The silence that filled the battlefield was, of course, more mental than physical. Still, it did not end there. Xingtian and the other giants tried to rush and crush Xuanyi, but before they could, a miraculous change occurred in front of them.

Right before their very eyes, Chiyou’s fiery skin grew dull, as if cooled. The flowing lines of magma turned to stone, and he shriveled until he resembled a stick. Accompanying these changes was his cultivation base. From the peak of the Great Firmament, his cultivation base fell to the Early Great Unity Realm.

Alongside him, Chiyou’s six remaining generals also suffered a decrease to their cultivation base. Although they were reincarnated giants, their foundation lay in Chiyou. Once Chiyou was defeated, they also suffered. Not just the giants, but the remaining members of the Jiuli Tribe slowed, as if they entered a quagmire. Their formerly sharp movements turned dull, like a neglected weapon.

Karmic Luck was such a wondrous, yet esoteric, subject. Most of the time, it was invisible and untouchable. The subjects of its constraints would not know of its existence, but at other times, it’s like the sun, upfront and radiant. Just like now.

Although Xuanyuan and Xuanyi’s luck took the opposite route as Chiyou, it also had its advantages. Even if one of them fell, their forces would not collapse as the Jiuli Tribe had experienced. They would still have a chance to make a comeback, as the majority of their power remained.

Xuanyi had just cut off Chiyou’s head. Her cultivation base increased, while his decreased. It seemed that the Way of Heaven already determined the mortal sovereign of humanity.

She didn’t bask in the glory of victory, and directed her eyes at Chiyou’s severed head. Even beheaded, he exuded an aura of vitality. Though dulled, his eyes flickered with hatred at Xuanyi. She knew that he would not give up.

The Xuanyuan Sword rose high in the sky, its edge gleamed viciously.

“No!” Xingtian shouted. He ran forward to stop Xuanyi, but the disciples of the Saints blocked his path. “Scram!”

How could Xuanyi obey her enemy’s words? Especially the tribe that contributed to her brother’s death?

Xuanyi slashed four times, separating Chiyou’s body into five more parts for a total of six: head, torso, left arm, left leg, right arm, and right leg. She raised her hand and prepared to thrust forward to destroy Chiyou’s body. Just then, a beast with orange fur and black stripes appeared in front of the downed Chiyou.

Chiyou’s tiger whimpered a roar. Its legs trembled as it faced Xuanyi’s murderous intent, yet it still protected Chiyou with all its might.

She actually liked the tiger. When she first laid eyes on the striped beast, she thought about taming it, but who told the tiger to belong to Chiyou? Now, Xuanyi hated anything and everything related to her brother’s murderer. A merciless flash later, the tiger’s body was split apart vertically and collapsed onto the ground, innards exposed and still writhing.

Xuanyi reared her sword back, ready to finish the job. The sound of battle that resumed because of Xingtian turned to silence in her ears.

She stopped as she felt a coercion rise from the ground. The ground turned black, and she saw a faint phantom standing next to Chiyou. Upon seeing her figure, Xuanyi recognized her. She had never seen the phantom, but this was an instinctual recognition. She was Empress Pingxin, ruler of the Nether Realm.

“Halt. Chiyou is already defeated. There is no need to go to such lengths.”

Upon hearing her words, Xuanyi wanted to laugh. So she did. Why didn’t Empress Pingxin appear and tell Chiyou not to go too far when he killed her brother? “Empress Pingxin, I respect you as the creator of samsara, but this is an internal matter of humanity. Please do not interfere.”

Empress Pingxin’s phantom frowned. She hadn’t expected Xuanyi would be so disrespectful and ignorant. “Don’t go too far. Chiyou poses no more threat to you.”

“Empress Pingxin’s words are right, he does indeed not pose a threat to me anymore, but he still carries a trace of humanity’s Karmic Luck,” Xuanyi said. “As long as I do not completely kill him, humanity’s Karmic Luck will be incomplete. How can I let humanity’s Karmic Luck flow to outsiders?”

Empress Pingxin naturally knew this. Although Chiyou lost, she wanted to fight for that last bit of Karmic Luck. As long as Chiyou remained alive, a steady flow of Karmic Luck would stream to the surviving Titan Tribe. It might not be much, but it was better than nothing.

“Please leave,” Xuanyi said. She raised her sword again and attacked. She expected Empress Pingxin to stop her or say a few more words, but she never expected Empress Pingxin to suddenly disappear. Although confused, Xuanyi didn’t think much about it. Right now, she just wanted to vent her hatred.

Xingtian and the other giants were helpless. They could only watch as Xuanyi utterly destroyed Chiyou, not even leaving a remnant soul. They couldn’t help but wonder the same question: why did Empress Pingxin leave? However, they did not have time to ponder as Xuanyi gave her next orders.

