First Battle

In the chaos outside the Three Realms.

Zhou Yu's second Primordial Spirit avatar was hurtling through the void at high speed. Traveling through the chaos so recklessly with the strength of a Empyrean God was, in truth, an extremely dangerous endeavor.

Any crisis naturally gestating within the chaos could easily annihilate a Empyrean God.

If he were to accidentally drift into some hidden, perilous zone while traveling like this, he would be dead and his soul extinguished in an instant.

Yet, Zhou Yu chose to trust in his luck, burying his head and pushing forward.

"Hm?"

Zhou Yu's heart suddenly stirred; an abnormal fluctuation seemed to appear ahead.

Without hesitation, he sped directly toward it.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Yu landed on a chaotic star.

This chaotic star was bone-chillingly cold; the frigid aura emanating from its surface alone made Zhou Yu feel as though his divine body was being rapidly eroded.

"The fluctuation originated from here." Zhou Yu quickly located the source. He saw specks of icy blue firelight rapidly condensing, soon forming an ice-crystal fruit.

"This is... a Blue Flame Fruit?"

Zhou Yu was astonished. The reason he recognized this fruit at a glance was that, according to the records of the Indestructible Body divine ability, the Blue Flame Fruit was one of the treasures required for its cultivation.

To think this Blue Flame Fruit condensed out of thin air in such a freezing environment, Zhou Yu thought. He waved his hand, and the newly formed fruit was gathered into his palm.

After a long passage of time, perhaps this place will be able to gestate another Blue Flame Fruit, Zhou Yu mused.

He dared not linger any longer; the star was simply too cold, and his divine body could not withstand it.

Whoosh!

Zhou Yu quickly departed the star. After a moment's thought, he left a mark here, then immediately left the area to continue deeper into the chaos.

I'm starting to feel like a Child of Luck, Zhou Yu sighed inwardly.

In the two simulations where he chose the Child of Luck talent, the memories he gained showed that whenever his simulated self went out for a stroll, he would frequently stumble upon treasures. Now, such things were finally happening to him.

However, I want the kind of great opportunity that can change my cultivation path, Zhou Yu thought.

Of course, he understood that being a Child of Luck could not alter reality. If he wanted to encounter heaven-defying opportunities, such opportunities had to exist in the vicinity first.

If there were no opportunities to begin with, even the most heaven-defying luck would struggle to find them.

Near the Three Realms, many True Gods and Dao Ancestors frequently come out to search. If there were truly anything, they likely would have found it long ago. I still need to go further out, Zhou Yu shook his head.

Just then, his heart stirred slightly.

It's finally about to begin.

The two sides in the Crimson Bright Realm had spent over a year just preparing for war; now, it was finally time to engage.

Great Xia World.

Inside the Eight-Dragon Cloud City.

Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor was arranging his troops.

"The God and Devil army shall be divided into seventy-two Pangu Battle Formations, led respectively by Empyrean God Fufang, Empyrean God Zhuanshui, Empyrean God Liusi, and twenty-four other Celestial Gods."

"The army of Dao Ancestor Yinglong shall be led by the Celestial Gods and True Immortals of the Yinglong Army."

"The remaining army of Immortals shall form a total of three hundred and twenty-six Xingtian Gods, commanded by various generals!"

"Xia Mang, Xue Wu, Changqing—all you Pure Yang True Immortals are to deploy your magic treasures and spells to support all fronts!"

"Empyrean God Ganyu, Empyrean God Cold-Face, Empyrean God Fengyun—the three of you are to act together and keep a constant watch on the three Demon Gods of Swallow Dragon Mountain."

Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor finally looked at Zhou Yu and the two Celestial Gods accompanying him.

According to the intelligence provided by Bodhi, the Seamless Gate's number of Celestial Gods and True Immortals was inferior to his own, but their quality was extremely high.

The most troublesome among them were the "three Demon Gods of Swallow Dragon Mountain."

These three Demon Gods—the eldest, Great Sage Tunshan; the second, Great Sage Tunhai; and the third, Great Sage Tuntian—were all incredibly powerful beings. In particular, the third, Great Sage Tuntian, had mastered the fourth level of spatial power just like Zhou Yu, and his strength could be considered the pinnacle of Celestial Gods.

