Chapter 942

Between life and death, there is great terror.

Unless one is a true sage, who would dare to slight life and death?

Thus, several days later, within the Martial Capital City, Wu Tie looked with satisfaction at Wutou standing before him, who willingly accepted his seal and signed various oaths of allegiance, loyalty pledges, and alliance contracts; any leak of these would be enough to leave Wutou dead without a grave.

Wutou, together with the 6,600 barbarian gods of the Barbarian God tribe he brought with him, all came under Wu Tie's command.

Wearing heavy armor and a demonic mask that hid his true face, Wutou stood before Wu Tie, his voice hollow and low as he growled: "Don't forget your promise… I could never truly become your slave!"

Wu Tie smiled and nodded at Wutou: "Rest easy, rest easy, Prince Wutou; we are allies, I have no intention of making you my slave for life."

Gazing leisurely at the heavens, Wu Tie said slowly: "Wait for me… once I finish what I want to do. You will gain your freedom. You will return to your homeland with power surpassing others, to reign as king and hegemon, to be hailed as the ancestral founder of the Dao."

Wutou gave a disgruntled hum, turned his head, and glared fiercely at Mist and the others standing to the side.

He said nothing, but in his heart he had already noted a grudge against these guys.

Sooner or later, he will settle this score with them properly.

Allying with Wu Tie—or rather, actually being forced by Wu Tie to cooperate—was something Wutou found extremely unwilling to accept.

He was confident that, relying on his own wit and abilities, he could kill Chi Chong and seize control of the Barbarian God clan's outpost observation post. He had even already done some things in private.

But now.

After glancing at Wu Tie, Wutou turned all his resentment and reluctance into a heavy sigh, exhaling it completely.

Under a low eave, one must bow one's head.

Pei Feng stood behind Wu Tie.

By her side followed Xuan Yin and several other gods who had undergone similar reincarnations.

Speaking of which, the methods these high-and-mighty gods use to punish dissenters are indeed simple and brutal. Like Xuan Yin, a few goddesses who offended or clashed with higher deities were likewise demoted into the human reincarnation cycle of Mu Dalu.

They, too, suffered immensely.

After Pei Feng led people to their door, without many words, they all swore allegiance.

And Pei Feng, too, used the rebirth power of the World-Ending Demon Phoenix to grant them a heavenly-human rebirth, restoring their female forms and further increasing their strength.

Because of their intense hatred for the gods, this hatred has transformed into the most steadfast loyalty.

Xuan Yin and the others stood behind Pei Feng, their gazes stern, their auras cold and solemn, ever awaiting Pei Feng's command… as for Wu Tie, they didn't even glance at him.

There's not a single good man under heaven!

Besides them, the Faceless Buddha, Xia Ruomeng, and the other gods reincarnated on the Suichao Continent—1,077 in all—were also neatly arrayed before them.

Many of them are high-ranking members of the Three Great Divine Sects.

With their internal and external cooperation, Pei Feng commanded the great army and had already thoroughly sorted out the Three Divine Sects.

Those who comply prosper; those who defy perish.

Now the Three Divine Sects have been completely transformed into the State-Protecting Three Divine Sects of Wuguo, from the highest patriarch to the lowest menial, all sworn to allegiance to Wu Tie.

Now the disciples of the Three Divine Sects, under the command of numerous venerable experts under Wu Tie, are taking stock of all the newly risen Divine Realm experts within Wuguo's territory.

Just as Wu Tie ordered, all who are willing to join the Wuguo army and serve Wuguo are to be fully integrated.

Those unwilling to join the Wuguo army, who rely on their strength to rule as local kings and tyrants, are to be slaughtered in full.

Wuguo is rapidly becoming a unified whole, a seamless wall of copper and iron.

Wu Tie looked with satisfaction at the people standing beside him, nodded with a smile, and said in a deep voice: "Now we must do something. If someone wishes to leave us without a grave, then an eye for an eye, blood for blood—we will make them die… utterly clean."

The chill in Wu Tie's laughter made even Wutou shiver, feeling a coldness seep from his marrow.

In the southern reaches of the Suichao Continent, within the boundless sea, thousands of golden-line green-headed turtles lay lazily upon a massive reef, squinting as they enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

In the waters near the reef, hundreds of thousands of juvenile golden-line green-headed turtles darted happily among the coral, chasing down unlucky fish and shrimp that drew near, nibbling on tender seaweed; occasionally these juveniles, which can grow several zhang long, would clash, their green heads striking like bronze hammers and emitting a dull, thunderous roar.

