Upper South Region, Luo City.
Because this city was not far from Sword Inscription Sect, it was always bustling, but these days, the streets suddenly became deserted.
Since the news about the demon spawn spread widely, everyone knew that the crisis was imminent. Residents in the city tried not to go out whenever possible, and many shops closed for business.
But some people always liked to go against the flow, and Wang Changsheng was one of them.
He was born and raised in Luo City. His talent was not very good, but not that bad either, now at Foundation Establishment stage. Because he had been very bold since he was a child and also had a chivalrous heart, he was nicknamed Bravo Wang and was quite reputable in Luo City.
At this moment, Wang Changsheng was walking on the street swaggeringly with his spiritual eagle perched on his shoulder, humming a little song as if he was not afraid of the rumors at all, as happy as could be.
Suddenly, Wang Changsheng saw a familiar face.
“Hey, isn't this Lin-daoyou? Where are you going in such a hurry?”
The Lin-daoyou he was talking about wore a tattered Daoist robe, which the bottom of the hem kept fluttering as he walked briskly, like a fallen leaf blowing in the wind.
Hearing someone calling him, Lin-daoyou paused, and suddenly realized, “So it's Wang-daoyou. Why are you still in the mood to walk around?”
Wang Changsheng looked up at the sky. “It's such a beautiful day. It’s a pity to stay indoors.”
Lin-daoyou couldn't help admiring him. “Wang-daoyou is really optimistic. The disaster is coming, but Wang-daoyou doesn't take it seriously at all.”
“Disaster? Are you talking about the demon spawn?” Wang Changsheng laughed loudly. “Hahaha, why should Lin-daoyou take this rumor seriously? I think my righteous Dao cultivators are far stronger than the demonic cultivators, so the luck of the Heavenly Dao is naturally on my righteous Dao. How can the demon spawn be born? It's just demonic Dao's little trick to mess with people's minds!”
Lin-daoyou shook his head. “Better safe than sorry. I’m heading to Xin City, which is the closest to the Sword Inscription Sect. If something happens, it’s safer there.”
Wang Changsheng, “What can hap…”
Before he finished speaking, Wang Changsheng's eyes suddenly widened. Seeing this, Lin-daoyou followed his line of sight and dropped his jaw.
Countless red-crowned cranes flew over from the sky, numbering in the tens of thousands. When the flock of cranes passed over their heads, it was like a dark cloud shrouded Luo City, and sunlight disappeared.
Lin-daoyou, “Thousand Feather Sect…”
Only the Thousand Feather Sect, one of the four major sects in the Upper South Region, kept so many red-crowned cranes in captivity as mounts!
It wasn't until the cranes disappeared without a trace that Wang Changsheng asked in a daze, “Did Thousand Feather Sect deploy everyone? What happened?”
Someone who came out to watch the excitement said, “What else can it be? It must be related to the demon spawn. Seeing the commotion made by the Thousand Feather Sect, the righteous Dao is probably going to take action.”
Wang Changsheng was about to refute this person when he heard a burst of exclamation from behind.
He turned his head and saw a compass appearing in the sky. The compass was pure black with red edges, and it was half the size of Luo City. Wang Changsheng immediately recognized the origin of the compass - Scattered Star Villa!
It was rumored that this object was the treasure of the Scattered Star Villa, with formations engraved on it. Not to mention the people of half the city, it could even contain people of ten cities! But activating this treasure consumed a lot of spiritual jade. If there was no major event related to the survival of Scattered Star Villa, they would never use it lightly!
First came the Thousand Feather Sect, followed by the Scattered Star Villa, the second of the four major factions in the Upper South Region. Could it really be related to the demon spawn?
Wang Changsheng was terrified. Suddenly, he saw several black spots appearing in the distant sky. The black spots became bigger and bigger, and they turned out to be ten huge treasure ships!
“It's Genesis Sect!”
Lin-daoyou beside Wang Changsheng exclaimed in surprise, “Hundun Treasure Ship!”
This ship was the flying artifact of Genesis Sect, called Hundun, which referred to the state when source energy was mixed into one before the world was divided, the genesis of the beginning.
Obviously, Genesis Sect dispatched so many treasure ships with the intent to send them into battle.