“My people, we have triumphed over Chiyou, but the war is not yet over. These outsiders have contaminated our blood and sucked away humanity’s foundation. To completely consolidate humanity’s future, they must be eliminated. Now go, kill all the tainted people!”

Although tired, Xuanyi’s army still obeyed her. The most arduous period had passed, now it was time to reel in the net.

***

Moments earlier, Tongtian sat on the Throne of Heaven, observing her eldest disciple’s Good Corpse. “Are you sure you want to go through with it? You should know that if you succeed, everything humanity has done thus far will become pointless.”

“Master, Disciple’s mind has been made. I’ve already reached this point, there’s no going back,” Wutian said. In his hand, he held an ephemeral silver sphere. “Besides, this Disciple doesn’t believe in relying on the Way of Heaven. The essence of humanity is self-reliance. Without someone in the Primordial Origin Realm, humanity’s essence is but a rootless duckweed.”

“I should have known you already made up your mind when you severed your Good Corpse,” Tongtian said with a sigh. “Alright. I should warn you that your Uncle-Masters will definitely attempt to stop you.”

“What about you, Master?” Wutian asked. Although he hid it well, he couldn’t hide all of his anxiety in front of a Chaos Immortal of Primordial Origin. Besides, if he wasn’t apprehensive, would he have asked the question in the first place?

Now, it was Tongtian’s turn to smile. “Now you start to think about my opinion?”

Upon seeing Wutian’s silence, she waved her hand. “Forget it. Although grasping humanity can bring me a great amount of Karmic Luck, I am the ruler of the Heavenly Court. I already control an immense amount of Karmic Luck. Grabbing more will only cause me to become the target of all Saints.

“I’ll tell you right now. I won’t stop you, but I also won’t stop your Uncle-Masters from interfering. Even if you ignore the two, the other Saints likely won’t sit still. The only one that might help will be Empress Pingxin, and she isn’t even a Saint, she can’t stop them. You can still choose to stop. I’ll even reverse what you did to yourself,” Tongtian said.

“Disciple won’t change his choice.”

Tongtian nodded. “Since you’ve made up your mind, I won’t stop you anymore.”

She looked down. Her gaze pierced through the thirty-three layers of the Heavenly Realm, past the vast Earthly Realm, and into the death-filled Nether Realm. “You’re in luck.”

Tongtian raised her hand, and a transparent sphere flew into her palm. Inside the sphere burned a silver-white flame. Any martial artists who saw this ephemeral sphere would feel enlightened. For a period, when cultivating martial arts, they would gain twice the effect with half the effort. But for someone at her level, it was just something nice to look at.

A moment later, a layer of silver-gold energy obscured the ephemeral sphere. Then, Tongtian flipped her hand, and the silver-gold sphere fell. It phased through the jade tiles of Eminence Heaven Palace, as if it didn’t exist. The sphere continued to fall and fall. It fell through the Heavenly Realm and into the Earthly Realm. When it reached the Nether Realm, it continued to fall.

The silver-gold sphere only stopped once it touched the River of Time. Upon contact, the silver river carried it through its stream and into the Six Paths of Samsara. The moment the silver-gold sphere touched the Six Paths of Samsara, its silver-gold shell shattered from the defensive measures of the river of reincarnation. Although its protective layer had shattered, the soul had successfully entered reincarnation.

“Now, we’re even.”

After finishing her objective, Tongtian glanced at Haoren. “It’s done, you can leave now.”

Haoren saluted her. “Thank you, Your Eminence.”

***

“Now, we’re even.”

Empress Pingxin had a dark expression on her face as she heard Tongtian’s words evaporate. Now, she was certain that Tongtian had noticed what she had done when Fuxi became the heavenly sovereign of humanity. Just because she knew the cause or effect didn’t mean she had to like it.

She used her powers over the Nether Realm to search through reincarnation and attempted to find the soul Tongtian sent through the six paths. However, she could not find it, no matter what.

Empress Pingxin clenched her fists. ‘No, I have to cut off Tongtian’s connection to the Six Paths of Reincarnation as much as possible.’

Because Tongtian completed the Empyrean Path of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, she held a certain sway over samsara, especially those relating to the Empyrean Path. Empress Pingxin had always wanted to cut off Tongtian’s influence.

The Six Paths of Reincarnation was the Titan Tribe’s foundation. Even if she trusted Tongtian, she could not let her keep the influence over the six paths. It was simply a matter of interest. It was also why she suddenly disappeared from Chiyou’s side. She had to make sure that nothing was wrong.

Even if she was present, she could only verbally threaten Xuanyi. She didn’t dare to take action. After all, all the Saints were watching her, including Tongtian. And don’t think she didn’t know that Xuanyi was Tongtian’s third disciple.