In fact, one could tell from their names that they called themselves "Great Sages" to demonstrate that their strength was no less than that of the seven Great Sages of the ancient Demon Race.

Previously, none of the Celestial Gods and True Immortals on Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor's side could stand alone against these three Demon Gods. His original strategy had been to use overwhelming numbers to pin them down.

But with Zhou Yu here to provide support, things were different.

In Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor's view, Zhou Yu's strength should be on the same level as Great Sage Tuntian. With two other Celestial Gods assisting him, pinning down the three Demon Gods of Swallow Dragon Mountain should be no problem.

"Leave it to us."

Zhou Yu, along with Empyrean God Cold-Face and Empyrean God Fengyun, stood up and accepted the order.

The massive armies of both sides soon arrived outside the wilderness, confronting one another.

Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor and Dao Ancestor Mozhu stood on the city walls, watching. As the various battle formations took shape, a murderous aura soared into the sky.

Zhou Yu stood with Empyrean God Cold-Face and Empyrean God Fengyun, saying to them, "You two, do not stray too far from me. If the need arises, the three of us will form a formation to face the enemy at any time."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Ganyu, we will certainly do our best to coordinate with you," Empyrean God Cold-Face replied, and Empyrean God Fengyun nodded in agreement.

They were well aware of their own limitations; in a one-on-one duel, any one of the three great demon gods could easily crush them. Only by being led by Zhou Yu could they hope to contend with those three.

Zhou Yu exchanged a few more words with the two, then quickly turned his gaze toward the opposing city wall.

Dao Ancestor Mozhu stood there, his entire body naturally radiating a terrifying black light. He resembled a bamboo stalk that had spanned endless ages, giving off an impression of being indestructible.

This Dao Ancestor Mozhu hides his depth well, Zhou Yu mused with a sigh.

In terms of strength, Dao Ancestor Mozhu should be at the leader level, comparable to a True God of the Ancestral level.

Yet, he only displayed the strength of an ordinary True God Dao Ancestor, which was utterly absurd.

Of course, Dao Ancestor Mozhu is one of the Dao Ancestors enslaved by Elder Yuan. Perhaps his ability to reach the leader level has something to do with Elder Yuan, Zhou Yu thought, his gaze darkening.

He was the only one who knew these secrets, and the pressure weighed heavily upon him.

However, Zhou Yu also understood that his current strength was far from sufficient; acting as if he knew nothing was the best course of action.

"In this war, either we die, or the Seamless Gate perishes!" Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor's voice, filled with killing intent, rang out in everyone's hearts.

With his level of power, this emotion easily infected the many Immortals and Gods and Devils, causing intense killing intent to surge within each of them.

Of course, for someone as strong as Zhou Yu, the influence was limited.

"Charge!"

"Kill them all!"

At Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor's command, the great army immediately began its charge.

"Heaven-Earth Manifestation!"

Zhou Yu activated his divine ability, transforming into a ten-thousand-foot-tall God and Devil, and charged forward with the army.

On the Seamless Gate side, they erupted into action just as instantly.

When two armies clash, it is a battle of strength and momentum; naturally, neither side would show cowardice in this first engagement.

On the Crimson Bright Realm side were the Xingtian God, the Pangu Battle Formation, the Yinglong Battle Formation, and numerous True Immortals. On the Seamless Gate side were the White-Faced Flood Dragon, Zhu Yan, Bi Fang, and other great formations, supplemented by numerous Empyrean God puppets.

Puppets were the Seamless Gate's trump card. With their manpower clearly inferior to the Nuwa Faction, the Seamless Gate could only rely on puppets to contend with them.

The two great torrents crashed into each other with a thunderous roar.

"So this is the Empyrean God Ganyu who killed Blood Hand? Bi Feng, come with me and let's test him!"

A Zhu Yan formation led by a True Immortal and another White-Faced Flood Dragon formation set their sights on Zhou Yu, who had transformed into a towering giant.

If it were a one-on-one duel, they would naturally run as far as they could.

But at this moment, each of them commanded nearly two thousand Celestial Immortals and a host of loose immortals; how could they not put up a fight?

Boom! Boom!

Two heaven-shaking attacks slammed toward Zhou Yu.

"Well come."

Zhou Yu held a massive sword, a peak-grade Xiantian divine weapon he had obtained from the World Prison.