But there were more than these three sects in the Upper South Region, the most famous one was the world's number one sword sect—Sword Inscription Sect!
A piece of colorful cloud floated from a distance, like a rainbow bridge descending. But when the cloud approached, people realized that they were the afterimages of countless flying swords, cultivators of the Sword Inscription Sect without a doubt!
People in Luo City had never been so close to the people of the Sword Inscription Sect before. Just guessing who might be on the swords or mentioning their names made them excited!
They looked at the colorful clouds in the sky, wishing they could follow the Sword Inscription Sect and kill Yao and demons all over the world!
Unfortunately, it could only be a daydream. The cloud disappeared in an instant, leaving only a faint trace in the sky.
“I can't believe that the four major factions of the Upper South Region are all moving out.”
“Yeah, I didn't expect the righteous Dao to make such a big commotion!”
“I still remember when the righteous Dao went to West Shu to wipe out the demonic Dao a thousand years ago, they only deployed about 10 or 20% of the people.”
“It seems that this Demon Catalyst is out of the ordinary, but hasn't the Yao Catalyst only ended 10,000 years ago?”
Everyone discussed it, but at this moment, Wang Changsheng didn't dare to accuse them of spreading rumors. If not for the demon spawn, he couldn't think of any reason for such a big commotion.
“Alas…”
The person beside him sighed. Wang Changsheng returned to his senses and looked at him blankly.
Lin-daoyou, “I don’t think I need to go to Xin City anymore. Without anyone in Sword Inscription Sect, everywhere is equally dangerous.”
Wang Changsheng, “There are still some low-level cultivators to defend the sect, right? And the mountain protection barrier! It has to be safer!”
Lin-daoyou, “Looking at how the major factions are gearing up to face the enemy, I don't think they have much confidence. If the demon spawn really arrives, it’ll be useless for us to hide anywhere. I might as well give it a go and fight it out.”
After saying this, he felt relieved and smiled.
Finally, Lin-daoyou patted Wang Changsheng on the shoulder, turned around, and walked back.
When his figure disappeared at the intersection of the street, Wang Changsheng trembled and quickly ran in the direction of the city gates. He had to hide in Xin City!
What? Chivalry? Bravado? Nothing was more important than staying alive! Anyway, Xin City was safer than Luo City!
At this moment, Comrade Bravo Wang who devoted 200 years to building his image finally gave up.
The scene in the Upper South Region also happened in other continents, and even the Dragon Palace in East Yu was involved. Now, even mortals understood that the battle between good and evil was right around the corner!
West Shu, Blood Peach Grove.
A plant rarely found in the whole cultivation world grew here—blood peach, which looked like a peach tree, but the petals and leaves were bloodred, and thus the name.
At this time, blood peach blossoms fell in the forest. An old monk stood under the falling flowers, and said to the young man beside him, “This place is the intersection of the three spiritual veins. According to Laozu’s prediction, the formation point should be here.”
The monk was naturally Kong Miao and the young man was Jing Yue.
The layout of the Multiworld Star Formation was very cumbersome. Not only was there a high requirement for the formation points other than the eye of the formation, but the arrangement of the formation had to change according to the star positions, and there must be no mistakes. Thus, it was very easy to make a wrong move only by dictation. Due to this, Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi split up, with Jing Yue in charge of the north and west, and Qin Yanzhi in charge of the east and south.
West Shu was the home base of the demonic Dao, and the number of demon cultivators far outnumbered the other six continents. In order not to alert the enemy, Jing Yue put West Shu at the end.
Not long ago, Jing Yue finally arrived in West Shu, and he met up with Kong Miao today.
“I can only proceed to lay down the eye of the formation when the layout of the southeast and northwest is completed and the demonic Dao's luck is sealed.” Jing Yue said, “This is the only place left now. Let’s start tonight.”
Thousands of miles away from them in the wilderness, an altar stood in the middle of the wilderness with tens of thousands of righteous Dao cultivators around the altar, while the coalition forces comprising of Yao and demons were slowly closing in, with the sounds of killing deafening.
The ground was scorched black, with signs of flooding and fire everywhere. Broken limbs littered the ground, and the potholes were filled with blood.
