Grand Finale,Obtaining Dao

"GRAHHHHH!"

Luohu felt the impact of splattering flesh. Pieces of scales flew past his face and he was sure he'd shattered Da Hai's physical body. Torn off snake heads, broken fins, pieces of flesh and bone cultivated by Da Hai's body technique hung in the void. A sea of blood basically blinded Luohu, but he could feel the vitality of the other great immortal fall.

Just as well, a severed snake head's fangs pierced into Luohu's left arm. It's reptilian eyes still glaring despite being severed by the spear. Luohu starred into those eyes with something akin to fear. He could not stop his arm from peeling away from its socket. Mentally, he commanded the God Killing Spear to turn around and destroy that irksome head.

Needless to say, he was gaining an extreme distaste for snakes. With Da Hai falling, himself missing arms, he could not properly wield the God Killing Spear anymore. He could sense the Heavenly Dao and other individuals approaching him.

Ominous clouds already manifested. The Dao's of the Chaos Godfiends mobilised by the Heavenly Dao made their presence known. The will of heaven rumbled with thunder. Across it, myriad bridges leading to a high palace manifested containing enormous presences.

Light images of people long since passed appeared sitting in a lotus position within the palace. The Chaos Godfiends of old appeared lifeless in their serenity. When heaven demanded, a single individual drifted to the front.

Luohu growled at the sight of him. Though it was a man he'd not held hatred against in the beginning, he'd grown to despise him for what he represented in his current predicament. The light image created by the Heavenly Dao was that of Huoyun, the God of the Five Elements.

The light image of Huoyun was not the real Huoyun. It was a projection of his Dao, a memory of its creator embedded just as all other Daos within the core of the Primitive World. It opened it's eyes heartlessly.

It was then that the shine of Five Coloured Treasure Light broke through towards the weak Luohu.

It's brilliant shone was unavoidable for him. The technique still being developed by Huoyun when the civilization fell, the light that could potentially sever a treasure's bond with its owner. Luohu was horrified to find his mental connection with he spear be jammed. It didn't break, but he'd have a tremendously hard time wielding it. He dreaded what it'll be like if it could fully split him from his treasure.

However, rays of light now flew towards him as the Heavenly Dao took the initiative to act. Wangshu, Yang Mei, Zulong, Qi An, even lesser cultivators watching from the distance.

'No time, I have to flee…'

Luohu gritted his teeth and roared towards the fabric of reality. He could feel the Chaos Sea beyond and made an intelligent move to tear apart the walls of the Primitive World. In ripples of lightning, the void between realms was torn apart just like the Great Wilderness, exposing the Chaos Sea to the Primitive World's interior.

The consequences were even more dire for beings below the Golden Immortal realm. No one bothered to calculate how many would die as a side affect from this act alone. Though it seemed even the Heavenly Dao did not care for this development.

Then spacetime warped around Luohu, this time from six directions and Luohu felt anger followed by a hint of despair. Expressive heads stacked atop one another emerged to chain up the escape route Luohu wished to use.

"Hundun, what is the meaning of this?" He called out again. "Why do you betray me?"

On the other side of the rift, Hundun manifested in his true form. His faceless head tilted to one side while his six limbs were relaxed.

"Betrayal? That implies I was ever loyal," he said calmly. "Don't you remember? I agreed to work for you. Never said anything about giving my heart to you."

"What?"

"Do you not remember your own mantra? Everything is valid in order to obtain the Dao."

"The code of us godfiends?" Luohu frowned but couldn't understand how this would benefit Hundun's path. He made that same question known.

In the distance, others watched this interaction. Hundun calmly raised a single hand to broadcast an image of an old devil. Luohu and Hundun both recognized this image. It not an alive devil, but a ghost one.

"Emperor Rippling Reflection?"

"Right, my clone turned avatar," Hundun nonchalantly explained. "Well actually still a clone considering he has autonomy.

"You know Luohu, it's so convenient for to cultivate in the way you did. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm nowhere near as talented or intelligent as you. Cultivating Wuji in reverse was truly ingenious.

"I must thank you as well for setting up the devil system. It's hierarchical nature and it's ownership over its users. Made my path a lot more clear.

"A long time ago, I entered a piece of me into your system. Cultivate again from scratch and obtain the Dao inside the Devilish Dao. A young devil named Xinmo," Hundun said in a nostalgic tone. "It took a long time to make things work. Sometimes I even had to force things to progress. You never did like getting off your ass or going down the mountain."

