"You know you could have refused his request. After the Humans are done with, these mad beings will come knocking on your door as well." Taishang Shenji said calmly, eyes gleaming with quiet calculation.

That was precisely why he had not revealed himself earlier.

Though he was certain several of them already knew he was here.

Jiyx’s triangular head tilted.

"Do you truly believe I fear them?" he replied flatly.

"Besides, I have already sworn an oath and this... is beneficial to me as well."

As he spoke, the space around them ignited one layer at a time.

Grand arrays unfolded in the sky like blooming constellations.

Lines of light intersected, overlapped, rotated, forming a colossal refinement formation that stretched across this realm.

It was not powered by his domain alone.

Deep beneath, the roots of the Dao Blessed Primordial Heaven and Earth Divine Spirit Tree pulsed faintly in resonance.

Even she was interested.

The Tree was lending power.

Jiyx’s eyes flashed with inspiration.

The more blessings that descended, the more principles he could extract.

"And don’t forget you are helping me as well." Jiyx added, turning his gaze toward the Machigen.

The look he gave Taishang Shenji carried several meanings.

Taishang Shenji might criticize him, but among all present, the Machigen were the most adaptable faction.

If the winds shifted in their favor, they would change camps without hesitation.

Taishang Shenji responded without offense.

"I will only contribute knowledge," he said.

"...Though that alone is not insignificant."

Before Jiyx could retort, space folded.

The Human Emperor, Ximen Juesheng, stepped in clad in full imperial regalia, Human Destiny Spear in hand.

"Why are you slacking?" he asked.

"The Twelve have taken their positions and The Four Prosperities are prepared."

Jiyx grunted.

"I was about to begin. Go handle your part and stop meddling in my affairs!"

Threads of authority began weaving into the formation as Ximen Juesheng disappeared once more.

Because this was never just about refining a treasure.

It was about ritual.

About binding the will of countless legends into a single weapon.

And at the center beneath.

Yu Xuan stood within the formation.

Unaware that history itself was being forced to move around him.

***

Yu Xuan’s blood essence revolved at the center of the formation, suspended in midair like a miniature cosmos.

Around it floated treasures that entire Immortal Worlds would wage war over.

Nine-Heavens Meteoric Iron, Violet River Star Sand, Solar Essence Gold, Profound Yin Ice, Tribulation Thunder Wood, Weeping Vine, Samsara Sand, Formless Shadow Silk, Raw Grandmist Violet Energy, Destruction Black Gold, Myriad-Poison Source Pearl, Three-Lives Stone, Myriad Karmic Lotus, Casualty Erasing Candies of Fate and much more.

Each one radiated its own law.

Each one carried history.

And above them all, the True Primordial Chaos Crystal hovered silently.

The moment the grand array was fully ready, colossal hands manifested from pure structure and law.

They were not made of flesh.

They were made of the Prime Architect’s will.

The formation ignited.

A fire was born and it did not merely burn matter.

It burned space.

It burned time.

It even burned concepts.

Yet it did not spread even a hair’s breadth beyond the array.

Every strand of flame was perfectly controlled.

The True Primordial Chaos Crystal began to melt.

Yu Xuan’s blood essence ignited simultaneously.

The two did not repel.

They circled one another.

Entangling.

As if forging dependency itself.

Jiyx’s hands moved endlessly.

Layer upon layer.

Principle upon principle.

Then the remaining materials descended one by one into the inferno.

The formation roared brighter.

And above the array.

Space split apart as four colossal figures manifested.

Azure Dragon in the East.

White Tiger in the West.

Vermilion Bird in the South.

Black Tortoise in the North.

They were not projections.

They were present.

Their vast, primordial pressure crushed the surrounding realm into submission.

At the center of their formation.

A safeguarded projection of Yu Xuan appeared.

He looked really confused and unprepared.

Then the pressure descended.

Ximen Juesheng’s voice resounded across the chamber, layered with the authority of Humanity itself.

"By the Rising Wood of the East, let the Azure Dragon grant Vitality and Growth."

Green brilliance surged.

"By the Blazing Fire of the South, let the Vermilion Bird grant Radiance and Fame."

Crimson flames engulfed the sky.

"By the Sharpened Metal of the West, let the White Tiger grant Justice and Protection."

Golden white intent condensed.

"By the Deep Water of the North, let the Black Tortoise grant Wisdom and Longevity."

Dark blue tides rolled like endless oceans.

