The Hunt Begins

“Courting death!” The thin, elderly man with emerald hair and brows seated high on the cloud-platform was absolutely furious.

Whoosh. Black streams of energy gathered in the great hall below, directly coalescing into a black-robed man. The black-robed man looked up at the seated elderly man. “Uncle Biyou.”

“Godking.” Biyou Daofather looked down at the black-robed man who had appeared and still addressed him respectfully as Godking. After all, the Godking was the nominal leader of the Seamless Gate. Although the Godking was somewhat weaker in strength than he was, the Godking was the sole successor of the ‘King’. Every True Fiendgod Daofather of the Seamless Gate deeply worshipped the King.

And so, they naturally respected the Godking as well. On a daily basis, Patriarch Biyou was stationed in the Third World, but in truth, most of the deployments and coordination were handled by the Godking.

The Godking was responsible for all affairs of the Seamless Gate throughout the Three Realms, both great and small.

The Fifth World, for example, had its own Daofather stationed there. But at critical moments, the Godking would carry out the deployments and coordination. The techniques he had learned from the Seamless Gate’s ‘King’, the Lord of Demonheart, allowed the Godking to silently and secretly converse with any living being in the Three Realms without being detected. This made it extremely difficult for the Nuwa Alliance to perceive the Godking’s commands.

“Don’t be anxious. I am already deploying troops and generals.” The Godking spoke with a smile, but a cold light flickered in his eyes. “No matter what, we cannot let this Ji Ning escape this time.”

“Right. We absolutely cannot let him escape.” Biyou Daofather said angrily, “He killed nine Empyrean Gods and True Immortals from our side. I have been fighting over the Zhuanxu Territory for all these years, and we have only lost a single True Immortal. Now, to lose so many in one stroke… this Ji Ning is far too arrogant! To be able to launch a direct sneak attack like this… he is courting death! We must kill him. We must not let him escape!”

“Mm.” The Godking nodded.

He also felt the sting.

In the Crimsonbright Territory’s Realm War, even when they were defeated, they had only lost several dozen Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. Now, Ji Ning had blindsided them and wiped out nine. How could they not be pained and enraged?

“Rest assured. The main army has already been deployed. With just a little time, he will surely die.” The Godking’s voice carried a killing intent.

…

“Assemble immediately.”

“Assemble.”

“Hurry.”

The number of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals within the Fifth World was astonishingly high. Following the Godking’s orders, a vast number of them began to gather.

…

Within the ‘Heaven’s Direction Grand World’ of the Zhuanxu Territory, amidst towering mountains and rugged ridges, there was an imposing, golden structure. This was one of the two main lairs of the Seamless Gate in the Heaven’s Direction Grand World. This lair was garrisoned by four Empyrean Gods and True Immortals.

“Move out.”

“Retreat.”

The four Celestial Immortals, who had been leisurely idling just moments before, all received the order and panicked. Some had been meditating, some teaching disciples, and some eating and drinking. But the Godking’s command struck without warning.

“Boom!!!”

Space shattered.

A hundred-zhang long boat ground its way through the void, appearing directly outside the magnificent building. At the same time, two colossal ten-thousand-zhang tall Fiendgod avatars appeared. The Seven Radiance Empyrean God moved with a mere thought, instantly sealing off the surrounding space. Simultaneously, the Karmic Punishment Deity, Ji Ning, and the Seven Radiance Empyrean God swung their weapons.

A cataclysmic impact followed. The resilient, stable formation barriers shattered in the blink of an eye.

Ji Ning and the Seven Radiance Empyrean God charged in simultaneously.

“Flee!”

“Go!”

One step faster, and one escaped with their life.

One step slower, and they were annihilated, soul and body.

Although the four Empyrean Gods and True Immortals had received the order, only one managed to escape by the skin of their teeth. The other three were all slain by Ji Ning and his companion.

