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

The primordial battlefield has become a purgatory.

Under the onslaught of the allied forces of the myriad races, the Zhou Tian Star Array was like a dam being gnawed by ants, riddled with holes and scattering starlight. The Myriad Immortals Array had already collapsed, with countless scattered immortals scattered and destroyed by the backlash of the restrictions and the siege of the allied forces. A few astute individuals managed to escape in the chaos, leaving behind a scene of devastation and a deep-seated hatred for the demon race. The dragon race's surging ocean, the phoenix's blazing fire, the qilin's earth-shattering tremors, the bloodthirsty bites of the Blood Sea Asura, Zhen Yuanzi's earth pulse strikes, the Kunpeng's devouring heaven and earth, the Queen Mother of the West's extreme yin erosion... countless attacks surged in from all directions. Even with two top-tier arrays, the demon race was now trapped in a quagmire, struggling to defend themselves.

"Your Majesty! The left flank has been breached by the Dragon Clan, and dozens of the three hundred Star Lords have perished!"

"Report! The Ten Thousand Immortals Formation has completely collapsed! Demon Saint Yingzhao was besieged by Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun, and has fled severely injured!"

"A large force of Qilin Clan and Mountain God allied forces has appeared in the direction of Nantianmen; the defending troops are about to be overwhelmed!"

"His Majesty the Eastern Emperor is entangled by six ancestral witches, including Gonggong, Zhurong, and Qiangliang, and is unable to return to his aid for the time being!"

The devastating news reached Di Jun's ears like snowflakes. Standing at the position of the sun, his face had turned from ashen to a deathly pale, only his golden eyes burning with a chilling, almost ethereal flame. He could clearly feel the Zhou Tian Star Array becoming increasingly sluggish, the flow of stellar power becoming increasingly difficult, and even the core of the array was beginning to emit faint, heart-stopping cracking sounds. Below, demon warriors fell in droves under the frenzied counterattack of the allied forces of all races, their blood staining the shattered stars, and the wails of their lingering souls filling the universe.

Lost?

This thought, like a venomous snake, gnawed at his heart with unprecedented clarity. He had schemed for eternity, poured his heart and soul into completing the celestial constellations, restarting the Great Array of Ten Thousand Immortals, and even enslaving scattered immortals with restrictions—all for the sake of the demon race's victory in the Great Tribulation, to rule the primordial world and achieve unparalleled hegemony! Yet now, he had been defeated by these primordial races he had never truly taken seriously?

No! Impossible! I am Di Jun! The Heavenly Emperor of the Demon Clan who rules the heavens! How could I be defeated here?! How could I stand by and watch the Demon Clan's foundation crumble, and watch my nine beloved sons die tragically in vain?!

Extreme hatred, resentment, and a kind of madness driven to desperation, where everything could be abandoned, spread like wildfire, instantly devouring his last shred of reason. He slowly lowered his head, looking at the Demon Gathering Banner in his hand, which had been kept hidden and could not be used until the very end of the demon race.

The banner's material was unknown, neither silk nor leather, and it felt icy to the touch, as if it contained the essence and resentment of all the fallen demon races since the beginning of time. The banner bore no images of stars, the sun, moon, mountains, or rivers; only countless densely packed, exquisitely detailed runes of the true names of demon races flowed slowly, each rune subtly connected to the true soul of a demon being. This banner was infamous among the demon race's elite, for demons would place a wisp of their true spirit into this Demon-Gathering Banner, essentially entrusting their lives to Di Jun!

This banner is neither an offensive treasure nor a defensive treasure. Its sole purpose is to use the fortune of the demon race and the authority of the Heavenly Emperor as a guide to forcibly connect the true spirits of all demon beings who have left their true names on the banner. At critical moments, it can drive them to do anything for the banner master, including... burning everything, or even self-destructing their own essence!

The method of making this banner is insidious and cruel, which is against the harmony of heaven and will greatly deplete the fortune of the demon race. From the day it was made, it was regarded by Di Jun as the last trump card. Only a few demons did not put their true spirit into the Demon Gathering Banner.

"You forced me to do this...you forced me to do this!!!" Di Jun roared in a low voice, as if from the depths of hell. When he looked up again, his face was devoid of any emotion befitting "Di Jun," leaving only a destructive calm that disregarded everything. He glanced one last time at the Crown Prince, who was still critically injured and on the verge of death under the protection of the Chaos Bell, his face filled with fear and pleading. The last trace of warmth in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by an even deeper chill.

"Since Heaven will not tolerate my demon race, and since all races want to destroy my demon race... then let us all be buried with it."

Without further hesitation, Di Jun bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood containing the most core essence of the Sun Star Lord, mixed with his boundless hatred and resolute will, onto the ancient black banner!

