Chapter 1703: Carefree Realm, Sword Sacrifice
Just as Xu Shenghua had said, the first half of the night was utterly peaceful on the Great Dark Mountain. Only beyond the mountain did the terrifying scene of a universe collapsing persist.
Qin Mu stopped absorbing the Dao Dew, instead letting Xu Shenghua take it while he himself helped treat Xu Shenghua’s injuries.
He did this because Xu Shenghua still had a great battle ahead. In the second half of the night, the prehistoric powerhouse would attempt a probing invasion. If Xu Shenghua lacked sufficient strength, he wouldn’t be able to withstand this wave of attack.
Finally, a split-open mountain range trembled, as if some terrifying demonic monster deep underground was trying to walk out from within the mountain.
Xu Shenghua rose, walked down from the World Tree, and headed toward that place.
Qin Mu collected the Dao Dew and consumed it himself.
By the time dawn arrived, Qin Mu’s cultivation had recovered to about sixty or seventy percent. He then walked down from the World Tree. Xu Shenghua was burying the prehistoric powerhouses who had died at his hands. Qin Mu came to his side and saw that he also intended to build a grave for the Spirit Official.
“If you can’t hold them back, retreat,” Qin Mu said.
Xu Shenghua looked up and said, “You too.”
Qin Mu turned and walked away, his voice drifting from afar: “I have no path of retreat left.”
Xu Shenghua was stunned. After a moment, he continued building the grave and erecting the tombstone.
Qin Mu pushed his speed to the limit, charging out of the Ancestral Court and heading toward the Yuan Realm. Anxiety still gnawed at his heart. He had spent a night in the Ancestral Court, and even if he traveled at full speed from the Ancestral Court to the Yuan Realm, he would only arrive five days later!
By then, would Cloud Sovereign still be alive?
Could he hold on until that moment?
Yuan Realm.
The moment Qin Mu left the Yuan Realm and rushed toward the Ancestral Court was exactly when Ancestral God King led the Xuan Du army across the Carefree Realm, only to be entangled by Moon Sovereign and Lang Wan.
Ancestral God King controlled the Heavenly Duke’s physical body. Countless Xuan Du Sun Guardians and Moon Guardians dragged suns and moons across the sky. The suns scorched the earth, and countless Fire Crow Divine Men flew out from the suns, charging toward Yǎnkāng. Meanwhile, from the moons, three-legged toad-headed, six-eyed divine beings leaped out, unleashing their divine abilities. The sky was filled with strange six-eyed monsters, each eye shooting beams of light that bombarded Yǎnkāng below!
It was an absolutely apocalyptic scene.
Moon Sovereign and Lang Wan personally blocked Ancestral God King, but they couldn’t stop the vast Xuan Du army.
Against this Xuan Du army, the Carefree Realm had no troops left to resist. Yǎnkāng’s forces were even fewer, unable to hold back the ocean-like tide of Xuan Du divine beings pouring down from the sky.
In Yǎnkāng’s divine cities, Sun-Shooting Divine Cannons were activated one after another. Hundreds of divine cities housed over a thousand such cannons. Their beams left black scorch marks across the sky. With each shot, a Sun Guardian fell, or a sun in the sky was pierced through!
Even so, the Xuan Du divine and demon army was unstoppable!
Countless Fire Crow troops charged down. Three-legged Fire Crow Divine Men flapped their wings, rushing toward Yǎnkāng’s divine cities. From the cannon embrasures of these floating cities, True Yuan Cannons were pushed out, and countless beams shot toward the Fire Crow Divine Men.
A rain of fire fell from the sky, but the torrent of Fire Crows kept closing in, nearing the city walls!
In addition, Moon Guardians led six-eyed Star Toad Divine Men. The sky was filled with strange eyes, each shooting divine light that struck the True Yuan Cannons on the city walls, destroying cannon after cannon!
The first to bear the brunt was Kang City in the west. The first wave of Fire Crow Divine Men slammed into the city walls. Their three claws hooked onto the stone, and they scrambled upward. Some rushed to the top of the walls, while others ran toward the city’s underside, trying to break through from below and tunnel into the city.
Cannon fire could no longer kill them. On the walls, divine beings immediately pushed out flying chariots. Sword towers opened, releasing countless sword pellets that poured down the walls. As the pellets fell, they continuously split apart, turning into divine swords that stabbed in all directions, weaving a dense net!
