Chapter 41: War Erupts
Passing countless stars and crossing endless turbulent currents of the void, the warships broke through the world barrier and entered the Great Red Heaven World.
A crimson firmament greeted their eyes.
The boundless void reflected blood mist and red clouds, while vast swaths of primordial stars floated in the heavens. Smoke from the war curled everywhere, even obscuring many ancient stars. Yet all these warships together still could not rival the stars in number!
Compared with heaven and earth, even this multitude of cultivators paled into insignificance! Some living beings had bodies as large as primordial stars! Some ancient stars had even formed from dead creatures over the passage of ages! Others had been cut down and fallen onto the earth! Still others seemed to have been gathered into piles with divine power and used as nests! Many dragons had even built their nests here out of stars.
Rumor had it that the Lord of Great Red Heaven was a crimson dragon who rivaled the king realm. Though he had not entered that realm, he was no weaker than an Immortal King.
A heavy stench of blood mingled with the thick smoke. Corpses as large as stars floated past, along with broken weapons. Some shattered halberds had even pierced ancient stars!
Across the earth stretched crimson dunes and barren mountains, littered with countless broken weapons. Torn war banners fluttered in the wind!
Repeatedly battered by the energies of battles between great cultivators, this land had lost all vegetation and become rolling hills! Its crimson color came from the blood that had stained it, a color that had never faded as the years passed!
Ancient worlds and secret realms had been erased one after another, and even hidden treasures had been exposed aboveground! These were riches left behind by the previous great era. Now that powerful forces had broken them open, this place resembled a sacred treasure-hunting ground! But no one paid them any attention!
Slashing attacks accompanied by earth-shaking roars came from the heart of the battlefield. Those strikes cut down primordial stars, while the roars themselves were peerless divine abilities. They even stirred ripples in space and time, carrying power that did not belong to the present age.
Of course, that battle had occurred long ago. Only now did it manifest!
Kings had acted here, their power already touching the domain of time. It was terrifying!
This was neither a battle to reinforce the front against the Foreign Realm nor a fight sustained by feeding troops in piecemeal! It was the decisive battle.
Dense ranks of warships crossed into the world with magnificent momentum! The sheer spectacle alone set hearts pounding.
This great world was the site of what later generations would call the most brutal battle of the final years of Immortal Ancient.
Great Red Heaven! Also known as the Heaven of Parting Hatred!
"Beat the drums! Sound the horns!"
The aged quasi-king Jing Ci stood at the very front, issuing orders!
Boom! Boom! Boom! ...!
The enormous divine drums aboard row after row of warships were struck fiercely!
These were Heaven-Shaking Drums, made from the hide of a Void King Beast. They inherently carried divine-pattern fluctuations that penetrated the void, and under the divine power of great cultivators at One with the Dao, they released supreme, heaven-shaking thunder.
Waves of air rolled from the great drums, pushing the war smoke aside. Even some smaller stars were slowly driven away by those waves!
"Wooo... Wooo...!"
The horns were True Dragon Horns, the horns of genuine dragons. They had been taken from dragons of the Nine Heavens who had died in battle and fashioned into instruments. Carrying supreme might that pierced world barriers, they told their comrades that reinforcements had arrived!
At the same time, another powerful surge of world-breaking force rose!
These were reinforcements from the Immortal Domain. But apart from some lower-ranking cultivators, the leadership of the Nine Heavens all knew what they intended!
Some kings of the Immortal Domain had even come with agendas of their own, collecting the Nine Heavens' resources amid the war like looters taking advantage of a fire. It was infuriating. Still, there were some who kept the greater good in mind!
"They're finally here?"
On the battlefield, someone saw the reinforcements arrive and breathed a sigh of relief!
"Yes! We must leave no regrets in this battle. Either we succeed, or we die for our cause! Kill!"
Seeing the reinforcements arrive, the forces of the Nine Heavens surged with fighting spirit. They unleashed peerless divine might, driving the enemy back and buying some time!
"Hahahahaha! Let's begin! Forget success-you'll all die for your cause! Ants of the Nine Heavens and the Immortal Domain, come, all of you! Let us welcome you! Hahaha..."
The Nine Heavens and the Immortal Domain were not the only sides sending reinforcements. The Foreign Realm was dispatching troops as well!
"Indeed, you should embrace the darkness. Only within darkness can you find the light. Come! Walk with us toward glory and supremacy! Don't listen to their nonsense. This isn't corruption-it's a choice to advance toward the light! Don't hesitate!"
