Chapter 996

In the deep sea, there is an archipelago, named Heavenly Square.

These islands are not large; the largest spans only over ten thousand li in diameter, while the smallest is just a thousand li across. Human tribes dwell on the islands, and underground, other races survive.

This archipelago lies tens of millions of li from the continent where Wuguo is located; the islands' mineral veins are barren and resources scarce, so the earlier Sui dynasty despised this poor land and did not bring it under its rule.

Moreover, Wu Tie did not like to expand his territory, so the Wuguo army did not move against this archipelago.

Thus, the archipelago retained its most primitive character; on the hundreds of large and small islands, two or three thousand big and small powers formed alliances and fought each other incessantly year-round.

On the largest island of the Heavenly Square Islands, Heavenly Square Island, a great battle was raging fiercely.

Because of a fertile plain three hundred li in radius that produces abundant grain, the two greatest powers on Heavenly Square Island, Song State and Li State, have fought for nearly a thousand years over the ownership of this plain.

The small Gold Valley City on the plain has changed hands dozens of times between Song State and Li State.

Outside the city on the plain, golden rice stalks stretching hundreds of li swayed in the wind, rolling wave after wave; on the ten-li-long and ten-li-wide Gold Valley City, dozens of tattered Song State banners fluttered feebly.

Amid the low war drums, the Li State commander waved his hand, and dozens of supply soldiers carried up large chests one after another, slamming them heavily to the ground. The lids burst open, and piles upon piles of gleaming gold, each ingot the size of a baby's palm, spilled out with a 'hualala' sound.

A few ox-headed men standing before the Li State commander had their eyes suddenly bloodshot, and they blew out two strong streams of hot air from their nostrils.

"Here is a hundred thousand gold, Niu Er; take your people and attack again." the Li State commander hoarsely shouted at the most stalwart ox-headed man: "Attack again, and if you can take Gold Valley City, another hundred thousand gold will be yours."

A few ox-headed men let out a low roar, gripped their wheel-sized axes, and strode away turning their backs.

Amid the 'moo-moo' cries, thousands of stalwart ox clansmen in the camp rose, straightened their battered armor, shouldered great axes and heavy blades, and followed their chief silently toward Gold Valley City.

"Take Gold Valley City, brothers, and eat your fill……the city stores countless grain; the Li State general said that after we take Gold Valley City, each brother who can carry it may take as much grain from the warehouses as he wishes." The stalwart Niu Er waved his huge axe and roared loudly.

Thousands of ox clansmen strode forward in a swarm, charging toward Gold Valley City.

On the walls of Gold Valley City, the Song State defenders drew their strong bows and aimed at the charging ox clansmen.

The cultivation level in the Heavenly Square Islands is low; the Life Pool Realm is nearly their limit—Niu Er had just broken through to the Life Pool Realm, while most of the other ox warriors were at the Chonglou Realm.

They knew no divine abilities or secret arts, being purely primitive body cultivators.

They exhaled hot air, gradually speeding up, their heavy hooves smashing wave after wave of rice as they madly charged toward Gold Valley City.

In the high sky, a seven-colored divine light suddenly appeared.

The blinding divine light illuminated the entire Heavenly Square Island; the charging ox clansmen, the Song State soldiers on the walls, and the Li State army in the camp outside all lifted their heads to watch the point of seven-colored divine light drawing nearer in the high sky.

That light was clearly headed straight for Gold Valley City to strike down.

"What is this?" exclaimed the Song State general inside the city and the Li State commander outside, their voices hoarse.

Deafening thunderclaps rang out continuously, as terrifying shockwaves bellowed and exploded in the high sky; visible rings of white blast expanded rapidly outward, spreading in an instant to places beyond the horizon where the eye cannot see.

A terrible pressure descended from the high sky; the rice waves stretching hundreds of li stiffened for a moment, then a blast sounded, and countless rice ears exploded, scattering white rice, golden husks, and straw fragments that turned into yellow‑white powder blanketing the ground.

Inside and outside Gold Valley City, the fighting soldiers of both sides vomited blood and collapsed heavily to the ground.

In the next instant, the seven-colored divine light suddenly vanished, leaving nearly two hundred thousand members of the divine clan alliance gasping as they hovered, feet upon the divine light, above the plain.

"What a damned wretched place." Sheng Rong spread the three pairs of wings behind him; countless bright silver divine markings appeared on his splendid wings, and a brilliant white divine light like a small sun shone, illuminating the plain for hundreds of li in all directions.

In this white, merciful, pure divine light, all things seemed to be assimilated into whiteness.

