The Evergreen's Betrayal

The Evergreen Sword Immortal couldn't care less about the Xia Emperor's furious roar. His eyes were glowing red, burning with a fervent, crazed light. "I, Evergreen, have waited countless ages. This moment right now is my most glorious moment, my most dazzling moment." His hidden power erupted fully. The immortal swords he controlled transformed into three azure-black streaks of sword-light that pierced through the void itself.

"No."

"Evergreen Sword Immortal..."

"A spy."

"Traitor."

The five Karmic Punishment Deities were in utter despair.

They had already been trapped in a dire situation upon arrival, having been surrounded by the Seamless Gate. That was why the Xia Emperor had arranged for the Evergreen Sword Immortal and the Snowdance Fairy to reinforce them. Without reinforcements, the five Karmic Punishment Deities wouldn't have been able to hold out much longer. And now, the Evergreen Sword Immortal had killed the Snowdance Fairy and unleashed power that was in no way inferior to that of the Baiji True Immortal or the Xia Emperor himself. Such a terrifyingly powerful figure wasn't here to reinforce them—he was here to attack them!

How could the five of them possibly withstand this?

"Slash." "Crash." "Boom."

Under the joint assault of the Evergreen Sword Immortal, the Seamless Gate's Zhu Yan, White-Faced Flood Dragons, and Heavenly God Puppets, the five Karmic Punishment Deities collapsed in an instant, torn to shreds.

On this battlefield, which had concentrated thirty percent of both sides' power, a sudden, dramatic shift had appeared!

Atop the Seamless City walls.

Daofather Ink Bamboo had been watching the entire battle from afar. The Godking had secretly informed him long ago that within the Crimsonbright Realm's forces, there was an important sleeper agent planted by the Seamless Gate, one who could trigger a 'dramatic shift' at a critical moment on the battlefield. As for who exactly this agent was, not even Daofather Ink Bamboo knew—only the Godking himself did. The secrecy was absolute.

"Oh?" Daofather Ink Bamboo's eyes lit up. He had just spotted the Evergreen Sword Immortal suddenly killing the Snowdance Fairy, then launching an attack on the five Karmic Punishment Deities below. Overwhelming joy filled him.

In the blink of an eye.

The five Karmic Punishment Deities were slain!

A dramatic shift had appeared in an instant.

The Crimsonbright Realm's side had lost the combat power of two Pure Yang True Immortals and five Karmic Punishment Deities.

Meanwhile, the Seamless Gate had gained a powerful new ally in the Evergreen Sword Immortal. Moreover, the Seamless Gate forces that had been locked in battle with the five Karmic Punishment Deities were now freed from those constraints.

"Full assault!" Daofather Ink Bamboo naturally recognized the rarity of this opportunity. He immediately issued the order.

"Full assault!"

The Daofather's voice resounded within the minds of every Heavenly God, True Immortal, and commander on the Seamless Gate's side.

"Attack!" The Nine Cloud-Mist Fairies, who had been locked in a stalemate, suddenly erupted.

"Attack!" The three great demon gods of Devouring Dragon Mountain, who had been fighting as they always did, revealed delighted expressions. "Form the formation!" Devouring Mountain Demon God bellowed. Instantly, the three demon gods charged together, divine power surging and light blazing. In moments, they transformed into a towering, three-eyed Fiendgod with a bald head and a massive, godlike body.

The three-eyed Fiendgod's aura was heaven-shaking.

"Attack!"

One by one, the White-Faced Flood Dragons, Zhu Yan, and Bi Fang began to collapse.

Yet as they collapsed, they began to transform into Heavenly God Puppets. What had originally been a single White-Faced Flood Dragon... instantly became ten Heavenly God Puppets!

Almost in the span of a single breath, the entire battlefield underwent an earth-shattering transformation.

"Evergreen!" the Xia Emperor roared in fury. Ji Ning saw it too. He had been constantly observing the battlefield, and even he found it hard to believe. Although he had never liked the Evergreen Sword Immortal, he had never imagined the man would be a Seamless Gate spy. Especially given that the Snowdance Fairy had followed the Evergreen Sword Immortal for endless ages. How could the Evergreen Sword Immortal bring himself to do this?