An immortal of the Foreign Realm spoke, trying to shake their resolve!
"Beast, you dare flaunt your savagery! Die!"
A True Immortal of the Nine Heavens thrust his spear. Its sharp point pierced the void, churning heaven and earth as it struck!
"Hmph, nothing but an ant!"
A war banner swept out from behind the Foreign Realm's army, shattering every part of the True Immortal's attack. Its wielder was a Foreign Realm immortal whose face was covered in scales! Four arms sprouted from his back, holding different divine weapons and war banners!
Their battle immediately reached a fever pitch!
"Heh heh, let me see just how much these ants sent by the Nine Heavens are worth!"
Watching the reinforcements from the Nine Heavens and the Immortal Domain arrive, a Supreme Dao Venerable of the Foreign Realm spoke, intending to test the Nine Heavens' cultivators!
As expected, he picked the softest persimmon to squeeze! He did not dare provoke anyone from the great world of the Immortal Domain!
Lin Yue surveyed the battlefield before him. Supreme Dao Venerables were dueling, immortals and True Immortals fought above them, and in the deepest reaches of the firmament, strange visions manifested within the River of Time.
His blood began to boil of its own accord. How could someone who cultivated the Human Immortal Martial Dao lack hot blood? Was the martial path not precisely what lay before his eyes?
What was the Human Immortal Martial Dao? A clash of gazes decided supremacy; a raised hand divided life from death!
The martial memories engraved deep within Lin Yue's soul were awakening!
This is the finest ground for testing martial prowess! Even if I die in battle and lie buried in the Nine Netherworlds, so what? We martial warriors would never begrudge a fight!
Standing at the bow, he unleashed the aura of an invincible warrior without reservation! Like a blazing furnace, he drew the gazes of countless powerful figures!
"An invincible warrior! Such vigorous vitality, such surging life force! How can he be so young? Not even...! No, something is strange! Is this a new path for the younger generation of our Nine Heavens?"
A True Immortal of the Nine Heavens spoke. Having been away for a long time, he thought their cultivation path had taken a new turn!
"Has he broken the curse that prevents anyone under five hundred from becoming a Supreme Dao Venerable? Is this real?"
"He's broken the shackles! Has someone who defies heaven appeared?"
A Supreme Dao Venerable spoke in a trembling voice!
"I knew it. In an age like this, there would surely be heaven-defying beings who broke through the shackles their predecessors could never overcome. And indeed, someone has succeeded. The Nine Heavens has nurtured another supreme prodigy and once again moved ahead of our Immortal Domain. Remarkable!"
The speaker was a True Immortal of the Immortal Domain, descended from an Immortal King's clan. His admiration came from the heart!
"Indeed. Though the battlefield between the two realms is brutal, we must admit that it provides the finest nourishment for progress. Countless prodigies will surpass their predecessors and step onto new paths. I'm beginning to understand some of the Foreign Realm's thinking! And I look forward to what comes next even more!"
This was another True Immortal of the Immortal Domain. Friendly toward the Nine Heavens, he had joined the fighting rather than watching from the sidelines. Yet his words left people's jaws hanging. He was actually a war fanatic! He was even encouraging war.
Of course, this was understandable. Many kings of the Immortal Domain had likewise entered the Boundary Sea to seek opportunities for battle and breakthroughs! All to pursue a higher realm!
For they were cultivators. Even if death awaited them in the end, it was both their destiny and their final resting place!
After driving back their opponents, many stared in disbelief at the most dazzling young man at the front of the warship!
"Haha, you'll do! Come, come! Let me see the quality of the reinforcements your Nine Heavens has sent this time!"
Seeing Lin Yue expose his invincible aura, that Supreme Dao Venerable of the Foreign Realm immediately chose him as the one to test and launched an attack!
Neither side lacked people eager to rise above the crowd!
A three-pronged, double-bladed halberd thrust out, its ferocious momentum carrying invincible killing might as it stabbed toward Lin Yue!
Even an ordinary Supreme Dao Venerable could not stand against such power. It had to be said that, like the Immortal Domain, the Foreign Realm possessed an enormous advantage against others at the same realm. This was the benefit of a great world's deeply rooted laws!
"Hahaha! Scared witless?"
The two sides were about to clash in full. The Foreign Realm watched as their warrior's halberd was on the verge of cutting down the young invincible warrior opposite him, yet the youth merely stared with wide eyes. Had he truly been scared witless?