A one-armed cultivator stumbled up to the old man in purple robes. “It's bad! The Yao race has increased its troops by 100,000. I’m afraid we can’t hold on much longer!”
The purple-robed old man was Mauve Aurora Sect's Elder Wei who had been slapped in the face by Jing Yue several times. He frowned. “Why are the Yao race suddenly so motivated?”
Although Yao and the demonic Dao had teamed up, the Demon Catalyst was a matter of the human race. Even if the Yao race got involved, they shouldn’t sacrifice so much. After all, the Yao race was dwindling, and 100,000 Yao was not a small number!
Before he could figure it out, another cultivator came running out of breath, “70 to 80,000 demonic cultivators are approaching from the east!”
Elder Wei, “What?!”
The demonic Dao had been trying to destroy the altar and stop their plans, but before this, they only deployed tens of thousands of people. Why did nearly 200,000 suddenly turn up today?
One-armed cultivator, “Could it be that the righteous Dao has done too much recently and Han Guang is getting anxious?”
After all, people from the Three Realm Temple and the Palace of Nine Moons had arrived in West Shu a few days ago. Some people gathered at the altar, while others had disappeared.
Elder Wei, “It’s possible. It’s not easy for Yao and demons to deploy their people so quickly, so they must have prepared for a long time just to take down the altar in one fell swoop today!”
One-armed cultivator, “Then what should we do?”
Elder Wei, “Fight! Even if we all die here, we must defend the altar!”
One-armed cultivator, “But they far outnumber us. What if we fail?”
Elder Wei looked at the other party meaningfully without responding. He called out his natal magic sword, jumped up, and rushed toward the enemy base!
The one-armed cultivator was taken aback for a moment, gritted his teeth, and followed suit.
In the next few days, the righteous Dao did their best, but the large number of allied forces of Yao and demonic Dao forced them to keep backing away, and they gradually couldn’t hold on much longer.
Ebb and flow were a common occurrence on the battlefield. As the righteous Dao retreated until only one-third of the cultivators still remained, the Yao and demonic Dao gained momentum as their offensive became more intense.
Everyone knew inwardly that it wouldn’t be much longer before the altar here changed hands!
But the people in the righteous Dao didn't give up or dared to give up. They were not fighting for their own lives but the luck of the righteous Dao for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years to come. If they didn’t want to be forced into the dark corners like rats but walk in this world openly, retreat wasn’t an option!
One day later, the combined forces of Yao and demons were less than ten miles away from the altar, and Elder Wei, who was fighting among the crowd, was at the end of his rope.
He was sent flying by a leopard Yao’s tail and made a huge pit in the ground. Elder Wei felt that all the bones in his body were crushed into powder. He spat a mouthful of black blood, wiped the corners of his mouth, and struggled to get up.
His precious sword was already damaged, and the blade was cracked everywhere. He also looked extremely old and haggard at this time, a totally different person from a few days ago.
But Elder Wei still picked up his sword with trembling hands, endured the severe pain, and struggled to move forward.
Suddenly, he paused.
Elder Wei was stunned for a moment and took a bell from his waist.
There was no wind at this time but the bell shook lightly with a pleasant tinkle.
With ecstasy on his face, he turned and shouted, “Retreat! Withdraw at once!”
Someone was puzzled, “Elder Wei, if we withdraw at this time, the altar…”
Elder Wei, “Forget the altar! Let's go!”
Besides him, many other people on the battlefield gave the same order. Although most of the cultivators were confused, they still chose to evacuate obediently.
As soon as they left, the allied Yao and demons attacked the altar, but there was nothing there.
A Yao King said, “They suddenly withdrew. Is there a trick?”
Another demonic cultivator pondered for a moment. “It's hard to say, but they have guarded the altar for several months, so it can’t be for nothing.”
The demonic cultivators tried to find some clues, but suddenly, a beam of dazzling golden light lit up in the west and soared into the sky.
In the Evernorth, East Yu, and Lower South Region, which they couldn't see, another three beams of golden light soared into the sky too. At that moment, even the weakest demonic cultivator felt as if he was being shackled, as if his luck had been blocked.
A Heavenly Grotto demon cultivator looked at the golden light that pierced the sky in the distance and said in shock, “Oh no! We have been tricked!”
