Chapter 113: The War of Attrition

The Demon Aspect of the Heavenly Dao grasped the Bone Banner.

From the thirty-three layers of demonic clouds, thirty-three Demon Sovereigns emerged, each faceless, but crowned with a pair of dragon horns symbolizing the division of yin and yang and chaos.

These thirty-three Demon Sovereigns opened their eyes and looked forward; in an instant, each of their faces transformed to become identical to that of their opponent.

Every living being harbors demonic thoughts—this is inevitable. Even the Creators themselves are bound by love, hatred, and resentment.

Cultivation is not about severing emotions or desires but about seeking one's true self.

Can one still be called oneself after cutting off all feelings and desires?

The Demon Aspect of the Heavenly Dao used the thirty-three layers of the cycle of reincarnation heavens to reflect the inner demons of these thirty-three Creators before him.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, too swift for comprehension.

Yet, three other Creators were not revealed through this reflection—not because they lacked inner demons, but because the Demon Aspect's limit was to summon only thirty-three layers of demonic clouds simultaneously; this was also a restriction imposed by the world upon him.

The remaining three Creators were the Dragon God, half-man half-dragon; the Ancient Divine King, half-dragon and half-Qilin; and a silver-haired Great Sage, the Kunpeng, who had existed since ancient times.

These three were incomparably powerful, the strongest among the Thirty-Six Gods.

“Two of you, shield me!” the Dragon God took the initiative.

They did not have confidence in slaying the Demon Aspect of the Heavenly Dao.

After all, this was an ancient deity born alongside heaven and earth.

Even in the Second Divine War, it was only by joining forces with the Thunder God that they managed to suppress him, never to kill.

Now that the Demon Aspect had resurrected, they could not guarantee they could suppress him again.

Thus, someone had to take the lead, with others providing cover; otherwise, they risked being cut down easily.

As for attacking all at once—

At their level, without finding an absolute weakness, a joint assault without overwhelming dominance would only expose flaws due to coordination issues, leading to death or injury.

The Dragon God held the heavens and earth in his palm; with a flip, the world was overturned, chaos surged. After the reversal, chaos transformed, revealing the primordial light—the very first light emerging from torn chaos. This was the light of the Origin, bearing the supreme power to obliterate chaos and restart heaven and earth, as if descending from ancient times, striking directly at the Demon Aspect.

In his hand, the Golden Elixir Dao Tree stretched out seven branches, embodying the power of Yin. At its roots, chaos and cosmos were divided; the leaves rustled, transforming into myriad celestial paths.

The Demon Aspect of the Heavenly Dao brushed away the Dao Tree as if it were a duster.

In an instant, thousands upon thousands of divine lights erupted, gently sweeping away the primordial light; in moments, it was swallowed by the divine radiance, vanishing into nothingness.

The Dragon God's expression grew grave before he let out a mighty roar, summoning his reverse scales.

Upon these scales rested his power, harboring the forces of birth and death.

As they appeared, they drew the spiritual energy from tens of thousands of miles around, and countless beings turned to white bones at that moment.

This spiritual energy coalesced like beacons of war upon the reverse scales, lifting them, and instantly transforming into a terrestrial divine kingdom—mountains, rivers, seas, and myriad beings complete in all aspects. This divine kingdom hovered above the Demon Aspect's head, suddenly crashing down upon him.

The terrestrial divine kingdom expanded rapidly, blotting out the sky and spanning a million miles.

Under the oppressive weight of this divine kingdom, cold sweat streamed from the Demon Aspect’s forehead; each drop that fell transformed into a vast hundred-mile marsh.

"Let me show you what the true primordial light is!"

The Demon Aspect planted the Dao Tree in the ground, then invoked his art, summoning the primordial light.

Within the primal chaos, darkness swallowed and expelled silver light.

In the next moment, the silver light emerged from the darkness.

Wherever it passed—mountains, rivers, plants, flowers, swimming fish—

Life manifested one by one.

It was the creator of all things, both illusion and reality, or something between—a nebulous, unknown state that defied definitive existence.