"Beast!" Ji Ning gritted his teeth, flames of rage blazing in his heart.

"Full assault!" Just a moment after Daofather Ink Bamboo issued his command, Daofather Crimsonbright's order also rang out in the minds of every warrior on his side: "Full assault!"

"Full assault!"

The Grand Xia Realm and the Seamless Gate both began deploying their trump cards almost simultaneously.

In a minor world within the Three Realms.

A filthy, disheveled middle-aged man was swaggering about, leading a group of beggars. Soon, they arrived before a large restaurant.

"My lads, block the entrance!" the filthy middle-aged beggar shouted.

"Yes, Chief!"

The beggars completely clogged the entrance. This frightened the diners still inside the restaurant, while those outside dared not come in at all.

"Sire, you good sir, can't we discuss this like civilized folk? Why bring so many men to block my restaurant's door?" The restaurant manager hurried out to apologize.

"I, the Beggar Chief, want to block your door, so I'll block your door. I've had my eye on you for a while, and today I've taken a special liking to eating here." The middle-aged beggar proclaimed. "Got a problem with that?"

"No problem, no problem." The manager's heart was bitter, but he knew full well the fearsome reputation of this city's Beggar Clan. At least they only wanted to eat this one meal. "Whatever you wish to eat, just name it."

"Simple. Give us..." The middle-aged beggar was just halfway through his sentence when his expression suddenly changed.

A voice had directly rung out in his mind: "Dongzhe, go at once to the battlefield of the Grand Xia World."

When the Realm War had first begun, he had received his instructions. He was the Crimsonbright Realm's ultimate trump card for this 'Realm War.' To prevent the Seamless Gate from finding out, only two Daofathers and this beggar himself knew of his existence. Even the method of delivering messages was extremely covert. They had been cautious enough, and indeed, the Seamless Gate had not detected a thing.

The middle-aged beggar lifted his head.

A streak of black light flashed.

BOOM~~~

A massive rift suddenly tore open in the sky above. The middle-aged beggar took a single step and flew directly into that massive rift in the heavens. Then, the enormous crack vanished.

The bystanders on the street, the restaurant manager, and the other beggars all stared blankly at this scene.

"Ch-Chief?" The beggars were dumbfounded.

"The man who was trying to shake me down... was actually..." The restaurant manager was stupefied.

"A god! A god!"

"He's a celestial!"

Soon, countless mortals dropped to their knees, kowtowing. They had personally witnessed an immortal! The scene of a massive rift appearing in the sky... the overwhelming power of it had already stirred a deep, instinctive fear and submission in their hearts. Not a single thought of resistance remained.

The Grand Xia World, the battlefield of Baiji Commandery.

BOOM~~~

A rift appeared, and the disheveled, wild-haired middle-aged beggar materialized out of thin air. He had been living incognito, playing among mortals in a minor world neighboring the Grand Xia World. Because he was so close, the moment the order came, he could directly tear through the void and arrive at this place.

"Dongzhe!"

"Dongzhe the Archer!"

The Seamless Gate forces who spotted this middle-aged beggar were all shocked.

Dongzhe...

Ever since the mighty archer Houyi had vanished, Dongzhe was one of the few remaining supreme archers of the Three Realms. Dongzhe the Heavenly God had extraordinary power, and his Heartforce had reached the fourth level of perfection. His arrows were enough to strike fear and terror into the hearts of any Heavenly God or True Immortal.

"So what if it's Dongzhe? We're on a battlefield right now, surrounded by countless comrades. Two or three Heavenly Gods or True Immortals working together can block his arrows."

"What can one Dongzhe do to shake our grand army?"

They tried to comfort themselves.

But the archer Dongzhe simply flipped his hand, producing a grey fruit. He swallowed it in a single gulp. Then, an enormous silver-white bow appeared in his hand, along with a pitch-black arrow. He drew the bow and loosed, and a swirling, grey mist coalesced around the arrow.

"A Chaos Daofruit?"

"Chaos Force?"

"Not good!"

A streak of arrow-light flashed!

It streaked across the sky!

