Primordial Era: I am a treasure trove, full of magical treasures.

Dongwanggong stepped out of the Purple Palace, followed by nearly a hundred core members of the Celestial Court with cultivation levels above Taiyi Golden Immortal. His former languid, drunken state had been replaced by a chilling killing intent. He held a dragon-headed staff, its entire body wreathed in purple aura and adorned with coiled dragon patterns—the very innate spiritual treasure bestowed upon him by Dao Ancestor Hongjun—the Dragon-Headed Staff. At this moment, this staff, symbolizing the authority of the "Head of Male Immortals," emitted a deep dragon's roar in response to its owner's surging anger and magical power, the dragon's eye at the staff's tip gleaming with a terrifying purple light.

Looking up, outside Zifu Prefecture, the once picturesque Penglai fairyland has now been reduced to a hellish inferno.

Above the heavens, the Zhou Tian Star Array manifested in broad daylight, its 365 illusory main stars like cold, indifferent eyes, overlooking the soon-to-fallen immortal island. Countless "Star Fiend Immortal-Slaying Divine Lights," like raindrops of death, continuously rained down from the starlight, precisely bombarding the spiritual energy nodes, defensive fortifications, and any array of assembled immortal soldiers and generals on Penglai. Each strike of divine light was accompanied by piercing screams, collapsing buildings, and exploding spiritual veins. The seven-colored protective shield had vanished, replaced by a dark red haze that filled the sky, a mixture of starlight, demonic energy, immortal blood, and dust.

On the eastern and northern coastlines, the Black Tide has arrived. It is an endless army of demons, like a flood bursting its banks, surging along the shattered coastline into Penglai Immortal Island, coalescing into a destructive torrent. They trample on rare flowers and jade herbs, smash through magnificent palaces, spew poisonous fire and ice, brandish sharp claws and fangs, and clash against the immortal soldiers and generals who are desperately resisting with the remaining formations and structures. Limbs fly everywhere, the spiritual light of shattered magical treasures mingles with the dazzling brilliance of exploding demonic arts, and blood stains the pearly beaches a deep purple and the spiritual springs crimson.

The Celestial Court's resistance was not entirely without strategy. Under the vigorous leadership of Qingling Gong and Xuanjizi, smaller celestial arrays lit up one after another throughout Penglai Island, relying on the remaining spiritual vein nodes and important buildings. There were large arrays of Yi Wood entwined with vines attempting to bind the demon race, sword arrays composed of Geng Metal sword energy launching barrages, barriers formed by Xuan Ice blocking the impact, and traps spewing forth earth fire to devour demon soldiers... Moreover, countless celestial generals and rogue cultivators, relying on their familiarity with the terrain and their individual cultivation levels, fought fiercely with the demon race in small groups, engaging in fierce street battles, forest battles, and naval battles.

However, under the overall suppression of the Zhou Tian Star Array, and faced with the overwhelming numerical superiority and organized, relentless advance of the demon race, this resistance melted away like snowflakes thrown into a furnace. The demon army did not charge blindly; they formed battle formations of varying sizes, centered around star lords and demon saints, supporting each other and advancing and retreating with measured steps. Often, as soon as a celestial array unleashed its power, several times, even dozens of times, more demon soldiers, under the command of demon generals, would forcibly wear it down with their flesh and blood or ranged demonic arts. At the same time, the "Star Fiend Immortal-Slaying Divine Light" in the sky would focus on that area, accelerating the collapse of the array.

"Demon! Prepare to die!"

The Eastern King was furious. He realized that the main force of the demon race was heading straight for Zi Fu Prefecture. That was the central hub of Penglai, the core of the Celestial Court's destiny, and the very heart of the "Ten Thousand Immortals Formation"! It could not be lost!

Without further hesitation, he swung his dragon-headed crutch fiercely at the surging demon vanguard!

"hold head high--!"