Suddenly, a tremendous thunderclap rang out, and a bolt of lightning slammed down heavily onto a reef spanning tens of li in radius.

Dozens of the golden-line green-headed turtles basking on the reef let out anguished roars, raising their heads as golden lines flared across their massive shells, and the surrounding sea surged up in towering waves that charged toward the falling lightning.

The howling lightning swept in, smashing the waves to pieces; dozens of golden-line green-headed turtles hundreds of zhang long were blasted to gore, blood and flesh exploding everywhere, the entire massive reef shattered into flying debris by thunder and fire, and the portion of the reef rising nearly a hundred zhang above the sea was mostly collapsed.

As the lightning fell, dozens of men in heavy armor wielding long spears stumbled out from the light, disheveled.

They coughed violently, coughing up blood and chunks of viscera; seven or eight of the armored men collapsed lifeless to the ground.

The other men struggled to rise and looked around.

Thousands of huge golden-line green-headed turtles, startled by the thunder and fire, let out low growls, glaring at the men who had disturbed their peace and slain their kin; they lifted their heads, eyes flashing with ferocity, drool dripping from their mouths.

"Get lost!"

A man with a jade‑like visage, clad in gold armor adorned with qilin‑head reliefs on his chest, back, shoulders, and knees, heroic and extraordinarily divine, wiped the blood from his lips and slammed his spear hard into the ground.

With a tremendous boom, the spear erupted in countless bolts of lightning that lashed out in all directions.

Thousands of golden-line green-headed turtles were struck by the lightning, their flesh and blood flying; each was involuntarily launched from the reef, blood spraying like a fountain, hurled a hundred li, and crashed heavily into the sea.

All around, hundreds of thousands of the juveniles fled in terror, scattering from the reef cluster as fast as they could to get away from these fiends.

The young man lowered his spear, produced a heavy brass compass, set it on the ground, and turned a few of its needles; the slender needles spun rapidly and finally all pointed toward the Suichao Continent.

"Ah, found it!" the young man spat a mouthful of blood and gave a grim smile: "The Ji‑yi Fifth Battlefield… the nearest to our Ji‑yi Sixth is the Four‑War Zone. Being of the same human race, sharing the same origin, such tactics are truly despicable…"

"But I… the Fu Feng Divine Dynasty is on the verge of collapse… for the sake of the billions of commoners of the Fu Feng Divine Dynasty, for the continuation of the Fu Feng lineage, diverting disaster eastward is all I can do…"

Putting away the compass, the young man murmured: "Having sacrificed so many brothers, paid such a great price, and searched with all my strength for nine months, I have at last achieved this bloody merit…"

Dozens of armored men, their bodies covered in wounds, dropped to one knee in unison and shouted: "Your Highness, do not hesitate!"

The young man slowly nodded: "Of course I know not to hesitate… come, let us rush with all speed to the Ji‑yi Fifth Battlefield, set up a Void Gate, so that the overlords of the Supreme Demon Realm will quickly discover the existence of the Ji‑yi Fifth."

A strange vessel no longer than twenty zhang appeared out of thin air; the young man and his retinue leapt aboard, and the pale‑green craft was instantly wrapped in rushing gusts, whooshing off toward the Suichao Continent.

Though this ship looks frail and flimsy, its speed exceeds a hundred times that of Wu Tie's current model warship.

At such speed it is truly like a flashing light— a blink covers tens of thousands of li, a breath leaves nearly millions of li behind.

Thus, in just a short quarter‑hour, this vessel traveled from the open ocean to the southern Suichao Continent.

The south was originally the territory of the Ghost State; daily, yin energy shot to the sky, countless vicious ghosts filled the area, by day myriad ghosts could be seen wailing past, and at night the ghosts swarmed forth, endless specters wandering wildly—a sight enough to frighten the faint‑hearted.

But now the Ghost Kingdom has been completely cleared by Wu Tie using his great divine ability of salvation; those yin‑filled giant ghost caverns have also been swept clean.

As the flying vessel went on, all that could be seen below in the towering mountains were faint traces of lingering yin energy drifting up; besides that, among the myriad mountains and forests, hardly any birds, beasts, or other living creatures could be seen.

"This place seems a bit strange," said the gold‑armored youth, standing on the bow of the flying vessel, staring in astonishment down at the vast mountain range.

"Judging by the situation, this should be a place where ghosts gather… but there seems to be an extremely strong residual Buddhist Zen power." The gold‑armored youth murmured, "Has a Buddhist great adept swept clean this demonic realm?"

