Chapter 7: The Heavenly Bodies and the Celestial Gods of Disaster

  Hongyuan returned to Kunlun Mountain, apart from discussing the Great Way with his three senior brothers every day, he was either teaching his new disciple Kong Xuan or giving lectures to the living beings on Kunlun Mountain, and he was quite carefree.

  At this moment, outside the cave of Hongyuan in Mount Kunlun, Hongyuan was sitting upright on a twelve-petaled blue lotus. A bright light, about half an acre in size, appeared above his head, shining brightly like water. Auspicious clouds surrounded him, and he was filled with an aura of immortality. As he spoke the great truth of the Tao, all the living beings below, led by Kong Xuan, listened with rapt attention, sometimes frowning in deep thought, sometimes bursting into loud laughter, sometimes shouting angrily, and sometimes suddenly enlightened. His expressions changed a hundred times.

  After a hundred years of lecturing, the numerous listeners on Mount Kunlun had all made great progress in their cultivation. Several exotic beasts had even transformed into human form, although they only achieved the cultivation level of heavenly immortals. Nevertheless, it was clear that Hong Xuan's teachings were extraordinary, for within just a short hundred years, one could attain the fruit of the heavenly immortal path!

  Hong Xuan stopped his lecture and said to the crowd of living beings: "Today, it will stop here. You all go now, and I will continue my lectures a thousand years later." The living beings did not dare to disobey, and they respectfully bowed to Hong Xuan before dispersing and returning to their own caves.

  Hong Xuan stood respectfully in front of Kong Xuan and said, "Kong Xuan, you have been my disciple for over 3,500 years. For the first 3,000 years, I was your master when we went to the Purple Mist Palace to listen to the Tao. As a result, I didn't teach you much. Then, for the next 200 years, I was your master again when we traveled through the Desolate World. In that time, I only taught you for 300 years. I am ashamed of this as your master!"

  Kong Xuan heard the words and knelt down on the ground in a flurry of fear, saying: "Kong Xuan is terrified, but why did Master say that? Since I was born, I have not yet met my parents. In my childhood, I wandered in the vast wilderness, but it was difficult to find a famous teacher. If it weren't for Master's rescue, Kong Xuan would have been reduced to ashes by the heavenly calamity long ago. This kindness is hard to repay. Fortunately, Master took pity on me and accepted me as a disciple, teaching me the great Tao. I remember all of this in my heart. Master is Kong Xuan's second father and mother. Kong Xuan only wishes to serve Master day and night, attending to his left and right. How dare he be unkind to Master? I beg Master not to say such things again!"

  Hong Xuan sighed and said, "Well, it's rare that you have this heart, but it's good. Today's lecture is over, I think you must have some doubts, do you have any questions, ask me as your teacher."

  Kong Xuan was overjoyed when he heard the words, knowing that Hongyuan was going to impart the Great Way to him. His heart was even more grateful. He calmed down and asked: "May I ask, Master, what is the Way?"

  "The Dao responds by saying: 'The Dao is formed by the blending of the two energies of yin and yang, and its infinite power is used in a way that is neither excessive nor deficient. The full capacity of the Dao's power is the softest thing under heaven, yet it can destroy the hardest things under heaven. It is present everywhere and nowhere, and it moves ceaselessly without rest. What is seen but not visible is called formless; what is heard but not audible is called soundless; what is grasped but not obtainable is called flavorless. These three are beyond questioning, so they are combined into one, which is the entirety of the Dao.'"

  Kong Xuan suddenly enlightened! Instantly, his Taoist practice made great progress, and he was already ranked among the top of the Daluo Golden Immortals. Hongyuan nodded slightly, secretly sighing: Indeed, his innate talent is extraordinary!

  Hongyuan said to Kong Xuan, "Kong Xuan, you must remember that the word 'Tao' is all-pervading and all-knowing, astonishing ghosts and gods. Those who attain it can change their bones, live forever, cure diseases, and make their bodies strong. Those who lose it are like flowers that bloom in the morning and wither at night, or grass that grows in the morning and dies in the evening. Therefore, we Taoist cultivators must diligently practice good deeds and eagerly seek the Tao. We regard wealth and honor as fleeting clouds, and fame and fortune as illusory dreams. When one's virtue is complete and their Tao is accomplished, even poverty can bring joy. Born between heaven and earth, one must act in harmony with heaven and earth. Living among the winds and dust, one must transcend the winds and dust!"

  Kong Xuan heard this and bowed again, saying: "Your disciple will certainly remember your words carefully and live up to your expectations!"

  Hongyuan nodded and said: "Very well! Let's stop here for today. You follow me to see your three Shibo."

