dao Concealment... the Void Transformation Array?!" The Bone Demon Lord's soul fire trembled violently, his voice filled with disbelief and horror, "It's the Heavenly Palace's highest-level concealment array! How could they possibly set up such an array in the heart of the Demon Realm in such a short time?!"

The third demon lord, a constantly twisting and deforming shadow aggregate radiating waves of mental pollution, let out a sharp shriek: "We've been tricked! Is this a trap? Or... a diversionary tactic?!"

Their immense demonic power spread wildly, attempting to penetrate the disguise of this Great Dao and search for clues, but to no avail.

Zhang Yuan, his surviving family, and even the last remaining fragments of gold and stone on the altar all seemed to have never existed here.

Where is the real goal?
A surge of fury at being fooled, mixed with a deep unease about the unknown plot, began to grow in the hearts of the three demon lords.

at the same time.

To the southeast of the Blood Millstone defense line lies a vast demonic land known as the "Weeping Bone Wasteland".

The terrain here is relatively open, and the concentration of demonic energy is second only to a few abyssal rifts. Three large demonic military camps are stationed here, arranged in a triangular pattern, like three malignant tumors, deeply embedded in the possible expansion direction outside the boundary pass, harassing the pass and supplying demonic troops.

At this moment, on the outskirts of one of the military camps.

"Waaaaah—!"

The piercing alarm had just sounded when it abruptly stopped.

A figure in black ink appeared out of thin air and stood before the massive, hundred-foot-tall skeletal gate of the military camp's main entrance, which was covered in filthy runes.

Zhang Yuan.

His black armor was spotless, his left eye was filled with the chaotic flow of stars, and his right eye was filled with the rising and falling of mountains and rivers. There was no dazzling light bursting from his body, only a profound and majestic aura that resonated deeply with the primordial earth beneath his feet and the celestial beacon tower above his head.

Behind him, six figures stood in a row.

Yue Shanhe stood in the center, his black Qilin Devouring Heaven Armor fluttering in the wind. The overwhelming pressure of the Venerable Realm was no longer restrained, like an ancient giant mountain awakening, suppressing the void in all directions.

The three half-step Venerables on each side were the sharpest blades in the human race's reinforcements for the Guardian Hall.

At this moment, they unleashed their full power, their sword energy soaring to the heavens, their murderous aura surging to the sky, and their magical power boundless. Although their cultivation levels were inferior to those of the Venerables, the combined will to fight to the death, fueled by the remnants of countless battles and the sacrifice of their entire clans, was in no way weak!
The seven of them faced tens of thousands of demons that surged out of the camp like a black tide in an instant, as the camp gates were instantly alerted!
The skeletal warriors' square formation, the lizard demons' roars, the shadow blades' shrieks, and several rapidly rising auras of fury belonging to the demon generals deep within the military camp!
Zhang Yuan didn't even look at the surging demonic tide.

He slowly raised his right hand, palm up, as if supporting an invisible weight.

"In the name of this beacon tower, I summon... the primordial Heavenly Dao, to heed my command."

The deep voice, though not loud, seemed to resonate directly in the depths of the souls of every living being in this world, carrying an absolute will to wield power.

"Boom—!!!"

The world has changed!

It's not that the weather has changed drastically, but rather that a more fundamental law is surging!
Centered on Zhang Yuan and his six companions, within a radius of several hundred miles, the laws of the universe were forcibly rewritten, reinforced, and endowed with a single, exclusive attribute—

Purification and suppression!

From the rear: Chentieling, Eagle Beak Cliff, Lone Star Fortress, Black Wind Rift Valley, Meteor Gorge, Northwest Rift Valley...

The pure and surging primordial barrier of the Heavenly Dao, which was burning fiercely at six sites, was poured into them by Zhang Yuan, who used himself as a bridge and the sovereignty of the territory as a guide, across space!

At the same time, in the distant downstream of time and space, the Xuanhei Heavenly Dao torrent of the Great Qin Nine Provinces also surged in, following the resonance trajectory!

The power of the Heavenly Dao, combining gold and black, no longer only empowered Zhang Yuan, but formed a miniature yet extremely condensed "Heavenly Dao Domain" around him, encompassing all seven of them!
"Within this domain, all demons will flee in terror."

Zhang Yuan's voice trailed off with the last syllable.

"Clang—!"

Yue Shanhe drew his sword! The sword flashed like the angry roar of a Qilin, causing mountains to crumble and the earth to split!
A ten-thousand-foot-long blade of energy, imbued with the full cultivation of a Venerable Realm expert and fused with the purifying power of the Primordial Heavenly Dao, slashed fiercely towards the tallest Demon God Altar at the heart of the military camp, like the first ray of light after the creation of the world!
"kill!!!"

