Looking at his fallen clansmen, Suirenshi was consumed by grief and roared at the heavens, "I, Suirenshi, hereby swear that from this day forth, the Human Race and the Demon Race shall be enemies until the death of one! The Demon Race uses the souls of my people to forge weapons, and my people shall likewise treat the Demon Race as prey. This hatred is irreconcilable!"
"Enemies unto death!"
"Enemies unto death!"
...
The surviving humans echoed the oath one after another, their shouts shaking the entire Primordial world.
...
In the Heavenly Court, the Lingxiao Palace.
Hearing the human oath, Dijun's expression turned gloomy.
Originally, he had only intended to gather a large number of human souls to forge the Witch-Slaying Sword, but now, the thought of completely annihilating the Human Race had taken root in his mind.
"Issue an order: aside from the Heavenly Court garrison, all forces are to follow me to the mortal realm. We must thoroughly exterminate the Human Race," he said coldly.
"Your Majesty, the Three Pure Ones all achieved Dao and became Sages by relying on the Human Race, and Laozi even founded the Human Religion. If we drive the Human Race to extinction, I fear it will incur the wrath of the Sages." Fuxi stepped forward to advise caution.
"The Human Race was created by Goddess Nuwa of the Demon Race; the manner of dealing with them is ours to decide. As for the Sages, why should the Three Pure Ones concern us?" Dijun's cold gaze swept over Fuxi, clearly displeased with his words.
"Shouldn't we at least inform Goddess Nuwa?" Fuxi pressed on despite his misgivings, knowing these words would displease Dijun, but he had no choice. It was out of consideration for the Human Race as well as concern for the future of the Demon Race.
"Goddess Nuwa has already agreed to let us use the Witch-Slaying Sword to consume human souls, so naturally she will not object this time. There is no need to report to her." The chill in Dijun's voice carried a hint of murderous intent.
"Your Majesty, please think twice." Fuxi persisted in his remonstrance.
"My mind is made up; say no more." Dijun waved his hand decisively and made his final ruling. "Order the entire army to follow me to the mortal realm."
...
Zhang Tianchen had just refined the Nine-Turn Golden Core when he heard the oath sworn by the Human Race.
"This blood debt, I will surely make the Demon Race pay."
Zhang Tianchen engraved this deep blood hatred into his heart, but now was not the time for revenge. The most urgent task at hand was to save as many humans as possible and preserve the spark of the Human Race.
...
Dijun led the demon army down to the mortal realm, only to be blocked by the Twelve Ancestral Witches.
"Dijiang, are your Wu Clan truly determined to meddle in the grievances between the Demon Race and the Human Race?" Dijun asked with a dark expression.
"Haha, we of the Wu Clan are the masters of this land. No matter what the Demon Race comes here to do, even if you came to celebrate a birthday, you won't succeed." Dijiang laughed heartily. He would never let slip an opportunity to frustrate Dijun.
"Whether you can stop us or not can only be decided in battle." Dijun's tone was icy; he knew this fight was inevitable.
"Whether we have what it takes, we shall see on the battlefield!"
"Activate the Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods Formation!"
Dijiang shouted sternly, and the other Ancestral Witches manifested their true forms. The auras of the Twelve Ancestral Witches rapidly merged and coalesced, eventually fusing into one.
The malevolent Qi between heaven and earth condensed rapidly, forming a colossal phantom that stood between heaven and earth.
Though merely a phantom, its overwhelming might left everyone awestruck.
"A Chaos-grade formation—its power is truly astonishing." Watching from afar as the Twelve Ancestral Witches manifested the Pangu phantom, Zhang Tianchen could not help but marvel in his heart.
"Open the Zhou Tian Star Formation!"
Seeing that the Twelve Ancestral Witches had deployed the Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods Formation, Dijun immediately set up the Zhou Tian Star Formation.
