After all, whether in the chaos or in the Primordial World, he had almost no experience fighting against top experts, so this opportunity could not be missed. When he arrived a thousand miles away from the battlefield, he strained his eyes and saw four people in the air besieging one. The person in the middle held a purple-black divine spear, stepped on the Black Lotus, and had a full head of black hair fluttering in the wind—what a majestic powerhouse!
Looking closer at the four attackers, they were all dressed as Daoists. One held a willow branch and lashed fiercely at the man in the middle; another radiated the dual energies of Yin and Yang, wielding the Taiji Diagram and launching wave after wave of attacks.
A third person had summoned a huge cauldron, controlling it with his Divine Sense to smash directly at the man in the middle. At that moment, an old Daoist holding a large banner shouted, "Luohua, today Yin, Qiankun, and Daoist Yangmei have gathered to fight you alone. Why don't you surrender and meet your death!" With that, he brought the banner down to smash toward the sluggish Luohua.
Looking back at the burly man in the middle, his movements had already been slowed down like an old woman's by the Taiji Diagram pressing down from above. He was forced to unleash the Immortal-Slaying Four Swords, which had not yet been fully refined. As soon as the four swords appeared, the besieging figures were all startled, for this set of supreme lethal weapons was simply too terrifying. Luohua spat out a mouthful of golden blood, and instantly the four swords shot out toward the four of them respectively.
The Slaughter-Immortal Sword targeted Ancestor Qiankun, the Execution-Immortal Sword targeted Ancestor Yinyang, the Trap-Immortal Sword targeted Ancestor Yangmei, and the Immortal-Slaying Sword targeted Hongjun himself. At that moment, Hongjun beckoned with his hand, and the Creation Jade Disc hovering above Luohua's head returned to his side, freezing the Execution-Immortal Sword in place.
Things suddenly turned miserable for Ancestor Yinyang and Ancestor Qiankun. The lethal weapons that had been flying slowly suddenly bolted right in front of their chests. Since their magical treasures had just been sent out on the offensive, it was already too late to recall them for defense. Instantly, the Slaughter-Immortal Sword and the Execution-Immortal Sword pierced through their hearts, killing them on the spot.
As for the Trap-Immortal Sword, with a wave of Ancestor Yangmei's large sleeve, it vanished without a trace, reappearing a hundred miles away. He had actually used the Dao of Space to directly teleport the Trap-Immortal Sword away, and when it appeared again, it had completely lost its connection with Luohua.
The Trap-Immortal Sword was one of the two immortal swords refined by Luohua. With this connection severed, Luohua felt a sharp pain in his head and spat out a mouthful of churning blood.
At the same time, the other sword he had refined, the Immortal-Slaying Sword, was also frozen in place by Ancestor Hongjun's Creation Jade Disc, and the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation was instantly broken. Seizing the opportunity, Hongjun sent his Pangu Banner flying, which directly struck Luohua and sent him tumbling down to the ground, smashing a gigantic crater over ten meters deep into the hard earth.
Zhang Qing watched, captivated and mesmerized. It was too thrilling; these figures truly lived up to their reputations as titans. Luohua was indeed worthy of the title of Demon Ancestor; fighting four opponents alone and losing was still a glorious defeat. From that shouted line earlier, Zhang Qing had basically confirmed the identities of everyone involved.
The one holding the Taiji Diagram should be Ancestor Yinyang, and the one controlling the Qiankun Cauldron was Ancestor Qiankun. As for the one wielding the willow branch, he must be Ancestor Yangmei, and the last one holding the banner was undoubtedly Ancestor Hongjun, as could be judged from his Creation Jade Disc and Pangu Banner.
Seeing Luohua smashed into the ground without making a sound, Ancestor Hongjun feared there might be complications and stamped his foot down on the floating Qiankun Cauldron. The Qiankun Cauldron transformed into a streak of purple light and smashed directly into the massive crater created by Luohua's fall. A miserable scream instantly echoed from the pit, followed by a wave of sound surging with monstrous demonic energy: "Hongjun, you despicable villain! Today, you can all accompany me to your deaths here in the Far West, hahahaha!"
The moment the voice faded, Zhang Qing muttered a secret curse of alarm, spun around, and bolted into the distance. Passing by the Black Dragon, he scooped it up in one sweep and ran. With a deafening roar, the ley lines of the Far West were actually detonated by Demon Ancestor Luohua. The exact instant the ley lines erupted, Ancestor Yangmei's figure slipped into a spatial ripple and vanished.