  Kong Xuan heard this and immediately got up to follow Hongyuan to Laozi's cave mansion.

  Upon arriving at Laozi's residence, Tongtian Yuanshi had already been waiting there. Hongyuan bowed to the three and said: "I've troubled the three masters to wait for a long time, it was my fault!"

  "Tongtian burst out laughing: 'No harm, no harm! Teaching and transforming the living beings of this Kunlun Mountain can also be considered a good deed. It's not late yet, it hasn't even started!' "

  Laozi and Yuanshi also nodded in agreement.

  Hong Xuan had Kong Xuan meet the three senior brothers, and then sat at the lower end of the three. The four men did not speak, as if waiting for something. Kong Xuan was full of doubts, but he didn't dare to ask questions, so he could only stand respectfully behind Hong Xuan and wait with them.

  Before long, Kong Xuan suddenly discovered that the spiritual energy between heaven and earth had become chaotic. The pre-heavenly spiritual energy was rushing towards the Thirty-Third Heaven like a swarm of bees. Just as Kong Xuan was about to ask Hongyuan, he heard Tongtian exclaim excitedly: "It's finally begun! Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, Fourth Junior Brother, which side do you think will win?"

  Laozi didn't speak, Yuan Shi closed his eyes, only Hongyuan returned with the words: "The Eastern Emperor Taiyi has the pre-heavenly supreme treasure, the Hunyuan bell, and Emperor Jun also has the Hetu Luoshu's layout of the starry sky's great array. Moreover, there are Kunpeng and the ten great demon gods, a group of powerful divine beings. The demonic tribe can be said to have formidable strength!"

  Tong Tian heard this and said: "So according to what you just said, Shifu's younger brother, it seems that the demon clan won this battle?"

  "Hong Xuan smiled faintly and said, 'No, no, my foolish brother has never said such a thing. Master should know that the twelve ancestral witches of the Wu tribe are transformed from the ancient pure blood of Pangu, so they have great spiritual powers since birth. Any one of them has the cultivation of a quasi-sage, and even if they don't cultivate Taoist methods, their physical bodies are still extremely powerful. What's more, once they set up the Twelve Heaven-God Killing Array, it's easy for gods and ghosts to part ways. In my humble opinion, this battle is indeed difficult to predict the outcome!'"

  "Unless a result is decided, when will this battle end?"

  Yuanshi opened his eyes at this time and coldly snorted: "I think they're afraid it's going to take a thousand years!"

  Tongtian said: "Although it is so, if this continues, the Honghuang world will be crushed by them. At that time, I don't know how many lives will turn to dust!"

  Laozi said at this time: "In my opinion, many powerful beings have fallen in this battle. However, it is not possible to break the Honghuang Continent. You must remember that I, your teacher, am a saint and will not allow them to destroy the Honghuang world."

  Having heard Laozi's words, the three of them couldn't help but think of that eternally expressionless existence in the Zi Xuan Palace, and they fell silent at the same time.

  Kong Xuan was now greatly shocked! He had never expected that at this time, the two great tribes of Honghuang would be fighting, and the scene of those powerful gods falling one by one appeared before his eyes. Under the agitation of his heart, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turned pale in an instant, and he was already injured in his foundation. Hongyuan saw this and waved his hand to send a clear air shot onto Kong Xuan's body, while shouting: "Calm your spirit and quiet your energy!" Kong Xuan, with the help of the clear air, quickly sat down cross-legged to meditate and heal his injuries, stabilizing his Dao heart.

  Hong Xuan glanced at Kong Xuan, who was still recovering from his injuries, and sighed: "After all, the days of cultivation are short. Although he has already obtained the Great Luo Golden Immortal, it is still difficult to remain unmoved by honor or humiliation!"

  Laozi said to Hongyuan Dao: "Although the foundation of the Tao was damaged, it will be rebuilt after being destroyed. He has turned disaster into blessing, and in the future, his heart demon will no longer be able to invade him when he cultivates the Tao!"

  Hong Xuan nodded and said, "I wish it were so!" The four of them then fell silent, releasing their divine consciousness to observe the distant great war.

  Here is the translation:

  It's said that Pangu's essence stained with the turbid air of heaven and earth at the beginning, giving birth to the twelve ancestral witches. The twelve ancestral witches then created a tribe using part of their own essence, named "Wu Tribe". This Wu Tribe was born without a primordial spirit, so they couldn't cultivate Taoist magic, but their physical bodies were incredibly strong from birth, possessing great divine powers. The entire vast expanse of the Primordial Continent was under the control of the Wu Tribe.

  Because the ancestral witches had been stained with turbid air, each and every one of them had a cruel and brutal nature, loving to fight and be fierce. As a result, their subordinates were also warlike and never satisfied. This led to many of the grass and wood spirits on the Primordial Continent being killed.

