First Battle

In the Chaos beyond the Three Realms.

A Second Primal Spirit incarnation of Zhou Yu sped through the void. Traveling recklessly through Chaos at Empyrean God strength was actually exceedingly dangerous.

Any randomly formed danger within Chaos could easily annihilate an Empyrean God.

If he carelessly entered some hidden perilous place, he could perish in an instant.

But Zhou Yu chose to trust his luck and continued onward without hesitation.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Yu suddenly stirred in thought. There seemed to be an unusual fluctuation ahead.

Without hesitating, he immediately rushed in that direction.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Yu landed upon a Chaos Star.

This Chaos Star was incomparably frigid. The cold energy formed on its surface alone made Zhou Yu feel his divine body being rapidly eroded.

"The fluctuation came from here." Zhou Yu quickly located its source. Specks of icy-blue flame were rapidly gathering together, soon forming an icy crystal fruit.

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

Zhou Yu was astonished. He had recognized the fruit at once because the records of the divine ability Indestructible Body stated that Blue Flame Fruit was one of the treasures needed to cultivate it.

"This Blue Flame Fruit actually condensed out of thin air in such an icy environment." With a wave of his hand, Zhou Yu took the newly formed fruit into his possession.

"After a long enough time, perhaps another Blue Flame Fruit will be born here." Zhou Yu thought to himself.

He did not dare remain any longer. This star was simply too cold for his divine body to endure.

Whoosh!

Zhou Yu swiftly departed from the star. After some thought, he left a marker here, then quickly departed and continued deeper into Chaos.

"This feels a little like being a Child of Luck." Zhou Yu sighed inwardly.

In the memories he had gained from his two simulations as a Child of Luck, his simulated self would often stumble across treasures whenever he went out wandering. Now, such a thing had finally happened to him as well.

"Still, I want a great opportunity that can change my entire path of cultivation." Zhou Yu thought.

Of course, he understood that being a Child of Luck could not alter reality. If he wanted to encounter a heaven-defying opportunity, such an opportunity first had to exist nearby.

If there was no opportunity at all, then no matter how incredible his luck was, it would be difficult to find one.

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

At that moment, his heart stirred slightly.

"It's finally beginning."

The two sides of the Crimson Bright Realm had spent more than a year merely preparing for war. Now, they were finally about to fight.

Great Xia World.

Within Eight-Dragon Cloud City.

Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor was arranging his forces.

"The Godfiend army shall be divided into seventy-two Pangu Battle Formations, each commanded by one of twenty-four Empyrean Gods, including Celestial God Fufang, Celestial God Zhuanshui, and Celestial God Liusi."

"Dao Ancestor Yinglong's troops shall be commanded by the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals of the Yinglong Army."

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

"Xia Mang, Xue Wu, Changqing... all of you Pure Yang True Immortals shall wield your magic treasures and spells to support every front!"

"Ganyu Celestial God, Celestial God Cold-Face, Celestial God Fengyun, the three of you will work together and keep watch over the three demon gods of Swallow Dragon Mountain."

Finally, Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor looked toward Zhou Yu and the two Empyrean Gods beside him.

According to the intelligence Bodhi had provided him, although the Seamless Gate had fewer Empyrean Gods and True Immortals than the forces under his command, the quality of their forces was extremely high.

The most troublesome among them were the "three demon gods of Swallow Dragon Mountain."

These three great demon gods—the eldest, Great Sage Tunshan; the second, Great Sage Tunhai; and the third, Great Sage Tuntian—were all extraordinarily powerful. Great Sage Tuntian in particular had, like Zhou Yu, mastered fourth-level Power of Space. His strength could be considered the pinnacle among Empyrean Gods.

In truth, one could tell from their names. They called themselves Great Sages to proclaim that they were no weaker than the Seven Great Sages of the ancient Monster Race.

Previously, none of the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals on Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor's side could contend with these three demon gods alone. His original strategy had been to use superior numbers to restrain them.

But Zhou Yu's arrival changed everything.

In Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor's view, Zhou Yu should be on the same level as Great Sage Tuntian. With two Empyrean Gods assisting Zhou Yu, restraining the three demon gods of Swallow Dragon Mountain should not be a problem.

"Leave it to us."

Zhou Yu, Celestial God Cold-Face, and Celestial God Fengyun rose and agreed.

The enormous armies of both sides soon arrived outside the wilderness and faced each other.

Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor and Dao Ancestor Mozhu each stood atop their respective city walls, watching as formation after formation took shape and a murderous aura soared into the heavens.

Zhou Yu stood with Celestial God Cold-Face and Celestial God Fengyun. He said, "You two, do not stray too far from me. If needed, the three of us can form a formation at any time to face the enemy."

"Fellow Daoist Ganyu, rest assured. The two of us will certainly do our utmost to cooperate with you," Celestial God Cold-Face said. Celestial God Fengyun nodded as well.

They knew their own limits. In a one-on-one fight, any one of the three demon gods could utterly crush them. Only under Zhou Yu's command could they hope to contend with those three demon gods.

After exchanging a few more words with them, Zhou Yu soon turned his gaze toward the opposing city wall.

