Chapter 424: The Relic
This battlefield stretched for hundreds of miles, divided into a dozen smaller battlefields, but all were aligned along the line of the Divine Severance Mountain Range.
The Five Immortals of the Demon Race, Kun King, Wing King, Blind, Horse Ye, Butcher, Mute, Deaf, State Preceptor, Village Chief, Granny Si, Old Dao Master, Old Tathagata, Qingyou Mountain Man, each paired off in deadly combat. As the most top-tier combatants of their respective races, they rarely encountered opponents in this world. However, compared to the gods of the Upper Firmament, they were a step lower in cultivation realm.
Yankang State Preceptor and Earth Traveling Peak were already the most supreme experts. The State Preceptor fought to the death, slaying the One-Eyed Deity but suffering severe injuries himself. Earth Traveling Peak and his opponent perished together, demonstrating the vast gap in strength.
The Five Immortals of the Demon Race and Granny Si were slightly inferior in strength but had more tricks up their sleeves. They could only rely on hit-and-run tactics with divine abilities. Their opponents were too powerful, leaving them exhausted and struggling to cope.
Yan Jingjing's arrival was perfectly timed. As the sun from the Sun Ship descended, Yellow Immortal had already opened the pouch on his back. A stream of yellow smoke billowed out, incredibly foul, nearly causing his opponent's guts to rupture as he vomited uncontrollably.
Yellow Immortal stepped forward to seize his opponent's soul, but was stomped to the ground by the deity, unable to move.
Willow Immortal revealed her true form, a massive cyan serpent like an azure dragon coiled around the snowy mountain. Her opponent also manifested his true form, as tall as the mountain, covered in white fur, with eyes like lightning hidden in darkness. He struck Willow Immortal until she spat blood, blood flowing endlessly from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
White Immortal, Grey Immortal, and Fox Immortal were also severely wounded. Granny Si relied on her Teleportation Flag and the Great Luo Celestial Star Palm Force to hold on, dodging her opponent's killing blows.
The Five Immortals often chose to unite against a single enemy, but they were still short-handed. They needed to hold off two deities, which was extremely taxing for them. With Granny Si's help, they could alleviate some pressure, but it was still insufficient to contend with two deities.
On the other side, Old Dao Master had already deployed the fourteenth chapter of his Dao Sword Fourteen Chapters. He had only mastered half a move of the fourteenth chapter, using that half-move sword technique to fight his opponent, causing mountains to crumble and the earth to split. However, the half-move was quickly exploited by his opponent, who shot a divine light from his eyes that pierced through layers of sword light, pinning Old Dao Master to a cliff.
"Dao Sword… is nothing special!" The deity's massive palm print descended toward the Dao Master on the cliff!
Old Tathagata's Tathagata Mahayana Sutra activated the Twenty Heavens, his body like a great Buddha surrounded by ten thousand Buddhas, meeting force with force. But he was also at a disadvantage, the great Buddha and the Twenty Heavens in tatters.
The deity contending with him had three heads and six arms. Both engaged in close-quarters combat, fist to flesh. Soon, Old Tathagata's body was covered in bloodstains, his white eyebrows dyed red and dripping blood.
He was old. His qi and blood were no longer as vigorous as before, and his physical stamina had greatly declined.
In the past, relying on the power and might of the Tathagata Mahayana Sutra, he could fight tirelessly. His vigorous qi and blood greatly enhanced his techniques and divine abilities. Now, he felt himself struggling, being suppressed by his opponent.
On another side, Horse Ye tried several times to come to the rescue, but was always held back by his opponent, unable to free himself. His situation was similar. He had also cultivated the final realm of the Tathagata Mahayana Sutra, the Great Brahma Heaven Realm, surrounded by divine Buddhas and twenty layers of precious manifestations.
However, Horse Ye's strength lay in his youth and robust physique, while Old Tathagata's qi and blood were withered, unable to hold out for long.
"Relic! Emptiness is not different from form; form is not different from emptiness!"
Old Tathagata's voice chanted, and suddenly his qi and blood surged, his techniques growing increasingly powerful, his combat strength becoming more terrifying, surpassing his opponent.
Horse Ye's heart trembled, and he called out loudly: "Master!"
