# Chapter 1704: The Road Back to Hometown
When the earth stirs with murderous intent, dragons and serpents rise from the land.
Among the three divisions of the Heavenly Court, the Earth Division's scale surpassed even that of the Heavenly River Navy. It was merely that the Navy held the greatest renown among the three, overshadowing the Earth Division's brilliance.
The gods and demons of the Earth Division mostly came from the various heavens of the Imperial Star Cluster, with as many as eight main generals: Yaoguang, Kaiyang, Yuheng, Tianquan, Tianji, Tianxuan, Tianshu, and Beidou, representing the supreme authority of the Imperial Star Cluster.
Among them, the Beidou Great Emperor held the highest power, with the Yaoguang, Kaiyang, and other divisions all under his command, and he was honored as the Heavenly Lord.
At this moment, it was the Beidou Heavenly Lord who dispatched the seven divisions of the Earth Division to besiege the Supreme Clarity Realm, attempting to breach it and slay Lan Yutian.
When the topmost layer of Carefree Village, the Supreme Clarity Realm, erupted, the thirty-three heavens connected as one. The surfaces of each heaven collapsed and crumbled, revealing the massive divine metal structures within. Terrifying sword lights shot upward from within the thirty-three heavens. From afar, the thirty-three heavens of Carefree Village resembled a giant sword.
The various armies of the Earth Division stationed within the different heavens of Carefree Village faced sword lights and sword energy flooding every realm—the awakening of the Sword Dao!
At this moment, only one thought remained in everyone's mind: flee for their lives!
Yet they had no path of escape. The thirty-three heavens had become an ocean of Sword Dao. This was not merely the Sword Dao of Kaicheng Qin Ye, but the spirit of an entire era—the tragic song of the Kaicheng Age!
When Carefree Village's radiance blazed most intensely and magnificently, its dazzling light illuminated the skies of the Primordial Realm, eclipsing the suns dragged forth by the Xuan Du divine demon army.
The Beidou Heavenly Lord stood at the entrance to Carefree Village's Supreme Clarity Realm, watching this scene. Suddenly, tears streamed down his face like rain. He murmured, "There's no escape..."
Kaiyang, Yuheng, Tianquan, Tianshu, and other emperors rushed over, surrounding him tightly. Together, they exerted their strength to charge beyond the heavens, shouting, "Heavenly Lord, if we don't leave now, we won't make it!"
The Beidou Heavenly Lord, dazed and disoriented, looked down at the countless divine demons of the Earth Division below. They were distributed across the thirty-three heavens, yet as Carefree Village erupted, millions of gods and demons were all buried in the vast ocean of Sword Dao.
The Grand Emperor Heaven, the Great Brightness Heaven, the Clear Brightness Heaven, the Primordial Embryo Heaven, the Primordial Brightness Heaven...
One heaven after another had become a hell of Sword Dao!
The stern sword energy transformed those places into slaughterfields where even gods and demons could not survive!
The Earth Division—possessing the largest army of gods and demons in the Heavenly Court, the strongest force in ground combat—would likely not escape this calamity!
"There's no escape anymore!"
The Beidou Heavenly Lord wept loudly: "None of the soldiers can escape! We can't escape either..."
Before he could finish his words, all the power of Carefree Village erupted, as if the supreme Sword Dao sovereign Kaicheng Qin Ye himself had struck with his sword.
Kaiyang, Yuheng, and other emperors at the Imperial Throne realm disintegrated in the sword light, split apart, shattered into countless fragments, and vanished into the radiance of the Sword Dao, leaving nothing behind!
The Earth Division army of the Heavenly Court's three divisions, which had crushed Carefree Village's forces in ground attacks and defenses, was now buried within Carefree Village itself.
Although remnants of the Earth Division that had not entered Carefree Village still existed, they were no longer a significant force. The Earth Division, as one of the three divisions, had been erased from existence!
In the sky, Lan Yutian controlled the divine artifact Blue Yutians, gathering Carefree Village's power. From afar, it appeared as though he was using Carefree Village's Supreme Clarity Realm as the sword hilt, with the other heavens forming the sword guard, sword blade, sword edge, sword tip, and sword aura!
