General panic seized all of the demon gods in the great wilderness. They hadn't cared when the connate great dao changed to requiring human form for cultivation, as it didn’t apply to them. But now, great dismay registered upon finding out that the changes were extending to them as well!

Only in taking human form would they receive the approval of the great dao, which meant that though they could release greater strength in their true forms, they had to assume human form if they wanted to gain a foothold in the great wilderness.

This was extraordinary humiliation for the connate demon gods!

Though humans were descended from the great Pangu, it’d been countless eons since his fall. The human form was also slightly different from the great god’s; ergo, demon gods wouldn't be paying tribute to a legendary creator by taking human form.

No, they would really be only imitating human form!

How was it right, how was it proper that the majestic demon gods were forced to assume the shape of mewling latter-day descendants in order to assert themselves in their own home??

“No matter how Lie Shan’s done it, humans must be eradicated and Lie Shan must die!”

“If Leize dares obstruct us from killing him, then he must die too!” Nuanzi stubbornly remained in his true form and rampaged furiously in denial.

Although he’d previously acknowledged humanity’s status and accepted Lie Shan’s strength, he would never permit something like this to happen. He was a connate demon god, not one of the pets that latter-day descendants called great gods!

A prodigious ruckus swept over the great wilderness as countless demon gods blustered and snarled, trying to oppose the connate great dao and refuse the requirement to transform into humans.

Alas and alack, they all failed. Each and every single one.

……

Thunder and lightning roared within Jin nation borders, and the demon gods who’d come to watch the battle also lost their minds with outrage. Dijiang stood in the void, turbulent killing intent ripping through his eyes.

Transform into human form? There could be no greater insult!

“Lie Shan, the cause of all this stems from you… Perhaps the great dao will recover if you are dead!” A black spear had appeared in Dijiang’s hands at some time—his ultimate treasure. The Bell of Chaos had also returned to his body to enhance his strength. Though that last restriction still remained intact, it didn’t prevent him from releasing the bell’s power.

Lu Yun could also sense the overflowing bitterness and wrath from the demon gods, but he wasn’t worried. He had his own sources of strength and trump cards to call on.

“Never thought that Demon Vine—ninth of the great connate spirit roots—was growing inside the Bell of Chaos!” Mirth tugged at his lips. He’d been able to break out of the bell’s imprisonment because he’d found the Demon Vine inside and refined it into his body, resulting in another explosive thirty percent increase to his strength.

That spirit root was likewise only partially intact with most of its core essence transplanted elsewhere. More importantly, Lu Yun had made a huge discovery after harvesting two spirit roots—they were the only ones of their kind beneath the heavens, so if one of them was destroyed, the laws of heaven would give birth to a second!

In other words, the connate spirit roots that he was refining in the great wilderness now wouldn’t affect their future existence.

“Dijiang!” he roared. “You’re right, I changed the heavenly dao and transformed it from the primitive great dao to the great dao of humans! From now on, humans are the favored child of heaven and the spiritual leader of all life!

“Come kill me if you have what it takes!” His voice rolled outward like thunder and spread throughout the great wilderness. “Otherwise, I will still exist even if you eradicate humanity, and I will continue to increase my race’s numbers. We will be ceaseless and unending, and you will have my wrath to contend with!”

Hummmm.

The armor on his body shifted once more and turned into a blazing wheel of a black sun that hovered over Lu Yun’s head. This was Rearbow’s final and strongest form, something that not even Yi had been able to manifest.

As the connate great dao was now the embryo human dao, it’d imbued Lu Yun’s body of the world with the power to activate the Rearbow’s final form.

Chills ran down the backs of Dijiang and other demon gods to see the bow’s metamorphosis. In its current form, the bow absolutely matched the Bell of Chaos!

“Dijiang, haven’t you found it odd that you’ve been unable to undo the last restriction in the bell?” posed Lu Yun when he saw that the demon god wasn't in a hurry to attack him.

“What do you know about that?” Dijiang retorted coldly. He’d reverted to his true form as it felt too much of an insult to assume human shape.

“It’s not just you, even Taiyi didn't fully refine the bell back in his day. He didn't successfully undo the last restriction either.” Lu Yun snorted, “Or did all of you really think that he owed his strength to the bell? Leize doesn't own anything similar, but he can still punch all of your pathetic lights out in one go.”

Dijiang’s expression darkened ominously. Lie Shan was correct. Though he’d beaten Rushou to death with the Bell of Chaos, he still didn’t have the right to challenge an existence such as Leize, and he wasn’t a match for Taiyi either.

