Chapter 81: Ji Ning Crosses the Tribulation, Zhou Yu Explodes Again

In the deepest reaches of the Three Realms' space‑time, a place even Ancestor Gods find absolutely impossible to reach, a vast great world has been opened.

A strand of divine power from Zhou Yu's True God Avatar manifested here at this moment.

"The famed Oblique Moon Triple Star Cave." Zhou Yu looked at the great world, and with a single step he already entered it.

At the instant Zhou Yu entered, three people sensed his arrival.

"Is the True God You Cang here? Master actually invited him to Fangcun Mountain?"

A sleepy, lean old man looked surprised; he was Ji Dian, the second disciple of Patriarch Bodhi.

Since the Great Tribulation began, Patriarch Bodhi has not yet invited any True God Dao Ancestor to Fangcun Mountain, not even a divine‑power avatar.

"It seems You Cang's mastery of space‑time is indeed formidable, earning such regard from the master," Ji Dian felt quite moved.

"You Cang?"

In the dense forest of Fangcun Mountain, the disguised woodcutter Hou Yi also noticed Zhou Yu's arrival.

He felt a pang of emotion; strictly speaking, they rose in the same era—he became a heavenly god earlier than You Cang, who became a True God even earlier.

"In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed," Hou Yi thought.

The last one who knew Zhou Yu had arrived was naturally Patriarch Bodhi himself.

At this moment, Zhou Yu and Patriarch Bodhi had already met on Fangcun Mountain.

"Patriarch, I still have matters to attend to; I could only come here as a divine‑power avatar," Zhou Yu said then.

"When we discuss the Dao, a divine‑power avatar suffices." Patriarch Bodhi was unperturbed; he said, "But my disciple Ji Ning is about to undergo the Heavenly God Tribulation, so I must ask you to wait a little."

Hearing this, Zhou Yu was somewhat surprised, then smiled, "Ji Ning is also of my lineage; his Heavenly God Tribulation, I'll just take a look."

Zhou Yu understood that, without Yu Wei's tempering, Ji Ning's Heavenly God Tribulation had been delayed a hundred years.

It was on the very day Zhou Yu arrived at Fangcun Mountain.

Below Fangcun Mountain, on a vast plain, Ji Ning also triggered the Heavenly God Tribulation.

Ji Ning's strength at that moment was absurdly overwhelming; the first three tribulations—wind, fire, thunder—brought him little pressure, and only the final thunder strike erupted a "Pure Yang Golden Light Thunder," causing Ji Ning to unleash his full power.

His sword summoned a mighty force combined with his heart‑energy, hard enough to block that terrifying lightning.

"The third‑tier sword power—looks like Ji Ning's hundred years were not wasted," Zhou Yu, standing on the ridge, nodded.

"Ji Ning, both his sword and his heart‑energy possess extremely high innate talent," Patriarch Bodhi said from beside him, sighing.

"I wonder how far he can go in this Great Tribulation."

"The master leads you to the gate, cultivation depends on the individual. Patriarch, perhaps Ji Ning will surprise you." Zhou Yu remarked.

"I also hope Ji Ning can surprise me." Patriarch Bodhi said without further thought, "You Cang, come with me; I'm curious what changes after your space‑time power reaches the fifth tier."

"Very well."

Zhou Yu nodded and said nothing more.

The Heart Demon Tribulation will last for a period, and outsiders cannot help; whether it is overcome depends on Ji Ning himself.

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed.

Emerging from the Heart Demon Tribulation, Ji Ning finally opened his eyes; his aura had completely transformed.

He truly became a heavenly god.

"Junior brother!"

"Father."

"Master."

At once, many who had been waiting at a distance flew over.

Ji Ning rose with a smile.

"Junior brother, this time your Heart Demon Tribulation lasted only slightly shorter than the Celestial Immortal Tribulation; we truly feared you wouldn't make it," Yu Wei said, sounding rather apprehensive.

"The Heart Demon Tribulation is really terrifying, especially concerning you, senior sister," Ji Ning sighed.

"Me?" Yu Wei was stunned, and felt a pang of insecurity.

She knew she indeed had problems.

But over the past hundred years, her thoughts gradually changed; her loyalty to the Divine King was no longer so resolute.

Anyway, in this Oblique Moon Triple Star Cave, the Divine King cannot reach her, so she simply kept hiding here.

Yu Wei naturally didn't know that this was the result of a heart‑energy technique Zhou Yu had left in her heart a hundred years ago, still at work.

Yu Wei's abnormality went unnoticed; after a brief bustle, a transmission from Patriarch Bodhi suddenly reached Ji Ning's ear.

