Primordial Era: Starting with the repair of Penglai Immortal Island

On Mount Sumeru, Jieyin and Zhunti simultaneously looked up at the dark red sword light in the sky and exchanged a glance!

"They're here!"

The face that had remained sorrowful and unchanged throughout the endless years revealed a faint smile at this moment.

Zhunti simply said, "This sect is destined for my Western Paradise."

Then the two sages withdrew their gaze.

They have no intention of interfering with the opening of the Heavenly Gate, nor is there any need for them to.

The desert in the northwest corner of Xiniu Hezhou is not an important place; let the Heavenly Court open a gate there if it wants.

In the void of the celestial realm, Haotian stood before the spatial passage that had just been pierced by the Zhuxian Sword, holding the Haotian Sword in both hands and wielding the Heavenly Emperor's authority to its fullest extent.

The power of the Heavenly Dao surged from the sword, transforming into countless golden runes that spread layer by layer along the walls of the passage. Wherever the runes passed, the raging spatial turbulence was forcibly suppressed, and the distorted spatial folds were smoothed out piece by piece. The diameter of the passage continued to expand, transforming from an initial crack into a wide void corridor.

Everything went as smoothly as the previous two times, or even more smoothly—because the spatial barrier of Xiniu Hezhou was thinner, less Heavenly Dao essence was needed to stabilize the passage, and Haotian's consumption was much less than before.

But no one noticed one thing.

The murderous aura of the Zhuxian Sword on Xiniu Hezhou has not dissipated.

When the Southern Heavenly Gate was opened in the Southern Continent, the evil aura of the Immortal Execution Sword slowly dissipated after the sword light faded. It was diluted by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and dissolved by the laws of heaven, leaving no trace.

When the Eastern Heavenly Gate was opened in Dongsheng Shenzhou, the malevolent energy also dissipated on its own shortly after the sword light vanished.

But Xiniu Hezhou is different.

Xiniuhezhou lacks the abundant spiritual energy of Nanzhanbuzhou.

The spiritual energy here was completely drained when the Demon Ancestor detonated the earth's veins. What permeates the entire land is not spiritual energy, but wisps of turbid demonic energy.

The murderous aura of the Immortal Execution Sword originates from this very world.

Dark red malevolent energy slowly spread across the sky above Xiniu Hezhou, radiating outwards from the initial point of sword light.

The malevolent energy did not dissipate; instead, it grew stronger and covered an increasingly larger area.

It was like a dark red mist, heavily pressing down on the desert, making the already barren land appear even more gloomy.

Haotian focused on stabilizing the spatial passage, Huanglong and Xuandu focused on maintaining the stability of the void with the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl and the Taiji Diagram, Yaochi focused on resisting the spatial backlash with the Plain Cloud Banner, and Duobao adjusted his breathing on the spot after unleashing that sword strike.

All five people were focused on opening the Heavenly Gate, and no one noticed the black demonic energy gradually rising from the ground beneath their feet.

The two saints on Mount Sumeru had already withdrawn their gaze.

Those were wisps of demonic energy, sealed deep within the earth for countless years, but the murderous aura of the Immortal Execution Sword was different.

At this moment, the murderous aura of the Immortal Execution Sword spread across the sky above Xiniu Hezhou, strangely resonating with the wisps of demonic energy in the earth.

Although the Demon Ancestor Rahu has disappeared, the amount of demonic energy remaining in this land is too great to be completely eradicated.

The remaining demonic energy slumbered deep within this land over the long years.

The murderous aura of the Immortal Execution Sword is like a magnet!

When you resonate with the demonic energy in the earth, slowly draw it out from the depths of the ground.

Initially, only a small amount of demonic energy overflowed from the shallowest layer, like sparks that were first ignited, surging for the first time after countless years of silence.

Then that spark ignited the deep-seated demonic energy, which in turn ignited even deeper layers of demonic energy.

The speed of awakening is accelerating exponentially, from a clump to a patch, from a patch to an entire layer, and from an entire layer to the depths of the entire earth.

Demonic energy surged from the ground, mixing with the dark red malevolent energy permeating the void.

The malevolent energy and the demonic energy seem to be from the same source, and a violent reaction begins as soon as they come into contact.

Dark red and black intertwined, forming an eerie dark purple mist over Xiniuhezhou.

The fog grew thicker and thicker, covering an increasingly larger area, spreading from the pierced passage downwards across the entire Xiniuhe Continent.

The Guide was sitting cross-legged beside the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, his emaciated figure motionless in the reflection of the pool's water.

The Taoist Zhunti sat beside him, holding a string of Bodhi seed prayer beads in his hand, his eyes closed as he wandered into the vast emptiness.

Suddenly, the two saints opened their eyes at the same time.

"Demonic energy," the guide's voice was deep.

The moment the golden plaque of the Western Heavenly Gate solidified completely in the void, Haotian frowned.

Only then did they realize that the murderous aura, which should have dissipated long ago, was still gathered under the West Heavenly Gate, even enveloping the entire Xiniu Hezhou.

Yaochi, Duobao, Huanglong, and Xuandu also noticed something was wrong.

With a thought, Huang Long sent a Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, carrying boundless power, through the thick layer of malevolent energy.

As everyone looked down through the passage, their pupils suddenly contracted.

Demonic energy.

Huang Long recognized it at a glance. Back when he was still a Golden Immortal, he crossed the border between East and West at Wanshou Mountain and entered the Western Land, where he saw the intertwined demonic energy.

What started as mere wisps of energy has now turned the entire western land into darkness, shrouded in demonic energy.

Huang Long suddenly turned his head to look at the Zhuxian Sword in Duobao's hand, which was still sheathed.

The dark red aura still swirled and flowed around the sword. Huanglong could clearly sense the strange resonance between the aura of the Zhuxian Sword and the demonic energy from the ground... They were of the same origin and echoed each other.

He understood instantly.

The Zhuxian Sword was a vicious sword personally forged by the Demon Ancestor Rahu, and the demonic energy on this land also belongs to the legacy of the Demon Ancestor Rahu.

On the land of Xiniu Hezhou, which had been corrupted by demonic energy, the evil aura of the Zhuxian Sword became a catalyst, drawing out the demonic energy from the land once again.

Haotian Yaochi's expression changed drastically. As Hongjun's attendants, they were naturally aware of the existence of demonic energy.

Xuandu put away the Taiji diagram, his brows furrowed.

Duobao sheathed the Zhuxian Sword, and for the first time, his carefree smile disappeared from his face.

They opened the South Heavenly Gate and the East Heavenly Gate, each time smoothly. At most, the space would tremble violently, but they could stabilize it by expending more magic power.

But this time is different.

The demonic energy has revived, and the land of Xiniu Hezhou is being eroded again... If not handled properly, the enormous consequences will fall upon them.

Huanglong turned his gaze toward Mount Sumeru.

Xiniu Hezhou is the territory of the Western Sect. With the two saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, stationed on Mount Sumeru, they could not possibly have been unaware of such a great commotion as the resurgence of demonic energy.

However, there was no response from the direction of Mount Sumeru.

The two saints seemed completely unaware of the dramatic changes taking place outside Mount Sumeru, which covered a vast area spanning hundreds of millions of miles.

Huang Long's heart sank.

He considered a possibility... that the two saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, were not unaware of the situation, but rather, they were aware of it but deliberately let it go.