Empress Pingxin’s gratitude toward Tongtian had long been buried under the passage of time. Were it not for karma sown by Tongtian when she first created the Nether Realm, she would have long ago tried to sever Tongtian’s influence. Even now, she still owed karma to Tongtian. However, she couldn’t stand Tongtian manipulating the Six Paths of Samsara anymore.

It was because of her negligence and inability that allowed Tongtian to send an unborn empyrean’s soul into reincarnation. That empyrean grew up to become Cangjie, who tilted the war severely in Xuanyuan’s favor. She might experience unfortunate events because she owed Tongtian, but it was better than allowing Tongtian to use her creation against the Titan Tribe.

Or perhaps Tongtian already knew of her intention to cut her off, and that was why she was so open mannered in sending the soul through reincarnation.

Displeasure surged through Empress Pingxin. It was like a hoodlum walked into her house, ate her food, slept on her bed, and not only that, she also took away several valuables before walking out in broad daylight. She wanted to do something.

Perhaps interfere with the reincarnation of humanity?

Empress Pingxin shook her head and cooled her anger. She still owed karma to Tongtian. Although she controlled the Six Paths of Reincarnation, it wasn’t an absolute control. She was closer to a manager, and if she really interfered, she might receive a backlash. Even if her previous identity had sacrificed her body to create the Nether Realm, the Way of Heaven would not tolerate her unscrupulous actions that brought disorder to the Three Realms.

Her eyes flashed darkly. Empress Pingxin’s senses covered the entire Nether Realm. Then, she took a glance at Daoist Rendeng, the Heaven Bearing Great Emperor. Just as Daoist Rendeng felt a chill on his back, it disappeared.

Just as Daoist Rendeng wondered why he felt such an ominous chill, Empress Pingxin leaned back on her throne and sighed. She was going to offend Tongtian; it was better not to attract Yuanshi’s ire, too.

“I have to wait. I’ve endured for so long. What’s a few more eons?” Empress Pingxin said. She closed her eyes. “Pangu, you used us to fulfill your way, so I’ll reciprocate your actions. I will use your hard work to fulfill my way.”

***

Xuanyi’s army almost massacred the entire Jiuli Tribe, only allowing a few survivors to flee westward. She actually wanted to give chase and eliminate all the roots, but Cangjie advised against it. Years of war had eroded humanity’s morale. If they spent all their efforts to continue hunting down the survivors, she might lose the people’s hearts.

Xuanyi reluctantly accepted Cangjie’s advice and officially ended the war. Although she didn’t order anyone to hunt down the survivors, she placed bounties on the Jiuli Tribe and giants. The giants were fine since they returned to the Nether Realm, where it would be difficult to reach. Not to mention that not many had the strength to kill them. But the members of the Jiuli Tribe weren’t so lucky.

There would always be some people willing to kill the Jiuli Tribe for riches.

Because Xuanyi hunted them down instead of forgiving them, humanity, which would have been known as the descendants of Yan and Huang, became known as the descendants of Huang. Yan referred to Chiyou and Huang referred to Xuanyuan and Xuanyi.

When they returned to Zhuolu, Xuanyi immediately conducted a funeral for her brother. All of humanity grieved for the potential third ruler of humanity, who died before he could lead humanity to new heights. After the funeral, Xuanyi also held a celebration for humanity’s victory, no matter how unwilling.

There, she extolled tales of Xuanyuan, humanity’s heroes, and also the disciples of Saints. Of course, she also included the brutality of giants, the greed of outsiders, and the sins of Chiyou.

When the celebration ended, the Saints’ disciples left, and Xuanyi started to rule humanity. Of course, there were some that objected to her ascension, but she suppressed them with her prestige.

Although Xuanyi became the third ruler of humanity, she did not have the same talent to rule as her brother did. Most of her actions were to maintain the policies her brother created and consolidate humanity’s foundation. She could not innovate as her brother had, but luckily, she had Cangjie by her side.

By herself, humanity would have likely stagnated, if not regressed, but with the Grand Advisor’s aid, humanity progressed. It might not have been as much when Xuanyuan ruled, but it was enough to stabilize humanity’s Karmic Luck.

During her tenure as humanity’s ruler, Nuba, Xuanyuan’s daughter, never gave up hunting the Jiuli Tribe. At first, Xuanyi supported her, but as the years passed, Nuba became maddened by hatred. She no longer considered the consequences of her more brutal actions.

Wherever she passed, she turned the area into a wasteland. She would do everything to kill a Jiuli Tribe member, barbarian, or giant, even if it meant killing a thousand innocent humans. It was too much, even for Xuanyi. Although she also held hatred, she would never harm humans, even if they married a barbarian or Jiuli Tribe member.

So, Xuanyi exiled Nuba from humanity.

This was just one of many events that occurred during Xuanyi’s rule. The years passed, and Xuanyi ruled humanity for one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years. Her tenure had come to its end.