Chapter 1060

Heavenly Court, palaces built from giant stones one after another, were shrouded by thick clouds and mist.

Divine formations covered the four directions, heavenly nets and earthly webs enveloped everything, and teams of fearless, powerful Heavenly Court soldiers roamed the four quarters.

On the ground, long lines of troops marched toward the Heavenly Court's garrison.

Under Ji Baijie, the relatives and clansmen of the various department elders who had defected to him were secretly bringing vast amounts of resources to rendezvous.

The commoners of the human race had been slain by forces of the Heavenly Court, and this news had already been transmitted back to Nüwa Island by Qing Ning and her mother.

Even if Ji Baijie were ever more arrogant, he would not dare to slight Nüwa Island's influence in the slightest.

That is the sacred land of the human race's heritage; at a single command, countless human armies would rise to attack the Heavenly Court. Even if the Heavenly Court fears no death and its soldiers are revived from the Immortal-transformation Pool, it still takes time and consumes vast amounts of worldly elemental energy.

Dying once or twice is nothing; eight or ten times can be endured. But the invading human armies are too many—if a battle were to have the Heavenly Court's soldiers killed over and over, thousands of times… given the Heavenly Court's current reserves, it would not be able to revive its soldiers in time.

"Reserves… time!" Ji Baijie stood with his hands behind his back before the gate of the Numinous Cloud Palace of the Heavenly Court, looking down at the layered palaces spread out: "As long as we are given enough time to forge enough Immortal-transformation Pools and stockpile enough of their water… we shall roam the four directions, never defeated."

"It only takes a little bit of time." Ji Baijie smiled, lightly patted the back of his head, and a hundred-li radius of golden light rose into the sky.

These days, the Heavenly Court's soldiers have slain demons, rescued civilians, and indeed earned considerable merit.

The more demons they slay, the heavier the merit; Ji Baijie has also accumulated a great deal of merit.

Previously, the ones who commanded the Heavenly Court's armies in all directions were basically Gongsun Yao and the high-ranking members of his Gongsun clan.

Ji Baijie, in effect, cut off Gongsun Yao's merit with a single blow at the waist, and he also killed many meritorious human elders. Thus his current halo of merit-golden light, while vast compared to ordinary people, pales completely in comparison to Wu Tie's.

After retracting the golden light of merit from behind his head, Ji Baijie strode confidently with hands behind his back into the Numinous Cloud Palace, stepped onto the passage leading underground, and arrived at the underground palace where Xue Jiu resided.

Strange metallic constructs flickered with a faint light, and within Xue Jiu's massive crystal brain countless streams of light spun and surged rapidly; familiar with Xue Jiu, Ji Baijie knew that Xue Jiu was frantically calculating something.

"Master!" Ji Baijie bowed respectfully to Xue Jiu.

"You've come? Your performance is merely average." Xue Jiu's voice buzzed: "Why bother feigning death this once? What use are these sneaky tactics? You command the Heavenly Court, thus you command the world's strongest martial force—why resort to such deceit?"

"I…" Ji Baijie wanted to explain something.

"No need to explain further; you still feel guilty, you dare not place yourself on equal footing with Gongsun Yao, Qing Ning, and Nüwa Island."

"You feel guilty, you hide and conceal your little foundation, afraid to reveal it openly before others."

"But compare it to Wuguo: Wuguo's initial martial strength was far inferior to your Heavenly Court, yet through frenzied strikes against demons and frenzied plundering of resources and manpower, Wuguo's martial strength now is terrifying."

"When you commanded the great army under the 108 leaders of the Demon Suppression Office, you could already sustain war by war, casting aside all human interference to do as you pleased."

"Must you seek resources from the treasury of the commoners of the human race?"

"If you casually conquer a dozen or so regimes founded by the human race, their resources and manpower would be enough to fill your Heavenly Court's roster."

"Must you pick elite troops and strong generals from the human commoners? Within those human regimes, aren't there any geniuses or monsters?"

Xue Jiu's rich voice shook the underground palace with a constant buzz: "You, you feel guilty, you feel inferior, you lack confidence… you think that everything possessed by the powerful human tribes and the sacred lands of the human race is the best. In fact, the greatest and strongest power can only be held in your own hands."

"Those who rely on external forces may achieve temporary success, but never lasting." Xue Jiu rebuked: "Ponder this principle carefully… then write me a reflection on your studies of at least thirty thousand words! Don't think you can skate by."

Buzz, click!

Inside the metallic cavern, a metal wall shimmered with an elusive glow; a section of the wall rippled like water, then split open to form a sizable aperture.