Ji Ning was startled and immediately said, "Master told me to come over; we'll discuss later."

Hearing this, everyone naturally nodded; Patriarch Bodhi had summoned Ji Ning over, surely for something important.

Ji Ning quickly arrived at Patriarch Bodhi's modest dwelling where he usually cultivated; he was surprised to find that Patriarch Bodhi was not alone there.

"Ji Ning, this is the True God You Cang of the ancient human race," Patriarch Bodhi said.

Ji Ning's heart grew even more astonished.

"I have met You Cang."

Ji Ning bowed his hands; strictly speaking, this was his grandmaster, but calling him that before Patriarch Bodhi felt inappropriate.

"No need for formalities," Zhou Yu smiled and said nothing further.

"Ji Ning, after overcoming the Heavenly God Tribulation, your Star‑Plucking Hand should be ready for its fifth transformation." Patriarch Bodhi said.

"I have already prepared the rare materials needed for the fifth transformation; consider them a gift for your successful tribulation."

"Thank you, Master." Ji Ning felt delighted; with the fifth transformation of Star‑Plucking Hand achieved, he now held a place among the True Immortals and True Gods.

"With Ji Ning's fifth‑level Star‑Plucking Hand, he can also obtain the Star‑Pearl Golden Beads left by Daoist San Shou," Zhou Yu thought, recalling the three thousand six hundred beads.

Those Star‑Pearl Golden Beads were not remarkable in themselves; the key lay in the "Nine‑Layer Chaotic Seal" they contained.

That seal was discovered by the Sanqing Daoist while roaming the chaos, and it was extraordinarily profound and wondrous.

The Sanqing Daoist spent time contemplating its essence and engraved it into the starry golden beads.

Unfortunately, apart from Nüwa, who has already left the Three Realms, no one can fully penetrate the Ninefold Chaos Seal.

In fact, this "Ninefold Chaos Seal" is currently the most defiant opportunity in the Three Realms; once mastered, one's power will surge instantly.

"But my current realm is still far behind; relying on 'Celestial Dao rewards the diligent' and grinding slowly would take too long and isn't worthwhile," Zhou Yu mused.

He isn't in a hurry to comprehend this "Ninefold Chaos Seal" either; once his realm is sufficient, he'll ask Ji Ning to borrow it for study.

While Zhou Yu was pondering, Patriarch Bodhi also instructed Ji Ning on many matters.

Having passed the Heavenly God Tribulation, Ji Ning also needed to descend the mountain for training; during the Great Tribulation, when heroes rise, Ji Ning naturally refused to stay hidden on Fangcun Mountain.

When the two finished speaking and Ji Ning was about to bow and depart, Zhou Yu suddenly said:

"Ji Ning, I have a special divine skill; your master Qian Yu Tian Shen asked me to pass it to you. When you descend, go to the Chaos once; my second primordial spirit will be waiting for you at the 32nd star of Bing‑Yi."

Hearing this, Ji Ning was momentarily stunned, but Zhou Yu's true self had already told him about it, so he wasn't surprised.

Patriarch Bodhi, upon hearing this, felt surprised—he actually intended to go into Chaos to teach the divine skill?

Because the Lord of Heart Demons of the Wujian Gate has merged his body with the Celestial Dao, many affairs in the Three Realms cannot be hidden from him; thus saying they will go to Chaos now means it is absolutely secret.

"Ji Ning, it seems the divine skill that Cang the Daoist friend will pass to you will have great impact; you must study it well," Patriarch Bodhi instructed.

He understood that what Zhou Yu would pass was certainly not his own God‑power Burst skill; as for God‑power Burst skills, Ji Ning's "Star Plucking Hand" is also extremely strong.

Moreover, this God‑power Burst skill had already been demonstrated before the Wujian Gate, so there's no need for secrecy.

"Yes." Ji Ning nodded; he was also somewhat curious now—what exactly the divine skill was that required such caution.

…

"Better to be cautious," Zhou Yu thought.

Although he has countless clones, most of them usually stay within the World Prison; when walking the Three Realms, whether it's his true self or his second primordial spirit, only one can exist at a time. Moreover, the World Prison is extremely special—its layers are so high they surpass the Celestial Dao, and it cannot be seen with the naked eye at close range, let alone probed internally.

Therefore, the Wujian Gate still does not know that Zhou Yu has numerous clones.

What Zhou Yu intends to pass to Ji Ning is also the "Tao Wu Eighteen Demons and Gods" clone technique.