As for Ancestor Hongjun, he summoned the 12th-Grade Golden Lotus of Merit, sat upon it, and surrounded himself with layers of golden light of merit for protection. He also used the Creation Jade Disc and Pangu Banner to shield his sides, and reached out to summon the now-masterless Taiji Diagram to defend himself. Even so, he was shaken by the shockwaves of the ley line explosion and vomited blood repeatedly.
What nobody saw was that the Qiankun Cauldron and the 12th-Grade World-Destruction Black Lotus were blasted directly into flight the moment the ley lines erupted, and the direction in which the Qiankun Cauldron flew happened to coincide with Zhang Qing's panicked escape route.
Zhang Qing was clutching the Black Dragon, hurtling thousands of miles away in a split second. Yet before he even had time to look back, he felt an irresistible, immense force strike him from behind. Forcing his head to turn, he saw a massive cauldron squarely slamming into his back.
With a *puff*, a mouthful of vital blood spewed out, and the Qiankun Cauldron caught every single drop. Then, with a flash of purple light, the Qiankun Cauldron vanished deep into Zhang Qing's body.
The impact nearly rattled Zhang Qing's Chaos Sword Body apart. He took several deep breaths to steady himself, but without time to examine things closely, he grabbed the Black Dragon and flew like mad toward the east.
After flying for three days and three nights straight, he finally touched down on a small hill, tossed aside the Black Dragon—which was nearly dizzy from being swung about—and gasped for breath in huge gulps. It took him quite a while to recover. Reaching out to pat the emerald gourd at his waist, a wisp of Qi of Chaos flew out and was inhaled by Zhang Qing into his body.
Only then did he feel much better. That was too close! If not for his Chaos Sword Qi body, and if not for being so far away, either the ley line explosion or that smash from the Qiankun Cauldron would have been more than enough to finish him off.
Remembering the Qiankun Cauldron, Zhang Qing snapped fully awake. With a flick of his hand, a palm-sized, miniature cauldron appeared in his palm. This was a top-tier Xiantian Spiritual Treasure possessing thirty heavenly restrictions!
It had been formed from the lotus platform of the Primordial World-Creating Green Lotus, and its functions included returning things to their original source, elevating the grade and quality of treasures and weapons, and converting acquired attributes back into innate ones. Moreover, it was a supreme defensive treasure, surpassing even the Taiji Diagram in defensive power.
"Goodness, is this incredible luck or terrible misfortune?" Zhang Qing thought to himself. He had almost been rattled apart by this cauldron, yet by some twist of fate, he had somehow absorbed it directly into his body.
Six of the thirty-six restrictions had been directly refined. "No, it's still not safe here," Zhang Qing thought, kicking the Black Dragon awake. He made it resume its true form and carried Zhang Qing as they continued flying eastward.
Home was still the safest place. When the Black Dragon was on the verge of being worked to death, they finally arrived at Fangzhang Immortal Mountain. Looking at the misty immortal wonderland before its eyes, the Black Dragon muttered unconsciously, "To think there is such an immortal wonderland here; I've cultivated in these surrounding parts for countless years and remained completely clueless."
Ignoring the dazed Black Dragon, Zhang Qing summoned his four boy attendants—Yuan Hong and the others—gave them instructions, and went into seclusion. The Qiankun Cauldron needed to be refined as quickly as possible to avoid any prolonged delays and subsequent complications. After all, this was originally Ancestor Hongjun's item, yet through a series of twists and turns, it had fallen into Zhang Qing's hands.
"If Heaven grants something and you do not take it, you will instead incur blame!" Zhang Qing gladly accepted it. He just happened to lack a decent defensive magical treasure; wasn't this top-tier Xiantian Spiritual Treasure a perfect fit? Thus, for the next several hundred years, Zhang Qing devoted himself wholeheartedly to refining the Qiankun Cauldron.
During this time, he also emerged occasionally to guide the cultivation of Yuan Hong and the three others. Sometimes the Black Dragon would brazenly tag along to listen as well. It was worth mentioning that over these past five hundred years, Yuan Hong and Yuan Ling had advanced to the late-stage Mysterious Immortal realm, just a step away from the Golden Immortal Realm. Heming and Hesheng had also reached the peak Celestial Immortal Realm.