Jieyin

The group flew in anxious silence. Zhunti flew at the head with Yi Fei'e only slightly behind him. He already knew that at the slightest sign of betrayal, he would be beheaded. In his heart, he could only sigh at his terrible luck.

Just the mere existence of a cultivator not being part of the Devilish Dao despite being part of the West Continent was unheard of for these outsiders. News from this part of the world had always been scarce due to Luohu's isolationist policy. As such, the fame of a Chaos Immortal like Zhunti was unknown to the dragons, avians, and various other species cultivators following him.

However, Yi Fei'e could vaguely feel that the name was familiar. As if it was mentioned to her before in passing.

The group crossed a route devoid of devil activity. Not only was it battlefields left by previous clashes, much it was now devastated. Mountains had collapsed, forests uprooted, bodies of water long dried, and spiritual roots that acted as natural laylines had been damaged. The spirituality of the West Continent was lowering by the day.

Zhunti glanced at the experts trailing him from the edge of his eye. 'Let them see the consequences of their careless battles,' he thought rather bitterly.

When he was young, not too long ago actually. The West Continent had been a beautiful place. As much as he disliked the hard stance of the Devilish Dao to assimilate all cultivators within the West Continent, they still maintained a sense of peace.

"So who are you exactly?" Di Jun asked out of nowhere. "I remember you claim to be born of the western heaven and earth, and an innate god like me."

"Yes benefactor. I am the connate being nurtured by the Seven Branch Treasure tree. It is a boddhi tree that has existed beneath notice in the West Continent since primeval times."

"Impressive, I was nurtured by the Solar Star in the Starry Skies. Innate god of the west, the devils must've made things hard for you."

"My senior brother and I have always been on the run. Our followers as well."

"Rogue cultivators huh. Why didn't you leave?" It was not Di Jun who said this. It was actually Yi Fei'e who voiced her thoughts. "Since you skilled enough to survive until now, surely you could've escaped the borders."

Zhunti nodded slowly. "Benefactor Fei'e is right. But my senior brother and I cannot bear to leave it. The Devilish Dao has total control over the West Continent, their brutal culture is something we have always found abhorent. In that, your anti-devil alliance and us share common cause. We both seek to end the Devilish Dao."

"How righteous," a cultivator mocked from somewhere in the back.

"We all have our reasons for doing things benefactor," Zhunti said back. "I only want what's best for the west."

Zhunti made a turn and pointed towards a ruined temple on the side of a mountain. The spirituality of this place was not high. No doubt due to some great conflict that damaged this place. However, it didn't seem recent.

Seeing curious gazes from his companions, Zhunti explained to them. "This temple predates my birth by many years. I've heard rumors from locals that it used to house a clan called Roaring Thunder Eagles. Later on, they were conquered and joined the Devilish Dao. I think their new clan compound was…oh"

Whatever Zhunti was gonna say stopped as he suddenly remembered said innate creature clan's compounds being located near the border. Chances are, either the dragons, avians, or East Continent experts had wiped them out by now.

Zhunti turned to bow towards Yi Fei'e. "Sorry for the poor hospitality. But unfortunately, poor monk cannot afford much."

Aside from the ruined temple being quite isolated, there was also a greater sense of stillness surrounding the mountain. It was filled with profound meanings of the Dao that surprised many dragons and avians present. As Yi Fei'e approached, a vague illusion of a green lotus became visible, rotating through all layers of the universe in this localized mountain.

Just by nearing it, one could feel that the sturdiness of this lotus illusion was astronomically high. Even Yi Fei'e felt that she couldn't penetrate its defensive properties, at least not in a short time.

"Incredible," an avian Chaos Immortal couldn't help but exclaim. "These properties reminds me of the Xuan Bird clan's patriarch. No it surpasses his abilities."

"My senior brother has been cultivating longer then me. Despite not having reached the end point of his Dao, his abilities are profound even up against Devil Great Emperors," Zhunti boasted. He clamped his palms together and bowed towards the massive lotus.