Of course, if it were merely a clone technique, it would be nothing special—such techniques are common in the Three Realms; the key is to cultivate this technique to the second level using Chaos Essence Liquid.

Zhou Yu does not wish to expose his clones, so he must ensure Ji Ning's clone remains unknown to the Wujian Gate; teaching it in Chaos is the most foolproof method.

…

When Ji Ning had just passed the Heavenly God Tribulation, the atmosphere in Emperor Yao's domain, the Dragon City Great World, was also extremely tense.

After several years of preparation, the Wujian faction and the Nüwa faction were again ready to launch a domain war.

The ancient human clan's fortune is the main prize in the contest for destiny; to seize this fortune, both sides have mobilized unprecedented forces. Combined, the two camps field nearly two thousand Heavenly God True Immortals, possibly tens of millions of Heavenly Immortals, and countless Scattered Immortals and Return Void Demons and Gods.

This massive battle is also the first since the destiny contest erupted; whoever wins will gain a significant advantage in the subsequent contest, so both sides' great powers take it very seriously, continuously sending forces to support.

At this moment, inside Emperor Yao's camp.

Zhou Yu's true self, together with 228 Heavenly God True Immortals and 280,000 Heavenly Immortals, unleashed power, and the vast energy quickly coalesced into a towering Ten Thousand Zhang Divine Demon.

The overwhelming aura emitted by that Ten Thousand Zhang Divine Demon already surpassed, to some extent, the divine body aura of ordinary True Gods.

"What a powerful formation."

"Just by the aura, it already exceeds the Zhou Tian Star Formation and the Ten Thousand Immortals World‑Ending Formation."

Many surrounding Heavenly God True Immortals watched, all of them astonished.

Within the main camp, Emperor Yao and Emperor Huang's divine avatars also observed the towering divine demon outside.

"This 'Immortal God Slaying Demon Formation' is truly impressive; I wonder where Cang obtained this grand formation," Emperor Yao mused.

In this great battle, Cang truly proved his worth.

He contributed this super formation that has never appeared in the Three Realms before.

One must know that such a super formation cannot be created casually.

Every formation existing in the Three Realms has a clear origin; let alone the three major clan formations created by Nüwa.

The others: the Zhou Tian Star Formation was created by Fuxi; the Ten Thousand Immortals World‑Ending Formation is a long‑standing Daoist formation; the Wujian Gate's "Wujian Infinite Formation" was created by the Lord of Heart Demons; the "Boundless Demon God Formation" was created by Master Huanmu.

In short, every super formation was devised by a renowned formation‑path grandmaster.

If the Wujian Gate is unaware of the situation of a new formation, it could suffer a heavy loss.

"Also, Qian Yu Tian Shen, which delights me even more; the Heavenly Gods he brought back from Moon Under Pool have mostly joined the battle, allowing me to form this 'Immortal God Slaying Demon Formation' without expending much troops," Emperor Yao added.

The forces he contributed were only a few dozen Heavenly God True Immortals plus 280,000 Heavenly Immortals, which is truly a small number compared to the whole battlefield.

"Having Cang and his disciple really helps you a lot," Emperor Huang said with a smile, adding, "But I still think it's a pity; with Qian Yu Tian Shen's strength, if he commanded a simplified clan formation, it might be even stronger."

"Also, in this great battle, the Wujian Gate may target Qian Yu Tian Shen; you should be more vigilant," Emperor Huang reminded.

"I know."

Emperor Yao heard this and nodded solemnly.

At this moment, Qian Yu Tian Shen certainly has the seed to break through to True God, and if he hadn't insisted on joining the battle, Emperor Yao would not have allowed him onto the field.

That's a battlefield; even if he continues to look after the other side, accidents could happen, since he has too many places to watch over.

At the same time, the Wujian Gate quickly received news about the 'Immortal God Slaying Demon Formation,' and the Black Robe God King relayed the information to the Shadowless Dao Ancestor who commands this battle.

The Shadowless Dao Ancestor is a very powerful figure within the Wujian Gate; in terms of strength, he is almost on par with Patriarch Bodhi, nearly a leader.

"This 'Immortal God Slaying Demon Formation' is led by Qian Yu Tian Shen; in this battle, no matter what, we must eliminate his true self," the Black Robe God King said coldly.

"I know."

The Shadowless Dao Ancestor nodded calmly.

An almost True God‑level Heavenly God daring to step onto the battlefield will naturally show no mercy.

In the blink of an eye, another half month passed.

In the Dragon City Great World, the long‑prepared both sides finally took their stances, ready to commence the decisive battle.