All combatants and civilians inside and outside Gold Valley City, etc., stood dazed in that white light, their souls filled with pure white radiance; all their intellect and innate cognitions were effortlessly erased by Sheng Rong in that moment.

Inside and outside Gold Valley City, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians fell to their knees, prostrating themselves in worship of Sheng Rong.

Sheng Rong did not even glance at those pitiful worms whose souls he had erased, now utterly devoted followers; he furrowed his brow, took out a white silk handkerchief, and lightly covered his nose.

"Damn, this is the first time I've descended in my true form to this godforsaken place… it's completely different from the sensation of my blood‑essence avatar… truly… awful." Sheng Rong muttered lowly: "I can feel that this world is hostile toward me, constantly rejecting and attacking me."

A 'hiss‑hiss' sound kept coming.

In the void, an invisible force was frantically eroding the white divine light Sheng Rong emitted; at the edge of that light, wisps of green smoke continually rose. His white divine light was like an ice ball tossed into volcanic lava, rapidly being worn away.

The white divine light that had originally covered a radius of hundreds of li had, in just a few short words, shrunk by about half.

"But I am Sheng Rong, the finest heir of the Light Divine Clan." Sheng Rong sneered arrogantly, took out a soul crystal, gripped it with both hands, wrapped it in strands of white divine light, and continually drew massive soul power into his body.

"I am light, I am justice, I am the embodiment of all beauty and holiness in the world." Sheng Rong, holding the soul crystal, cried out to the heavens.

A piercing silver‑white divine light shot up from his body, accompanied by wondrous celestial music, and Sheng Rong's aura grew many times stronger than before.

The white divine light suddenly expanded outward by hundreds of li, and Sheng Rong said arrogantly: "My light cannot be erased."

Amid the 'hiss‑hiss' sound, a wisp of black tribulation cloud suddenly appeared above Sheng Rong's head.

The black tribulation cloud continued to swirl, and in an instant it became a black vortex a hundred li in diameter hovering above Sheng Rong's head; within the vortex, black tribulation lightning flashed violently, emitting low rumbling sounds.

"Your Highness Sheng Rong, please restrain your power." a Dark Soul Divine Clan member wholly wrapped in black mist said gloomily: "Mu Dalu is extremely unfriendly to us gods; your reckless leakage of power will only provoke its furious attacks."

Sheng Rong's face darkened; he lifted his gaze to the black vortex, and the silver‑white divine light on his body gradually retracted.

The black vortex remained suspended above his head, the thunder grew louder, black lightning flickered, and it could strike down at any moment.

Sheng Rong's aura continued to shrink, and suddenly, twisted law‑binding chains like poisonous snakes and vipers appeared at the edge of the black vortex, silently passing through it and gradually canceling its terrifying power.

Sheng Rong laughed at once: "Our ancestors' efforts were still useful……the heavenly and earthly laws of Mu Dalu have been eroded by our laws……they can still attack us, but we are by no means powerless to strike back."

Before his words finished, a deafening thunderclap rang out, and a black electric dragon tens of zhang in diameter roared forth from the black vortex, slamming heavily into Sheng Rong's head.

Sheng Rong and the dozens of Light Divine Clan members beside him were hit squarely by the electric dragon; in the terrifying explosion, Sheng Rong and dozens of his people fell headfirst from the air, faces grimy, their armor shattered, their close‑fitting divine robes ripped open in countless holes, and several weaker Light Divine Clan members were blown to bleed from all seven orifices, continually vomiting great gouts of black smoke.

After delivering that terrible strike, countless law‑binding chains like flood dragons and like poisonous snakes and vipers appeared inside the vortex, intertwining; numerous fine electric threads flickered for a moment, then the vortex vanished and all heavenly anomalies disappeared.

"Hehe!"

No one knew who laughed first.

Then, the divine spirits in the alliance, aside from a group of helpless Light Divine Clan members, all the other divine spirits burst into loud laughter.

Especially the rough‑natured Barbarian God Clan and the Dark Soul Divine Clan, natural enemies of the Light Divine Clan, laughed uproariously; some Dark Soul Divine Clan spirits, heedless of tearing their vocal cords, shouted at the top of their lungs in wild laughter.

Sheng Rong's body trembled violently.

He gritted his teeth, stood up, and a swirl of silver‑white divine light on his body instantly healed the wounds of the dozens struck by the electric dragon, restoring their shattered armor and divine robes to pristine condition.

"Lowly humans have no qualification to be my followers." Sheng Rong clenched his teeth, rose again into the sky, extended his spotless, snow‑white delicate right hand, and then clenched it tightly into a fist.

