Chapter 1053: One Punch, Total Defeat

Space was sealed, time stagnated.

The enormous Heavenly Court battle formation was like a joke, frozen in midair, unable to move.

Tiny fragments of the Treasure Mirror kept flying back, the patterns on its surface becoming ever more splendid. Another wave of mirror light burst out, spreading bit by bit outward.

Where the mirror light passed, the aura of countless Heavenly Court members suddenly plummeted, then the bodies of low-ranking soldiers began to shatter.

Ji Baijie and a group of Heavenly Court high-ranking members who had just reformed their bodies rushed out from dozens of palaces, surrounded by massive magical fluctuations, blazing golden light, wildly striking the frozen space and temporal rhythms around them.

But although they possessed enormous power, their own cultivation realms were extremely limited.

Just like Ji Baijie, they could not perfectly exert their enormous power.

They were like slow-moving snails, further immersed in viscous resin, moving slowly, bit by bit, with extreme difficulty within the invisible shackles.

Wu Tie laughed and threw a punch at Ji Baijie and the others.

In the void, a thundercloud condensed, filled with countless flashing electric lights; a fist imprint hundreds of millions of li in size descended from the heavens, lightly striking the Heavenly Court's battle formation. Countless dark-gold chains shattered, the bodies of countless Heavenly Court soldiers exploded, and battle ships and floating clouds were utterly shattered, the halls on the floating clouds collapsing and crumbling.

One after another, huge Immortal Ascension Pools appeared; Wu Tie inhaled from afar, and these pools spewed forth massive spiritual light, which then flowed into his mouth.

The Treasure Mirror's flashing light became ever more lively, its frequency increasing, until half of Mu Dalu was already shrouded in its mirror light.

More and more tiny fragments flew back, and the Treasure Mirror's completeness rose rapidly.

Ji Baijie and the other high-ranking members' bodies also began to crumble bit by bit.

Ji Baijie looked at Wu Tie, humiliated and enraged, his voice hoarse from shouting: "I will return… I will return… The dignity of the Heavenly Court brooks no infringement. Only the Heavenly Court can lead humanity, to restore…"

The massive fist imprint smashed down, Ji Baijie and the many Heavenly Court high-ranking members were crushed to pieces.

"Wait until you recover from Green Lime, and from the retaliation of the common folk, then we'll talk." Wu Tie seriously checked, and after his gaze swept over the Heavenly Court high-ranking members present, he found their identities quite interesting.

In the data on human high-ranking members sent by Xue Jiu, Wu Tie could match the identities of Heavenly Court high-ranking members of the ninth level and above.

They too were elders of the common folk—but they were not core-level elders with real authority. They held some power in the tribe, but that power was relatively minor, and they were not responsible for anything important.

They were mostly in charge of logistics, managing lower-level personnel, and overseeing farming and such.

Marginalized elders.

Those that Ji Baijie had drawn in were precisely this sort of people; perhaps only then did they share a common language.

Looking down at the earth below, where countless human bodies lay soaked in rain, and seeing the land dyed red by their blood, Wu Tie shook his head. Among the corpses haphazardly piled in disarray, Wu Tie saw hundreds of familiar faces from the data.

They were of noble birth, the direct line of the clan of the common folk; if the common folk were likened to an immense dynasty, these people were the imperial princes of the various dynasties, possessing supreme authority.

Now they were just like the most ordinary common folk; no matter how much glory, power, or strength they possessed, they lay cold and stiff in pools of blood, just like the most ordinary common folk slaughtered by demons.

"The scheming and infighting within humanity… truly disgusting!"

Wu Tie muttered to himself.

The Treasure Mirror emitted a low rumbling sound, while its massive mirror body began to vibrate violently.

On the mirror's surface, a huge fragment flickered into view, but on that fragment were layered divine sigils suppressing it, and moreover, gateways appeared and disappeared, while an enormous divine array surrounded the fragment.

Heaven-earth Dao rhythms, like great rivers and rivers, like flood dragons and giant pythons, continuously poured into that fragment.

The surging, turbulent, fierce heaven-earth Dao rhythms, after being 'refined' by that fragment, became much gentler, turning into neat streams of Dao-rhythm light, which the divine array conveyed away to who knows where.

"Huh? Take it back!" Wu Tie poured massive magical power into the Treasure Mirror, intending to retrieve that huge fragment.

At first glance, this fragment seemed to be about forty percent of a complete circle.

The tiny fragments previously recovered were probably only about thirty percent or so; combined with the fragment share already present in this Treasure Mirror, perhaps this huge fragment is actually the last piece of the ancient Three Realms Divine Artifact, the 'Vast Heaven Mirror'?

As long as this fragment is retrieved, even if a few remnants remain outside, it would be no great loss.

As long as merit power flows incessantly, this divine artifact can self-repair. Moreover, because Wu Tie's merit power empowers it, the artifact's might will only grow stronger, surpassing even its original peak.