“Treasures are just items at the end of the day, personal strength is the truest be all and end all!” Lu Yun roared with laughter and flashed to Dijiang, thrusting outward with a single punch. A hundred million rays of sword energy accompanied his move, blasting into Dijiang’s body like a frightful storm of sword energy.

Snarling, Dijiang sent his black spear twisting through the air like a black dragon, sweeping it across the void to smash viciously into Lu Yun’s fist. A hazy streak of black light rushed across the sky, tearing apart the very fabric of reality.

“Don’t destroy the Jin nation, we fight in the cosmos!” Lu Yun shouted and grabbed two of Dijiang’s wings, stomped his foot on the demon god’s stomach, and punted him into the planet’s outer atmosphere. He then gathered himself and shot upward, close behind his quarry.

Dijiang snapped and howled, heretofore unfelt shame flooding his mind.

Since he wasn't in human form, he wasn't acknowledged by the heavenly dao. Therefore, his strength was restrained, even though he was in his true form. The Bell of Chaos rang loudly within his body, beginning to assimilate with the new dao.

Dijiang grit his teeth and stubbornly hung onto his own form. If he changed, that would be an admission of defeat—not to the heavenly dao, but to Lie Shan!

“DIEEEEE!!” Completely losing his mind, two red flames ignited in his eyes and his spear flared with light before hurtling toward the human.

Balling his hands into fists, Lu Yun used punches as swords and filled the cosmos with sword energy. Neither ducking nor evading, he met all of Dijiang’s moves blow for blow.

……

Down on Mount Buzhou, Wahuang took human form and looked up at the two battling figures with a smile on her face.

“Ah, it’s so much more comfortable to take human shape beneath the human dao, there's no need to draw upon our own energy.” She stretched out her limbs with an expression of clear enjoyment.

Leize, Huaxu, Zhurong, Gonggong, and Goumang had all taken human form as well. The human dao was greatly bolstered by the addition of these incredible masters.

……

“It doesn't matter to me what form I take.” Asura sat in the void and cocked his head at the furious battle in space. He murmured to himself, “I don't care as long as I obtain enough strength to kill Lie Shan.”

He suddenly broke out into foolish giggles. “Perhaps it hasn't occurred to Lie Shan yet that modifying the heavenly dao has only sped up his execution… It’s much faster to cultivate in human form!”

He continued giggling, but there was no happiness in his eyes. It seemed that the smile on his face was just something drawn onto it.

……

All eyes in the great wilderness were glued to the conflict. The demon gods were more vested in this clash than they’d been in Lie Shan’s battle with Asura.

However, no one moved to intervene.

After all, they possessed their own dignity and code of conduct. They could seek revenge on Lie Shan from the shadows and slaughter humans in secret, but no one could do anything to spoil a match between two peak masters.

This was an ultimate battle between the connate demon gods of old and the newly arisen great dao. More of them would step up to challenge Lie Shan if Dijiang failed, but as successive challengers, not as a mob.

Lu Yun had ripped off all of Dijiang’s wings after a furious assault and managed to break four of the demon god’s bird feet. However, he’d likewise suffered grisly wounds. Light shone through a dozen clear holes in his body, and a flaming heart of the world could be seen thumping in his chest.

Claaaaang.

Dijiang suddenly summoned the Bell of Chaos into space. Ringing explosively, it smashed viciously into the human youth.

Unable to react in time, the sound waves sectioned Lu Yun off at the waist and sent him flying.

Roaring with bloodlust, Dijiang regenerated his wings and deployed his greatest speed, instantly catching up to the injured youth. He grabbed the lower part of the body and wound back his arm to smash it into the human’s upper body.

Blood and flesh flew through space, dying the cosmos red.

Suddenly, a startled Dijiang dropped the half corpse and flung it far away from him. It’d started burning at some time and was now an inferno of hellfire.

An illusory Sal Tree of Life and Death suddenly rushed out of the void, perpetuating hellfire across the stars.

Lu Yun walked out of the sea of hellfire, whole and complete. The black sun over his head was burning again, burning with hellfire.

Taken aback, Dijiang immediately retreated out of the fires’ range. He stood at the other end of the cosmos with the bell over his head, coolly staring down the human.

Lu Yun likewise looked back without a word, his body igniting with flames as a black dragon rose from the fiery ocean and charged at Dijiang. Spelling doom, hellfire formed rays of sword energy.

Vast Dragon Seaturner, subverting the Sea of Hellfire!