A dragon's roar that shook the heavens resounded, and the dragon's head staff shone with a brilliant purple light, transforming into a purple divine dragon phantom that was tens of thousands of feet long with flying scales and claws! It charged towards the vanguard of the demon race. The vanguard battle formation composed of tens of thousands of demons at the forefront did not even have time to scream before they melted away like wax figures in the purple light, their souls unable to escape, and their souls were completely annihilated!

"Dong Wang Gong!" A cold, sharp shout came from high above.

Holding the Chaos Bell, Donghuang Taiyi stepped out from the radiance of the sun and descended a thousand feet in front of Dongwanggong. His body was engulfed in blazing solar fire, like a golden sun walking among mortals, creating a stark contrast with the vast purple aura emanating from Dongwanggong. Between the two, space itself distorted and shattered from the clash of these two top-tier quasi-saints, revealing spiderweb-like black cracks.

"Taiyi! You Heavenly Court have dared to offend my Celestial Court and destroy my Daoist temple without cause! Such acts are too numerous to count, and the Dao Ancestor will not forgive you!" Dongwanggong, his beard and hair bristling, pointed his dragon-headed cane at Taiyi and shouted angrily.

Taiyi scoffed, golden flames flickering in his eyes, filled with disdain and mockery. "Dongwanggong, you call yourself the 'Head of Male Immortals,' but have you fulfilled your responsibilities of leading the immortals of the primordial world and regulating yin and yang? Has your Celestial Court ever contributed a single ounce of effort to maintain the order of Heaven? Such a person, who holds a position without merit and whose virtue does not match his position, dares to presume to claim that he was personally appointed by the Dao Ancestor? My Demon Clan Celestial Court, acting on behalf of Heaven, will today cleanse the universe, eliminate this primordial cancer of yours, and restore a bright and clear world! This is—acting on behalf of Heaven!"

puff!

After hearing what Taiyi said, Dongwanggong was so angry he almost vomited blood. Damn it, everyone can say that his Celestial Court is a bunch of slackers, but not your demon race. You don't even know the reputation of the demon race now. Everyone hates them. Now that Taiyi has turned around and accused Dongwanggong, he felt like he had swallowed a pound of shit.

"Soliciting nonsense! If you're determined to find fault, you'll always find a pretext!" The Eastern King Duke trembled with rage. He now saw that the demon race was determined to use the Celestial Court as a pretext to establish their authority; any words would be futile. Only war remained! "Today, I will show you, you feathered beast, what it means to be personally appointed by the Dao Ancestor, and what the Celestial Court's majesty truly is!"

Before he could finish speaking, Dong Wanggong had already made his move! He knew that Taiyi possessed the innate treasure Chaos Bell and was also supported by the Zhou Tian Star Array, so he was no match for him. But when the time came, he had to use swift and decisive measures to seize the initiative!

"Auspicious purple clouds rise from the east, sweeping across the vast universe!"

Dongwanggong tossed his dragon-headed staff into the air, his hands rapidly forming hand seals. In an instant, vast amounts of innate purple energy surged forth from the Purple Mansion Palace behind him and from the remaining spiritual vein nodes throughout Penglai! This purple energy, formed from the primordial essence of the chaotic fragments of Penglai Immortal Island, was extremely refined and pure. Now, under Dongwanggong's control, it flowed like a hundred rivers converging into the sea, frantically gathering around him. His aura surged dramatically, and the ten-thousand-foot-tall purple dragon phantom solidified further. As its eyes opened and closed, purple lightning flashed, and as its mouth opened, an incomparably thick purple beam of light, seemingly capable of cleansing all filth and suppressing all laws, roared towards Taiyi!

This strike contained the entirety of the Eastern King Duke's cultivation, the original purple energy of Penglai, and the authority and Daoist aura of the "Head of Male Immortals." Its power was so great that it was enough to instantly injure or even kill an ordinary Quasi-Saint! Wherever it passed, a deep purple ravine was carved out of the space, which could not be healed for a long time. Even the "Star Fiend Immortal Slaying Divine Light" falling from the sky was slightly deflected and dimmed by this vast purple energy!

"A trivial skill!"

