Chapter 1722: Seizing Momentum, the First Battle!
When the army of Carefree Haven arrived, the Heavenly Court's counterattack was exceptionally fierce.
Ever since the Heavenly Court came to the Primordial Realm, they had always been on the offensive. Though they had both victories and defeats, the overall momentum had never shifted.
But now, Carefree Haven and Eternal Peace, emboldened as if they had eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard, dared to take the initiative and attack, attempting to reverse the tide. This was absolutely intolerable to every general and soldier of the Heavenly Court.
When Carefree Haven advanced to the front of the Heavenly Court's camp, the Heavenly King Huang Tianxi could no longer sit still. He led a massive army charging out. The Heavenly Court's forces surged forth like a tidal wave, blotting out the sky and covering the sun!
The divine strength bearers of Carefree Haven, carrying the coffin, stood at the very front, facing the charging tiger-like, wolf-like army of the Heavenly Court. All kinds of Dao techniques and divine powers surged toward them from the enemy camp like a suddenly unleashed, ten-thousand-zhang-high tide of divine light. The scene was utterly despairing!
Along with the divine powers of the Heavenly Court's soldiers came tens of thousands of divine weapons. Those treasures shuttled through the raging tide of divine powers, constantly transforming, their divine might unfathomable!
Sweat beaded like soybeans on the foreheads of Carefree Haven's divine strength bearers, yet they stood motionless, quietly awaiting the command of the Woodcutter, Wen Tiange.
They had an inexplicable faith in the Woodcutter, Wen Tiange. Even facing such a terrifying spectacle, their confidence did not waver in the slightest.
The tide of divine powers and divine weapons from the Heavenly Court's soldiers was extremely fast, drawing closer and closer. Yet the Woodcutter Sage still did not give the order.
The tide of divine powers and weapons covered a hundred li in the blink of an eye, reaching only about a hundred zhang away. Behind this tide was the tiger-like, wolf-like army of the Eastern Heavenly King, Huang Tianxi!
Just then, the Woodcutter's voice came from behind them: "Open the coffin! Engage in battle!"
Those divine strength bearers pushed open the coffin with all their might. Suddenly, the Dao might surged forth, and the World Tree rose into the sky!
Qin Mu sat motionless within the coffin at the base of the tree. Suddenly, his divine treasury domain exploded outward, expanding with a whoosh.
Huang Tianxi was the Eastern Heavenly King of the Heavenly Court, a being capable of contending with the Four-Colored Emperors. When Qin Mu had fought against the Third and Fourth Young Masters, Huang Tianxi had also been trapped within Qin Mu's domain, leaving him with a deep shadow of fear. Seeing Qin Mu's domain erupt, he thought to himself, "My life is over!"
However, although Qin Mu's divine treasury spread out, enveloping Huang Tianxi's army within it, the domain did not activate. Instead, it swept all of Carefree Haven's army into its embrace.
The soldiers of Carefree Haven had been through dozens of large and small battles, including the Battle of Carefree Haven's Destruction, the Retreat to Eternal Peace, and the Defense of Lanfeng. Only two hundred thousand remained.
Compared to the Heavenly Court's armies, which numbered in the tens of millions, this force wasn't even enough to fill a gap between their teeth!
Now, these two hundred thousand soldiers stood within Qin Mu's domain. It was as if they had grown eyes all around them—front, back, left, and right. They could see through any divine power of the Heavenly Court with perfect clarity, even more clearly than looking at a fire!
Each of them could see every aspect of the divine powers of the Heavenly Court's gods and demons. They could even see inside each divine power, clearly perceiving the composition of every technique.
Not only that, but even the divine weapons raised by the Heavenly Court were visible to them in perfect detail—the changes in the runes within the weapons, their operating principles, their internal structures, and the arrays contained within them were all laid out before their eyes!
This was the wondrous function of Qin Mu's divine treasury.
The soldiers immediately employed their various methods. Before the first wave of divine powers and divine weapons from the Heavenly Court's army could reach the Carefree Haven's divine strength bearers and Qin Mu's coffin, they completely dismantled it all!
Sssss—
The divine strength bearers carrying Qin Mu's coffin had their faces and bodies cut by the residual waves of divine powers and fragments of divine weapons, leaving wounds. Yet they continued to carry the coffin, unmoving.
Some were even pierced through the chest by sharp weapon fragments, but they still stood there.
"Mu Tianzun!"
In the Heavenly Court's camp, the leaders of various armies were charging out of the camp. Seeing this, they all halted their charge, looked up, and were filled with shock and uncertainty.