Old Tathagata turned to look at him, revealing a smile: "The Buddha Dharma is in your hands. Pass it on for me!"
"Perception, thought, action, and consciousness are also like this!"
Buddhist light blazed, engulfing Old Tathagata and the deity.
Blind roamed between the various battlefields, using his Heart's Eye to perceive his opponents' weaknesses and launch surprise attacks. But he could only barely force the gods to defend, saving the lives of his own people.
Butcher's battle with his opponent, Yan Xingjun, was utterly insane. It was a reckless style of fighting—nothing existed except the blade. A man and a single blade, regardless of how severe his injuries or how powerful his opponent's attacks, he advanced with his blade, cleaving through everything!
Behind Mute, the furnace blazed with sky-reaching divine fire. Silver beads flowed from his box, transforming into countless divine weapons and tools. In his dantian, it was as if another furnace with boundless energy was hidden. Both furnaces burned simultaneously, providing him with unparalleled power.
Deaf splashed ink to paint, the ink dyeing heaven and earth. He painted on the snowy mountains and the land, causing the painting and reality to overlap. The painting was hidden within the mountains and rivers, and the mountains and rivers overlapped with the painting, presenting a series of magnificent and bizarre worlds. He led his opponent through the painting and reality, but never engaged in direct combat.
In a head-on confrontation, he was certainly no match.
During this time, he painted a vast landscape stretching over a hundred miles, with paintings within paintings and realms within realms. His opponent entered the painting, lost his direction, and could not find a way out of the painted world.
Deaf leaped out of the painted world, intending to annihilate this landscape along with the painted world. Suddenly, a sword light flew out from the painting, piercing his chest.
Deaf was sent flying backward by the sword light. He poured all his power into his brush, sweeping heavily. Instantly, the mountains and rivers for a hundred miles collapsed and disintegrated, imploding and annihilating inward, releasing terrifying energy!
"Mere mortals should not wield the power of gods and demons!"
A furious roar came from the explosion of the collapsing world. A bloody hand reached out, grabbing toward the flying Deaf.
Wing King and Kun King had already revealed their true forms, shuttling between the sea and the sky like two beast gods standing tall between heaven and earth. Their roars were deafening. The battle between giant beasts and giant gods caused heaven and earth to shatter, dark clouds to obscure the moon, and only occasionally when the sky split did moonlight pour down.
Wing King and Kun King were covered in wounds, but their fighting spirit was immense. Wing King revealed her true form, transforming into a giant bird. She flapped her wings, skimming across the sea's surface, overturning the ocean wherever she passed. Suddenly, she spun rapidly, and in the spin, she fiercely drew her blade, splitting the sky, slashing toward the deity who stood on the sea, suppressing Kun King.
Her blade cut through the sky. At that moment, what fell from the split sky was not moonlight, but a sun rolling down from the crack her blade had created.
Wing King was startled, unsure of what was happening, but her blade had already been unleashed and could not be withdrawn. She could only do her utmost to strike at the deity suppressing Kun King.
At the same time, the dark clouds parted. Another deity revealed his head from within the clouds, his face ferocious. His massive hand slammed down like a mountain, aiming to crush her!
This deity hidden in the clouds also noticed the falling sun. He was momentarily stunned, somewhat puzzled.
"What kind of divine ability is this?"
At that moment, the sun erupted. Beneath the sun, a torrent of razor-sharp golden light engulfed him!
Not only him, but almost all the other gods of the Upper Firmament were simultaneously attacked by this sun. The golden light of the sun was incredibly sharp, directly piercing the bodies of the gods locked in battle, leaving countless wounds.
Yan Jingjing was not as violent as Qin Mu, who would simply hurl the sun of the Sun Ship, causing devastating damage but also easily damaging the sun itself. He did not understand how to control the sun or unleash its power. However, as the Sun Guardian, Yan Jingjing had repeatedly used the Sun Ship to fight enemies in the darkness. She was thoroughly familiar with the Sun Ship and the sun's various functions, controlling them with ease.
Under her control, the Sun Ship could unleash maximum power with minimal damage.
