The Great Demon God’s Gambit

Within the fortress of the ancient primordial ruins.

The Great Demon God Cixiu’s eyes glinted with a ferocious, predatory light. The entire hall was silent. His six subordinates dared not make a sound, including the extremely powerful golden-armored one-armed man. Although the Great Demon God Cixiu treated him with a measure of respect, as they were of the same realm of power, the one-armed man also understood the terrifying, innate demonic nature that lurked within Cixiu’s soul.

“I was careless,” the Great Demon God Cixiu murmured, his voice low and dark. “I never imagined that Ji Ning could break the Earthcry Mountain. This is the Qi Xuan Realm. Even for an Elder God or an Ancestral Immortal, breaking it so quickly would be impossible. Yet this native, who has cultivated for less than a thousand years, managed to do so.”

“If I had known, I would have lain in wait myself within Earthcry Mountain from the very start.”

A flicker of chagrin passed through the Great Demon God Cixiu’s mind.

He had been so close to annihilating an entire squad of True Gods and Daofathers!

If he had set the ambush in Earthcry Mountain himself, he could have killed Kua Fu and the others. But deep in his heart, the Great Demon God Cixiu harbored an instinctive pride. They were merely True Gods and third-rate Ancestral Immortals, while he was a dignified Elder God! Having tempered himself through countless trials in the endless Chaos, why should he stoop to personally ambushing such lowly beings? He disdained it!

In his eyes, the only beings in the entire Three Realms worthy of his caution were perhaps Mother Nuwa, if she had left any hidden trump cards behind, and the Lord of All Demons.

Mother Nuwa was, after all, a World God. Even though she had departed, it would not be easy to invade her homeland.

The Lord of All Demons was a monstrous talent who had managed to escape from a World God’s grasp.

Beyond these… the Great Demon God Cixiu had truly not concerned himself with anything else. He had calculated that Kua Fu’s squad should have been doomed without question. He just hadn’t expected Ji Ning to be so formidable.

He couldn’t really be blamed for the miscalculation. According to common sense, Ji Ning should not have been able to break Earthcry Mountain so quickly. But Ji Ning had inherited the legacy of World God Northrest, and in terms of various techniques and methods… he far surpassed even this Great Demon God Cixiu!

“Very well. Destroying my domain won’t be so easy.”

“This is just the first time. You were lucky to escape this round. I won’t be so careless next time.”

The Great Demon God Cixiu’s slender right hand gently gripped the armrest of his throne. With a crack, the armrest was crushed into powder. But then, following his will, the powder coalesced, and the armrest was restored completely.

Below, everyone remained silent.

Even the Celestial Immortal Wuxiao dared not make a sound. In the past, when he had followed the Lord of All Demons, he had dealt with the Great Demon God Cixiu on several occasions. This Cixiu was a terrifying existence, not inferior to the Lord of All Demons himself.

Within the Thousand Mountains World.

Ji Ning, the Buddha Tathagata, and the others were gathered together.

“Darknorth,” the Buddha Tathagata looked at Ji Ning and smiled. “We have four squads. Which one do you intend to follow? As a member of the human race, it stands to reason that you should accompany our human squad.”

“He has long since been with us,” Kua Fu quickly interjected.

“And he has grown accustomed to fighting alongside us,” Xingtian agreed.

The Golden-Robed Imperial Sovereign Xi, Lu Wu, and the others all chimed in at once.

It went without saying. With Ji Ning’s immense power, how could they be willing to let him be taken away?

“Kua Fu, Xingtian, and I have always gotten along well. There’s no need to trouble ourselves,” Ji Ning said with a smile.

“That’s right.” Kua Fu stretched out a massive hand and directly clapped it on Ji Ning’s shoulder.

“Alright.” The Buddha Tathagata nodded. “That’s for the best. However, you cannot afford to be careless. The danger you fell into this time is merely one of the many perils in the campaign to conquer the Primordial Ruins. There will be more dangers ahead, and even more terrifying ones. You must be cautious. I can faintly sense that the Primordial Ruins are not as simple as we once believed.”

“We understand,” Kua Fu quickly replied.

The Buddha Tathagata carefully scanned his surroundings before continuing, “I believe that Fuxi, Yuding, and the others will arrive soon. This was far too dangerous. If it weren’t for Nong Zhan, this squad of yours might have been completely annihilated.”

…

The four squads gathered.

This brush with danger had abruptly woken them from their complacency. Previously, they had swept through everything in their path, encountering danger from time to time, but nothing fatal. This time, however, the crisis had descended upon them so suddenly and so terrifyingly.

After the gathering, the four squads began to maintain a closer distance between each other, advancing more slowly, and exercising greater caution.

…

Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, nineteen years had passed.

