Chapter 50: Nuwa Halts the War

Influenced by the baleful energy of the great tribulation, the members of the Wu and Yao tribes had their eyes reddened with killing intent, knowing nothing save for slaughter.

Now, under the aid of Bai Jing's Dao of Purification, those of lower cultivation among both tribes were the first to recover their wits.

Looking around, they realized to their astonishment that an immense number of their kinsmen had fallen in this battle.

The casualties of the Wu tribe approached thirty percent, while those of the Yao tribe likely exceeded fifty percent.

Shebishu, who was rampaging through the Yao military formation, also had crimson eyes under the influence of the tribulation energy.

With a single punch, he smashed into a mighty Yao expert before him. That Great Luo realm expert wore a look of utter terror, desperately wishing to flee; yet, as Shebishu was a mid-stage Hunyuan Golden Immortal, how could a mere Great Luo possibly escape?

Far from struggling, even the slightest movement was impossible for the Yao expert, who was beaten into flying ash by Shebishu's relentless punches.

Having obliterated a Yao Great Luo, Shebishu swept his bloodthirsty gaze across the battlefield and was about to charge forward once more when a gentle white light descended from the heavens.

Shebishu's eyes, originally brimming with slaughter and bloodthirsty desire, gradually cleared, and the crimson hue receded from his vision.

He slowly regained his senses.

Not just him, but across the rest of the battlefield—excluding the region frozen by the Chaos Clock—the Ancestral Witches of the Wu tribe and the Demon Saints of the Yao tribe were also gradually freeing themselves from the influence of the tribulation energy with the help of Bai Jing's Dao of Purification, recovering their sanity.

Zhurong, whose temper was always notoriously fiery, stared at the mountains of corpses and seas of blood below with sheer shock. Many kinsmen with whom he was deeply familiar had actually perished.

The other Ancestral Witches wore expressions of profound disbelief. Had not their Wu tribe held an absolute advantage? Why, then, had so many of their brethren fallen?

Di Jun, who was locked in combat with Dijiang in the void, also felt his spiritual platform gradually clear up under the influence of the Dao of Purification.

Subconsciously glancing down at the battlefield below, Di Jun's expression changed drastically.

For he saw that the Yao army he had brought now numbered less than half of its original strength.

His younger brother, Donghuang Taiyi, was being suppressed and beaten by Zhujiuyin and Houtu; without the Chaos Clock, he would likely have been pulverized already.

Fuxi was similarly being effortlessly suppressed by Xuanming. Had Fuxi not been Nuwa's elder brother and Xuanming held back somewhat, he would have been defeated long ago.

The Demon Saints needed no elaboration; struggling bitterly under the onslaught of the Wu Ancestral Witches, almost every single one of them was heavily injured.

Could the disparity in strength between the Yao and Wu tribes truly be so vast?

Di Jun was inwardly shaken. Hastily deploying the Hetu and Luoshu to block Dijiang's attack, he shouted loudly, "Dijiang, let this battle end here!"

Just as Di Jun had recovered his wits, Dijiang naturally had as well.

Gazing down at the Wu casualties nearing thirty percent, his heart ached bitterly. Many of these kinsmen were ones he had watched grow up bit by bit; it was no exaggeration to call them his children, yet they had now perished here.

How could Dijiang be willing to let Di Jun off so easily? He made up his mind to execute Di Jun on the spot to avenge his fallen brethren!

Seeing that Dijiang was about to strike again, Di Jun grew somewhat anxious. At that moment, a scroll slowly unfurled from the canopy of heaven, and the ordinary members of the Wu and Yao tribes in the battlefield below were instantly frozen in place by the scroll.

"The Mountain and River State Diagram? Nuwa, have you lost your mind? Courting death by meddling at a time like this?" Xuanming muttered fixedly, staring intently at the scroll.

Fuxi also looked towards the scroll in the sky with a worried expression. The two tribes had fought to such an extent; this was already a monstrous karmic burden. Even if his younger sister were a heavenly-destined sage, could she withstand this karma?

Bai Jing's gaze also fell upon Nuwa. He, too, could not fathom why Nuwa chose to intervene at this juncture; for now, he could only wait and see how she intended to handle it.