At Dijun's command, three hundred and fifty Daluo Golden Immortals quickly took their positions. Starlight was drawn down from the starry river, converging into the Zhou Tian Star Formation to form a complete defensive system.
"It can actually mobilize the power of the stars; no wonder it can contend with the Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods Formation." Zhang Tianchen saw through the essence of the Zhou Tian Star Formation at a glance.
Power cannot be created out of nothing. The reason formations are so powerful boils down to two main points:
First, they can mobilize the power of heaven and earth—for instance, the Zhou Tian Star Formation can harness the power of the stars.
Second, a formation allows combined strength to exceed the sum of individual parts, just as the numerous Daluo Golden Immortals in the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation could unite to resist Sages when arrayed together.
"Bring me the giant axe!"
The Pangu phantom abruptly opened its eyes and shouted, and the boundless malevolent Qi in its hands transformed into a massive axe.
The giant axe appeared semi-corporeal, exuding an aura that could destroy the world.
The moment the giant axe materialized, Laozi's Taiji Diagram, Yuanshi Tianzun's Pangu Banner, and Eastern Emperor Taiyi's Chaos Bell all trembled in unison, as if pulled by some traction.
However, the three mighty beings had clearly anticipated this and timely stabilized the fluctuations.
"Taste this axe of mine!"
The Pangu phantom swung the giant axe in its hand, unleashing a fierce axe beam.
The axe beam tore through space and rapidly struck toward the Demon Race.
"Gather the starlight!"
Dijun hastily activated the Zhou Tian Star Formation, and countless streams of starlight condensed into an indestructible shield.
When the axe beam collided with the shield, the shield shattered instantly. The momentum of the axe beam was spent in the process, and the forces of both sides cancelled each other out.
The Zhou Tian Star Formation shook violently, and numerous demon soldiers were blasted by the shockwaves, coughing up blood as they died.
The Pangu phantom was also knocked back a great distance by this blow, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches controlling it all turned pale, clearly having suffered no small impact.
"Give me another!"
"Splitting heaven and earth, slash!"
The Twelve Ancestral Witches once again commanded the Pangu phantom to unleash a new axe strike, the power of this attack surpassing the previous one.
"Star swords, attack!"
Realizing that the Zhou Tian Star Formation could not withstand this blow, Dijun shifted from defense to offense, abandoning the shield to counterattack. Countless streams of starlight merged into a precious sword and hurtled rapidly toward the enemy's axe beam.
The starlight sword collided head-on with the axe beam, instantly erupting into a violent clash of energy.
The force of the impact rippled outward like waves, destroying everything in its path.
The Zhou Tian Star Formation disintegrated in this shockwave, and those who controlled it—Dijun, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Fuxi, Kunpeng, and the three hundred and fifty Daluo Golden Immortals—were all heavily wounded, while countless demon soldiers suffered catastrophic casualties.
The Pangu phantom likewise dissolved under the impact of this immense power, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches who controlled it spat out mouthfuls of blood, their complexions turning exceptionally pale.
"Order the entire army to fall back to the heavenly palace."
Deeming this an inopportune time for a decisive battle against the Wu Clan, Dijun decided to lead his forces back to the heavenly palace to bide their time.
Hindered by the Wu Clan, Dijun's goal of completely annihilating the Human Race was no longer attainable, so he issued orders to the three demon lords Jimeng, Baize, and Yingzhao to destroy the ancestral homeland of the Human Race.
...
The human ancestral land.
Upon receiving Dijun's command, Jimeng, Baize, and Yingzhao launched a full-scale assault. In a short span of time, the final defensive line of the human ancestral land was breached, resulting in severe injuries to the leaders Suirenshi, Youchaoshibi, and Zhiyishi.
Just as the Human Race faced the crisis of annihilation, the Grand Pure One Laozi suddenly appeared to intervene.
With a single wave of his sleeve, he swiftly separated the two warring sides.
"Grand Pure Sage, why must you entangle yourself in the disputes between demons and humans?" Jimeng felt deeply uneasy about the Sage's sudden intervention.