He swung the great sword horizontally, causing space to tremble. The fourth-level spatial power erupted with terrifying force, instantly forcing both the White-Faced Flood Dragon and the Zhu Yan to retreat. However, the True Immortals controlling the formations were no mere novices; they exerted all their strength to dissipate the force and attacked again.

This first exchange only bolstered their confidence.

"Since you are courting death."

Zhou Yu's killing intent surged. In an instant, he unleashed his full power.

Previously, he had only utilized fourth-level spatial power. This time, while drawing upon that spatial power, he also unleashed his divine ability, Ninefold Destruction Divine Power, alongside his fourth-level heart force.

Zhou Yu's true self had naturally cultivated the Ninefold Destruction Divine Power; after all, it only required one thousand Void Chaos Crystals for a Empyrean God to cultivate, and since he and his True God clone were nominally master and disciple, cultivating this ability was only natural.

At the True God stage, this level of divine ability could allow an ordinary True God to rival a top-tier one. At the Empyrean God stage, it was even more exaggerated, erupting with power comparable to fourth-level origin power.

Of course, while the power was immense, the technique and sustainability were far inferior.

As for the method of imbuing heart force into weapons, it was included in the heart force inheritance Zhou Yu had received. Fourth-level heart force was not only infinitely miraculous, but its power enhancement was also slightly stronger than fourth-level origin power—about thirty percent stronger than fourth-level spatial power.

However, imbuing attacks with heart force was a very common usage that consumed a massive amount of heart force; Zhou Yu could not use it many times in total.

But at this moment, Zhou Yu was not seeking a prolonged battle; he only sought a burst of power.

He had already suppressed these two formations using only fourth-level spatial power, let alone now, with his divine ability unleashed and layered with heart force.

This strike possessed power nearing the threshold of a Dao Ancestor.

Boom!

The terrifying sword strike easily swatted aside the Zhu Yan's claw and headed straight for the White-Faced Flood Dragon.

The White-Faced Flood Dragon tried to block, but felt an irresistible pulling force contained within the sword, causing his own technique to deflect.

In terms of technique, these two True Immortals were naturally inferior to Zhou Yu. Previously, they had relied on their formations to bridge the gap in strength and could still fight him while working together. But now that Zhou Yu had unleashed such a terrifying move, his power completely overwhelmed the two formations, making his techniques nearly impossible for them to parry.

Puchi!

With a single strike, the sword pierced into the body of the White-Faced Flood Dragon.

Zhou Yu gave a fierce flick, and his greatsword instantly tore the White-Faced Flood Dragon Formation in two. In a single moment, over two hundred Celestial Immortals perished, and most crucially, the True Immortal controlling the White-Faced Flood Dragon was slain.

"Flee!"

"Run for your lives!"

The remaining thousand-plus Celestial Immortals and countless Loose Immortals frantically unleashed their escape techniques to scatter.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Zhou Yu swept his divine sword, and another hundred Celestial Immortals were instantly wiped out.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Zhou Yu unleashed over a dozen strikes in an instant, slaughtering a vast number of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals.

Even those who managed to slip through the cracks found it nearly impossible to survive on such a chaotic battlefield.

That is the nature of war; once a formation is broken, unless one possesses strength on the level of Zhou Yu, individual power is simply too insignificant.

"Hmm?"

At this moment, Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor and Dao Ancestor Mozhu both looked over in unison.

Cang You the True God did not lie to me; his disciple is truly a fierce warrior. I only wonder whose reincarnation Ganyu the Empyrean God truly is, Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor thought, feeling both pleasantly surprised and puzzled.

A Empyrean God this powerful could not possibly be unknown.

Dao Ancestor Mozhu, however, frowned. His side did not have many troops to begin with, and losing a White-Faced Flood Dragon Formation right at the start immediately put him on the defensive.

"Heaven-Swallowing Demon God, go deal with that Empyrean God Ganyu at once!" Dao Ancestor Mozhu transmitted his voice.

Upon hearing this, a gargantuan nine-headed lion on the field turned its gaze toward Zhou Yu's direction.

"Empyrean God Ganyu? Interesting!"

The nine heads of Great Sage Tuntian each wore a different expression. With a shift of his body, he unleashed an escape technique and soared toward Zhou Yu.

