Having refined the Heavenly Grass, eight of the legendary spirit roots were rooted in Lu Yun’s body of the world. He might not be in the chaos realm, but his strength had reached such unfathomable heights that he was now confident of vying with Leize even if he didn’t summon the sea of hellfire!

The greatest drawback to the current situation was that since human dao had been fully established, he would no longer affect the great dao if he released his arts and abilities. In fact, the human dao would slowly convert him until he became a life form of this era.

Lu Yun had calculated that this would be his last fight in the great wilderness.

If he took the field again, he would no longer be able to return to his time period and neither would he exist in this era. His final form would be to become one with the great dao and transcend into an ethereal and intangible existence.

…..

Lu Yun’s utterly wild and violent blow let loose with everything he had. Gushing hellfire leapt through the skies to crash brutally into the enormous formation and three weapons of great dao. So devastating was the collision that it spread outward in a soundless shock blast, destroying everything on Mount Buzhou.

But not a single soul died at Lu Yun’s hands.

Countless celestial soldiers and several concealed demon gods were sent flying to unknown destinations. The three dao weapons blazing with the magnificence of a sun were also blasted into space, never to be seen again.

Mount Buzhou quaked uncontrollably as the energy of the world surged and ebbed, scaring Haotian senseless. He fled back into the cosmos with the remainder of his court, not daring to face the human youth any longer.

More than his greatest trump card—the formation locking down the peak of the mountain—had shattered from one physical punch, half of his court had been demolished as well! The celestial court’s courage and valor were no more.

……

Up in the highest reaches of the world of celestials, Hongjun, Leize, and Huaxu turned to Lu Yun at the same time with widened eyes. Down at the foot of Mount Buzhou, Fuxi, Wahuang, and Ah Zhi peered upwards in overwhelmed amazement.

Lu Yun’s blow had shaken Mount Buzhou to the core; it was still trembling even now.

Pandemonium sowed across the great wilderness. Defeated connate demon gods who were still stirring from the sidelines promptly went as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to entertain any more rebellious thoughts.

Nuanzi and other demon gods who neither backed a connate race nor answered to the celestial court were frightened out of their wits. They cowered in their hiding spots, deathly afraid that they were next on the Flame Emperor’s list.

“I’m not his match, even with Worldcarver in hand.” Xuanyuan looked toward the world of celestials with shock. A little girl about four years old grasped his hand, staring curiously at Mount Buzhou with her big black eyes.

This little girl was his daughter, Xuanyuan Xiaoyue.

The Xuanyuan title had become a surname and part of an official clan legacy. They would be the first bulwark for humanity and passed on for eons to come.

……

“That isn’t enough,” Lu Yun murmured to himself as he looked to the west of the world of immortals. “The fortunes of the celestial court still exist. They aren’t truly destroyed until that’s gone as well.”

When Taiyi established his court, he’d tied the fortunes of the land to the group of connate demon gods under his command. Those fortunes were both the providence of the celestial court and of those demon gods.

Therefore, though Taiyi had fallen, the celestial court still remained because its fortunes were intact. As for how many demon gods were part of it, no one knew. The cosmos were infinite and boundless, filled with perished great masters of which a great amount were connate demon gods!

“…that’s Kunlun! So Kunlun Mountain’s in the world of celestials!” Lu Yun muttered as he stood at the highest point of Mount Buzhou and looked at the divine mountain to the west. “The celestial court’s life point is located in Kunlun Mountain!” [1]

He took one step forward and headed for the mountain. Throughout all of this, the little fox remained frozen in place in Lu Yun’s robes, and the blood demon on Lu Yun’s shoulder was knocked out cold from the force of his master’s punch.

His head lolled with his tongue protruding from his mouth, and he was very grateful to Hongjun when he finally came to. Thank goodness Asura had been raised as an enemy of the human race for balance in the world, and that he possessed the strength of both a heavenly and earthly demon! Otherwise, Lu Yun’s flabbergasting blow would’ve pounded even the blood demon in his prime to indiscernible bits.

……

Kunlun Mountain was the greatest divine mountain in the world of immortals, on par with Mount Buzhou of the great wilderness.

Legends in the future would say that Kunlun was formed from the wreckage of Mount Buzhou, but the reality was that it’d always existed in the west of the world of celestials. It was the location upon which Taiyi had established his celestial court.

Though Kunlun Mountain didn’t tower as majestically as Mount Buzhou, it was still awe inspiring in its own right. An easy landmark to target, Lu Yun strode forth with inexorable finality, poised to bring extinction down upon the demon gods.

“Fellow daoist, please show mercy and leave a hint of bloodline for the connate demon gods.” A young man in white robes blocked Lu Yun’s way when he arrived at the foot of the mountain. “Though the demon gods are guilty of the most heinous crimes, having colluded with realm monsters and are a blight upon the world… there are still some demon gods who have not been involved in any of that.”

The young man’s gaze was clear and pure, and there was no killing intent or hint of blood in his aura. It was plain to see that he’d never killed anything in his life.

But when Lu Yun faced the young man, it felt like he was talking to Nuanzi or Haotian. Clearly, the white-robed young man was also a preeminent connate demon god.

“I am Kaiming, greetings to the Flame Emperor of the human race.” The young man swept a bow toward Lu Yun. [2]

“Is the Queen Mother of the West in attendance?” Lu Yun suddenly thought of another mythical powerhouse on the mountain. [3]

“Her Majesty has become one with the world.” A melancholic air appeared around Kaiming.

The little fox burrowed out of Lu Yun’s robes and gaped at the youth. “Her Majesty… is dead?” her voice trembled.

“She offered up her core essence to the heavens for the slimmest chance to send the group to the future.” Kaiming’s expression dimmed further and Lu Yun’s eyes widened as well.

“God, Fuxi, Tushan, and Ah Zhi were to head to the future, and though Tushan and the Fated Spider jointly wove a time formation to dream of the future… the core essence of a premier chaos realm master was necessary to send them through space and time.

“The one originally slated to sacrifice her essence was Huaxu, but Her Majesty blocked Huaxu at the last second and offered up her own.

“On behalf of the Queen Mother’s account, I beseech the Flame Emperor of the human race to show mercy and leave a bit of hope for the connate demon gods.” Kaiming bowed deeply, his tones full of pleading.

“…alright,” Lu Yun agreed after a brief hesitation. “I promise you to leave a ray of hope for the demon gods, but it’ll be up to them to see if they grasp that hope. It all depends on if they go with the will of the heavens.”

His meaning was clear: they wouldn’t die if they didn’t go courting death.

If the connate demon gods kept to their seclusion and studied how to break through to the creator realm and not oppose the humans, then they really would have some hope. But if they insisted on pitting themselves against humanity… then they would die a well-deserved death.

Lu Yun put the fate of the demon gods back into their own hands.

1. Kunlun or Kunlun Mountain is a mountain range in Chinese mythology representing divinity. According to mythological and geographical sources, the mythological Kunlun is based on the modern Kunlun Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and Mount Kailash.

2. In Chinese mythology, the Kaiming Beast was a beast that faced east and guarded the nine gates to Mount Kunlun. It had the body of a tiger and nine heads with human faces.

3. The Queen Mother of the West is a goddess in Chinese religion and mythology also worshipped in neighboring Asian countries. The earliest known depictions of her in accounts like the Classic of Mountains and Seas describe her as a ferocious goddess of death with the teeth of a tiger. She ruled over wild beasts and sent down heavenly punishments such as pestilences. After her integration into the Taoist pantheon, she gradually took on associations with other aspects such as immortality, as well.