Wuzhiqi was selfish, greedy, eccentric, and never bowed his head to others. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he utterly lacked morals and principles. 

But at the same time, he was as timid as a mouse. In the era of the Flame Emperor, Tianqi, and the Three Purities, he’d cowered in an obscure corner of the world and didn’t dare show himself. He’d set foot on the main stage only after all of these great personages had left and there was no one to stop him from throwing his weight around and becoming the greatest tyrant of the world.

That was also why he’d survived until now.

Connate demon gods didn’t exist in this age and the ones remaining from the great wilderness had left for the chaos long ago. They didn’t dare set foot in the world of immortals. Meanwhile, the three creators were indisposed elsewhere, unable to free themselves.

If it wasn’t for the blood demon in front of him, Wuzhiqi would be the greatest powerhouse in the world of immortals. He was naturally unwilling to display his power and aid the rise of more heavyweights like him. 

However, since his hands were metaphorically tied, he couldn’t prevent this outcome from occurring. What he was doing now was what Lu Yun had once done in the great wilderness—fully releasing his strength so that the great dao would be able to absorb his power and perfect itself.

The difference between the two was that Lu Yun had been changing the great dao and turning it into human dao, whereas Wuzhiqi was augmenting the immortal dao. He was helping a cultivation realm that’d never been born in the immortal dao—the chaos realm—take shape within it.

But with Qing Yu as the dao sovereign of immortal dao, Wuzhiqi wouldn’t be able to occupy this position for his services rendered. He was just anonymous hard labor and would receive no special treatment for his great accomplishment.

That was the most humiliating of it all.

There was no time to dwell upon that, however, as he had to concentrate fully on the dreadful blood demon in front of him.

The blood demon was likewise fully releasing his power, showcasing his chaos realm so that the immortal dao could absorb it. Lu Yun had kept him out of sight from both the world of immortals and the lower worlds because he was the trump card with which to deal with the sudden appearances of connate demon gods. The blood demon was the key to integrating their chaos realm into the immortal dao.

To everyone’s immense surprise, the first of the primeval demon gods to resurface was Wuzhiqi, crucial to whether or not the Deaf Prince and the others could return to their origins and become chaos realm masters again. 

Though there were many peak grand pure realm experts in the current world of immortals, there wasn’t a single great emperor. But if the chaos realm appeared in the immortal dao, it would shine a tremendous guiding light for the path of ascension ahead. If even chaos realm was attainable, so would be the great emperor realm beneath it!

Ten gargantuan presences slowly rose from the ten lands and auras unique to great emperors swiftly disseminated throughout the world of immortals. The rulers of the ten lands had broken through their bottleneck and become great emperors!

They’d been great emperors before Emperors Fall, but had severed their cultivation and sunk into deep sleep to survive. They naturally wished to return to their former heights after awakening, but it was many times more difficult to do so when beneath the immortal dao.

Wuzhiqi and the blood demon’s battle greatly impacted the immortal dao, enhancing its ripples and clearly delineating the higher realms within it. Thus, the ten old fellows from the Primeval Era instantly became great emperors.

“Great emperor at last… this puts chaos realm within arm’s reach.” The owner of a mighty voice looked toward the Dao Academy with soaring battle intent. He long chafed at the Dao Academy’s reach and was completely unwilling to accept that this was the only sacred land under the immortal dao.

Now that he was a great emperor and the path ahead of him clear without obstacles, he had what it took to challenge the Dao Academy, even if it boasted of Tushan, Ji Du, and an unknown chaos realm master.

Hummm!

The presence of a great emperor suddenly rose from the Dao Academy as well. Pill Sovereign Qi Hai had broken through and surpassed the primeval version of him! Upon his ascension, the look in his eyes grew ever more warm and gentle and he rose without a word to bow at the void with humility and gratitude.

Up in the skies, Lu Yun and Qing Yu stood side by side, silently watching the great battle of the North Sea.

Sensing that a dozen great emperors had been born in the world of immortals, Wuzhiqi’s eye turned bloodshot and he gave up on his club, rearing back to smash Mount Vastspace into the blood demon.

Hardly one to back down from this new line of attack, the blood demon answered in kind with a vicious snarl that shook the soul.

About to physically depart from the Xuan Yuan Tomb to support the blood demon, the torch dragon sheepishly turned back when it heard the wrathful snarl and returned to its post. It finally understood why Lu Yun had set these events into motion.

Indeed, Lu Yun was the hand in the shadows pulling the strings of this engagement.

If the little fox and the torch dragon hadn’t traveled to the North Sea and lured Wuzhiqi’s replica into Mount Vastspace, if it hadn’t been for their purposeful weakness—Wuzhiqi would’ve never revealed his true body, not with how prudent and wary he was.

But since his ultimate goal was Mount Vastspace, there was no other option left to him when it was right at his fingertips.

Lu Yun hadn’t notified the little fox and torch dragon of his plan, but he knew the two very well and could foresee what would happen after they met. The little fox would certainly lose her temper, opportunistically detonate Levitating Island, and lure out Wuzhiqi.

When the connate demon god had spoken to the little fox in the space between Earth and the world of immortals, Lu Yun had determined that his true goal was Mount Vastspace and the Timelight Tower.

So with all that in mind, he decided to play into his enemy’s hands and send out the blood demon the moment Wuzhiqi’s true body appeared. He didn’t explain the entire plan to the little fox because… she was great at everything but acting. When she acted, she was full of flaws. Even Qing Yu couldn’t determine where the water monkey’s body was, so they had to entice him to come out on his own. There would be only one chance for this to work.

By this point in their battle, Wuzhiqi knew that he wasn’t a match for the blood demon. Passively defending himself, he split off another replica and sent it into Mount Vastspace, beginning to refine the treasure.

……

“There you are, Wuzhiqi.” Lin Yan greeted the water monkey’s replica with a toothy grin as soon as it entered. “Though I quite enjoy my current identity and don’t wish to return to being Taiyi of the great wilderness… not everything can proceed according to our preferences in the face of the great cataclysm. Thus, I’m afraid we’ll have to sacrifice you.”

“What?!” This reaction was outside of Wuzhiqi’s expectations.

“Tushan already explained it to you earlier. Did you really think that breaking out of our tribulation meant letting you cut us down? That’s actually weathering the tribulation, not breaking free from it.” Lin Yan’s grin took on a sinister cast. “Don’t forget that I was one of the masterminds of the great wilderness as well. Do you really think I’m no match for you when Di Jun isn’t here?”

Wuzhiqi’s heart spasmed painfully and his stomach sank.