Primordial Era: A brick knocks Hongyun unconscious, and he seizes the throne at the start.

"What...do you mean by that, senior?"

Holding the still-warm Demon Abyss Token, Lu Chen watched as the remnant soul of Rahu and the phantom images of the three clan leaders completely dissipated into chaos, and alarm bells rang in his heart.

Hongyun and Zhen Yuanzi exchanged a glance, their expressions equally grave.

"Young friend, the moment you accepted the token, you became connected with the fate of the demonic path." Zhen Yuanzi calculated with his fingers, his brows furrowed. "Although it is only a wisp of cause and effect, the Heavenly Dao has recorded it. From now on, you must be doubly careful in your actions."

Lu Chen smiled bitterly: "If we hadn't accepted back then, the four Quasi-Saints would have turned back, and the three of us would be nothing but chaotic dust now."

This is true. Rahu's appearance, seemingly a recruitment, was actually a combination of intimidation and a deal—if they accepted the token, he would help temporarily lure away or deter Di Jun and the others who might return to attack; if they didn't accept it, this remnant soul of the Demon Ancestor might not protect them.

"Let's go back to the Primordial Wilderness first," Hongyun decided immediately. "We shouldn't stay here any longer."

The three transformed into streaks of light and flew at full speed toward the edge of the primordial wilderness.

Along the way, Lu Chen separated a wisp of his divine sense and sank it into the Qiankun Diagram to check on the three Qilin eggs that were hatching.

As expected, a problem arose!

The original yellowish-brown eggshell was now covered with dense, dark red demonic patterns, and the life force inside the egg was no longer pure and peaceful, but exuded a chaotic and violent aura.

"The memories of the Chaos Demon God...were activated by Rahu's demonic energy just now?" Lu Chen's heart sank.

He tried to purify it with the merits of creation and the divine water of the three lights. The demonic patterns dimmed slightly, but were not eradicated. They swam around the eggshell like living things.

"This is troublesome." Lu Chen frowned.

These three eggs are the last remaining flame of the Qilin clan, entrusted to them by the First Qilin on his deathbed; the cause and effect are significant. If a demonized Qilin hatches, forget about leaving an heir for the Qilin clan; it would be a miracle if it didn't cause a great disaster.

"We must consult with Senior Zhen Yuanzi as soon as possible..."

Just then, three cracks suddenly appeared in the chaos ahead!

"They're here." Lu Chen's eyes turned cold, and he stopped his escape.

Hongyun and Zhen Yuanzi also stopped at the same time, each unleashing their magical treasures.

Three figures stepped out from the crack, forming a triangular shape to block their path.

On the left is the Styx Ancestor, standing on a twelve-petaled karmic fire lotus, with the Yuan Tu and A Bi swords hanging beside him, his blood-red robe fluttering without wind: "Hong Yun, hand over what you obtained from the purple aura, and I will spare your life."

In the center stood Kunpeng, his face grim, clearly still enraged by the injury to his second primordial spirit by Lu Chen. His gaze was fixed intently on Lu Chen: "You little thief, I will kill you today!"

On the right is... a phantom draped in a star-patterned robe. It is neither Di Jun nor Tai Yi in their true form, but rather the "Star God Incarnation" condensed by the Demon Master Kunpeng using the power of the Zhou Tian Star Array. Its aura is also at the early stage of Quasi-Saint!

"Three Quasi-Saints, you really think highly of us." Hongyun sneered, the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Gourd emitting crimson light.

Zhen Yuanzi unfolded his Earth Book, and a phantom image of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers enveloped the three: "If you want to fight, then fight!"

Lu Chen didn't speak. He gripped the black brick tightly with his right hand and held the newly acquired Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife Gourd with his left hand—which he had taken from the Treasure Dividing Cliff, and was now testing its power.

"kill!"

Styx made the first move, and the twin swords of Yuan Tu and A Bi transformed into two blood-red rainbows, slashing straight at Hong Yun.

The true form of Kunpeng pounced on Zhen Yuanzi, its sharp claws tearing apart the illusory image of mountains and rivers.

The avatar of the star god took a step forward, with stars flowing around him, and punched Lu Chen with a punch that shattered the chaotic energy into nothingness.