Upper South Region, Luo City.
Because this city was not far from Sword Inscription Sect, it was always bustling, but these days, the streets suddenly became deserted.
Since the news about the demon spawn spread widely, everyone knew that the crisis was imminent. Residents in the city tried not to go out whenever possible, and many shops closed for business.
But some people always liked to go against the flow, and Wang Changsheng was one of them.
He was born and raised in Luo City. His talent was not very good, but not that bad either, now at Foundation Establishment stage. Because he had been very bold since he was a child and also had a chivalrous heart, he was nicknamed Bravo Wang and was quite reputable in Luo City.
At this moment, Wang Changsheng was walking on the street swaggeringly with his spiritual eagle perched on his shoulder, humming a little song as if he was not afraid of the rumors at all, as happy as could be.
Suddenly, Wang Changsheng saw a familiar face.
“Hey, isn't this Lin-daoyou? Where are you going in such a hurry?”
The Lin-daoyou he was talking about wore a tattered Daoist robe, which the bottom of the hem kept fluttering as he walked briskly, like a fallen leaf blowing in the wind.
Hearing someone calling him, Lin-daoyou paused, and suddenly realized, “So it's Wang-daoyou. Why are you still in the mood to walk around?”
Wang Changsheng looked up at the sky. “It's such a beautiful day. It’s a pity to stay indoors.”
Lin-daoyou couldn't help admiring him. “Wang-daoyou is really optimistic. The disaster is coming, but Wang-daoyou doesn't take it seriously at all.”
“Disaster? Are you talking about the demon spawn?” Wang Changsheng laughed loudly. “Hahaha, why should Lin-daoyou take this rumor seriously? I think my righteous Dao cultivators are far stronger than the demonic cultivators, so the luck of the Heavenly Dao is naturally on my righteous Dao. How can the demon spawn be born? It's just demonic Dao's little trick to mess with people's minds!”
Lin-daoyou shook his head. “Better safe than sorry. I’m heading to Xin City, which is the closest to the Sword Inscription Sect. If something happens, it’s safer there.”
Wang Changsheng, “What can hap…”
Before he finished speaking, Wang Changsheng's eyes suddenly widened. Seeing this, Lin-daoyou followed his line of sight and dropped his jaw.
Countless red-crowned cranes flew over from the sky, numbering in the tens of thousands. When the flock of cranes passed over their heads, it was like a dark cloud shrouded Luo City, and sunlight disappeared.
Lin-daoyou, “Thousand Feather Sect…”
Only the Thousand Feather Sect, one of the four major sects in the Upper South Region, kept so many red-crowned cranes in captivity as mounts!
It wasn't until the cranes disappeared without a trace that Wang Changsheng asked in a daze, “Did Thousand Feather Sect deploy everyone? What happened?”
Someone who came out to watch the excitement said, “What else can it be? It must be related to the demon spawn. Seeing the commotion made by the Thousand Feather Sect, the righteous Dao is probably going to take action.”
Wang Changsheng was about to refute this person when he heard a burst of exclamation from behind.
He turned his head and saw a compass appearing in the sky. The compass was pure black with red edges, and it was half the size of Luo City. Wang Changsheng immediately recognized the origin of the compass - Scattered Star Villa!
It was rumored that this object was the treasure of the Scattered Star Villa, with formations engraved on it. Not to mention the people of half the city, it could even contain people of ten cities! But activating this treasure consumed a lot of spiritual jade. If there was no major event related to the survival of Scattered Star Villa, they would never use it lightly!
First came the Thousand Feather Sect, followed by the Scattered Star Villa, the second of the four major factions in the Upper South Region. Could it really be related to the demon spawn?
Wang Changsheng was terrified. Suddenly, he saw several black spots appearing in the distant sky. The black spots became bigger and bigger, and they turned out to be ten huge treasure ships!
“It's Genesis Sect!”
Lin-daoyou beside Wang Changsheng exclaimed in surprise, “Hundun Treasure Ship!”
This ship was the flying artifact of Genesis Sect, called Hundun, which referred to the state when source energy was mixed into one before the world was divided, the genesis of the beginning.
Obviously, Genesis Sect dispatched so many treasure ships with the intent to send them into battle.
