Chapter Thirty-Two: Heavy Casualties

Stunned! At this moment, Qingxu’s heart was shaken beyond measure. He gazed upward; hundreds of thousands of li of sky were completely shrouded by clouds of gold and crimson fire, the aura of the Ninefold Divine Fire descending—enough to seize the soul, impossible to resist for anyone who had not attained the path of immortality.

“Each Fire Witch Guard is at least at the peak of the Taiyi True Immortal realm, with vice commanders and commanders at the early stage of the Da Luo Golden Immortal. Now, with thousands of guards working in concert, the power of the witches is far beyond the Da Luo Golden Immortal level! But I wonder, could it rival the Primordial Loose Immortal?” Qingxu mused silently. The gap between a Primordial Loose Immortal and a Da Luo Golden Immortal was not merely a matter of law but of power—a chasm.

Cultivators walk a path fraught with obstacles: transforming the spirit and ascending to Earth Immortal is the first great barrier; from Celestial Immortal to Profound Immortal, the second; from Profound Immortal to Taiyi True Immortal and Da Luo Golden Immortal, the third. Yet all these barriers combined are not even a fraction of the difficulty of advancing from Da Luo Golden Immortal to Primordial Loose Immortal. The Primordial Loose Immortal belongs to the Primordial Realm, having transcended the river of fate—undying, eternal, ever-lasting, able to wander the chaos, open worlds. Even a Primordial Sage would expend great effort to slay one.

The oppressive might surged, crashing down upon the tens of thousands of Giant Spirits. Instantly, they halted, resisting with all their strength, refusing to kneel.

The commander of the Fire Witch Guards saw this and sneered, his eyes unreservedly filled with contempt, mockery, and disdain. The other Fire Witches also smiled coldly.

The Witch clan considered themselves descendants of Pangu, proud and arrogant, even refusing to honor the Dao Ancestor Hongjun or worship the Heavenly Dao, kneeling only to their Father Pangu. All other living beings of the Great Wilderness were mere fodder in their eyes—tyrannical to the extreme, inviting universal resentment, but no one dared provoke them. After all, the Twelve Ancestor Witches possessed cultivation at the early stage of Quasi-Sage, whose innate laws and divine bodies made them capable of fighting even mid- or late-stage Quasi-Sages, not to mention the famed Twelve Celestial Killing Array.

In the vast Great Wilderness, only Sages could match the Witch clan, but Sages, who understood the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao, always acted with wisdom and followed the flow; the Witch clan, with half the merit and destiny of Pangu opening the heavens, could not be easily subdued.

“The Witch clan acts with impunity, destroying clans and tribes at a whim—soon, the Demon Court will emerge.”

The Demon clan boasted countless powerful figures: Emperor Jun and Taiyi of the Sun Star, Xihe and Changxi of the Moon Star, Fuxi and Nuwa of Wind Perch Mountain, Kunpeng of the Northern Sea, and others. Yet, they remained scattered, each acting independently. Without unity, how could they resist the might of the Witch clan? Qingxu, a transmigrator with memories of myth from his previous life—though much was inaccurate—knew the Demon clan’s history well. It was the brothers Emperor Jun and Taiyi who united the Demon clan of the Great Wilderness, founding the Thirty-three Heavens and the Celestial Court, standing as equals with the Witch clan.

Whish!

As Qingxu’s thoughts wandered, the massive Ninefold Divine Fire floating in the void soared upward, merging into the blazing cloud covering hundreds of thousands of li.

With the Ninefold Divine Fire’s infusion, the fire cloud’s power surged, golden-red brilliance multiplying tenfold. Below, half of the Giant Spirits could no longer withstand the terrifying pressure, their knees buckling as they knelt upon the earth, their struggles in vain.

Thunderous booms resounded, shaking heaven and earth. Within the territory of hundreds of thousands of li, the ground quaked, mountains trembled, countless stones and fragments of plants floated skyward, the land split with fissures, scorched black everywhere, vitality vanishing.

The calamity of fire had yet to descend—already, the prelude was terrifying beyond compare.

Qingxu’s expression changed drastically. Acting swiftly, he summoned the Central Dog-Earth Yellow Banner, harmonizing with his Dog-Earth avatar, deploying full defense, barely managing to protect himself, his heart filled with terror.

Fortunately, he was several hundred li away from the Fire Witch Guards and Giant Spirits, and the overwhelming force of heaven and earth concealed him. Even if found, none would care.