Faced with this earth-shattering attack, Donghuang Taiyi remained unfazed, even a hint of contempt flashing in his eyes. He did not dodge, but simply gently pushed the Chaos Bell in his arms forward.

"clang--!"

The Chaos Bell tolled, its ancient and desolate sound seemingly echoing from the very beginning of time, instantly drowning out all the shouts, explosions, and cries of agony on the battlefield. A visible wave of chaotic light emanated from the bell, spreading out in a ring.

The vast and imposing purple pillar of light, seemingly capable of suppressing everything, collided with the seemingly slowly spreading chaotic energy, like ice and snow encountering the scorching sun, or like raging waves crashing against an ancient and unmoving reef! There was no earth-shattering explosion; the tip of the purple pillar of light rapidly disintegrated and dissipated. Its unparalleled power and Daoist essence were silently "smoothed" and "returned to nothingness" by the chaotic energy, transforming into the most primordial chaotic energy flow, which dispersed in all directions.

The Chaos Bell, a supreme innate treasure, suppresses the primordial world, reverses the spacetime of all heavens, and evolves the mysteries of the Heavenly Dao! Its defensive power is unparalleled in the primordial world! The Eastern King Duke's all-out attack failed to shake it in the slightest!

"What?!" Dongwanggong's pupils shrank drastically, his heart filled with horror. He knew the Chaos Bell was powerful, but he hadn't expected it to be this powerful! His attack, which contained the essence of Penglai and the Dao of Authority, had been so easily neutralized!

"You take a toast with me too!"

Taiyi sneered, and with his right hand fingers together, he lightly flicked the Chaos Bell.

"Thump!"

This time, the bell tolled heavily and violently! A condensed, tangible sound wave, dark golden in color, no longer spread outwards, but instead resembled a cannonball fired from a gun, or an arrow piercing through time and space. Ignoring spatial distance, it struck Dong Wanggong the instant he felt a warning!

The Eastern King was terrified. Purple energy surged around him, instantly forming eighty-one layers of purple energy barrier in front of him. At the same time, the dragon transformed from the Dragon Head Cane coiled around him, its head raised angrily, spewing purple lightning to meet the attack.

"Pfft pfft pfft pfft..."

Wherever the dark golden bell wave passed, the purple qi barrier, strong enough to withstand the full force of a Grand Luo Golden Immortal's attack, shattered and vanished layer by layer like paper. The purple lightning spewed by the dragon-headed staff collided with it, and after only a fraction of a second of stalemate, it exploded with a deafening roar. The dragon's phantom let out a painful wail, its light dimming by more than half in an instant, before transforming back into the dragon-headed staff itself and flying back. A tiny crack even appeared on the staff!

"puff!"

Dongwanggong was struck dumb, his chest tightening, and he could no longer suppress a mouthful of blood, spitting it out. He staggered backward, each step leaving spiderweb-like spatial rifts in the air. His face instantly turned ashen, and his aura weakened by at least thirty percent! With just one strike, the difference in strength was immediately apparent! This veteran Quasi-Saint appeared so utterly vulnerable before Donghuang Taiyi, who wielded the Chaos Bell and was reinforced by a grand formation!

We can't beat them, we absolutely can't beat them!

"Immortal Lord!"

"Protect the Immortal Lord!"

Qingling Gong's eyes were bloodshot with rage. Ignoring the backlash he suffered from presiding over the grand formation, he forcefully activated the Myriad Immortals Formation. Countless azure chains emerged from the light barrier, binding Taiyi who was pursuing him, attempting to buy time for Dongwang Gong. Xuanji Zi and the other Grand Luo Golden Immortals of the Celestial Court also turned red with rage, each displaying their supernatural powers, raining down magical treasures and Taoist techniques upon Taiyi.

"The light of an ant." Taiyi didn't even lift his eyelids, but the Chaos Bell in his arms trembled slightly.

"Buzz—!"

