Chapter Eleven: The Final Tribulation of the Fierce Beasts, Fuxi Joins the Battle

The army of savage beasts surged toward Buzhou Mountain. Along the way, countless cultivators slew innumerable beasts, yet the presence of Shen Ni and the Four Great Beasts meant many of the cultivators were themselves killed, able only to slightly delay the advance of the beast horde. No one could stand against Shen Ni, who had reached the late stage of quasi-sainthood.

On Jade Capital Mountain, Hongjun sighed softly and murmured, “The time has come.” With those words, he rose and flew toward Buzhou Mountain.

Shen Ni led the savage beast army, battling the myriad cultivators of the primordial world as they pressed on toward Buzhou Mountain. Countless beasts were slaughtered, but just as many cultivators were devoured. Driven by their quest for merit within the Heavenly Way, the cultivators fought with frenzied desperation. Many, at the brink of death, self-destructed, dragging countless beasts into oblivion with them.

Though the cultivators could momentarily hold back the beasts, their top combatants fell behind. The Three Pure Ones and Zhen Yuanzi managed to barely withstand the Four Great Beasts, but Daoist Qiankun—the first to attack the beast horde—could not resist Shen Ni. Having only just broken through to the early stage of quasi-sainthood, Qiankun was no match for Shen Ni, whose thousands of years of slaughter had propelled him to the late stage.

Were it not for Qiankun’s innate supreme treasure, the Qiankun Cauldron, defending him, he would have already been defeated. Yet the gap was too great, and defeat seemed inevitable.

“Today, I will slaughter all of you, shatter Buzhou Mountain, and destroy the world Pangu created,” Shen Ni declared chillingly, wielding the Beast God Spear and pressing Qiankun into submission.

Qiankun struggled bitterly, his heart full of sorrow. He had thought his breakthrough to quasi-sainthood would allow him to survive the calamity, but to his dismay, Shen Ni had already reached the late stage. If no one else intervened, he feared there was no escaping this disaster.

At the moment Qiankun lost focus, Shen Ni’s Beast God Spear suddenly knocked aside the Qiankun Cauldron above his head, its tip stabbing toward Qiankun’s brow. Qiankun gave a bleak smile, knowing he could not evade this blow. Resolute, he gathered his remaining power to self-destruct, determined to take Shen Ni with him.

Suddenly, a jade disk radiating countless laws appeared, shielding Qiankun and blocking the attack.

“Friend, your race is not favored by the Heavenly Way. This calamity will see its end. Why must you oppose the heavens?” came a gentle voice.

An old Daoist, exuding immortal grace, appeared above the battlefield—it was Hongjun from Jade Capital Mountain.

...

It had been thousands of years since Chenxing sat with Fuxi and Nuwa, discussing the Dao.

Little Demon listened to their discourse while refining the Twelve-Petal Pure World White Lotus. The lotus was an innate supreme treasure, akin to Chenxing’s Creation Green Lotus. Both originated from fragments of the thirty-six-petal Chaos Creation Lotus, nurtured after its shattering. Within the white lotus were thirty-six prohibitions formed by the world’s creative force; only by refining all prohibitions could one fully master the treasure. For Chenxing, with his “Saint of the Grand Dao” cultivation, refining any treasure was but an instant’s work.

Over the millennia, Little Demon had managed to refine twelve of the thirty-six prohibitions, gaining basic control.

As the gods of the primordial world and Shen Ni’s beast horde clashed in a decisive battle, the overwhelming aura of slaughter startled the three from their discourse. With a thought, Chenxing instantly understood what was happening on the continent.

Smiling faintly, Chenxing said to Fuxi and Nuwa, “You siblings may enter the calamity now and earn much merit. The tribulation is nearly over, and with your current cultivation, there is little threat. If you wish, you may go now.”

Since their discussions with Chenxing, Fuxi and Nuwa had understood his unfathomable depth, though they knew not his exact cultivation. Over the past thousands of years, it was always Chenxing guiding them. Their cultivation had soared from early to late stage of Da Luo Golden Immortal, a leap that, without Chenxing, would have taken at least a hundred thousand years.

...

Fuxi and Nuwa were deeply grateful to Chenxing, regarding him as an elder brother.

“Thank you, Dao Brother, for your guidance over the years. My sister and I are indebted. We shall heed your advice and enter the calamity,” Fuxi said, bowing.

“Brother Chenxing, won’t you earn merit as well? With your cultivation, Shen Ni surely cannot match you,” Nuwa asked curiously.

Chenxing did not answer, instead turning to Little Demon, who had been startled awake from her lotus refinement by the murderous aura. Chenxing asked gently, “Are you frightened, Little Demon?”

She shook her head, “Brother, I’m not afraid!”

Seeing her truly unafraid, Chenxing was reassured.

Turning back to Nuwa and Fuxi, he said, “I will go with you, but I will not intervene.”

Nuwa, seeing Chenxing sidestep her question, said no more. Together with Fuxi, she bowed to him. Chenxing gathered Little Demon in his arms, and the four vanished instantly.

