Chapter 162: No Escape, Jade and Stone Burn Together

When the booming of the bronze ancient bell pierced the thirty‑three heavens, the battlefield situation suddenly changed.

The bell's sound at first resembled morning bells and evening drums, but in an instant turned into thunderous might, and the power of the primordial treasure directly tore through the treasure‑banner barrier.

Zhou Yi's Xuanyuan Sword in his hand emitted a warning dragon‑like roar; a gilded small bell, wrapped in Chaos breath, burst through the air, and wherever it passed, space and time stilled.

"Taiyi Shen descends!" a million demons shouted in unison, their roar shaking the sea of clouds. The Chaos bell hovered above the valiant man's head, and myriad star‑shadows swirled around it.

The Taiyi Emperor's golden armor dazzled; each step he took made the earth veins tremble, and the primordial Sun True Fire blazed fiercely in his eyes.

"Under the Tai Qing Gate?" a deep voice carried a radiant heavenly authority, and Taiyi Shen's gaze swept over the flashing Tai Chi sigil at Miao Le's waist.

His former status as one of the three thousand guests in the Purple Sky Palace gave him the right to call the Three Pure Ones senior brothers. Now his words concealed the authority of the Heavenly Dao, clearly intending to suppress the Ren Sect's chief disciple by seniority.

The void suddenly shimmered with golden light; Zhenyuanzi stepped down from the clouds, a earth scripture in his sleeve glowing with a soil‑yellow aura: "All fellow cultivators, cease!"

Duobao Daoist stood holding his sword, a blue‑lotus seal between his brows flickering: "Even the ancestor of Earth Immortals must meddle in this Great Calamity?"

Zhenyuanzi brushed his dust lightly, and the primordial Wu‑Earth qi condensed into a barrier: "I, old Daoist, entrusted by the fire‑cultivator of myriad flames, have come to protect the Fire‑Cloud Cave lineage."

Cloud‑soaring Celestial maiden's teal skirt fluttered, a Mixed‑Origin golden ladle hovered above her head: "Even the Saint tacitly approves, why does senior Zhenyuan defy Heaven?" Before she finished, the Nine‑Turn Yellow River formation spread beneath her feet, and Mixed‑Origin breath stirred the cloud sea for a thousand li.

Suddenly the heavens and earth darkened; Ming He Ancestor arrived with the Sea of Blood surging, his twin Abyssal Executioner swords crossing: "I shall see who today can block my Demon Race's path to enlightenment!" The infernal fire red lotus blossomed in the blood waves, staining half the sky crimson.

Zhenyuanzi performed a sealing technique; phantom silhouettes of ginseng‑fruit trees shot skyward, resonating with the earth scripture and causing the earth veins to quake: "Do you truly intend to reenact the Witch‑Lich Great Calamity?" As he spoke, nine divine‑mountain phantoms rose from the East Sea, activating a massive Honghuang earth‑vein array.

Duobao Daoist sneered and cast the Extermination of Immortals formation; four streams of Chaos sword qi pierced heaven and earth: "Since you seek battle, let you witness the true transmission of the Jie Sect!" The Tongtian Dao rhythm turned into a blue‑cattail sword shadow, colliding thunderously with Zhenyuanzi's earth‑vein array.

Cloud‑soaring raised a bare hand lightly; a golden carp shears transformed into two ancient azure dragons: "Uncle‑Grandmaster could break the Extermination formation back then; today we…" Before the words finished, from the depths of the Sea of Blood came the aura of a twelfth‑grade world‑ending black lotus, the lingering soul of the Demon Ancestor Luohu reappearing!

Zhou Yi watched Miao Le Grandmaster with slight surprise, never having expected the chief disciple of the Tai Qing Saint to remain so calm before the Demon Court's ruler.

One must know that Taiyi Shen is a primordial divinity nurtured by the Sun Star, a quasi‑saint pinnacle that has existed since Pangu opened the heavens, and the Chaos bell's universal‑shaking brilliance surpasses all of Honghuang.

At that moment, clear bell chimes rang through heaven and earth; beyond the nine‑layer clouds, a gilded ancient bell phantom manifested, and streams of Chaos breath fell like waterfalls.

Taiyi Shen's crimson‑gold battle robe fluttered without wind, a blood mark at his brow seemed to swirl with infernal flame: "The Tai Qing Gate truly possesses extraordinary bearing; now let me see how wondrous the mysterious arts of the Eight‑Scenery Palace truly are!"

"The Tai Qing Dao rhythm does not dare to debate the Saint, yet the Human Race must have its own way of survival," Miao Le Grandmaster lightly flicked the Tai Chi dust‑sweeper, and the yin‑yang energies beneath his feet turned into ink‑like swimming fish.

When he turned his head toward Zhou Yi, stars seemed to flicker in his eyes: "The Human Emperor should know, though the primordial treasure can fix earth, fire, water, and wind, it cannot alter the turning of destiny."