The invisible energy spread, and those seemingly powerful cyan chains, magical artifacts, and Daoist techniques vanished and disintegrated the moment they touched the energy, like ice and snow meeting the sun, unable to even get within three zhang of Taiyi's body. The several Great Luo Golden Immortals who had attacked were struck as if by a heavy blow, spitting blood and flying backward. Clearly, they had inhaled more than they exhaled. Xuanjizi, whose cultivation was already at the mid-stage of Quasi-Saint, had several bloody gashes burst from his body, and his aura was extremely weak.

The already suppressed Myriad Immortals Formation flickered violently, teetering on the brink of collapse. The starlight of the Zhou Tian Star Array, like sharks smelling blood, surged in through the breach in the protective array, fiercely rubbing against and annihilating the azure light shield of the Myriad Immortals Formation. Each collision caused the Celestial Court powerhouse presiding over the formation to turn paler, and also caused the Celestial Court immortals within the formation to cough up blood, suffering severe injuries.

Defeated...utterly defeated. The Eastern King has fallen, and the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation won't hold for long either. The Celestial Court is finished.

"Duke of the East," Taiyi's voice finally rang out, calm yet carrying an indifference that seemed to look down upon ants. It pierced the tremors of heaven and earth, clearly reaching the ears of every living being in Zifu Prefecture. "The Penglai Grand Formation has been broken; you have lost all your reliance. To resist will only result in the annihilation of your body and soul, your true spirits entering the Nine Netherworlds for eternal damnation. Submit to my Heavenly Court, and you may be pardoned, a portion of your Daoist temples preserved, and you will be granted the honorable title of 'Duke of the East,' ranking below the Demon Emperor and myself, enjoying the fortune of the demon race. Life or death, honor or disgrace, is but a thought away."

Offering amnesty! The demon race actually wants to be granted amnesty!

As for why they want to recruit them? It's because the demon race desperately needs fresh blood. The Celestial Court is a top-notch blood bank, and the demon race would be doing a disservice to their current reputation if they didn't take advantage of the opportunity to drink more of it.

Dongwanggong steadied himself, wiping the golden blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression shifting rapidly. What right did a defeated general have to negotiate? This position of "Donghua Gong" was nothing more than a caged canary, dependent on others' whims; at the very least, his life and death might be in someone else's hands! Was he really going to hand over the Penglai Immortal Court, which he had painstakingly built up over countless eons, and his honor and power as the "Head of Male Immortals," and bow down to those "furry and horned" people he once looked down upon?

Unwilling! Endless resentment burned like poisonous fire within him!

"My Lord! Do not heed the demonic words!" Ignoring his injuries, Qingling Gong cried out hoarsely, tears streaming down his face, "The demon race is cruel and fickle. To submit is to become their slave, a fate worse than death! This old minister is willing to lead his warriors to fight to the death and carve a bloody path for my Lord! The East Sea is vast and boundless. As long as my Lord lives, the Celestial Court's lineage will endure, and there may be a day when it rises again!"

To be fair, although Dong Wanggong was quite useless, he knew how to share with his subordinates. As the saying goes, even among fair-weather friends, there are loyal ones. He did indeed have quite a few loyal people under his command.

"Excellent! Immortal Lord, we are willing to follow you to the death!" Many of the most loyal old ministers and generals to the Eastern King Duke, as well as some rogue cultivators who still had their blood on their hands, gathered together, their eyes resolute. Most of them were confidants whom the Eastern King Duke had recruited or promoted in the early days, and their interests were deeply tied to the Immortal Court and the Eastern King Duke himself. They shared the same fate, whether it was glory or ruin.

Fight their way out? The Eastern King looked at these loyal faces, then glanced around. Outside Zi Fu Prefecture, the Zhou Tian Star Array continued to operate, its starlight like a prison, sealing off all directions. Countless elite demons arrayed themselves within the starlight, their swords and spears forming a forest, their killing intent filling the air. Fight their way out? Easier said than done! It would likely be a certain death!

