Chapter 994: East Wu Submits

Main Volume

Before dying, King Bihuai remembered what the Demon Venerable had once told it.

"If you wish to become a Deity, your opportunity lies on land, and your tribulation, too, lies on land."

So, this was the tribulation.

What about the opportunity then?

Filled with deep doubt, King Bihuai's head fell to the ground.

With a flash of spiritual light, a verdant sea snake, its head severed, appeared before Chen Mobai.

This was King Bihuai's true form.

Chen Mobai reached out and put all the demon kings' corpses into his storage bag, intending to have Qing Nü deal with them upon his return. The Purple Lightning Sword gleamed with a brilliant light and landed beside him. After Chen Mobai offered it a high-grade spirit stone, he opened his domain.

The Purple Lightning Sword felt the reward was a bit meager, but for this intervention, it had only delivered two supplementary strikes and reaped two heads, so it had no complaints about a discounted reward.

"Thank you, Master."

After speaking, the Purple Lightning Sword transformed into a wisp of lightning and burrowed back into the domain.

After retracting his sword, Chen Mobai stood quietly in the center of the now-ruined Huangwu Immortal City.

Looking around, all he saw were broken stones and charred earth. Lingering in the air was the dissipated power of thunder. If another cultivator were to enter, they would likely immediately attract the convergence of these Five Elements Divine Thunders. However, Chen Mobai's Primordial Chaos True Qi covered his entire body, and these Five Elements Divine Thunders, upon contact with his skin, were transformed into the purest Five Elements spiritual energy. It was precisely for this reason that Zhou Ye surrendered immediately after Chen Mobai formed his Nascent Soul and cultivated the Primordial Chaos True Qi, knowing that his greatest trump card would be useless against Chen Mobai.

Chen Mobai floated into the air, feeling the deathly silence after the annihilation of all things around him, and couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

The Crown of Heaven and Earth's Beings appeared above his head. At some unknown point, strands of dark lines had coiled around it. It was as if a piece of black jade had been blended into a crown originally cast from white jade, making it exceptionally conspicuous. This was the karma from destroying hundreds of spiritual veins of the Dongwu land.

Fortunately, the foundation of this item was "humanity's beings." His act of destroying the world, though a great karma for the vast land, was a great merit for humanity. Looking within himself, Chen Mobai saw that in the Nine Virtues of the Sage King from his Danfeng Chaoyang Diagram, the "Reward, Celebration, Punishment, Authority for the Monarch" virtue, which originally had only 1 progress, suddenly surged to 10. It was almost complete. This virtue represented thunderous means, allowing all beings under his command to feel the authority of the Sage King. Chen Mobai's extermination of a million demon beasts from the Desolate Sea was a remarkable achievement, so this progress was normal.

In addition, the progress for the virtue "Mo" also increased by 1. This indicated that while his act of blowing up Dongwu's spiritual veins and killing a million demon beasts carried karma with heaven and earth, it had gained the support of human hearts. After all, if he hadn't employed such thunderous methods and allowed the beings of Dongwu to be ruled by demon beasts, this region would have suffered terribly, with life being worse than death, for years or even longer. Over the years, demons and monsters lurking in the shadows had frequently devoured humans, causing widespread panic among the people of Dongwu. No one wanted to be food, living from hand to mouth.

The progress of the Danfeng Chaoyang Diagram made Chen Mobai feel as if his spiritual sense realm had undergone subtle changes. It wasn't merely an increase in the strength of his spiritual sense, but a transformation. He vaguely perceived a great dao, spanning infinite time and existing eternally.

This was Saintly Virtue!

However, his own realm was still too low; he only perceived it for an instant before falling back. Chen Mobai clearly knew that the Danfeng Chaoyang Diagram was protecting him. With his current realm, if he were to directly delve into the comprehension of the Saintly Virtue Great Dao, it would be like a drop of water merging into the ocean, instantly assimilated and losing its self. Only after condensing a Saintly Virtue Dao Seed, with his primordial spirit having something to anchor to, could he freely roam within the Saintly Virtue Great Dao, even drawing upon its power to nourish his Dao Seed and grow.