"The two tribes have fought to the point of mutual destruction. Why not call a halt to this here and now?" Nuwa's voice resonated across the entire battlefield.

"Ridiculous! You say stop and we stop? Unless I slaughter that feathered bird Di Jun today, my Wu tribe will never call it quits!"

Facing Dijiang's utterly unaccommodating behavior, Nuwa did not become annoyed. She continued, "Fellow Daoist Dijiang, many of the injured members of your Wu tribe can still be saved. If you are willing to cease hostilities, I can use the Dao of Creation to help heal them."

Dijiang's eyes lit up. "Are these words true?"

"Naturally true."

"Very well! I shall grant you, this heavenly-destined sage, some face. Wu tribe, hear my command: everyone halt!"

Hearing this, Nuwa breathed a sigh of relief, for she had truly feared she wouldn't be able to persuade Dijiang.

Fortunately, what Xuanming had previously told her was correct: Dijiang placed extreme importance on every single member of the Wu tribe, especially the final few batches of Wu people transformed from the Blood Pool. Their bloodlines were inferior to those transformed earlier, and their cultivation was weaker. Dijiang had always protected them, much like a father silently guarding his children.

Thus, offering to heal the Wu tribe was Nuwa's greatest bargaining chip. If even this failed, Nuwa would have been entirely at a loss as to what to do.

Fortunately, Dijiang chose to stop for the sake of his kinsmen's lives.

"Empress Wa, many of my Yao tribe members also retain a sliver of life; I implore the Empress to assist them," Di Jun hurriedly spoke out in request.

"Save my Wu people first," Dijiang retorted preemptively before Nuwa could even speak.

"Di Jun, you are dreaming! Fellow Daoist Nuwa is the Demon Emperor of my Yao tribe..."

"Very well! Then let us continue fighting!" With that, Dijiang blasted a punch straight toward Di Jun.

"Fellow Daoist Dijiang, stay your hand!" Nuwa called out to stop Dijiang, then turned to Di Jun and said, "Fellow Daoist Di Jun, the Yao tribe has lost this battle. Withdraw your forces and retreat! Once I have finished healing the Wu tribe, I shall naturally go to the Heavenly Court to heal the members of the Yao tribe."

Though Di Jun felt inwardly unreconciled, he knew Nuwa spoke the truth. The Wu tribe indeed held the advantage now, and a significant one at that; if they pressed their advantage with a single drumbeat, there was even hope of completely annihilating the Yao tribe.

Had Dijiang not cared so deeply for his own people, the Yao tribe might have faced annihilation today.

For Nuwa to have the Yao tribe retreat at this moment was also for their own good.

With a long sigh, Di Jun declared, "Yao tribe, sound the retreat! Follow me back to the Heavenly Court!"

At Di Jun's command, the Yao soldiers hoisted their injured comrades and fell back successively.

The Wu tribe similarly sounded the gong to withdraw their forces under Dijiang's orders.

Hearing the retreat gongs, Zhujiuyin was consumed by fury. Clearly, the Yao tribe was on the verge of collapsing; unwillingly, he heavily slammed his fist into the Chaos Clock, eliciting yet another painful groan from Taiyi who hid within the bell.

Facing a dozen years of joint siege by two Ancestral Witches whose cultivation exceeded his by an entire realm, Donghuang Taiyi had reached his absolute limit, even with the Chaos Clock.

Now, hearing that the two tribes were calling a truce, Donghuang Taiyi felt an overwhelming sense of relief. He dissolved the frozen space, manipulated the Chaos Clock into a streak of rainbow light, and vanished into the horizon.

Watching Donghuang Taiyi's fleeing light with lingering resentment, Zhujiuyin roared with reddened eyes, "What on earth is Big Brother thinking? We held such a massive advantage, why stop fighting!"

Houtu was likewise somewhat unreconciled. Just as she was about to speak, a gentle white light fell upon her, causing her entire body to shudder as reason flooded back into her.

Glancing down at the mountains of corpses and seas of blood below, she finally realized just how unimaginably tragic this great war between the two tribes had been!

Zhujiuyin was also enveloped by the white light, but compared to Houtu, he had been far more deeply affected by the tribulation energy and had not yet fully regained his senses.