Chapter 709

Gods.

What are gods?

Without personally entering this realm, it is hard to put its wonder into words.

To make the spirit clear is to be divine.

First, one must 'make the spirit'!

Then, 'make it clear'!

This is a process with cause and effect, stages connected in sequence. First, forge the spirit soul into a spirit fetus, making it strong enough. Then let the spirit fetus nourish the flesh, allowing the flesh to ascend to a dharma body.

Finally, spirit and body unite.

This feeling is like a sword forged through a thousand tempers, made from countless rare materials, which suddenly gives birth to its own sentience. He awakens, comes alive, gains a soul, and thus everything is different.

A rough stone becomes uncarved jade; a mortal body ascends to a divine body.

Wu Tie clenched his fist and, toward the farthest reaches, lightly threw a punch at a great mountain that his eyes could barely make out.

In the past, if this punch relied solely on physical strength, Wu Tie's fist would compress the air, forming a fist gang, which would then condense into a fist imprint of varying size, fly through the void, and boom against that great mountain.

All of this is visible to the naked eye, no matter how fast Wu Tie's fist imprint flies; even if it becomes a thread of light, an ordinary mortal's eyes can still see that thread.

But once the first thread of spirit-soul power perfectly fuses with the flesh, throwing this punch changes everything.

As Wu Tie throws his fist, thread after thread of law power wraps around his fist, and then these threads of law power resonate with the omnipresent great Dao law between heaven and earth, producing resonance.

This punch does not compress the air, does not stir up a fist gang, does not condense into a fist imprint; the great Dao law responds to Wu Tie's punch, directly before that mountain peak, almost clinging to it, a golden, radiant fist imprint appears, then heavily strikes the peak.

This punch, Wu Tie intended in his heart, uses the power of Geng Metal among the Five Elements.

Thus, the punch is entirely golden and radiant, filled with the sharp, domineering qi of Geng Metal; a punch like a blade, heavily chopping that great mountain. Thus the mountain body is silently pierced with a transparent hole; Wu Tie's punch, launched from tens of thousands of li away, is like a sharp knife cutting tofu, unimpeded, penetrating the mountain body and then successively piercing hundreds of great mountains.

Along a perfectly straight line, hundreds of great mountains are pierced with a transparent hole.

When Wu Tie's thoughts disperse, that fist imprint also disperses, directly melting away between heaven and earth, leaving not a trace.

This is the terrifying power of the Divine Realm.

Ordinary attacks of the Fetus Storage realm— their blade lights, sword qi, talisman thunder— all require a process of 'crossing space' and 'reaching the target.' But attacks of the Divine Realm are almost instantaneous upon release.

Divine Realm attacks against Fetus Storage cultivators almost always hit.

This is an overwhelming advantage; dozens or hundreds of Fetus Storage cultivators are nowhere near enough for a Divine Realm cultivator to crush with a casual pinch.

More importantly, the punch Wu Tie throws with his flesh fist— the fist imprint that had just condensed tens of thousands of li away— perfectly inherits the physical strength stored in that punch, and the great Dao law arises with thought, as streams of heaven-earth primal energy empower the imprint, boosting its power tenfold out of nowhere.

A casual strike can boost attack power tenfold, yet how many secret arts can a Fetus Storage cultivator, exerting their utmost, use to raise their power so greatly?

This is merely the basic attack of the first heaven of the Divine Realm.

As the realm continually rises, the spirit fetus and flesh continually fuse; each strike receives ever-greater support from heaven-earth law, and the amount of primal energy stored in each strike increases rapidly. Boosts of a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten thousandfold are mere trifles— this is what makes the Divine Realm truly terrifying.

A single step across the Divine Realm transforms a mortal into a god.

And mortals cannot possibly resist gods… the power of both sides, the life levels of all, after this step, have become utterly different.

"Come, attack me." Wu Tie took off his battle robe, baring his upper body.

From all directions, thousands of Wu family youths commanding over ten thousand Heavenly Martial troops formed three imposing battle arrays, after which wave after wave of five-element attribute magic attacks howled down upon Wu Tie.

Heavenly thunder and earthly fire, molten metal blades, icy surges, frost coverings…

The various five-element powers cycled and transformed, and myriad wondrous attacks kept falling.

Wu Tie…… felt almost nothing!

It is not that his flesh is too strong, but rather that a faint aura of the great Dao wraps his body's surface.

Any god is like this: as long as he has comprehended and penetrated the Dao patterns etched into his flesh, once the spirit fetus begins to merge with the dharma body, an absolute 'Dao barrier' naturally forms, covering the whole body.

This Dao barrier, no matter how unreasonable it may appear…

For example, a god who has just entered the Divine Realm and cultivates the fire Dao; this Dao barrier on his body's surface, if he is attacked by a Fetus Storage cultivator with a fire-type attack, will at least weaken the attack by ninety percent.