"Four Guardians of Humanity, let the Center be balanced, and let the Spirit find its Way."

The power did not directly enter the weapon.

It passed through Yu Xuan first.

His projection screamed.

It felt as though mountains were being carved into his bones.

As though ancient spirits were engraving their authority into his blood.

Something beyond him was being forced into alignment with him.

Only after indirectly tempering his existence did the Four Guardian blessings descend upon the refined Treasure.

The chaotic, shimmering vapor of fused treasures began to condense.

Not into a blade.

Not into a spear.

But into something embryonic.

An egg.

A foundation.

Jiyx’s eyes burned with terrifying focus.

No! Prime Architect Jiyx’s eyes blazed with the manic brilliance of a true Creator.

His hands moved quintillions of times each second.

Even as the Four Guardians power poured in, he stabilized the structure.

Below One.

Above Ten Thousand.

A weapon that would live with Yu Xuan.

And die with him.

And beyond the blazing array, thousands of ancient beings felt it.

Some had hope.

Some had greed.

And some, calculations far deeper than any flame.

Above the trembling embryonic weapon, something manifested.

The Human Destiny Spear.

It appeared without fanfare.

Yet the moment it did, the entire formation shifted.

The egg below was beginning to struggle, its surface flickering between forms unable to stabilize itself.

And that instability was deliberate.

Jiyx had pushed it to the brink on purpose.

Then without warning, the Human Destiny Spear descended.

It plunged straight into the forming egg.

Cracks of radiant gold spread across the surface of the embryonic weapon.

These were the veins of inheritance.

These golden veins of inheritance spread like living circuitry beneath the shell.

They pulsed with a deep, ancestral rhythm.

As those veins stabilized, the Human Destiny Spear dissolved into streams of golden radiance and disappeared, its role complete.

The Prime Architect did not pause.

His massive, conceptual hands moved with impossible precision, weaving through unseen layers.

His power entered the embryonic weapon and interacted with the shimmering gas sealed within it.

That gas, refined from countless treasures and bound by the True Primordial Chaos Crystal, responded to him.

Under his guidance, creation unfolded.

The vapor thickened and condensed.

What had once been chaotic mist gradually transformed into a dense golden liquid, like melted starlight.

It did not immediately assume the form of any weapon.

Instead, it swirled in a suspended state awaiting definition.

Then the surroundings dimmed.

A sphere of unimaginable scale began to manifest above the grand formation.

It was not merely large in size, it felt distant in concept.

From within that vastness, Ximen Juesheng’s voice sounded once more.

"Bearing the shared destiny of Humanity, I now call upon the Twelve Zodiac Guardians to grant their blessing."

A sound followed – soft at first, like bubbles rising from deep water.

Then it multiplied, resonating through the entire realm.

One by one, twelve spiritual figures manifested around the sphere.

At first glance, they appeared simple and almost ordinary.

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig.

Their forms were humble, almost mundane compared to the ancient titans gathered here.

And then.

They began to tremble.

The Dragon’s spiritual outline fractured, expanding violently as scales of primordial radiance burst forth.

In an instant, it transformed into a Primordial Divine Dragon whose presence bent the surroundings.

The Snake shed its skin in spirals of blazing light, feathers erupting from its form as it ascended into a Phoenix crowned in immortal flame.

The Rooster’s silhouette distorted and elongated, its spiritual body erupting into the immovable wrath of an Acalanatha, with an expression of unshakable judgment.

The Dog’s form thickened and solidified, becoming a divine guardian lion, a Shi-tzu (Foo Dog) its roar capable of suppressing malevolent entities.

So too did the other figures, transforming into colossal ancient monsters.

Their ordinary shells had been disguises.

What stood now were their true forms.

A terrifying pressure erupted outward as the transformed Zodiac Guardians released their true essence.

The air warped.

One by one, the Guardians dissolved into streams of light and embedded themselves into the vast sphere.

The sphere shuddered – then compressed, condensing into a dense, luminous shell that wrapped itself around the egg.

Slowly, deliberately, it began to fuse with it.

The golden liquid within the forming weapon responded violently.

It churned.

Brightened.

Expanded.

Light burst through its surface in blinding pulses.

As the Twelve Zodiacs completed their integration, Ximen Juesheng arrived and spoke.

But the words he uttered sent shockwaves through everyone present, friend and foe alike.

[A/N: The Phoenix and Vermillion bird are quite different we will get into it, also to get an idea, search Foo Dogs.]