Yuanshi was consumed by a mounting anxiety. He sent a frantic voice transmission to Tongtian, demanding that his brother immediately set up the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation.
The Dao Ancestor had once proclaimed that the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation could not be broken without the presence of four individuals of the same cultivation level. The Three Crows numbered only three. If the Formation were unleashed, how could they possibly hope to resist? Would they not be fated to a certain, crushing defeat?
"We, the Three Pure Ones, are the sole orthodox lineage of Pangu. How can we permit ourselves to lose to three mere Golden Crows?" Yuanshi roared within the privacy of his own mind. He simply could not accept the reality of being defeated by the Crows of the Sun.
Upon hearing Yuanshi's frantic command, Tongtian hesitated, his expression flickering with doubt. "Second Brother, the six of us are engaged in a three-on-three battle based purely on our own martial abilities. Setting up the Immortal Slaying Formation at this juncture... might be somewhat inappropriate, would it not?"
He was heroic and fiercely proud by nature; he possessed an innate disdain for securing a victory through the use of a specialized Formation when a test of strength was already underway.
"Tongtian! In a moment such as this, securing the victory is the only priority!"
Yuanshi was visibly enraged. Tongtian, who usually maintained a facade of normalcy, was acting with an inexplicable foolishness at the most critical moment!
Do you not grasp the vital importance of the grand design?
Tongtian hesitated a moment longer and then simply ignored him. In that heartbeat, Ling Xiao erupted with a peerless, suffocating aura. A brilliant golden light illuminated the heavens, carrying with it the momentum of an invincible sovereign.
The Hongmeng Cauldron hung suspended above his head, pressing forward in perfect synchronicity with his advance. With every deliberate move, he radiated a majestic authority. His Law evolved into a series of lethal offensive techniques, striking Yuanshi with such force that he was sent reeling in an instant, his physical form exploding in a cascade of light like eternal fireworks.
The Hongmeng Cauldron surged to suppress the Taiji Diagram. Ling Xiao's massive hand struck out, and Laozi was sent flying horizontally for hundreds of millions of miles. He tore through the airspace of the Three Islands and crossed the expanse of the Nine Heavens before vanishing into the vast, distant sea of clouds.
At the same time, Tongtian found himself being hammered by the combined, relentless efforts of Dijun and Tai Yi until his very scalp went numb. He did not dare to linger a moment longer; he transformed into a streak of divine rainbow light and fled the immediate area to rescue his Elder and Second Brothers.
Ling Xiao raised a hand with a commanding beckon, calling the Hongmeng Cauldron back to his side. Just as he was about to fix his gaze upon the abandoned Taiji Diagram, the treasure tore through the Void Realm of its own accord and vanished into the ether.
Seeing this, every living being present was struck by a profound shock. The legendary Three Pure Ones had been utterly defeated—they were no match for the Three Crows—and had ultimately been beaten until their exact whereabouts and conditions were unknown.
The Personal Disciples of the Dao Ancestor, even while wielding supreme treasures, had actually been routed while working as a unified team. This result defied every expectation of the gathered experts.
"In that case... does the Grand Void Mirror now belong solely to the Three Crows?"
The various mighty figures harbored the thought with a bitter sense of unwilling regret. This was an Innate Supreme Treasure; if any one of them could obtain it, their status would soar directly into the heavens.
Jie Yin and Zhunti looked on with grim expressions, the halos of light behind their heads shimmering as they stared intensely at the Grand Void Mirror floating above Penglai Immortal Island.
It was positioned right before their eyes, yet it felt as distant as the horizon. With the Three Crows standing guard, they simply did not possess the courage to attempt a snatch!
They had originally gambled on the Three Pure Ones and the Three Crows fighting to a bloody stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy losses, so they could descend like scavengers to claim the Grand Void Mirror.
They never expected the Three Pure Ones to be defeated so miserably, failing to harm even a single feather of the Three Crows.
Truly useless. How can such individuals be considered worthy of being the Dao Ancestor's Personal Disciples?
"Dammit! You clearly share a predestined affinity with my West, yet I am barred from taking you away. I am forced to watch as you fall into the clutches of these devils!"
Zhunti gazed at the Grand Void Mirror and spoke with a tone of bitter, mournful remorse. Even now, he clung to the belief that the Mirror had an affinity with the West, never once doubting his own delusion.
On the side of the Yao Race, Nuwa and the other mighty figures also felt a heavy pang of regret. Given the current landscape, it was becoming an impossibility for them to wrest the Grand Void Mirror from the iron grip of the Three Crows.
Ling Xiao utilized his thunderous momentum to finalize the defeat of his primary opponents. His gaze swept across the assembled living beings on the Three Islands, and not a single soul dared to meet his eyes. He withdrew the Hongmeng Cauldron and began to reach for the Grand Void Mirror.
Boom!
At that precise second, the entire Three Immortals Island was rocked by a sudden, violent tremor. The seawater surged into massive walls of white foam, and a vast, ancient aura spread across the region. The creatures upon the island felt an instinctive, bone-deep tremor seize them.
"Everyone... being so presumptuous within the boundaries of my East Sea is, perhaps, a bit inappropriate, is it not?"