But there were more than these three sects in the Upper South Region, the most famous one was the world's number one sword sect—Sword Inscription Sect!
A piece of colorful cloud floated from a distance, like a rainbow bridge descending. But when the cloud approached, people realized that they were the afterimages of countless flying swords, cultivators of the Sword Inscription Sect without a doubt!
People in Luo City had never been so close to the people of the Sword Inscription Sect before. Just guessing who might be on the swords or mentioning their names made them excited!
They looked at the colorful clouds in the sky, wishing they could follow the Sword Inscription Sect and kill Yao and demons all over the world!
Unfortunately, it could only be a daydream. The cloud disappeared in an instant, leaving only a faint trace in the sky.
“I can't believe that the four major factions of the Upper South Region are all moving out.”
“Yeah, I didn't expect the righteous Dao to make such a big commotion!”
“I still remember when the righteous Dao went to West Shu to wipe out the demonic Dao a thousand years ago, they only deployed about 10 or 20% of the people.”
“It seems that this Demon Catalyst is out of the ordinary, but hasn't the Yao Catalyst only ended 10,000 years ago?”
Everyone discussed it, but at this moment, Wang Changsheng didn't dare to accuse them of spreading rumors. If not for the demon spawn, he couldn't think of any reason for such a big commotion.
“Alas…”
The person beside him sighed. Wang Changsheng returned to his senses and looked at him blankly.
Lin-daoyou, “I don’t think I need to go to Xin City anymore. Without anyone in Sword Inscription Sect, everywhere is equally dangerous.”
Wang Changsheng, “There are still some low-level cultivators to defend the sect, right? And the mountain protection barrier! It has to be safer!”
Lin-daoyou, “Looking at how the major factions are gearing up to face the enemy, I don't think they have much confidence. If the demon spawn really arrives, it’ll be useless for us to hide anywhere. I might as well give it a go and fight it out.”
After saying this, he felt relieved and smiled.
Finally, Lin-daoyou patted Wang Changsheng on the shoulder, turned around, and walked back.
When his figure disappeared at the intersection of the street, Wang Changsheng trembled and quickly ran in the direction of the city gates. He had to hide in Xin City!
What? Chivalry? Bravado? Nothing was more important than staying alive! Anyway, Xin City was safer than Luo City!
At this moment, Comrade Bravo Wang who devoted 200 years to building his image finally gave up.
The scene in the Upper South Region also happened in other continents, and even the Dragon Palace in East Yu was involved. Now, even mortals understood that the battle between good and evil was right around the corner!
West Shu, Blood Peach Grove.
A plant rarely found in the whole cultivation world grew here—blood peach, which looked like a peach tree, but the petals and leaves were bloodred, and thus the name.
At this time, blood peach blossoms fell in the forest. An old monk stood under the falling flowers, and said to the young man beside him, “This place is the intersection of the three spiritual veins. According to Laozu’s prediction, the formation point should be here.”
The monk was naturally Kong Miao and the young man was Jing Yue.
The layout of the Multiworld Star Formation was very cumbersome. Not only was there a high requirement for the formation points other than the eye of the formation, but the arrangement of the formation had to change according to the star positions, and there must be no mistakes. Thus, it was very easy to make a wrong move only by dictation. Due to this, Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi split up, with Jing Yue in charge of the north and west, and Qin Yanzhi in charge of the east and south.
West Shu was the home base of the demonic Dao, and the number of demon cultivators far outnumbered the other six continents. In order not to alert the enemy, Jing Yue put West Shu at the end.
Not long ago, Jing Yue finally arrived in West Shu, and he met up with Kong Miao today.
“I can only proceed to lay down the eye of the formation when the layout of the southeast and northwest is completed and the demonic Dao's luck is sealed.” Jing Yue said, “This is the only place left now. Let’s start tonight.”
Thousands of miles away from them in the wilderness, an altar stood in the middle of the wilderness with tens of thousands of righteous Dao cultivators around the altar, while the coalition forces comprising of Yao and demons were slowly closing in, with the sounds of killing deafening.
The ground was scorched black, with signs of flooding and fire everywhere. Broken limbs littered the ground, and the potholes were filled with blood.