After realizing this, Chen Mobai nodded slightly.

Just at this moment, an entity he had almost forgotten suddenly emerged in his Sea of Consciousness within the Purple Mansion. It was a grayish-white grindstone.

The Great Millstone of Annihilation!

This was what he had seen in the deepest part of the Diyuan Star when his Immortal Earth spiritual root attained enlightenment, representing the true form of the Demon Lord and the end of the universe.

Why did it suddenly appear?

As Chen Mobai pondered in confusion, he saw one of the three thousand faces of the Great Millstone of Annihilation turn to the center of his vision. The dark characters and patterns on it seemed to come alive, emitting a deep, faint glow. This wisp of faint glow was ancient and mysterious, as if it originated before heaven and earth, at the beginning of the universe, the source of all things. The moment the faint glow bloomed, it seemed alive, emerging from the Great Millstone of Annihilation and instantly merging into Chen Mobai's mind. He couldn't refuse it even if he wanted to. And after the faint glow bloomed, the Great Millstone of Annihilation also vanished from Chen Mobai's Sea of Consciousness within the Purple Mansion.

His expression subtly changed. Although he didn't know what this faint glow was, his entire foundation was rooted in the righteous path of the Xuanmen, and the Pure Yang Scroll was naturally repellent to demonic paths. Now that something clearly demonic had merged into his mind, would there be any hidden dangers in the future? Chen Mobai immediately activated his natal magical artifact, the Morning Bell, ringing it several times, but his Sea of Consciousness showed no reaction whatsoever. This indicated that the faint glow was undoubtedly of an incredibly high rank.

Chen Mobai concentrated his mind, trying to recall the Great Millstone of Annihilation. Gradually, the Great Millstone of Annihilation, which had disappeared from his Sea of Consciousness, surprisingly reappeared as a phantom. This scene made Chen Mobai frown even deeper. How could he, a dignified cultivator of the righteous Xuanmen path, become entangled with demonic paths? However, with his current cultivation, he was completely helpless against this Great Millstone of Annihilation. But after he envisioned the Great Millstone of Annihilation in his mind, the wisp of faint glow that had merged into him also reappeared. Chen Mobai hesitated, but considering that the item had already merged with him, he gritted his teeth and began to perceive it with his spiritual sense. To his disappointment, however, just like when he had perceived the Saintly Virtue Great Dao earlier, his current realm was too low. Although his spiritual sense touched the faint glow and saw dark characters and patterns, he couldn't understand them. Only one thing he suddenly knew when his spiritual sense perceived the faint glow: This faint glow was the legacy of the Primordial Heavenly Demon, the foremost of the Three Thousand Demonic Paths! Chen Mobai's act of destroying the world seemed to have gained the recognition of the Great Millstone of Annihilation, which directly passed down this great demonic art.

However, the threshold for starting the Three Thousand Demonic Paths was to cultivate a Primordial Spirit or achieve the Undying Body realm. Chen Mobai was now like Lin Daoming back then; only upon reaching the Deity Transformation stage would he be able to decipher the demonic techniques within the Great Millstone of Annihilation.

"I am of the Xuanmen's righteous path. Even if I'm stuck at the Nascent Soul stage for this entire life and pass away when my lifespan ends, I will absolutely not fall into demonhood!" After realizing this, Chen Mobai had only this thought in his mind. On the path of the Xuanmen Primordial Spirit Great Dao, he had boundless prospects. As long as he refined the Dan Ding Jade Tree and relied on the same cultivation method as Daoist Dan Ding, there would be no problems before achieving Dao Integration.

However, Chen Mobai soon thought of another point. If, thousands or tens of thousands of years later, he became stuck before Dao Integration due to the Dan Ding Jade Tree and couldn't break through. Then, at that time, should he try to comprehend this Primordial Heavenly Demon Great Dao for inspiration?

When Chen Mobai thought of this question, he hesitated internally. He felt he shouldn't be so absolute in his words. "We'll see when the time comes." With this thought, his anxiety, which had arisen from the Great Millstone of Annihilation appearing in his Sea of Consciousness, immediately subsided.

