Chapter 661

Deceit!

Concealment!

Ruthlessly and heartlessly seizing what is rightfully yours, then turning around and forcing you to buy it back at an exorbitant price; the lofty demon gods plunder your remaining worth to secure their own nobility and glory!

At this point, at this moment, can you still not awaken?

Must you continue to submit in such meekness?

Great Emperor Fengdu angrily shouted, "Stand up!"

"Those who refuse to be slaves!"

The blood-red sun burst forth with blinding light, shining upon the nether world, striving to awaken every wandering soul, giving the elite nether spirits of the Tianhe navy a subtle hint of hesitation.

Fengdu sacrificed himself, transforming into the nether sun; though greatly restricted, he still had the ability to speak, and in the midst of battle he sought to turn the tide, hoping to reverse the dire situation.

However, Yao Marshal Yingzhao is no pushover.

Having come to the netherworld, Yingzhao made thorough preparations; now, as he commands the ghost army in assaulting the Ghost Emperor's mansion, he has his own means to maintain order, preventing chaos.

These methods are actually quite simple.

Nothing more than a carrot in one hand and a stick in the other.

"Fengdu, I respect you as a talent, yet you speak such nonsense!" Yao Marshal Yingzhao brandished his halberd, wind and thunder swirling; the several ghost emperors who could be considered great masters surrounding him were all no match, retreating step by step—for a Great Luo and a Great Luo are not the same, and likewise for mighty beings!

While suppressing the ghost emperors, Yao Marshal Yingzhao still had leisure to speak, sneering carelessly, "People differ from people, and demons differ from demons!"

Moreover, the path to ever higher realms of life knows no end; no matter how much time or resources you invest, you will always feel it's too little, never too much!

Without striving or seizing, how can one progress faster and better?

This is the natural order of heaven and earth!

Heavenly Emperor Majesty, wise and mighty, has set the path of competition, letting the weak fall to the strong and the capable rise above; he leads you along this road—as long as you exterminate the Wu Clan and trample upon their bones to rise, the spoils of war will be more than enough to fill your bellies!

Without Majesty's leadership, what ability do a scattered horde of demons have to carve out such a channel of plunder?

The Heavenly Court merely takes its due share in this process!

As for the so-called concealment, it is merely for strategic secrecy...

In that case, what does "earning money while kneeling" mean?

"Is it cold?"

"Not cold!"

"You lot!"

"Don't listen to Fengdu's nonsense!" Yao Marshal Yingzhao burst into loud laughter, "Sympathy is merely a shackle the weak try to impose on the strong!"

"Look across the world—are you the weak?"

"You are meant to become demons among demons, able to retire and enjoy life at ease—don't let your posture go awry!"

"Give it your all!"

The Yao Marshal's words echoed throughout the netherworld: "Every performance in this battle will be recorded by the Heavenly Court!"

"Reward for those who advance bravely!"

"Death for those who shrink from battle!"

"The fate of your families and clans is now tied to yours!"

The harsh order was issued, causing the ghost troops, previously influenced by Fengdu, to regain composure and advance steadily; they have even breached the mansion of one ghost emperor's domain and seized his palace.

Yao Marshal Yingzhao, on one hand writing a splendid vision to firm the hearts of the "traitors," on the other hand using the Heavenly Court's oversight and the safety of families and clans as a threat… making the rebels more resolute and silencing the sympathizers.

"Laughable!" Great Emperor Fengdu growled, "They're nothing but lies!"

"Do you really think that by fighting to the death and giving your all you can obtain the rewards verbally promised by Yao Marshal Yingzhao?"

"Don't be naive any longer!"

"The great clans that rule the Heavenly Court have long since united!"

"What is your origin?!"

"And what is their origin?!"

"Even if you win this battle, the rewards they grant you will be nothing more than scraps and leftovers!"

"The Demon Race's way has never cared for the weak… so what do you consider yourselves, compared to those lofty demon gods?"

"Yao Marshal Yingzhao's current appeasement and the various rewards he promises are only because the Wu Clan still exists!"

"If one day the Wu Clan are gone… the true face of the Demon Court will also be exposed!"

"Who among you thinks that, without the balancing Great Luo demon gods, they would care about your voice or your thoughts?"

"Don't even dare to think about it!"

"And for all eternity, you will have no chance to turn things over!"

"Because, if the Heavenly Court does not allow it, it will be impossible for latercomers to ascend to the Great Luo realm—and even if there are latercomers, they must either be the direct lineage of their respective clans, or else humble themselves, bow and scrape, toil like oxen and horses, trampling their own dignity into the ground, for a mere chance of advancement."

"Is this the future you desire?"

Great Emperor Fengdu's tone was immensely impassioned: "Do you want your future to live under the countless layers of exploitation of the Demon Court?"