A one-armed cultivator stumbled up to the old man in purple robes. “It's bad! The Yao race has increased its troops by 100,000. I’m afraid we can’t hold on much longer!”
The purple-robed old man was Mauve Aurora Sect's Elder Wei who had been slapped in the face by Jing Yue several times. He frowned. “Why are the Yao race suddenly so motivated?”
Although Yao and the demonic Dao had teamed up, the Demon Catalyst was a matter of the human race. Even if the Yao race got involved, they shouldn’t sacrifice so much. After all, the Yao race was dwindling, and 100,000 Yao was not a small number!
Before he could figure it out, another cultivator came running out of breath, “70 to 80,000 demonic cultivators are approaching from the east!”
Elder Wei, “What?!”
The demonic Dao had been trying to destroy the altar and stop their plans, but before this, they only deployed tens of thousands of people. Why did nearly 200,000 suddenly turn up today?
One-armed cultivator, “Could it be that the righteous Dao has done too much recently and Han Guang is getting anxious?”
After all, people from the Three Realm Temple and the Palace of Nine Moons had arrived in West Shu a few days ago. Some people gathered at the altar, while others had disappeared.
Elder Wei, “It’s possible. It’s not easy for Yao and demons to deploy their people so quickly, so they must have prepared for a long time just to take down the altar in one fell swoop today!”
One-armed cultivator, “Then what should we do?”
Elder Wei, “Fight! Even if we all die here, we must defend the altar!”
One-armed cultivator, “But they far outnumber us. What if we fail?”
Elder Wei looked at the other party meaningfully without responding. He called out his natal magic sword, jumped up, and rushed toward the enemy base!
The one-armed cultivator was taken aback for a moment, gritted his teeth, and followed suit.
In the next few days, the righteous Dao did their best, but the large number of allied forces of Yao and demonic Dao forced them to keep backing away, and they gradually couldn’t hold on much longer.
Ebb and flow were a common occurrence on the battlefield. As the righteous Dao retreated until only one-third of the cultivators still remained, the Yao and demonic Dao gained momentum as their offensive became more intense.
Everyone knew inwardly that it wouldn’t be much longer before the altar here changed hands!
But the people in the righteous Dao didn't give up or dared to give up. They were not fighting for their own lives but the luck of the righteous Dao for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years to come. If they didn’t want to be forced into the dark corners like rats but walk in this world openly, retreat wasn’t an option!
One day later, the combined forces of Yao and demons were less than ten miles away from the altar, and Elder Wei, who was fighting among the crowd, was at the end of his rope.
He was sent flying by a leopard Yao’s tail and made a huge pit in the ground. Elder Wei felt that all the bones in his body were crushed into powder. He spat a mouthful of black blood, wiped the corners of his mouth, and struggled to get up.
His precious sword was already damaged, and the blade was cracked everywhere. He also looked extremely old and haggard at this time, a totally different person from a few days ago.
But Elder Wei still picked up his sword with trembling hands, endured the severe pain, and struggled to move forward.
Suddenly, he paused.
Elder Wei was stunned for a moment and took a bell from his waist.
There was no wind at this time but the bell shook lightly with a pleasant tinkle.
With ecstasy on his face, he turned and shouted, “Retreat! Withdraw at once!”
Someone was puzzled, “Elder Wei, if we withdraw at this time, the altar…”
Elder Wei, “Forget the altar! Let's go!”
Besides him, many other people on the battlefield gave the same order. Although most of the cultivators were confused, they still chose to evacuate obediently.
As soon as they left, the allied Yao and demons attacked the altar, but there was nothing there.
A Yao King said, “They suddenly withdrew. Is there a trick?”
Another demonic cultivator pondered for a moment. “It's hard to say, but they have guarded the altar for several months, so it can’t be for nothing.”
The demonic cultivators tried to find some clues, but suddenly, a beam of dazzling golden light lit up in the west and soared into the sky.
In the Evernorth, East Yu, and Lower South Region, which they couldn't see, another three beams of golden light soared into the sky too. At that moment, even the weakest demonic cultivator felt as if he was being shackled, as if his luck had been blocked.
A Heavenly Grotto demon cultivator looked at the golden light that pierced the sky in the distance and said in shock, “Oh no! We have been tricked!”