At this moment, Chen Mobai felt a familiar aura rapidly approaching. Turning to look, he saw a five-colored figure flying from afar; it was Su Zilu, who had transformed into her Dharma Body Nascent Soul.

"Greetings, Daozi."

Upon arriving, Su Zilu immediately bowed to Chen Mobai.

"You worked hard to detonate Dongwu's spiritual veins this time. A million demon beasts from the Desolate Sea and thirteen demon kings have all died here. For the next few centuries, there will be no need to worry about the Desolate Sea..." Chen Mobai spoke, and Su Zilu nodded gently. It was also her first time detonating spiritual veins with the Primordial Chaos Five Elements Destruction Divine Thunder, especially on such a massive scale. The scene of all life perishing after the world's destruction moved even her, a cultivator who had long mingled with the demonic path and prided herself on having a heart of stone.

"Unfortunately, the price paid to eliminate the Desolate Sea demon beasts was too great. The spiritual energy on this land will likely be chaotic for thousands of years, making cultivation difficult for cultivators." Su Zilu remarked with a sigh. After the Primordial Chaos Five Elements Destruction Divine Thunder detonated, hundreds of spiritual veins on the Dongwu Plain were all blown apart, causing spiritual energy to dissipate and explode. Only the two of them, possessing Primordial Chaos True Qi, could ignore this situation. Any other cultivator, if they wished to refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth here, would need to expend several times more spiritual sense.

Upon hearing this, Chen Mobai nodded: "This is a necessary price to pay, for the future of Dongwu's people, and for the Eastern Barrens and even the entire Eastern Continent. Moreover, the fragmentation of the spiritual veins here is also a good opportunity for reintegration..." As Chen Mobai spoke, he descended to the ground, then reached out and grasped the surrounding flickering, explosive spiritual energy into his palm. Soon, under his fifth-tier Earth Master realm, the spiritual energy within a thousand meters around him all softened, and under his control, it reintegrated into the fractured spiritual veins of the earth. Subsequently, a most ordinary first-tier spiritual vein was thus shaped by Chen Mobai. However, this spiritual vein was merely a drop in the ocean compared to the vast surrounding environment. The gentle spiritual energy it emitted, which could be easily refined, was quickly assimilated by the endlessly exploding spiritual energy between heaven and earth. Seeing this, Chen Mobai gently stamped his foot, and a simple restriction was generated on the spiritual vein. This restriction was a special formation that prevented the surrounding explosive spiritual energy from entering the range of this first-tier spiritual vein. And the first-tier spiritual vein he had just shaped could, in turn, slowly absorb the surrounding explosive spiritual energy to enhance itself. This spiritual vein would be the ancestor of all spiritual veins on the Dongwu Plain in the future.

"Daozi's attainments in Earth Master skills are probably second to none in the entire Eastern Continent." Su Zilu was greatly astonished by this scene, feeling genuine admiration. She had witnessed many top cultivators from both righteous and demonic paths, some even claiming to be fifth-tier Earth Masters. But she dared to guarantee that no one else could accomplish what she was seeing.

"Thousands of years from now, this spiritual vein will permeate the scarred Dongwu Plain of today. After healing all wounds, it will also become an unprecedentedly powerful spiritual vein in Dongwu." Chen Mobai pointed to the nascent first-tier spiritual vein beneath his feet and spoke softly. However, for him, thousands of years was simply too long. Fortunately, the Earth Master skill, one of the hundred cultivation arts, was created precisely for such situations. And besides him, the Five Elements Sect had another powerful Earth Master with boundless potential.

"With enough effort, nothing is impossible. It will just be hard on Ming'er..." Chen Mobai sighed. He had too many things to worry about and certainly couldn't stay long on the bombed Dongwu Plain. Fortunately, he had his precious disciple, Zhuo Ming. However, this would likely delay Zhuo Ming's cultivation somewhat. Chen Mobai had already considered this; he would give her a bag of high-grade spirit stones then, so she could cultivate on the Dongwu land using them. Furthermore, besides Zhuo Ming, Chen Mobai felt he also needed to transplant a powerful spiritual plant to suppress the shattered spiritual veins of the Dongwu land.

