Chapter 1721: Counterattack on the Heavenly Court
In Maple Mist Valley, the first batch of reinforcements to arrive were actually the Mute and a host of artisans from Eternal Peace. As soon as they arrived, they immediately set to work. By the second day, they had erected one teleportation gate after another.
The second batch to arrive were Dao Lord Lin Xuan and the Dao Ancestor, along with other mathematical experts from the Daoist sect. Upon their arrival, they immediately adjusted the mathematical configurations of each teleportation gate, connecting them to the teleportation gates of other Eternal Peace divine cities.
The third batch of reinforcements were the many pharmacists who emerged from the teleportation gates. After arriving, they immediately took out their respective pill furnaces and began refining the medicinal stones needed to sustain the teleportation gates.
Once all this was done, the teleportation gates in Maple Mist Valley had already connected with many divine cities of Eternal Peace. The armies of gods and demons from Eternal Peace's various divine cities began to march steadily through the teleportation gates.
The teleportation gate was a treasure designed using teleportation divine abilities. Using teleportation divine abilities for ultra-long-distance transmission consumed an enormous amount of magical power—even Qin Mu couldn't withstand it when he killed the Ling Guan clone. The teleportation gates, however, consumed medicinal stones.
For Eternal Peace to transport troops on such a massive scale, the consumption was immense. Therefore, teleportation gates were rarely used for troop transport unless the situation was urgent.
Now was the most urgent moment!
When the Moon Venerable and Queen Lang Huan returned, Woodcutter Wen Tian Ge knew that Jiang Baigui had already arrived at the Xuan Du battlefield. That was why they had the opportunity to come back.
"Worry-Free Village! Deploy the troops!"
The gates of the divine cities in Maple Mist Valley opened, and the remaining soldiers of Worry-Free Village marched out. Emperor Yi Yue, Qing Huang, Emperor Shi Tian, Tian Shu, Yan Yun Xi, Zhuo Cha, the Old Fisherman, and the surviving veterans of the Kai Huang Heavenly Court each led their armies out of Maple Mist Valley, advancing toward the Heavenly Court's camp.
Many divine power warriors strained to lift Qin Mu's coffin, carrying it at the very front.
Ling Yuxiu and the soldiers of Eternal Peace stood atop the city walls, watching the army of Worry-Free Village leave Maple Mist Valley.
The army of Worry-Free Village was the vanguard. A vanguard was a sharp blade used to tear open the enemy. If it failed to tear the enemy apart, then the blade would be broken!
The army of Worry-Free Village would face an unprecedented hard battle on this journey. How many of those who left the city today would return alive was still unknown!
Since the Heavenly Court's invasion began, both Eternal Peace and Worry-Free Village had been on the defensive. The Heavenly Court attacked, and Eternal Peace and Worry-Free Village defended.
Now, for the first time, they were launching an active attack. It was easy to imagine how terrifying the Heavenly Court's fury and counterattack would be!
But to win this battle, they needed Worry-Free Village to be that sharp blade, thrusting fiercely to pierce through the Heavenly Court's seemingly invincible exterior!
"Li Youran!"
Red Emperor Qi Xiayu left the city alone, calling out to Emperor Shi Tian, saying, "You are Li Youran!"
Emperor Shi Tian shook his head. "Benefactor, do not cling to names and forms. I am a wrathful Buddha. The Buddha is Tathagata, seeing all beings as equal, formless and nameless." He led his army into the distance.
Red Emperor Qi Xiayu urged her Phoenix Ship forward, standing on the deck and looking down to ask, "Have you forgotten the past?"
Emperor Shi Tian looked up, gazing at her beautiful face, and said, "Benefactor, you still have the Phoenix Clan. Do not cling to personal emotions. If you think I am Li Youran, then I am Li Youran. The Tathagata's great love knows no bounds—it can love all beings, and it can love you as well. Go back."
Qi Xiayu's eyes widened as she watched him disappear into the distance.
On the city wall of Maple Mist Valley, Emperor Yan Feng walked over and stood beside Ling Yuxiu, saying in a deep voice, "In the first battle, we must tear a hole in the Heavenly Court's camp. Worry-Free Village's journey is fraught with danger."