"Well done!"

Lu Chen advanced instead of retreating, using the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner to protect himself, while the black brick met the force of the punch.

"boom!"

As their fists collided, Lu Chen was sent flying hundreds of miles, his tiger's mouth split open, but even his Star God incarnation was forced back three steps.

"A Taiyi Golden Immortal can withstand one of my punches?" The Star God's avatar appeared slightly surprised, then sneered, "Then I'll take another punch!"

The second punch was even stronger, with 360 star-like phantoms appearing on the surface of the fist, a miniature version of the Zhou Tian Star Array!

Lu Chen's pupils suddenly contracted.

Taking a direct hit will result in certain death!

"Gravity Brick!"

He activated his newly acquired supernatural power, causing the gravitational field on the surface of the black brick to distort, and the speed of the Star God's punches visibly slowed down.

Just this little bit is enough!

"Please turn around, baby!"

Lu Chen summoned the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife Gourd, and a beam of white light shot out from the gourd's mouth, faster than the concept of time and space, circling the neck of the Star God avatar—

"puff!"

The head of the Star God's incarnation flew up, turning into specks of starlight and dissipating.

One strike, and the Quasi-Saint's Incarnation is severed!

Although it was just an avatar, and Lu Chen took advantage of the opponent's underestimation of him and the unexpected attack of the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife, this achievement was enough to shock the entire audience!

"The Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife?!" Styx exclaimed in shock and fury, "How did this treasure end up in your hands?!"

Kunpeng, even more envious, cried out, "You little thief, just how many treasures have you stolen?!"

Lu Chen didn't answer, and retrieved the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife gourd—it could only be used once and needed to be re-nurtured. But the deterrent effect had been achieved.

"Seniors, it's our turn to fight back!" he shouted.

Hongyun and Zhen Yuanzi were greatly encouraged and launched an even fiercer offensive.

Styx was entangled in the dispersing mist of the red clouds and could not break free for a while.

Kunpeng was trapped by Zhen Yuanzi's Earth Book of Mountains and Rivers, and roared repeatedly.

"Kill Kunpeng first!" Lu Chen transmitted his voice.

The three of them acted in unison and simultaneously turned towards Kunpeng.

The Crimson Cloud Gourd spewed out a crimson poisonous mist, corroding the demonic light protecting the Kunpeng.

Zhen Yuanzi's Earth Book transformed into a towering mountain, which crashed down and suppressed the enemy.

Lu Chen then circled behind Kunpeng, unleashing the full golden light of the black brick's merit, and smashed it towards the back of Kunpeng's head—

"This trick again?!" Kunpeng roared in fury, sweeping its wings back.

But this time, Lu Chen used a new supernatural power.

"A brick brimming with malevolent energy!"

The surface of the black brick exuded the malevolent aura of fragments of the God-Slaying Spear, which, combined with the Law of Force, ignored defenses and directly invaded the primordial spirit!

"Bang!"

It hit me squarely.

"Ah—!" Kunpeng screamed in agony, his primordial spirit trembled violently, and his vision went black.

"Suppress!" Zhen Yuanzi seized the opportunity to transform the Earth Book into a cage, temporarily trapping the Kunpeng.

"Go!" Hongyun grabbed Lu Chen and was about to flee.

"Want to leave? Did you ask me first?" Styx sneered, the Karmic Fire Red Lotus erupted, and countless Blood God Child clones surged out, sealing off all directions.

"The Blood Sea Formation!"

The entire chaos was stained blood-red, and endless Blood God Children rushed in, each with the strength of a Golden Immortal!

"Troublesome." Zhen Yuanzi's face was grim.

The sea of ​​blood will never dry up, the River Styx will never die. This old demon is the most troublesome.

Looking at the sky filled with blood-red divine seeds, Lu Chen suddenly remembered something from the Qiankun Diagram.

"Senior, please hold off me for ten breaths!"

He flashed into the Qiankun Diagram.

Inside the picture, he quickly took out an item—the drop of ancestral dragon essence blood (obtained from the Dragon Palace Treasury)!

Then, the aura of the Yuanfeng Core and the aura of the Qilin Core were extracted.

The three clan leaders are of one origin!

