Chapter 1674: A Beauty by Nature
Zhu Shaoping led the remnants of the Heavenly River Navy, retreating three hundred thousand miles. The Woodcutter Sage did not pursue with his troops, because the main force of the Heavenly Court had yet to emerge, including the Ten Guards of the Heavenly Court, the Seven Dukes, the Three Chancellors, the Two Advisors, and the Five Emperors of the Inner Throne.
Moreover, the Heavenly River Navy was only one of the Three Armies. Although defeated, its main strength remained intact.
Furthermore, there were the other two armies!
This battle was a great victory for Carefree Village, Yankang, and the Primordial Realm, and also a great victory for the myriad realms of the heavens. But for the Heavenly Court, it was merely a minor defeat!
Finally, the main army led by Emperor Hao Tian and the civil and military ministers of the Heavenly Court arrived belatedly, setting up their camp. It was majestic and spectacular, as if the Heavenly Court itself had been relocated.
Zhu Shaoping hurried into the palace, strode quickly toward the Lingxiao Hall, knelt down, and begged Emperor Hao Tian for forgiveness.
"Victory and defeat are common in military affairs. A single victory or defeat does not mean much."
Emperor Hao Tian said warmly, "Fortunately, Minister Zhu is unharmed, which sets my mind at ease. It is a pity, however, that we lost the Left Junior Chancellor and that the Nine Prisons Platform fell into enemy hands. The fault for this battle does not lie with you. I failed to anticipate that the Yankang reforms would produce so many strange and novel things."
A gleam of light flickered in his eyes, and he smiled. "Capable of forming the Grand Heavenly Court formation diagram, the great ships that specifically break the Heavenly River Pagoda, and those bizarre flying chariots. This is precisely why I need Yankang."
Zhu Shaoping dared not speak.
"Yankang's craftsmanship is already the finest under heaven. The Heavenly Court's foundries are empty. This is the reason I must seize Yankang."
Emperor Hao Tian stood up and said calmly, "These rebels think that a mere minor victory can shake the foundations of the Heavenly Court. They truly underestimate the Heavenly Court, and they underestimate me. I was worried that these rebels would not dare to show their faces. Now that they have all jumped out at once, it saves me the trouble of hunting them down one by one. Advance. Flatten Carefree Village."
One divine city after another rose from the Heavenly Court's army. Palaces floated in the air, advancing toward Carefree Village.
The Three Armies of the Heavenly Court arrayed themselves at the front. Behind them were the Dragon and Tiger Guards, the Divine Strategy Guards, the Feathered Forest Guards, and the Divine Might Guards!
These eight guards were like eight Heavenly Venerables sitting in formation!
Emperor Hao Tian looked toward Tai Chu and said, "Imperial Father, break the Primordial Realm's Xuan Du Heavenly Curtain."
Tai Chu bowed and acknowledged. He stood up, and his Dao Tree soared into the sky. The One Qi Great Luo Heaven descended from the ultimate void!
His Dao Tree flew into the One Qi Great Luo Heaven. A rumbling sound came, and the sky of the Primordial Realm instantly split open, transforming into forty-nine beams of light that fell from the sky, landing behind Carefree Village.
The place where those forty-nine beams of light fell was where the Heavenly Duke had erected the Heavenly Principles, forming the Xuan Du of the Primordial Realm. The forty-nine beams of light landed beside the Heavenly Duke. With a series of clanging sounds, they transformed into one Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure after another, thrusting into the ground around him.
The heavenly curtain shattered. The sun, moon, and stars hanging in the sky all vanished without a trace!
The Heavenly Duke's face turned deathly pale. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, reached out to pull up the Heavenly Principles Supreme Treasure thrust into the ground, and swept his sleeve, gathering the other Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures.
"Tai Chu, your skills are still this formidable!"
The Heavenly Duke looked up at the Dao Tree in the sky. It was Tai Chu's Dao Tree and the One Qi Great Luo Heaven. As long as they were suppressed over the Primordial Realm, his fifty Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures would have no chance of being raised again.
Beyond the heavens, it was pitch black. There was no sun, no moon, and no stars.
The entire Primordial Realm was plunged into darkness and cold. Only the divine cities and various heavens emitted faint glimmers of light, illuminating the night that shrouded the Primordial Realm.
The Ancestral God King in Xuan Du had long since obscured the stars and moved away the sun and moon of the Primordial Realm, leaving it floating alone in the dark universe.
