Chapter 864: The Little Gods of the Mortal Realm, You

The sound of horse hooves gradually faded away until it completely disappeared.

There was no trace of anyone else around; in the fissure carved by that sword strike, beneath the blood-red ground, a hand suddenly emerged.

It was covered in blood-stained soil, the entire palm thick and muscular, strong and powerful.

If it were a pale, slender hand, it would be a scene from a horror film.

But the appearance of this burly man's palm was different—it felt like it could crush a ghost to death.

Underground, the chief of the Eighteen Strongholds emerged, his entire body covered in ferocious wounds, looking on the verge of death, yet he had not died.

He stared dazedly at the blood-red fissure surrounding him.

That red was the color of fresh blood.

A single strike—just one strike—was enough to annihilate him and his battle-hardened followers completely.

Only he alone survived.

Moreover, looking at his trembling hands, the chief realized his iron fists were utterly ruined.

Not to mention becoming a grandmaster; even living as a healthy person afterward would be a difficult task.

"……Heavenly Demon Jia Rong."

He whispered, slowly climbing to his feet, the chief dared not even glance toward where Tang Luo and the others had vanished, and painfully made his way away.

After stumbling along the road for about half an hour, the chief collapsed unconscious by the roadside.

When he awoke, he was already in a quiet room, and his injuries had been properly treated.

"Is anyone here?" the chief shouted in a hoarse voice.

Not long after, the door opened and someone entered.

"Is it you?" the chief stared at the person for a moment before recognizing him, somewhat surprised, "Aren't you supposed to stay out of worldly affairs?"

"Hah."

The newcomer smiled, "This isn't worldly affairs—it's 'Heaven's Mandate.' To slay the Heavenly Demon Jia Rong is to follow Heaven's will; how could I stand idly by?"

This person was a man with a full head of white hair, yet his face showed no sign of aging, appearing remarkably young.

He wore a simple, elegant azure Daoist robe—he was a Daoist.

He was none other than one of the Grandmasters of the Great Qian, Xianyun Yehhe, the wandering Daoist Xianyun, who appears and disappears like a dragon.

The chief had met Xianyun Daoist a few times before.

Back then, Xianyun Daoist was not this young; his current youthful appearance indicated that his cultivation had long surpassed the level of a martial Dao Grandmaster.

"Jia Rong is strong, but not as strong as the legends claim—at least he didn't kill me." The chief knew what Xianyun Daoist wanted, and he recounted everything that had happened that day in full detail.

"You failed to kill me instantly with a single strike—that proves you're not strong enough!"

This was no joke, but the chief's genuine belief.

"Alright, then rest and recover properly." Xianyun Daoist said, "Over the next few days, many people will likely want to see you."

"Who is behind you?" the chief asked.

Xianyun Daoist was not truly the solitary Xianyun Yehhe—this much he understood clearly.

Martial Dao Grandmasters also need to eat, drink water, and sleep; Xianyun Daoist's carefree lifestyle requires money.

"The world, the mortal realm." Xianyun Daoist smiled and departed.

In the following days, the chief indeed met many people, each asking about the events of that day.

There were local magnates from Great Yin, local magnates from Great Qian, and officials from the courts of the three major states.

Without exception, they were all martial Dao masters.

The weakest among them were still Grandmasters, and a few of them were old acquaintances of the chief.

Previously, they were not always like this, but now their strength had utterly transformed—past and present were incomparable.

Moreover, some of their identities left the chief feeling alarmed.

Just the number of Grandmasters he had seen in these few days already exceeded what he had previously known or heard of regarding all martial Dao Grandmasters across the world.

Follow Heaven's Mandate, Slay the Heavenly Demon!

Why is this not empty talk, but a fact?

Why is it Heaven's Mandate? Because of the situation before us—Grandmasters walking the ground like dogs, first-rank warriors not worth a dog.

"The world, the mortal realm……the enemy of the mortal realm, the enemy of Heaven's Mandate, Jia Rong—I see how long you can hold out!" The chief gazed at the sky, as if seeing a pair of invisible giant hands pressing down upon the foremost person of the mortal realm.

The foremost person of the mortal realm—what is he doing now?

Tang Luo lay in the city lord's mansion, basking in the sun.

On the other side of the training ground, a group of diligent Jia family members practiced martial arts; on the city's training field, were the troops brought from Great Qian, continuously training.

Their numbers had dropped from over ten thousand originally to fewer than five thousand now.

Tang Luo generously allowed them to come and go freely, and in the end, these five thousand remained—even though the First City of the World had already become the common enemy of mankind, a target of universal hatred, these people still remained loyally devoted.

Sun Wukong simply passed down his Mighty Monkey King Fist to them for cultivation.

But with the decline in fortune, whether it was the Jia family members or these people, their martial Dao cultivation made no progress whatsoever.

In fact, some even inexplicably deviated in their training, their strength regressing instead of advancing.

Let alone the former days when they could advance a thousand miles in a single day.

One's gain is another's loss.

The First City of the World now lies in desolation.

Though the vast city has a population of only around ten thousand, its material and living conditions are not problematic.

