Looking back, it was all like a fairyland.

If the times fail, they will completely exit the stage.

It was still the same ancient temple on the green hill, still the same small shrine, and still the two dozing young monks. Nearly a hundred years had passed, yet the faces of these two young monks bore no trace of the passage of time. They slept soundly, leaning against the doorway, the thump-thump-thump of wooden fishes pounding in their ears.

Suddenly, the two little faces wrinkled in their sleep, and then their bodies shook and they woke up in shock.

The two cried out as they pushed open the door of the small temple: "Oh no! Oh no! A great calamity! A great calamity!! Master, we..."

Before they could finish their words, their voices abruptly stopped. The Buddha statue, revered for generations, opened its eyes, its pupils a golden lotus mark, gazing at the two. Their master was nowhere to be seen. The Buddha statue—no, this very Buddha—radiated a gentle golden light.

But the moment they saw this Buddha, their frightened expressions calmed down.

"Empty, lost, still not awake."

The Buddha's words fell upon the two novices, and golden lines spread from their necks to their bodies. It was Sanskrit, the Great Space and Great Thought Sutra.

Empty, just a dream.

When lost, the shadows chase across thousands of mountains; after enlightenment, the stars flow backwards.

This body was not created by me, I will cross the ocean as fate dictates.

I opened my mouth to say something but had forgotten it, as the breeze blew through the scripture hall.

Yes, yes, don’t forget, don’t forget.

Praise be to the Wonderful Void Tathagata. The two novice monks clasped their hands together, and then a golden light led them to the unity of the fruition, the Buddha returned, and ascended to the heavens.

.........

In a cave hidden by a large formation, an old man sat cross-legged in mid-air, holding a brush stained with golden-red dye, and under his feet was a scroll of alchemy book dozens of meters long, with various characters densely written on it.

Suddenly, the old man looked up and instinctively placed the final stroke on the inscription. In an instant, the characters leaped and danced, shouting in unison: "War! War! War! War!"

Upon seeing this, the old man laughed heartily and exclaimed, "Good! Then let's fight!"

The old man jumped up from mid-air, and tens of thousands of characters shot up into the sky, continuously forming large formations.

"War is back in place! The God-Slaying Array!"

"A thousand years of preparation, now is the time to witness it!"

"Up! Up! Up!"

.........

On a tranquil lake, an old man held a fishing rod, angling in the center. Beneath the surface, two black and white carp swam. A young man, arms folded, stood behind the old man.

Master...

"This is the tenth time already. How many times have I told you? Calm down, don't be impatient. Look, even these fish have been scared away by you, you rebellious student!"

"Master, you need to consider the occasion when you're fishing. What time of day is this?"

"You're such a chatterbox," Shen Qiu said, displeased.

But just then, the fishing rod in my hand twitched. Without me noticing, the two black and white carp had simultaneously taken the bait. Shen Qiu then slowly said, "See, isn't it time?"

In an instant, two carp transformed into yin and yang energies, swirling around Shen Qiu: "When yin and yang meet, all things are born; in the beginning of heaven and earth, the Dao was perfected."

"Lin Yuan, let's go!"

As he spoke, the yin and yang energies converged in his palms, merging continuously. Shen Qiu squeezed them with all his might, and within a breath, the light of creation burst forth from his hands, reflecting an entire world. At this moment, Shen Qiu's aura continued to rise, breaking free from its shackles.

The day of enlightenment is the day to slay gods!

.........

At the same time, in Cangze Mountain.

A man dressed as a woodcutter walked the mountains again and again, touching every inch of the ground. Beasts often patrolled his side. The woodcutter looked up at the sky, and above that curtain was the battlefield. He simply watched, taking no action. He knew it wasn't the right time yet. He waited for an opportunity, a chance to join the fight.

At this time.

Above the sky, beyond the reach of time, a massive seal streaked across the battlefield like a meteor. The pupils of the primordial deities constricted, and they all tried to stop it, but were smashed back several miles by the seal, coughing up blood.

The speed of the seal did not slow down, it penetrated the curtain of the world and landed in front of Taihong.

A brilliant sound rang in my ears.

"By imperial decree, Tai Hong, the mountain god of Cangze Mountain, shall immediately attack Heaven."

Taihong respectfully obeys the Holy King's decree.

The moment he took over the seal, the woodcutter's appearance changed. Dressed in a dark robe, he became the god of Cangze Mountain and the Lord of the Underworld.

At the deepest point of Cangze Mountain, a bronze gate quietly opened. Ghostly energy swept through, beasts roared, and countless ghosts were released. Taihong had listened to Su Mu's advice, gradually deepening his faith and building the underworld, and the results have been remarkable so far.

He cooperated with Yue Lian and other ghost kings to create the current underworld based on the power of incense, which was subservient to all ghosts. And at this moment, the door separating Yin and Yang was opened.

The reason was just because of an imperial decree.

Although the ghost path is only just beginning to emerge in this era, and is not as strong as humans, demons, gods, immortals, Buddhas, and devils, the initial emergence of a path under such circumstances is still considered special. Although the power is not great, it can still contribute a lot.

Taihong rides a giant tiger, leads hundreds of beasts, and thousands of ghosts to attack the sky.

More and more powerful independent cultivators responded to the challenge. The two sides wrestled endlessly in the heavens. This war rippled through the present, past, and future. It could be said that the scale of this war had completely surpassed previous imaginations.

Not only did the people of this era discover that they were not fighting alone. The world harbored far more powerful beings than they had imagined. Even more surprisingly, some of the returning primordial deities turned against them. This was something the beings of this era could not comprehend, yet it had happened nonetheless.

The moves made in the past are now proving effective. Whether it's Kang and his group, Taotie, Siming, or a portion of the innate gods, whether it's because of their initial plans, their differing paths from Dijun's, or simply because they feel this era has a greater chance of success, for various reasons, this small group of innate gods has chosen to stand on the opposite side of the innate gods.

It wasn't exactly a case of turning against each other. Because if there weren't profits to be made, the primordial deities couldn't simply be considered a single race. They each had their own paths, and their relationships weren't as united as this being imagined.

If it weren't for the purpose of returning to the stage of history, the strength of one person alone would not be enough, and cooperation would be necessary, otherwise they would probably be fighting each other by now.

But for whatever reason.

With the addition of these primordial deities, the battlefield changed dramatically once more. The heavens were shattered, and the order of time was disrupted. The world outside had returned to chaos. Yet, even so, the situation remained dire. The primordial deities' resources were unmatched by anything of this era. Their ancient weapons could easily tear apart immortal formations, Buddhist light, and demonic forms.