The First Charge of the Realm War

Barefoot, Ji Ning sprinted across the earth, taking the lead. Behind him, over three hundred other Xingtian war-gods charged forward in unison, a tide of divine power. Rushing to meet them were the Seamless Gate’s own army: ranks of Heavenly God puppets, White-Faced Flood Dragons, giant Zhu’yan apes, Bi’fang beasts, and a host of other dire beasts and fiendgods.

With a thunderous roar, the two armies collided.

Ji Ning, until the very moment of impact, had kept his pace even with the other Xingtian war-gods. Among the three hundred and twenty-six Xingtian deities, a dozen were commanded by True Immortals or Empyrean Gods. Yet neither they nor Ji Ning had shown anything special as they approached. But the instant the two armies made contact, Ji Ning and those twelve commanders all erupted at once, their speed and might surging to a terrifying level.

“That’s Ji Ning, the Xingtian war-god. Watch out!”

The Seamless Gate forces recognized him at once, but on a chaotic battlefield there was no avoiding the charge. A massive Zhu’yan beast—white-furred with crimson claws—roared, displaying an equally overwhelming aura as it pushed past the other beasts, resolved to be the first to block Ji Ning.

“So you dare come at me. You must have some skill. Likely a band of Zhu’yan commanded by a True Immortal. But at the very start of this Realm War, the moment of first collision is the most chaotic—and the perfect time to claim a great victory.” Killing intent blazed in Ji Ning’s eyes. The Pure Yang supreme-grade treasure ‘Armbreaker’ instantly shifted form, transforming into a colossal shield.

The headless Xingtian war-god grasped the shield in its massive arms and charged straight ahead.

The ferocious Zhu’yan was alarmed. “How sly. I’m a Pure Yang True Immortal; my Daoist arts are profound and I far outmatch him in technique. They say his control over this Xingtian body is terrifyingly powerful. If he tried to use his sword-arts against me, I could probably hold him off for a few seconds at least—long enough for my allies to arrive. But now he’s ramming me with a shield; it’s nothing but a contest of brute force.” The Zhu’yan gritted his fangs. “But I command eighteen hundred Celestial Immortals and countless Loose Immortals. There’s no way I’m weaker!”

The Zhu’yan roared, raising its own shield with both clawed hands, and smashed straight at Ji Ning.

Both sides slammed their shields together head-on. The ground trembled with every step.

BOOM!

The two shields collided.

“Impossible! How is his strength this high?! Even stronger than what Qinghu and Baiji told me!” The Zhu’yan felt an irresistible wave of power crashing into it, utterly uncontrollable. Its entire body was sent flying backward, and the Zhu’yan behind it had to scramble out of the way to avoid being struck.

All the onlookers saw was one violent collision, after which the Zhu’yan was hurled backward like a broken toy.

During the year-long ceasefire, Ji Ning had made significant progress in his Heartforce soul-nurturing arts. Yet even now, he held back his true strength. The increase in his power came solely from the sheer boost in scale—from one thousand Celestial Immortals and one hundred thousand Loose Immortals to three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand Loose Immortals—raising the entire Xingtian body’s baseline. Ji Ning’s own power had naturally climbed as a result.

“Now is not the time to reveal my full strength. I need a decisive opportunity—a moment that will tip the balance of this war.” Gripping the massive shield, Ji Ning had just sent that Zhu’yan flying when he immediately lunged toward another.

“Stop him! He’s coming for us!” This second Zhu’yan panicked.

A Pure Yang True Immortal had already flown over and was casting a spell. Dazzling golden light appeared in the sky, enveloping Ji Ning’s Xingtian body. But the suppressive, binding force of that light had only a minimal effect on the mighty war-god. It would take at least ten Pure Yang True Immortals casting the same spell simultaneously just to slow him down.

“Charge together!” Five more Zhu’yan beasts linked up and rushed him.

Even under the effects of the binding spell, Ji Ning was still faster than they were, closing the distance to the fleeing Zhu’yan in just a few strides.

The Zhu’yan tried frantically to defend, but the gap in power was far too great.

A flick of Ji Ning’s foot, a wave of his right hand, and a streak of sword-light flashed out.

Ape’s head flew through the air. The white-furred Zhu’yan beast collapsed instantly, the thousands of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals within it screaming in terror as they scattered.

“Boom!” A large reed fan appeared in Ji Ning’s hand. He swung it twice at the fleeing mass, and those Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals—some fleeing by evasion arts, others diving into their immortal palaces—saw their fortresses smash like glass marbles. Only a few supremely resilient immortal palaces survived the fan’s blast.

But then the Yin-Yang Primal Qi Bottle floated beside Ji Ning, madly inhaling, sucking in all the surviving Celestial Immortals who had taken shelter within their palaces.

War meant annihilating the enemy’s entire fighting force.

If even half of a Zhu’yan beast’s Celestial Immortals escaped, the enemy could quickly rebuild the formation.

“Get him!”

“Damn it.”

Eight Zhu’yan beasts and two Pure Yang True Immortals had surrounded Ji Ning.