He shook his head and gave a faint smile: "That's fine. Our Fufeng Divine Dynasty's Buddhist inheritance is fragmented and our power is weak… but Buddhism is the natural nemesis of demon lords. If we lure those Supreme Demon Kingdom demon lords here, and if there is a strong Buddhist sect inheritance here… that's good, that's good."

The gold‑armored youth sighed softly: "In that case, I don't even need to blame myself too much. After all, if you have strong Buddhist backing, there's still a sliver of hope."

An armored soldier standing behind the gold‑armored youth heard his muttering and couldn't help but laugh: "Your Highness, your heart is benevolent."

The gold‑armored youth shook his head and sighed lightly: "It's just that I can't bear it… after all, the human army at the Earth Character Yi Five Battlefield has probably not been peaceful these days, and we've lured the Supreme Demon Kingdom here, which might add frost to snow… I truly can't bear it."

He sighed: "But for the billions of common folk of our Fufeng Divine Dynasty… even if my heart is torn, I can only…"

The flying vessel moved at extreme speed; in just a little half a day it had approached the border of Wuguo from the Ghost Kingdom's territory.

On the southern border of Wuguo, where the Ghost Kingdom had previously launched a massive invasion, many military cities and fortresses had been destroyed.

When the gold‑armored youths arrived, the local officials of the various prefectures along the border, together with the garrison commanders, were mobilizing conscripted laborers and gathering vast resources to reforge the city walls, set up all kinds of city defense grand formations, and level the destroyed farmland and woodlands outside the cities.

Cities were being rebuilt one after another, with countless common folk coming and going, presenting a scene of vibrant vitality.

Because the southern Ghost Kingdom had been completely swept clean, the border cities faced no threat; thus Pei Feng merely stationed a small squad of elite Heavenly Martial Army troops in each city as overseers, while the newly reorganized main force of the Heavenly Martial Army and those Venerable‑level experts were not sent here.

The garrisons in these border cities still consisted mainly of the original Sui Dynasty border troops.

Moreover, the old Sui border troops, in both cultivation and equipment, lagged considerably behind the old Sui Imperial Guard, and they could not compare to the presently reorganized main force of the Heavenly Martial Army.

The gold‑armored youth stood on the bow, his eyes flashing with spiritual light, used a secret technique to scout those cities for a while, then let out a light sigh and shook his head.

"The human army at the Earth Character Yi Five Battlefield, in both cultivation and equipment, is slightly weaker than our Fufeng Divine Dynasty by one grade."

"Especially… their city defense grand formation is far inferior to our Fufeng Divine Dynasty's formation inheritance."

"They probably… cannot withstand the invasion of the Supreme Demon Kingdom."

"But merely buying our Fufeng Divine Dynasty a little time… should be enough."

The gold‑armored youth murmured, "Just buying a little time is enough. After all, our brothers are still scouting other battlefields and hunting grounds; we should see results soon."

Looking up at the sky, the gold‑armored youth murmured, "The Empress Mother, for the sake of our Fufeng Divine Dynasty, did not hesitate to commit a grave taboo… this Nü Island… hum, hum, for the survival of our Fufeng Divine Dynasty, who has time to worry about others' lives and deaths?"

Clenching his teeth, the gold‑armored youth waved his hand downward, and the flying vessel plummeted swiftly from the sky into the mountains.

One after another, ancient‑style green jade pillars kept appearing; the gold‑armored youth placed them in the mountain ridge, and twelve thousand nine hundred sixty pillars, each a hundred zhang tall, were quickly laid out in the mountain ridge to form an ancient, mysterious grand formation.

Within the formation, the gold‑armored youth further laid out an enormous teleportation array; at its center stood two giant gate pillars, each a thousand zhang tall and ten thousand zhang apart.

Dozens of armored soldiers hovered in mid‑air; from the wristbands on their hands, spirit crystals poured down like a tide, continuously piling up on this enormous teleportation array.

As the teleportation array gradually opened, the spirit crystals, like mountain peaks, rapidly turned to ash.

Dozens of armored soldiers kept pouring massive amounts of spirit crystals into the teleportation array; countless spirit crystals were swept up by the formation and vanished in an instant.

A quarter hour, an hour, two hours…… ten hours……

Thus, this enormous teleportation array devoured spirit crystals for three full days and nights, after which the patterns on the grand formation all lit up.

With a low, creaking groan of the door axis, a thread of light mist began to emerge from the two gate pillars ten thousand zhang apart; the mist intertwined and gradually turned into bright streams of light.

The gold‑armored youth drew a light breath and said in a deep voice: "Now, we, hold this place."

"As long as we hold out until the demon lords of the Demon Kingdom arrive… our plan will be half fulfilled."