On the battlefield, faced with Hongjun’s sudden appearance, Shen Ni’s expression darkened. He sensed that the old Daoist’s cultivation was at least equal to his own, if not greater.

“Who are you?” Shen Ni demanded coldly.

“I am Hongjun of Jade Capital Mountain,” the old Daoist replied, bowing.

“You dare oppose me? Are you not afraid I’ll lead my army to flatten your Jade Capital Mountain?” Shen Ni threatened.

Hongjun shook his head and sighed, “Why deceive yourself, friend? The savage beasts defy the heavens and are forsaken by the Heavenly Way. Surely you know your race’s fate. Why threaten this old Daoist?”

Shen Ni’s face twisted with madness. He roared, “This is the karmic debt Pangu owes my beast race. I cannot rest until I destroy the world he created!”

Hongjun sighed, “Before the opening of heaven, three thousand gods and demons sought to slay Pangu and were destroyed by him. Thus was the Grand Dao ordained, and Pangu was mortally wounded, perishing as he created the world. The karmic cycle was settled long ago. Your actions are but the slaughtering instincts you were born with; how can the Heavenly Way tolerate such?”

Shen Ni raged, “The Heavenly Way is unjust! What use is it? My race will destroy the primordial world and return all things to chaos. Since you stand in my way, let us battle!”

With that, he launched his Beast God Spear, suffused with boundless murderous energy, at Hongjun.

Hongjun ceased speaking, summoning his Creation Jade Disk, which bore the power of three thousand laws, to clash with the Beast God Spear. The two supreme treasures collided like worlds meeting, their power enough to shake heaven and earth. Hongjun guided their battle into the sky, lest the land suffer. Shen Ni roared and pursued; Hongjun’s form flickered, following after, and their duel began above the heavens.

On the ground, the Three Pure Ones, Zhen Yuanzi, Ming He, and Kunpeng were locked in combat with the Four Great Beasts. They could resist, but victory was elusive.

...

At that moment, few noticed the sudden arrival of four new figures—Chenxing and his companions.

Seeing the situation, Fuxi and Nuwa immediately moved to join the battle against the Four Great Beasts alongside the Three Pure Ones and others. With two late-stage Da Luo Golden Immortals joining, the tide turned swiftly. The Four Great Beasts, though roaring furiously, could not regain their advantage.

Roaring, Qiongqi shouted, “Brothers, even if we cannot destroy Buzhou Mountain today, we must fight to the death! Let these vermin know the might of the beast race—kill!”

With that, he revealed his true form, stomping toward the combatants. The other three—Tao Tie, Hundun, and Taowu—also transformed, relying on their powerful bodies to battle the assembled forces.

Watching the melee below and the clash of treasures above, Chenxing shook his head: So barbaric, so crude, so lacking in technique. It seems I must reform the fighting style of the primordial beings. Such backward methods in a grand world—how could cultivators from lesser worlds be expected to endure?

Suddenly, he noticed Little Demon trembling in his arms. His heart sank, realizing it was her first time witnessing such brutal slaughter. In her innocent heart, all living things should coexist peacefully.

Unable to accept the savage carnage, Chenxing sighed inwardly and sent her into a gentle sleep with a wave of his hand. He thought, With me here, why let her suffer such slaughter? Across all worlds, who dares harm her? Who could even try? Let her forever preserve that pure land in her heart.

The battle on the field soon changed. Fuxi and Nuwa, fighting Taowu together, had been using their companion treasures—Fuxi’s Zither, whose notes sliced like blades, leaving bloody gashes on Taowu’s tough flesh, though unable to truly harm him.

Though both siblings were late-stage Da Luo Golden Immortals, the beasts’ bodies were far stronger than those of cultivators at the same level. Fuxi and Nuwa suppressed Taowu but found it hard to kill him.

Then, as Nuwa’s Patchstone struck Taowu, making him stumble, Fuxi poured all his strength into a sonic blade—not aimed at Taowu, but tearing open a hundred-meter spatial rift beside him. He raised his Zither atop his head for protection and threw himself at Taowu, instantly knocking him into the rift, which vanished in a blink, taking Taowu with it.

This unorthodox tactic caught everyone off guard. The battlefield paused in surprise. After sealing Taowu, Fuxi and Nuwa returned to Chenxing’s side. Chenxing burst into hearty laughter, giving Fuxi a thumbs-up.

“Well done! That’s how battles should be fought. Trading treasures back and forth is so tedious.”

Fuxi, not knowing the meaning of the gesture, understood from Chenxing’s words it was praise. He bowed humbly, “Thank you for your guidance over the years, Dao Friend. I am ashamed.”

Indeed, when Chenxing lectured the siblings, he had casually mentioned a way to achieve victory with minimal cost—a strategy that did not rely so heavily on direct treasure clashes, which he found lacking.

Unexpectedly, Fuxi quickly grasped this clever tactic, becoming the first to subdue one of the Four Great Beasts.

“Taowu!” came a furious roar, as a figure charged toward Chenxing…