Chapter 1042

A huge island, a gloomy altar, green phosphorescent fire wildly jumping on the altar, batches of human subjects like walking corpses, eyes vacant, faces bearing deathly air, slowly walking toward the altar.

As long as they come within ten li of the altar, these human subjects ignite like candles.

Even while their bodies burn, they feel no pain, still step by step walking toward the altar until finally they burn to a puff of ash, blown away by the sea wind without trace.

Strands of spiritual light shoot straight up into the sky, condensing in the air into granules of soul crystals, condensing into strands of bloodline essence.

A huge divine talisman rotates in midair; each time soul crystals accumulate to a hundred million and bloodline essence to a hundred million portions, the talisman activates, using the altar's power to send these offerings back to the Heavenly Crystal Battle Star.

Groups of demon-ghosts clad in armor, wielding weapons, eyes showing panic, gazing at the distant battlefield in chaos.

A small Myriad Spirits Void-Devouring God-Slaying Vessel spews countless sword lights, cutting through wave after wave of charging demon-ghost warriors. Shattered armor fragments and weapon debris fill the sky, countless demon-ghost corpses scatter like raindrops across the sea surface.

Tens of thousands of vessels, each about a hundred zhang long, with smooth lines like flattened olive pits, entirely black, surfaces covered in blood-red patterns, giving an impression of overbearing ferocity—these are Wuguo's newest warships, nimbly weaving and flying in the air; heavenly gunfire pours down like a rainstorm, smashing aerial squadrons of demon-ghost corpses to pieces.

A demon-ghost giant head, a hundred zhang tall and skull-shaped, jumps and shouts: "Quick, quick, offerings, offerings… hurry, hurry, send these damned humans onto the altar, quick!! quick!! quick!!"

A wolf-headed demon-ghost stands atop the altar; his upper body is that of a wolf-headed human, his lower body a clump of sticky, cold green mist—this is an intermediate being between yao and ghost, possessing traits of both.

They possess formidable melee slaughter ability and various unfathomable ghost-path secret arts; compared to ordinary yao and ghost, at the same rank demon-ghosts' combat power far surpasses.

Squad after squad of human subjects continually walk toward the altar, strands of spiritual light continually shooting up.

Suddenly a wild laugh rang out; the wolf-headed demon-ghost on the altar's summit exuded a terrifying evil aura, a stream of green demonic qi shot up hundreds of zhang high, tearing a huge hole through the layers of thick clouds in the high sky.

Moonlight like water, starlight twinkling across the heavens, the stellar essence bestowed by the gods continues to pour down endlessly.

The wolf-headed demon-ghost has already broken through to the Venerable level; three head-sized Dao seals condense atop his head, his sturdy physique suddenly withers, and the green mist beneath his body also abruptly collapses.

Starlight transforms into visible light pillars that tear through the void, continually pouring into the wolf-headed demon-ghost's body.

Condensing Dao seals incurs terrifying depletion of one's essence, qi, and spirit, but under the replenishment of this boundless stellar power, the wolf-headed demon-ghost instantly recovers sixty to seventy percent, gaining a certain combat capability.

From the distant chaotic battlefield came several hoarse, gloomy roars: "Wolf Three, hurry over… you bastard!"

Over a hundred Venerable-rank demon-ghosts are locked in combat with exactly a hundred Wuguo Venerable commanders.

Among these Venerable demon-ghosts, a dozen or so have rich auras and deep foundations, clearly having been in the Venerable realm for some years; their cultivation far exceeds that of the Wuguo commanders who have just entered the Venerable level, their combat power stronger and experience richer.

But at this moment, these demon-ghosts are being pressed and beaten by the Wuguo commanders!

Ninety-nine Wuguo commanders formed a battle array; their ninety-nine powers united as one, the surges of earth, water, fire, and wind transformed into hundreds of giant dragons soaring through the air, pressing the opposing side—likewise just recently promoted eighty-some Venerable demon-ghosts—so hard they could barely breathe.

And those dozen or so demon-ghosts with the deepest foundations and greatest strength, the senior ones, were beaten by Wu Jin alone into leaping about, each covered head to toe in wounds, black and dark-green demon-ghost filth spraying across the sky.

If it weren't for their large numbers, they would long have been unable to withstand Wu Jin's frenzy.

The wolf-headed demon-ghost on the altar let out a wild howl, stepping on green clouds and shouting as he charged into the battlefield, drawing a black iron phosphorous fire lance and swinging it straight at Wu Jin's head.

The wolf-headed demon-ghost came too fast, almost a sneak attack from behind Wu Jin, delivering a blow.

Wu Jin raised his shield with his left hand, currently hard-blocking a combined fierce assault from five demon-ghosts; he failed to react to the wolf-headed demon-ghost's sneak attack, and the blow landed solidly on his head, sending sparks flying and emitting a tremendous boom.

Wu Jing, who had been deadlocked in battle with a dozen or so senior demon venerables, suddenly went berserk; he let out a wild howl, his eyes turned completely red, every pore on his body spewing scorching white vapor, his internal bones thundered, and his physique instantly swelled to a height of about a thousand zhang.