From now on, the Primordial Realm would have no distinction between day and night. People would wake from the night, but they would never again see the sun rising as it once did. And at night, there would be no moon in the sky, nor any stars!
In seven days, the oceans would begin to freeze. Above the Primordial Realm, a great dark cloud would appear, covering the entire realm. Snow would fall from the sky for months, until the entire Primordial Realm was piled high with ice and snow!
After the day, even the deepest oceans would freeze into a massive block of ice. The entire Primordial Realm would become a land of extreme cold!
By then, even the air that people took for granted would freeze!
Part of the air would freeze, and part would turn into liquid. The spiritual energy of the Primordial Realm would cease to flow, and all life would die!
For now, it was only the first night.
In this darkness, a sun slowly rose beside a divine city of Yankang. The massive sun ship, like a giant beast with twelve legs, strode forward along a predetermined path.
Beside another divine city, a new sun ship started up, releasing its sun into the sky.
Gradually, more and more sun ships appeared in every corner of Yankang and Carefree Village. Looking down from high above, it was as if bright candle flames had risen from the dark earth. Yet the light of these flames grew stronger and stronger, gradually driving away the night.
On the sun ships stood many white-robed divine beings, members of the Xuan Du divine race.
Back during the Battle of Xuan Du, Qin Mu had rescued the Heavenly Duke and saved many of the Xuan Du divine race, sending them to Yankang. They had originally been the Sun Guardians of Xuan Du. Now, the Sun Guardians of Xuan Du had long since been replaced by Heavenly Court gods and demons, while they had come to Yankang to become the Sun Guardians of the Primordial Realm.
These Sun Guardians stood on the sun ships, towing one massive artificial sun after another, giving light to the world, allowing crops to grow, and driving away the cold.
The destination of these sun ships was a series of sun wells that had long been constructed. Each sun well contained an artificial sun. At the speed of the sun ships, it took exactly half a day to travel from the starting point to the destination. When they arrived, the sun ships would enter the sun wells.
In the palaces of the Heavenly Court, powerful beings at the Imperial Throne and Lingxiao levels watched this scene from afar, feeling a profound sense of awe.
"So many sun ships and sun wells. The Emperor of Yankang, Yan Feng Emperor, is truly an extraordinary talent. In such a short time, he has prepared such countermeasures!"
Among the Seven Dukes, the Supreme Duke, Chu Yuming, murmured, "Yan Feng Emperor is indeed extremely formidable, possessing great talent and bold vision..."
"It should not be Yan Feng Emperor. Yan Feng Emperor reigned for nineteen years. Nineteen years is not enough to prepare so many sun ships and sun wells."
Another person said in a low voice, "To build so many sun ships and sun wells, one would need to prepare for forty or fifty years! It was during the reign of that esteemed lady, the wife of that certain existence, that construction began! At that time, that lady was already planning how to deal with the disappearance of the sun."
During Ling Yuxiu's reign, she had redesigned the sun ships and sun wells, improved the artificial suns from the Kai Huang era, and secretly built many sun wells throughout Yankang.
Today, they finally proved useful.
When the Three Armies of the Heavenly Court and the various troops arrived at the Cliff of Severance, before they could even form their ranks, the sound of a zither came. An ancient zither flew before the two armies, playing itself with no one there.
Then an hourglass flew over, hanging in front of the Cliff of Severance. After a while, the Dao light in the sky shone brightly. A Dao Tree descended from the heavens, with a Dao Fruit hanging from it, but no one was beneath the tree.
The Three Armies of the Heavenly Court halted, not daring to approach.
Emperor Hao Tian smiled faintly and said, "The bandits Moon Heavenly Venerable, Cloud Heavenly Venerable, and Lady Tian Yin have arrived."
Behind the Heavenly Court's camp, two Dao Trees and a Guixu Great Abyss appeared, stabilizing the momentum of both sides.
In the Heavenly Court's camp, one treasure hall after another rose into the air, radiating the fortune of the powerful beings from the past universe, suppressing everything!
Various heavy treasures from the Ancestral Court also emerged, their momentum shaking heaven and earth!
Suddenly, a World Tree thrust across and stood behind Carefree Village. Fifty Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures flew out from the tree, distributing themselves throughout Carefree Village.