Jiang Wei sat at the edge of the Inverted Mountain Range, gazing down at the First City of the World.

He had fallen into a state of idleness.

Planning strategies, deploying surprise troops to seize the initiative—such things do not exist.

The number one city under heaven — the Jia clan's enemy is the entire world.

No scheme would have any effect in such a situation; even if Jiang Wei came up with some brilliant stratagem, as long as a single bit of intelligence leaked out.

It would be seen through before long, then deduced by those great intellects Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu, who would pull a "I've seen through your plan."

Without sufficient intelligence to support him, Jiang Wei simply didn't have the ability to counter with a "I've seen through you seeing through my plan."

In fact, including Zhuge Liang and the others, none of them had any good plan either.

The number one city under heaven is right here, Jia Rong is also right here, not leaving — openly and extremely arrogantly waiting for others to come knocking.

What plan could there be? Gather enough force and attack — that settles it.

At most, just subvert some people inside the number one city under heaven.

However, the number one city under heaven had already cleaned up all the spies, infiltrators, and traitors a step ahead of time.

Jiang Wei still had quite a set of skills; perhaps some areas weren't seasoned enough. But with Xu Shu watching from the side, it was foolproof.

"To be able to make an enemy of the world — this life is not in vain." Jiang Wei sat watching the winds and clouds surge, sighing with emotion.

At the end of his gaze, an army was already approaching.

One day later, the number one city under heaven — in all eight directions, every place with an exit was surrounded watertight.

Those who came were not a single faction's force.

But a multi-faction alliance.

The Great Yin court leading the Great Yin side — one hundred thousand troops, stationed in the east, fifteen Martial Dao Grandmasters, no Grandmasters for now, possibly hidden.

The north is Great Ding; Great Ding's forces are rather complex. Nominally, the court naturally leads.

The royal Prince Liu Xianneng is the commander-in-chief of the great army; in reality, not a single person pays him any heed.

The proud generals under his "command," the three Kings, absolutely would not listen to his orders.

His own five hundred men are just for show; the entire one hundred fifty thousand troops all belong to the three Kings.

The reason this situation formed is still because the Great Ding royal clan courted death themselves, instigating things on that side.

The three Kings took one look — the little thing is quite clever — so it's settled on you then.

Thus, the one Great Ding raised high to hold the banner against Jia Rong became the royal Liu clan. The three Princes are merely being coerced by the royal clan to go through the motions — after all, they have to give the Great Ding Emperor face.

Anyway, everyone believed it.

On Great Ding's side, many are old acquaintances, including Guan Yu. Yes, that Grandmaster who has been wildly jumping between injury and recovery these years has once again restored his martial cultivation.

He is now a Grandmaster, but not the only Grandmaster.

On Great Ding's side, the number of Grandmasters is the most — exceeding fifteen — even more than Great Yin's Martial Dao Grandmasters.

But Great Yin doesn't panic in the slightest. Why? Because on their side sits a Supreme Grandmaster who transcends Grandmasters — Zhou Tong!

To the south, it is a composite team led by Great Qian's Zhen clan, joined by various local strongmen.

The composition inside is rather complex — there are people from Great Ding, Great Qian, and Great Yin all three nations.

Besides the Zhen clan's Grandmaster Zhen Tiandu, there is also Grandmaster Xian Yun Daoist present; additionally, the Great Qian court has shown no stance on the surface.

In reality, the royal clan's enshrined experts have all already arrived.

Only Li Lindao and Mei Qingsheng have not shown their faces — merely not shown their faces; at the critical moment, they will likely appear as well.

You should know, this force gathered to besiege the south side of the number one city under heaven is already enough to shake the Great Qian royal clan's rule.

If Emperor Kaiyuan still doesn't express a stance, the first thing this army does might not be attacking the number one city under heaven, but pulling the Great Qian Gu clan down from power.

Emperor Kaiyuan just went with the flow; of course, on the surface he absolutely must maintain silence.

The Great Qian capital's Jia clan is merely surrounded, not attacking.

As for the west, that side is mountains — no passable road.

All these great armies are stationed within an arrow's shot outside the number one city under heaven; standing on the city walls looking out, a dark mass stretches as far as the eye can see.

Dark clouds press on the city, the city seems about to crumble.

Just in terms of numbers, they could pile up and crush the entire number one city under heaven.

In such an atmosphere, even Jiang Wei — who had watched Zhu Bajie perform crushing small stones with one hand — had an extremely grave expression.

The rest were even more fully clad in armor, prepared for a battle to the death.

"Not a single person on the city walls, the gates aren't even blocked." Zhen Tiandu looked at the majestic number one city under heaven and sneered, "This Jia Rong is truly arrogant beyond measure."

The number one city under heaven has no gates — from its founding to now, it never has.

"It's not arrogance." Beside him, Xian Yun Daoist said, "Others are contending with heaven itself; naturally they don't put us in their eyes."

"Ridiculous! Right now we are heaven's envoys! The true executors of heaven's will!" Zhen Tiandu said.

"Attack?" Xian Yun Daoist didn't entangle on this topic, directly asking.