Ling Yuxiu looked at her father. Emperor Yan Feng appeared somewhat aged, more weathered than the middle-aged emperor who had once pushed for reform and change, but his spirit was still vigorous and his demeanor spirited.
"Father, you will command this battle," Ling Yuxiu said.
Emperor Yan Feng shook his head and smiled. "You are already a qualified leader. If you weren't going to marry that Qin fellow, I wouldn't have wanted to take over Eternal Peace's burden. You lack my boldness, but you are more meticulous than I am, more patient, and better at hiding your weaknesses and sharp edges. You will command this battle. I want to go to the front lines and fight!"
Ling Yuxiu nodded, then turned and said, "Blind Grandpa, no one in Eternal Peace surpasses you in formation mastery. Your divine eyes are unmatched. From now on, you are Eternal Peace's Formation Heavenly Master. Stay by my side."
Blind clapped his hands, and many young formation cultivators from Eternal Peace stepped forward. Blind said, "One person's wisdom is limited. In this era, knowledge and Dao techniques are exploding in growth. It's hard for any individual to be a master in a single field. I need these young friends to help me."
Ling Yuxiu bowed. "I entrust this to you, Blind Grandpa."
She straightened up and gave the order. In the Netherworld, countless paper boats set forth. Paper horses kept leaping off the prows, galloping through the dark Netherworld.
On the backs of those paper horses were the gods and demons who had died in this calamity. Though dead, they fought on with fervor, their battle intent surging as they charged toward the Heavenly Court's camp in a mighty tide.
Above those countless paper boats, Netherworld Venerables held lanterns, illuminating the path ahead.
Above the billions of paper boats, the Earth Lord's Book of Life and Death shone like a golden sheet of paper with no thickness, casting its light down.
Behind the Netherworld Venerable's clone army, Qin Fengqing appeared with three heads and six arms, each head bearing three eyes and two horns on top, following behind him.
Behind Qin Fengqing, the Six Paths of Reincarnation wheel spun with a roar, its six paths rotating in different directions as it followed him.
Boom!
In Maple Mist Valley, one divine city after another spewed long flames, slowly starting to move toward the Heavenly Court's camp.
From within the cities, great ships and warships soared into the sky, much faster than the divine cities, steadily emerging. On the decks of those warships were rows of flying chariots. On the large chariots, pharmacists from Eternal Peace were busy adjusting the pill furnaces, while other soldiers rapidly loaded various divine weapons onto the chariots.
Once they finished preparations, the commanders of the warships gave the order, and the pill furnaces of the flying chariots ignited. The chariots flew out of the warships, much faster than the ships themselves, and the chariot army roared forward.
The Village Chief activated his blood energy, looking like a youth, with a divine sword at his waist, standing against the wind.
He stood on the foremost flying chariot. The chariot army was mostly composed of Eternal Peace's elite sword cultivators, experts in sword techniques, sword methods, and the sword Dao.
Whoosh!
Red Emperor Qi Xiayu's Phoenix Ship flapped its wings and flew out of the divine city. Behind it came the Phoenix Clan's army, but on each phoenix's back stood over a dozen Eternal Peace soldiers, each carrying a long saber as tall as a person.
They also wore saber pouches at their waists, containing saber pellets.
The Butcher, with his massive frame, stood on a phoenix's back. Two other phoenixes flew beside him—Divine Saber Luo Wushuang on his left, and Demon Saber Zhe Huali on his right. Ba Shan was chasing after them from behind.
Behind Eternal Peace's four great saber gods were the younger generation of Eternal Peace's saber cultivators.
"How did he come along?"
Zhe Huali glanced back at Sacrificial Wine Ba Shan, frowning. "He's not part of our Divine Saber Battalion. He follows the path of combining combat techniques. Traitor!"
Sacrificial Wine Ba Shan was furious. "Brat, if you've got the guts, stop!"
"Don't mind him."
