Chapter Sixty-Nine: Battle Against the Black Dragon

The once clear sky suddenly became shrouded in dark clouds, thunder rumbled, and rain began to pour. Sanqing’s heart was in turmoil, unable to find peace. Perhaps even the heavens themselves had been moved by the actions of the Holy Mother of Primordials.

At that moment, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti hurried from afar to where Sanqing stood, offering them words of comfort. Yet everyone knew there was no time for despair—if they faltered now, the world would be destroyed.

“First, we must find a way to mend the hole in the sky; only then can we cut off the enemy’s retreat,” said Jieyin, aware that Sanqing’s spirit was shattered by the Holy Mother’s death, yet recognizing there was no time to grieve.

The Weak Waters were still pouring down from the heavens. If left unchecked, the entire primordial world would be ruined.

“Let this task fall to Fellow Daoist Nuwa. As for the black dragon, that will be left to Sanqing. Those Weak Waters still spreading in all directions—there is no good solution for them,” said the Grand Supreme Elder Lord, finally shaking free from his grief. If they did not act, all that awaited them was annihilation.

“The Weak Waters can be resisted, neutralized, and absorbed using the ashes of plants aged over ten thousand years,” came a voice by Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti—a phantom presence exuding the aura of a sovereign, commanding both awe and respect.

Apart from the Dao Ancestor Hongjun, only Houtu, who had transformed herself into the Netherworld, possessed such a presence. This was none other than Empress Houtu herself. She knew that Tongtian’s elder sister, the Holy Mother of Primordials, had just perished. As the true heirs of Pangu, Sanqing could not afford to fall into despair; thus, Houtu had come to lend her strength.

Having merged with the primordial land, Houtu and her Wu tribe could not cultivate primordial spirits, but the Great Dao, in its benevolence, preserved her essence and bestowed upon her a boundless pure energy, allowing her to practice the art of primordial spirit cultivation. She could not remain in the world for long, or her power would be depleted and her essence gravely harmed.

Meanwhile, the Queen Mother of the West of Kunlun Mountain, the Lord Zhulong of the East Sea, Leize the God of Thunder, the King of the East, Zhenyuanzi, the Old Ancestor of the Nether River, Kunpeng, the Daoist Burning Lamp, and other mighty beings of the primordial world all manifested, heading to Buzhou Mountain to confront the black dragon.

Suddenly, Tongtian stood up and addressed the assembly: “I know what materials are needed to mend the heavens. My sister told me before her final moments. What we lack now is the Five-Colored Stone, and the furnace to refine it—Nuwa’s very own cauldron, which she once used to create the human race.”

By now, all the great powers of the primordial world had arrived. Zhenyuanzi asked, “Where are these Five-Colored Stones?”

“They are on Mount Tiantai, by the shore of the East Sea. Friend Zhulong, I must trouble you with this task,” Tongtian replied.

The Five-Colored Stones on Mount Tiantai were, in fact, fragments of the very egg that had nurtured Pangu. The Holy Mother of Primordials, having been born of one of the largest pieces, naturally had a connection to these fragments, and it was this connection that provided the answer to their crisis.

“Let us act separately. Jieyin, Zhunti, and Zhenyuanzi, I ask you to restrain the spread of the Weak Waters. Nuwa, return for the mending catalyst. Kunpeng and Zhulong, go retrieve the Five-Colored Stones,” the Grand Supreme Elder Lord commanded, knowing how urgent the situation was. There could be no hesitation; disaster must be met head-on.

“What are the three of you planning to do?” asked Kunpeng, the demon master, who had remained silent until now. He could not suppress a hint of resentment at the Elder Lord’s commanding presence.

“We are going to avenge the Holy Mother,” replied Yuanshi Tianzun, who grieved most for the Holy Mother’s death. Upon hearing Kunpeng’s question, he rose and addressed him directly.

“Yes, the black dragon’s retribution is at hand!” Tongtian’s eyes were bloodshot as he spoke with grim determination.