Dao Ancestor Mozhu stood there, naturally radiating terrifying black light from his entire body. He resembled a bamboo stalk that had endured endless years, giving off an unbreakable aura.

"This Dao Ancestor Mozhu has hidden himself deeply indeed." Zhou Yu sighed inwardly.

In terms of strength, Dao Ancestor Mozhu should possess leader-level power, equivalent to an Elder God.

Yet what he displayed was merely the level of an ordinary True God or Dao Ancestor. That was far too outrageous.

"Of course, Dao Ancestor Mozhu is also one of the Dao Ancestors enslaved by Elder Yuan. Perhaps his ability to reach leader level is related to Elder Yuan as well." Zhou Yu's gaze deepened.

He alone knew these secrets, and that placed pressure on him.

But Zhou Yu also understood that his strength was still far from sufficient. Pretending he knew nothing was the best choice.

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

With his power, that emotion easily infected the many immortals and Godfiends, causing intense killing intent to surge within each of them.

Naturally, it had limited effect on someone as strong as Zhou Yu.

"Charge!"

"Kill them all!"

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

"Law of Heaven and Earth!"

Zhou Yu activated his divine ability, transforming into a towering Godfiend ten thousand zhang tall as he charged forward with the army.

The Seamless Gate's side also erupted into action at the same instant.

When two armies clashed, they fought with strength and momentum. In this first battle, naturally neither side would show weakness.

On the Crimson Bright Realm's side were Xingtian Gods, Pangu Battle Formations, Yinglong Battle Formations, and numerous True Immortals. The Seamless Gate had formations such as White-Faced Flood Dragons, Zhu Yan, and Bi Fang, along with numerous Empyrean God puppets.

The puppets were the Seamless Gate's trump card. With their forces clearly inferior to the Nuwa Faction's, only by relying on puppets could the Seamless Gate contend against the Nuwa Faction.

At that moment, the two great torrents crashed together.

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

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

In a one-on-one fight, the two of them would naturally flee as far as possible.

But now, each of them commanded nearly two thousand Celestial Immortals along with a large number of Loose Immortals. Why could they not fight him?

Boom! Boom!

Two heaven-shaking attacks blasted toward Zhou Yu.

"Excellent."

Zhou Yu held an enormous sword. It was a top-grade innate divine weapon he had obtained from the World Prison.

The greatsword swept outward, making space tremble. Fourth-level Power of Space erupted with terrifying force, instantly forcing both the White-Faced Flood Dragon and Zhu Yan backward. But the True Immortals controlling the formations were no ordinary figures. They did their utmost to dissipate the force before attacking again.

That single exchange instead gave them greater confidence.

"Since you're seeking death."

Killing intent surged through Zhou Yu. In an instant, he erupted once more.

Previously, he had only used fourth-level Power of Space. This time, while drawing upon the Power of Space, he also unleashed the divine ability Ninefold Destruction Divine Power and fourth-level Heart Force.

Zhou Yu's true body had naturally cultivated Ninefold Destruction Divine Power. After all, an Empyrean God only needed a thousand Void Chaos Crystals to cultivate it. Furthermore, he and his True God incarnation were nominally master and disciple, so it was only natural for him to learn this divine ability.

At the True God stage, this level of divine ability could allow an ordinary True God to rival a Top-Tier True God. At the Empyrean God stage, it was even more exaggerated. The power it unleashed was roughly on the same level as fourth-level Power of Origin.

Of course, it was only strong in raw power; its technique and endurance were much worse.

As for the method of imbuing weapons with Heart Force, Zhou Yu's Heart Force inheritance contained it. Fourth-level Heart Force not only had countless marvelous uses, but its strength enhancement was even slightly greater than fourth-level Power of Origin.

It was roughly thirty percent stronger than fourth-level Power of Space.

However, using Heart Force to empower attacks was an ordinary application that consumed an enormous amount of Heart Force. Zhou Yu could only use it a limited number of times.

But Zhou Yu had no intention of fighting a prolonged battle. He sought only explosive force.

Even using only fourth-level Power of Space, he had suppressed these two formations. Now that he had unleashed a divine ability and layered Heart Force atop it, the result was obvious.

This sword strike possessed might approaching the threshold of a Dao Ancestor.

Boom!

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

The White-Faced Flood Dragon tried to block it, but felt an irresistible pulling force contained within the strike, causing its technique to veer off course.

In terms of skill, these two True Immortals were naturally no match for Zhou Yu. Previously, with the formations narrowing their gap in power and with the two joining forces, they could still fight Zhou Yu. But now that Zhou Yu had unleashed an incomparably terrifying move and completely surpassed the two formations in power, they found it difficult to block his attacks.

Splat!

The sword plunged directly into the White-Faced Flood Dragon's body.

Zhou Yu fiercely pulled upward, and the greatsword instantly tore the White-Faced Flood Dragon Formation in half. In a single moment, more than two hundred Celestial Immortals died, including, most importantly, the True Immortal controlling the White-Faced Flood Dragon.

"Run!"

"Run!"