"You…" Luohu grew so angry he could vomit blood. Despite his injured state, he was still the great Devil Ancestor. He made his status known by releasing his Dao fruit again.

He and he alone commanded all devils. He was the be all end all of the Devilish Dao. It's immense presence pulsated through him as he worked to empower himself again to crush Hundun. Unlike him, Hundun did not commit the act of self immolation.

However, a funny thing took place. His manifested Dao did not reach back to him. It spun in all its glory, a universe of devils. The grand authority of all things devil then detached itself from his grasp. The power that made him an immortal, a third order celestial lifeform on the road to full enlightenment simply ignored him.

"Obey me! I am your master," he said. But he could only watched helplessly as Hundun shook his head. Instead, he watched as the complex concepts of his Dao emerged from Hundun's body. It was like he was witnessing himself at his prime.

The mental image became a demon in his mind. One that he noticed resembled a cross between Da Hai and Hundun. Gazing up, he saw Hundun wagging a finger at him.

He felt incredibly weak all of a sudden. Even the act of burning his Nascent Soul became pointless now as he struggled to put forth any power. His muscles loosened and he could only contemplate his situation.

Luohu widened his eyes in realization. "All you then. This war, your performance just then. Beneath my nose all this time…hack!"

SPLURCH!

From Luohu's back, his own God Killing Spear pierced through his chest. Da Hai's cold breath chilled Luohu's back. The sea god did not look healthy at all, half his face was gone and his entire right side was missing. His one eye drifted from Luohu to Hundun and back to Luohu.

"Still alive?"

"It takes a little more then what you managed to kill me," Da Hai said coldly. A snake head rose from his back holding a heavily damaged Heavenly Cloud Gathering Sword. Da Hai grinned with whatever face he had left before jamming the blade through the front of Luohu's chest.

Chaotic Sword qi channeled through Luohu's body like the flow of blood within a human. Except it caused him an immense amount of pain. Da Hai refused to use enough to disintegrate him, only to torture the devil until he inevitably gives out.

Hundun leaned closer at this scene. "What a tragedy, someone so talented falls just like that. The cultivation world is truly a cruel place."

In the distance, shielded by the Heavenly Dao. Hongjun appeared to be meditating. He was also listening as well as lamenting his foolish former friend's fate. If only he'd been obedient.

"The fuck you mumbling about?" Da Hai asked.

"Just lamenting the fate of a colleague. Well, my greatest benefactor that is." Hundun lifted his hand and a Dao fruit appeared, his new Dao fruit that he cultivated independently from the one trapped in the Primitive World's core.

In another hand, Luohu's Dao fruit appeared. Much to Da Hai's confusion, Luohu's grim lamentation, the Heavenly Dao's confusion, and a crossed legged Hongjun's realization. The old godfiend stood a great distance away beneath shining purple light and finally understood what Hundun wanted.

The devils placed under Hundun's protection did not know how to feel. Impressed? Angry? Betrayed? Satisfied by Luohu's comeuppance?

"The Devilish Dao is hierarchical, the Devil Ancestor stands at the top in command of that Dao."

Hundun explained while both Daos entered his body. Inside, they seemingly began melding as one. A Dao that embodied that existence of all things alongside a Dao that contained the original monochromatic single primordial state. Only a slight factor was missing, else it'll look exactly as the Grand Dao should.

"In this war, Luohu lost the legend of his invincibility. He lost the support of his allies. And finally he betrayed the support of his own people. With me having back door access by entering his school, it made it all the easier to wrestle this Dao away."

Da Hai frowned at Hundun's explanation. "So you stole his work just as he stole everyone else's. how devilish."

"I am one," Hundun said. "As a godfiend, I am Hundun. But as a devil, I was born Xinmo titled Rippling Reflections upon ascension to emperor hood. Haven't used my actual daoist title in a very long time though.

"Heart Devil."

Da Hai's eyes widened into discs. He tilted his injured head towards a speechless Luohu. "You and I both know the significance of that name right. The demon of Luohu's heart taking over. Hehe, how pathetic of you Luohu."

"I…" Luohu felt the last strands of his Dao leaving him. He couldn't believe what was happening, refused to believe. It had to be a nightmare.

The Devil Ancestor felt incredibly unwilling. Tinges of regret emanated from his psyche. Mot regret about how he'd lived his life, but mistakes that in hindsight cascaded into his current situation. The little innate god named Da Hai he'd laughed at. Him choosing to personally end Huoyun instead of leaving him to Hongjun. Approaching Hundun to convince him of Shenni's madness. That night on the beach with Da Hai.

