Chapter 140: with translation of chapter title

The originally mighty fist force unexpectedly transformed into a stellar river torrent that spanned the heavens, and the Nine Heavens Gang's barrier shattered instantly.

The Great Peng Bird's sky‑covering wings trembled violently, its pupils reflecting an apocalyptic vision: "Demon Court Holy Lord, this child has already touched the forbidden realm."

From the spacetime rift came the tolling of an ancient bell, the bronze clock face flowing with the trajectories of the heavenly constellations.

Three hundred sixty chains of Chaos hung from the bell's body, actually freezing a thousand miles of mountains and rivers into an ink‑wash scroll.

On the bell's wall appeared the illusory shadow of the Demon Emperor Ying, and with a raise of his hand he enacted the cycle of birth and death in the Vast Wilderness World.

Wan Huo Daoist

Zhou Yi's body was suffused with five‑colored mystic light, behind him rose a yin‑yang double fish swallowing the world's primordial qi, and beneath his feet golden lotuses blossomed, releasing myriad rays of rosy light.

Demon Emperor (title)

When the Taiyi Shen bell emitted a world‑destroying sound wave, Zhou Yi had already transformed into a stream of light and fled into a spacetime rift. The Demon Emperor's furious roar shattered the stars beyond the thirty‑three heavens, yet it only caught the scattered golden embers drifting in the spatial turbulence.

Holy Lord of the Demon Court

Beyond the Nine Heavens came a cry for help from the demon master; Taiyi Shen sacrificed his personal divine artifact, the Chaos Bell, to span the galaxy. But the spacetime barrier was insurmountable, so he could only send the bell's soul to break through and rush to aid.

Zhou Yi's palm flowed with five‑colored divine light, actually tearing open a spacetime rift within the Chaos Bell's seal. Even if the Demon Emperor personally wielded the heaven‑opening holy artifact, he could hardly stop Zhou Yi from shattering the void and departing calmly.

This human hidden sage does not presently wish to reveal his sharpness; if he truly let loose, he would surely measure the supreme Dao of the three realms against the Demon Race's supreme. Having succeeded in seizing the treasure in the Fire Cloud Secret Realm this time, subduing the Great Peng Bird was merely an unexpected joy.

The Chaos Bell's toll pierced the Nine Heavens' gates; the Demon Emperor originally intended to freeze spacetime to rescue the demon master.

Who would have thought the five elemental sources would manifest as celestial phenomena: the azure lotus stabilizes the earth's veins, the crimson flame burns the heavens, the black ice seals the four seas, the golden halberd breaks the eight wastelands, and Hou Tu bears all things.

When the five phenomena united, the Chaos Bell was shaken to the point of tolling with three tremors.

What most enraged Taiyi Shen was that Zhou Yi, in the presence of his Demon Emperor's dharma form, shattered with a single palm the demon master's 100,000‑year Dao foundation.

The lingering resonance of the Chaos Bell still rang in the ears, while the demon master's golden feathers had turned to flying ash. If this were to spread throughout the three realms and six paths, the prestige of the Demon Race would surely be sullied.

Regarding the demon master Great Peng Bird's subsequent movements, Zhou Yi, pressed by urgent matters, could not verify its ultimate fate. However, this ancient mighty being that has existed since Chaos's Beginning possesses survival means far beyond ordinary imagination.

In the destined final war between witches and demons, even if mighty Taiyi Shen and the Demon Emperor Ying fell one after another, the Great Peng Bird could still retreat intact, a testament to its survival wisdom.

Although Zhou Yi's superposition of the 'All‑Character Secret' and the 'Approach‑Character Secret' unleashed world‑destroying power that shattered millions of miles of mountains and rivers, completely eradicating such an existence still proved insufficient.

Nevertheless, it is certain that even if the Great Peng Bird escapes via secret arts, its origin will inevitably suffer grave damage.

According to calculations based on the fluctuations of heavenly and earthly law, this ancient great demon requires at least twelve yuanhui of time to reshape its demonic body, making it unlikely to stir up trouble in the short term.

At the very moment the countdown to the third great witch‑demon calamity begins, the Demon Race loses this strategist‑type combatant, and its overall strength will be greatly diminished.

As the newly risen protagonists of heaven and earth, the Human Race will naturally bear less pressure in the impending calamity; this waxing and waning implicitly aligns with the operation of the Heavenly Dao.

Having settled the battlefield, Zhou Yi used the 'shrink‑ground‑to‑an‑inch' technique, instantly arriving at a certain secret realm in the Vast Wilderness, and called out into the void: "The River of the Underworld and the Sea of Blood have receded; the demon master's traces are hard to find—Daoist friend, won't you show yourself?"

Before his words faded, ripples spread through space, revealing the elusive divine soul of the Wanhuo Daoist.