The remaining thousand-plus Celestial Immortals and countless Loose Immortals frantically used escape techniques to flee.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Zhou Yu swept his Divine Sword, instantly killing more than a hundred additional Celestial Immortals.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Zhou Yu struck more than ten times in an instant, slaughtering vast numbers of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals.

The few who escaped the slaughter would also find it nearly impossible to survive on the chaotic battlefield.

That was how a battlefield worked. Once a formation was broken, unless one possessed strength like Zhou Yu's, individual power was simply too insignificant.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor and Dao Ancestor Mozhu both looked over.

"True God Cang You truly did not deceive me. This disciple of his is indeed a fierce general. I only wonder whose reincarnation Ganyu Celestial God truly is." Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor was delighted, but also puzzled.

Such a powerful Empyrean God could not possibly have no reputation.

Dao Ancestor Mozhu, however, frowned. His side already had too few troops, and losing a White-Faced Flood Dragon Formation at the very beginning immediately placed him at a disadvantage.

"Heaven-Swallowing Demon God, quickly deal with that Ganyu Celestial God!" Dao Ancestor Mozhu sent mentally.

Hearing this, an incomparably enormous nine-headed lion on the battlefield immediately turned its gaze toward Zhou Yu.

"Ganyu Celestial God? Interesting!"

Each of Great Sage Tuntian's nine heads wore a different expression. With a movement of his body, he used an escape-type divine ability and flew toward Zhou Yu.

The greatest advantage of moving as an individual on the battlefield was the ability to use escape techniques and reinforce any position at any time.

If one formed a formation, then unless one could perfectly control its power, it was impossible to use escape techniques.

"Master really is powerful."

Ji Ning was currently controlling a Xingtian God as he clashed with a formation commanded by a Pure Yang True Immortal of the Seamless Gate.

He was very relaxed. He had comprehended a Heart Force soul technique and secretly broken through to become a Pure Yang True Immortal. Even while commanding a formation, he had not used his full strength, merely waiting for an opportunity to erupt.

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

Seeing Zhou Yu destroy a formation with two sword strikes, Ji Ning secretly admired him. Although he too had become a Pure Yang True Immortal, he now understood that there was still a vast gap between himself and Empyrean Gods on his master's level.

Perhaps only after becoming an Empyrean God and learning the fifth cycle of Star-Plucking Hand could he somewhat make up the difference.

"Oh? That Heaven-Swallowing Demon Sage has entered the fight." Ji Ning watched.

The nine-headed lion viciously pounced forward, while Zhou Yu, who had activated Law of Heaven and Earth, raised his sword to meet it.

The two began fighting, and the heavens and earth immediately shook.

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

"Are you worthy of knowing my identity?"

Zhou Yu sneered. Amid his sword techniques, he suddenly unleashed another strike empowered by his divine power eruption ability and Heart Force.

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

He hurriedly changed techniques to block it, but Zhou Yu still sent him flying with one blow. However, he cultivated a special divine ability and possessed tough hide and thick flesh, forcibly withstanding the strike.

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

Boom!

Zhou Yu's sword cleaved down furiously from the skies, still unleashing his maximum power.

The Zhu Yan Formation hurriedly tried to block it, but could not withstand the strike at all. Zhou Yu split it in two from top to bottom with a single sword blow.

On the Seamless Gate's city wall, Dao Ancestor Mozhu's expression darkened.

Great Sage Tuntian even called himself a "Great Sage"?

He had failed to even hold back Ganyu Celestial God. What a useless fool.

"Withdraw!"

Dao Ancestor Mozhu gave the command. He knew that his army's morale had already collapsed in this battle. If they continued fighting, defeat would be inevitable.

"Haha, they're running!"

"Chase them!"

"Kill!"

Only after pursuing and slaughtering them for a time did the army happily return to camp.

Having won the first battle, Crimson Bright Dao Ancestor's side naturally celebrated in jubilation. Zhou Yu, as the greatest contributor, was also showered with praise by countless immortals and Godfiends.

Many had only heard that Zhou Yu was extraordinarily powerful. In this battle, they finally saw it for themselves.

One man had changed the course of the battle. How defiant of heaven was that?

As for the Seamless Gate camp on the other side, Great Sage Tuntian felt so ashamed that he blushed beneath the gazes of the immortals and fiends.

"For some reason, Ganyu Celestial God suddenly unleashed a sword strike far more powerful than before. Its strength must have increased severalfold. I was caught off guard and was sent flying," Heaven-Swallowing Demon Sage said.

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

Hearing this, Dao Ancestor Mozhu nodded.

"Ganyu Celestial God's master, True God Cang You, possesses some terrifying divine ability. He must have passed it on to him," Dao Ancestor Mozhu said.

"But that divine ability alone should not have allowed him to unleash such power. If you fight him again, pay close attention to what method he uses."

Heart Force was an extremely concealed power. In particular, Zhou Yu had obtained the Heart Force inheritance and was exceptionally skilled in wielding it. When he used it, not a trace of power leaked out. Thus, even Dao Ancestor Mozhu had not immediately seen what was behind Zhou Yu's strength.

"Yes!" Great Sage Tuntian nodded.

He silently swore that he would definitely reclaim his honor.