Chapter 695

Canglan Ruins, a plateau several kilometers high, with ninety-degree vertical cliffs, below which lies an extremely wide, surging great river.

Heavenly Chasm, no one can cross it.

Of course, this was the approximate topography of Canglan Ruins in the past.

After serving as the battlefield of the God-Demon War, Canglan Ruins has changed; the great river has long since completely dried up, and the high edge has sunk into a huge pit.

The surroundings are riddled with holes and gullies.

There are also strange, jagged solitary peaks standing tall.

No birds fly among the thousand mountains, no human traces remain on the ten thousand paths.

The entrance to the Nine Nether Lands lies on the plateau of Canglan Ruins.

Aside from some pits on the plateau, the rest is flat, sparsely growing some withered yellow weeds.

Appearing as rolling dust, fragile and weak, the ground rocks are all extremely solid; ordinary people cannot even leave a trace on it, let alone destroy it.

The heavenly army arrived, accompanied by a golden illusory road, with war beasts roaring as they descended.

Hundreds of thousands of troops, their spirit soaring to the nine heavens.

At the front were eleven god-generals in full battle armor, each riding their mount.

There were flying beasts, running beasts, and even true dragons.

Their momentum was boundless, seizing hearts and souls.

Originally there should have been twelve, but Wuyi died at Tang Luo's hand, and the new god-general was not reselected—there was no time for that.

Behind the god-infantry troops were the six great god-kings, and also the Heavenly God Sage.

They resided on a round large platform, pulled by nine true dragons, slightly higher than the god-infantry.

And in the high sky were two broad thrones, emitting dazzling golden light.

One could not see the appearance of the person sitting on the thrones, only two blurred tall figures.

They were the Heavenly Might God Lord and the Heavenly Star God Lord Gouchen.

"In this battle today, we shall exterminate the demons in the Nine Nether!"

The Heavenly Might God Lord spoke, his mighty voice echoing through the clouds.

"Exterminate the demons in the Nine Nether!"

"Exterminate the demons in the Nine Nether!"

The god-infantry shouted loudly, their momentum astonishing.

One could see that in the distance, gray-white clouds and mist swirled above the plateau, obscuring vision.

Below the mist was black, an unfathomably deep abyss.

Above the abyss was a stone bridge about the size of an eight-lane highway, leading to the Nine Nether.

The Nine Nether is a "cave heaven blessed land small world" attached to this world.

One must pass through the stone bridge to enter it; no other method allows entry.

If one falls into the "bottomless abyss" beneath the stone bridge, one's fate is cast into some unknown corner of this world.

If one's luck is bad, one dies directly.

A god-general-level powerhouse, after falling, has only a slim chance to climb back out.

It is not absolute; generally, one or two out of ten die in there.

For god-king-level heavenly gods, the abyss beneath the stone bridge poses no threat to their lives.

But it also hinders their steps, including the god lords, the same applies.

Without crossing the stone bridge, one cannot enter the Nine Nether to exterminate the demons completely.

However, to cross, there is an obstacle on the stone bridge that cannot be bypassed.

Back then, the heavenly gods did not completely exterminate the demons, not out of mercy, not unwillingness, not lack of desire, but because they could not!

Only because, on the stone bridge, there is a stone.

That stubborn stone blocked the advance of all heavenly gods.

Nowadays, the heavenly gods are stronger than before; the god lords, god-kings, god-generals, and even god-infantry are all stronger than before.

It is time to shatter that stubborn stone, level the Nine Nether, and exterminate the demons!

"God Lord! I volunteer to be the vanguard to open the way!"

After calming down, God General Tu Ren shouted loudly.

"Very well." It is unknown whether it was the Heavenly Star or the Heavenly Might God Lord who agreed.

"Kill!"

Tu Ren, with a "lion" in the lead, immediately began his charge, rushing toward the stone bridge.