Creators were called such because they wielded the power to bring forth existence from nothingness.

Here, “existence from nothing” was not like the Faceless Man refining elixirs from the energies of sun and moon, which merely transformed pre-existing substances.

Creation was about forming the unknown, refining illusions into truth.

Xu Zhong himself was such a creation—an embodiment of refining the false into the true.

The primordial light accelerated, sweeping across the terrestrial divine kingdom.

In an instant, the million-mile divine kingdom was forged into reality.

The Dragon God sensed his reverse scales gradually fading. Resolute, he dispersed all living beings within the terrestrial divine kingdom, re-forging his reverse scales anew.

At that moment, the Demon Aspect suddenly appeared before him.

“Heh heh!” he chuckled, then struck a punch at the Dragon God's head.

But in the next moment, the Dragon God vanished, replaced by the Great Sage Kunpeng.

This was the Art of Star Shift—a spatial technique allowing them to swap places or shift the opponent’s position.

Xu Zhong had once suspected that Situ Nan used this very art to switch their positions.

The silver-haired Great Sage Kunpeng, his robes fluttering, met the Demon Aspect’s fist with a punch of his own.

Boom!

A tremendous shockwave resounded.

The void cracked with fine fissures, bringing forth celestial winds—Ninth Heaven Primordial Winds, and Chaotic Destruction Winds from beyond the realms—howling fiercely, attempting to bury the entire world into oblivion.

The Ancient Divine King shifted slightly, suppressing the cracks and compressing the battle’s aftershocks into a thousand-mile boundary.

“Have you understood anything?” the Dragon God asked.

“Somewhat—two parts,” the Ancient Divine King replied.

The two exchanged a knowing glance toward the battlefield.

The Great Sage Kunpeng was born from chaos, his power intertwined with it.

The chaotic aura around him was exceedingly dense, swallowing the primordial light and even devouring the Demon Aspect’s own strength.

Chaos, after all, embraces all.

The Demon Aspect uprooted the Dao Tree, refining it into a blade.

“Chaos, is it?” he laughed heartily. “Then watch as I open the heavens!”

The blade in his hand was elevated to its utmost refinement. A divine light soared to the heavens, disturbing the celestial phenomena and drawing down the power of the Heavenly Dao.

Though the blade’s brilliance was subdued, its power was terrifying, reaching the peak of mastery. A blade intent stretched across heaven and earth, as if embodying the immutable “One.”

“Behold as I carve the path with the One!”

The blade crashed down with a thunderous roar. Even the Ancient Divine King, suppressing the void, frowned.

He restrained the destructive power to prevent the Chaos Sea from collapsing.

Unlike the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, where the Heavenly Dao maintained balance, the Chaos Sea was fragile.

To them, it was easy to obliterate the Chaos Sea into nothingness.

He sensed the blade held the power to shatter the cosmos—none could withstand its edge.

Behind the Great Sage Kunpeng, chaos churned with devouring intent, forming a colossal black hole, swallowing all to grow itself.

He fought barehanded, manipulating the heavens and earth, facing the blade’s edge head-on.

Boom!

A tremendous explosion echoed.

The Great Sage Kunpeng withstood the blade’s strike with sheer force.

The twin fists unleashed divine lights that surged for a thousand miles, forcing the Demon Aspect back.

Yet the Great Sage himself was suffering.

From his fists upward, wounds crisscrossed like ravines, deep to the bone.

Purple divine blood spilled forth, and countless life forces burst out, yet a timeless blade intent suppressed them, preventing healing.

The blade intent even flowed upward, attempting to engulf half his body.

Swiftly, the Great Sage severed his arm, regrowing a new one.

The fallen arm transformed into a sprawling mountain range upon the ground.

“Interesting!” the Demon Aspect eyed the Great Sage with fierce battle intent. “You’ve improved much since before.”

The Great Sage snorted coldly and retreated beside the Dragon God.

The Dragon God opened his mouth, “Two parts!”

Kunpeng nodded silently.

The Ancient Divine King planted his foot on the earth, causing it to tremble.

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