A Dragon's roar shook the very fabric of the heavens, and the waters of the East Sea crashed against the rocky shores with renewed violence. Then, a scene unfolded that froze the blood of all living beings.
A True Dragon emerged from the depths. Its massive, serpentine body slowly unfurled amongst the Three Immortals Island. The Three Islands themselves—which rose like Kunlun from the waves—actually appeared incredibly small and insignificant beneath the sheer scale of its body.
The sudden change caused the expressions of every mighty figure to shift. This vast aura and the sheer weight of the pressure were extremely terrifying, vibrating against their very hearts.
"Wh... what a gargantuan Dragon!?" Some living beings with lower cultivation levels were nearly frightened out of their wits. The vast draconic form rose and fell upon the sea's surface, appearing to stretch on for an eternity. The invisible pressure made them feel as though the air had been sucked from their lungs.
"Is this... the Dragon Clan's Clan Chief, Ao Zhan?"
A few of the older mighty figures recognized the Dragon's lineage. The current Clan Chief, Ao Zhan, had already established his reputation during the ancient Dragon-Han Tribulation. Later, the Dragon Clan had been nearly extinguished during that cataclysm, suffering casualties beyond counting.
Ao Zhan, whose natural talent was not considered particularly outstanding at the time, had survived to become the Clan Chief by default. He had led the remnants of the Dragon Clan to hide within the deepest trenches of the East Sea, living in a state of absolute seclusion.
The emergence of the Three Immortals Island had finally drawn the Dragon Clan out of the dark.
"All of you, leave this place quickly. Do not continue to wantonly create killing karma within the borders of my East Sea," Ao Zhan continued, his voice resonating like a physical strike of thunder. His gaze drifted calmly toward the Grand Void Mirror.
He had been lurking beneath the waves until this very moment, waiting for the mighty figures to exhaust themselves or finish each other off. He had hoped for everyone to be wounded so he could emerge as the sole victor to claim the supreme treasure.
Looking at the situation now, although it had not perfectly reached his expectations, he realized he could wait no longer.
The Grand Void Mirror was an Innate Supreme Treasure. If he could secure it, perhaps he could restore the dwindling Luck of the Dragon Clan. This was a matter of vital importance that did not allow him to remain in the shadows any longer.
"Old Dragon, if you covet the treasure, simply say so. Why bother hiding behind talk of righteousness? And 'wantonly creating killing karma'? Has your Dragon Clan not already created enough killing karma to last ten lifetimes?"
Tai Yi immediately responded with a sharp, cold laugh.
Ling Xiao, standing beside him, remained silent as he observed the True Dragon in the water. He was surprised to discover that this Dragon's strength had actually reached the Middle Stage of the Quasi-Saint realm. He did not know what secret method the creature had used to pile its cultivation to such a height over the eons.
However, it was logically sound. From the ancient era of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin to the present day, even a common pig would likely not be weak if it managed to survive that long.
"Bastard! You little Golden Crow! When my Dragon Clan dominated the entirety of the world, you were nothing more than a drop of liquid fire upon the sun! What right do you have to pass judgment upon us?"
Ao Zhan roared in a fit of anger, and the Three Immortals Island shook in sympathy with his voice. His Divine Power was vast, appearing boundless and immeasurable.
As those words were spat out, Ling Xiao and the Three Crows exchanged a knowing look. In the next instant, they all sacrificed their Magic Treasures, smashing them through the air with lethal intent.
The Hongmeng Cauldron and the Chaos Bell expanded in size as they flew. Chaos Qi permeated the air, and the power radiating from the artifacts was world-shaking.
Rumble!
Ao Zhan's entire body began to glow with a fierce light. Every individual dragon scale was like a miniature Small World, possessing an infinite reservoir of power.
He rolled up the waters of the East Sea into massive, rotating shields to withstand the descending weight of the Hongmeng Cauldron and the Chaos Bell.
Upon the point of collision, the entire world was submerged in a blinding brilliance, and the colors of the sky and sea bled into one another.
At that very moment, four rays of light pierced through the Void Realm, heading toward the Grand Void Mirror in rapid succession.
These four rays belonged to Jie Yin, Zhunti, Minghe, and Kunpeng, all of whom had been lurking in the shadows for just such a distraction.
The four of them reached the Grand Void Mirror at the exact same moment and prepared to snatch it. However, they found that the Grand Void Mirror possessed its own internal Seal and restrictive barrier, merged directly into the fabric of the Void Realm. It would need to be refined before it could be successfully taken away.
The four of them were of the same opportunistic ilk. They merely shared a single look and spoke in a cold unison.
"Each by our own ability. Whosoever refines it first, it belongs to them."
They each harbored their own dark thoughts, and the killing intent in their eyes did not flicker, but they chose not to attack one another immediately. They were desperate to get their hands on the Grand Void Mirror first.
Minghe and Kunpeng were the kind of bitter enemies who wished they could consume one another's souls, yet even they were now focused honestly on refining the Grand Void Mirror.
Their blatant actions naturally drew Ling Xiao's attention away from the dragon. A cold, predatory light flashed in his eyes, and his silhouette vanished from where he stood.