"With the essence of our three races' blood, we'll shatter your Blood Sea Formation—let's see who the true ancestor is!"

He fused the three streams of blood essence and injected them into the black brick.

The black bricks burst forth with a tricolor light of red, gold, and silver, and phantom images of dragons, phoenixes, and qilin appeared on their surfaces, roaring towards the sky.

"One brick can determine the fate of the world!"

Lu Chen rushed out of the Qiankun Diagram and slammed the black brick hard into the core of the Blood Sea Formation.

"boom--!!!"

The eruption of the essence of the three races naturally suppressed the Blood Sea—the Blood Sea was formed from the filthy blood of Pangu's navel, while the three races were descendants of Pangu, with a higher origin!

The Blood Sea Formation trembled violently, and countless Blood God Children screamed as they vanished.

Styx groaned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth: "The essence blood of the three races?! Where did you get it from...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi's attack arrived.

"Go!" Styx gritted his teeth, withdrew from the Sea of ​​Blood, and transformed into a streak of blood light to escape.

Although he survived, he needed time to recover from his injuries and didn't want to fight to the death.

Kunpeng, still imprisoned in the Earth Book cage, roared angrily upon seeing this: "Styx, you—"

"Fellow Daoist Kunpeng, may you have good fortune." Styx's voice faded into the distance.

"Damn it!" Kunpeng struggled desperately.

"It's your turn." Lu Chen and the other two surrounded him.

"You dare kill me? Di Jun and Tai Yi will not let you get away with this!" Kunpeng roared.

"Then let them come." Hongyun sneered, pointing the gourd at Kunpeng.

Kunpeng was about to perish—

"clang--!"

The sound of the Chaos Bell came from the farthest distance.

Time and spacetime freeze.

A figure in golden robes strode in, and with each step, golden lotuses of true solar fire bloomed beneath his feet.

Donghuang Taiyi, your true form has descended!

"Release them," Taiyi said indifferently.

Zhen Yuanzi's face was grim: "Fellow Daoist Taiyi, this matter was caused by Kunpeng..."

"I'll say it again, release them." The phantom of the Chaos Bell appeared in Taiyi's hand, and the bell rang again.

"Crack—" A crack appeared in the Earth Book Cage.

With the peak of Quasi-Saint and the Chaos Bell, their strength completely overwhelmed the three of them.

Lu Chen's mind raced, and he suddenly transmitted his voice to Kunpeng: "Do you want to live?"

Kunpeng was taken aback.

"Give me the complete diagram of the Zhou Tian Star Array, and I'll guarantee your survival," Lu Chen said quickly.

"Don't even think about it!" Kunpeng roared.

"Then you should die." Lu Chen winked at Hong Yun.

The red clouds understood, and the poisonous fog from the gourd grew even thicker.

"Wait!" Kunpeng cried out in fear. "I'll give it to you! But you must swear to protect me!"

"I swear, if you don't give me the array diagram after you're rescued, may I be struck down by heaven and earth," Lu Chen said casually.

Kunpeng gritted his teeth, and a starlight jade slip flew out from between his eyebrows, shooting towards Lu Chen.

Lu Chen took it and scanned it with his divine sense—it was indeed the complete array diagram of the Zhou Tian Star Array. Although the core part was restricted and could not be seen clearly, it was enough.

"Fellow Daoist Taiyi!" Lu Chen suddenly shouted, "We are willing to release them, but we ask that you swear an oath that from today onwards, Kunpeng will never again pursue the three of us!"

Taiyi frowned and looked at Kunpeng.

Kunpeng quickly replied, "I swear! If I continue to hunt you down, may I never attain enlightenment!"

Tai nodded: "Okay."

Zhen Yuanzi removed the Earth Book cage.

Kunpeng broke free and flew awkwardly behind Taiyi, glaring at Lu Chen with resentment, but dared not make another move.

"Let's go." Taiyi rolled up the Kunpeng and turned to leave.

From beginning to end, he didn't glance at the array diagram in Lu Chen's hand once—perhaps he didn't care, or perhaps he had other plans.

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief once Taiyi had gone far away.

"Young friend, do you really want to protect Kunpeng?" Hongyun frowned.