At the center of Kang City, Yǎnkāng’s divine beings were clad in divine armor from head to toe, even their face masks were tightly sealed, leaving only their eyes and mouths exposed.
Some carried various divine weapons on their backs, others gripped long spears and great swords tightly. Many divine beings were on the battlefield for the first time, staring nervously at the constantly shaking ground.
The shaking in the city center grew more intense. Suddenly, with a thunderous roar, the ground melted. Golden liquid and molten copper shot up into the air as the ground of Kang City was burned through!
From the molten gold and copper, countless Fire Crow Divine Men flew out, like insects surging from underground, charging in all directions!
Doo-doo—
On the city tower of Kang City, someone blew a replica of the Western Emperor’s divine artifact, boosting the blood and qi of the defending soldiers. Yet even so, they were locked in a bloody battle, with casualties mounting!
And Kang City was just one of many divine cities in the west. The situation in other cities was no better.
The Xuan Du army grew larger and larger. One by one, Yǎnkāng’s floating divine cities were surrounded. Below these cities lay Yǎnkāng’s western towns and villages, home to mortals and cultivators. If the divine cities fell, a massacre would surely follow for these people!
“Heavenly Duke, no need to wait any longer!”
Ugly Earth Lord spoke in a deep voice: “Ancestral God King won’t show a flaw anytime soon. Only you can activate the Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure now and block the Xuan Du divine beings!”
Heavenly Duke looked up, staring intently at Ancestral God King, who was locked in battle with Moon Sovereign and Lang Wan. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and let out a roar, activating the Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure, the Heavenly Net Dao Soldiers. One by one, the Heavenly Dao treasures rose into the air, charging toward the Xuan Du divine beings in the sky.
Ugly Earth Lord breathed a sigh of relief and joined him in the attack.
Both were at the level of Celestial Venerables. Their entry into the battle immediately held back the Xuan Du divine and demon army, preventing them from descending!
Just then, the Left and Right Dragon Guard Armies, a hundred thousand divine and demon troops strong, charged out, forming formations and rushing at the two!
Meanwhile, in the Carefree Realm, the tide had turned. Emperor Yi Yue, Yan Yunxi, and others began leading their forces in a breakout, fighting their way out of the various heavens. The battle across the thirty-three heavens of the Carefree Realm was unimaginably brutal. Each heaven was almost a seesaw war. The divine and demon armies on both sides piled mountains of corpses from their own and enemy soldiers. Blood dyed every heaven of the Carefree Realm red. Only the Grand Pure Realm, which had no stationed troops, remained relatively peaceful.
But the Carefree Realm’s cause was lost. Emperor Yi Yue had no choice but to shed tears and retreat from the Carefree Realm.
The Heavenly Court’s Divine Army and Water Army, along with other forces, pursued relentlessly. The Earth Army occupied the Carefree Realm and attacked the Grand Pure Realm, where only one person remained: Lan Yutian.
The Earth Army’s countless troops climbed up from the other thirty-two heavens of the Carefree Realm, gathering overwhelming forces to assault the Grand Pure Realm.
On the Grand Pure Realm, Lan Yutian used his Imperial Celestial divine artifacts to set up a killing formation. The entrance to the Grand Pure Realm echoed with the roar of battle!
On another front, Red Emperor Qi Yayu, Southern Emperor Zhuque, the two Red Emperors, and Zhu Yan’er led the Phoenix Clan, the Red Clan, and the Yǎnkāng army, advancing from the southern border to intercept the retreating forces of the Carefree Realm.
At the same time, Wei Suifeng and Northern Emperor Xuanwu killed the Spirit Official’s divine avatar, routing the northern armies. Wei Suifeng left the Xuanwu army with the Kan Land defenders and, along with the two Xuanwu Emperors, marched southwest from Kan Land to provide support.
In the western lands, the Upper Firmament was breached. Yue Tingge fought his way into the Upper Firmament, while Dragon Qilin led the Beast Realm army and Western Emperor Baihu, advancing from the west to attack the Heavenly Court’s forces from the rear, easing the pressure on the Carefree Realm.
“Emperor Kai, we can begin now.”
Wen Tiange gathered the defeated troops of the Carefree Realm and rendezvoused with Emperor Yi Yue and the others. This battle had cost the Carefree Realm sixty percent of its soldiers, and the survivors were all wounded.