"Protecting the Human Race is imperative; this battle ends here."
Though Laozi's words were calm and detached, they conveyed an unshakeable firmness that inspired awe and left no room for retort.
"Retreat." After a moment's thought, Jimeng decided to pull back.
Despite failing to eradicate the Human Race due to Laozi's obstruction, the three demon sages managed to lead their subordinates back to the Heavenly Court.
The remaining seven demon leaders chose to withdraw as well, finding themselves isolated on the mainland and unable to withstand further attacks.
The great crisis of the Human Race was thus temporarily brought to an end. Although their population had once reached astronomical figures, only a few million remained in the end, marking the most severe demographic disaster in their history.
When the human calamity finally concluded, Zhang Tianchen returned to the Boundless Cavern in the Wuyi Mountains.
"Master of the Cavern!"
No sooner had Zhang Tianchen returned to the Boundless Cavern than the three Suha sisters immediately dropped to their knees before him.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Master, for the monstrous crimes the Demon Race has committed against humanity, the three of us know we cannot shirk the blame. We beg the Master to punish us severely," Susu said.
"Get up."
Zhang Tianchen raised his hand slightly, and an invisible force lifted the three Suha sisters to their feet. He then said, "While I hold a deep grudge against the Demon Race, I am not so muddle-headed as to lose my sense of right and wrong. These debts of blood will be settled only with those actual demons; they will not implicate you."
"Thank you, Master!"
Seeing that Zhang Tianchen did not blame them, the three Suha sisters finally breathed sighs of relief.
"I am going into seclusion to refine pills. You are responsible for guarding the cavern dwelling."
With that, Zhang Tianchen entered the Boundless Hall and began his alchemy practice.
This time, the method of alchemy was somewhat different from before. Previously, he had always used spiritual herbs as raw materials, but this time, he was using the physical bodies of fierce demon beasts.
The flesh and blood of demon beasts contained vast amounts of energy, making them living spiritual herbs in their own right.
The very reason he had preserved those demons was precisely to use them for this alchemy session.
Taking out the Creation Cauldron, Zhang Tianchen began processing the bodies of the demon beasts. Not only were these demons' bodies valuable, but their scales, bones, and even horns were exceptionally precious materials for crafting magical treasures.
After several years of painstaking effort, the first pill was finally successfully refined.
This pill was made primarily from the corpse of Moxuan, combined with eighty-one other Dayi Immortal demon beasts, three hundred and sixty-five True Immortal-grade demon beasts, and a further nine thousand five hundred and fifty-three divine immortal-realm carcasses boiled together.
Consuming a total of ten thousand demon beast bodies, this pill was named the "Ten Thousand Demons Golden Core".
"I wonder what effects this 'Ten Thousand Demons Golden Core' will have?"
With this thought, he looked at the golden pill and swallowed it without hesitation.
As the pill entered his stomach, a powerful surge of energy burst forth—wild and difficult to tame.
Zhang Tianchen gathered his focus and slowly refined this fierce and violent burst of Qi.
In the blink of an eye, another thousand years passed.
Zhang Tianchen completely refined all the power contained within the "Ten Thousand Demons Golden Core," boosting his cultivation by a full ten years' worth of progress.
"I never expected the 'Ten Thousand Demons Golden Core' to be so potent; it is not a whit inferior to that Nine-Turn Golden Core."
Although this power was somewhat difficult to tame, in every other aspect it was utterly uninferior.
The Nine-Turn Golden Core required spiritual herbs aged ten million years as its primary ingredients, but such spiritual treasures were exceedingly rare.
In the future, if he lacked spiritual herbs of ten million years' age, he could completely use this "Ten Thousand Demons Golden Core" as a substitute to aid his cultivation.
Having consumed the "Ten Thousand Demons Golden Core," Zhang Tianchen did not immediately emerge from his meditative state.