"If not…"

"Then let's rise up against it together!"

"Kill Yao Marshal Yingzhao!"

"If the Heavenly Court cared about your opinions and valued the upward-striving force you represent even more than a Yao Marshal, then even if your teeth were knocked out, you would still swallow them down."

"If you are merely seen as tools, they will hesitate not to launch a purge that visits disaster upon your clans and kin… this alone suffices to reveal the nature of the Heavenly Court."

"The gentleness you put on now will later demand tenfold repayment, making life as unbearable as death itself!"

"I hereby pledge this promise!"

"If your clans suffer because of your actions, the Fengdu Netherworld Prefecture will surely do its utmost to take in these wandering souls, arrange temporary lodging for them, and attend to their future reincarnation."

Even if that's the case, you still have reservations.

Then I will set my body ablaze once more, turn into mist and smoke, forge a haze, veil this heavenly secret, so that the Heavenly Court's eyes can no longer clearly see which departed souls are fighting for justice, rebelling for humanity's future.

Once Ying Zhao and Bi Fang are dead, it'll all be a confused mess.

As the words fell, just as this supreme emperor of the ghost‑god lineage said, mist rose and turned into clouds and smoke, making the heavenly secrets of the realm of rebirth dreamlike—like seeing flowers through fog, hazy and indistinct, no longer clear.

At this moment, whether Yao Marshal Ying Zhao or Yao Marshal Bi Fang, they both fixed their most perilous gaze upon the Nether Sun.

Because, thanks to Qing Jia's earnest persuasion, the effect indeed manifested.

The Heavenly River elites who had been shouting battle cries suddenly fell silent, many of them.

Outwardly they still appeared to be fighting hard, but for some reason, far too many of the elite fallen warriors saw their killing power plummet, suddenly crippled.

At the same time, their eyes flickered uncertainly, as if they were thinking, as if they were judging.

That, too, was only natural.

Having passed layer upon layer of selection to become members of the Heavenly River navy, their cultivation achievements are not bad.

Contemplating the Great Dao, having witnessed myriad civilizations, deep within they each hold their own cognitions and judgments.

But often, these cognitions and judgments are of little use, swept up by the Heavenly Court's overwhelming trend—it's not as if one can simply do whatever they want… they were nipped in the bud long ago.

However, the situation now is special.

Quietly, they seemed able to decide the course of a battle's victory or defeat.

Some fallen spirits also agreed with the reasoning expounded by the Fengdu Great Emperor, harboring worries for the future.

Of course, this does not mean they have sided with the Wu Clan; those who truly wholeheartedly support the Wu Clan's ideology… more or less, it is because their personal accumulation is still insufficient, ending the war too early is not conducive to making sufficient war profits, to achieve their own status transformation, to become true supreme demons in the future.

This is a bit of selfishness, aroused by the Fengdu Great Emperor's bewitching.

The more ordinary one's background, the greater the worry… conversely, they even drag down the elite strong among them, bad money drives out good; they have the will to slay the enemy, but lack the power to turn the tide.

A moment's hesitation, and the offensive showed signs of decline; external foes and internal strife combined to produce an error, and countless fallen spirits enticed by Bi Fang into the "zero‑purchase" scheme were immediately seized and crushed by the local city gods and realm lords with ruthless means.

Although the Wu Clan's situation in the netherworld is still adverse, it appears there is now some room for maneuver!

This caused Ying Zhao and Bi Fang to stir a chilling killing intent, deciding to bring forward a certain step.

Fengdu!

Ying Zhao thrust his spear; a flash of lightning, and the Southern Ghost Emperor coughed blood and retreated, exposing an opening and yielding the path.

The Yao Marshal stepped forward, bypassing the three Ghost Emperors' blockades, arriving above the netherworld's firmament, his tone languid: "You're quite the talker."

What a pity!

Your tongue is slick, but your handiwork leaves much to be desired.

Since you're unskilled, you should jump less… that way you can last a bit longer.

Why?

Why do you insist on rushing to your death?

Ying Zhao let out a long sigh.

At that moment, another Yao Marshal arrived, standing shoulder‑to‑shoulder with Ying Zhao, bearing blazing immortal fire, as if to incinerate the entire netherworld.

"Not bad!" Bi Fang's eyes flickered, "We didn't originally want to move against you first, fearing that in dealing with you, a ghost‑god emperor blessed by the Human Dao, some aberrations might occur."

But your mouth is downright offensive!

So we might as well send you on your way now… after all, you're bound to die sooner or later!

Right?

Having said that, Bi Fang joined forces with Ying Zhao, moving in to carry out extermination.

Protect Fengdu!

The Eastern Ghost Emperor coughed blood, roaring in anger, leading a host of ghost‑gods in a siege to rescue Fengdu.

But, alas.