Their divine weapons were battered and broken, their armor riddled with holes. Their elixirs were exhausted, and their supplies were depleted. The formation diagrams, war chariots, and other divine weapons sent by Yǎnkāng had all been consumed in the war.
Even heavy artifacts like the Ark of the Other Shore had been rendered unusable and abandoned by Emperor Shi Tian, Li Youran.
If the Carefree Realm continued fighting, total annihilation was the only outcome.
Emperor Yi Yue’s expression was complex. She gazed into the distance at the Carefree Realm and said in a hoarse voice: “Wen Tianshi, Lan Yutian is still on the Grand Pure Realm holding off the enemy…”
“Don’t worry about him. He can escape.”
Wen Tiange said: “I asked him to face Lady Yuan Mu on the Grand Pure Realm this time, precisely to draw more enemies there. Only by staying there can he unleash the Carefree Realm’s full power!”
Emperor Yi Yue sighed. “Then, let’s begin…”
The leaders of each heaven in the Carefree Realm stepped forward, leading their remaining troops. They gazed into the distance at the Carefree Realm, their expressions complex.
The Carefree Realm was their second home, and now it was about to be destroyed—destroyed by their own hands!
“Our first home is the Yuan Realm. The Carefree Realm was just a temporary refuge. Now, to kill the enemy and for our first home, destroying this place is also shattering the ‘carefree’ in our hearts!”
Wen Tiange’s voice was low: “Everyone, let the Carefree Realm shine with its due brilliance.”
His gaze fell on Su Maiqing. Su Maiqing was the founder of the Yǎnkāng Daoist Sect and mastered the first sword of Emperor Kai Qin Ye’s sword path: the Supreme Peace Leveling Heaven Sword!
Su Maiqing and his soldiers let out a low shout, activating their divine abilities, and bowed in worship toward the first heaven of the Carefree Realm, the Supreme Peace Heaven!
Wen Tiange’s gaze shifted to Yan Rinuan, the commander of the second heaven. Yan Rinuan was an ancestor of Yǎnkāng’s Sun Guardian Yan Jingjing and cultivated the second sword of Emperor Kai’s sword path: the Great Bright Equal Heaven Sword!
The third heaven, Great Bright Heaven, was commanded by the Four Pillars’ Junior Guardian Fang Youji, who cultivated the third sword: the Pure Brightness Heart-Severing Sword!
The fourth heaven, Dark Embryo Heaven, was commanded by the Four Pillars’ Junior Assistant Gao Baixun, who cultivated the fourth sword: the Dark Embryo Suppressing Heaven Sword!
The fifth heaven, Grand Tutor Zhou Jingmeng, cultivated the Primordial Bright Literary Sword!
…
Thirty-two heavens. The thirty-two great generals under Emperor Kai Qin Ye, including Yan Yunxi, each mastered one of the thirty-two swords of Emperor Kai’s sword path. Only the thirty-third sword remained unmastered.
“The one who masters the thirty-third sword is Lan Yutian, the Imperial Celestial of the Grand Pure Realm. He stays there to unleash all the Carefree Realm’s power!”
Wen Tiange suddenly shouted: “Everyone, activate the Carefree Realm!”
The moment his words fell, all the soldiers channeled their power together. In the distance, the Carefree Realm suddenly trembled. Then, countless rocks flew, mountains collapsed, seas dried up, and the earth split open, revealing the steel and iron bones buried deep underground!
The internal structure of the thirty-three heavens was a magnificent edifice built from divine metals and materials, covered with countless sword path runes!
From the Supreme Peace Heaven to the Jia Yi Heaven, one heaven after another lit up!
At that moment, a torrent of sword path energy flooded the Carefree Realm. On the Grand Pure Realm, Lan Yutian glanced at the still-dazed Lady Yuan Mu and immediately leaped into the air.
Around him, divine artifact replicas of Lan Yutian followed, floating alongside him in the sky, parallel to the ground of the Grand Pure Realm. From below, the many Lan Yutians, with their four arms spread wide, looked like blue kites released into the wind, bobbing up and down.
Lan Yutian pressed his right hand together in a sword gesture, using his fingers as a sword. With a series of sharp sounds, he activated the sword path!
“The thirty-third sword of the sword path, the Grand Pure Realm Dao Sword! Carefree Realm, rise!”