The Taishi Demon Emperor achieved a state of Great Perfection and successfully ascended as an immortal.

His prior failures did not discourage him; instead, they reinvigorated his will. Through focused cultivation, he finally attained the Heavenly Immortal Dao after centuries.

The Taishi Demon Emperor soared toward the Ancestor Star.

Although he was somewhat arrogant, he harbored no disdain for Song Lin. While centuries may seem brief, for a genius like Song Lin, breaking through to the level of a Heavenly Immortal was no great challenge.

Perhaps Song Lin's cultivation has even surpassed his own by a significant margin—this was Taishi's highest estimation of Song Lin's potential.

Yet despite these thoughts, Taishi still chose to go alone.

For this was the Upper Pure Demon Tribulation. As the greatest power of this realm, the more harm it endured, the more chaotic the Ancestor Star would likely have become.

Demon Tribulations also represented a moment of reshuffling among major factions, attracting countless Ancient Demons and Ancient Fiends to join in the chaos.

Song Lin would undoubtedly face attacks from all sides.

Taishi didn't care who killed Song Lin; he only needed to see his nemesis die before his very eyes.

In the days to come, conserving his strength might become necessary to claim the remnants of Song Lin's fortune.

On an unknown, shadowy altar, a figure began to condense slowly.

This man was dressed in ancient, plain robes, wore a mourning crown, and had bronze skin inscribed with tadpole-like markings.

He was none other than King Yi of Shang.

Indeed, King Yi had not perished. Though Song Lin had shattered his spell years ago, he had wandered the void for years, surviving countless near-death experiences, and eventually restored his cultivation to Great Perfection.

Afterward, with unimaginable effort, he reached the Witch God World and managed to overthrow the Heavenly Court stationed there.

From others, he learned that Song Lin would reemerge far into the future.

Nevertheless, King Yi did not follow the Yinn Shang Heavenly Court in their retreat, choosing instead to hide in this realm, awaiting the moment to kill Song Lin.

Beyond King Yi, in a distant, yin-filled world.

Countless zombies knelt in worship beneath the moonlight.

A colossal demonic shadow loomed over the cerulean crescent moon.

Its head resembled a dragon's, its body a lion's, its legs a qilin's. Its coat, pitch-black, was entwined with Demon Fire.

*ROAR!!*

A single furious howl extinguished the sun, annihilating all living beings on the celestial body.

This was a Chao Tianhou, a rare variant of hou—a supreme existence among them.

The evolution of zombies peaks at hou, and a Chao Tianhou reigns supreme among their kind.

This Chao Tianhou's target, too, was Song Lin.

In the Zibu Yu World years ago, Song Lin and Xiao Mao True Monarch had crushed the zombie legion.

This zombie was one of the Flying Sky Zombies that had escaped back then.

For countless years, with each Demon Tribulation, the Flying Sky Zombies emerged to feast on blood while scavenging for traces of Song Lin. This time would be no different.

It had awaited Song Lin for more than two hundred thousand years.

"Kill!!"

A blade of sword light pierced the starry river, slashing through thousands of evil ghosts with a single strike.

A white-robed Taoist, with a sharp gaze and celestial eyebrows, strode upon clouds, wielding a divine sword as he single-handedly held off entire armies.

This was Yan Jiuge, the Heavenly Court's First Sword Immortal.

A master of the Heavenly Court's Swordman Dao.

Within the Swordman Dao, the first level is Swordman, followed by Ghost Hero, Qi Hero… and finally the Ninth and ultimate realm, the First Heaven Knight.

Yan Jiuge not only achieved the Great Perfection of the Ninth Layer but also innovated by creating two new realms above: Divine Hero and Emperor Hero.

Currently, Yan Jiuge was at the peak of the Divine Hero Realm, just one step away from comprehending the Sword Dao and attaining the Harmonization Realm.

Thus, he refrained from bringing disciples this time.

"Hehehe… I'm here!"

Suddenly, ominous black smoke drifted from the desolate stars behind Yan Jiuge. The smoke transformed into various demonic beings wreathed in multicolored Demon Fire. Each had a grotesque form: some had a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, others had a myriad of limbs and countless eyes, or were entirely covered with heads.

Standing approximately four li tall, their demonic flames burned wildly, exuding unshakable arrogance.

At the sight of these creatures, Yan Jiuge studied them with curiosity.

Was this the legendary Night Demon Heavenly Demon?

They had a lifespan of two thousand years, each year equivalent to seventy-three thousand mortal years.