Zhou Yi felt a slight stir in his heart at the words, his gaze passing over the faintly visible purple‑golden gourd at Miao Le Grandmaster's waist.

Just as he was about to speak, the spirit platform trembled, and looking up he met Taiyi Shen's blazing golden eyes.

The Demon Emperor's expression changed dramatically, the Sun True Fire mark on his forehead erupted: "So the one who grievously wounded the Great Peng Bird in the Northern Abyss was a Human after all."

At those words, a million demon soldiers in the cloud sea roared in anger.

Zhou Yi calmly stepped half a pace forward, the mysterious yellow qi from the Mud‑Marble Palace surged skyward, faintly revealing nine bronze cauldron phantoms.

Taiyi Shen's Chaos bell in his hand suddenly rang a clear warning, and the Pangu Opening‑Heaven diagram on the bell's surface began to rotate on its own.

"Since the Demon Emperor recognizes this object, he should know destiny lies with people, not in this bell," Zhou Yi said, but before his words finished, from beyond the thirty‑three heavens a violet aura drifted eastward for thirty thousand li, faintly carrying the Saint's teaching.

Miao Le Grandmaster, seeing this, smiled lightly, his palm already gripping half a mysterious yellow ruler, its end bearing endless swirling phantom images of mountains, rivers, and the realm.

The Demon Emperor's deep‑seated obsession made the golden crow true fire flicker uncertainly in his pupils. The failure to save the Demon Master Great Peng Bird years ago remained a constant thorn in his throat.

The illustrious supreme of the Demon Race, wielding the Chaos bell to suppress the eight wildernesses, allowed the Great Peng Bird to fall before his own eyes; this was not merely a loss of face but a tarnishing of his Dao heart.

Bronze battle armor glimmered with starlight; Taiyi Shen suddenly realized something, the Sun True Fire in his palm coalesced into a three‑legged golden crow phantom: "It was you? Back then you disrupted my Golden Crow Transform‑Rainbow technique…"

"Indeed, it is I," Zhou Yi said, his wide sleeves fluttering, and the clouds atop Kunlun Mountain formed a Bagua diagram behind him.

Miao Le Grandmaster suddenly realized the Jade Void Peak beneath his feet was gently trembling, and the pure aura of a twelfth‑grade world‑cleansing white lotus spread silently.

The Demon Emperor suddenly laughed upward, the phantom of the Fusang Divine Tree appeared behind him, and the nine‑wheel Great Sun phantom scorched the cloud sea: "Interesting, the mere Human Race can forge a Mixed‑Origin Dao body; I have indeed underestimated this world's creation."

Miao Le Grandmaster's Tai Chi diagram suddenly quivered, and the purple‑golden gourd automatically spewed mysterious yellow qi: "Did a fellow cultivator truly clash with the Demon Emperor?"

Before the words finished, Zhou Yi noticed his waist‑sheathed sword had formed the Opening‑Heaven Axe pattern, unmistakably bearing Pangu's primordial blood.

"Just a sparring of three forms," Zhou Yi said, his fingertip tracing the sword scabbard, and a phantom of Mount Buzhou rose from the earth veins.

Taiyi Shen's Chaos‑bell patterns on his body lit up in sequence, and the stars beyond the thirty‑three heavens flickered simultaneously; the Demon Emperor's war halberd pointed straight at Zhou Yi's brow: "Since you dare to appear, let me see whether you, Human Emperor, deserve the title of 'Heng'!"

Miao Le Grandmaster inhaled sharply, only then noticing the Six Realms of Reincarnation phantoms swirling beneath Zhou Yi's feet.

Taiyi Shen suddenly drove his war halberd into the mountain rock; from beyond the nine‑sky clouds came the howls of ten thousand demons: "A wager? Let me hear what ants can wager."

River Diagram and Luo Script light shadows appeared above Zhou Yi's head, and earth‑fire‑wind‑water reassembled in his palm: "If the Demon Emperor wins, I shall proclaim my cultivation as the essence of the Hot‑Spring Valley. If I happen to win…"

Before the words finished, the palace of the Queen Mother beyond the thirty‑three heavens showered down multicolored sunrise light, and the Demon Emperor's pupils contracted—clearly the Heaven‑Earth covenant witnessed by the Saint.

This was a decision weighed repeatedly. Though the Human Race today shows a soaring trend and its strength is beginning to take shape, wherever the Demon Race's long halberd points it remains like a candle in the wind.

If the Demon Race truly swarms in a full‑scale invasion, even a death‑defying resistance would still not escape a scenario where both jade and stone burn together.

Zhou Yi's choice to fight Taiyi Shen alone seemed a desperate gamble, but in fact it was a life‑centered extreme stratagem, tying the entire clan's fortune to a single individual, much like walking a rope across a cliff to survive.