  When Donghuang Taiyi and Emperor Jun rose to power, establishing the Heavenly Court and governing the demon tribes, those small demons on land flocked to them and complained about their grievances. The two had just established the demon tribe's heavenly court, so they naturally wanted to establish a reputation. Thus, they dispatched heavenly soldiers and divine generals to attack the Wu Tribe.

  Unexpectedly, the two had underestimated the strength of the Wu Tribe, and the heavenly soldiers and divine generals they sent were all killed by the Wu Tribe. The two were enraged! They thought that since their birth, when had they ever been so humiliated? So, they shook the banner that could summon demons from all over the world, and as a result, many great demons in the Primordial Continent's world surged towards the Heavenly Court.

  How could such a big movement be hidden from the Wu tribe? The Wu tribe sent someone to listen to the news and learned that the Yao tribe was going to declare war on themselves, so they immediately gathered a group of Wu tribe children to kill their way into the Heavenly Court, wanting to take advantage of the Yao tribe's unpreparedness.

  Before arriving at the South Heavenly Gate, I saw from afar that outside the gate, there were tens of millions of heavenly soldiers and generals forming an array. The ten great demon gods each led a side, setting up the Heaven Net Earth Web Great Array. There were also the twelve Yuan Chen setting up the Twelve Zodiac Great Array, and the 360 Heavenly Star Gods setting up the Heavenly Star Big Dipper Array. They only waited for Emperor Jun to unfold the River Chart Luo Book to activate the great array. Such illusions, maze arrays, confinement arrays, killing arrays, and many others, not less than a thousand arrays, filled the entire outside of the South Heavenly Gate, dense and lush. From afar, the atmosphere was murderous, the momentum of the tens of millions of heavenly soldiers and generals converged at the top of the 33rd Heaven, majestic and powerful, like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds. The entire 33rd Heaven suddenly became overcast with dark clouds, thunder and lightning flashing.

  It turned out that Donghuang Taiyi and Emperor Jun received the news of the witch tribe's attack, and immediately changed their plan, ordering the heavenly soldiers to set up a large array at the South Heavenly Gate, waiting for the arrival of the witch tribe.

  The twelve ancestral witches saw that the demon clan had already been waiting here, and Di Jiang, who controlled the space god, said first: "Dong Huang Tai Yi, you sent troops to attack our witch tribe without reason, and now you set up a large array of tens of thousands. What is the reason?"

  "Dong Huang Taizi coldly snorted and said: 'You witch tribe are cruel and fond of killing, not respecting the heavenly numbers. In my lower realm, countless demonic tribes' citizens were all killed by you, now what's wrong with punishing you?'"

  But then, a beast-headed man appeared, with two fire snakes piercing his ears and two fire dragons under his feet. His entire body was covered in fiery red scales as Zhu Rong roared: "You're so unreasonable! My Wu tribe controls the world of Hong Huang, what's the big deal about killing some small monsters?"

  The Eastern Emperor Taiyi heard this and laughed in anger: "Good, good! Your witch tribe is so arrogant, daring to treat the entire Honghuang world as your own, not even putting my demon tribe in your eyes. Today, we will see who is the master of this heaven and earth!" As soon as he finished speaking, he ignored them again, but saw the Hunyuan Bell on his head ringing out a clear and crisp sound that spread throughout the 33 layers of heaven, a gray wave visible to the naked eye instantly attacking the witch tribe. Wherever it passed, those witches were destroyed by the impact wave, their bodies gradually turning into dust and dispersing in the air, returning to the earth.

  The twelve ancestral witches were enraged, and Emperor Jiang's wings fluttered back and forth among the demon tribe, wherever he passed, the demon tribe's heavenly soldiers were blown up, both their primordial spirits and physical bodies were grabbed and exploded. Zhu Rong shook his fire god gun and released the five true fires, Gong Gong released the nine heavenly lotus waters, Tian Wu Huizi summoned the wind, rain, thunder and lightning from the mysterious abyss, and thus all twelve ancestral witches displayed their magical powers, instantly covering the sky with water and fire, raging with wind, frost, rain and snow, the five elements of nature went berserk, space collapsed, and countless heavenly soldiers and generals were crushed to powder before they could even display their magical powers.

  The Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Emperor Jun, saw the situation and became enraged. With a single order, the great arrays of Wanqian were launched simultaneously, and countless spiritual energies surged towards this side in an instant. The demonic light flickered, the magical powers surged, and the Heavenly Net Earth Array descended from the top of the Wu tribe's heads, wrapping around Xing Tian Hou Yi, Liu, and other powerful sorcerers. Emperor Jun shouted at the twelve ancestral sorcerers: "Do you dare to enter my Zhou Tian Star Great Array?"