The sound of fire being lit was heard by all. Small bits of fire converged into a single point that resembled a will-o-wisp. It burned until the outline of a bronze coloured lamp came into reality.

"Randeng comrade," Zhunti greeted. "Please tell senior brother we have guests."

The burning lamp hovered, resembling a guiding light. It moved towards the ruined temple with utmost haste. Soon, a passageway was opened.

The group led by Zhunti and Yi Fei'e entered the ruined temple. Inside, one could see that the old home of the Roaring Thunder Eagles was in severe need of repairs. Collapsed walls were everywhere, not a single statue remained standing, none of the wall paintings had survived.

But when they approached, Yi Fei'e could see numerous small worlds held up on pedestals. They were like display pieces in someone's collection. But inside were lands that contained villages with many mortal people milling about. She didn't know if they were even aware of their situation.

Zhunti walked up to an empty space and raised a new pedestal with his supernatural powers. He placed the piece of land in his own possession on top of it.

"This is quite a collection," Di Jun commented.

"Well there were alot of clashes between you guys," Zhunti replied.

The pale faced Taiyi walked up to a few pedestals and examined the worlds within. He seemed oddly impressed. "The technique is good, barriers incredibly stable, very low chance of these compressed spaces collapsing."

"Benefactors overpraise. I merely use the spell senior brother came up with."

"You think very highly of this senior brother of yours. What's his name?" Di Jun asked curiously. If even Taiyi acknowledges something as impressive, it must be the case. Despite being the elder, Di Jun will not hesitate to say Taiyi was far superior than him.

"Senior brother is called Jieyin. Come lets meet him."

The rest followed him towards the centre of the ruined temple compound. Yi Fei'e followed along flanked by Cinnebar Phoenix. 'Jieyin, the guide huh?' She contemplated the abilities of this man. Zulong may appreciate another powerful ally like him to combat the Devilish Dao.

If she'd learned anything, it's that this third generation of innate gods were insanely talented. Much more so than her senior brother's generation. They may even be better than the first generation, and they weren't even true natives of the Primitive World to begin with.

There, sitting in a lotus position in the ruins of central hall of the ruined temple. A simple man wearing loose clothing sat meditating. His eyes were closed and his head had a squarish face. His hair was short but curly, like snail shells. He was muscular and projected an image of pure tranquility.

It was as if he had reached a state of nirvana. Where he could be unbothered by all things in the world. Just from a glance, Yi Fei'e could tell he was very powerful. Among her crew, not many could match him in terms of mastery.

She doubted Di Jun could handle him. Only Taiyi and herself had a guaranteed chance of defeating him. Of course, this was only from initial conjecture. Yi Fei'e was only guessing from what she could see.

Off to the side, standing with a vastly smaller presence was another man. His cultivation was comparatively low, only around the Golden Immortal level. Around him floated a lit lamp. This was Randeng who worked as an assistant of sorts.

"Hello benefactors, welcome to our refuge."

Jieyin's first words were accompanied by the opening of his eyes. He sounded neither submissive nor aggressive, but there was an undertone of displeasure at the meeting. His immense aura receded as well, causing the weaker Chaos Immortals to visibly relax.

The strong ones hardly noticed the pressure at all. But they still acknowledged Jieyin's high levels of mastery. There was a respect present for him as cultivating as a rogue individual in unfriendly territory must've been difficult.

When Jieyin saw the acknowledgement from this visitors towards his power, he purposefully suppressed himself as a sign of politeness. He concluded that hostilities in this situation would be counterproductive, much like Zhunti. But he was unwilling to bend himself over to accommodate them.

"My junior brother has already informed me of your desire," he said blankly.

"Good, then we can hurry this along," Yi Fei'e interrupted. "Show me to him."

But before any further talks would continue, a tunnel of clouds flowed through from a side area of the ruined temple. The wary figure of an frail man staggered out. Skinny and pale, he did not appear well at all. But the moth fairy was able to recognize Yinglong's distinctive presence.