“Prefectural Lord.” The Seven Radiance Empyrean God looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning gazed at the ruins before him. His Heartforce had already blanketed the entire Heaven’s Direction Grand World. He sent a mental message, “There isn’t much of a chance. I moved as fast as I could, tearing through the void from the Winter Manifest Grand World to get here, and I just barely managed to kill three more. The other lair in the Heaven’s Direction Grand World has already withdrawn. I’m afraid the lairs in the other Grand Worlds will also retreat.”

“Their lairs are spread across so many Grand Worlds. I refuse to believe they will abandon them all.” The Seven Radiance Empyrean God sent back.

“Let’s go check another Grand World. Even if we can’t kill many, we should still destroy their lairs.”

These lairs were not cheap to build. When Ji Ning had been building his grand formations on Serpentwing Lake, he had spent a considerable fortune. For a lair of this scale, one that could withstand a full-force attack from the Karmic Punishment Deity, Ji Ning, nine times—an attack on the level of a Daofather—the cost of constructing each one was no small matter.

“Whoosh.”

The Void Boat once again flew away from the Heaven’s Direction Grand World, directly tearing through the void and heading for another Grand World.

…

“Withdraw.”

The Godking was deploying his forces. “The six of you, Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, will garrison the ‘Golden Light Divine Mountain’. The eight of you will garrison the ‘Seamless City’…”

Some began to retreat.

But the Godking also had some Empyrean Gods and True Immortals gather and fortify fortress cities like Seamless City. Once they were safely inside a fortress city, with ten Empyrean Gods and True Immortals working together… even if Ji Ning attacked, it would be very difficult to break through. If the enemy did not have a fortress city, Ji Ning would, of course, have an easier time.

But fortress cities were extremely hard to breach.

This was how the Realm War in the Crimsonbright Territory had been. Once one side retreated into a fortress city, the other side would stop their attack. They understood that unless there was a truly absurd disparity in power, it was nearly impossible to break a fortress city.

“You will go and bait Ji Ning. Keep him occupied.”

“Lure him in.”

“Delay him.” The Godking gave the orders.

…

Whoosh.

The Void Boat tore through the void and arrived at another Grand World.

“There are eight Empyrean Gods and True Immortals hiding within Seamless City.” Ji Ning’s Heartforce swept over the area and found the black, floating city. He sent a mental message to the Seven Radiance Empyrean God beside him.

“Hiding in Seamless City, huh? If they are hiding in a fortress city… even if we attack, it will be very hard to breach.” The Seven Radiance Empyrean God sent back. “If there were eighteen Empyrean Gods and True Immortals garrisoning Seamless City, we wouldn’t stand a chance at all. But with only eight, the two of us working together might have a sliver of hope. The Seamless Gate is deliberately making us think there is a chance, so they can lure us into attacking and buy time. No doubt they are deploying their main army, and it will arrive soon.”

“Mm.” Ji Ning understood.

“Let’s go to the next Grand World.”

Boom.

The Void Boat tore through space once more and departed for another Grand World.

…

Ji Ning even directly left the Zhuanxu Territory and headed for another territory, the ‘Xingtian Territory’. The Xingtian War God was also incredibly powerful; to be called a supreme War God of the primordial era was no joke. Since he was also aligned with the Primordial Imperial Clan, the strength of the territory under his command was in no way inferior to that of the Zhuanxu Territory.

“Damn it.”

“Withdraw.”

Ji Ning struck another territory by surprise and made gains.

…

He was rampaging through one territory after another, all of which were top-tier territories. The entire Seamless Gate camp was thrown into chaos.

“He’s running all over the place.”

“This Ji Ning is moving too fast.”

“Damn it.”

The True God Daofathers of the Seamless Gate were furious, and some even wanted to personally intervene. However, the mighty figures of the Nuwa Alliance were also releasing their heartforce and observing the Three Realms. The moment the Seamless Gate’s mighty figures sensed the heartforce of terrifying beings like Buddha Tathagata, Daoist Three Purities, Bodhi, Fuxi, and Suiren, they immediately regained their calm.

