The Grand Cataclysm

Although most Divine Clans physically and mentally matured at the same speed as mortals, they didn't officially reach adulthood before 300. Without external help, three-hundred years was the time it took for innate gifts such as bloodlines and other inborn traits to express themselves fully. Therefore, the 33 Heavens also separated generations by 300 years. And at 3,600, celestials were no longer treated as members of the junior generation.

Chosen represented the most outstanding talents of a given generation. There typically weren't over three members per generation, or 36 in total. Soran, for example, was the number one of the Golden Crow clan's 12th generation, while the two with him ranked second and third. If they took Baraw's words at face value, the World Devouring Serpent clan's 12th generation alone...had 20 others more gifted than him. To the celestials' morale, this was an unprecedented blow.

The juniors aside, their elders who watched the scene play out from a distance, couldn't restrain their shock. With such an obscene gap, how could they compete with the Serpent Domain? At any time, Silav could order an invasion and overrun the 33 Heavens with an irresistible momentum. Perhaps, without the Golden Crow Ancestor's deterrence, their houses would have already collapsed!

The effect of his words on the celestials caused no ripple in Baraw's heart. The truth spoke for itself. Just like a sane mortal man wouldn't gloat at a crushed or escaping flea, a chosen of the Devouring Serpent clan had no time to waste delighting in those celestials' fright. Harun's gold and purple eyes studied Baraw with scrutiny, and he gave a nod of approval, "A fine piece of meat!" Naturally, Baraw couldn't hear those words, or his composure wouldn't survive them.

"You may rise, all of you. However, this war will enable me to establish my prestige as the new Serpent Emperor and true Son of Heaven. If I need you to fight it for me, how can I live up to that illustrious name? I have an understanding with Silav. Unless absolutely necessary, you shouldn't intervene," Harun said. He came to harvest resources, they came to slaughter. Once he allowed the Serpent Chosen to join the battle, they would reduce his prized resources to ashes within seconds.

How could he let that pass?

Having received express orders from Silav, Baraw nodded in approval. As per their pledge, they came to provide support. Harun rejecting them wasn't their fault, and if he...lost inadvertently, as his vassals, they would naturally avenge him and save the eyes. With another polite bow, the seven chosen retreated—unaware that in the shadows, a riveting assassin hid, one hand clasped around a chained sword—ready to strike.

Jiyan's concealment relied on a twelve-star Daoist spell: the Tenebrous Form Secret—learned from the Chained Sword Art and enabling her to hide from all below the mid Ascending God stage. Better, on pure battle power, with her fifth-layer Chained Sword Art, she could meet a first-level Ascending God as an equal—a terrible concept. However, Baraw wasn't the run-of-the-mill God, either. With his eyes' abilities unknown, and two Divine Powers at his command, taking him head on made no sense. Only in the heat of Harun's battle could she seize the opportunity to deal Baraw a fatal blow—and behead the rest.

Knowing that the Serpent Domain's experts wouldn't join the battle early, the celestials' eyes focused on Harun, and his on them. More precisely, Harun located the 3,000 mortal-born celestials in the lot.

That the Highest Heaven housed 3,000 mortal-born celestials below 200 wasn't out of his expectations. But how far could their cultivation go? Those 3,000 stood between the first and third level of the Celestial Kin Realm—strong by numbers—but individually negligible.

Tension weighed on the plaza, with neither side making the first moves. The 12,000 were neither friends nor allies. Barring a few exceptions, all came as competitors—yearning for the glory of snatching the Sovereign Pupils. And with the 33 Heavens' eyes locked on him, Harun stepped forward, slapping the right side of his chest to summon a two-mouth gourd. The move broke the silence, and like an erupting volcano, the celestials summoned their treasures and raced toward Harun. Two of the Golden Crow clansmen wanted to dive in, but Soran raised his hand, stopping them.

"Let's wait and see. Being the first to get the eyes is not the main issue. How to leave this place with them is what we should focus on," he said, and the two halted their moves. Yet, those weren't his true concerns. Since he heard of Harun's challenge, Soran always had one question in mind, and saw something others didn't. However, once he voiced those concerns, his father would never send him here.

The battle thus began.

…

Opening his gourd's left mouthpiece, Harun released an alcoholic aroma akin to dandelion wine and took a casual sip. Instantly, his skin flushed red, veins bulged across his form, and though his muscles' size didn't increase, their density multiplied at an alarming speed. Harun's heart rate shot up, his arms morphed into the hulky, scaled, clawed limbs of a Devouring Serpent, and he hurtled at his assailants with explosive speed.

BANG!

Crouching like a feral creature, Harun hacked at his foes' legs, tearing off several with each swipe. Tricked by the Incarnation Seed, those celestials believed Harun no different from a fourth-level Celestial Kin—dreading his Divine Power, only.

Most of the noble and hegemonic clans didn't dare send their prized juniors and prodigies into this fight, using the expendable en masse to overwhelm whatever trick Harun had in store. After all, a celestial's Heavenly Qi was limited. Once he started unleashing his Daoist spells, martial skills and divine abilities, it wouldn't be long before he ran out of juice and was forced to reveal his trump card.

Alas, they misunderstood what they were dealing with. A glittering golden mist poured out of Harun's pores, and while cleaving a bloody road through the celestials' charge, he used his Divine Sense to control the gourd, pull off the second mouthpiece, and take another gulp of his poisoned wine.

The celestials' gazes had barely caught his trail that Harun halted his steps, sent the celestials too close by flying with whirling kicks, and spat the wine he just drank at the dozens of people surrounding him. Celestial Kins couldn't fly in Heaven, meaning that the Golden Crow and Serpent Chosen aside, only winged beasts in their true form could use the air to their advantage. A small circle of celestials thus formed around Harun, drastically reducing how many could attack him at a given time.