The Butcher didn't turn around, saying, "The more you respond to him, the happier he gets, and the louder he yells. Since Mu'er and Tian Shu aren't here, we had to drag him in to make up the numbers."
Sacrificial Wine Ba Shan's face turned green. "Teacher, aren't you favoring outsiders? I'm your own disciple!"
The Butcher's face darkened.
Luo Wushuang was puzzled, thinking, "The Heavenly Saber is so bold and heroic, full of learning and eloquence—how did he end up with such a roughneck for a disciple?"
A stretch of the Heavenly River flew out, growing longer and longer, surging and roaring. Xuan Emperor and Wu Emperor transformed into a massive Xuan Wu, like a continent in the river, swimming within the Heavenly River.
Behind the Xuan Turtle and the Teng Snake, they dragged an even larger marshland—the ancestral land of the Xuan and Wu clans.
In that ancestral land, the demigods of the Xuan and Wu clans were spirited, each finding their partner—one male, one female—forming arrays together.
In the sky, Wei Suifeng flew through the air, his wide sleeves fluttering, followed by tens of thousands of Feathered Forest soldiers, flying with their wings.
Wu Emperor, transformed into the thousand-winged Teng Snake, looked up and laughed. "Cloud Luo Emperor, be careful in this battle—don't live up to your name!"
"Pah!"
Wei Suifeng laughed heartily. "I'm one of the few in the world who can use the Unmoving Divine Ability, even if it's incomplete, it's enough to save my life! You and your wife need to be careful!"
"Good luck and good fortune."
Xuan Emperor, transformed into the Xuan Turtle, looked up and smiled. "I'm good at divination. I cast a hexagram—this journey will be auspicious!"
The divine cities in Maple Mist Valley gradually picked up speed. In the valley, the Mute led tens of thousands of artisans in opening newly built manufacturing plants, forging divine weapons to replenish supplies.
At the same time, countless cultivators came and went, transporting miraculous pills, divine metals, and divine ores from Eternal Peace.
In the sky, a hundred or so divine cities advanced toward the Heavenly Court's camp, bathed in the glow of the setting sun.
Beneath the divine cities, Grandmother Si led Eternal Peace's ground forces. As the soldiers marched, they activated summoning divine abilities. The sky beneath the divine cities kept splitting open, revealing the vast world of the Beast Realm.
One ancient beast after another poked its head out from the other world, descending from the sky.
Grandmother Si led thousands of soldiers onto the broad backs of these beasts. The beasts galloped, shaking the earth, their speed increasing.
Grandmother Si glanced to the side and saw the young Patriarch Wen Yuan and Hua Xuanxiu standing on a beast's back. She quickly called out, "Wen Yuan, take care of your junior sister! She's the Holy Maiden of our Heavenly Saint Sect!"
Patriarch Wen Yuan felt a bit wronged, thinking, "An old phoenix is worse than a chicken. My status has plummeted now. Am I as old and faded as Mu'er..."
Grandmother Si was still worried about Hua Xuanxiu's safety and said to Jiang Yunjian, "Yunjian, your cultivation is high—take care of your junior sister Hua!"
Jiang Yunjian nodded solemnly. The army he led was the Four Emperors Divine Weapon Army, with every soldier carrying a Four Emperors divine weapon, such as the Five Thunder Pot.
Behind Patriarch Wen Yuan and Hua Xuanxiu was an army composed of scholars from the Heavenly Saint Academy, the Imperial Academy, and Sacrificial Wines. These people were often veterans from the old Heavenly Saint Sect, including Heavenly Kings and Protectors.
After Qin Mu became the Sect Leader, he reformed the Heavenly Saint Sect into the Heavenly Saint Academy. The Heavenly Saint Sect had originally had a bad reputation, being called the Demon Sect, but now it had been somewhat cleansed.
Patriarch Wen Yuan was the current Sect Leader, but it was just a title.
All of Eternal Peace's various armies set out. After two days of marching, the Heavenly Court's camp came into view. At that moment, the army of Worry-Free Village had already clashed head-on with the Heavenly Court's camp!
The first battle of Eternal Peace's counterattack had erupted!