The Final Battle Begins

War is brutal.

The True Gods and True Immortals had all formed into mighty formations, each commanding a vast army of Celestial Immortals and endless hordes of Loose Immortals and Fiendgods. Once a formation was broken… it signified a massacre on a massive scale! Only the luckiest few could escape, picked up by the cave treasures or immortal abodes of other allied formations to barely survive.

Ji Ning watched with bloodshot eyes. The killing intent within his heart surged violently, and he yearned to charge into the fray himself.

But he knew he had to remain calm. On the surface, Nuwa’s camp seemed to be taking heavier losses than the Seamless Gate, but that was because the Seamless Gate had been using puppets! As the puppets were steadily destroyed, the death toll of the Seamless Gate’s actual immortals and Fiendgods was climbing higher and higher.

“Hmm.” Ji Ning felt a faint, secret relief.

His second true body, which had been constantly meditating within the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower, had finally finished refining the fourth layer of restrictive seals on the ‘Eternal Sword’! Because he had already become an Ancestral Immortal, the cost of accelerating time within the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower was now utterly astonishing. Thus, his second true body could only maintain a thirtyfold time acceleration.

Twentyfold time acceleration allowed a balance between mana consumption and natural regeneration. Thirtyfold time acceleration required occasional replenishment with pills, but it was still sustainable.

Three months had passed in the outside world.

Nearly eight years had passed within the Heaven-Gazing Taihao Tower, and he had finally succeeded in refining the fourth layer of restrictions.

“The Eternal Sword, in my hands, is even more powerful than it was in the hands of its original master, the Three-Eternal Swordmaster.” Ji Ning nodded to himself. The prospect of gaining even a shred of additional power in this critical moment filled him with grim excitement.

The struggle for karmic luck continued. As more and more puppets were eliminated, Nuwa’s camp began to gradually gain the upper hand. However, the Seamless Gate was ruthlessly decisive. They would rather cut off their own tail to survive than give Nuwa’s camp the slightest opportunity to end the war.

One battle after another. The number of dead immortals and Fiendgods rose without cease…

On the 179th day of the war, roughly half a year in, the number of dead True Gods and True Immortals on Nuwa’s side had already surpassed twenty thousand! The Seamless Gate’s losses had also surpassed twenty thousand! If this were a mortal army, such a casualty rate would have caused a complete collapse or, at the very least, widespread panic.

But the two massive armies of immortals and Fiendgods continued to fight with undiminished killing intent.

“It’s almost time.”

In the dark void, the Lord of All Demons, Master Stonerule, Daofather Magic Hand, Daofather Bloodcrow, Old Man Yuan, and other great powers stood together, watching the progress of the war.

“Prepare for the final battle,” the Lord of All Demons transmitted mentally.

“The final battle?” The others felt a knot in their stomachs.

Daofather Magic Hand transmitted urgently, “Windfiend! Our struggle for karmic luck isn’t over yet! Our losses in True Gods and True Immortals are equal to theirs. We can still keep fighting!”

“Can we win?” the Lord of All Demons countered.

Daofather Magic Hand fell silent.

The Lord of All Demons swept his gaze across them all, continuing his mental transmission, “Our situation seemed favorable at the start because we had a massive number of puppets! But the puppets are being destroyed. After half a year, nearly ninety percent of our puppet army has been consumed! And Nuwa’s camp… those formations of theirs are far too powerful. They completely suppress us. When it comes to coordinating True Gods and True Immortals, we are simply inferior.”

The great powers of the Seamless Gate were forced to admit this.

The formations of Nuwa’s camp were left behind by Mother Nuwa herself. They were superior, granting their formations of True Gods and True Immortals tremendous might.

“Perhaps, with clever tactical command, we could twist the situation in places. But their commander, ‘Xuan Yuan,’ leads his army with flawless, impeccable strategy. He seeks no glory, only to avoid mistakes. He uses his overwhelming, righteous army to grind us down. He relies on having more True Gods and True Immortals! He relies on having superior formations!” The Lord of All Demons shook his head. “Trickery and deception might work against others, but against Xuan Yuan’s unassailable army… there is no hope.”

“But our karmic luck is already weak. That will work against us,” the black-robed Godking worried.

They had lost too many of the crucial realm wars before this. Their karmic luck was already on the decline.

Now, in this battle, they were still at a disadvantage…

With weak karmic luck… once the final battle began, it would be far harder for them to form the grand formations needed to draw upon the power of Heaven and Earth. Meanwhile, Nuwa’s camp would find it far easier to do so, as if the very cosmos was aiding them.

“It is only slightly weaker now. If we drag this out further, all of our karmic luck will be seized away,” the Lord of All Demons said.

“Stonerule?” Daofather Magic Hand looked toward the silent Master Stonerule.

“I agree with what Windfiend has said,” Master Stonerule said slowly. “In any case, this final battle must begin. Right now, the karmic struggle still seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But because that glimmer exists… if we strike now, we may catch Nuwa’s camp off guard. If we wait until our defeat is certain, not only will our karmic luck be even worse, Nuwa’s camp will be fully prepared.”

“Good.”

“Then let it be the final battle.”

“They still owe blood for the death of my son.”

“This Three Realms was formed from the collision of our Seamless Chaosworld and the Pangu Chaosworld. Why do they always act as if they are the sole masters of all creation? I have long been sick of the sight of them.”

“Fight!”

The great powers of the Seamless Gate cast aside all hesitation. Only one path remained before them—to fight!

The Lord of All Demons transmitted, “Architect Yuan. Do not go soft on us at this critical moment.”

“Rest assured,” Old Man Yuan said with a faint, calm laugh.