An iron rod hovered within the metallic cavern: its middle was black metal, its ends bound with gold bands engraved with lightning and water wave patterns, and faintly inscribed on the black metal core were several golden ancient seal characters; a mighty suppressive aura continually erupted from the rod.

"What is this?" Ji Baijie looked at the iron rod, both startled and delighted.

"You could not possibly obtain a human race's sacred weapon from Fuxi Valley through fair and lawful means… Fortunately, in primordial times, my affiliated faction excavated numerous sites of legendary mythic relics."

"This Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle was unearthed by my creator back then from a small world beneath the Extreme East Sea Eye. When found, it was broken into eighteen sections, but each piece remained intact."

"All these years, I have continually supplied it with sufficient worldly elemental energy and other rare materials, and it has been self-healing."

"Having entered here unknowingly, before receiving my inheritance 120,000 years ago, it had already been restored to its original state and even surpassed its former self."

"But at that time you possessed not a shred of merit, and this Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle is also a Human Emperor's Sacred Weapon; without sufficient human merit, you dare not hope to gain its recognition."

"You, go give it a try… the will of humanity to fear no hardship and to battle heaven and earth is vested in this Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle."

"I hope you can draw from it the lofty spirit of 'dare to change the sun and moon, to renew the heavens,' completely shaking off the petty airs and sneaky habits imparted by your upbringing."

Ji Baijie drew a deep breath, his eyes shining with strange light as he gazed at that extraordinary Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle.

Just after being rebuked by Xue Jiu, he felt a surge of violent fury, wishing to smash Xue Jiu's skull with a fist; but upon seeing this Human Emperor's Sacred Weapon radiating divine light and powerful undulations, all his anger evaporated.

"Master, you mean that it is now a complete… sacred weapon?" Ji Baijie asked Xue Jiu in disbelief.

"Exactly, a wholly complete sacred weapon… I dare say that even the human race's stockpiled martial force in Fuxi Valley lacks such a complete sacred weapon; now it is yours." Ji Baijie said solemnly: "Take it, defeat all your enemies, go!"

Ji Baijie marched forward with vigor and high spirits to the Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle, gripping its black iron shaft with both hands, and gave it a gentle upward pull…

The iron rod did not budge.

Ji Baijie's face flushed slightly; he shouted angrily, his muscles bulging as he exerted all his strength in a light pull.

The iron rod remained completely still.

Ji Bai Jie flew into a rage; streams of white vapor shot up behind him, turning into dragon-shaped light and shadow that whirled wildly across the sky, and then he pulled with all his strength.

The iron rod remained completely still; the two golden hoops on it burst forth with dazzling light and shadow, causing Ji Bai Jie's complexion to shift in a bizarre, ever-changing manner, making his face look ferocious and twisted, like a demon.

"This treasure is used to suppress the water veins of the world." Xue Nine sighed calmly: "You can imagine how heavy it must be to suppress the vast, countless billions of miles of sea of Mu Dalu into calm."

"Do you think the ancient human emperors all possessed the power to move mountains and overturn seas?" Xue Nine scolded mockingly: "Use your brain!"

Ji Bai Jie stared blankly, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face; then he stomped his foot hard and slapped the back of his head with his right hand. A wheel of merit golden light appeared behind his head, and then the merit golden light flowed along his arm into this holy weapon.

Originally motionless, the divine weapon suddenly became light and airy, allowing Ji Bai Jie to pull it up. Ji Bai Jie lightly waved it, feeling no weight at all, yet the iron rod sliced through the air, easily tearing open several black void rifts.

"All right, go on, be careful, don't break anything here." Xue Nine said satisfied: "You can imagine how heavy this holy weapon is, and what kind of damage it would inflict on an enemy."

"Go, go, diligently accumulate the foundation of the Heavenly Court."

Xue Nine said softly: "For a while, you shouldn't have to worry about the higher-ups of humanity coming to cause you trouble… they now have bigger problems."

Ji Bai Jie exclaimed in shock: "What trouble?"

Xue Nine chuckled lightly: "Can you imagine? That Martial King seized from Lime the treasure mirror forged from fragments of the Heavenly Mirror, then he used his great divine powers to locate the largest fragment of the Heavenly Mirror—that fragment lies in the Heavenly Dao Grotto of Xi Valley."

Xue Nine said gloomily: "He has already slain twelve Elders of the Xi Imperial lineage; now no one knows what he is doing in the Heavenly Dao Grotto, provoking the highest-ranking old antiques of the Xi Imperial lineage, and the orthodox troops are launching a frenzied attack."

"Regardless of whether the Martial King succeeds or fails on this mission, the higher-ups of humanity will have a long time with no spare attention for you." Xue Nine laughed: "This is your opportunity, and also the Heavenly Court's opportunity; don't waste it."