To live so long, yet be incapable of actively cultivating—they could only absorb magic power by destroying sentient worlds.

Yan Jiuge mused that if he had such a lifespan, his cultivation would surely reach an unimaginable height.

Indeed, the Great Thousand World was full of wonders. As the saying goes, gain and loss are intertwined—this was proof of it.

The Demon Clan was powerful by nature, endowed with no meridians, requiring a century to attain human form. The Demon Clan, though long-lived, could not cultivate naturally and subsisted as parasites to progress.

The Human Clan, though frail, was innately equipped for cultivation.

What people called insufficient talent was, in most cases, a result of flawed methods rather than inherent limitations.

Since the founding of the Heavenly Court, as the varieties of magic veins proliferated, many who were once called useless mortals became geniuses of new cultivation paths.

For instance, the Yinn Shang Heavenly Court Sacrificial Technique recently unearthed a host of talents.

Where the number of constitutions suited for cultivation used to be one, now it ranged from eighty to ninety.

In that light, while the Human Clan might be weaker at birth, they had no true shortcoming. So long as magic veins became diverse enough, all could ascend as dragons.

Even as these thoughts passed, the demons swarmed forward.

Yan Jiuge unleashed a sword strike.

The demons first saw a blinding white light flash before their eyes; the next moment, their bodies disintegrated into ash.

"How dare you! Worm!"

An Evil Demon with Thousand Eyes roared in fury, its myriad eyes emitting black light that cascaded like a meteor shower.

Unperturbed, Yan Jiuge unleashed another sword strike.

A single sword shattered ten thousand spells.

The demon staggered back.

Immediately, he plunged into the demonic horde, slaughtering them in utter chaos.

Despite his strength, Yan Jiuge began to tire under the sheer number of demons.

"Kill!!"

At this moment, battle cries resounded from all directions within the void.

Reinforcements had arrived.

To the east, a hundred thousand soldiers, each a hundred zhang tall, with blue faces and single horns, bore twin blue banners marked with the character "Thunder," their mouths emanating soul-capturing thunder.

To the south, another hundred thousand soldiers, red-faced with fiery feet, wielded banners marked "Fire," their eyes unleashing thousand-foot fire dragons.

To the west, a hundred thousand soldiers with white hair and white wings carried banners marked "Wind," their wings whipping up ten-thousand-zhang gales.

To the north, a hundred thousand soldiers, green-haired with twin horns, held banners marked "Lightning," their mouths discharging thousand-zhang bolts of lightning.

The troops were commanded by the four dragons: the Red Dragon, the Chi Dragon, the Kui Dragon, and the Coiled Dragon Emperor.

At the sight of the Wind-Fire-Thunder-Army Taoist Soldiers, Yan Jiuge immediately recognized them.

"Ziye! You've finally arrived!"

Taoist Soldiers were categorized into three ranks: Heavenly Official Divine Generals, Earth Official Divine Generals, and Spirit Official Divine Generals.

Across the realm, only Wang Ziye, the Ministry of War True Monarch, possessed an entire Taoist Soldier army where all members had, at minimum, Divine Establishment cultivation.

This man had received the Mystical Character Jade Scripture and expanded upon Song Lin's foundation, developing the Wind-Fire-Thunder-Four Heavenly Armies.

Sure enough, from the army's central tent emerged a towering figure clad in golden armor—a War God.

"Haha! Mr. Yan, I have arrived."

The two fought side by side, swiftly pacifying the battlefield.

Similar battles unfolded across countless stars.

Thanks to the Heavenly Court, which could rapidly deploy forces, order was maintained.

Kunlun Immortal Realm.

Where once gods roamed freely, the realm was now sparsely populated.

Most immortals had gone off to battle, though some occasionally returned soaked in blood to recuperate.

An unseen energy passed through the comings and goings of these immortals, gradually nearing the Palace of the Polestar.

This invisible black energy was the Free Demon Black Elephant, a commander of sixty thousand Free Demon Lords.

It had come this time to seize the Taoist Realm of the Eastern King, master of the Heavenly Court.

As expected, upon infiltrating the Palace of the Polestar, it found a sacred and divine man seated on the throne.

The Black Elephant instantly transformed and lunged forward.

"Hehehe, no matter how profound your Dao, my demonic flames will overwhelm it!"

The Black Elephant's voice was grating and shrill.

At that moment, Song Lin suddenly opened his eyes. Glaring at the incoming black energy, his brow furrowed slightly. "Who claims to be higher?"

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