Looking at the wreckage of the Heavenly Court battle formation shattered by his own fist, Wu Tie murmured: "Let these human corpses serve as evidence for Green Lime. The old matriarchs of Wa Island, I don't know how they will handle this."

Shaking his head, Wu Tie muttered: "Internal strife is the filthiest and most dangerous, and has nothing to do with my Wuguo."

"But this fragment, I will surely obtain it." Wu Tie let out a long whistle, and the Treasure Mirror's volume suddenly collapsed, quickly transforming into a disc of bright light about a zhang in diameter, hovering behind his head.

A clear beam of light shot forth, directly opening a stable void tunnel before Wu Tie.

Wu Tie took a step forward, and in an instant he teleported a distance of trillions of li, arriving at an extremely unfamiliar region.

This place should be at the core of Mu Dalu, whereas where Wu Tie and the Wuguo army previously operated was probably only the western frontier of Mu Dalu.

The boundless ocean stretched endlessly, its depths unfathomable.

Thick mist lingered on the sea surface, where one could see immense mountain ranges like giant dragons, winding from all directions.

Wu Tie glanced and knew that these colossal mountain ranges stretching across who-knows-how-many billions of li on the sea surface numbered forty-nine in total; though their sources were unknown, their ends each formed a towering peak rising from the sea.

These peaks resembled dragon heads, mouths agape; an unimaginable amount of heaven-earth elemental energy streamed along these myriad-billion-li mountain ranges, so much that even with Wu Tie exerting the full power of his forehead's divine eye, he could not trace the source of the colossal mountain ranges, which howled as they flowed.

The heaven-earth elemental energy, unusually viscous, had turned into a mercury-like slurry, spurting from the forty-nine dragon-headed peaks, crossing a million li of void, and pouring onto a round continent encircled by the forty-nine peaks.

Upon this vast ocean, looking down from a sufficient height, it was exactly as if forty-nine enormous dragons were guarding the great divine pearl at the center!

This round continent, resembling the divine pearl, had a diameter of about ten million li; placed on Mu Dalu, such a landmass could only be called 'miniature'.

Not to mention the vast expanses of the various destiny fields and battlefields; just speaking of Wu Tie's native Heaven-Earth Jia No. 1 Hunting Ground, its land area exceeds that of this round continent by hundreds of times or more.

The heaven-earth elemental energy input by the forty-nine mountain ranges condensed into the mercury-like slurry, continuously being devoured by this round continent.

Logically, having swallowed so much heaven-earth elemental energy, every stone on this round continent should have been nourished into top-grade gemstone jade, and even a single blade of grass ought to be an astonishingly aged spiritual medicine.

Yet this continent was covered in yellow sand, devoid of any vitality.

Endless heaven-earth elemental energy had been poured in for untold billions of years, making this continent like a lifeless black hole that swallowed everything yet gave nothing back.

Moreover, on this round continent, the heaven-earth Dao rhythms had fallen into utter chaos.

Mu Dalu's own three thousand great Dao and eighty-four thousand side paths turned into twisted streams of light, wildly colliding on this round continent, occasionally exploding into terrifying clots of chaotic tide.

Furthermore, gods from beyond lent their aid, forcibly invading alien Dao into Mu Dalu's heaven-earth law system.

Strands of alien Dao, shaped like poisonous snakes and insects, were also clearly visible here; they likewise turned into countless tumbling streams of light, entwining, strangling, and striking, stirring this region of void into a muddled porridge.

Wu Tie stood in the air at the continent's edge, hands behind his back, overlooking this chaotic and strange landmass.

He was still several hundred li from the continent's edge, but in the short time it took to finish a cup of tea, dozens of mysterious spatial rifts appeared, hundreds of lightning and heavenly fire bolts flashed into existence out of nowhere, and countless curses and dark arts erupted upon him.

Fortunately, Wu Tie's divine body is exceedingly sturdy, and behind him also looms a suppressed Three Realms Divine Artifact that has been mostly repaired.

A strand of mirror light swirled flexibly; no matter how many strange, inexplicable attacks struck him, they only caused the mirror light to burst like fireworks, yet they could not harm Wu Tie in the slightest.

According to the light and shadow feedback shown on the mirror surface, that huge fragment lies directly beneath this circular landmass.

Wu Tie's brow eye suddenly opened, spewing forth a strand of chaos divine light; together with the mirror light it smashed down onto that landmass, and with a boom the divine light blasted open a series of extremely chaotic and violent great Dao patterns, which slammed heavily onto the landmass.

Layer after layer of twisted light and shadow exploded and shattered, revealing in the void a series of flag gates and archways as illusory images.

Flag gates and archways—these are common formation implements used in the human race's especially large divine formations to suppress the formation eyes; but those flag gates and archways on this continent each radiate spiritual light, possess tremendous aura, and have an ancient, simple appearance that differs greatly from the formation implements commonly used by the human race today.