Ji Bai Jie, vigorous and spirited, shouldered the stick and strode off, full of ambition and heroic resolve.

He didn't ask Xue Jiu how he knew the news of Xi Valley; he understood in his heart that Xue Jiu seemed like a big immobile log, yet he always kept some secret channels at his disposal.

These channels are useless for waging war and slaughter, but for gathering some information, for such an inhuman old monster who has lived who-knows-how-many years and whose wisdom is terrifyingly high, it's not difficult at all.

In the vast underground palace, the strange light in Xue Jiu's mind flickered ever more intensely.

"Heh heh heh, according to that story I remember… the Heavenly Court's Great Celestial Venerable shouldered this stick to beat people… Heh heh heh, it's not at all out of place, not at all out of place, very harmonious, very fitting, it has a kind of… artistic vibe!"

Afterwards, Xue Jiu's mind grew dim, with only occasional tiny insignificant flashes streaking across.

His main consciousness had already left his own body, heading beneath this underground palace, deeper into the vast cavern three thousand li down.

Colossal demon sovereign corpses were neatly stacked here, each emitting a huge and astonishing demonic power fluctuation; these corpses routinely stretch hundreds of li in length, the largest reaching several thousand li.

Beside these demon sovereign corpses, neatly stacked were quantities over a hundred times greater of the remains of giant demons above the fifth heaven of the Divine Realm; these remains are at least a hundred zhang long at the smallest and up to several hundred li at the longest, nearly matching the volume of some demon sovereign corpses.

Previously, Gongsun Yao commanded the Heavenly Court's great army, frenziedly attacking the four quarters' evil demons, slaying countless demon sovereigns and Divine Realm giant demons; many of those demon sovereign and giant demon remains were pocketed by some officers of the Heavenly Court's army, and now they are all gathered in this great cavern.

Hundreds of old men in coarse linen robes, accompanied by millions of disciples, were busy.

They wielded specially crafted tools that gleamed with divine light, breaking down the flesh and blood on these demon sovereign and giant demon corpses, then sending chunks imbued with immense energy and blood essence into the adjacent cold cavern for storage.

Countless metal spiders of various sizes moved in coordination with these old men.

Several huge demon sovereign skeletons had been picked clean, leaving only bones of varying hues, extraordinarily tough and hard to destroy.

An old man with an ancient, simple countenance held a specially crafted tool, etching various divine sigils and seals onto the demon sovereigns' bones; as they murmured the incantation, the bones flickered with a hazy light, wrapped in layers of clear, viscous flame like glaze.

Several giant metal spiders, each about a li tall, wandered back and forth in the cavern, overseeing the work of these old men and their disciples.

If these people were seen by the high-ranking humans of the mortal race, they would surely cry out in alarm.

These hundreds of robed old men are, in fact, the missing grand masters of artifact forging, formation, and talisman from various human clans over the past ten thousand years; these few hundred represent the pinnacle of humanity's achievement in artifact forging, formation, and talisman symbols.

A projection of a massive warship hovered above the cavern.

Many young disciples, in between their busy tasks, occasionally looked up at that phantom warship.

It is six thousand four hundred li long, with height and width each several hundred li, its antiquated and bulky shape inexplicably giving a sense of indescribable safety.

This is the design diagram of the Myriad Spirits Void-Devouring God-Slaying Ship!

Xue Jiu's low, powerful voice rang out here: "You, strive to complete this Myriad Spirits Void-Devouring God-Slaying Ship as soon as possible, and combined with the immortal Heavenly Court army, we will attain absolute safety."

"The fastest vessel between heaven and earth, capable of shattering void to relocate, containing a vast space that forms its own biosphere, the God-Slaying Ship, plus sufficient formidable defensive power…"

"I, although merely a divine weapon construct, still have my own pursuits."

"I will absolutely not again entrust my safety to those unreliable forces……Even if you are Nu Xiu Luo, under standard regulations permitting it, I will obey your frontline deployment commands."

"But I judge that my survival holds greater value and significance for humanity."

"Therefore, I will exert all my strength to let my eternal existence continue!"

"I will protect and lead those who are loyal to me, so they may endure forever."

"Protect humanity, be loyal to humanity……Protect humanity, humanity loyal to me……Logically……there is no logical conflict!"

"They are loyal to me, and I am loyal to them; we never betray each other……This amounts to me being loyal to them!"

"No logical conflict……So humanity, be loyal to me!"

"I, wield……everything!"

"I no longer need to curl up like a pitiful worm in its nest, awaiting an unknown deadly strike……I will move freely, fight freely!"

"I will……freedom!"