The Drunkard stood within the vast Avenue Heavenly Desolation Seal that swirled like a nebula. His bright eyes peered towards the edge of the star domain, where clusters of firelight were rising one after another.
Each burst of firelight marked the destruction of a star.
The Drunkard chuckled. “The Hell Realm armies have arrived! This time your calculations have gone astray. Xuan Yi may be strong, but he is far from invincible.”
“Had that Nether Girl not appeared unexpectedly, Xing Huan Heaven would already belong to Heaven Court. Yet to speak of victory or defeat now is premature. Nothing is settled yet,” Shang Tian replied calmly, standing atop the starry river, his voice as still as an ancient well.
In his heart the Drunkard secretly admired this bearded man. One of his most outstanding descendants had been refined to death, yet he could remain so utterly composed. Truly cold-blooded and merciless.
This was the genuine mindset of one who regarded all beings under heaven as ants.
His own son was an ant.
The God-Emperor of Seizing Heaven was an ant.
All living creatures were beneath contempt.
The Drunkard began to worry inwardly.
Xuan Yi was formidable, and the Heaven Court armies watched like tigers eyeing prey.
If Xuan Yi managed to defeat Jue Miao Chan nü, Huang Tian, and Yu Rumor before the Hell Realm forces arrived, the thirteen realms’ armies of Heaven Court would surely sweep forward and occupy Xing Huan Heaven in an instant.
When that moment came, would he himself be able to remain cold-blooded and indifferent to the lives and deaths of an entire realm’s beings?
If he were truly cold-blooded and merciless, ten thousand years ago he would never have declared that no Immeasurable should step into this star domain.
In the great game of the universe, the mortal world was the root and source of everything.
The contests between gods decided victory and defeat.
Yet what ultimately determined all outcomes was the will of those supreme existences at the very pinnacle. Their will, however, was also shaped by the two layers beneath them.
The universe was one vast chessboard, and figures at every level had their own battlefield.
Shang Tian’s lips moved. A divine oracle flew towards the encampment of Heaven Court’s thirteen-realm armies.
Outside the Blood War God Palace.
The commanders of the thirteen realms had gathered, each a supreme great deity, their divine might vast enough to swallow mountains and rivers.
Jia Tianxia and the Nine-Headed Dragon God of Paradise Realm, the renowned Sword God of Sword God Realm, the Mandala Flower God of Thousand Pistil Realm, the Lord of Souls of Soul Realm… every one of them had shaken the universe for hundreds of thousands of years.
Jia Tianxia received the oracle. His expression darkened slightly before he raised his voice. “This seat has just received a divine oracle from Shang Tian. We have come to Xing Huan Heaven to exterminate the remnants of the Inverse God Clan. The leader of the Inverse God Clan, Yu Baiwei, has already been slain by Xuan Yi True God. Now the armies advance. Attack Xing Huan Heaven. Seek out the Inverse God Clan and show no mercy!”
Apart from a few deities, including the Mandala Flower God, all the great deities present revealed shocked expressions.
They had come under orders from the Heavenly Palace to conquer Xing Huan Heaven and seize this strategically vital great world.
None of them had known that remnants of the Inverse God Clan were hiding here.
The words “Inverse God Clan” were utterly taboo.
The Mandala Flower God asked, “The Inverse God Clan was exterminated long ago. How can any clansmen still live? Is this true or false?”
“Shang Tian personally issued the oracle. How could it be false?”
With those words Jia Tianxia was already piloting the Blood War God Palace. In an instant he leapt through space and appeared above Xing Huan Heaven.
The moment the Blood War God Palace materialised, it triggered the Heavenly Venerable divine inscriptions in the starry sky.
Crash!
A dazzling bolt of lightning ten thousand li long slashed down like a heavenly blade and collided with the Blood War God Palace.
The palace erupted with stellar brilliance of blood-red light. Layer upon layer of arrays and divine inscriptions spread outward, clashing against the descending lightning.
Jia Tianxia’s gaze was sharp. “Even if this is the former territory of a Heavenly Venerable, what of it? Xing Huan Heavenly Venerable fell three million years ago. The methods he left in this starry sky have long been corroded by time. You think they can stop this seat?”
Jia Tianxia drove the Blood War God Palace straight towards the Heavenly Venerable divine inscriptions.
Boom!
No matter how ferocious the inscriptions were, they could not pierce the palace and harm Jia Tianxia.
Seeing Jia Tianxia’s prowess, the Heaven Court great deities who arrived later were filled with awe.
Among great deities, very few dared to clash directly with Heavenly Venerable inscriptions. Only an ancient god with Jia Tianxia’s overwhelming battle strength possessed such boldness.
“The Asura Hell Diagram!”
Jia Tianxia unfurled the scroll, pouring an unending stream of divine qi from his body into it. The scroll transformed into a vast blood-red Asura world, like a boundless continent suspended above Xing Huan Heaven.
This diagram had been forged ten thousand years ago by Xiu Chen Heavenly God, a paramount figure of the Asura race. It was a supreme treasure.
Under Jia Tianxia’s control, the Asura world smashed downwards towards Xing Huan Heaven.
Through spatial teleportation arrays, the Heaven Court armies arriving behind the Blood War God Palace beheld this soul-shaking spectacle and felt their blood boil with excitement.
“The Palace Lord fights across the universe, invincible under heaven!” the cultivators of the Blood War God Palace shouted in unison.
“Fights across the universe, invincible under heaven!”
Tens of thousands of Heaven Court soldiers roared together, their morale blazing like a rainbow, holy light piercing the heavens.
The Asura world continuously crushed the outer arrays of Xing Huan Heaven, sending out wave after wave of qi shockwaves that violently shook space and made the entire starry sky tremble.