He raised the long spear in his hand; red light burst forth from the spear blade, spreading out, enveloping him and the white lion beneath his feet.

Soon, a semi-illusory red giant beast appeared.

The giant beast resembled a centaur in form, with the body of a lion, the upper torso humanoid, holding a red great spear in its hands.

Red light swirled around it, so red it seemed as if blood could drip from it.

Where the human head should be, it was replaced by a huge lion's head.

The illusory hair flowed like flames, swaying and leaping.

It emitted a deafening, earth-shaking roar.

Divine Technique: Blood Lion Fury!

Tu Ren and his mount war beast, upon acting, exerted their full strength, executing their strongest move.

The crimson half-human, half-lion charged into the thick mist.

The surrounding mist was blown apart somewhat, making it barely possible to see a blurry shadow of a stone appear.

Right in the very center of the stone bridge.

Many divine soldiers were utterly bewildered — that piece of rock was the "key" blocking the Heavenly God army from leveling the Nine Nether and exterminating all demons?

It looked like nothing more than an ordinary rock; just what was so miraculous about it?

Even among the Heavenly Gods who had participated in that battle back then, not many understood the rock very well.

They only knew that when the Divine Race powerhouses entered it back then, casualties were heavy, and even the three Divine Lords felt the time was not yet right and chose to temporarily avoid its edge.

As for what specifically happened, very few Heavenly Gods knew.

Let alone now, when many divine soldiers hadn't even experienced that great war back then.

Among the six Divine Kings, only Chen Qi, the Fire Virtue Star Lord, and the Raging Torrent Divine King Can Shuiyuan knew a bit more clearly.

Based on the fragmented words the Divine Lords had let slip.

They suspected this rock was most likely transformed from Sun Wukong!

As for the reason...

Divine General Tu Ren charged to the front of that rock, the great spear in his hand thrusting out.

The giant beast manifested around him likewise stabbed down with a spear!

Tyrannical power erupted like a great tide; it was about to crash down on the rock.

A residual shadow flashed past, appearing before the stubborn stone, tapping the spear tip.

"Clang—"

Like the sound of striking a bell, unceasing to the ear, the lingering notes circled the beams.

The blood lion phantom and the long spear shattered in an instant; Tu Ren's whole person, together with his mount the white lion, flew backward.

Completely turning into a blurry shadow, accompanied by a gale, he crashed heavily into the Heavenly God formation.

Two nearby Divine Generals reached out to block, but couldn't stop him at all; instead they were carried along and slammed into the army ranks.

Like dominoes, the standing divine soldiers immediately fell in large swathes.

The resulting "gap" nearly pierced straight through the entire square formation, only stopping completely before the Divine King platform.

Startling the dragons pulling the "chariot" into letting out bursts of frightened, threatening low roars.

Two Divine Generals lay heavily injured, on their last breath.

As for Tu Ren and his white lion mount, they had already vanished without a trace, turning into a mass of blood spreading across the ground and over the bodies of many divine soldiers.

Including the two heavily injured Divine Generals.

The scene fell deathly quiet, especially for the newborn Heavenly Gods who had only heard of the God-Demon War from their seniors — they could even hear their own heartbeats.

One strike!

Merely a single strike!

The originally lofty, powerful Divine General — two injured, one dead — and a whole crowd of divine soldiers to boot!

The Nine Nether demons' protector — their strength was actually this terrifying!

Tu Ren flew backward; the "channel" opened by the dispersing mist did not close again.

Even from a distance, everyone clearly saw what had killed Tu Ren.

It was a stone staff, a bit over a meter long, rough, not smooth, looking naturally formed without a trace of polishing, covered in cracks.

The stone staff hovered vertically in midair, about half a meter above the bridge surface, trembling lightly.

In the sky, Divine Lords Tian Shi and Tian Xing exchanged a glance.

"Seems to possess boundless power."

"In reality, strong on the outside but dried up within."

"Not like back then."

