Volume One: The Lich Cataclysm Chapter 110: Hongjun Arrives in Person, the Chaos Bell Seized

“Thief, cease your arrogance! Return to me the authority of the Solar Star, and tell me, where have you taken the Fusang Divine Tree?”
Taiyi paid no heed to Qingkong's words, instead cloaking himself with the Chaos Bell.
“You think wielding a primordial treasure allows you to challenge me? It’s not as if I haven’t encountered such treasures before!”
Qingkong sneered as he looked at Taiyi.
“If you’re so confident, then try me!”
Taiyi then revealed his perfected Da Luo cultivation, igniting countless solar true flames, blazing conspicuously.
Immediately, a rain of solar flames descended from the heavens, threatening to incinerate the Qinglian Dao Court and even Mount Zhou itself.
Yet Qingkong merely strolled forward, waving his hand. The sky full of solar flames vanished without a trace.
“You’re misusing your primordial treasure. Let me show you how it’s truly used!”
With a casual gesture, Qingkong summoned the Chaos Bell away from Taiyi, transforming it into a small bell that landed in his hand.
Taiyi watched, panic rising as his greatest reliance, the Chaos Bell, suddenly refused to obey him and fell into his enemy’s grasp.
“Thief, return my treasure!”
“Your treasure? See if it still listens to you!”
Qingkong mocked Taiyi, his eyes filled with disdain.
“I had no intention of arguing with a junior like you, but since you dare to make a scene in my domain, if I don’t teach you a lesson, everyone will think I am easy to bully.”
Qingkong pointed at the Chaos Bell, and Taiyi found the time and space around him frozen.
As Qingkong was about to erase Taiyi, a voice echoed from the heavens.
“High above ninefold clouds, seated upon a rush mat, true cultivation attained. Beyond Heaven and Earth’s mysteries, I am the venerated master. Leader of the Mystic Gate, the primal energy transforms into Hongjun.”
“Qingxuan, for my sake, let him go!”
Hongjun regarded Qingxuan expressionlessly.
“Oh? I am curious, are you Hongjun, or someone else now?”
Qingkong looked playfully at Hongjun in the sky.
“Of course, I am Hongjun!” Hongjun replied without hesitation.
“So you wish to intervene for this lad!” Qingkong did not immediately agree, but looked at Hongjun, displeased.
“His fate is not yet finished. Must you insist?”
“Don’t try to persuade me. Today, I am determined to kill him, and none can stop me.”
With that, Qingkong pinched the void with his right hand, and the suspended Taiyi burst into a mist of blood.
“Taiyi!”

At that moment, many powerful beings gazing at Mount Zhou heard a piercing cry, laden with endless sorrow.
“Friend, was this truly necessary?” Hongjun waved his hand, and a new Taiyi appeared before the multitude.
Taiyi was utterly bewildered, unable to forget the terror and helplessness of his recent death.
Hongjun was about to summon the Chaos Bell back, but Qingkong shouted to stop him.
“Wait! I killed him; if you revive him, that’s your business, but the Chaos Bell no longer belongs to him.”
With a gesture, Qingkong drew the Chaos Bell into his hand, brooking no refusal.
Hongjun sighed softly.
“Very well, let it remain with you.”
Then Hongjun vanished from the sky, taking Taiyi with him.
“My heavens, who is this person, daring to defy a Sage?”
“Are you mad? How could you not recognize the Lord of Mount Zhou?”
…
“I heard the Lord of Mount Zhou is from the same era as the Sages and has done many great deeds for the primordial world!”
“Isn’t he called the Lord of Spiritual Roots?”
“Are you reckless, daring to say that aloud?”
Unbeknownst to Qingkong, his actions left an indelible mark in the hearts of many in the primordial world, branding him as someone not to be trifled with.
At the foot of Mount Zhou, in the Pangu Hall of the Wu Tribe.
“Damn it, that little brat Dijun is courting death, daring to cause trouble at Uncle’s Dao field. Let me, the Ancestral Wu, deal with them!”
Zhurong was furious, itching to annihilate Dijun and his companion.
“Enough, Zhurong! Can’t you restrain your temper? Have you forgotten Uncle’s instructions?”
Dijiang then looked around at the other Ancestral Wu.
“For this period, both the great Wu and the Ancestral Wu are to remain in the divine hall, no one is to leave. Otherwise, don’t blame me for expelling them from the Wu Tribe.”
Dijiang’s eyes flashed fiercely as he swept his gaze around.
“But are we just going to let them get away with it?”
Dijiang’s expression turned grave.
“These are Uncle’s direct orders. Who dares disobey?”
Silence fell; no one dared speak further.
Yet Dijiang was unaware that, while the Ancestral Wu were forbidden from leaving, other clan members remained.
The Wu Tribe, formidable warriors all, never feared a fight.

Kunlun Mountain, the Hall of Supreme Purity.
“Elder brother, the Lord of Mount Zhou actually dared to challenge a Sage!”
But the Supreme Purity said nothing, silently gazing toward the center of Heaven and Earth.
He seemed to ponder when he himself might possess such power, but no one could answer.
“In the end, that brat was revived by the Sage. Are Sages truly that powerful?
If we had such strength, we’d fear no one!”
Shangqing Tongtian mused fervently, and this thought strengthened the resolve of all three to seek sainthood.

Phoenix Perch Mountain.
“How could Taiyi have gone to Mount Zhou? Ah, so unwise!”
“Brother, it seems we can’t lightly agree to Dijun’s proposal after all!”
“No!” Only now did Fuxi realize he’d reacted too strongly, and looked awkwardly at Nuwa.
“Brother, why do I sense you’re so eager for us to accept Dijun’s offer?”
Nuwa looked at Fuxi, puzzled, but Fuxi could not reveal that his divination showed that Dijun held Nuwa’s greatest opportunity, though he did not yet know what it was.
Unable to tell her directly, he sought ways to dodge the issue.
“Sister, mainly I think Dijun’s words make sense. Just look, as our fortune rises, doesn’t our cultivation grow faster?”
Seeing Nuwa’s hesitation, Fuxi tried another approach.
Sure enough, Nuwa began to ponder after hearing him.
“And most importantly, Dijun promised that if we ally with him, he’d let us borrow his companion spirit treasure for your brother to study.”
“What? Is that true, brother? Are you certain?”
With that, Nuwa was almost convinced.
She understood well that her brother’s Dao was closely tied to the spirit treasure in Dijun’s possession, but since it belonged to another, it would not be easy to borrow.
“Alright, brother, I can agree, but we mustn’t trust Dijun too readily.”
“Don’t worry, sister, I know my limits.”
After Taiyi, unbeknownst to Dijun, went to Mount Zhou and was destroyed, only to be revived by Hongjun, Dijun gained many insights. Recently, he became even more brazen in winning people’s support.