"Poor demons. They want to be dogs, but the truth is, no one cares if a dog lives or dies."
Furylo looked up, his crimson eyes searching for the source of the voice. In the distance, the Woodcutter Sage strode toward him, surrounded by the roaring flames that were devouring Luofu Heaven. The Celestial Teacher walked atop magma, emerging from the inferno, the sky behind him streaked with blazing fragments of Luofu Heaven trailing fiery tails.
The Woodcutter Sage soon stood before him, his voice heavy: "Furylo, when we signed Tu Bo's Pact, you told me that it was not you who would destroy High-Emperor Heaven, but someone else. At the time, I did not tell you—under a fallen nest, not one egg survives. If High-Emperor Heaven is annihilated, do you really think the demon race will endure?"
Furylo glared at him fiercely, his voice raspy: "Devour-Bite City is the farthest from the impact zone and has the strongest defenses. The demons inside can survive this collision. My race will not perish!"
The Woodcutter Sage looked at him with pity. "And what about outside Devour-Bite City?"
Furylo panted heavily, his breath ragged.
At best, not even one in a hundred demons could survive in Devour-Bite City; all the rest would perish in the cataclysmic collision of heaven and earth. There was no escaping it.
"Twenty thousand years ago, Chi Creek led his people and foreign refugees all the way to Luofu Heaven, fleeing pursuit. The arrival of Chi Creek and the surviving Chiming gods made Luofu Heaven uninhabitable, so you were forced to target High-Emperor Heaven."
The Woodcutter Sage spoke softly: "So, who drove Chi Creek and those outsiders into Luofu Heaven? Why was it Luofu, specifically? Have you never wondered about the reason? Deep down, you know exactly who the enemy of the Chiming Era was—but you don't dare admit it. You still cling to a bit of fantasy. Now is the time to wake up from that illusion."
Furylo burst into harsh laughter, his voice sharp: "They did scheme against the Chiming survivors, and they schemed against my demon race too, forcing us to war with High-Emperor Heaven. But you—you're no better! You built those blood-sacrifice altars! Lowell Yunch used them to blood-sacrifice Luofu Heaven! How did you escape? The truth is, you were always waiting for the Heavenly Court to arrive, to use their hand to blood-sacrifice Luofu, and force me into your camp! I'm no fool!"
The Woodcutter Sage looked at him, unhurried: "You're not a fool, and yes, I did intend to use the Heavenly Court's hand to force you into my camp. But if you think that not building altars would stop the Heavenly Court from blood-sacrificing Luofu, then you are far too naive."
Furylo fell silent.
The Woodcutter Sage continued, "Whether or not I built those altars, the Heavenly Court would still blood-sacrifice Luofu. They destroyed your ancestral land, Luofu Heaven, and used it to smash into High-Emperor Heaven. High-Emperor Heaven will be left dead and barren, unfit for life. To survive and reproduce, your demon race will be forced into Everpeace. The Heavenly Court intends to use your demons to wipe out Everpeace—that is their true goal."
Furylo slumped, his voice hoarse: "When we made Tu Bo's Pact, did you already foresee this day? Why didn't you say anything?"
"Until today, we were enemies. Why would I tell you?"
The Woodcutter Sage extended a hand, his voice grave: "From this moment on, are we enemies or allies?"
Furylo hesitated, staring at that outstretched hand. After a moment, the two hands clasped tightly together.
Luofu Heaven, falling at a slant, finally collided with High-Emperor Heaven.
Beside the World Bridge altar, Quinn stood stunned, watching as Luofu Heaven descended from the sky, crushing the ancient, war-scarred City of Departure into dust. The gods and cultivators of High-Emperor Heaven surged in a mad stampede toward the World Bridge, the crowd so dense even Quinn could barely keep his footing.
In that moment, all camaraderie vanished; people trampled each other, desperate to escape with their lives.
"Quinn!"
Village Chief Su, Granny Sue, and the others forced their way through the crowd toward him. Amid the surging throng, Quinn turned to look at them and managed a strained smile. "I'm fine, really."
Where Luofu Heaven struck, the earth cracked like shattered glass, huge swaths of land splintering and flinging upward.
Scarlet magma surged up from the fissures in the ground.
The scene made the earth seem impossibly soft and fragile, tossed into the air like waves, rippling outward in every direction.
Walls of earth and stone, thousands of li high, rose up—more accurately, waves of magma and flame, with even ten-thousand-zhang peaks reduced to mere spray within the torrent.
The hurricane unleashed by the collision swept across the land, annihilating everything. Lightning turned into the wildest rain, driven by the wind to all corners, surging rapidly through High-Emperor Heaven.
Mushroom clouds of fire rose skyward, soon crashing into the artificial suns painstakingly forged by the Imperial Preceptor and Everpeace's cultivators. The two suns shattered like paper lanterns, torn apart by the shockwave.
"Quinn, move!"
The elders shouted, "Get to the World Bridge—there's no surviving this!"
Quinn stared blankly at the scene. Granny Sue barreled through the crowd, grabbed his hand, and, without a word, dragged him toward the World Bridge altar. People were everywhere, madly scrambling up, climbing over each other, trampling anyone in their way.
Dragged by Granny Sue, Quinn stumbled upward, dazed. He looked back, his gaze lost. He saw gods and demons all around the collision zone, straining every ounce of strength to resist the apocalyptic impact, fighting for a chance for these people to escape.