“Cixiu,” the Lord of All Demons transmitted to a dark golden fortress hidden in the void in the distance.

Inside the fortress, the Great Demon God Cixiu was still seated upon his throne. He let out a cold sneer in reply: “Wanmo, rest easy… If I do not act, your chances of winning this final battle would be pathetically small. I will act when the time comes.”

“Good.” The Lord of All Demons looked calmly ahead at the two armies locked in mortal combat. “Await my orders.”

Every great power of the Seamless Gate fell solemn, ready to obey the command and join the slaughter.

The clash of immortals and Fiendgods grew even more savage.

Ji Ning and the others watched, holding their breath. They felt their hearts ache as they saw familiar friends die. But the great powers of Nuwa’s camp merely watched!

Though his heart ached… Ji Ning was also constantly attuning his divine body, cultivating the methods of the Forlorn World God. He was searching for that single spark of numinous light within his divine form, seeking the path to breaking through and becoming an Elder God. If he could become an Elder God… with his ‘Eighteen Bodies of Taowu’ and ‘Unite into One Venerate’ divine abilities, he would be considered a ‘half-step World God.’ In the entire Three Realms, perhaps only the unfathomable Lord of All Demons could match him.

But unfortunately…

Although Ji Ning had been constantly striving to break through and had already comprehended one Heavenly Dao—the Heavenly Dao of Water—comprehending a single Heavenly Dao was merely one condition for becoming an Elder God. In the entire Three Realms, there were many True Gods who had comprehended a Heavenly Dao. Many had also received from Mother Nuwa the ‘Scroll of the Inner View of the Unbound Ancestral God.’ Yet out of all of them, only Suiren had succeeded. This showed how incredibly difficult it was to become an Elder God!

Ji Ning had also yet to sense that single spark of light within his divine body. Despite this, he did not give up. He was constantly, at every waking moment, striving to find that elusive spark.

“Snowscorp!” A cry of pain came from behind Ji Ning. It was Red Snow, his face filled with anguish and fury.

Red Snow had already emerged from seclusion during Ji Ning’s campaign in the Primordial Ruins. He had broken through and become a True God. Now, Red Snow was staring into the distance at a shattered ‘Pangu Creation Formation.’ Within the broken formation, the Godbeast Snowscorp had been caught by the claws of a ‘Messenger of All Things’ and had perished, body and soul extinguished.

“Snowscorp…” Ji Ning felt a pang of grief. Of the seven Heavenly Gods and True Immortals who had followed him from the Starseizing Major World, Snowscorp was now dead.

Compared to Ji Ning, Red Snow was far more distraught.

Red Snow and Snowscorp had once been the right and left hands of Daoist Threelives. He could never forget the endless years they had fought side-by-side. After Daoist Threelives fell, the gods and immortals under his command scattered like a collapsing tree. Only a few had refused to leave. Red Snow and Snowscorp were among them. They had long shared a profound mutual respect. They had never formally become Dao-companions, but after living together for endless eons, they were like family.

“Damn it all.” Red Snow’s eyes glistened with tears.

“Rumble…” Suddenly, a streak of black light appeared in the distance. It moved with a speed that utterly transcended the limits of the Heavenly Dao, charging straight for Nuwa’s army. The one who had made this sudden, lethal strike was the most terrifying power of the Seamless Gate—the Lord of All Demons! His attack was far too fast. However, Nuwa’s camp had been on constant guard.

“KILL!” Lord Sanqing’s face changed. He let out a furious shout.

“KILL!” All of Nuwa’s great powers exploded forth with the rage and killing intent they had been suppressing in their hearts. Red Snow, the other True Gods and True Immortals, everyone felt their eyes turn red. In that single instant, every great power went berserk.

“Wanmo!” Ji Ning and Suiren roared simultaneously.

They were the fastest among them. Ji Ning, who had mastered the ‘Five Treasures Sword Art,’ was the one with the greatest hope of intercepting the Lord of All Demons.

Ji Ning immediately manifested his Three Heads, Six Arms. He also activated the sixth cycle of the Starseizing Hand! In that moment, six enormous palms appeared, covered in shimmering divine runes. Their power caused the void itself to tremble. They shot through the sky like six massive dark clouds, each one surpassing the limits of the Heavenly Dao, and slammed down directly toward the Seamless Gate’s army!

Ji Ning knew that he was still inferior to Wanmo in speed. So he adopted the tactic of ‘besieging Wei to rescue Zhao.’ He struck directly at the Seamless Gate’s army! This forced the Lord of All Demons to defend against him.

“Not good.”

“Watch out.”

“Block it!”

The cultivators of the Seamless Gate looked up in terror at the six massive patches of darkness that blotted out the sky. The Lord of All Demons had only sent out a single flying blade, a streak of black light. But Ji Ning’s attack was six massive palms slamming down… just how many of their own immortals and Fiendgods would be crushed to death by this single blow?

“Hmph.” The Lord of All Demons frowned slightly. The streak of black light immediately shifted direction, expanding to hundreds of thousands of li in length, and lashed out violently against several of Ji Ning’s palms.

“BOOM!!!”

A thunderous sound rang out. The immensely powerful, lashing force of the blow sent Ji Ning hurtling backward uncontrollably.

The Lord of All Demons was also jolted to a halt. It turned out, the ‘black light’ he was wielding was a strange, black, spindle-shaped spear.

The clash between the Sword Immortal of Darknorth of one camp and the Lord of All Demons of the other was the signal. The other great powers of both sides also joined the fray. Some began to command their own Messengers of All Things. Others rapidly took command of their True Gods and True Immortals to form their supreme, grand clan-protecting formations… The situation on the battlefield instantly escalated. What had been a struggle for karmic luck became a true, final battle!