"I haven't erupted in a long time." Zhou Yu, at this moment commanding the "Immortal God Slaughter Formation", had a very calm gaze.

Over the past century, the Netherworld Sect has become increasingly familiar with his strength, and he has found it increasingly difficult to decide the course of the war, only able to go with the flow; he only gets a chance for large-scale slaughter when the Nüwa camp on this side can win.

If the Nüwa camp fails, he each time flees in a sorry state; fortunately he has shown his adeptness with temporal-spatial power, allowing him to survive battle after battle.

But this time, Zhou Yu understands that the outcome of this war will be led by him.

The Immortal God Slaughter Formation is precisely what he created with the aid of the "Heaven-Observing Taihao Tower"'s temporal acceleration; because it was newly created, it might still have some imperfections, but under Zhou Yu, its creator personally commanding it, there are no problems at all.

Different grand formations have different traits; for example, the "Myriad Immortals World-Extermination Formation" excels at long-range attacks, while the "Boundless Demon God Formation" is extremely resilient, able to disregard attacks from ordinary True Gods and Dao Ancestors.

Zhou Yu's path in formation arts is to guide powerful forces; thus his Immortal God Slaughter Formation's greatest feature is that it can guide an ample amount of power.

Generally speaking, a grand formation is not better with more guiding power, because ordinary cultivators find it hard to control such vast power.

But for Zhou Yu, this poses no difficulty.

His formation realm is extremely high, not to mention he also possesses mana at the Second Grade True Immortal level.

"What I should consider is what happens after this war; my eruption this time will completely break the balance of the fate struggle, will the Netherworld Sect unreasonably have a True God or Dao Ancestor come out to assassinate me?"

Zhou Yu thought to himself.

He certainly does not fear assassination, but he does not wish to reveal too much of his strength, so naturally he must take precautions beforehand.

And while Zhou Yu was thinking, Emperor Yao and the Wuying Dao Ancestor were also exchanging sharp words; they quickly dropped pleasantries and each began issuing orders to start the battle.

"Kill them all!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Shouts of killing rose to the heavens; this realm war's scale is more than ten times that of the Red Bright Realm war, as countless immortals, gods, and demons frenziedly charged forward.

The grand formation commanded by Zhou Yu is one of the few super grand formations on the battlefield; the Netherworld Sect also placed great importance on it, arranging a "Boundless Demon God Formation" to counter it.

Although the Netherworld Sect had advance knowledge of the existence of the Immortal God Slaughter Formation, they only knew some basic information and were unclear about the detailed situation of this grand formation, which is why they arranged a Boundless Demon God Formation to come and deal with it.

The Boundless Demon God Formation is exceptionally resilient; even if an accident occurs, it can generally cope.

The leader of this Boundless Demon God Formation is the "Black Hand Heavenly God", a direct disciple of the Wuying Dao Ancestor, possessing extremely strong strength.

At this moment the Wuying Dao Ancestor sent a mental transmission to the Black Hand Heavenly God, saying: "Black Hand, don't be greedy for merit; you only need to hold back the Immortal God Slaughter Formation for now, and later someone will come to assist you."

The Wuying Dao Ancestor had carefully prepared a lethal move for Zhou Yu, but he was not in a hurry to use it; first he wanted to ascertain the exact strength of this grand formation before speaking.

"Yes, Master."

The Black Hand Heavenly God responded with an affirmation.

The Boundless Demon God Formation is a towering giant clad in armor; at this moment that giant is already very close to the grand formation commanded by Zhou Yu.

"Qian Yu Tian Shen, I've long heard you're a madman; today is your day of death!" The Black Hand Heavenly God's gaze turned icy, and the towering Boundless Demon God suddenly lifted a huge hammer, smashing fiercely toward the Immortal God Slaughter Formation.

"It won't be me who dies."

At this moment Zhou Yu suddenly halted his charge; he saw the myriad-zhang giant bend its legs, and a huge sword descended directly from the heavens, chopping down furiously.

"Mutual destruction?"

The Black Hand Heavenly God was dazed; he never expected that his attack would be neither blocked nor dodged by Zhou Yu.

Qian Yu Tian Shen is a madman, but he has never been this crazy on the battlefield before.

"I won't go crazy with you." The Black Hand Heavenly God's huge hammer instantly flipped over to meet the furiously descending giant sword.

Boom!

The giant sword and giant hammer collided with a boom; at this moment the Black Hand Heavenly God's expression changed.

That was a mighty force he dared not imagine.

"No, hold it."

The Black Hand Heavenly God frantically gathered power to resist, and frantically employed every means to dissipate the force, but this power was simply too terrifying.