They could only watch helplessly, while furiously trying to deploy their troops.

…

Within the Third World.

A neat row of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals stood at attention. There were a total of two hundred and eighty-nine of them.

The black-robed Godking and Patriarch Biyou looked down at this group of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. The Third World was responsible for dealing with the Zhuanxu Territory and several other territories. Not to mention anything else, the forces under the command of one of the Five Human Emperors, ‘Emperor Zhuanxu’, alone exceeded six hundred Empyrean Gods and True Immortals—several times more than those under Daofather Crimsonbright. This was the difference between a powerful territory and a weak one.

After all, Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were willing to follow the strong. How many would choose to become a disciple of Daofather Crimsonbright when they could become a disciple of Daoist Three Purities? Naturally, the strong only grew stronger, and the weak grew weaker. A being like Buddha Tathagata had quite a few Daofathers under his command.

The Zhuanxu Territory alone had this many. Since the Third World had to deal with the Zhuanxu Territory and several others at the same time, it naturally had a huge number of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. Deploying over two hundred of them was very fast.

“You will form the ‘Seamless Limitless Formation’. You are to ensure that Ji Ning is slain.” The black-robed Godking gave the order.

“Yes!” The two hundred and eighty-nine Empyrean Gods and True Immortals answered in unison.

“Move out!”

With the Godking’s command.

These nearly three hundred Empyrean Gods and True Immortals immediately boarded a black, long shuttle. It quickly tore through the air and departed.

The ‘Seamless Limitless Formation’, formed by over two hundred Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, would be immeasurably more powerful than the ‘Three-Eyed Fiendgod’ formed by the three Demon Gods of Devouring Mountain. It could even fight evenly against a true True God Daofather! Killing the Karmic Punishment Deity, Ji Ning, would be quite easy. Individually, an Empyrean God or True Immortal might not count for much. But when their numbers were stacked, they became terrifying.

In the face of war, the power of an individual became insignificant.

Unless one reached the level of Lady Nuwa. Otherwise, even the leaders of the Daoist schools could face the risk of death in a war. Back then, Patriarch Bodhi had not directly participated in the battle either.

…

A single Void Boat, madly shuttling between Grand Worlds. Ji Ning was well aware that he was taking a risk. But if he wanted to provoke the Seamless Gate, he had to take risks. Kill, kill, kill. Kill as many as he could. His Heartforce had already locked onto everything in every direction. As soon as there was any sign of trouble, he would immediately slip away.

He had killed nine in the Winter Manifest Grand World, and through his subsequent risky adventures, he had already killed another six. Ji Ning wanted to kill even more.

“Ji Ning, hurry. The Seamless Gate’s main army has arrived. Flee quickly!” Bodhi’s voice suddenly exploded in Ji Ning’s mind.

“What?!”

Ji Ning was shocked.

Boom~~~

In the distance, space split apart as a black, long shuttle appeared.

When the nearly three hundred Empyrean Gods and True Immortals had gathered in the Fifth World, the Godking had personally cast a spell, completely sealing off all forms of detection! Patriarch Bodhi’s ‘Dream of the Three Realms’ was powerful, but the Godking’s techniques, inherited from the ‘Lord of Demonheart’, were also formidable. With that seal, he was able to prevent Bodhi and the others from sensing a thing.

It was only after this group of Empyrean Gods and True Immortals had boarded the long shuttle and left the Third World that Bodhi detected them.

He hurriedly notified Ji Ning, but the main army had already arrived at the same time.

“Boom~~” Upon receiving Bodhi’s transmission, Ji Ning was shocked but immediately tore through the void and began to flee. So by the time the Seamless Gate’s main army arrived, Ji Ning had already started running.

“Pursue!”

Boom! Boom!

Almost simultaneously, just as the Void Boat tore through the void and fled, the black long shuttle followed closely, tearing through space in pursuit. Based on the spatial fluctuations, they were fully capable of determining the region the Void Boat was heading towards.