Although their strength is not insignificant—being carefully selected by Houtu from her own ranks to bear the responsibility of stabilizing the realm of rebirth, this is both a trust and an acknowledgment of their ability.

They are capable of entering the ranks of those with great divine abilities!

But when facing Ying Zhao and Bi Fang—who have reached the pinnacle of the Primordial Golden Immortal level, barely a step away from the Grand Beginning Golden Immortal— they are still far inferior.

Earlier, after a bout of fighting, nearly everyone was wounded.

Now trying to block the rescue is like something out of Arabian Nights.

"You can't!" Ying Zhao said with a half‑smile, "Today, as we descend into the netherworld, we bring only calamity and destruction!"

"No one can save those we intend to kill!"

The Yao Marshal's words rang out strong and clear, expounding supreme confidence.

"How arrogant!"

At death's door, Fengdu remained unfazed, merely giving a light sneer, "When you say that, do you even place Lady Houtu in your eyes?"

"Lady Houtu… we naturally revere her." Ying Zhao smiled faintly, "Unfortunately, she has merged with the Dao of reincarnation, bearing her own shackles… and now the netherworld is in great turmoil, the order of the yin bureaucracy is in upheaval—these are pressures weighing upon her."

"Lady Houtu… no need to mind her!"

Ying Zhao swept his wide sleeve, brimming with confidence.

"Is that so?"

Fengdu smiled, his expression deep and meaningful, having abandoned his earlier coaxing and bewitching, exceedingly calm and steady: "Just look at how you've been jumping about for so long; the trump cards you've buried in the netherworld ought to have been played out completely by now, right?"

"Hmm… probably." He muttered to himself, "The ghost army forged by sneaking through the reincarnation Dao, the agents planted deep over the ages to stir internal strife…"

"Now that it has erupted, to achieve success we must naturally give our all, holding nothing back."

"If we can now sweep them all away cleanly, leaving a pure and pristine rear, that too would be a great boon."

"Huh?" Ying Zhao caught the wrong implication in Fengdu's words, and suddenly felt a great terror from the void closing in; his eyes shot open, in an instant he moved, manifesting a holy dharma form—this is the posture of giving his all, the supreme divine ability he himself created unfolding, all to carve out a path of survival!

Boom!

The infinite Great Dao seal imprinted on Void Heaven blossomed here, attempting to sever all causality—no heaven, no earth, no law, no restraint—as all surrounding laws and Dao collapsed, thoroughly exploding, wiping away the traces of its former existence.

A world-destroying scene unfolded, letting the tribulation light in the Netherworld be endless, as if entering a world-destroying scene.

At the same time, beneath Ying Zhao's feet flowed another torrent of time, vast and endless, as if seeking to flee after countless ages, yet also like sinking into the era before heaven and earth were created.

But……

Too late!

At the moment he moved, a soft sigh suddenly sounded, gentle and graceful, bearing supreme compassion, as if feeling the vicissitudes of the human Dao, empathizing with the misfortune of all beings.

That sigh was gentle.

However……

When the owner of that voice made a move, however, it was nothing like that!

A palm extended from somewhere unknown when or where, making one feel it was only natural, as if it had existed for myriad ages, descending now as the natural law, as certain as the rising and setting of the sun.

When it pressed down, it was like an unimaginably massive object sinking into a small pond, causing everything that had once been contained and its capacity to undergo a complete upheaval.

That Dao was changing, that law was evolving, all order being reshaped……the myriad Dao of heaven and earth were filled and created; the sea of time and space was collapsed and filled……

Such power was both overthrowing and creation……when the most fundamental rules changed, the splendour bursting forth from Ying Zhao was like a bubble, vanishing in an instant.

One palm, restoring peace to the Underworld.

But this was not the end.

After that palm, someone came walking, casually stepping here.

After that step, time and space were reversed, destiny reshaped……

Ying Zhao ran, but he hadn't completely escaped.

Just because he kept running, he ended up under someone's foot, being stepped on the head!

"Ah!"

The Yao Marshal let out an unprecedented roar and wail, he exerted all his strength to resist, wanting to break free from being trampled.

At the same time, he also let out an utterly incredulous shout.

"Nüwa?"

"How do you still have such combat power left?"

"This is impossible!"

The infinite divine light obliterated the surrounding spacetime, causing all things to perish.

However, beneath the mild divine light, all was peaceful; only a gentle goddess clad in armor, her grace unmatched, stood upon the head of Ying Zhao the Yao Marshal, stepping down with force!

"Crack!"

The Yao Marshal struggled desperately, yet his body was shattered bone and blood, a sight too horrible to behold.

A reader asked about the ending; I'll explain here……after a few dozen more chapters, finishing the Lich Great Tribulation will basically be the end, and Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the West may appear as side stories.

(End of chapter)