The first moments of any clash were the most fruitful. In that brief opening, Ji Ning had destroyed an entire Zhu’yan battle formation, wiping it out almost completely. Only a few dozen especially skilled escape-artist Celestial Immortals had gotten away.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Ji Ning now raged against all eight Zhu’yan at once. Even in full coordination, they were simply being trampled. The only reason they held at all was that two Pure Yang True Immortals were backing them up.

“Northmont, we’re here!”

“Northmont, excellent kill!”

The Tonghe Immortal, the Crazy Immortal, and a few other Xingtian war-gods who had been following Ji Ning now moved in to support him.

“Kill them!” On the Seamless Gate side, the White-Faced Flood Dragons also converged.

Before long, the area around Ji Ning had become a dense, fierce sub-battlefield, with nearly a tenth of the entire fighting force locked in brutal combat.

“So that’s Ji Ning? I hear the Godking values him highly.” The three great demon-saints of Mount Tunlong moved freely across the battlefield. They had all taken on their true animal forms. The eldest, ‘Great Sage Tunshan’, was a golden-furred eagle that spread its wings and shot forward like a bolt of lightning. In terms of pure speed, the Great Sage Tunshan was unmatched on the battlefield.

The second, ‘Great Sage Tunhai’, was a pitch-black, broken-horned dragon of grotesque proportions. It slithered across the battlefield, its four dragon claws occasionally tearing out as if space itself were splitting.

The third, ‘Great Sage Tuntian’, was a nine-headed lion as massive as a mountain. Each of its steps shook heaven and earth, carrying a strange, profound resonance. Even a ‘Pangu battle formation’ from the Flamedragon Realmverse, when it collided head-on with the nine-headed lion, was knocked stumbling backward.

It was worth noting that the Baiji True Immortal, fighting with all his might, could barely hold off a single Pangu formation.

Any one of the three Tunlong demon-saints vastly surpassed every other Empyrean God or True Immortal on the battlefield—whether from the Flamedragon Realmverse or the Seamless Gate.

Their reputation had long since spread across the Three Realms.

“I’ll test this ‘Ji Ning’ myself.” The Great Sage Tunshan, the golden eagle, chuckled. With a single beat of his wings, a flash of golden light—he was already streaking straight for Ji Ning.

“After him! Don’t let him get away!”

A flying ship carrying six Empyrean Gods and True Immortals—among them the Xia Emperor himself—shot after the eagle. This was the innate spirit treasure ‘Boat of Fleeting Light’, and only by relying on its speed could they keep pace with the Golden Eagle. Among the three Tunlong demon-saints, the eldest wasn’t the strongest overall, but his speed was unmatched. If he were allowed to roam unchecked, the consequences on the battlefield would be catastrophic.

So the six of them, including the Xia Emperor, had been assigned to track and contain him.

“Chasing me?” The Golden Eagle sneered, darting left and right across the battlefield with unpredictable movements. The Boat of Fleeting Light might be slightly faster in a straight line, but it couldn’t match the eagle’s agility.

“We’re coming too!”

“Killing Ji Ning is a huge merit—more than killing twenty ordinary Xingtian war-gods combined!” The other two Tunlong demon-saints immediately began fighting their way toward Ji Ning as well. As they moved, the Flamedragon Realmverse forces had to move to intercept them. Ranks of Yinglong dragons and Pangu battle formations frenziedly engaged the two demon-saints, but both kept pushing relentlessly toward Ji Ning’s position.

The Golden Eagle arrived at Ji Ning’s location in moments and dived straight down.

Ji Ning, even while in the thick of battle, was constantly scanning the field. At the very start of the war, both sides had already taken heavy casualties. The six demons of Mount Tonglian had formed a great formation, each of the six stationed at one corner, reinforcing one another. Their coordinated impact had been even more savage than his own solo rampage. They had already destroyed two Xingtian war-gods and annihilated a full Pangu formation before being encircled and stalled by three Yinglong dragons.

Of course, their side’s Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were also no slouches; they had claimed their share of kills.

In that first clash, both sides had suffered countless casualties.

Suddenly, Ji Ning caught a flash of golden light in his peripheral vision.

“That’s… the eldest of the three Tunlong demon-saints?” Ji Ning saw a terrifyingly fast, several-thousand-zhang golden eagle spreading its wings, diving straight at him. He was alarmed.

Cautiously, Ji Ning transformed his weapon into two shields.

“Die, human whelp!” The Golden Eagle lunged straight at him, its talons like razor-sharp hooks tearing through space itself.

Ji Ning stood his ground, refusing to dodge.

In the instant the eagle struck, Ji Ning swung both arms. BOOM! The shield slammed into the eagle’s claws. Commanding three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand Loose Immortals, the Xingtian body’s speed was extraordinary. Its arms were especially quick and agile, and the massive shield was more than enough to deflect that terrifyingly profound claw strike.

BOOOOOOM!

The Golden Eagle was knocked tumbling uncontrollably through the air before finally righting itself. This filled the ever-arrogant Great Sage Tunshan with rage and humiliation.

“Second Brother, Third Brother! Get over here! This Ji Ning… he’s extraordinarily strong!”