Being familiar with him for more than ten yuanhui now, she was able to confirm his authenticity at a glance. Though the various avian and seafolk experts following her held an air of suspicion. Neither she nor the dragon elders had any as she approached him.

His appearance caused her to freeze momentarily. Though she recognized him, seeing the patriarch of the Primordial Dragon Clan like this caused her heart to ache. Yinglong chuckled as she placed her slender palm over his chest. A steady flow of immortal qi flowed between them.

"It's no use junior sister," Yinglong said. "My injuries are more then physical or spiritual. I'm afraid recovering to my peak would take years."

"You shouldn't have participated in this invasion in the first place," Yi Fei'e said grimly. "After what happened at Buzhou, you were the worst off aside from…" she dipped her head and apologized for nearly brining up their lineage's sore spot.

Yinglong current state was a clear reflection of his health condition, not a disguise designed to fool others. His presence was weakened to a point where he appeared smaller then a newly ascended Chaos Immortal who's just created their Dao fruit. His own Dao fruit, deep within his body was grey in colour and held none of the majesty of his peak.

To a cultivator in the Chaos Immortal realm, the Dao fruit represented their avenue to power. It was a growing concept that could change the very ways the universe worked, rearranging them to how their wielder perceived the universe should be. Yinglong's injuries extended far beyond his physique, but to his Dao as well.

Thankfully, it had not collapsed which would've thrown the dragon out of Chaos Immortality. Nor had it degraded, thus losing the completion status it had long stood in as was what Da Hai did to Liu Er not long ago. But it's lack of vitality was evident to its potential to fall to either options.

"Greetings your highness," several dragons walked forward, completing ignoring Jieyin and Zhunti to greet Yinglong. "We heard about what happened. That Yuanshi junior is truly dispica…"

"Stop, stop spouting what I already know," Yinglong said steadily. Yi Fei'e offered him support but the second eldest dragon in the world denied her. "Curse that brat his glory hounding arrogance. But what could he or anyone had done to aid me?"

"We it not for these kind fellows. I'd have been left broken at the wastes."

Yinglong shared a nod of acknowledgment with Jieyin, the latter waved a hand to manifest a simple wooden chair. The latter invited him to sit out of both seniority and concern for his health. However, all the dragons found the appearance of the chair to be insulting. The scarred dragon was the first to change the structure of the chair to a grand throne.

Yinglong didn't seem to pay this any mind as he took a seat. Soon, all the Chaos Immortals created seats of their own, none of them deign to speak before Yinglong or Yi Fei'e did. As for the two most important people, Yi Fei'e asked Yinglong for a proper explanation.

Turns out, after Yuanshi had fled, the fight didn't last much longer. Yinglong threw everything he could manage at Hundun, even managing to kill another devil at the Chaos Immortal realm. But Hundun was a creature far beyond their scope to begin with.

If Hundun wanted it, Yinglong would've died in as few as ten clashes. At the final round, he wouldn't even be able to properly defend himself. Yet he didn't kill him.

"Nothing that man does make sense," Yi Fei'e said after hearing the short story. "Thinking back, he could've handled the Four Symbols Divine Beasts on his own, releasing Qiong Qi and Taowu to wreck havoc on our forces. Then he fights master, now he pulls this?"

"Back at Buzhou…" Yinglong contemplated Hundun's position in this war. "He just stopped fighting me after I lost the ability to resist. He wasn't using his full power either. It's too confusing."

Yinglong furthered explained that after his encounter with Hundun, he was found by a passing Zhunti. The multi armed innate god was the one who decided to lend him some kindness, an compassionately brought him to a safe haven. Since then, he'd been mending his injuries himself under their protection.

"Forget it, we should return to eldest senior brother first. Let Houtu check you up. You might not know this since you were conducting espionage, but her healing capabilities are incredible," Yi Fei'e said standing up. "Thank you two fellow daoists for your kindess but we must be gong."