Other Heavenly Gods might merely marvel at the power of this staff, but Tian Shi and Tian Xing — how could they be ordinary Heavenly Gods? They had already discerned some clues.

"Try again." Divine Lord Tian Xing had calculations in mind.

"Bai Lian." He spoke.

"Yes, Divine Lord!"

One of the six Divine Kings stepped forward, acknowledging the command.

This was Divine King Bai Lian; unlike Divine Kings like Wu Yin, he bared his upper body, wearing only a short battle skirt, his figure extraordinarily tall.

Even among the generally tall Heavenly Gods, he was top-tier, his height nearing two meters five.

His skin showed a bronze hue; standing there, he gave the feeling not of an iron tower, but of a towering lofty mountain.

Divine King Bai Lian accepted the command and leapt down from the circular platform hovering in the air, stepping on the ground and directly stamping a shallow pit into the solid earth.

The surrounding divine soldiers automatically made way, clearing a path for Divine King Bai Lian.

Like moving against the current, parting the waters.

Divine King Bai Lian did not sprint wildly; he simply walked toward the stone bridge step by step, not emitting any special aura like Tu Ren had.

Just walking like this, yet when he neared the stone bridge, with every step he took, the gravel on the ground trembled lightly.

A suffocatingly heavy pressure emanated from Divine King Bai Lian.

Suddenly, that stone staff hovering in midair moved, just like when it killed Tu Ren — turning into a residual shadow, stabbing toward Divine King Bai Lian.

Divine King Bai Lian's raised left foot stomped down heavily; the earth seemed to shake, cracks spreading from beneath his feet, the ground sinking in.

At the same time, his right fist swung out!

The whistling stone staff collided with the heavy fist.

There was no bell-striking sound like before; this time, utterly silent.

Divine King Bai Lian's entire right arm was covered in dense cracks, looking like it would shatter the next second.

He silently clenched his left hand into a fist, smashing down onto the stone staff from above.

The stone staff spun downward, tracing a half-arc, leaving a deep trench in the ground.

Before the Hundred Refinements God King could throw a third punch, the end of the stone staff embedded in the ground suddenly shot upward.

A staff strike hit the Hundred Refinements God King on the chin; the Hundred Refinements God King's immovable-like-a-mountain body floated up, and before he had flown a few meters, the stone staff whistled through the air, a horizontal sweep!

It struck the Hundred Refinements God King squarely in the stomach.

The Hundred Refinements God King flew backward.

The Raging Tides God King raised the Water Ape's hands, azure divine power surging, catching the Hundred Refinements God King.

The Soundless God King opened his mouth, a soundless, breathless attack blasting toward the stone staff; a faint, barely-there yellow qi could be vaguely seen.

The Scarlet Flame God King turned into a fire man; the Spirit Wind God King tore through the long sky.

The Dark Moon God King's figure flickered.

In an instant, the God Kings all moved at once.

A faint, barely-audible sound rang out, and many divine soldiers' ears buzzed, as if a massive boulder pressed on their chests.

Only to see staff shadows fill the sky, appear, then vanish.

The stone staff flew backward, landing back before that stubborn stone on the stone bridge.

This time it did not hover in midair; the stone staff swayed twice and fell to the ground, utterly motionless, as if its power had been exhausted.

"I'm going to take first place."

The dashing, carefree Spirit Wind God King laughed, clear winds swirling around him, streaking toward the stone bridge at extreme speed.

Aside from the injured Hundred Refinements God King, the other God Kings were unwilling to be outdone.

None were willing to let slip this chance to claim the title of "Number One," following close behind.

Right at this moment, a massive shadow instantly covered the ground.

The sky darkened in a split second.

"What's going on?"

"What is that thing!"

The Gods looked up, only to see an incomparably massive mountain peak falling from the sky, smashing toward them.

It looked familiar, yet not quite; no, it was that familiar.

It was — their Sage Palace!