The entire power of Carefree Village was unleashed, resembling a great sword standing between heaven and earth. Carefree Village's power rapidly diminished. As merely the heart of the Carefree Sword, without the Carefree Sword itself, it was already extraordinary that it could slay so many Earth Division gods and demons.
Under Lan Yutian's urging, the Grand Emperor Heaven and the Great Brightness Heaven collided with a thunderous roar, stacking together, then crashing into the Clear Brightness Heaven, the Primordial Embryo Heaven, and the Primordial Brightness Heaven!
Within a single breath, the power of Carefree Village's various heavens converged, forming a thirty-two-layer heaven sword domain that crashed toward the final heaven—the Supreme Clarity Realm!
Boom!
The Supreme Clarity Realm's Dao Sword domain completely merged with the thirty-two-layer heaven sword domain!
Lan Yutian's goal was to take advantage of Carefree Village's remaining power, before it completely dissipated, to slay Lady Yuanmu!
Just then, Lady Yuanmu, who had been trapped in reincarnation, suddenly awakened. Seeing this, she was horrified. With a sharp cry, she unleashed the full power of a Return to Ruins Dao Achiever!
Within the Supreme Clarity Realm, the Dao Sword domain revolved around a massive Return to Ruins. The sword domain and the Return to Ruins collided violently, a scene shaking heaven and earth!
It was a contest between Sword Dao and the wind of heat death, a struggle against the great abyss that devoured everything. Fierce beyond measure, the sword domain spinning around the Return to Ruins was scorched red by the wind of heat death, blazing with flames!
Suddenly, a lotus leaf rose slowly from within the Return to Ruins. Lady Yuanmu stood within the lotus leaf, channeling its power!
This lotus leaf was equivalent to a Dao Achiever's Dao Tree. If a Dao Achiever resorted to using their Dao Tree, it meant their very life was at stake!
Lady Yuanmu activated the lotus leaf, pushing the power of a Return to Ruins Dao Achiever to its extreme. A thunderous, earth-shattering roar erupted, and the sword domain suddenly exploded!
Lady Yuanmu transformed into a streak of black light, breaking through the void and vanishing without a trace.
At the same time,
Carefree Village shattered. Massive, sword-shaped metal fragments rained down from the sky, piercing the ground haphazardly across Carefree Village's former site.
For tens of thousands of miles in every direction, fallen swords littered the land, forming a desolate graveyard of blades.
In the distance, Emperor Yi Yue and the other soldiers of Carefree Village looked on in dejection, each straightening their backs.
The Woodcutter Sage spoke calmly, "Gentlemen, the Navy, the Divine Division, and other Heavenly Court armies will soon catch up. We must leave this place quickly."
The soldiers silently turned and marched eastward toward Yancheng.
The Woodcutter looked back. The Heavenly Court's Divine Division, the fastest of the three, was already visible in the distance. With the Divine Division's strength among the three divisions, they could annihilate them completely.
Though Carefree Village still had many soldiers, they were no match for the Heavenly Court.
"Teacher Wen, does anyone need to stay behind?" Su Maiqing stopped and asked.
The Woodcutter Sage nodded silently, his voice low: "Dao Lord Su, you alone staying is not enough."
"Then I will stay too." Yan Rinuan slowed her pace and came to his side.
Fang Youji stopped as well: "And me."
Gao Baixun also fell back a step, saying, "I think the young people of this generation of Carefree Village are very good. Back then, I thought they were just good-for-nothings who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun, doing nothing worthwhile. Now, after experiencing war, they have become excellent."
Zhou Jingmeng and Zhou Xunfang, two old fellows, stepped forward, laughing: "We brothers are old relics too. We plan to stay and buy some time for the young ones."
"Teacher Wen, leave us wounded soldiers behind as well."
A soldier who had lost both legs stopped, looking up with hope: "Carrying us injured will only slow down the army's march. Rather than having the entire army wiped out, let us stay with Fang Shaobao and the others to buy time for the rest!"