In an instant, the Divine Severance Mountain Range for thousands of miles was illuminated. At the bottom of the sea, Kun King used his golden horn to pierce the lower body of the deity standing on him, nailing him to the sea's surface. The deity, unable to dodge, saw his own body shattering in the sunlight.
The hand reaching for Deaf snapped under the sunlight's glare. The palm slapping toward the Dao Master was pierced by countless beams of light. Under the sunlight's illumination, the faces of the gods and demons were lit up.
The Buddhist light blazed fiercely but was dispelled by the sunlight, revealing two figures standing unyielding within the glow—Old Tathagata and the deity had perished together.
The light bursting from the sun continued to shine, illuminating the towering snowy mountains. The mountain where Willow Immortal was coiled was dyed red. The azure dragon-like serpent tumbled down from the peak. Yellow Immortal's pouch was pierced through, and the Yellow Immortal beneath the deity's foot was crushed into mud. The deity's body was covered in White Immortal's silver needles, looking like a giant hedgehog.
The sunlight continued to shine far away, illuminating each battlefield. The figures of Butcher and Yan Xingjun in midair were lit up. The silhouettes of Qingyou Mountain Man and Hua Jun falling from the sky were stretched long by the light.
The sun's rays reached even farther. At that moment, the light of the ninth move of the Sword Diagram flared. Qiao Xingjun and another deity were being engulfed by the sword diagram.
At the foot of the Sun Ship, the two heads of the Three-Headed Deity were severely wounding Cripple and Pharmacist. Both were sent flying high into the air. A Heavenly Silkworm flew out from Pharmacist's body, desperately spraying silk to wrap around Yankang State Preceptor, saving him from being killed.
Boom—
The Sun Ship shook violently. The Three-Headed Deity retracted his two heads and landed on the ship, charging toward Yan Jingjing at the center of the four divine pillars. Mu Ri Clan Leader and the others' faces changed drastically as they hurriedly blocked him. Countless Sun Herders were shattered into pieces by this deity, but they still could not stop him.
The Sun Ship's appearance had a tremendous impact on the battlefield. If Yan Jingjing were allowed to continue attacking the other deities, the gods of the Upper Firmament would likely be completely annihilated.
Yan Jingjing controlled the Sun Ship, an ancient divine artifact of supreme yang and steel power, capable of threatening everyone. However, precisely because she was controlling the Sun Ship, her movements were restricted, placing her in great danger. If someone got close, it would be extremely disadvantageous for her.
When the Sun Ship appeared, the Three-Headed Deity was nearby, pursuing Cripple and Pharmacist. He was the closest to the Sun Ship, and no one expected him to directly board it.
Mu Ri Clan Leader held the Sun Bell in his hand, meeting force with force, but he could not stop the deity and was steadily pushed back, now at the edge of the divine pillars. Suddenly, the Three-Headed Deity's two heads flew out again, bypassing Mu Ri Clan Leader and charging between the pillars. From left and right, they sprayed massive amounts of water and fire at Yan Jingjing.
Yan Jingjing spat blood, raising both hands to defend. The sun's power immediately diminished greatly.
On the other side, the power of the ninth move of the Sword Diagram fully bloomed. Dazzling sword light illuminated the world, overshadowing the sun's radiance. Then, the sword light gradually dimmed.
In that battlefield, Qiao Xingjun stood unyielding, coldly staring at his opponent across from him—the former Human Sovereign from years past.
"You've grown old."
Qiao Xingjun revealed a mocking expression. A crack suddenly appeared on his forehead: "If you were at your peak, with this move, I would certainly be dead. But now, your qi and blood are nearly depleted. This move couldn't even take my life directly. It only..."
He suddenly swayed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He chuckled darkly: "You still severed my life force. But I'm not bad either—at least I'm taking you with me."
Beside him, the deity who had fought alongside him suddenly split into pieces, collapsing into a heap of flesh and blood.
———— There will be two to three chapters tonight! Zhai Zhu will do his best to make up for the chapters owed from the previous two days!
Recommend a book: Sweeping the Horizon's Heavenly Dao Library. It's a divine book, very popular. On this trip to Changsha, I discovered that Sweeping the Horizon and Zhai Zhu are both reclusive homebodies, honest and devoted family men.