The world burns!

With the commander’s order, thousands of Fire Witch Guards adopted strange and eerie stances, their witch power uniting, surging upward and empowering the Ninefold Divine Fire cloud. Instantly, the fire cloud shattered, gathering into thousands upon thousands of golden-red fireballs, each the size of a bucket. At first glance, they seemed no different from before, but sensing with one’s spirit, their power was clearly a fraction—only one-tenth or one-twelfth—of the previous fireballs.

“Though their power is reduced by quantity, they still threaten Taiyi True Immortals. As for Profound Immortals, it’s a death sentence.” Qingxu, as an observer, understood the situation thoroughly.

Boom, boom, boom!

Trailing long streams of golden-red flame, the Ninefold Divine Fireballs plummeted, as if intelligent, targeting the Giant Spirits—each receiving one.

“Ah! Everyone, dodge quickly—this is the Ninefold Divine Fire!”

“Run!”

All the Giant Spirits, young and old, were struck with terror, panic-stricken. Though the pressure pressed like mountains, they fought desperately to move, trying to evade the falling fireballs. The Ninefold Divine Fire was supremely tyrannical, burning through ages; even acquired spiritual treasures would be reduced to ashes in an instant, never to remain. Most terrifying of all, once touched, the Ninefold Divine Fire would not rest until its victim perished—clinging like maggots to the bone, nearly impossible to extinguish.

Indeed, the potential of living beings is unfathomable. In the face of life and death, even the weakest Giant Spirit burst forth with unimaginable strength, breaking free from the pressure and striving to dodge.

Yet, before they could rejoice at evading the fireballs, despair struck: each Ninefold Divine Fireball traced a path, relentlessly tracking its target—as if, even at the ends of the earth, it would pursue them.

“No!”

Desperate screams could not forestall tragedy. In that moment, not even a Primordial Loose Immortal could reverse the situation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One by one, the Ninefold Divine Fireballs struck their Giant Spirit targets with unerring accuracy. Of the tens of thousands of Giant Spirits, fully eighty or ninety percent were hit.

The surging golden-red flames swallowed each giant; within the blaze, the Giant Spirits screamed in agony, slapping desperately at their bodies, but against the fire of Zhulong—how could they extinguish it?

They could do nothing to change their fate, forced to watch themselves descend, step by step, into the abyss of annihilation—never to return, their bodies and souls utterly destroyed.

“Hahaha! Foolish ants, daring to defy the Witch clan and disobey Lord Zhulong’s command—you deserve death. Now, it’s too late for regret.” The Fire Witch commander laughed wildly at the carnage before him.

“Commander, there are still some who escaped!” The vice commander stepped forward, drawing near.

“No matter! They are mere old, weak, women and children—Profound Immortals. We’ll catch our breath and slaughter them all.”

“This time, we fulfill Lord Zhulong’s task. The lord will surely reward you greatly. Allow me to congratulate you in advance!” The vice commander flattered, for the Witch clan reserved their pride for outsiders; within, hierarchy was strict, with no tolerance for insubordination. Though the vice commander was only a step below the commander, the difference between them was like heaven and earth.

“Well said! We are brothers—if I gain a reward, I won’t forget you.” The commander was overjoyed, feeling the situation firmly in hand, his task nearly complete. He was filled with pride, already imagining Zhulong’s reward, drifting with elation.

“Greed-blinded fools! It seems the Witch clan is no better than this.” The expressions of the commander and vice commander were clear to Qingxu, overturning his previous notions. From past life memories, the Witch clan were rough, straightforward men—honest, without guile, willing to risk everything for friends. But now, seeing it firsthand—

Tyrannical outwardly!

Servile within!

Screams, cries, and roars blended together, echoing through the heavens. One by one, young Giant Spirits were reduced to ashes by the Ninefold Divine Fire, their souls dissipating, adults suffering in agony, struggling to endure. For them, physical pain was nothing compared to the heartbreak of watching their loved ones and descendants die before their eyes—“liver and intestines torn apart” was no empty phrase.

“Beasts! These witches deserve to die!” Though Qingxu never claimed to be virtuous, seeing countless Giant Spirits slaughtered, crying out in grief and anger, he could not help but feel compassion and a nameless fury. If not for his lacking cultivation, he would have rushed forward to kill those Fire Witch Guards himself.