His skin turned blood-red, beneath it veins like flood dragons and monstrous serpents bulged out; Wu Jin's muscles swelled and twisted all over, turning him into an excessively burly, outrageously strong violent giant.

Dao seals spewed from his crown, then strands of Heaven-Earth Great Dao's Dao resonance wound around them, accompanied by a low rumble; each seal transformed into a giant dragon of a different attribute.

A black dragon and a blood dragon appeared beneath Wu Jin's feet.

A yellow dragon and a hundred dragons coiled around Wu Jin's legs.

At his waist, a chaos-hued dragon, each scale protruding like a blade or spear, appearing especially sharp, coiled around him.

On his arms, his left hand entwined with a gold dragon and a fire dragon, his right hand with an earth dragon, a wood dragon, and a water dragon; a dark-green and an azure long dragon hung like earrings from his earlobes.

His entire body entwined with colossal dragon forms; at this moment Wu Jin's form resembles the primordial divine spirits spoken of in ancient myth, the first batch of beings born and nurtured by heaven and earth—this is the most primal and most powerful batch of lifeforms in the Mu Dalu realm of heaven and earth.

A mass of blood mist appeared behind Wu Jin, the silhouette of a headless giant looming up to ten thousand zhang, its aura wild, frigid, and killing intent soaring to the heavens.

Wu Jin let out a long howl; his right-hand great axe burst forth with blinding divine light, dozens of supremely overbearing attack Dao resonances such as 'Shatter', 'Corrode', 'Devour', 'Death' swept out, transforming into hundreds of arc lights of varying thousand-zhang lengths that swept horizontally across the foes.

Layers of heavy divine light condensed on his left-hand shield, potent Dao such as 'Strength', 'Wu Earth', 'Ji Earth', 'Gravity' stacked together, various elemental magnetic lights flickering; the heavy shield emitted a dull roar, spewing forth walls of light ranging up to ten thousand zhang that madly crushed forward.

When the headless giant's silhouette emerged from the blood mist, Wu Jin's power surged a hundredfold.

The dozen or so demon-ghost masters who had just been fighting him vigorously never imagined Wu Jin could unleash such a wild burst.

Faint glimmers flickered on their bodies; a dozen or so defensive secret treasures had not yet been activated to full strength when the arc lights swept over, the treasures emitted sounds of being unable to bear the load, then the glimmers shattered, and Wu Jin's great axe ruthlessly swept across their bodies.

A dozen or so demon-ghost masters screamed miserably, their bodies cleaved into dozens of pieces by the great axe.

Behind Wu Jin's head a wheel of golden merit light appeared, like a blazing sun illuminating the void, scorching the shattered demon-ghost masters' bodies to emit a 'squeak-squeak' sound.

"Little pup, it's your turn!" Having slain a dozen or so demon-ghost masters in one strike, Wu Jin snapped his head back and gave a wicked grin to the newly promoted wolf-headed demon-ghost.

"No… I… surrender…" the wolf-headed demon-ghost dropped his spear, about to kneel before Wu Jin…

Wu Jin snatched up the wolf-headed demon venerable, with a 'crack' stuffed him into his mouth, and two rows of massive teeth clamped down, crushing the wolf-headed demon venerable to pieces.

On Wu Jin's great teeth, lines of Dao resonance divine light flickered; the wolf-headed demon-ghost's body and the nascent spiritual light just condensed were ground to powder. Green demon-ghost filth sprayed, and Wu Jin with a 'puff' expelled the remains and filth.

"Tastes bad!"

With a roar, Wu Jin charged into the battle array formed by the Wuguo commanders.

The battle array quickly opened a position; Wu Jin joined forces with his ninety-nine comrades, launching a fierce slaughter against the eighty-some Venerable demon-ghost masters who had just been promoted.

Amidst mournful wails, over fifty demon-ghost masters fell instantly; only a dozen or so demon-ghosts transformed into streaks of wild wind and threads of gloomy light, fleeing in disarray.

Wu Jin angrily struck his left-hand shield with his great axe: "Damn, they fled too fast… brothers, form teams of ten, split up to hunt them down. Be careful; upon encountering the enemy, send a signal immediately."

As Wu Jin was issuing orders, a soft golden light swept in from the distant place where sky meets sea.

The warm golden light instantly enveloped a million-zhang radius of void, revealing a great sun hanging high in the void; within the golden sun, the silhouette of a broken-bodied three-legged golden crow flickered in and out.

The bodies of the twenty-some demon-ghost masters frantically fleeing suddenly stiffened; this golden light is viscous and heavy, moreover exerting an extremely strong restraining force against demon-ghosts. Golden flames ignited on these demon-ghost masters' bodies, and they simultaneously emitted cries mingling shock and anger.

Not only these Venerable demon-ghost masters, but on the huge island, those engaged in battle with the Wuguo army and those driving the human populace onto the altar—all of them, like torches soaked in oil, burst into golden flames.