Faced with this situation, the best choice would naturally be the Great Chūn Tree from the Immortal Sect. Unfortunately, Chen Mobai's status and position had not yet reached that level. Moreover, as a sixth-tier entity, if a branch of the Great Chūn Tree were planted in the Tianhe Realm, Chen Mobai greatly feared it might sense something. After all, he had once asked Wenren Xuewei about the effectiveness of the Everlasting Spring Technique, whether it could function from a great distance. She replied that even across a minor realm, it wouldn't affect the connection between her and the Great Chūn Tree. Chen Mobai felt that it would be better not to let the Immortal Sect know about the existence of the Tianhe Realm before he reached the Deity Transformation stage.

Besides the Great Chūn Tree, the Azure Jade Phoenix Tree also had the ability to regulate earth veins, but the latter was more adept at fire veins. The Longevity Wood also focused on regulating earth, fire, and wood spiritual energy. After much thought, Chen Mobai thought of the Five Elements Spirit Tree planted within his own domain. This Five Elements Spirit Tree was originally a branch transplanted from the One Yuan Secret Realm. Through his and Zhuo Ming's unremitting efforts, combined with technologies like the Immortal Sect's Void Spiritual Qi Bag, they had finally managed to make it grow. And after being nourished by the Tianyuan Pearl's portable fifth-tier spiritual vein, it grew even more vigorously. Originally, Chen Mobai's plan was to place this Five Elements Spirit Tree into the One Yuan Secret Realm to replace the original mother tree once it reached the fourth tier. He, in turn, would move the mother tree into his own domain, preparing it as the foundation for his future Dharma Realm.

The Five Elements Spirit Tree has very demanding growth conditions; it requires balanced Five Elements spiritual energy. However, the current situation in Dongwu was very suitable. Because on this plain, all the spiritual veins had been destroyed by him and Su Zilu using the Primordial Chaos Five Elements Destruction Divine Thunder, turning into scattered, abnormally explosive Five Elements spiritual energy throughout the sky. And the first-tier spiritual vein Chen Mobai had just shaped, with his Earth Master attainments, could easily be set to have balanced Five Elements spiritual energy. In this way, when this ancestral vein of Dongwu absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy and grew in the future, it would also follow the Five Elements balance he had set. If the Five Elements Spirit Tree were planted on it, it could survive and grow, even in turn regulating and balancing the Five Elements of heaven and earth, eventually transforming this place into a second One Yuan Secret Realm. It might even surpass it, becoming a peak fifth-tier spiritual vein. Furthermore, there was another key point: the current Five Elements Sect could now protect the Five Elements Spirit Tree. Once the Five Elements Spirit Fruit matured, he would also be able to naturally promote the Five Elements Core-Forming Elixir, stating that the Five Elements Sect used the Five Elements Spirit Fruit as the main ingredient to refine its Core-Forming elixir. In this way, in the future, the Five Elements Core-Forming Elixir of the Five Elements Sect would at least be as popular as the Three Lights Divine Water of the Starlight Dao Sect, becoming the number one Core-Forming elixir in the Eastern Continent.

Chen Mobai couldn't help but nod gently upon reaching this thought. However, this ancestral vein of Dongwu was still very weak. He would at least have to wait until Zhuo Ming regulated and elevated it to the third tier before he could transplant the Five Elements Spirit Tree from his domain.

"When the Tusita Demon Refining Array detonated the spiritual veins, did you find any traces of the demonic path?" Chen Mobai asked this question as he and Su Zilu flew towards the Eastern Barrens. Originally, demons and monsters had jointly invaded Dongwu. Although for some unknown reason, the demonic path had suddenly vanished from the demon beast army. But Chen Mobai knew that even if the demonic path turned against the demon beasts, it would absolutely not help the righteous path. And before this, under the continuous siege and invasion of the Myriad Rivers Returning to the Sea Array by the Desolate Sea demon beasts, there wasn't much activity within the Tusita Demon Refining Array's range. According to Chen Mobai's estimation, the demonic path should have been hidden there. However, he had to oversee the main situation at the Myriad Rivers Returning to the Sea Array, so he didn't have time to use the Haotian Mirror to search for traces of demonic cultivators. But with this detonation of the grand array, no matter how deeply the demonic path was hidden, as long as they were within the array's range, they would all be annihilated by the Primordial Chaos Five Elements Destruction Divine Thunder, just like the Desolate Sea demon beasts.