"Ah!" "No!" Three White-Faced Flood Dragons were pierced clean through by a single streak of black light. In the next instant, the three White-Faced Flood Dragons collapsed, revealing the Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals within.

One arrow. Three White-Faced Flood Dragons slain.

"WHOOSH!" Dongzhe drew and fired again.

"He's gone mad! Using Chaos Force to fuel his shots, channeling his Heartforce into them, and with his terrifying archery skills... he's practically on the verge of Daofather-level power! He's even suppressing the void, making it impossible for us to hide in our Immortal mansions. And instead of killing us, he's going after White-Faced Flood Dragons and Bi Fang?" The Seamless Gate's Heavenly Gods and True Immortals were both anxious and furious.

They understood Dongzhe's logic perfectly.

By using the 'Chaos Daofruit,' the Dongzhe Heavenly God, whose full-power strikes were already near Daofather-level, had pushed his arrow's power to the true threshold of a Daofather's might. Naturally, the cost was astronomical. A single Chaos Daofruit was probably only enough for two arrows, and this consumed a True God Daofather's own insights into the 'Chaos Heavenly Dao.'

If he went after Heavenly Gods and True Immortals, they would need to consider that in the current battle, whether Crimsonbright Realm or Seamless Gate, the Heavenly Gods and True Immortals were moving in groups of two or three, or even seven or eight. If they joined forces, they might still survive. Even if he killed one Heavenly God or True Immortal, it would have little impact on the overall battle.

But by killing White-Faced Flood Dragons, Bi Fang, Zhu Yan, and the like, he could slay two or three in a single arrow.

Daofather Ink Bamboo, on the Seamless City walls, watched coldly. He sneered, "The Nuwa Camp is truly generous, using a Chaos Daofruit to grant a top-tier archer the combat power to influence the war. But even so, he's barely on par with the combined might of the three Devouring Dragon demon gods. The three of them working together might be slightly inferior to this Dongzhe Heavenly God right now, but they can keep fighting for a long time. That Dongzhe fellow uses up a Chaos Daofruit every two arrows. How many arrows can he shoot before he's spent?"

On the battlefield.

A portion of the Seamless Gate's White-Faced Flood Dragons, Bi Fang, and Zhu Yan had, upon initiating the full assault, dissolved and transformed into Heavenly God Puppets. After all, a thousand Celestial Immortals could form ten Heavenly God Puppets, and three Heavenly God Puppets were roughly equivalent to a single White-Faced Flood Dragon... With the same number of Celestial Immortals, the 'Heavenly God Puppets' could clearly unleash greater combat power.

However, refining puppets was an arduous task. Daofather Ink Bamboo could only transform about twenty percent of his Celestial Immortals into 'Heavenly God Puppets.' But even so, it had already greatly increased the Seamless Gate's strength.

One could say...

Dongzhe the Heavenly God was ferocious, with each arrow wiping out two to three thousand Celestial Immortals. But his contribution was roughly on par with the sudden surge of Heavenly God Puppets.

But on the most intense battlefield, where thirty percent of both sides' forces were concentrated, the situation was now overwhelmingly unfavorable for the 'Crimsonbright Realm.'

"Careful!"

"Hold the line!"

"Damn that Evergreen!"

The Crimsonbright Realm forces were howling with rage and grief.

The eruption of the three Devouring Mountain demon gods had been within their predictions, and they had prepared for it. But the Evergreen Sword Immortal's betrayal had made their position even more precarious. In the mortal world, a single soldier stumbling, a single war-banner falling, could lead to the loss of an entire war, the collapse of an entire kingdom.

After the Evergreen Sword Immortal killed the Snowdance Fairy and the five Karmic Punishment Deities... he then led the Seamless Gate in continuing the siege against the Crimsonbright Realm's forces. Caught off guard and with reinforcements unable to arrive in time, the Crimsonbright Realm's side lost another Yinglong, two Pangu Battle-Formations, and six more Karmic Punishment Deities. Only then was the Evergreen Sword Immortal, driven back by the crazed, bloodshot Crimsonbright forces, forced to flee to the side of the three Devouring Mountain demon gods.

But by this point, the situation on Ji Ning's battlefield had deteriorated to its absolute worst.

The gap in power between the two sides was simply too vast.