The Awakening of the Shura

Demonhand Daofather stood atop the city wall, the Godking of the Seamless Gate in his black robes at his side.

The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing into the distance at the wilderness beyond. Out on those plains, the grand army of the Seamless Gate was raising a clamor for battle.

"Are you certain the enemy hasn't detected the Myriad Worlds Emissary's movements?" Demonhand Daofather asked.

"Rest assured, Uncle-Master," the Godking replied promptly. "I retrieved the Emissary myself. How could I possibly let Nuwa's camp discover what I was doing? Furthermore, the Emissary only requires a single True God or True Immortal to pilot it. I quietly brought Bloodwave God with me from the All-Demon Realm as well. That was a very covert operation. Bloodwave God is an unparalleled close-combat expert; he was always the first choice to pilot the Emissary in the coming struggle over the fate of all realms. In his hands, the Emissary will unleash sufficient power—enough to match a top-tier Daofather. Their 'Pangu Heaven-Opening Formation' is formidable, yes, but it is merely one of Nuwa's three clan-protecting formations!"

"All three formations shake heaven and earth in their power; each requires a True God or Daofather as its core. Now that they've made that True Immortal Jimin (the one who mastered the Five Treasures Sword Art) their core, the formation's scale has shrunk, its power diminished. It barely brushes against the level of a top-tier Daofather. Our Myriad Worlds Emissary far surpasses it."

"The sudden appearance of the Emissary will immediately shatter the battlefield's equilibrium. No matter how perfectly Xuan Yuan has deployed his forces, once a collapse begins, the entire front will crumble." The Godking's voice brimmed with confidence.

"Mm." Demonhand Daofather nodded. "Let us hope the Emissary truly lives up to its reputation."

The 'Myriad Worlds Emissary' that the Lord of All Demons had originally created was indeed terrifying. Its strength had been proven in the primordial dawn war.

But this Seamless Gate's 'Emissary' had been created by that master Wu Xiao. Where had the Lord of All Demons found this peerless figure, so skilled in the art of puppetry? He had actually managed to forge a Myriad Worlds Emissary! Was this puppet truly as powerful as the original?

"It's out." The Godking's eyes lit up.

"Finally showing yourself, Xuan Yuan." Demonhand Daofather's gaze turned icy. "This time, I will shatter your will."

……

BOOM~~~ BOOM~~~~

The two armies clashed once more.

Nuwa's camp had always held a slight advantage in raw numbers, and Xuan Yuan's brilliant command had made that advantage even more pronounced. Although Demonhand Daofather was a skilled commander himself, his forces still suffered periodic losses.

This was the same pattern as every previous battle.

Each time, there were casualties.

"Hmph." Demonhand Daofather, standing on the Seamless City wall, immediately sent a mental transmission. "Deploy the Myriad Worlds Emissary."

……

The most intense, most ferocious clash on the battlefield was between the 'Pangu' form and the two 'Infinite Fiendgods'.

The Pangu Heaven-Opening Formation had coalesced into a towering Pangu, wielding a massive divine sword. The sword-art he executed surpassed the limits of the Heavenly Dao itself, making his power utterly astonishing. On the Seamless Gate's side, the two white-haired, red-eyed Fiendgods were equally powerful. The 'Infinite Fiendgod Formation', after all, had been created by Master Stonerule at the cost of boundless心血. Both Fiendgods wore priceless Innate spirit-treasure armor to withstand Pangu's terrifying swordplay. Moreover, the two Fiendgods could assist each other, complementing their defenses. Though they were on the back foot, they could still hold the line.

"Kill."

Pangu—True Immortal Jimin—remained very calm. He was waiting. Waiting for the enemy to make a mistake!

His opponents were, after all, two separate beings. No matter how perfectly they coordinated, they were not a single mind. Under the strain of high-intensity combat, they would eventually slip. And the moment they did, he would seize the opportunity to destroy one of them. With one Fiendgod down, the other would no longer be a threat.

"What is that?!" Pangu Jimin was shocked. He stared in astonishment as, from directly behind the two white-haired, red-eyed Fiendgods, a being suddenly appeared without any warning—a simian-like creature, its body a dark crimson, wreathed in flames. The sheer power radiating from it made Pangu Jimin's heart tremble. An instinctive sense of threat made him shiver.

"Jimin, be careful! That is the Myriad Worlds Emissary!" Xuan Yuan's voice rang out instantly. "You don't need to deal with those two Fiendgods. I'll have others hold them off. Focus all your efforts on the Emissary."

"Yes." Pangu Jimin understood at once.

He had heard of the Emissary long ago, but he had never known what it actually looked like.

