Chapter 54: Capture Alive and the End

Beyond the Eight Dragon Cloud City.

The massive army gathered, and a multitude of Immortals and scattered Immortals followed Zhou Yu; at his single command, the many Immortals returned to their positions.

Boom!

On the endless earth, a towering headless giant appeared there.

Heaven-Defying!

The famed ancient heavenly deity, later a True God, gave rise to this Heaven-Defying God formation, created from the divine body of the Heaven-Defying True God.

At this moment, the boundless forces of heaven and earth were being drawn in, beginning to form the divine body of the Heaven-Defying God.

In a formation, the most important aspect is to draw forth power.

Relying solely on the combined strength of nine thousand Celestial Immortals and 810,000 scattered Immortals is far inferior to the Way Patriarch's magic; only by invoking the boundless heavenly and earthly power does the Heaven-Defying God's strength surge rapidly.

"Rise."

Zhou Yu's mind shifted at that instant, and he began to control this power.

Generally, to master a great formation's power, there are two key factors: first, familiarity with the formation; the more one knows it, the more power one can wield.

Second, a strong divine soul; the stronger the soul, the greater the controllable power.

Zhou Yu happened to excel at both conditions.

With his formation cultivation, he swiftly grasped the intricacies of the Heaven-Defying God formation; it was not merely understanding how to set the array, but knowing why it must be arranged this way.

Only then could he make precise adjustments and thus command even greater power.

As for the divine soul?

Zhou Yu is a Second Grade True Immortal; his divine soul is only slightly weaker than the Dao Ancestor's.

His heart power is at the fourth level, and among the heart‑power inheritance he received is a method that augments the divine soul with heart power, naturally making the soul even stronger.

"Don't even speak of the strongest Heaven-Defying God; even a formation ten or a hundred times stronger, I could easily command it," Zhou Yu thought with absolute confidence.

That is his greatest trump card in the realm war.

"However, there is no need now to reveal a stronger commanding ability; on the Red Bright Realm battlefield, this strongest Heaven-Defying God suffices," Zhou Yu thought, and as he commanded the Heaven-Defying God formation, he swiftly mastered all its power.

Full power, complete control!

"This power truly is far stronger than before," Zhou Yu mused.

The heavenly god formation he previously commanded differed greatly from the perfect Heaven-Defying formation now; even the raw power differed by several times.

"This Qian Yu Tian Shen actually commands the Heaven-Defying God?"

At that moment, the Wujian Gate army also noticed the situation here.

"Judging by its aura, the commander is the strongest Heaven-Defying God; how many fractions of its power can it unleash?" Mo Zhu Way Patriarch mused.

If it can wield three‑tenths of its power, it would match the heavenly god formation Zhou Yu once commanded.

At this level of combat, each additional increment of power constitutes a qualitative change.

"It seems the Red Bright Realm's way to deal with our Way Patriarch Puppet is the Heaven-Defying God of that Qian Yu Tian Shen?" Mo Zhu Way Patriarch thought, and he also glanced at an inconspicuous spider‑shaped puppet among his own troops.

It is indeed the Dao Ancestor Puppet.

"Mo Zhu, I didn't expect you to still dare bring your disciples to a death march," Red Bright Daozu said, looking at Mo Zhu Dao Ancestor with a cold sneer:

"Last time we let you retreat; if you lose again, how many of you will survive?"

"Whether we win or lose, we won't know until we fight," Mo Zhu replied calmly.

"Attack!"

Mo Zhu Dao Ancestor issued the order directly.

"Kill them all," Red Bright Daozu, no longer hesitating, ordered an attack.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Both armies surged across the endless earth, racing straight toward each other.

"Chang Qing Sword Immortal, go confront the Heaven-Defying God of Qian Yu Tian Shen."

"Three-Eyed Demon God, you go kill Ji Ning."

Mo Zhu Dao Ancestor now issued commands to each side.

The one piloting the Dao Ancestor Puppet was the former traitor Chang Qing Sword Immortal; though his realm is not as high as the Swallowing Heaven Great Sage, he can draw greater strength from the puppet.

The puppet's eight arms resembled divine swords, while the Swallowing Heaven Great Sage excels in hammer techniques, so ultimately the puppet was handed to Chang Qing Sword Immortal to control.

On Red Bright Daozu's side, they likewise sent Zhou Yu directly to confront the Dao Ancestor Puppet.

The war's outcome hinged on the contest between Zhou Yu and the Dao Ancestor Puppet.

If Zhou Yu can merely hold the puppet at bay, the war can be won.

Should Zhou Yu lose, the war becomes difficult; only with additional support from the Nüwa camp could it continue.

"Beiming, the Three-Eyed Demon God's target is you; take five Heaven-Defying Gods and entangle him!" Crimson Luminous Patriarch quickly discerned the demon's target.

The Three-Eyed Demon God remains formidable; fortunately, two consecutive great victories have bolstered his forces here, and with Ji Ning commanding a second‑tier Heaven-Defying God, he is not without a fighting chance.

Boom!

Two torrents collided instantly, and a fierce melee erupted in an instant.

"Foolish Qian Yu Tian Shen, you dare block me? Even the Dao Ancestor does not frighten me now!"

Chang Qing Sword Immortal, piloting the Way Patriarch Puppet, sent two spider claws like divine swords, whooshing to pierce the Heaven-Defying God commanded by Zhou Yu.

When he was on Red Bright Daozu's side, he was inconspicuous, whereas Zhou Yu was the foremost general.