Zhen Tiandu shook his head: "No need; naturally someone will take the vanguard."

Before long, on the east side of the number one city under heaven, a figure stepped through the void, hovering between the city and the army behind him, hands clasped behind his back.

Clothes and long hair moving without wind — Supreme Grandmaster Zhou Tong!

The void-stepping that once belonged solely to Jia Rong reappeared on him.

"City Lord Jia, Zhou has come this time not to execute heaven's will, but only to seek a hearty battle with the City Lord, to scale the martial peak together!" Zhou Tong spoke in a clear voice, his words spreading to all four directions.

Inside the number one city under heaven, a commotion arose because of Zhou Tong's words.

Then a crowd of people broke into curses.

Sounds nicer than a song — what scaling the martial peak together — why pick this exact time to come?

"City Lord, at this time you wouldn't still refuse, would you?" After waiting a while, hearing only curses and no response from Tang Luo, Zhou Tong spoke again.

After that chess game ended, he actually stayed in the number one city under heaven for a period, still wanting to exchange blows with Sun Wukong or Tang Luo.

Unfortunately, both showed zero interest and refused.

Zhou Tong sought but could not obtain, so he could only leave — now he has "returned with a vengeance."

With a situation like this, there's no fear you won't act.

"What's the rush! I haven't fought yet!"

A roar came from the west side of the Number One City Under Heaven. On the mountain over there, a large number of trees collapsed, and a figure like a demon or a god rode a horse straight down, tearing apart every obstacle in front of him, from big trees to stubborn rocks!

Martial Arts Madman, Lü Bu appears!

He didn't bring a single person, just one man, one horse.

Reaching the mountainside, the Red Hare Horse let out a long neigh, leaped up, and actually walked on the void like Zhou Tong, finally standing still in the high sky.

Looking closely, one would discover that on the Red Hare Horse's four legs, there were some faintly visible scales.

Its mane also displayed a gorgeous color like flames.

Man and horse as one, holding a newly forged Sky Piercer, Lü Bu stood unmoving like a mountain, his imposing aura astonishing.

Lü Bu had also reached the Supreme Grandmaster realm, same as Zhou Tong; he also wanted to fight Tang Luo again.

"Didn't expect even he would come."

"Normal. Lü Bu is a madman, not a fool, and surely no one truly thinks this man has no ambition? Don't forget, what end did all those he previously surrendered to meet?"

Those who really treated Lü Bu as a brute solely devoted to martial arts are all already dead.

In this aspect, Zhou Tong is rather more pure.

He has no desire for fame or profit, nor does he want to vie for the world.

"Let's see how the Heavenly Demon responds..."

"Two Supreme Grandmasters, can the Heavenly Demon be a match for their joint hands?"

"Hmph! I feel that even if the two join hands, at most they can only restrain the Heavenly Demon."

"Not necessarily. We uphold Heaven's will, act on Heaven's behalf, our strength has greatly increased. The Heavenly Demon acts against Heaven, how could there be no effect! That sword of his couldn't even kill a Grandmaster, I'm afraid his own body already has problems!"

The major camps, many people were discussing.

Failing to kill a Grandmaster with one sword is a major piece of evidence that the Heavenly Demon has grown weak after being abandoned by Heaven.

Yet they don't know that the Big Stockade Chief didn't die, it was actually Tang Luo's intention. Otherwise, these people would probably have hesitated for a while longer, how could they have gathered so quickly and decisively.

"A battle?"

With Lü Bu's appearance, the Number One City Under Heaven finally had movement.

Everyone saw on that inverted mountain peak, a figure soared into the air, suspended in the high sky, still holding a large black bow in hand.

Heavenly Demon Jia Rong!

Even if not everyone could see his appearance clearly, everyone knew who he was.

This person is the Heavenly Demon they mobilized the power of the world to kill!

Act on Heaven's behalf! Kill the Demon for Heaven!

"You lot, are you qualified enough?"

Tang Luo's gaze swept over Zhou Tong and Lü Bu, no nonsense, directly drawing the large black bow in his hand.

The bow had no arrows; True Qi condensed into two black feathered arrows.

Tang Luo tilted his body, not aiming at Zhou Tong or Lü Bu specifically, but drawing the bow aimed at the sky, releasing.

Two black feathered arrows intertwined with each other, rotating as they rushed skyward, colliding in the high sky!

In an instant, the colliding feathered arrows turned into two black streams of light, attacking Lü Bu and Zhou Tong.

The two didn't dare be negligent.

Zhou Tong clenched one fist, turned the other to a palm, pushing out simultaneously; a mountain peak emerged behind him, a sea wave phantom surged, Sea Palm Mountain Fist!

The Red Hare Horse neighed, Lü Bu swung the Sky Piercer in his hand, power completely condensed, locked onto the halberd, twisting the surrounding scenery, carrying incomparably violent power attacking the black stream of light.

Pfft!

The stream of light tore through the Sky Piercer, the fist and palm!

Fresh blood sprinkled the long sky.

Zhou Tong and Lü Bu, two people, large wounds appeared on their chests, falling from the sky.

"Little gods of the mortal world, you've done your best."