Wu Tie's divine eye ability, combined with the treasure mirror, instantly broke through the isolation of thousands of layers of divine formations, allowing him to see through the truth of this continent at a glance.

It was still a sea of yellow sand everywhere, but at the continent's core position there lay a rift valley stretching 3.6 million li in length, at its widest about 100,000 li, shaped like an eye. The deepest point of this rift valley plunges straight underground for an unknown number of millions of li; due to the interference and isolation of layer upon layer of divine formations, Wu Tie cannot make out its exact appearance.

Yet within this rift valley the vitality is exuberant; everywhere is lush greenness, with strange flowers and exotic herbs, rare birds and beasts, palaces and pavilions, and furthermore waterfalls and spiritual springs condensed from heaven and earth primordial energy.

All around is dead silent, only this rift valley teems with life, resembling an immortal's abode.

A vast, ancient aura surged skyward; a strand of chaos spiritual light appeared out of nowhere above the rift valley, and within that light the illusory figure of a man with a human body and snake tail, whose aura was ancient and simple, emerged.

The man's snake tail hung down naturally; he held a small sun-and-moon banner in his left hand and a thin, long ruler in his right. Although it was an illusory figure, not a solid body, the aura emanating from it also made Wu Tie feel a faint palpitation.

Several streams of light shot up from the rift valley, and several dozen men wrapped in animal skins around their waists, with disheveled long hair, barefoot and bare-chested, whose aura was as strong and fierce as a mad dragon, leapt forth from the rift valley.

Their forms flickered, directly tearing open millions of li of void, and they arrived before Wu Tie.

A sturdy man two zhang tall reached out with one hand to grab Wu Tie's head, shouting hoarsely: 'Where do you come from, monster, daring to spy on the human race's holy land? Come to die!'

Behind this sturdy man, eight hundred streams of white qi shot up to the sky; his right hand's five fingers split into five colors, with the five kinds of pre- and post-heaven five elements great dao power twining around his fingers, within the fingers a faint phantom of a great mountain could be seen appearing and disappearing, and in the void a faint Buddhist chant could be heard.

One palm is equivalent to a Five Finger Mountain.

This is the Buddhist path he follows, an extremely profound great supernatural power for suppressing demons.

A tremendous pressure surged from the void; Wu Tie calculated that if it were an ordinary cultivator of the tenth heaven of the Divine Realm, converted to an ordinary cultivator who had entered the Dao through seven or eight great dao gates, they would be directly shattered to pieces by this immense pressure.

This sturdy man fundamentally harbored the intention to beat Wu Tie to death directly with this palm strike.

Wu Tie let out a cold snort and said in a deep voice: 'You can do it, I can do it, I can do it, you cannot!'

Clenching his right fist, Wu Tie faced the sturdy man's palm entwined with five-colored divine light; his right fist erupted with a hundredfold intense five-colored divine light—likewise the pre- and post-heaven five elements great dao power mutually cycling and overcoming—and his punch slammed into the man's right palm.

On Wu Tie's fist, faintly, a five-colored divine mountain soared skyward.

The two five-colored divine mountains collided violently in the air; with a tremendous bang, Wu Tie's right fist, unstoppable as a bamboo splitter, crushed the sturdy man's one arm to pieces.

The sturdy man cried out in pain, clutching his bleeding right shoulder as he turned and fled.

Wu Tie's heavy punch shook the void, crushing over as it went toward the other several dozen sturdy men whose eyes glowed blood-red.

At the instant when their comrade who had made a move was severely wounded, several dozen sturdy men had already drawn their antiquated bronze long spears, simultaneously releasing a myriad-zhang cold light, and fiercely stabbed toward Wu Tie.

Several dozen spears, each three zhang six chi long, spewed cold light and fiercely stabbed into Wu Tie's right fist.

With a tremendous bang, although these spears were post-heaven forged objects, their quality in terms of power and durability had already surpassed that of ordinary innate spiritual weapons; several dozen spears, upon being lightly touched by Wu Tie's fist, simultaneously exploded into countless fragments amidst the roar.

Wu Tie's fist gave a slight shake; the chests of several dozen sturdy men simultaneously caved in, each vomiting blood and flying backward, powerless to resist as they were smashed back into that deep rift valley by a single punch.

A sharp horn blast rang out; thousands of strands of spiritual light shot up from the rift valley and surged murderously toward Wu Tie.

In the next breath, a five-colored great fist seal descended from the sky; thousands of sturdy men all vomited blood, sank deep into the yellow sand ground, and all fainted away.

Likewise, with just a single punch, Wu Tie routed the thousands of sturdy men who had charged out of the rift valley.

"I don't feel much pressure... am I too strong, or are you too weak?" Wu Tie swung his right fist and muttered lowly: "Definitely you are too weak!"