The greatest advantage of operating as an individual on the battlefield is the ability to use escape techniques to provide support wherever needed.

If one were part of a formation, unless they could perfectly control the formation's power, they would be unable to use such techniques.

Master is truly formidable.

Ji Ning was currently controlling a Xingtian formation, clashing with a formation led by a Pure Yang True Immortal from the Seamless Gate.

He was at ease; having comprehended the Heartforce soul technique and secretly broken through to the level of a Pure Yang True Immortal, he was not even using his full strength while leading the formation, merely waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Thus, Ji Ning had the leisure to observe his surroundings.

Seeing Zhou Yu shatter a formation with two strikes, Ji Ning felt a secret sense of admiration. Although he had also become a Pure Yang True Immortal, he understood that the gap between him and a Empyrean God of his master's caliber remained vast.

He would likely have to wait until he became a Empyrean God and mastered the fifth stage of the Star-Plucking Hand to even begin to bridge that gap.

"Oh? That Great Sage Tuntian has arrived." Ji Ning watched.

The nine-headed lion lunged ferociously, and Zhou Yu, having unleashed his Heaven-Earth Form, swung his sword to meet him.

The two clashed, their battle shaking the heavens and the earth.

"Empyrean God Ganyu, you truly have some skill. Who exactly are you?" Great Sage Tuntian stared at Zhou Yu.

"You are not worthy of knowing my identity."

Zhou Yu sneered. Within his sword technique, he suddenly unleashed his divine power explosion technique once more, bolstered by his Heartforce.

The power of this strike surged violently, catching Great Sage Tuntian completely off guard.

He scrambled to change his stance to defend, but was still sent flying by Zhou Yu's strike. However, having cultivated a special divine ability, he was thick-skinned and tough, managing to endure the blow.

Zhou Yu knew it would be difficult to kill Great Sage Tuntian, so he did not hesitate, instead unleashing an escape technique to charge toward a Zhu Yan Formation of the Seamless Gate.

Boom!

Zhou Yu slashed down from the sky with his sword, again outputting his maximum power.

The Zhu Yan Formation scrambled to defend, but it was futile; Zhou Yu's sword cleaved it open from top to bottom.

On the walls of the Seamless Gate, Dao Ancestor Mozhu's expression darkened.

Great Sage Tuntian calls himself a "Great Sage"?

He couldn't even manage to entangle Empyrean God Ganyu; what a waste.

"Retreat!"

At Dao Ancestor Mozhu's command, he knew the morale of his army was lost; to continue fighting would be a guaranteed defeat.

"Haha, they are fleeing!"

"Pursue!"

"Kill!"

After a round of pursuit, the army returned to camp in high spirits.

With the first battle won, the side of Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor naturally cheered and celebrated, and Zhou Yu, as the greatest contributor, was showered with praise by the many Immortals and Gods and Devils.

Many had only heard that Zhou Yu was incredibly powerful, but after this battle, they had finally witnessed it for themselves.

To change the tide of battle single-handedly—how heaven-defying was that?

As for the Seamless Gate camp on the other side, Great Sage Tuntian felt a flush of shame under the gazes of the various immortals and demons.

"I don't know what happened to that Empyrean God Ganyu, but his sword suddenly erupted with power far exceeding what he had shown before—it must have increased several times over. I was caught off guard and sent flying," Great Sage Tuntian said.

"If we fight again, the three of us brothers will form the 'Three-Eyed Demon God Formation', and we won't have to fear him!"

Hearing this, Dao Ancestor Mozhu nodded.

"Empyrean God Ganyu's master, True God Cang You, has mastered some terrifying divine abilities; he must have passed one on to him," Dao Ancestor Mozhu said.

"But this ability alone shouldn't be enough to make him erupt with such power. When you face him again, be sure to observe exactly what methods he is using."

Heartforce was a very concealed power. Especially since Zhou Yu had received a legacy of heartforce and was extremely adept at using it, he didn't leak a single shred of energy when he unleashed it. Thus, even Dao Ancestor Mozhu couldn't figure out what was going on with Zhou Yu's power for the time being.

"Understood!" Great Sage Tuntian nodded.

He also secretly swore to himself that he would definitely get his revenge.