Huang Tianxi also immediately stopped his army's momentum, staring in terror at Qin Mu, who sat within the coffin ahead.
As the first wave of Huang Tianxi's army's attack was broken, the divine light scattered, and Carefree Haven's formation became clear.
It could be seen that although Qin Mu's divine treasury domain had spread out, fifty enormous pillars gleamed with cold light, piercing through his thirty-three layers of domains!
Those were the fifty Execution Dao Divine Nails!
The Execution Dao Divine Nails fixed Qin Mu's divine treasury domain, piercing not only his domain but also the fifty wounds left in his physical body by the Third Young Master.
Qin Mu's divine treasury was like an independent universe, one with his physical body. The fifty nails that passed through his body also passed through his divine treasury.
Furthermore, the fifty wounds left by the Seventh Young Master were deeply imprinted in his divine treasury, but they were pierced through by those fifty enormous nails, suppressing the Dao wounds within the wounds.
His injuries were far more severe than they appeared!
This made everyone in the Heavenly Court breathe a sigh of relief. At the center of the Heavenly Court camp, the Heavenly Emperor Hao let out a long breath of relief, quickly rushed forward two steps, and a look of both surprise and joy appeared on his face. He laughed heartily, "Old thief Mu, even you have your day! All soldiers, hear my command! Trample these rebels flat! I will use the heads of these traitors to decorate my palace!"
The greatest shadow Qin Mu had cast over the Heavenly Court was his bizarre and unpredictable divine treasury. His battle against the two young masters had nearly shattered the confidence and faith of everyone in the Heavenly Court. If Qin Mu could still activate the power of his divine treasury, then no one in this battle could contend with him!
But now, Qin Mu was no longer unfathomable. Carefree Haven's proactive attack had instead completely exposed Qin Mu's mysterious side, causing the Heavenly Court's soldiers to no longer fear his divine treasury domain.
The various armies of the Heavenly Court immediately mobilized. Huang Tianxi took the lead, charging forward with his army, shouting, "Destroy Carefree Haven! Capture Mu Tianzun alive!"
The soldiers under his command were flushed with excitement, shouting loudly, "Capture Mu Tianzun alive—"
The Woodcutter, Wen Tiange, activated his Primordial Spirit Guide while simultaneously issuing orders to the various armies of Carefree Haven. The formations of Carefree Haven's armies shifted, and they all leaped into the air, landing on Qin Mu's World Tree.
The branches and leaves of the World Tree swayed, each situated in different voids. The Woodcutter set up the formation and suddenly shouted, "Carry the coffin! Advance!"
Those divine strength bearers strained to lift the coffin and strode forward to meet Huang Tianxi's army. Before the two armies engaged in close combat, the air was already a battlefield of clashing divine powers. The divine powers of the Heavenly Court and Carefree Haven clashed in the sky, divine weapons colliding with divine weapons, brilliant and dazzling!
The divine strength bearers carried the coffin forward with all their might. Residual waves of divine powers and fragments of divine weapons whizzed around them. Some passed through their bodies, some pierced their primordial spirits. Bearers fell one after another.
Whenever this happened, a giant from Carefree Haven would descend from the World Tree to replace the fallen bearer and continue carrying the coffin forward.
The soldiers of Carefree Haven, leveraging the advantage of the divine treasury domain, dismantled the enemy's divine powers and weapons. The generals of various armies also sent their divine powers and weapons through the enemy's curtain of divine powers, slaying enemy commanders, causing heavy casualties among the Eastern Heavenly King's army!
However, the Eastern Heavenly King's army was simply too numerous and held the advantage in cultivation realms. Many divine powers still broke through. On the thirty-three heavens of the World Tree, the bodies of Carefree Haven's soldiers kept falling.
The two armies drew closer and closer. On the leaves of the World Tree, Yan Yunxi's mount, the Donkey Demon King Lü Zheng, transformed into a donkey-headed, human-bodied demon god and chuckled, "Little Black Cat, Fishy, and Old Ox, don't be afraid. With me here, I'll definitely keep you all safe!"
One of his eyes was already blind, injured by an enemy during the Battle of Carefree Haven.
The Black Tiger God gripped two large axes in his hands and snorted. A deep scar ran across his face, from his right forehead down to his left chin—another wound from the Battle of Carefree Haven.
The two little red fish had transformed into a couple in large red clothes, their bodies also bearing many wounds.
Niu Sanduo stood upright, smoke billowing from his nostrils. "Lü Zheng, you'd better watch yourself. I was personally appointed as a Golden Guard by Taichu back in the day, a being who once stormed the Heavenly River and fought ancient gods!"
Boom!