"Protect him?" Lu Chen grinned. "He swore the oath himself, what does it have to do with me? Besides, I only said I would protect him from death, not from being crippled."

As he spoke, he waved the starlight jade slip in his hand: "Having obtained the Zhou Tian Star Array Diagram is the real benefit."

Zhen Yuanzi smiled wryly: "You... you're too bold."

"Fortune favors the bold." Lu Chen put away the array diagram. "Senior, let's go back to Wuzhuang Temple first. There's something wrong with those three Qilin eggs."

"it is good."

The three accelerated and finally flew out of the chaos, returning to the primordial world.

Upon entering the primordial world, the Heavenly Dao intervened.

"Buzz—"

Three beams of golden light descended and merged into the bodies of the three individuals.

This is a reward for maintaining the stability of the primordial world (repelling the Styx River and suppressing the Kunpeng). Although it's not much, it's better than nothing.

Lu Chen's cultivation level advanced further, stabilizing at the late stage of Taiyi Golden Immortal.

"Let's go back to Wuzhuang Temple first," Zhen Yuanzi said.

The three flew towards Longevity Hill.

On the way, Lu Chen studied the Zhou Tian Star Array diagram and became increasingly alarmed.

"What an exquisite formation... Based on 365 main stars and supplemented by 14,800 secondary stars, it gathers the power of the stars and can rival a saint... Wait, is there a loophole here?"

He noticed that a certain mark on the array diagram was blurred, seemingly intentionally so.

"The position of the Taiyin star is unstable... Is it necessary for the two Taiyin goddesses, Changxi and Xihe, to oversee it? If something happens to them, the power of the great formation will be reduced by 30%?"

Lu Chen's eyes lit up.

In the future Heavenly Court of the Demon Race, Emperor Jun marries Xihe and Changxi, and they have ten golden crows. But Changxi doesn't seem to be truly sincere towards Emperor Jun? Perhaps...

As they were making plans, they arrived at Wuzhuang Temple.

As soon as they landed, Qingfeng and Mingyue ran over in a panic: "Master! Something terrible has happened! Those three Qilin eggs... have hatched! But, they..."

"What's wrong?" Zhen Yuanzi strode into the back garden.

Under the ginseng fruit tree, three little qilin were playing.

One was entirely crimson, standing on flames; another was clad in golden armor, with dragon wings on its back; and the most bizarre of all was a half-Qilin, half-twisted demonic body, exuding the aura of a chaotic demon god!

"The Chaos Qilin bloodline has awakened?!" Zhen Yuanzi was shocked.

Upon seeing Lu Chen, the half-demon unicorn suddenly spoke, its voice aged and hoarse:

"Young man...you possess...the finger bone of the Father God (the Chaos Qilin)..."

Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat: "You are... the lingering will of the Chaos Qilin?"

"No... I am a newborn... but I inherited his memories..." The half-demon Qilin's eyes were deep. "Before Father God passed away... he asked me to tell you one thing..."

"What did you say?"

"At the deepest part of the Demon Abyss... there are... things... left behind by Pangu... Rahu is also searching for them..."

What Pangu left behind? In the Abyss of Demons?

Lu Chen was breathing rapidly.

"And..." The half-demon Qilin looked westward, his eyes filled with fear, "Be careful... Jieyin and Zhunti... they... have already sided with Rahu..."

What?!

Lu Chen, Hong Yun, and Zhen Yuanzi all changed color at the same time.

Just then, a Buddhist chant came from outside Wuzhuang Temple:

"Amitabha... Fellow Daoist Hongyun, young friend Lu Chen, would you please come out for a chat?"

It's the sound of guidance!

Suddenly, Jieyin and Zhunti arrived at Wuzhuang Temple, specifically requesting to see Lu Chen and Hongyun! Meanwhile, the half-demon Qilin trembled, transmitting its message to Lu Chen: "They...possess Rahu's demonic seed!"

At the same time, the Demon Abyss Token in Lu Chen's arms suddenly became hot, and a message entered his mind—it was Rahu's summons: "Boy, Tathagata Demon Abyss, I'm giving you a great gift: the karma of Jieyin and Zhunti's ascension to sainthood. Want to... intercept it ahead of time?"