But the determination to live carried on. Hundun basically confirmed himself to be the root cause of the tribulation, the key factor that lead to the event that got Da Hai's beloved second disciple killed. Da Hai was extremely one track minded about revenge, he could use that.

"Did…did you…not hear?" He said between heavy breaths. The weapons impaling him caused him tremendous pain, especially the broken sword. "Hear what he did? He made this war happen. He…he manipulated your dis…disciple into war. Their deaths…my hands and his."\

Just one moment, one small chance. He was already in the Chaos Sea anyway. If Da Hai starts fighting Hundun now, he could slip through.

"I heard," Da Hai said with a grim expression. He proceeded to push his sword in deeper causing Luohu to howl in pain.

"You still forced Qinglong's hand."

Luohu's face turned ugly.

Da Hai chuckled at his horrid expression. He let go of both weapons and placed a palm softly on Luohu's head. The image of Huoyun flashed across his mind. Not the light image that the Heavenly Dao propagated, that one he desparately ignored else he might fly into a rage. The real Huoyun he so cherished even after all these years.

He disintegrated Luohu with nary a protest.

…

…

…

THOOM!

Just then, a massive explosion of light emanated from the heart of the Primitive World. The Heavenly Dao dispelled the Four Symbols feeling no need to keep them any longer. The denizens around the world all suddenly felt an enormous presence unlike anything they'd ever witnessed.

"Hm?"

"What is this?"

But Da Hai more then anyone recognized this feeling. It was the same feeling as he'd felt when he encountered Shiva and Vishnu. A grand presence that was akin to an omnipotent god. Even Limitless Supreme Chaos Immortals felt small.

At once, he thought Hundun had done it. It made sense as he merged his Dao that had also reached the primordial blank slate with the Devilish Dao that contained myriad transformations. But Hundun was only standing there without changing.

He double checked Hundun, but saw that he was just as shocked as he. Both of them, glanced around but only saw the receding form of the Heavenly Dao. Yet the titanic presence was ever growing, far surpassing anything they'd ever fought before. It was ancient, wise, potent, mighty, and above all else, it was transcendent.

From nothing was the state of one. One divides into two becoming the dual extremities. Both shifting into each other becoming three. Three begets all things. Da Hai heard Pangu's words again, he also felt Pangu again.

In the distance, both he and Hundun witnessed the standing of an archaic nearly nude hairy giant wearing nothing but a loincloth. The ancient figure responsible for creating the Primitive World was no longer a Limitless Supreme Chaos Immortal yet to step on to the supreme ultimate throne, he was now on the throne fully embracing the limitless ultimate.

"Master, what am I seeing?" Zulong reached Da Hai first. But any thought was his were captured by the extraordinary sight before him.

Uncountable mortals were dying, second order celestial lifeforms were torn apart by the Chaos Sea. Even weak third order celestial lifeforms could not withstand the backlash of the Great Wilderness' collapse and perished throughout the Primitive World. Even admits all this chaos, the Dragon Soveriegn could not take his eyes off of 'Pangu'. He felt as if he were going insane.

"Dao realm," someone whispered. It was the only logical answer.

"Pangu great father god," another proclaimed.

All the dragons agreed, their bloodline originating from Pangu's yang qi. The phoenixes agreed as their bloodline originated from Pangu's yin qi. All kinds of post natal life forms felt their blood call out to their creator. While many people continued nodding along, the godfiends suddenly shook their heads.

"No," Da Hai said. His single eye glared hatefully though the image of Pangu. The giant appeared serene, not sign of its monstrously battle obsessed nature. It may appear like a dirty hairy naked man, but there was a regality to him that just seemed wrong.

Wangshu teleported to Da Hai's side and crossed her arms. She was born from a tree that was born from Pangu's eye but had witnessed the giant herself in her early days. Even if her bloodline told her it was Pangu, she felt it was wrong.

Simultaneously, Hundun and Yang Mei both shook their heads. The phantom pain of the axe striking them was still fresh. But they could both tell that the Pangu before them invoked none of that traumatic memory.

"Hongjun," Da Hai said slowly.

'Pangu' smiled, he clasped his hands and bowed. Then that image faded from view leaving a simple purple robed man. He appeared neither big nor small, his presence archaic and new. He was so perfect that no aura was emitted, leaving no distinction between he and a common man.

Yet a single micro gesture could send all existence into frenzy.

All hail!

Dao Ancestor Hongjun