The armies of Carefree Haven and the Eastern Heavenly King clashed. The coffin bearers bore the brunt of the impact, and in an instant, more than half were killed or wounded. The bearers in front were slain and fell. The bearers behind immediately had to bear the full weight of the Burial Dao Divine Coffin. They were crushed until blood sprayed from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses, their shoulder bones shattered, but they stubbornly refused to fall.
However, the World Tree immediately tilted, blocking the path forward. All the soldiers on the World Tree lost their balance.
The Woodcutter's voice rang out: "Lü Zheng, Niu Sanduo, go and carry the coffin forward! You must protect the coffin at all costs and carry Mu Tianzun into the Heavenly Court's camp!"
The five of them immediately rushed down from the tree. Lü Zheng chuckled, "Brothers, I'll protect you. Your cultivation is weak, not as good as mine. I'll take the front. Don't worry about me, I have a radish!"
The five of them lifted the Burial Dao Divine Coffin. Lü Zheng roared, his muscles bulging. He arched his back, taking the lead, and carried the coffin forward.
Countless gods and demons of the Eastern Heavenly King charged at them. Di Yiyue immediately flew down to meet Huang Tianxi. To capture the chieftain, first capture the king. She had to kill Huang Tianxi in the shortest possible time and shatter the Eastern Heavenly King's army to have any chance of saving the other soldiers of Carefree Haven!
"Di Yiyue, do you think you're worthy of being the Kaihuang?"
Huang Tianxi laughed heartily, showing no fear. Behind his head, a series of heavenly palaces emerged, forming a Miniature Heavenly Court: "You are three and a half realms lower than me, you are no match for me! You were the most talented person of the Kaihuang Era, a demigod. Why do you help the human race?"
"So you know that I am the most talented person in forty thousand years!"
Di Yiyue shouted. Their divine powers clashed head-on. Their bodies flashed past each other. In that instant of passing, Di Yiyue's left arm was severed, cut off by Huang Tianxi.
At the same time, behind Di Yiyue, a vast Ancestral Court materialized. The Four Heavenly Gates stood upright and inverted. The Jade Pool and Jade Terrace were deep with Dao resonance. The Execution Platform was thick with killing intent. The Heavenly Sea was like a mirror, without a single ripple. The Nine Hells Platform was as deep as an abyss!
Within her Ancestral Court, the phantom images of the Four Great Mineral Veins had already appeared, only the Taiyi Mineral Vein had not manifested. From the four mineral veins, the rosy clouds of the four great Daos rose. Di Yiyue's primordial spirit gathered the rosy clouds and moved in the opposite direction to her body. In an instant, it broke through Huang Tianxi's Miniature Heavenly Court and, with a swoosh, passed through his Lingxiao Treasure Hall!
In the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, Huang Tianxi's primordial spirit exploded with a bang, turning to dust.
Huang Tianxi's corpse fell forward, immediately swallowed by the chaotic army.
Di Yiyue did not pick up her severed left arm. She stopped the bleeding and charged forward, plunging into the enemy formation.
By the time she broke through the Eastern Heavenly King's army, she saw the various armies of the Heavenly Court surging towards her.
"This battle must break through the Heavenly Court's camp and place Mu Tianzun's coffin inside it!"
Di Yiyue gripped her sword with one arm, her primordial spirit floating within the four mineral veins, gazing at the surging Heavenly Court armies. "Only when the World Tree stands within the Heavenly Court's camp can Carefree Haven be the sharp knife that breaks the Heavenly Court's spirit!"
Boom!
Another army of the Heavenly Court surged forward, engulfing her.
Di Yiyue's figure was like a small boat in a turbulent, raging sea, appearing and disappearing amidst the monstrous waves, but never swallowed by them.
Boom!
Another army surged forward, followed by a third. On the World Tree, Wen Tiange gave the order. Yan Yunxi, Di Shitian, Wu Dou Tianshi, and others all descended to support Di Yiyue. The group cut through the waves of blood, countless enemy corpses tumbling in the bloody tide.
"Summon the North Heavenly Gate!" A great shout came from the enemy camp.
A Heavenly Gate rose, a cold wind howling, blowing towards the world, freezing everything.
Lü Zheng and the others carrying the coffin shivered, their heads and faces covered in ice crystals. This gate was the North Heavenly Gate, a sacred site from the Ancestral Court, directly brought here by the Heavenly Court to be used as a divine weapon to suppress everything, to contend with the World Tree, trying to use the North Heavenly Gate to crush Qin Mu's divine treasury and halt Carefree Haven's advance.
At the same time, the Heavenly Court soldiers who had reached the base of the World Tree frantically climbed up, already killing their way onto the leaves of the World Tree.