"In the name of my Emperor Jun, the Heavenly Emperor of the Demon Clan."

"Demon Gathering Banner, open! All demon spirits, heed my command—Soul Ignition, explode!!!"

"boom--!!!"

Under Di Jun's control, the Demon-Gathering Banner suddenly erupted with an indescribable lament and shriek, as if from the very beginning of the primordial world, a cry of blood from ten thousand demons! On the banner's surface, countless tiny runes bearing the true names of demons instantly ignited like lit fuses, bursting forth one after another with blinding, destructive crimson light! This crimson light was not dissipated, but rather seemed to possess life and will, ignoring spatial distance and the obstruction of formations, precisely striking every corner of the primordial battlefield, targeting those demons whose true names were inscribed on the banner, whether they were fighting, fleeing, or critically wounded and dying!

"Ughh ...

"No! Your Majesty! Why...?"

"My body! No! Stop!"

In an instant, heart-wrenching wails and incredulous screams erupted simultaneously across the battlefield! Whether it was the demon saints and demon gods who were fighting the witch clan, the ordinary demon soldiers who were fighting the allied forces, or even some demons who were far from the main battlefield and were responsible for logistics or guarding, as long as their true names were on the Demon Gathering Banner, their bodies suddenly stiffened without exception!

Their eyes were instantly filled with the same crimson light, losing all their luster and self-awareness, leaving only a forcibly instilled, mad command to destroy everything. Then, the aura around them began to surge, boil, and spiral out of control at an irrational speed! Their flesh and bones groaned under the unbearable strain; their magical power, demonic energy, and even their most fundamental life essence and soul origin were forcibly ignited, compressed, and pushed to a critical point by the crimson light!

Then--

"burst!"

"burst!"

"burst!"

Di Jun's extremely cold voice, like the final pronouncement of death, resounded through the Demon Gathering Banner, echoing deep within the true spirits of all the controlled demon race.

"BOOM ...

Without sequence or interval! Centered on the remaining star field of the Zhou Tian Star Array, an unprecedented and indescribably devastating explosion of "flesh and blood stars" erupted violently!

A demon race member at the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, halfway towards the Ancestral Witch, had his body explode like a balloon, bursting into a blood-red sun with a diameter of ten thousand miles, mixed with fragments of laws and destructive energy, instantly vaporizing hundreds of witch soldiers around him, along with a mountain!

A Star Lord at the Great Luo Golden Immortal Realm attempted to flee, then laughed bitterly as he self-destructed. The violent aftershocks of the self-destruction transformed into a destructive tide that swept across tens of thousands of miles, tearing the vanguards of the Dragon and Phoenix clans who were fighting nearby, as well as countless meteorites and spatial fragments, into the most basic particles!

Even more numerous were the True Immortals, Celestial Immortals, and even lower-ranking demon soldiers. They swarmed together, like human torches set ablaze, exploding without warning on their charge, on their defensive positions, and in their escape! For those of lower cultivation, the explosion radius might only be a few hundred or a thousand feet, but their sheer number was overwhelming! So numerous it was as if billions upon billions of blood-red fireworks of death had instantly bloomed on a primordial battlefield!

This scene was no longer war, but a complete and indiscriminate massacre and destruction targeting all participants!

The vanguard of the Wu tribe's charge bore the brunt. Countless Wu soldiers didn't even have time to roar before being engulfed by the demons who suddenly self-destructed around them, in front of them, and even behind them. Their powerful bodies were torn apart and vaporized like paper under such close-range, mutually destructive primal explosions! Several great Wu were caught off guard and were hit head-on by the simultaneous self-destructions of multiple demon saints and demon gods, instantly annihilated! Even several ancestral Wu, such as Qiang Liang and Xi Zi, were shaken by the aftershocks of the explosions, their blood and qi churning and their baleful aura disordered, suffering considerable injuries.

The Allied Forces of All Races were also affected. Countless casualties were reported, but fortunately, the Allied Forces also had many quasi-saint level experts who quickly set up various defenses and barely managed to withstand the first wave of self-destruction from the demon race.

Of course, the most tragic were those demons controlled by the Demon-Gathering Banner, who were forced to self-destruct against their will. Their true spirits were completely annihilated in the explosion, without even a chance to enter reincarnation. All that remained was the purest and most violent energy, along with endless resentment, unwillingness, and fear, mixed with the murderous aura of the calamity, permeating the battlefield and turning this place into a true death zone!

"Big brother—!! You've gone mad! How could you do this?!" Taiyi roared, his eyes bloodshot.

Taiyi knew very well that his elder brother was probably determined to die this time, and was going to perish together with the primordial world!