……

The moment the Emissary appeared, Xuan Yuan's face changed. But he remained calm, rapidly deploying and adjusting his forces. He squeezed every ounce of power from his own side, trying to lighten Pangu Jimin's burden—to buy him a chance to face the 'Myriad Worlds Emissary' without distractions. Pangu Jimin still had a sliver of hope in his fight against the Emissary.

But if the two white-haired, red-eyed Fiendgods and the Emissary were to join forces, Pangu Jimin's defeat would be certain.

And once he fell, the entire front would collapse.

"Hold them back!"

"You five—go block the nearest Seamless Infinite Formation!"

"You two, fall back immediately and stop that group of puppets!"

Xuan Yuan split his focus a hundred ways, issuing orders to every formation core and every Septenary God on his side of the battlefield.

In an instant, the war became far more brutal.

……

On the city wall.

Xuan Yuan watched the battle, issuing rapid commands. Beside him, Patriarch Subhuti and Suirenshi wore grave expressions.

The disciples standing behind them, including Ji Ning, were filled with anxious dread.

"This is bad."

Ji Ning could immediately see that his side's situation had deteriorated. "By letting Pangu Jimin focus entirely on the Emissary, they've been forced to use the 'Zhou Star Formation' and 'Ten Thousand Immortals Annihilation Formation' to jointly contain the white-haired, red-eyed Fiendgods. That gives Pangu Jimin some breathing room, but it puts immense pressure on every other sector of the battlefield!"

His side's strongest asset was Pangu Jimin.

Before the Emissary's appearance, the enemy's strongest were the two white-haired, red-eyed Fiendgods. Trying to hold them back was an enormous strain.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

In the distance, Pangu Jimin and the Emissary exchanged blows.

"ROOOAR!" The flame-wreathed, ape-like Emissary threw its head back and howled, savage beyond measure, swinging its long arms and claws.

CLANG.

Pangu Jimin's sword-light struck the Emissary's body. It merely produced a clear, metallic sound. It could not break through at all. The Emissary, however, was ferociously relentless. Its claws came down like a rainstorm, and even the occasional whip-crack of its monkey tail carried terrifying power. Pangu Jimin was completely suppressed, forced onto the defensive.

"They're starting to retreat." Ji Ning, watching from the wall, immediately noticed that his side's entire army was beginning to flow backward, like water, in a slow, orderly withdrawal.

"What an incredible commander, Xuan Yuan."

Ji Ning could not help but feel admiration.

An ordinary commander, when his army could no longer hold the line and was breached, would see them collapse into a rout. A perfect retreat was nearly impossible. But Xuan Yuan, even in the heat of battle… had orchestrated a silent, overall retreat. The Seamless Gate army noticed, but there was nothing they could do. They were already fighting at full strength.

"BOOM." Ji Ning's face shifted. He saw, in the distance, one of the Septenary Gods collapse. Like a chain reaction, once that Septenary God was blasted apart, the other five Septenary Gods fighting alongside it were all in danger.

As the retreat continued, Septenary Gods began to fall one after another.

Xuan Yuan remained calm, issuing his orders steadily. To the Yellow Emperor, the loss of ten or twenty Septenary Gods was a manageable price. But if any of the nine grand formations were breached, the losses would be catastrophic. In his eyes… some losses were inevitable during this withdrawal. His task was to minimize them.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Among the Septenary Gods, some shone especially brightly. One, in particular, wielded a pair of curved blades—the Septenary Gods formed under the leadership of Ji Ning's senior apprentice-brother, Silvermoon God!

Silvermoon God erupted with astonishing combat power. Even though Xuan Yuan had given him a very heavy task, he still performed flawlessly, doing the work of three ordinary Septenary Gods.

……

The retreat continued. Losses mounted on their side.

"BOOM." One of the Ten Thousand Immortals Annihilation Formations was finally overwhelmed and shattered.

A hundred True Immortals, a hundred thousand Celestial Immortals, and over a hundred million Loose Immortals were instantly butchered. Facing the surging tide of the Seamless Gate army, they could not even put up a resistance. Their formation had been broken; what use was fighting back?

Xuan Yuan's face slowly turned pale.

"This is bad." Ji Ning suddenly noticed that the most dazzling, most ferocious of the Septenary Gods—Silvermoon—had run into a crisis. His performance had been too brilliant. He had naturally drawn the attention of the Seamless Gate army, who decided that this 'tough nut' had to be cracked quickly. The True Immortal controlling the 'Two-Realm Calamity Dragon Birth-Annihilation Formation' pointed from afar.

"BOOOOOOM~~~"

From the skies above, a stream of black dragons descended rapidly, all of them diving straight toward the Septenary God formation led by Silvermoon God.