  The ancestors of the witch looked at each other, and Candle Nine hummed: "What are you afraid of! Are you still afraid of you?" After finishing speaking, he led the way into the Zhou Tian Star Battle Array, and the remaining eleven people followed.

  Just entering the formation, it was already in a vast starry sky. The entire starry sky was endless and infinite, with countless stars running on some mysterious and unpredictable trajectory. The starlight flowed and turned, exceptionally beautiful, occasionally a meteor flashed by, dazzling and fleeting. Although it seemed calm and still, everyone knew that this calmness contained extreme danger, so they kept their eyes open in all directions, always on guard.

  Suddenly, thousands of stars rushed towards Zu Wu, and the crowd's faces changed. However, Zhu Rong let out a loud roar, and the flames in the sky instantly covered the stars, burning them into ashes. Before the crowd could react, another wave of stars came over. Then, Xuan Ming raised his hand, and countless bone needles shot towards the stars. As they approached, they suddenly exploded and turned into an icy domain, instantly freezing thousands of stars. Just as the stars were frozen, another wave of stars rushed over, and this happened dozens of times, causing the crowd's faces to become unsightly. It was clear that although these stars couldn't harm them, they were holding them back, and if this continued, the outside Wu people would likely be slaughtered by the demon tribe.

  But then Hou Tu turned to the other ancestral witches and said, "This formation is difficult to break for the time being. We don't have that much time, why not use a formation to break a formation? What's the point of setting up another formation?"

  The crowd all exclaimed in unison: "It is indeed so!" Immediately, the twelve Ancestral Sorcerers each occupied a position, revealing their true forms, which were hundreds of millions of feet tall. They let out a thunderous roar together, and twelve streams of black energy simultaneously burst forth from their bodies, converging into one stream. In an instant, the black energy enveloped the twelve Ancestral Sorcerers. A strange, eerie aura suddenly permeated the entire starry sky, with mournful winds howling and ghosts wailing. Demons from outside the realm circled and danced in the air. Truly: Mortals who catch a glimpse of this will have their souls shattered, while immortals who enter will be transformed into pus!

  That day, the demonic energy gradually condensed, and in an instant, it solidified into a giant sword over a hundred million miles long, slashing towards the starry sky. The stars suddenly became chaotic, and the earth, water, fire, and wind surged forth. Explosions erupted one after another, shaking the entire star domain for about a moment. When everyone's eyes lit up again, they found themselves already in the Thirty-Third Heaven. Not far ahead, Donghuang Taiyi was supporting Emperor Jun, who held the Hetu Luoshu, with a pale face. The Hunyuan Bell above their heads firmly protected the two of them. The Twelve Ancestral Shamans also had pale faces, clearly having exhausted a great deal of energy.

  The two tribes of demons and witches below had already fought to the point where the sky was dark and the sun and moon were obscured, countless demon soldiers fell, and countless witch warriors turned to dust and returned to the earth. Dong Huang Taiyi, Emperor Jun, and the Twelve Ancestors of the Witch Tribe watched with their eyes wide open in shock and anger. Just as they were about to go forward again, they were suddenly pressed down by a massive pressure from above, forcing them to kneel down. The pressure was boundless and endless, like flowing water, and both the demon and witch tribes were unable to move, a pressure from their hearts forced them to involuntarily follow suit and kneel down.

  The crowd looked up and saw an old man wearing a simple Taoist robe sitting high above the crowd, his face expressionless, neither sad nor happy. The crowd bowed in unison: "Welcome to the Ancestor of Tao, Master, your holy age is boundless!"

  Hongjun's face was expressionless as he said, "The two tribes of Wuyao have been fighting for a thousand years, with countless deaths and injuries. You must not fight again. From today on, the demon will control the sky, and the witch will control the earth. Within a thousand years, you must not contend again. Are you willing?" Although it was an inquiry, it contained an irresistible majesty.

  Everyone did not dare to disobey, and had to listen to Hong Jun's orders. From then on, the demon tribe dominated the sky, and the witch tribe dominated the earth. One battle came down to a thousand years, destroying countless lives. The two tribes of witches and demons did not dare to disobey Hong Jun's orders. Within a thousand years, although there were small skirmishes, there was no major struggle. The vast world seemed to have subsided for a while, and the two tribes of witches and demons entered a state of rest and recovery. Si Qing remained on Mount Kunlun, cultivating and refining elixirs, waiting for the reopening of the Purple Mansion.

  It is: The stars and constellations shine in the vast expanse of the sky, all the spirits and gods sparkle in the desolate wilderness.