The thought of fleeing had barely crossed his mind when it was suppressed by a deeper fear. Though the primordial world was vast, where, apart from Penglai, could Dongwang Gong find refuge and a place to live? Chaos was dangerous, even sages avoided it; where could this "leader of male immortals," who had lost his foundation, possibly escape to? Should he hide like a stray dog, living a precarious existence, constantly fearing pursuit from the witch clan, the demon clan, and other enemies? That kind of life, filled with constant anxiety, devoid of power, status, and pleasure… was worse than death!

He recalled the sweet and mellow nectar in the Purple Palace, the graceful dance of the fairies, the magnificent spectacle of all the immortals paying homage, and the power to command a hundred responses with a single call... Would all of these vanish with today's battle?

No! He couldn't bear to part with it!

Greed and fear, like two venomous snakes, tightly coiled around Dongwanggong's heart. His lust for power made him unable to accept the desolation of losing everything and starting all over again; his fear of death further robbed him of the courage to fight for that slim chance of survival. Looking at Taiyi's cold and powerful figure, and at the earnest, even pleading, eyes of his loyal subordinates around him, the scales in his heart, after an extreme struggle, began to tilt irrevocably.

"Perhaps... Taiyi is right. Submitting means at least survival, at least... I can retain some status and enjoyment. 'Donghua Gong,' ranking below Dijun and Taiyi, is still a top-tier position among the demon race. It's better than dying and losing everything..." Once this thought took root, it grew wildly like weeds. He found a reason for himself: this was enduring humiliation, preserving some of the Celestial Court's vitality, and... waiting for the right opportunity.

As for those loyal followers who swore to follow him to the death? The Eastern King felt a pang of pain, quickly replaced by a colder calculation. Their loyalty was touching, but… he could only apologize. Blame it on the injustice of fate and the overwhelming power of the demon race.

Just as Qingling Gong and the others were preparing to gather their elite warriors for a desperate charge, Dongwang Gong abruptly raised his head. The struggle and pain on his face had vanished, replaced by an almost numb calm, and a barely perceptible hint of flattery and submission deep in his eyes. He took a deep breath, channeled his magic power, and his voice echoed in all directions, but it no longer possessed its former majesty; instead, it carried a subtle tremor and a hint of ingratiation.

"Your Majesty the Eastern Emperor... hold your hand!"

He pushed away Qingling Gong, who tried to pull him back, and amidst the latter's incredulous gaze that gradually turned to despair, he flew forward alone for a short distance, then bowed deeply towards Taiyi, his posture extremely humble:

"Your Majesty's divine might has overwhelmed me... Donghua bows in submission. Previously, Donghua was ignorant of the will of Heaven and offended its majesty, deserving of death. Now, Your Majesty, I am grateful for your mercy and decree, granting me a way out... Donghua wishes to lead the Penglai Immortal Court... no, I wish to lead all the scattered immortals of Penglai to submit to the Heavenly Court, to serve the Demon Emperor and the Eastern Emperor as our masters, to be loyal to the demon race, and to have no other intentions! I humbly beg Your Majesty... to grant my request!"

After he finished speaking, all was silent.

Only the low hum of the Zhou Tian Star Array in operation and the rustling sound of starlight falling could be heard.

Duke Qingling stood frozen in place, the jade whisk in his hand falling to the ground with a clatter. He stared at the obsequious back of Duke Dongwang, the last glimmer of light in his cloudy old eyes extinguished, leaving only endless sorrow and deathly silence. The remaining trusted followers who had gathered, ready to fight to the death, were also struck dumb, their faces drained of color, some trembling, others closing their eyes, tears streaming down their faces.

We were ready to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first!

They could accept dying in battle, they could accept living and dying with the Celestial Court, but they could not accept that the Celestial Lord they had sworn to serve to the death would so easily abandon his dignity, abandon them, and abandon the billions of years of Penglai's foundation in order to survive and hold a nominal position at the last moment!

Taiyi looked at the bowing Dongwanggong, his face showing no surprise, only a faint, undisguised contempt. He had long expected this. How tough could the so-called "leader of male immortals," who had been immersed in the gentle pleasures of Penglai for countless eons, whose edges had been smoothed and courage corrupted by wine, women, and power, possibly be in the face of real death and temptation?