The others all turned to look at Kunpeng. None of them held any fondness for him—he was despised for having gone easy on the Wu tribe during the great war with the demons, and everyone knew he had done so merely to obtain the River Diagram and Luo Book from Emperor Jun.

Everyone now hurried to their assigned tasks under the Elder Lord’s direction, the power of unity revealing itself in their coordinated efforts.

At the rift in Buzhou Mountain, the black dragon watched the gathering of mighty beings below with cold eyes, thinking, “Let me see who can hold me back!” With that, he charged toward Sanqing.

Enemies meeting face to face, Sanqing’s eyes burned with hatred. Without hesitation, they attacked. The Grand Supreme Elder Lord stepped onto a diagram, innate pure energy surging from the fish’s eye within and sweeping toward the black dragon. This was the Taiji Diagram itself. The black dragon, being a spirit of innate turbid energy, feared only this pure energy. Were the Elder Lord to release turbid energy instead, it would only nourish the dragon.

Yuanshi Tianzun held a banner, while another Daoist wielded the Primordial Box. The banner, of course, was the Pangu Banner—a formidable weapon. With a mere turn, countless streams of chaotic sword energy shot forth like arrows toward the black dragon.

Tongtian, even more ruthless, used his Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation to seal the innate turbid energy erupting from below Buzhou Mountain, cutting off the dragon’s retreat. His good corpse, Xuandaozi, presided over the formation as Tongtian himself, sword in hand, soared toward the black dragon.

Without the support of innate turbid energy, the black dragon’s strength ebbed with every bit of power spent. Even so, his source of power was not completely severed.

For Tongtian had forgotten the Weak Waters still falling from the sky. These were waters of the Nine Springs, and the Netherworld was filled with souls lost in the great war. The Netherworld was overwhelmed; every soul cycled through reincarnation added to its fortune, and the waters of the Nine Springs, as a part of the Netherworld, were imbued with merit. When these meritorious Weak Waters fell to earth, they fused with the innate turbid energy underground!

These Weak Waters possessed terrible corrosive power, and their spread across the land was vast. The Netherworld was suffering, unable to receive the return of Nine Springs’ waters to cleanse the souls. Soon, it would be crammed full of wayward spirits.

This was not merely a struggle between Sanqing and the turbid black dragon; it was about the fate of the entire primordial world. Without new life, the world’s end was nigh.

Confronted by Sanqing’s assault, the black dragon betrayed no hint of panic—he responded calmly. With a wave of his hand, tiny droplets emerged from the Weak Waters below his feet, forming a dense mist that shielded him.

Tongtian, having narrowly evaded the dragon’s attack and about to close in, suddenly realized his surroundings had changed. The black dragon was nowhere to be seen; nothing was visible.

The air was thick with the mist of Weak Water. Once it touched a primordial spirit, it would corrode it, with no way to dispel the taint.

Tongtian could only struggle to maintain his power in this watery domain. He had once thought his Golden Immortal body could easily withstand such Weak Water, but to his shock, the black dragon infused the mist with his own innate turbid energy, making it even more deadly. Even the body of a Golden Immortal could suffer grievous harm if caught off guard by this mixture.

Outside the mist, the Elder Lord and Yuanshi Tianzun were anxious—their attacks vanished without a trace upon entering the fog. What was happening? Their brother was inside, his fate unknown, and they were wracked with worry.

Inside, the black dragon was far from idle. He poured more turbid energy into the Weak Waters at his feet, directing them to fire shafts of water at the Elder Lord and Yuanshi Tianzun above. The two dodged, angered—were they not Sanqing? How had they been driven to such a desperate state?

Just then, a shout rang out: “Curse you! If this is how you want it, I’ll kill you myself!” The black dragon roared, commanding countless streams of Weak Water to rain down upon Tongtian inside the mist.

The Elder Lord and Yuanshi Tianzun cried out, “Tongtian!”

The mist slowly dissipated, revealing Tongtian, the colored clouds beneath his feet vanished, his body tumbling from the heights of the clouds.