Confused by his inexplicable moves, the celestials had a one second delay in their response. Harun used that delay to drink and spit his poisoned wine at his closest foes, then leaped into another group to repeat the process. By the time the celestials regained their wits, and focused their numerous Divine Senses on Harun, the poison kicked in, and the gourd's aroma spread throughout the troops—connecting through the several groups Harun "marked."

The screams of those unfortunate targets of Harun's claws drew no attention, for a flabbergasting scene occurred. The eyes of those celestials marked by Harun's poisoned wine glazed over. Their lips curled—flashing witless smiles, and to their partners of misfortune's awe, they broke into a frenetic dance.

"Hahahahaha! Hahahaha!"

Their laughs grew louder, but worse, those that smelled the spreading aroma could feel their limbs tremble, and even move without consent. Harun paused, taking another gulp from the left mouthpiece, forcing his physical abilities to go beyond what his body could tolerate, while numbing him to the current damages.

The frantic, dancing celestials turned away from Harun, and with joy written all over their faces, smashed their treasures and weapons on the still sane celestials.

"Idiot, snap out of it! We're on the same side!" A sixth-level Celestial Kin screamed at his stronger friend, but was royally ignored, and rewarded by an ax breaking through his skull. The Dancing Plague, one of Harun's masterpieces, and the tool he once used to wipe out his Erdewan clan, was thus unleashed on the celestials.

"That poison most likely spreads through scent. By spraying it on them, he just forces the scent on their noses. They are doomed. Deaden your sense of smell and nose. Though all three of us possess Celestial Guard cultivation bases, we can't be too careful," Soran told his partners, and the two obeyed him.

He wasn't incorrect. Granted, the brain was the target of Harun's Dancing Plague poison, if the victim didn't take the scent in, they couldn't suffer the effects. But in the action's chaos, assaulted by friends and makeshift allies, and lacking in practical experience, most of the celestials got dazed—unable to respond fast enough. Harun's wine rampage thus carried on unimpeded.

Among the spectators, Soran was one of the first to realize that the gourd was nothing less than Harun's Natal Treasure. Unlike other treasures and weapons, Natal Treasures were refined early in the cultivation path and scaled with their owner. Many thus considered them the strongest weapon at a celestial's disposal.

Since Harun had already released his Natal Treasure, some believed that he didn't have many other tricks up his sleeve. But Soran remembered his worry, and swept the chaotic celestial troops, seeking the mortal-born inside. Unlike Harun, he couldn't sense the state of a Dao Foundation. Hell, his own wasn't complete. And it was then that it hit him. Soran swept his peers, the Serpent Chosen, the celestials, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Why precisely 200 years? Because after we break through the Celestial Guard Realm, and use our clan formations and Totems to incarnate ourselves in the Mortal World, 200 years is the average time it takes prodigies to complete their Dao Foundation. Meaning that on the scene, the unreliable mortal-born aside, there isn't one person…with a Dao Foundation! And if a skill exists that can..."

Alarmed, Soran turned, considering an immediate retreat. But Baraw's barrier stood strong, unbreakable by one of his level. In their Cosmic Pouch, the three Golden Crow Clansmen held teleportation tokens. But the trigger time ensured that, as long as the enemies had their eyes on them, they could still deal them serious damage.

"Summon your Totems and attack with your strongest moves, now! If I'm correct, he's waiting for something before he makes his true move. Attack him now, then activate your teleportation tokens, we will use that lapse to get the hell out of here!" Soran bellowed in a mental message that threw his friends into confusion.

Instantly, they questioned his leadership, something they never did beforehand. However, attacking was still to their taste, so they didn't disobey it all.

As the Dancing Plague Spread, driving celestial against celestial, bright golden flames surged from the three Golden Crow clansmen, and two 100 meters tall Golden Crows appeared at each of their backs—an extra one for Soran.

"Divine Power: Solar Desolation!"

Three golden suns appeared above the crows, shining at their brightest as if about to release a supernova.

All three strikes focused on Harun, startling all spectators with the sudden change. It was almost as if the Golden Crows no longer cared for the eyes and were ready to burn Harun to ashes!

But as confusion flared in all's eyes, Rajans' included, Harun appeared before Soran—flashing a fiendish grin!

"Took you long enough."

"Divine Power: Devouring!"

The shadow of a colossal serpent appeared at Harun's back, and the energy released by Soran's Divine Power flew toward him—vanishing in the serpent's maw. Shock stretched Soran's eyes, Rajan's face twisted with rage, the Golden Crow Ancestor's eyes trembled—and Harun broke into a maniacal laugh, letting the Serpent refine and transmit Soran's Divine Power...to him!

With the same ease, the Serpent devoured the Divine Power of Soran's peers. Revealing to the ignorant few, the most dreaded attribute of the Devouring, Divine Power.

As long as a World-Devouring Serpent chose to, and didn't have two already, they could refine their foe's Divine Power as their own—and forever become immune to the effects. Robbed of his Divine Power, Soran could never again unleash the Golden Crows' signature skill.

All strength left his body, and Harun's claws sank into his abdomen and neck, holding him in suspension.

"NOW!"

Harun bellowed in a mental message.

Five flying chained swords appeared beside Jiyan, and she emerged from the shadows, hurtling at Baraw with full force!

At the same time, Harun's Yin Soul refined the last of the Extreme Yin Essence and broke the shackles of the Monstrous Beast horde—unleashing eons of suppressed rancor on the 33 Heavens!