Chapter 1: Pangu Opens Heaven and Changes Fate
"Haha, it seems we all underestimated you." Hongyun looked around at the eighteen top-notch demon gods, each with strength that was not inferior to a Great Luo Immortal. He didn't know what trump card Kunpeng had up his sleeve, but he couldn't help but laugh loudly, mocking himself for underestimating Kunpeng in the past.
Hongyun paused for a moment, then said: "Although I have a small peek at you, but I have the gourd in my hand." As he spoke, he patted the bottom of the gourd, and suddenly poured down billions of red gas. At this time, the red gas merged with the previous million-acre red sand, greatly increasing its power, and it was unknown how many times stronger than before. Each grain of red sand had a hint of heavenly killing energy wrapped around it, and a thread of innate fire energy permeated through it. Although each one was weak, but looking at the vast expanse, it seemed like an endless power.
If it weren't for Kunpeng's timely retrieval of a crystal-clear, delicate palace and throwing it into the air, as soon as the palace left his hand, it transformed into a magnificent palace complex with towering spires, pearl curtains, jade floors, and golden walls. The main gate was inscribed with the words "Yao Shi Palace". This treasure was refined from the essence of North Ming's cold ice and was one of Kunpeng's early treasures. After he joined forces with Emperor Jun to establish the Heavenly Court, he used the countless rare and precious treasures within the Heavenly Court to modify it again. At this time, the entire Yao Shi Palace was a palace composed of dozens of top-notch post-heavenly spiritual treasures, its power was extremely strong, not at all inferior to some lower-grade post-heavenly treasures. As soon as it appeared, it shone with starlight, illuminating the surroundings like a dream world, dazzling and unparalleled. The faint cold air and starlight suppressed the array that had been shaken by the tens of thousands of acres of red sand.
Kunpeng laughed loudly: "I also peeked at you, I didn't expect that your 99 Red Clouds scattered gourd would make an already complete Pre-Heaven Spirit Treasure become a quasi-Sect Master level treasure, it's really terrifying. Now it seems that the Eastern Emperor's words about the strongest gourd being in Nüwa's hands are not accurate. Unfortunately, my North Ming Xuanxiao Array has the Palace of Witches suppressing it, but it's not something you can break through."
Saying that, the eighteen heavenly demon flags in front of him were activated, and the demonic light of the eighteen supreme demon gods merged into them. One by one, they flew towards Hongyun, continuously dissolving the protective red sand around his body. Seeing this, Hongyun's sorrow arose from his heart, and his divine consciousness recovered slightly. He looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh: "I regret listening to Zhenyuan Dao brother's advice." After speaking, he self-destructed his physical body and divine soul.
After a loud noise that shook the mountains, Kunpeng felt severe pain all over his body and fell from the clouds, his Taoist robe torn to shreds, his hair disheveled, looking extremely miserable. However, at this moment, Kunpeng couldn't care about his injuries, hurriedly using his divine sense to search, but unexpectedly, Hongyun's scattered gourd was nowhere to be seen, nor was the Hongmeng purple energy, carefully scanning an area of tens of thousands of miles around, not a single clue was found. Kunpeng was filled with hatred, spread his wings and transformed into a large roc, planning to return to Beiming to recover from his injuries.
At this time, the hidden Xuanwei revealed his figure, holding the Hongmeng Purple Qi in one hand and the 99 Red Cloud Dispersing Gourd in the other. Then, using the last strand of spiritual energy left behind by the Red Cloud as a guide, he manipulated the 99 Red Cloud Dispersing Gourd to fly towards the Youming Blood Sea, successfully shifting the focus of suspicion to the River of Forgetfulness.
It turned out that after Hongyun understood it for a while, Kunpeng knew that if he wanted to prove his way, he might only have a glimmer of hope by becoming the master of the heavenly world as a member of the demon tribe and then piecing together the identity of the demon master. So, he joined Emperor Jun in contemplation and inference, going through more than 100 years of calculations. Based on the virtual starry sky set up with the thirty-six star flags used by Emperor Jun when he was against Xuanwei, they jointly created an even more powerful ancient ultimate array - the Zhou Tian Star Fighting Great Array finally took shape initially.
Compared to the 36-star celestial banner and the Hetu Luoshu array, the initial Zhou Tian star chart only required 365 star flags and 165 Da Luo Yao gods to assist. Once deployed, it could manifest 365 star chart demon god forms, with rolling demonic energy mixed with stellar light bursting out of the flag surface, transforming into clouds and mist surrounding it, exuding an inexplicable strangeness and majesty.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Heavenly Emperor Di Jun was overjoyed at the sight and believed that with this strange array of the demon tribe, they would soon conquer the witch tribe and unify the vast expanse. However, the demon master Kunpeng, who had tied the rise of the demon tribe to his own ascension, still felt dissatisfied, believing that although the array was incredibly powerful and all 365 star lords were great Luo repairmen, many of them had forcibly broken through and their physical bodies' endurance was somewhat lacking, affecting the array. He then contributed the cultivation method of the Heavenly Demon's Undying Body from the Heavenly Demon Secret Method, allowing the 365 Star Lords to cultivate and strengthen their physical bodies.