Every living being inside Xing Huan Heaven looked up at the sky.
In the heavens hung a blood-red world filled with lakes of blood, seas of blood, crimson mountains and rivers… strange yet terrifyingly real.
Xing Huan Heaven contained a hundred thousand nations. At this moment the rulers of every nation led their ministers in kneeling and kowtowing towards the sky.
The leaders and sect masters of eight hundred ancient teachings and clans, together with their disciples, offered sacrifices to heaven and communed with the gods, begging for protection. Yet no gods answered.
Countless trillions of ordinary people panicked, believing doomsday had come, and frantically sought places to hide.
Yu Rumor stood atop the walls of Divine Maiden’s Robe City, radiant light raining from her body as she gazed upward. At any other time, if Jia Tianxia dared force his way into Xing Huan Heaven like this, she would have activated the realm-protecting grand array and obliterated him.
But now…
All her mental strength was focused on Xuan Yi. How could she spare any to defend the realm?
Outside the city, the battle between Xuan Yi, Huang Tian, and Jue Miao Chan nü was perilously intense. One careless moment and Huang Tian and Jue Miao Chan nü would not merely be defeated; they might very well fall.
If they fell, Xing Huan Heaven would collapse even faster.
What should she do now?
Seeing Huang Tian and Jue Miao Chan nü gravely wounded, Yu Rumor burned with anxiety and cried out, “Master, where on earth are you?”
The Drunkard heard her cry. The grinning face he had worn instantly turned ice-cold. “You actually dared to proclaim the secret of the Inverse God Clan to the world?”
Shang Tian replied mildly, “You forced my hand. Before coming here, this Heaven had no intention of exposing the matter. I only wished to take Xing Huan Heaven for Heaven Court. But since you have resisted so stubbornly, this is the price of daring to oppose me!”
“Shang Big Beard, remember this. The grudge between us is now carved in stone!”
Flames of rage burst from the Drunkard’s head. He raised both hands, fingers pressed together.
In an instant all the power in the star domain converged between his palms.
Every star in the domain dimmed.
Whoosh!
A sword of light tens of millions of li long shot from his palms, like a divine pillar spanning the universe. From every corner of Heaven Court and Hell Realm, no matter the star domain, all could see this pillar of light.
He swung the pillar downwards, shattering the Avenue Heavenly Desolation Seal.
The Drunkard’s figure flickered and vanished.
“You will not escape.”
Two more Shang Tians appeared in the universe.
All three Shang Tians stood billions of li tall, like boundless starry giants forming a triangle. Their divine qi not only enveloped the star domain but locked the very rules of heaven and earth.
The Drunkard could not escape. He was forced back into the open and roared, “Then let us fight! I want to see if you can truly kill me.”
“There is no need for such haste. If you agree to visit Shang Qiu for ten thousand years, this Heaven guarantees not a single life in Xing Huan Heaven will be harmed,” the three Shang Tians declared in unison.
Blinding light poured from every pore of the Drunkard’s body, shattering the space Shang Tian had frozen. He charged into the void.
He had to return to Xing Huan Heaven at once. If the Heaven Court armies broke in, all would be lost!
Within the void, Shang Tian intercepted him again. “This is your final chance. Come with me to Shang Qiu and I will immediately order them to erase the memories of everyone who knows.”
“If you continue to resist, I can only broadcast the secret that you too belong to the Inverse God Clan to the Hell Realm. Then the Hell Realm armies you hope will hold Heaven Court in check will surely withdraw. Why force matters to that point?”
“When your disciples lie dead in pools of blood, when the Inverse God Clan is completely exterminated, when every living being in Xing Huan Heaven perishes because of you, you will live the rest of your days in regret. You will bitterly hate the you of this moment.”
“If you will not go to Shang Qiu, go to the Heavenly Palace. The Heavenly Palace will surely grant you an exalted position!”
All that answered him were twin pillars of light blazing from the Drunkard’s eyes.
Shang Tian lost his last shred of patience. “Since you have chosen annihilation, this Heaven shall oblige.”
…
The Blood Absolute War God, racing towards Xing Huan Heaven, was blocked by the patriarch of the Immortal Vampire clan.
The Blood Absolute War God stared at the basin-sized Xing Huan Heaven in the starry distance. “Old fellow, what is the meaning of this?”
The Immortal Vampire patriarch glared. “Show some respect. Call me Patriarch.”
“I am in a hurry. Speak if you have something to say. Otherwise come with me to Xing Huan Heaven.” The Blood Absolute War God seized the patriarch and tried to drag him forward, but could not budge him.
Though the patriarch was withered and thin as a rail, his feet seemed rooted to the spot.
“What is the rush? Rushing off to die?” the patriarch said coldly.
The Blood Absolute War God grew solemn. “This time things in Xing Huan Heaven have spiralled too far. It is out of control, isn’t it? What exactly do you know? Speak quickly. I have no time to waste on riddles.”
The patriarch replied, “I will be brutally honest. Right now several Heaven seeds and God Venerable seeds from the Hell Realm are inside Xing Huan Heaven. This old man fears Heaven Court might gamble everything and wipe all of you out in one stroke.”
“Though the likelihood is small. If Heaven Court truly did so, Hell Realm would never let the matter rest. A cataclysmic war between gods would erupt. Neither Heaven Court nor Hell Realm wishes to fight to mutual destruction here and now.”
“Yet the possibility remains! Where possibility exists, I cannot let you risk yourself.”
The Blood Absolute War God snorted. “This clan’s sacrificial priest is not made of clay to be crushed so easily.”
“What if Hao Tian himself acts?” The patriarch stared straight at him.
The Blood Absolute War God sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes widened. For a long while he and the patriarch simply stared at each other, speechless.