This innate divine spirit, having just undergone self‑detonation and rebirth, now finds even maintaining its form rather strenuous.

"Having survived this calamity, I owe it entirely to your mighty aid, Daoist friend." As the Wanhuo remnant soul bowed, specks of light scattered; its original quasi‑saint cultivation had dwindled to less than one‑tenth.

He stroked the illusory Soul‑Scattering Gourd and sighed: "How laughable that after cultivating for hundreds of millions of years, holding the chance to become a sage, I end up in such a state."

Northern Abyss Demon Master

In fact, the Wanhuo's ability to retain a remnant soul stems from two fortuitous circumstances: first, the creative life force contained in the Hongmeng purple qi; second, the soul‑consolidating effect of the Soul‑Scattering Gourd, this innate spiritual treasure.

However, Zhou Yi did not expose the crucial point, allowing the other party to attribute the merit to himself.

"Daoist friend, your statement is mistaken." Zhou Yi lightly tapped with his sword finger, passing a strand of Chaos qi into the Wanhuo divine soul:

"Who in the Vast Wilderness does not know the reputation of Wanhuo Daoist friend for utmost goodness? On the contrary, the Sea of Blood, the River of the Underworld, and the Northern Darkness demon master act with hidden malice, contrary to the Heavenly Dao; having encountered this, how could Zhou merely stand by?"

Upon hearing this, the Wanhuo remnant soul became somewhat more substantial, and with a bitter smile said: "It's a pity the Hongmeng purple qi has already hidden away with the heavenly secrets; otherwise I would certainly bestow it upon you, Daoist friend, to repay your great kindness."

He did not know that the wisp of escaping chance to become a sage was at that moment encircled by fivefold Chaos phenomena, and Zhou Yi silently seized it in the river of spacetime with supreme means.

Even if the illusory image of the Chaos Bell, famed for suppressing the heavens, appeared to block the way, it dimly retreated before the phenomenon of the Five Emperors' celestial canopy.

In the depths of the golden ocean that flickers within the Chaos vortex, Zhou Yi stored that ancient purple qi within his personal golden sea.

His fingertip traced the seal diagram densely covered with Dao patterns, and he softly sighed at the cloud‑borne phantom: "Daoist friend, do you realize that over these 129,600 years of time, what you pursue may not be the chance to become a sage?"

The Wanhuo remnant soul flickered uncertainly in the karmic fire; hearing this, its causal lines trembled violently: "What do you mean, Dao brother?" Its hoarse voice carried a threat laced with shattered Dao resonance.

Zhou Yi's palm manifested a yin‑yang double‑fish formation plate; as he deduced, the galaxy flowed: "When you forcibly bind your true spirit with the Hongmeng purple qi, Daoist friend, have you ever noticed the calamity seed planted during the lectures at the Purple Cloud Palace?"

He pointed at the seven fissures entwined around Wan Huo's soul body, "Greed, hatred, and delusion—the three poisons have already devoured the Dao foundation; delusive thoughts have become a lock imprisoning the true spirit."

Amid the gathering and dispersing clouds, Wan Huo gazed at his soul body, riddled with fissures, and suddenly gave a grim smile: "So that's it—the karmic stain from when Zi Xiao yielded his seat back then has actually turned into a heart-piercing lock!"

The shattered Dao body suddenly burst forth with the dying light's clarity, as countless heaven-earth Dao patterns flickered into being and vanished within the soul.

"There may yet be a turning point." Zhou Yi suddenly pointed with both fingers, tearing open the seal of the Sea of Bitterness; three phantom Chaos Azure Lotuses rose to support Wan Huo's remnant soul, "Fellow Daoist, would you be willing to temporarily lodge your true spirit in my reincarnation seal? Though it would require retreading the path of cultivation, but..."

His fingertip blazed with a Chaos radiance imbued with the power of creation.

Wan Huo's remnant soul violently trembled within the Chaos vortex, and the shattered primordial qi of heaven and earth began to re-form: "Is this the Primordial Chaos Dao-seed?"

Countless obliterated memory fragments suddenly began to flow backward, and the surface of the remnant soul manifested the Yuanshi Dao patterns from the initial judgment of the primordial chaos.

Zhou Yi produced the River and Land Altar Map concealing the mechanism of creation, drawing Wan Huo's remnant soul into it: "After three thousand years, when the Chaos Sea reopens, perhaps that will be your chance at rebirth."

From the scroll rang a clear, resonant phoenix cry that shook the nine heavens, and faintly visible, the primordial fire essence was reshaping the Dao foundation.

The remnant soul in the Chaos void flickered like a candle in the wind, and Wan Huo Ancestor's predicament now could be called desperate.

Even a Great Luo Golden Immortal powerhouse, if they wished to recondense this sole remaining true spirit into a Dao body, would need at least three Quasi Saint-level beings to simultaneously enact the primal laws.