Immediately after, the ground beneath everyone’s feet suddenly shook.

No, strictly speaking, it was the entire mountain they were on that abruptly trembled, sending countless rocks and soil cascading down, giving everyone the sensation that heaven and earth were shattering.

This place was no longer suitable for standing.

The cultivators shouted and turned to flee, faster than rabbits.

If one were to gaze upon this place from a great distance, they would see the mountain “stand up,” and within a few short breaths, differentiate into a head, torso, and limbs.

It was like a stone golem magnified countless times, its entire body covered with a faint black light, with several large trees even growing from its forehead.

Humans before it were as insignificant as ants.

The cultivators who fled halfway turned back to look, all dumbfounded.

Was this the Realm God?

How fortunate they were to witness the Realm God’s descent into the world in their lifetime!

Scholars with vast knowledge knew that the Realm God’s true form was a stone heart from the extreme north that, by coincidence, gained consciousness and embarked on the supreme path. A thousand years ago, after the battle of the celestial gods ended, it was appointed as the Realm God of this world, guarding all under heaven. Now that it had reawakened, the stone heart seized the mountain, instantly recreating a body for itself.

Then, this massive stone figure raised its head and howled.

The howl was prolonged, deep, and soul-stirring, ten times louder than the greatest ceremonial bell.

Most importantly, it spread throughout the world, reaching every corner, whether deep seas or vast deserts, whether desolate wastelands or dungeons within cities.

Countless living beings heard its solemn proclamation:

I, Huairoushangsheng, once again preside over this realm, and shall rebuild the Celestial Ladder in due time!

The cultivators at the foot of the mountain stood dazed for a long while before suddenly erupting in cheers.

After a thousand years, they finally welcomed the return of the path to ascend to heaven!

Nu Ba, however, stared at the giant stone figure’s shoulder—where Yun Ya sat with bent knees, one hand pressing against his chest, yet with a relaxed expression.

His task was complete.

The black and red smoke that had been hovering in the air had separated. The red smoke had dimmed and was now floating toward Yun Ya, while the black smoke dispersed in all directions, clearly intending to scatter.

With the Realm God’s appearance, they had lost. The chaos demons, who had just escaped confinement today, were weak compared to it. There was no need to clash directly here.

Of the thirty-six stratagems, retreat was the best option.

Seeing the red smoke approach, the stone figure emanated formidable divine might, preparing to attack. Yun Ya quickly patted its shoulder: “Do not strike, this is my wife—not a single hair can be harmed!”

The stone giant’s hand paused in mid-air, its voice revealing a rare surprise: “Oh?”

It had accompanied Yun Ya for over three hundred years, nourished by his blood and spiritual energy, so it owed him this favor. However, it still recognized that the approaching entity was the leader of the chaos demons!

Yun Ya’s second statement followed immediately: “It’s a long story, but today she saved both you and me.”

Only then did the Realm God subdue its killing intent.

The red smoke gracefully circled around and quickly slipped under Yun Ya’s sleeve.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

Seeing the smoke crisscrossing the sky, all chaos demons dancing wildly, the stone figure let out a low growl. Its voice was so resonant that even when lowered, it still carried for a hundred miles.

Somehow, the sky above had become covered with dense clouds, pressing down low, as if about to fall to the ground at any moment.

The stone giant rubbed its arm and pulled out a demon-subduing pestle, made of an unknown material, its entire body flashing with lightning, crackling with noise.

The stone giant raised its arm and hurled the pestle into the cloud formation above.

The enormous pestle instantly disappeared, with no sign of it falling back down, but within the thick cloud layer, electric serpents began to move, spreading outward like ripples.

In just a few breaths, the sky dome flickered with silver light, and the dark clouds became laden with lightning.

Then, the stone figure clenched its right fist and struck its left palm.

Silver serpents danced wildly across the human realm.

Each bolt of lightning that split the sky precisely struck a chaos demon. No matter how frantically they fled, they couldn’t escape the range of these thunderclouds.

The power of the nine heavens’ thunder specifically breaks all evil spirits.

The sound of thunderclaps, mixed with the agonized shrieks of chaos demons, filled the space between heaven and earth.

This was, without a doubt, a thunder prison.

Everyone stood rooted to the spot, dazzled and mesmerized by the boundlessly magnificent spectacle before them, unable to utter a single word.

Summoning lightning with one hand, determining fate in an instant—the power of divinity had reached such heights.

They realized that after struggling through most of their lives, they were still merely standing at the entrance of the supreme path.

The road ahead was long indeed.

The chaos demon tribe suffered heavy losses and, unwilling to be exposed in broad daylight, either sank into rivers and retreated to the bottom of waters, or pounced toward the cultivators below, hoping to borrow their vessels.

But the Realm God had no intention of letting them escape. It straightened up and tore down a dark cloud from the sky, as casually as pulling cotton candy.

Then, it repeatedly kneaded the cloud in its hands. When it released, the cloud had transformed into a great net with dense meshes, through which lightning flashed ominously.

It made a standard fisherman’s net-casting gesture, and the lightning net instantly covered everything—birds, trees, insects, fish, and humans—all caught within.

Then it began to draw in the net.

This net was peculiar: physical objects fell through its meshes, while only formless soul entities like chaos demons couldn’t escape its encirclement.

No matter how they charged left or right, the lightning net drew tighter and tighter.

The cultivators waiting in formation at the foot of the mountain all breathed long sighs of relief. The chaos demons would soon face justice and would no longer harm the human realm.

The Realm God pulled the net before its eyes, brows furrowed in anger.

To it, the net was only the size of a bundle.

It beckoned, and the demon-subduing pestle from earlier emerged from somewhere, returning to its palm. Lightning flashed across its surface, illuminating the night sky. Even cultivators hundreds of zhang away could feel weak electrical currents running across their skin and clothes.

The Realm God raised the demon-subduing pestle high.

If this blow landed, it was unclear how many of the tens of thousands of chaos demons would survive.

However, just as it was about to swing, a wisp of red smoke suddenly floated before it, condensing into the form of a beautiful woman, followed by a clear shout: “Spare them under your pestle!”

Her figure wasn’t very substantial, clearly having expended tremendous energy in the previous battle. Yet she still positioned herself above the lightning net.

The Realm God’s giant pestle stopped in mid-air, but Feng Miaojun could feel the powerful, surging pressure bearing down on her, enough to drive ordinary mortals mad.

This was divine might, which human strength could not resist.

The Realm God’s voice was deep, audible within a hundred miles: “You once led the chaos demons to attack the Celestial Ladder, bringing endless suffering to the human realm. Sparing your life today is already showing mercy—how dare you plead for them?”

She was the leader of the Chaos Demons, and a thick ledger of sins committed by the Chaos Demon tribe must be attributed to her.

“The chaos demon tribe was wrong to attack the Celestial Ladder, but after being suppressed for a thousand years, the crime and punishment should offset each other.” Both the human realm and the netherworld acknowledged that imprisonment and punishment could atone for crimes, also known as reducing karmic debt—otherwise, why would the netherworld build eighteen levels of hell? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to simply decree total annihilation of both body and soul for sinners? By the same logic, the chaos demons had been imprisoned for a thousand years; they had suffered what they needed to suffer and atone for what they needed to atone for. “You are the Realm God, guardian of the order of heaven and earth. You should not interfere in mortal affairs, much less directly take the lives of living beings.”