Gods and demons of High-Emperor Heaven and the Hanging Realm were torn apart in the blinding light, their divine bodies scorched, ignited, vaporized—reduced to nothing.
Even gods and demons are insignificant before such world-ending power.
He couldn’t see the demon side—Luofu Heaven blocked his view—but he imagined that, on the far side, demon gods were roaring and fighting just as desperately, trying to shield their kin from the shockwaves and win a slim chance at survival.
They knew—even as demon gods—they stood no chance, but for their people, they would fight to the death.
(Irrelevant line: skip)
"I’m fine, I’m fine..." Quinn muttered.
High-Emperor Heaven is finished. Those who couldn’t evacuate in time are finished too. Even the demons who fought us for twenty thousand years—are probably finished as well.
Then, he saw the First Human Emperor—the man who once fled the life-or-death battle twenty thousand years ago—descend from the sky, landing at the forefront of the collision between the two worlds.
The First Ancestor stood firm against the annihilating energies of colliding worlds, buying time for the World Bridge altar. His cultivation was the Heaven and Earth Heart Sutra; his technique, the Heaven and Earth Seal.
He stood in the cataclysmic torrent of earth, water, wind, and fire, as if transported back to that ancient battle twenty thousand years ago—becoming, for a moment, his old self.
But this time, he didn’t run.
His cultivation, his seals—created for moments like this—to set a heart for a collapsing world, to secure life for the common people.
From afar, Quinn watched that man. For the first time, he saw the First Ancestor radiant, utterly serious.
The Heaven and Earth Seal was made for world-shattering calamity; it blocked the surging torrent and bought time for those racing toward the World Bridge altar.
Suddenly, the World Bridge altar shuddered violently. Runes on its surface crackled and exploded; divine metal and materials snapped apart, and inside, the sound of breaking echoed.
Quinn’s face changed drastically. He shouted, "The bridge is collapsing! Everyone out—don’t go in! The bridge is collapsing!"
His voice rang out, echoing all around, but even so, people still rushed madly toward the World Bridge altar.
Then, the World Bridge altar abruptly collapsed. The pillar of light vanished in an instant, and countless half-bodies rained down from the sky. Most of the alien star had already entered Everpeace; the remaining fragment, sliced clean as a bowl’s lip by the closing space, fell from the sky.
The severed fragment of the alien star fell, growing larger as it plummeted—about to smash into High-Emperor Heaven!
Quinn’s heart went cold. All around, half-bodied cultivators rained down like droplets, splattering around the shattered World Bridge altar—those who hadn’t made it to Everpeace, severed in the instant space snapped shut, one half left in High-Emperor Heaven, the other in Everpeace.
"What do we do?"
Someone broke down sobbing, like a helpless child, voice raw: "What do we do? Without the bridge, we’ll die here!"
The sky shattered, the earth split, meteors rained down, torrents of earth, water, wind, and fire surged—an utter apocalypse.
The First Human Emperor still stood there, casting Heaven and Earth Seals one after another, single-handedly holding back the world-ending impact. The prince of the Kaihuang era was already coughing blood, his chest soaked in red. The only reason the cultivators around the World Bridge altar were still alive was that he blocked the full force of the shockwave.
But at this rate, the First Human Emperor would eventually collapse from exhaustion.
Suddenly, True God Pang Yu soared forward, shouting, "Follow me!"
He landed beside the First Human Emperor, joining forces to resist the impact, and shouted, "Keep High-Emperor Heaven’s roots alive!"
God Sang Ye and the others hesitated, then surged forward, encircling them and fighting desperately against the destruction. Village Chief, Butcher, Mute Smith, Grandpa Mark, and more joined in, with Myles Jiang leading the monks to help.
Old Daoists from Dao Gate, ancient immortals from Jade Capital, Everpeace generals and State Dukes—all rushed forward, staking their lives to shield the cultivators of High-Emperor Heaven and Everpeace.
A youth carrying a chest stepped from the crowd, walking toward the gods. Crippled Joe’s face twisted. He yelled, "Starr, if you make a move now, I’ll dig up your ancestors’ graves!"
The youth said nothing, set down his chest, and a true dragon belt flew from his waist. Starr’s demon-god form emerged, joining the others to help withstand the onslaught.
Quinn shouted, "Anyone still alive—follow me!"
He strode forward, other cultivators stumbling after him. Quinn reached the First Ancestor’s side, pouring every ounce of power into resisting the impact. Tens of thousands of cultivators’ blood surged hot in their chests; each unleashed their divine abilities, forming a wall of shields against destruction.
"It’s righteous qi—vast and unyielding!"
In the midst of annihilation, a bold, booming song rang out: "Vast is the qi, awe-inspiring through the ages! When it pierces sun and moon, what is life and death to speak of?"*
It was Butcher—unruly and heroic, undimmed even at the brink of death.
Quinn’s chest swelled with heroism. He shouted back, "Earth’s cords stand thereby, Heaven’s pillars by it are honored. The three bonds hang on life—"
Butcher laughed, roaring the final line: "Righteousness is its root!"*
Grandpa Blind braced himself with the Dragon Reaver God-Spear, snorted coldly, and muttered, "Sentimental fools…"
*Footnote: The quoted lines are from Wen Tianxiang’s Song of Righteous Qi, a classic poem celebrating unyielding righteousness in the face of catastrophe.