Other attribute magic attacks— water-type spells that counter fire— might only be weakened by fifty percent, while metal, earth, wood, and other attribute spells will be weakened by at least seventy percent, at the very least.

If instead the attack comes from another Divine Realm cultivator, this weakening degree will somewhat decline according to how solid each side's Dao foundation laid in the Fetus Storage realm was; however, attacks of the same attribute that have been comprehended will still be weakened by at least fifty percent.

And Wu Tie, having penetrated the three thousand Dao and comprehended the eighty-four thousand side doors, has all the Dao patterns of this heaven and earth fused into his body.

Therefore, theoretically…… or rather, precisely speaking, the attacks unleashed by the Wu family youths' formations, which gather the strength of tens of thousands of people, have less than one-tenth of their lethal force actually land on Wu Tie.

And Wu Tie's flesh is so formidable that even without a 'Dao barrier' protecting him, these attacks would struggle to break his skin.

Now, with the Dao barrier bolstering him, such attacks aren't even worthy of being called a spring breeze turning to rain…

Heaven-filling magic attacks howled in, blade auras and sword gangs stretching thousands of feet, howling and flashing as they struck Wu Tie. Even dozens of flagship warship main cannons charged up, making a 'gaga' sound as they spewed huge columns of light at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie merely stood there, calm and breezy, these attacks…… really couldn't make him feel anything.

Before taking this step, a formation of tens of thousands of people could make Wu Tie's body feel sore, numb, aching, swollen; it could even make his body sparkle with fire, produce a 'dong dong' booming sound, and his viscera would suffer some impact shock.

But after taking this step, there is no feeling at all.

These attacks are as if they completely fell into a black hole; even if the surrounding space is twisted and shaken, Wu Tie truly feels nothing at all.

"Not bad." Wu Tie burst into loud laughter, then took a deep breath; the attacks unleashed by the formation of tens of thousands of people and the dozens of flagship warship main cannons were swallowed by him in one gulp.

"Gudong"— a faint warm current trickled in his abdomen, swayed slightly, and then he felt nothing.

"Ou Yezi, come!" Wu Tie waved his hand; the Wu family youths commanding the army retreated backward, and Wu Tie beckoned to Ou Yezi, who stood on a distant mountain peak, supervising the Ou clan disciples as they set up a lethal sword formation.

Ou Yezi, eager to try, glanced at Wu Tie, then took a deep breath.

"Ten Thousand Swords Annihilation! Formation, rise!" Having received Wu Tie's signal, Ou Yezi instinctively activated the giant sword formation he was setting up.

Hundreds of thousands of sword lights shot up into the sky; under Ou Yezi's full power, they turned into a vast, surging river of sword light that came down to behead Wu Tie.

Wu Tie looked up at this glorious, magnificent river of sword light, and casually reached out to grab it.

Though the seemingly unstoppable river of sword light was still over a zhang away from Wu Tie's body, its flight speed suddenly dropped by about seventy percent, and the force attached to each sword beam instantly weakened by over fifty percent.

After entering the Divine Realm, Wu Tie's bodily strength at least doubled.

Countless sword beams struck Wu Tie's body heavily; this was Ou Yezi's all-out strike aided by the sword formation, resulting in countless sword beams shattering, and Wu Tie's body emitted a faint 'ding ding' sound, like a light iron needle casually tossed onto a huge steel ingot.

The sword gleam shattered, and Wu Tie felt a tiny, insignificant impact.

Not bad, not bad; Ou Yezi's attack actually gave Wu Tie a certain sensation—this is far stronger than the attack just released by a troop formation of tens of thousands.

As expected of an expert in the Divine Manifestation Realm.

Wu Tie roughly gauged his current strength… tsk, in the Divine Manifestation Realm he likely has no rival. Indeed, any Great Dao law encompassing this heaven and earth will have its lethal force reduced by at least fifty percent when facing Wu Tie.

No matter what magical attack corresponding to a Great Dao law, it will be weakened by at least fifty percent in killing power.

How can we even fight this?

Other Divine Manifestation Realm experts major in one Grand Dao, supplement with three to five others, or even seven to eight side paths—this is already extraordinarily impressive. But no matter which Grand Dao they major in, they will inevitably be restrained by several other Grand Dao laws.

As for Wu Tie, he is perfectly rounded, with no Grand Dao capable of restraining him.

This is a rule‑breaking monster… The Primordial Classic's original fundamental purpose was precisely to create such a 'monster'!

"Stop, Your Majesty; I roughly know Your Majesty's strength." Wu Tie smiled and nodded at Ou Yezi.

Ou Yezi, along with a host of Great Wei ancestors who had defected to Wu Tie, stared at Wu Tie with twisted expressions.

The Myriad Sword Annihilation Grand Formation is an extremely exquisite killing formation even in Great Wei, especially when combined with the divine‑weapon‑grade swords forged by Ou Yezi and his clansmen, making its lethal power terrifying.

