Primordial Era: A Counterattack Against Hongjun Daozu at the Start

The Daoist stele forest atop Shouyang Mountain witnessed a miracle: the Daoist patterns dancing on the fingertips of young cultivators transformed into tangible spears, easily piercing through millennia-old black iron.

When the purple-robed saintess's celestial dragon form enveloped the mountains and rivers, refining the rampaging chaotic beasts into primordial essence, the Golden Core cultivators finally realized that this was a revolutionary advancement in cultivation that transcended eras.

Although the Three Holy Ancestors were crowned with merits from the Heavenly Dao, they triggered a resonance between Heaven and Earth when they comprehended the new Dharma.

The sound of shattering void could be heard from the secluded place of Youchao, and his secret realm of destiny had given birth to a Dao seed containing the laws of space.

The Emperor Sui further integrated the Great Dao of Fire and the Daoist Canon of Crimson Sky, and the flame of civilization dancing at his fingertips has transformed into the Heaven-Burning Phoenix Flame.

A century later, on a full moon night, Zhou Yi arrived at the ancestral court, tracing the paths of the stars. Gazing upon the three Holy Ancestors who had already condensed the Dao aura of Quasi-Emperors, a jade slip containing a map of the primordial world appeared in his palm:

"A chaotic blue lotus will appear in the Ruins of the East Sea, and the world-destroying black tide of the Northern Abyss has been surging for three centuries. This journey is crucial to the foundation of the human race's destiny."

"The Holy Master intends to venture alone into the Forbidden Land of Return to Nothingness?" The Dao patterns between the purple-robed Holy Maiden's brows flickered, and the illusory image of the Heavenly Dragon Bottle behind her breathed in and out the essence of the sun and moon. "Even a quasi-Emperor's body cannot withstand the chaotic tides..."

With a wave of his hand, Zhou Yi manifested nine layers of imperial rings, within which the cauldron of the Mother Qi of All Things shattered the void: "I have touched the threshold of the Emperor Realm. This is both an opportunity to prove my Dao and to seize the opportunity for the human race to become saints. Order all tribes: Before Sirius moves, no one is allowed to leave the clan's protective formation."

As the first wisp of purple aura rose in the east at dawn, Zhou Yi disappeared into the horizon, stepping onto a rainbow bridge formed from the principles of the Dao.

The three Holy Ancestors gazed at the remaining imperial patterns in the void and discovered that the interwoven Dao traces vaguely outlined the prototype of the Zhou Tian Star Array. It turned out that the Holy Master had laid out an earth-shattering chess game for the human race a hundred years ago.

Zhou Yi quietly evaded the eyes and ears of the human elders, claiming to be in seclusion to comprehend the Great Dao, but in reality, he ventured alone into the heart of the primordial wilderness. His target was none other than the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Fires.

This act of kindness, though rewarded with Primordial Purple Qi, also sowed the seeds of future calamity. Now that the Six Sages have returned to their positions in the Outer Heavens, only that wandering purple qi attracts a pack of wolves to swarm around it.

"Zhenyuan Daxian's Wuzhuang Temple was originally the best sanctuary." Zhou Yi walked on the clouds, gazing at the Fire Cloud Cave in the distance where crimson clouds soared into the sky, and sighed softly. That ancestor of earth immortals and Wan Huo had been friends for thousands of years, and the two quasi-saints joining forces were enough to deter villains.

Unfortunately, he was beset by calamities, and at a critical moment, the Daoist Ancestor Wanhuo's heart was clouded, so he insisted on returning to his natal cave to live alone.

Amidst the churning sea of ​​clouds, two soaring auras caused Zhou Yi's pupils to shrink slightly. To the left, a chilling wind carried the coldness of the Northern Sea; to the right, blood energy surged, accompanied by the foul winds of the Styx River. These were none other than the Demon Master, the Roc, and the Lord of the Blood Sea, the Styx River.

The former resented Wan Huo for giving up his seat and severing his chance at sainthood, while the latter desperately sought the path to sainthood but could never find it. At this moment, the two ancient giants arrived together, and the killing intent outside the Fire Cloud Cave had solidified into a tangible form.

"So what if we created the Asura race? Without the Primordial Purple Qi, it's all just a mirage." The Styx Ancestor's blood-red robes fluttered, and the Yuan Tu and A Bi swords hummed behind him.

Beside him, a giant roc manifested its wings that stretched to the sky, and the Hetu and Luoshu evolved into a grand array of stars in the heavens.

The combined might of the two quasi-saints caused the mountains and rivers to tremble, yet no one noticed the third aura that was lurking in the clouds.

The Chaos Pearl in Zhou Yi's palm swirls, quietly plotting a way to break the deadlock.

The Styx Ancestor sat cross-legged on the lotus platform in the sea of ​​blood, his fingertips lightly tapping his knees.