……

"A madman! Di Jun is a madman!"

"Retreat! The demons have all gone mad! They're self-destructing!"

"Form defensive formation! Defend with all your might!"

The battlefield instantly descended into greater chaos and panic. Both the Witch Clan and the Allied Forces of Ten Thousand Races were caught off guard by the Demon Clan's reckless and suicidal fighting style. Their morale plummeted, their offensive stalled, and they all turned to defense and retreated.

In the midst of this boundless explosion, chaos, and death, Di Jun's figure, illuminated by the blood-red light of the Demon-Gathering Banner, appeared exceptionally lonely and terrifying. His face was expressionless, as if the wailing and annihilation of millions of people below were irrelevant to him. He simply, again and again, with icy will, urged the Demon-Gathering Banner, igniting one "True Name" after another, creating one deathly fireworks display after another.

Despite the frenzied self-destruction of countless demon beings fueled by their own bodies, the Zhou Tian Star Array did not collapse immediately. Instead, it experienced a final, most bizarre burst of light—a "Destructive Starlight" formed from the burning flesh and souls of countless demons, interwoven with crimson and dark gold! This starlight was no longer orderly, filled with violence and death, like the final blow of a dying beast, indiscriminately scattering across the entire battlefield, carrying out a final, indiscriminate cleansing.

Mount Buzhou trembled, the primordial earth wailed, and the stars in the heavens dimmed, as if even heaven and earth were shocked and grieved by this horrific scene.

The malevolent energy of the calamity was pushed to its highest peak since the beginning of time amidst the tragic demise of billions of living beings and the dissipation of their true spirits! The entire primordial sky was dyed a dark red of despair, viscous, and seemingly about to drip blood and tears.

"Your Majesty! You—"

"Di Jun! How cruel you are!"

"No! I don't want to die! I was originally a reclusive immortal cultivator, but you forcibly abducted me and placed a restriction on me! Even if I die today, I will drag you down with me—!!!"

Amidst the chaotic explosions, screams, and curses, several piercing roars, a mixture of unparalleled resentment, despair, and a resolute determination to perish together, tore through the destructive roar like poisoned daggers, suddenly erupting from the core area where the explosions were most concentrated! The target was none other than Di Jun, who sat high in the position of the sun, expressionless as he activated the Demon Gathering Banner!

These were the scattered immortals who had been forcibly conscripted or even abducted, and forcibly bound to the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation with restrictions! There were also several demon generals of the demon race who had been forced to join the Heavenly Court and harbored rebellious intentions! Some of them had already reached the Great Luo realm, and some were skilled in formations. At the moment the Demon Gathering Banner detonated its true spirit, relying on their last remaining shred of clarity and their deep-seated resentment towards Di Jun, they forcibly distorted the direction of their self-destruction, even briefly breaking free from the absolute control of the restrictions on their minds. They transformed the full power of their self-destruction, along with their life's cultivation, all their resentment, and their curses, into streaks of resolute, blood-red light, like moths drawn to a flame, or poisoned arrows of vengeance, crashing headlong into the sun's position where Di Jun resided!

At this moment, Di Jun was fully activating the Demon Gathering Banner, his mind connected to the banner, sensing the wails and annihilation of countless true spirits. He was immersed in a chilling pleasure and boundless hatred of destroying everything and seeing all things as nothingness. He had never imagined that these "subordinates," whom he regarded as ants, as tools, whose lives were already controlled by the Demon Gathering Banner, would launch a backlash against him in such a tragic and extreme way at the last moment!

No, perhaps he had thought about it, but he no longer cared. Or rather, his extreme madness and hatred made him subconsciously ignore this "tiny" possibility.

"Hmm?" A flicker of emotion finally appeared in Di Jun's icy golden eyes. It was an instinctive reaction to the "surprise," but more than that, it was a sense of being offended, a condescending indifference, and a hint of... barely perceptible absurdity. An ant dares to raise its claws at the Heavenly Emperor?

With a thought, the illusory images of the Hetu and Luoshu above his head spun rapidly, about to descend with starlight to protect him. At the same time, he wanted to draw upon the remaining power of the Zhou Tian Star Array to isolate and annihilate the final self-destruction of these "rebels".

However, he was fast, but those avengers with a death wish were even faster! More importantly, the Zhou Tian Star Array had already been shattered by the self-destruction of countless demons, the power of the stars was in chaos, and the power that the He Tu Luo Shu could mobilize was less than one-tenth! And the Demon Gathering Banner was operating at full power, which diverted most of his mind and power!

"Di Jun, you have ruined my path! Give me back my true spirit—!!!"

"Let's die together!!!"