With Ou Yezi's strength, combined with this grand formation and hundreds of Ou‑family forged divine swords, even an expert of the Seventh Heaven of the Divine Manifestation Realm would be ground down and strangled by the sword formation.

But Wu Tie…

This Myriad Sword Annihilation sword formation can't even nick his skin?

"A monster… but he is our lord—this could not be better." Li Xuangui stood in the distance, exhaled a relieved sigh, and proudly boasted to Yuan Qilin and the others beside him: "How about it, Old Li—I'm still reliable, right? This lord has a gentle temperament, is broad‑minded, and possesses such tremendous strength… If you follow Old Li and pledge allegiance to the lord, you'll be laughing in secret!"

The heads of several Great Wei clans burst into laughter in unison, each smiling so hard their eyes narrowed to slits.

Indeed, the terrifying power Wu Tie displayed—this crushing strength—far surpasses the sense of security the Xiahou royal clan once gave them.

Wu Tie as lord is good in every way.

The only downside is that Wuguo's territory is somewhat barren, with few people; various luxuries are naturally not as convenient as in former Great Wei. Across the vast expanse of Wuguo's land, even a slightly skilled weaver, brewer, cook, or musician is hard to find.

However, while the Great Wei clans may lack in other respects, in terms of business acumen they are truly unrivaled among the Three Kingdoms.

Give them some time, and they will surely make Wu Tie's Wuguo flourish splendidly.

There will be weavers capable of crafting seamless heavenly garments.

There will be brewers capable of producing peerless fine wine.

There will be cooks capable of crafting ultimate delicacies.

There will be musicians capable of summoning the harmonious cries of phoenixes.

With such a mighty and domineering lord as Wu Tie, no storm or tempest need be feared; everyone can simply steady their lives and live in peace.

The sword formation's attack ceased, Wu Tie bared his arms, lowered his head, and looked down upon the demon nest below.

A slit cracked open in his forehead, the Dharma Eye burst forth with radiant light, instantly tearing through the dense black mist of the demon nest and seeing through its depth of tens of thousands of li below.

Wherever the Dharma Eye's divine light passed, the thick black mist vanished instantly, and the pitch‑black demon nest became utterly bright.

Tuo Wu Zan and two other burly elders of the Tuo Wu Clan stood in midair, separated by a layer of thick black mist a thousand zhang deep, gazing upward at Wu Tie hovering a thousand li aloft.

Swarms of poisonous bees buzzed rapidly around Tuo Wu Zan and his two companions, while Princess Feng Luan, gripped in Tuo Wu Zan's hand, gave a cold‑faced, whisper‑soft introduction of Wu Tie's identity.

"Just a brat who's newly entered the Divine Manifestation Realm… what is this kid doing here?" Tuo Wu Zan frowned, his fleshy face brimming with killing intent: "Heh, coming to the gate of my Tuo Wu Clan to flaunt his might? Who does he think he is?"

"This is a great opportunity, eh… three… ancestors." Princess Feng Luan said softly.

"Call me your lord, as I told you." Tuo Wu Zan grabbed Princess Feng Luan's vertebra hard, nearly crushing her bone to fragments.

"Besides, you're right—it is a good opportunity." An elder beside Tuo Wu Zan chuckled softly: "The Great Martial God Kingdom has just fallen; the Martial King has just taken over this territory, newly arrived, and he wants to control the whole of Wuguo's land—how difficult that is!"

"Moreover, he's a lone ruler, not from a great family, and doesn't even have an heir…" Another elder chuckled weirdly: "If we could kill him… given his current retinue, internal strife would surely erupt. Moreover, the Linghu Clan of the Green Hill God Kingdom will certainly not stand by…"

"Chaos is good, chaos is good… only when there's chaos does our Tuo Wu Clan have a chance."

Tuo Wu Zan casually tossed Princess Feng Luan downward: "My love, watch yourself—don't fall to your death… look, husband…"

As the three words "look, husband" left his mouth, Wu Tie's forehead Dharma Eye shot forth a divine radiance like a blazing sun, a 'whoosh' piercing in. Wherever the light passed, flames rose, gold sparkled, and the masses of poisonous bees beside Tuo Wu Zan exploded 'pop pop pop' into puffs of green smoke.

Tuo Wu Zan and his two companions stared, then simultaneously shouted, "Great opportunity!"

Three scarlet streaks, within which a faint black qi coiled, shot up as evasion light; in the snap of a finger they tore through a thousand li of void and arrived before Wu Tie.

The three Tuo Wu Zan ancestors struck simultaneously, three gloomy‑aura longswords chopping toward Wu Tie's vital points.

"Young Martial King, surrender your life!"

Tuo Wu Zan bellowed loudly, while his two brothers roared with laughter: "You practically delivered yourself to our door!"