The distinctive sound of a roc's wings cutting through the air came from the distant clouds. A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth. This giant beast from the Northern Sea was indeed impatient.

The two figures met at Sunset Slope, thirty miles away from Fire Cloud Cave. The mountain mist was shaken away by the pressure of the Quasi-Saint's power.

"That kind old man has guarded the treasure of heaven and earth for 84,000 years. It's time for him to change hands." When the roc transformed into human form, the demonic mark between its brows still glowed with a ghostly blue light.

The twin swords, Yuan Tu and A Bi, hummed within Styx's sleeve, while a blood-sea illusion flickered behind him. Meanwhile, in his cave, the Myriad Fire Ancestor was adding Samadhi True Fire to his alchemy furnace, completely unaware of the impending calamity.

Zhou Yi stood on the cloud, looking down, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the jade pendant at his waist.

The crimson glow emanating from outside the Wanhuo Cave was reflected in his pupils, flickering on and off.

As the supreme ruler of the human race, he clearly remembered the divination he received three days ago during the sacrificial ceremony, indicating that the karmic consequences of the innate gourd vine would ultimately manifest today.

"Why don't you show yourself, fellow Daoist?" The roar of the roc shook the entire mountain, causing the maple leaves to flutter down.

The crimson lotus of karmic fire beneath the Styx has bloomed with twelve petals, turning half the sky blood red.

When the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Fires pushed open the cave door, he was still holding the newly refined Nine-Turn Golden Elixir in his hand, and his purple-gold Daoist robe was fluttering in the gale.

"If you two fellow Daoists wish to discuss the Dao, why bring your natal spiritual treasures with you?" Wan Huo suppressed his heart palpitations, and twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearls appeared on the auspicious cloud above his head.

The roc suddenly burst into loud laughter, and the Northern Dark Water transformed into a gigantic hand that covered the sky, descending upon it: "Stop pretending to be confused, hand over the Primordial Purple Qi, and I'll allow your primordial spirit to reincarnate."

The twin swords of the Styx crossed to form a scarlet cross, and amidst the surging sea of ​​blood, they lifted the entire mountain into the air.

The Soul-Scattering Gourd, which Wan Huo had just summoned, had just emitted a mysterious yellow aura when it was pulverized by Yuan Tu's sword energy.

Seeing this, Zhou Yi sighed softly. The Emperor's Seal in his palm shone with boundless golden light. That primordial purple aura was related to the fate of the human race and should not fall into the hands of demons.

"The Daoist Ancestor once said, 'Purple Qi comes from the east for thirty thousand miles.'" Zhou Yi broke through the void and arrived, the Kongtong Seal hanging above the three of them to form a barrier, "but he did not say that it could not change the destiny of Heaven."

The Ancestor of Ten Thousand Fires stared blankly at the Human Emperor who had suddenly appeared, the half-wisp of purple energy he was holding suddenly turning scalding hot.

A fierce wind howled across the western frontier of the primordial wilderness, where three figures faced each other in mid-air.

The roc's wings stirred up a thousand-foot-high turbid wave, and its fingertips were wrapped with dark blue lightning: "Hand over the Primordial Purple Qi, and I will grant you reincarnation."

Crimson light emanated from the sleeves of the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Fires, and wisps of black mist seeped from the auspicious clouds beneath his feet.

He looked at his two close friends across from him, a metallic taste rising in his throat. The Enlightenment Tea they had shared three hundred years ago was still warm, but now the cold light of the Yuan Tu Sword was already pressing against his vital point.

"When the positions of saints were divided in Zixiao Palace back then, did you two ever see me take a single step back?" Wan Huo suddenly burst into laughter, and the vermilion gourd hanging at his waist suddenly spewed out a ghostly green mist. The Styx Ancestor's Karmic Fire Red Lotus instantly withered three petals, startling him so much that he retreated a hundred feet.

The true form of the Roc manifested, blotting out the sky and the sun; Yu Qiang's heavy water transformed into countless ice spears: "Forcibly urging the Soul-Dispersing Gourd, aren't you afraid of defiling your virtuous golden body?"

Before the words were finished, the illusory image of the twelfth-grade world-destroying black lotus emerged from behind Wan Huo, and actually devoured all the ice spears in the sky.

"So you had been..." Styx's pupils shrank suddenly, and the Abyssal Sword in his hand trembled violently.

Wan Huo's temples were streaked with white, but a relieved smile appeared on his lips: "The ginseng fruit given to me by my old friend Zhen Yuan has finally been saved."

Thunderclouds surged in the heavens, and the Soul-Scattering Gourd exploded with a deafening roar.

The myriad flames transformed into countless crimson butterflies and vanished into the void, leaving only a broken piece of purple jade hairpin suspended in the air, its cracks emanating a chaotic aura that would make even saints tremble.

The Roc and the Styx exchanged a glance, then simultaneously crushed the escape talisman and disappeared beneath the blood-red sky.