A lava horn slowly rose from behind the Heavenly Court. Magma flowed along the horn, forming a long river of lava behind the Heavenly Court. A Styx River also appeared, revolving around the horn.
At that moment, a horse lantern flew out from the Netherworld of the Primordial Realm, hanging above the Grand Supreme Heaven. Its light was dim and unclear.
The two Taiji Ancient Gods exchanged a glance and raised the Taiji Sand Table, transforming it into a Taiji Star Domain in the sky, rotating in black and white.
Just then, behind Carefree Village, a round, chubby young man leaped and bounded, jumping from one mountain peak to another. With a sudden leap, he soared to the Thirty-Third Heaven of Carefree Village and opened his mouth, spitting out his companion supreme treasure, the Azure Mirror, hanging it above the Grand Pure Heaven.
The Azure Mirror above the Grand Pure Heaven shone brightly, standing in opposition to the Taiji Sand Table from afar.
In the sky behind the Heavenly Court's army, the massive face of the Heavenly Duke appeared, covering half the sky. His snow-white long eyebrows hung down like long white ribbons, stretching from the sky all the way to the ground.
Behind the Heavenly Duke's face were rounds of suns. In front of the suns were divine halls and treasure chariots. Countless Sun Guardians burned the Western Heaven red.
Boom!
A violent tremor came from behind Carefree Village. The earth split open. One after another, divine metal giant wheels cut across half the Primordial Realm, half submerged in the Netherworld of the Primordial Realm and half hidden in the mortal world!
Qin Fengqing, with horns growing from his head, his body wrapped in the Netherworld Dao transformed from Netherworld demonic energy, closed his three eyes and rose from the Netherworld. His six arms spread wide, his palms almost touching the Six Paths Heavenly Wheels.
The Six Paths Heavenly Wheels each rotated in different directions. The Reincarnation Dao, born from the Netherworld Dao, began to operate.
Emperor Hao Tian, Tai Chu, and Empress Dowager, who had transformed into Lady Yuan Mu, were all moved. They each stood up and stepped forward, gazing at the Six Paths Heavenly Wheels from across Carefree Village and the Grand Supreme Heaven.
The Master of the Lingguan Hall also couldn't help but come out. He still hadn't managed to crack Qin Mu's sword Dao to grow a head, so he had to use the three eyes on his chest to look. He murmured in admiration, "Seventh Young Master is remarkable, to be able to forge such a divine weapon! This treasure is extraordinary, truly extraordinary!"
"Zaofu Heavenly Palace, offer the Divine Vessel Yu Tianzun!"
At Emperor Hao Tian's command, the master of the Zaofu Heavenly Palace, Xing Han Heavenly Venerable, opened the gates of the Zaofu Heavenly Palace. One Divine Vessel Yu Tianzun after another grew larger and larger, standing tall within the palace, their presence awe-inspiring.
Not only that, but the Zaofu Heavenly Palace also contained various divine vessels of the Four Emperors, the Heavenly Duke, and the Earth Lord!
Although the Heavenly Court's Creation Divine Vessel had been destroyed, Xing Han Heavenly Venerable was a genius in the Dao of Creation. Using the Heavenly Court's wealth, he had forged many powerful divine vessels, earning Emperor Hao Tian's deep trust.
At that moment, Emperor Hao Tian's pupils contracted sharply. He saw a young man walking out from Carefree Village.
Lan Yutian.
Behind Lan Yutian stood one Lan Yutian after another.
These were the Divine Vessel Yu Tianzun created by Yankang's Creation Divine Vessel!
Moreover, Lan Yutian had personally gone to the supervision factory, allowing Yankang's skilled craftsmen to survey and measure him. He had personally participated in the design, creating these Divine Vessel Yu Tianzun!
Emperor Hao Tian laughed heartily. Riding his imperial chariot, he drove out of the Heavenly Court's army and said loudly, "Mu Tianzun, since you are here, why not show yourself for a meeting?"
The World-Crossing Golden Ship rounded the Grand Supreme Heaven and sailed over leisurely. At the bow of the golden ship, Qin Mu rested his hands on the railing, facing Emperor Hao Tian from afar.
Between them lay the Cliff of Severance of the Primordial Realm.
The cliff was immeasurably high and incredibly steep.
"A beauty by nature, why must you follow the bandits?" Emperor Hao Tian's gaze fell on Qin Mu's face, and he said softly.