"Yes, we owe you for looking after our patriarch," various dragon elders said. Despite their suspicions, it was undeniable that the two western innate gods had done their clan a great service. It would be improper if they were not properly compensated.

"It was no problem benefactors," Zhunti spoke up for Jieyin. "It was destiny to have encountered senior winged dragon. The karma for aiding senior was repaid when you helped me out of my predicament. Though we poor monks are in need of some protective treasures to aid our efforts in evacuating more people."

That last pit was added rather cheekily by Zhunti, but the dragons did acknowledge it even if they couldn't care less about the reasoning. Jieyin stayed silent the whole way through, not showing a single ounce of emotion.

Yet Yi Fei'e was able to tell that the Chaos Immortal was displeased with the entire meeting. Yieyin blamed the participants of the war for tearing his beautiful homeland apart, that much Yi Fei'e was able to tell if he was anything like Zhunti.

"Why don't you two come with us?" She offered, much to their and her own subordinate's surprise. Though she made it sound like an offer, at the same time, it was one that could not be refused.

Chaos Immortals of all kinds, Great Principle, Primal Origin, especially Primal Zenith, were all great assets. Each of them were mighty figures of their own worth investing in. Hence, Yi Fei'e was not about to just let these two go. This caused Jieyin to visibly frown.

Jieyin narrowed his gaze. "You want us to join your war?"

"You want me, and junior brother Zhunti to fight for you?" Jieyin said slowly. If he did not project an image of tranquility, his rage would've easily been on show. Because of his words, avians and dragons around Yi Fei'e started getting antsy.

"Why does it surprise you? We both share common enemies in the Devilish Dao," Yi Fei'e said. "Your junior brother Zhunti already explained to be your disposition towards this land."

"Then you know how despicable it is for you to ask us to fight for the ones who's destroying this very land as we speak." Jieyin's words were heavy, not just in tone but in the way that released amounts of pressure with every word spoken.

His head turned to meet Yinglong, as if expecting him to speak up. Whereas before he'd acted out of the kindness in his heart, now he regretted bringing Yinglong to shelter. He was already aware of Zhunti being bullied into guiding these people here, that act alone made him unhappy. But the fact that they wished to conscript him into an army that had been wantonly stomping their way through the West Continent made him feel even worse.

The Devilish Dao needed to die. But did the West Continent need to suffer as well? Jieyin could safely say he would rather not side with the anti-devil alliance either.

"Juniors," Yinglong's tired voice called out. "You have both been gracious hosts to me, nursing me at my most dire. My brother is hard at work cleansing the Great Wilderness of the devil filth. Is it not much more prudent to join us in eliminating the greater threat?"

"That's right, does fellow daoist really believe you are in a position to refuse? Did you not see the heavens being torn apart not long ago? How Luohu's act nearly collided the Starry Skies and the Great Wilderness?" A hot headed dragon roared. "Sitting here is the cowards way!"

Randeng who stood out of focus frowned alongside Jieyin. As a minor figure, he was ignored bye everyone. But he openly displayed anger at the way his comrades. were being treated. "Someone has to protect the ones caught in your conflict. My two elder brothers have been hard at work protecting the west as well."

"Since when did a mere Golden Immortal small fry have a right to interrupt?" The same dragon growled. The dragonic pressure released from him became suffocating fro Randeng, his lamp was almost snuffed out.

"Enough Ao Manzun," Yinglong said. The dragon obeyed obediently, receding his aura. But the act alone made Jieyin and Zhunti tense. The former's body began alternate between a golden, and crimson colour.

Zhunti hurriedly appeared at his side. Placing a hand on his shoulder, he whispered into Jieyin's ear. This seemed to calm to elder cultivator who leaned back to take a deep breath. He appeared unsure of something Zhunti said.

"Frankly, you all could potentially turn over to the devils," Yi Fei'e suddenly said. "You're all so desperate to protect the west, who knows where that desperation would lead. I'm thankful for your actions, but I cannot risk malefactors."