"Quite a few demonic cultivators appeared. Among the dead, I saw one Nascent Soul, five or six Core Formation, dozens of Foundation Establishment, and hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators..." Su Zilu said. Under the detonation of the Primordial Chaos Five Elements Destruction Divine Thunder, all beings were equal, descending to the underworld, except for those possessing Primordial Chaos True Qi like themselves. "That's quite a significant achievement. I just wonder if the dead Nascent Soul was Diao Xianlan?" Chen Mobai spoke softly after hearing this. After the Desolate Sea demon beasts were annihilated by him, the only one who could still cause trouble on this battlefield was Diao Xianlan, that grand figure of the demonic path. However, because she was a demonic cultivator, Chen Mobai had absolute confidence and certainty that he could kill her upon sight, so he wasn't overly worried.

"Now that the hundreds of core spiritual veins in Dongwu have been destroyed by us, even if Diao Xianlan is still alive, she shouldn't waste time making a move here. If she still has her wits about her, the best choice would be to lead her demonic disciples to retreat and await the outcome of the Deity Transformation battles in the Eastern Lands." Su Zilu shared her opinion. When she was with Venerable Ming, she had heard him comment on the Nascent Soul cultivators of various demonic sects. She knew that Diao Xianlan was able to join forces with Gongyang Qing to control the Eastern Li Demonic Path after Venerable Ming's disappearance precisely because she knew when to advance and retreat, and wasn't blindly aggressive.

"Tsk, I actually hope she's a bit more confident, preferably thinking of striking alone to kill me, establishing the foundation for a great demonic victory now that the Desolate Sea demon beasts are out of the picture." Chen Mobai, however, said something that left Su Zilu unsure how to respond.

Soon, the two arrived at the border of Dongwu. The great dam, originally used to defend against Yunmeng Marsh, had also been destroyed by the detonation of the spiritual veins. An endless flow of Yunmeng Marsh river water was pouring into the cracked land of Dongwu. Chen Mobai nodded gently at this sight, thinking that this place would definitely be very suitable for cultivating spirit rice in the future.

The moment the two flew into Yunmeng Marsh, streaks of spiritual light from outside surrounded them.

"Greetings, Sect Master!"

E Yun and the other Five Elements Sect members were at the forefront. The Five Elements spiritual energy on Dongwu's land was now chaotic, and they had obeyed Chen Mobai's previous instructions not to enter.

"This battle is a great victory! A million demon beasts from the Desolate Sea have all been buried in the land of Dongwu." As Chen Mobai spoke, he took out the corpses of King Bihuai and King Double-Head from his storage bag, letting them float in mid-air. Upon seeing this, the disciples of the Five Elements Sect naturally erupted in fanaticism, shouting praises like "Sect Master's divine might is invincible" to Chen Mobai. On the Dongwu side, the Core Formation cultivators, led by Sun Huanglong, exchanged glances, all showing bitter smiles as they flew over. "We heard that Sect Master Chen expended a hundred years of cultivation to slay a million demon beasts from the Desolate Sea. We are deeply ashamed." Sun Huanglong and the others were heartbroken at this moment, for their homeland was gone. But they dared not voice any complaints. They could only express gratitude to Chen Mobai and the Five Elements Sect. Because relying solely on the various families of Dongwu, the best outcome would have been to flee their ancestral lands, preserve their lives, and hope that a powerful cultivator would emerge among future generations to lead them back to Dongwu and reclaim their homeland. But they all knew that such a hope was almost impossible. To repel a million demon beasts and over a dozen demon kings from the Desolate Sea, one would need at least the cultivation of a Deity Transformation stage cultivator to turn the tide. As for the various families of Dongwu, even producing a Nascent Soul cultivator was a rare blessing; Deity Transformation was something they wouldn't even dare to dream of. It was precisely for this reason that after the Five Elements Sect destroyed hundreds of Dongwu's core spiritual veins, thereby annihilating the invading Desolate Sea demon beasts, they could only force smiles and thank Chen Mobai in return.