Ji Ning and the others had conquered over ninety percent of the Primordial Ruins, bringing destruction to Heaven and Earth in their wake.

Over these nineteen years, Tathagata, Fuxi, Yuding, and Ji Ning had been extraordinarily cautious. The sword-intent Ji Ning had displayed on their journey had completely conquered Kua Fu’s squad. His teleportation was faster, his area attacks more formidable, his close-quarters combat more terrifying, and his ability to detect danger was even sharper than Daofather Feng Ji’s! This was because they had encountered numerous dangers over the years, and his several breathtaking displays had earned Ji Ning universal recognition.

Through their caution and prudence, all four squads had survived these nineteen years.

“Darknorth, catch!” Kua Fu tossed his gourd of wine over.

Ji Ning, who was sitting on a distant rock, caught it effortlessly and tilted his head back to drink.

“We’re advancing a bit faster. Yuding’s squad is a bit slower. Let’s wait a little longer and rest for a day,” Kong Xiu suggested.

“Haha, we’ve already conquered over ninety percent of the Primordial Ruins,” Lu Wu couldn’t help but laugh. “Although the final areas are more dangerous, as long as we are cautious, we can conquer it completely in another eight or ten years.”

“Fuxi and Tathagata have both said as much,” the Golden-Robed Imperial Sovereign Xi said, standing with the air of an emperor. His tone was grave. “The dangers we have faced along the way, though none were as terrifying as the Earthcry Mountain incident, have revealed traces… It’s clear that over this long, long period of time, the power of the Primordial Ruins is no longer as simple as we had expected.”

“Darknorth, what do you think?” Xingtian turned to look at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning sat on the rock, smiling. “Regardless, we still have to fight our way through. We just need to be careful.”

Over these nineteen years…

His Primaltwin had been cultivating in the Tristar Crescent Major World, within the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower. The tower maintained a time acceleration factor of one hundred, effectively meaning nearly two thousand years of training had passed in the outside world. His sword-art had become even more profound, and his strength had been steadily and quietly increasing.

Within the fortress of the Primordial Ruins.

“We’ve let them enjoy themselves too much over the years. Not a single one of these natives has died.” The Great Demon God Cixiu rose from his throne, his icy gaze sweeping down across his subordinates. “Excellent. They have already entered the ‘Golden River World.’ This time, I shall kill Fuxi and kill Tathagata within the Golden River World!”

Below him, the six golden-armored figures were all startled.

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao quickly said, “Great Demon God, the Golden River World is indeed a realm we have spent a great deal of effort to set up, but the Buddhist leader Tathagata and the Human Sovereign Fuxi are no ordinary beings. It would be extremely difficult to kill even one of them… Killing two? I believe it would be best to focus on just one of them first.”

“Last time, I let Kua Fu’s squad escape my grasp,” the Great Demon God Cixiu said, his icy gaze sweeping over Celestial Immortal Wuxiao, causing his heart to tremble. “I no longer have much faith in mere ‘arrangements’ and ‘preparations.’”

“Killing Fuxi and Tathagata will indeed require some preparations, but it will primarily rely on my own personal intervention.” The Great Demon God Cixiu’s eyes faintly flickered with a bloody light.

“Personal intervention?” Celestial Immortal Wuxiao was stunned.

He had thought that this Great Demon God would not make his move until the final, decisive battle.

“Yes. I will act personally.” The Great Demon God Cixiu’s gaze fell upon the one-armed man. “Blade, you may need to act as well this time.”

“As you command, Master,” the golden-armored one-armed man said respectfully.

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao’s heart trembled. Heavens, the Great Demon God Cixiu and the Venerable Blade were both going to act? And on top of that, they would be leveraging the preparations of the Golden River World itself… It was entirely possible that they could slay the two supreme leaders, Fuxi and Tathagata!

“You may inform the Seamless Gate,” the Great Demon God Cixiu glanced over. “However, it would be best if as few within the Seamless Gate as possible know of this. The Nuwa camp must not discover it. If I make my move this time… we will catch them completely off guard, because the Nuwa camp has no idea of my existence. But if we fail this time, it will be very difficult to have another such opportunity.”

“With the Great Demon God making a personal move, how could we possibly fail?” Celestial Immortal Wuxiao quickly said.

“They are unprepared, their strength is inferior to ours, and the Golden River World is our territory,” the red-bearded elder below also quickly chimed in. “Our victory is certain.”

“When we act, we strike decisively. We must kill them.” The Great Demon God Cixiu said calmly. “We depart.”

Whoosh.

The fortress instantly flew out, beginning to rapidly make its way towards the Golden River World.

Within the fortress, the Great Demon God Cixiu and the six golden-armored figures were all calm. They had experienced far too many dangers in the past.

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao, however, was trembling with excitement. “If we can kill Fuxi and Tathagata…”