Yinglong glared at her out of the corner of his eye. He indicated for her to cease her hard stance but was ignored. While Yi Fei'e did see the two as assets, she also remembered details about the third generation of innate gods Da Hai told them previously.

While she agreed with Zulong that ultimately, such predictions were made of conjectures, lacking detail, already proven false in places, and obviously coloured by oceans of bias. But she did remember the two saints of the west.

While mainstream cultivation followed the path of the celestial immortal, a path originating from the Chaos Godfiends later edited and refined by various denizens of the Primitive World. The two saints of the west created the path Dharma, that was to say Buddhism. Hence, she thought their abilities will be great.

"You leave me with very little choice," Jieyin said. He shared a look with Zhunti before sighing, he wasn't stupid after all. "But please understand I cannot let go of the hatred in my heart for all of your actions."

"Why you…" the dragons and avians present sharpened their gaze. Yi Fei'e held up a hand to stop them.

"Please allow me to vent," Jieyin said towards Yi Fei'e. At these words, the female immortal chuckled. She wordlessly drew her sword, accepting the innate god's challenge. She didn't mind testing his abilities, it'll give her a better idea of how to utilize this asset.

Though the flaring of their cultivation would undoubtedly attract devil attentions, it wasn't like they'll be staying long.

BOOM!

Zhunti watched two clash in his eighteen armed, twenty four headed, golden form. All the pocket universes storing mortal villages were retrieved into his protection. Jieyin had thrown the first blow, a massive palm strike that seemed to clasp all of existence in its depths.

It was Jieyin's strongest move as of current. Unlike Zhunti's attack, which were barrages of palm strikes, Jieyin's were alot more simpler in design.

Yet Yi Fei'e ran her knuckle down her blade, creating eight indentations along its surface. As the blade turned as dark as the night sky, each indentation sectioned off sectors of the starry imagery. Eventually, it reached nine and a profound effect engulfed the blade. She pierced through Jieyin's palm quite easily after that.

"This man's offensive potential is truthfully sub par," she murmured. "But defensively, he's insane." She retracted her blade her blade after sensing Jieyin withdrawing his presence. In the end, she failed to pierce Jieyin's skin despite using incredibly powerful strikes.

"Let's not linger here. Eldest senior brother will want to hear back from me."

…

While Da Hai and Yi Fei'e were having their own encounters. Hongjun walked alongside the Heavenly Dao through the Pangu Temple.

"Cricket," Pangu's decaying voice suddenly said.

"Still alive?" Hongjun was alarmed. But quickly that alarm faded away. It was only a small echo of the creator god.

"What do you…huh, your Dao is…" Pangu's echo was simultaneously dumbfounded yet unsurprised. "Punishment for your overconfidence. Hehe! Story as old as time."

Hongjun grimaced visibly, the Heavenly Dao's faint presence beside him became impatient. The old man gently touched his chest, where a decayed husk of a Dao fruit sat. His time was getting shorter and shorter.

The battle at Buzhou had taken alot from him. His allies, his supposed victory, most importantly, his Dao was heavily damaged by luohu. For all intents and purposes, he'd been crippled.

At such a situation where time was of the essence, he had little choice but to abandon his original plan. He wanted to absorb Pangu's Dao into his own for his comprehension, not use it as his source. Such a deed did disgust him. That Dao would not be his.

He could take some time to heal, but why should he? Should he trust Da Hai to defeat Luohu and restore balance? That fanatic wouldn't listen to a single thing he said. Those too consumed by their own emotions were not proper godfiends in his mind. Too distracted to properly pursue the Dao.

Hongjun waved his hand, dispelling the echo of Pangu. The creator god never even had a chance. One of the oldest beings in existence, extinguished just like that. But perhaps this was a mercy, he would not need to watch what was to come.

"Hai, my friend please show the way," Hongjun bowed respectfully to the invisible presence of heaven.

This made it happy, this was how an ally of the world should be like. It hoped Hongjun would gain the power to fix things soon. Otherwise, if Luohu emerges in tact, its existence will be finished.