But at this moment, Chang Qing Sword Immortal silently resolved to trample Zhou Yu beneath his feet and cement his own fame.

"So much nonsense!"

Zhou Yu also erupted violently at this moment.

Pfft! Pfft!

He barely swung his sword to block the Daozu Puppet's attack, but the other sword instantly slashed down furiously.

Changqing Sword Immortal hurried to block, but a terrifying surge of force came rushing in, causing the six spider legs the Daozu Puppet used for support to bend sharply.

"What?" Changqing's heart leapt in shock.

How could it be this fierce?

He didn't realize that this Daozu Puppet only had the strength of a Dao Ancestor's threshold; its difficulty lay purely in being indestructible, and Zhou Yu, who commanded the full power of the Perfect Xingtian God, was not far behind a true True God Dao Ancestor.

In terms of strength, he naturally crushed the Daozu Puppet.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Zhou Yu's two divine swords erupted wildly, one strike after another, blasting the Daozu Puppet so it could only defend, with no chance to counterattack.

"Good!"

At this moment, Red Bright Daozu stood on the city wall, a look of joy on his face.

Meanwhile, Mo Zhu Daozu's face darkened slightly; he couldn't afford to drag out this battle—if the Daozu Puppet couldn't function, defeat was certain.

"Changqing, you don't need to worry about that Qian Yu Tian Shen; go deal with the ordinary Xingtian Gods instead," Mo Zhu Daozu transmitted coldly.

On the battlefield, there's no room for hesitation.

By now, it's just a matter of who can kill faster.

Mo Zhu Daozu was confident that the Daozu Puppet would kill faster than the Xingtian Gods of Qian Yu Tian Shen, because the Daozu Puppet is more agile, and against ordinary Xingtian Gods it needs no defense—only relentless attack.

"Yes!"

Changqing Sword Immortal eagerly agreed; facing Zhou Yu had left him feeling stifled, so dealing with ordinary Xingtian Gods would be much better.

However, just as Changqing Sword Immortal darted out, a red light flashed and a massive Xingtian God instantly appeared before the puppet.

"What is this... escape art divine ability?" Mo Zhu Daozu's face sank.

Being able to unleash an escape art divine ability while controlling the grand formation—what does that mean? It means that Qian Yu Tian Shen actually has complete mastery over the Xingtian God's immense power.

"No wonder it can suppress the Daozu Puppet."

"No wonder he has such confidence in his disciple!"

Red Bright Daozu also understood.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Kill these little bastards of the Uninterrupted Gate!"

"Roar!"

The battle continued, and as time passed, the scales of victory gradually tilted toward the Red Bright Realm.

When it rains, it pours.

Just as Mo Zhu Daozu was frantically directing all sides, the Daozu Puppet entangled in combat with Zhou Yu suffered an accident.

Zhou Yu's two swords suddenly flashed through spacetime, one striking the Daozu Puppet's left foreleg, the other slamming its right hind leg; the two utterly different forces caused the extraordinarily stable Daozu Puppet to stagger.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Zhou Yu's sword after sword all manipulated spacetime, eerily uncanny.

The Daozu Puppet kept being bombarded by such swordsmanship, until it completely lost balance, and Zhou Yu seized the chance to flip it over.

"Oh no! Hurry and help!" Mo Zhu Daozu immediately dispatched the Three-Eyed Demon God to assist, but it was already too late.

At this moment, Zhou Yu pressed one sword against the Daozu Puppet to prevent it from turning over, while his other hand produced a rope of innate spiritual treasure grade.

In a few quick moves, Zhou Yu tightly bound the Daozu Puppet.

Immediately afterward, he took out the Cave Heaven Treasure and stored it away.

Whoosh!

The massive Daozu Puppet vanished from the battlefield.

"It's over."

Seeing this, Mo Zhu Daozu's face completely changed.

"It's finished!"

The Dao Ancestors of the Three Realms' Nüwa faction, watching this battle, all came to understand this point.

"With the True God of the Vast, congratulations—your disciple has entered the gateway of spacetime power."

"Congratulations!"

Inside the Myriad Peoples Hall, a Dao Ancestor spoke up to offer congratulations.

The level of spacetime power Zhou Yu finally displayed was just at the entry stage, but to other Dao Ancestors it was a breakthrough from nothing to something, extremely rare.

「. 」.

"Retreat! Quickly retreat!"

"Flee, flee!"

「. 」.

The Uninterrupted Gate army fell into defeat!

This is a true great defeat!

Zhou Yu unleashed an escape art to control the mightiest Xingtian God, charging into the Uninterrupted Gate's army—like a tiger among sheep.

Nothing could withstand his single strike.

The remaining armies of the Red Bright Realm also frantically pursued; when the Uninterrupted Gate's troops fled back to their gate, they shockingly discovered that of the tens of millions who had set out, less than a tenth remained.

"Horrible!"

"It's truly too horrible."

The immortals and demons of the Unceasing Gate felt fear and sorrow.

And the Red Bright Realm's army was then filled with endless joy and excitement.

Zhou Yu was also very happy.

He finally fought his way into the Unceasing Gate army, slaying so many that the celestial immortals dead by his hand likely number over a hundred thousand, while the scattered immortals and Return-to-Void Gods and Demons are countless.

Having absorbed a vast amount of primordial energy, the energy needed for this simulation is naturally sufficient, and it's estimated that considerable progress has also been accumulated for the next simulation.

This is the killing efficiency of war—it's indeed too high, too high.

(End of chapter)