With a 'bang', the heads of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians inside and outside Gold Valley City exploded simultaneously; Sheng Rong spread his wings, now slightly dulled in hue, and gave them a light shake, causing the souls of tens of thousands of humans to tear free, flying out with faint white flames into the wings behind him.

A flicker of divine light crossed Sheng Rong's face, and his spirit and vitality visibly improved greatly.

He nodded in satisfaction, looked around, and said: "Where is that altar? We must get there as fast as possible; otherwise, Wu Tou will surely have detected our arrival, and I don't want him to flee and hide like a ground mouse."

Sheng Rong brushed off the embarrassment of just being struck by lightning, and quickly raised the main point of their descent this time.

A commander of the Heavenly Crystal Divine Clan took out a crystal disc about a zhang in diameter, softly chanted a spell, and a red dot began flashing rapidly on the disc: "Your Highness Sheng Rong, to our southwest, uh... damn it, our deviation is a bit large; according to our speed, if we rely purely on flight to get there, it would likely take more than a month."

"So?" Sheng Rong raised an eyebrow.

"Among our clans' flying divine artifacts, only the Light Divine Clan's Light Vessel is the fastest." That Heavenly Crystal Divine Clan commander said in a deep voice: "If we use the Light Vessel, we would need only about three shichen to reach the altar's location."

Sheng Rong, along with the Light Divine Clan members beside him, simultaneously revealed a strange smile.

Sheng Rong said softly: "But driving the Light Vessel, and with so many people boarding together, the cost is staggering…… Your Heavenly Crystal Divine Clan's transmission is off by too much…… This cost must be borne by you!"

Sheng Rong smiled, beginning to calculate what price he should shout out.

"No, no need to trouble you…… Are you here to capture me? I myself have come to your door." Wu Tou's low, icy voice sounded from afar.

A powerful spatial ripple spread out; Wu Tou, leading five thousand Barbarian Gods, strode forth from a ripple in space.

These deities normally would need more than a month to fly, and even using the flying divine artifact Light Vessel would take three shichen to cross that distance, but Wu Tie, leading Wu Tou and company, arrived in less than the time it takes to finish a cup of tea.

This is the terrifying speed brought by condensing the spatial Dao seal and shuttling through the void.

However, Wu Tie did not reveal himself; only Wu Tou, leading his five thousand subordinates, appeared before Sheng Rong and the others.

Sheng Rong stared blankly, a strange divine light flickering in his pupils.

Not only Sheng Rong, but many of the divine clans present, aside from the foolish Barbarian God clan, the senior members of the other divine clans all showed strange light in their eyes, staring fixedly at Wu Tou.

They all thought of the same question.

The distance that the Light Vessel needs three shichen to traverse, Wu Tou actually arrived that fast?

What fortunate encounter did he gain in Mu Dalu?

He must possess an inconceivable divine artifact on his person, far swifter than the Light Vessel...

"Seize him!" Sheng Rong suddenly raised both hands; the three pairs of wings behind him burst forth with blinding divine light: "Seize Wu Tou!"

"Seize me?" Wu Tou laughed, showing his teeth, slapped his chest hard, then thrust a long spear wrapped in blood-red ribbons heavily into the ground: "Put everything on the line—my honor, my battle achievements, my wealth, my power and status—come on, heroes of the Barbarian God clan, and let us engage in the most sacred, most fair honor duel!"

"One-on-one, until one side is killed." Wu Tou roared with wild laughter: "The victor takes all of the loser's possessions!"

With a "dong" sound, Wu Tou took off his helmet and threw it heavily to the ground, then his breastplate, arm guards, war skirt, knee guards, and heavy war boots.

Soon, except for the animal hide wrapped around his waist, Wu Tou bared his body, clenched his fists, and stood before the allied forces.

Sheng Rong's pupils contracted.

Behind him, ten thousand Barbarian God warriors shouted in unison; a Barbarian God commander of the highest lineage stepped forward: "The sacred honor duel brooks no interference, Wu Tou, I, Wu Teng, have come to fight you to the death…… I will kill you and take all that is yours, including your place in the succession of the Barbarian God clan."

"Your honor, your battle achievements, your wealth, your power and status, including your fiancée, will all be the spoils of Wu Teng!"

Sheng Rong curled his lip and muttered: "Brainless idiot… a fair duel? Truly the most boring thing in the world."

Sheng Rong glanced around.

Several commanders of the Ice Spirit Divine Clan glanced around.

Several commanders of the Wisdom Divine Clan glanced around.

The Barbarian God clan, the Molten Giant Gods, and the burly men of the Heavenly Crystal Divine Clan were already excited, their bodies trembling as they waved their fists, loudly cheering for Wu Teng, having completely forgotten everything.