Boom!

The giant sword then fell like that, slicing the Boundless Demon God Formation from head to toe directly in half.

Rumble!

The formation directly collapsed.

"Let them all die."

Zhou Yu's controlled colossal giant struck out with a palm; that vast force, like a black hole, drew in the two hundred heavenly gods and true immortals previously flung out by the formation, as well as hundreds of thousands of heavenly immortals, all of them.

"No!"

"Spare my life."

"I'll fight you to the death."

One by one, immortals and demons either wailed miserably, begged for mercy, or erupted in attack.

But all of it was useless; the palm Zhou Yu unleashed with the formation's eruption was so terrifying that everyone died instantly and cleanly.

"What about the Boundless Demon God Formation?"

At this moment, the Netherworld camp's great army was dazed.

The Boundless Demon God Formation, however, was the strongest formation the Netherworld camp had prepared for this war; there aren't many of such formations, so how could it disappear the moment they clashed?

"Retreat, retreat quickly!"

The Wuying Dao Ancestor's startled and angry voice suddenly rang out in everyone's mind.

But it was already too late; only see that towering giant instantly transform into a streak of black light, shooting toward the Netherworld Sect's army.

Zhou Yu commands the grand formation, able to perfectly mobilize every bit of its power, naturally enabling him to employ evasion techniques.

At this moment he instantly arrived before another grand formation of the Netherworld camp, the "Netherworld Boundless Formation"; without much finesse, he simply chopped down with a sword.

Boom!

The terrifying power left the Netherworld Boundless Formation unable to resist, and it too was instantly cleaved in half.

"The power of a top‑level Dao Ancestor?" the Shadowless Dao Ancestor could not believe it in his heart.

This power is not merely close; it has absolutely reached the top‑level Dao Ancestor tier.

Only such power can make a Dao Ancestor‑level Boundless Demon God Array and a Wujian Boundless Array have not even a moment to resist.

"Kill, a free‑wheeling charge."

Emperor Yao also reacted quickly and gave the order directly.

In an instant, the Nüwa camp's army surged forward in a frenzy.

Zhou Yu, of course, rode like a dust‑clearing rider, charging into the enemy formation; his sword was the Reaper's scythe, each swing taking countless immortals and demons.

"Qian Yu Tian Shen, you will die too; I'm waiting for you." Every strongman of the Wujian Gate shivered with dread.

Strong—too strong!

Incomprehensible, unbeatable.

Such power should never have appeared on a battlefield.

Once it appears, it is a massacre.

The two great camps had prepared a domain war for a long time, expecting it to tear heaven and earth apart, not knowing how many strongmen would die.

Yet at this moment, the sky and earth truly did crumble, with countless casualties, but the dead were all strongmen of the Wujian camp; the Nüwa camp's losses were negligible.

If the Wujian camp had not suddenly fielded a few purple‑light puppets, there would have been no casualties at all.

In fact, those purple‑light puppets were originally meant to annihilate Zhou Yu himself, but they never got the chance to unleash, as Zhou Yu pierced them.

"It's over, the war in Emperor Yao's domain is over."

The great beings on both sides were watching this situation; they naturally understood that this great battle could hardly continue, and the Wujian Gate could not muster such a scale of power again soon.

Even if the Wujian Gate could gather forces, how could they deal with that single "Immortal God Slaying Demon Array"?

…

"Qian Yu Tian Shen, impressive."

"From antiquity to the present, only one Heavenly God True Immortal could wield such power—Hou Yi; he is the second!"

"……"

The great beings of the Nüwa camp all expressed admiration.

They all understood that the appearance of a Heavenly God True Immortal of this tier would affect more than just Emperor Yao's domain war; the entire contest of destiny would likely change dramatically because of him.

……

On the battlefield of Emperor Yao's domain, the Wujian Gate now had less than thirty percent of its force, which had fled back to its stronghold, Wujian City.

On the battlefield, only the remaining strongmen of the Nüwa camp were cheering.

Zhou Yu listened to the cheers and felt quite pleased.

"The primordial energy needed for the next simulation is finally gathered," Zhou Yu thought with some emotion.

The number of Heavenly God True Immortals killed by him this time was not many—only a few hundred—but there were far more Celestial Immortals, scattered Immortals, and Void‑returning demigods.

Millions of Celestial Immortals, hundreds of millions of scattered Immortals, and countless Void‑returning demigods; the more immortals and demons, the more energy they naturally supplied.

"This is war." Zhou Yu felt calm.

He would not normally slaughter on such a massive scale, but in war, it was understandable.

(End of Chapter)