"For the sake of humanity, what are these sacrifices of mine!" Chen Mobai, upon hearing this, said with a solemn expression. E Yun had already informed him about this "hundred years of cultivation" claim via spiritual transmission. It turned out E Yun had considered that blowing up Dongwu's spiritual veins and destroying the ancestral lands of these cultivation families might provoke resentment among some of them, so he fabricated this story to first induce guilt in the Dongwu cultivators. "A dignified Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect, a Nascent Soul cultivator, an unparalleled genius with the potential to reach Deity Transformation, has lost a hundred years of cultivation for the sake of your Dongwu being invaded by demon beasts. You should be grateful, not resentful." Since E Yun had already said so, Chen Mobai could only cooperate. One lie needs more to cover it up; he understood this best from maintaining his genius persona in the Immortal Sect.

"Sect Master Chen's righteousness!" Upon hearing Chen Mobai's response, Sun Huanglong and the others all put on moved expressions, expressing their inner admiration and reverence with various words. They had also thought clearly: with Dongwu essentially gone, if they wanted to continue cultivating and access high-grade spiritual veins and energy, they could only place their hopes in the Five Elements Sect. So, even if some harbored resentment in their hearts at this moment, outwardly they could only loudly thank Chen Mobai.

"Sect Master Chen, we in Dongwu have a ceremony to celebrate a great victory upon return. Back when Old Ancestor Huangwu and your sect's Old Ancestor Hunyuan jointly sealed the Poison Dragon, the ten great families of Dongwu used this ceremony to express their gratitude to Old Ancestor Huangwu." "Today, Sect Master Chen's achievement of sacrificing his cultivation to slay a million demon beasts from the Desolate Sea even surpasses that of Old Ancestor Huangwu. I believe it is only right for all our Dongwu families to come forward and express our gratitude with even higher-grade etiquette." "This ceremony, at that time, also signified the submission of the ten great families of Dongwu to Old Ancestor Huangwu. We also hope that Sect Master Chen can accept the allegiance of us, these homeless dogs..." Sun Huanglong, re-elected as the representative of Dongwu's various families, approached Chen Mobai with a respectful expression and said this passage.

Chen Mobai was also very pleased by this. After all, previously, while the other families of Dongwu had secretly pledged allegiance to the Five Elements Sect, they were merely hoping to use the sect's power to preserve their own territories after the war. And Sun Huanglong, in particular, had never shown such an intention of allegiance. Today, detonating hundreds of spiritual veins in Dongwu and annihilating a million demon beasts directly achieved the goal of unifying Dongwu. After this ceremony, not only the mortals of Dongwu but also the cultivators would, from now on, become subjects under the Five Elements Sect.

"Your kindness is hard to refuse, but since the righteous-demonic war has not yet ended, and there are still demonic villains hidden in the shadows, let's keep it a small affair." After Chen Mobai politely declined three times and saw that the Dongwu side became anxious, fearing that the Five Elements Sect might look down on them, some even exaggeratedly bursting into tears, he had no choice but to sigh and reluctantly agree.

"Then, according to Sect Master Chen's wishes, let's make it a small affair!" Hearing him finally relent, the Core Formation cultivators from Dongwu all breathed a sigh of relief. Chen Mobai had just annihilated a million demon beasts; that murderous aura still lingered around him, making them somewhat afraid to look him directly in the eye. Some Core Formation cultivators with darker thoughts even felt that if they didn't submit on the spot, the Five Elements Sect cultivators led by Mo Douguang nearby might directly draw their swords and hack them to death. In this way, Dongwu would directly belong to the Five Elements Sect.

At the edge of the Tusita Demon Refining Array.

Diao Xianlan looked at the land before her, where all life had perished, and her eyes couldn't help but become vacant.