The five half-step Venerables roared in unison, like five peerless divine arrows released from a bow, following closely behind the sword energy, crashing into the demonic tide!

They no longer needed to worry about formations or flanks, because all the demonic energy erosion, curse interference, and energy suppression were ruthlessly purified, rejected, and weakened by the power of the dual-realm Heavenly Dao the moment they stepped into this "Heavenly Dao Domain"!
Each of their attacks was amplified by the terrifying power of the Heavenly Dao!
The sword light tore through the sky, and wherever it passed, skeletal warriors fell like straws, their demonic armor runes dimming and shattering!
The giant hammer crashed into the earth, and the shockwave, mixed with purifying power, pulverized the lizard demon king beast that spewed poisonous flames, along with the surrounding monsters that were dozens of feet tall!
The spear, like a dragon, weaved through the horde of shadow blade demons. The lightning and fire swirling around the spear tip, imbued with a trace of the aura of the Heavenly Dao, caused these formless and intangible demons to let out mournful howls and disintegrate!

And Zhang Yuan.

He moved.

With a single step, he shrank the distance to an inch, appearing directly in front of the peak-level demon general leader who had just taken off and was trying to organize a resistance.

The demon general resembled a two-headed, four-armed skeletal giant, wielding four bone swords burning with abyssal demonic flames. His aura had clearly touched the edge of a half-step Venerable. At this moment, he roared and unleashed all four swords at once, the sword light weaving into a destructive demonic net that enveloped Zhang Yuan!
Zhang Yuan simply extended one finger.

At the fingertip, a point of ultimate chaotic light condenses.

There was no grand scale, no dazzling lights or shadows.

Just a slight step forward.

"Boom."

A soft popping sound, like a bubble bursting.

The seemingly terrifying net of destruction, along with the four demonic swords in the demon general's hand and its hideous two-headed, four-armed demonic body, vanished silently from the point its fingertips touched, like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser.

There was no explosion, no debris, and no demonic blood.

Only the purest form of "existence" is "erased".

The demon leader has fallen.

Zhang Yuan did not stop walking; his figure flickered like a ghost in the chaotic military camp.

Each time it appears, a wisp of chaotic, mysterious light will bloom.

Each time the mystical light bursts forth, a demon general-level leader or a dense array of high-level demons will vanish completely, as if precisely carved from a canvas by the most skilled craftsman.

He seemed to be strolling, or perhaps conducting a silent harvest.

Wherever it passed, the demonic tide left vast stretches of "blank" space.

Panic, like a deadly plague, spread wildly among the surviving monsters.

They cannot comprehend this power.

Their prized demonic bodies, magical powers, and spells are more fragile than paper before that seemingly effortless mystical light.

This is not a battle, this is divine punishment!

It's a natural disaster!
"Run away—!"

It's unclear which monster was the first to break down, letting out a desperate howl.

The army was defeated like a mountain.

The first military camp was completely destroyed in just a quarter of an hour, thanks to Yue Shanhe's slash that shattered the core altar, Zhang Yuan's elimination of all command nodes, and the sweeping victories of the five half-step Venerables.

The monsters were almost all killed or wounded, and the few who managed to escape were utterly annihilated, wishing they had more legs.

The seven people did not linger, nor did they even glance at the ruins.

"Next place."

Zhang Yuan's voice was calm and undisturbed, and his figure had already transformed into a streak of light, shooting towards the second demon camp a hundred miles away.

The same scenario played out again.

The Heavenly Dao Domain accompanies him, and the power of the two realms is bestowed upon him.

Yue Shanhe's Mountain-Splitting Blade Qi, the unparalleled combat skills of the five half-step Venerables, and Zhang Yuan's despair-inducing "Erase" Xuan Light.

The resistance at the second camp was even weaker than that at the first.

Panic had already spread through deserters and demonic thoughts, causing morale to plummet.

Within a quarter of an hour, the camp was breached and the demons were routed.

Then comes the third one.

When the seven figures, seemingly bearing the might of heaven, appeared above the third camp, the demons remaining inside had almost lost their will to fight.

Several demon generals attempted to mount a final resistance, but under Zhang Yuan's gaze and the sweep of chaotic divine light, their souls froze, their movements became sluggish, and they were easily annihilated by Yue Shanhe and the others.

This time, it didn't even take fifteen minutes.

Three demon camps, built up over many years and strategically positioned to contain a large force at the border pass, were destroyed by seven people in less than an hour…

Sweep away the roots and uproot the entire operation! (End of Chapter)