Also inform Emperor Jun that the Heavenly Star Array method still has shortcomings in mobilizing the power of the stars. If we sacrifice 14,480 small Heavenly Star flags as the second layer of the array and let 14,480 Golden Immortals from the demon tribe become deputy stars for the 365 main stars, on the one hand helping the 365 star masters bear the pressure, and on the other hand helping to mobilize the power of the stars. Only then can the hundreds of millions of heavenly immortals and demons form the strongest array as the outer perimeter of the Heavenly Star Array.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi and Heavenly Emperor Di Jun calculated that the power of the Zhou Tian Star Array would increase by about twice, and they couldn't help but feel more delighted. They ordered the demons to intensify their training, waiting for the opportunity to decide the outcome with the Wu tribe! At the same time, mining and smelting iron, polishing weapons, drilling troops, capturing and killing, practicing array methods... The demon clan showed such an array, and from then on, the first great heavenly array in the world was born. Three hundred and sixty-five Zhou Tian Star Flags as the root, 14,800 small Zhou Tian Star Flags as the stem, billions of heavenly demons as branches and leaves, connected to the power of the ancient Zhou Tian Star above, and mobilizing the aura of billions of demons below... The two are linked together, and it's hard to imagine how vast its power and momentum are.
Only when practicing, compared to the initial Zhou Tian Xing Chen Zhen Fa, the star gods that have evolved at this time are much more agile. Jiaomu Jiao, Kang Jin Long, Di Tu Kun, Fang Ri Tu, Xin Yue Hu, Wei Huo Hu, and Ji Shui Bao, etc., these star gods either danced with their bodies facing the sky or jumped and pounced, rolling down the ancient starry sky with the green gas of the Tai Gu Xing Chen. The starlight gathered, magnificent and colorful! And Kui Mu Lang, Lou Jin Gou, Wei Tu Ji, Mao Ri Ji, Bi Yue Wu, Zan Huo Hou, and Shen Shui Yuan, etc., these star gods were surrounded by billions of Gang Jin Feng Ren protecting their bodies, their hair standing on end, a stern and murderous aura lingering in the void!
The remaining Jingmu, Guijin Yang, Liu Tuquan, Xing Ri Ma, Zhang Yue Lu, Yi Huo She, Zhen Shui Wei, Dou Mu Xiang, Niu Jin Niu, Nu Tu Fu, Xu Ri Shu, Wei Yue Yan, Shi Huo Zhu, Bi Shui Kou, the starry sky and the spirits of the gods also rose up as totems, in various shapes and colors, dancing up and down, light and airy, beautiful and elegant, fully displaying the virtues of water and fire!
As the 365-starred banner shook, the 365 ancient starry sky also shone brightly with it. The pillar of light from the nine heavenly stars shot down, converging on the banner, and the starlight sparkled like the Milky Way. The mirror-like surface of the banner was filled with flowing starlight, which was then swallowed up in an instant. The star banner shook again, and countless starlights spread out to cover the boundless void. In an instant, the surrounding void was enveloped by the infinite star domain formation. Inside the formation, there were dazzling stars everywhere, and each star was mesmerizing, without any signs of life. The endless empty wilderness was lost in the vast expanse.
Years have passed again, and Emperor Jun, who considers himself to be at the height of his power, uses the Heavenly Court as a pretext to manage the post-heavenly spirits of the Primordial Chaos, citing the reason that the post-heavenly gods of the Witch Tribe should send envoys to serve him, even calling them vassals. The Witch Tribe has always only revered the Twelve Ancestral Witches and naturally cannot follow such an order. Thus, a great war breaks out. Countless witches and demons fight each other, flying through the skies and escaping into the earth, displaying their unique divine abilities. On one side, skulls are shattered, blood staining the ground; on the other, souls disappear, returning to the heavens. In an instant, countless witches and demons stain the land with blood, corpses littering the fields, white bones forming mountains, blood flowing like rivers, and the aura of death spreading everywhere, evil energy surging into the skies!
The battle escalated slowly and became uncontrollable, eventually turning into a full-scale war between the two sides! And on that day, the big bosses of both sides also took action!
Ps: To be honest, I've always been curious why so many authors who write about the Primordial Chaos would have Red Cloud die soon after and hand over the Hongmeng Purple Qi to the protagonist, making it a legitimate and reasonable plot. Among the books I appreciate, there's one written by Teach, where in order to prove his Dao, he kills everyone indiscriminately, which is thrilling to read. Of course, it's a bit too brutal, like killing one's wife to prove one's Dao, but it can't be denied that true strongmen are detached from emotions and not bound by them. It's like the benevolent corpse in this book, which is a manifestation of social morality. Cutting off the benevolent corpse won't make you lose your sense of social morality, but it shouldn't be constrained either. Let's discuss this: if an ordinary person had tens of thousands of years to live, would they still have what we call humanity? No matter how I look at it, it shouldn't be like most books portray - a being with a strong exterior but a fragile heart, whose emotions are unstable and uncontrollable.
Finally, let's conclude with a modified quote from Fo Jian Fen Shuo: "Immortals and saints kill to prove the way, cutting off cause and effect is not cutting people."