The Woodcutter Sage nodded silently. Many wounded and disabled gods and demons separated themselves from the retreating force.
Others tried to step forward, but the Woodcutter Sage raised his hand, saying, "This is enough. If we fail to rendezvous with Yancheng in time, the others still have a chance. Old brothers, this battle marks our eternal farewell. Tian Ge will not see you off."
Fang Youji stared at him with wide, aged eyes, then suddenly said angrily, "Wen Tian Ge, I've never liked you. They say you are supremely sage yet heartless, supremely wise yet without righteousness. We're about to die today, and these cripples are staying for a last stand, yet you remain so cold, not even furrowing your brow! Today, you must smile for us!"
The Woodcutter Sage revealed a warm smile.
"Not that fake smile!"
The Woodcutter Sage's face showed a smile, but his eyes grew sore. He turned his face away, using his sleeve to hide it, secretly wiping away an old tear.
Seeing this, Fang Youji did not continue to press him. He sighed, "A sage is also human. Your heart is also made of flesh. Wen Tian Ge, to have worked by your side and Qin Ye's side, living a magnificent life for forty thousand years—my heart is at ease. I have no regrets. You all go quickly!"
He waved his hand.
The Woodcutter Sage bowed deeply to the ground, then followed the retreating main force.
Fang Youji set his coffin upright, wiped it vigorously, and began to whistle. This coffin had been polished by him for twenty thousand years, gleaming with oil and shine.
The old man pressed his face against the coffin, chuckling, "Today, I finally get to use you..."
Gao Baixun was a scholarly teacher wearing a tall hat. Listening to Fang Youji's whistle, watching the approaching Heavenly Court Divine Division army, he tapped his teaching rod lightly against his palm, keeping time with the whistle.
The scholar swayed his head, softly chanting: "Behold my ambition to level the heavens, ascend my hall that rivals the sky, lift my clear-bright coffin, climb my Primordial Embryo Mountain."
The old generals of Carefree Village, the disabled soldiers, the wounded—their hearts were calm, quietly listening to his chant. Fang Youji's whistle grew even more ethereal, as if carrying them back to Carefree Village in the void beyond the shore.
Those days felt like yesterday, right before their eyes.
Gao Baixun tapped his teaching rod against his palm, stepping forward, suddenly breaking into dance. His divine consciousness transformed into visions of the Creator and Carefree Village, with Creator goddesses dancing gracefully in the air, their movements exquisite.
"Visualize the birth of all things, peace and joy for all, climb high to gaze at the distant shore, the Creator spreads across the stars. Enter my Carefree Village, escape the world without worry."
His voice gradually softened, carefree and untroubled. Suddenly, it became resounding and forceful, like the sound of metal and stone, and the whistle grew impassioned!
"One day, the great dream awakens—return to the road back home!"
"Walk my treacherous heavenly path! Battle my wolf-like foes! Bury my heroic souls! Inter my righteous bones!"
"Wind and frost aging me—I do not fear!"
"Blades and swords wounding me—I am not alarmed!"
"Let my body shatter to pieces!"
"Let my soul scatter and vanish!"
He cast off his tall hat, letting his hair fall loose, staring at the approaching Heavenly Court gods and demons, his angry hair flying: "This journey to the Primordial Realm—all are righteous souls! The void everywhere is our hometown!"
The many old soldiers and generals of Carefree Village rose to their feet, activating their damaged divine weapons, stirring their remaining vital energy.
Gao Baixun laughed heartily, charging toward the Heavenly Court's Divine Division: "Come on! Little whelps of the Heavenly Court, step over my corpse!"
Everyone laughed loudly, charging forward with him. A thunderous cry erupted across the sky: "Step over our corpses!"
—The deeds of Gao Baixun, Fang Youji, and others are detailed in chapters 982 to 984. Those chapters also contain a foreshadowing, introducing the divine metal structure inside Carefree Village, which is also the foreshadowing for Carefree Village being able to transform into a great killing weapon.