The Wuguo army's offensive suddenly stalled.

The sword-light splashing from the Myriad Spirits Void-Devouring God-Slaying Vessel ceased; tens of thousands of Wuguo's new warships swiftly encircled the god-slaying vessel, forming a standard volley battle line, with the bow's main guns locked onto the direction of that great sun.

Vast sheets of floating clouds rolled in, stretching hundreds of zhang, casting a huge shadow upon the sea surface.

Upon the floating clouds, palaces flickered with profound divine light; lines of fire vessels a thousand zhang long, their bodies entwined with firelight, closely followed the cloud-borne guests as they arrived.

Troop after troop clad in crimson armor, the heart-protection mirrors on their chests engraved with a relief of a three-legged golden crow, stood on the floating clouds and the Fire God Ships, each with hostile eyes staring at the Wuguo army under Wu Jin's command.

"Who goes there!" Wu Jin narrowed his eyes, gazing at that vast expanse of floating cloud.

As Wu Jin's elder brother, and now one of the top commanders of the Wuguo military, Wu Jin naturally knew of the battle between the Wuguo army and the Heavenly Court on the Rama Islands.

These floating clouds, these giant ships wreathed in firelight—clearly they are all the Heavenly Court's doing.

After Wu Jin shouted loudly, he lowered his voice and said to the nearby Wuguo officers: "Be careful, those who come bear ill intent!"

Troop after troop of colossal divine warriors formed ranks in midair, hovering neatly in the air, dark and dense like a massive wall planted in the sky.

Their pupils flickered with a scarlet gloom; at Wu Jin's command they could instantly unleash their maximum-power concentrated barrage.

An old man in crimson battle armor, his bearing extraordinary, rose from the floating clouds and shouted in a deep voice: "I am Feng Meng of the Suiren clan, surname Feng; by order of the Heavenly Court's Grand Heavenly Venerable, I command the army to rescue the human populace. Who are you, and why do you cause chaos here?"

Several dozen venerable-level demons still howled and struggled, desperately fleeing into the distance.

The golden flames on their bodies frenziedly scorched them, continually weakening their essence, energy, and spirit, even damaging the innate spiritual light they had just coalesced.

Wu Jin snorted coldly: "Disturbance? I am General Wu Jin of Wuguo, likewise ordered to lead the army to rescue my human compatriots… This White Sand Island was taken by my own hand… You, get as far away as you can!"

As he spoke, Wu Jin swung his right hand, his great axe tracing a massive arc of light that came down heavily upon the island's altar.

With a tremendous crash, the altar was shattered to pieces, the divine sigils on it exploded, and vast amounts of divine soul crystals and bloodline essence rained down to the ground.

Feng Meng stepped upon the fire clouds, approaching slowly, he sized up Wu Jin from head to toe and said in a cold voice: "Wuguo? What is Wuguo? Ah… I recall now… Were it you who killed Ji Kui and Ji Wuliang, father and son?"

The matter that Ji Kui and Ji Wuliang, father and son, sought to seize Ji Bai Jie's foundation, forcing him to yield the Heavenly Court, resulting in their deaths in battle, while Ji Bai Jie was also assassinated in the Ji clan's holy land—these events had all been heard by the upper echelons of humanity.

As for the baffling conduct of Ji Kui and Ji Wuliang, the upper echelons of humanity remained noncommittal.

But the name Wuguo was etched in their minds.

Wuguo—let it be the enemy!

"Demonic lackeys!" Feng Meng pointed at Wu Jin and immediately rebuked: "You have slain the Ji clan branch's Ji Kui and Ji Wuliang; clearly you are a demonic faction, colluding with these demons to bring disaster upon my human people, all while claiming to rescue the populace!"

Wu Jin furrowed his brows, his newly aroused fighting spirit and blood still churning in his chest, his blood-colored eyes spewing fierce Blood Light as he glared at Feng Meng: "Old fool, what are you saying? Is my Wuguo a demonic faction? Ha, while my Wuguo army fought to the death against those demons and monsters, saving countless civilians, what were you doing?"

Feng Meng snorted coldly; he was about to exchange a few words with Wu Jin when, from the Fire God Ships on the floating clouds behind, suddenly over a dozen Fire God Ships erupted in earth-shaking roars, over a dozen fire dragons spewing forth, their flames tearing through the void and slamming heavily into the Wuguo fleet formation.

Eighteen new-style warships were struck head-on by the fire dragons; black light pillars flared on the ships, the fire dragons exploded, and the eighteen warships were blown backward, the black light pillars violently trembling, faint detonations sounded within their hulls, and faintly visible, several warships belched black smoke from their hulls.

Feng Meng stared blankly.

Wu Jin let out a low roar and swung his axe at Feng Meng.

Faster than Wu Jin were the colossal divine warriors hovering in midair; the instant the enemy Fire God Ships activated, all the warriors' pupils simultaneously shot out scarlet high-temperature beams.

Concentrated fire, a barrage—with a hiss, Feng Meng's head instantly vaporized.