Lü Zheng, Niu Sanduo, and the others carrying the coffin were in even greater peril. Lü Zheng used his back to bear the Burial Dao Divine Coffin, freeing his hands to fight. Niu Sanduo used his shoulder to carry the coffin, also freeing his hands. They felt surrounded by enemies on all sides, with divine weapons and sharp tools attacking from everywhere. They couldn't kill them all, couldn't block them all. They didn't know when this battle would ever end.
Suddenly, around the North Heavenly Gate, the Heavenly Court's army, countless gods and demons, fell in droves, without any warning. The Heavenly Court's Imperial Historian, wielding the Heaven-Piercing Pillar, didn't know what was happening. He seemed to sense something, his face changed drastically, and he roared, "Enemy attack! Coming from the Netherworld, burrowing into our Life and Death Divine Treasury! Beware of the enemy assassinating our primordial spirits!"
His heavenly palace materialized with a bang, and a Divine Que Saber flashed through his Lingxiao Hall, decapitating his primordial spirit!
The Netherworld Heavenly King, Tian Shu, shook the Divine Que Saber, the blade's light dazzling. As the saber light trembled, the stone tablet of the Realm of the Dead appeared. The King of Fengdu led the ghosts and gods of Fengdu, charging from the Netherworld into the Life and Death Divine Treasury of the various gods and demons of the Heavenly Court.
Tian Shu's body grew larger and larger. He spread his legs and stood atop the two mountain ranges of the North Heavenly Gate, shouting fiercely, "Advance—"
Lü Zheng, Niu Sanduo, the Red Kun couple, the Black Tiger God, and the others strained to carry the coffin forward. Countless Heavenly Court soldiers surged around them, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
The battles along this path were countless. The casualties among Carefree Haven's soldiers were also countless. Finally, they arrived before the Heavenly Court's camp. Above them, countless divine powers and divine weapons rained down. The soldiers of Carefree Haven fought desperately, and people were constantly killed, falling from the World Tree.
The camp walls were thick and heavy. Lü Zheng shouted, "I'll carry the coffin! Old Ox, you break the city gate!"
Niu Sanduo charged out, roaring continuously. His physical body grew larger and larger, his muscles bulging ferociously. He slammed his fists against the city gate. The gate and the gate tower rumbled and shook.
Heavenly Court soldiers leaped down from the gate tower to fight, their numbers growing. At the same time, countless Heavenly Court soldiers from all directions converged on them.
Lü Zheng carried the coffin on his back and shouted fiercely, "Little Cat, Fishy! I'll hold them off! You protect Old Ox!"
The Black Tiger God and the Red Kun couple immediately stopped carrying the coffin and fought desperately, protecting Niu Sanduo's safety.
Niu Sanduo madly pounded the city gate, but it remained unbroken. Suddenly, he roared without ceasing, lowered his head, and charged at the gate.
A deafening crash was heard. The city gate shattered into pieces, and the gate tower collapsed. Niu Sanduo's two horns were broken off cleanly, his head bloodied, but he revealed a smile and shouted, "Donkey! The city is breached! The city is breached! Carry the coffin into the city!"
Lü Zheng carried the Burial Dao Divine Coffin on his back, his body hunched and motionless, his body stuck full of various divine weapons.
"Donkey!"
The Black Tiger God fought off the surging Heavenly Court soldiers and rushed forward. He saw Lü Zheng staring wide-eyed with his one eye, already dead. The ginseng doll at his mouth was reduced to just a radish head, still holding onto a breath of life.
Radish Head was Lü Zheng's good friend. Although he often ate Radish Head, always taking a bite whenever he had nothing to do, he couldn't bear to eat him entirely, as that would cost his friend his life.
"Carry the coffin into the city!" The Black Tiger God wiped away his tears and roared at the Red Kun couple.
Only the three of them were left to carry the coffin. The Burial Dao Divine Coffin was too heavy. The three of them were crushed until they spat blood. Niu Sanduo cleared the way ahead, using his physical body to block the attacks of countless surging gods and demons, carving a bloody path for the Black Tiger God and the other two.
Finally, they made it inside the city.
In the distance, on the divine city of Eternal Peace, Ling Yuxiu saw the World Tree enter the Heavenly Court's camp. The arm she had raised finally fell, like a sword cutting down.
The various armies of Eternal Peace rumbled into action, surging mightily towards the Heavenly Court's camp!
—A big chapter! Unintentionally wrote 4,500 words, couldn't bear to split it into two chapters. Tearfully begging for monthly votes for the Donkey and the fallen soldiers!!