On the Nine Heavens' side, they were initially startled, then recovered. He was only a Supreme Dao Venerable!
No, that was not right!
"How does he dare?" someone murmured!
"To think he would attack Lord Lin Yue head-on with only the strength of a Supreme Dao Venerable. Heh, remarkable!"
"Unimaginable. We truly cannot match such courage!"
Lin Yue watched the Foreign Realm's Supreme Dao Venerable charge toward him!
"An invincible warrior deserves respect. My name is Lin Yue. On the road to reincarnation, don't forget the man who killed you. Today, your death will consecrate our banner!"
Chapter 42: Unstoppable
"Arrogant ant, you know nothing of heaven's height or earth's depth! You were still suckling when I attained the Extreme Dao! Die!"
This Supreme Dao Venerable had entered his realm countless years ago. He had killed invincible warriors of the Nine Heavens and had even cultivated an invincible heart. Hearing Lin Yue's words now felt like an insult, and his face nearly twisted out of shape!
"Heh, if you can evade one strike from me, I'll spare your life! You have my word!"
Lin Yue spoke. Since this was war, morale mattered. At the instant he attacked, he needed to show his own people that they could win!
"Hahaha, we await your decree!"
The people of the Nine Heavens roared with laughter!
The moment his words fell, Lin Yue lightly raised his right hand and pressed his palm down! The Black Sword in his left hand never even left its sheath!
"Palm Shakes Heaven and Earth!"
He struck with nearly all his strength, combining the invincible divine power of the Extreme Dao with the penetrating force of a supreme spatial divine ability! An enormous dark-red hand manifested! Divine patterns flowed across it as it dwarfed the stars and blotted out the sky and sun!
The instant the giant hand touched the enemy's halberd, the weapon shattered into ashes. Then, under his stunned gaze, the hand closed around him!
Boom...
The energy of the Supreme Dao Venerable's exploding body burst within the great hand. It swept through the void like a hurricane, shaking a vast expanse of primordial stars. Cultivators on both sides had their hair whipped about by the tremendous blast, their eyes filled with horror!
The Foreign Realm's warriors instinctively halted their advance. What had they just witnessed?
A cultivator at the peak of the Human Dao Domain had been crushed in a single grasp, his body and soul annihilated. The sight left them dumbstruck and struck terror into their hearts!
"Ha... Ha!"
Unlike the Foreign Realm, the people of the Nine Heavens raised their blades and shouted in astonished triumph!
It was simply too shocking. This was the Nine Heavens' greatest prodigy, slaughtering a Foreign Realm Supreme Dao Venerable of the same realm with one hand!
"Damn it, something's wrong! He isn't an Extreme Dao cultivator! Despicable bastard!"
"No, impossible!"
"How can this be? Is he a supreme being? How could the gap within the same realm be so vast? It's absolutely impossible!" Accustomed to crushing the Nine Heavens at equal realms, the Foreign Realm simply could not accept an enemy who was invincible within the same realm. Panic began to spread!
Seeing the Foreign Realm's formation fall into confusion, how could Lin Yue let such an opportunity slip away?
He drew the Black Sword with his right hand!
"Warriors! Now is the moment to crush the Foreign Realm and sweep away the darkness! Follow me-kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
Even the True Immortals instinctively obeyed Lin Yue's command. The densely packed army surged forward!
The chaotic melee began!
The bloody battle began!
Great Red Heaven!
Across the battlefield, broken swords and shattered halberds flew, while war banners fluttered in the wind. Divine abilities, precious arts, secret techniques, ancient methods, and profound arts-all their powers became true patterns that pierced the firmament from top to bottom!
Some spiritually awakened Immortal King weapons even fought on their own. Usually dormant, Primordial Chaos Ancient Artifacts became world-destroying calamities in their masters' hands, extinguishing primordial stars with a single blow!
A war banner swept past, and profound light instantly enveloped the cosmos, concealing heaven's workings and buying the Nine Heavens' cultivators time to slaughter their foes!
This was the Immortal King Ironblood War Banner. Stained with the essence blood of an Immortal King giant, it had nearly awakened its own spirit! It had become an immortal weapon, and with no kings taking the field, even the Foreign Realm's immortals were caught off guard for a time!
Wielded now by a True Immortal, it possessed an air of invincibility! Wherever the banner passed, great swaths of the Foreign Realm's forces collapsed! This was the Immortal King Shroud that would become renowned in later generations!
"Damn it, that banner! Its owner is already dead, yet it still wants to flaunt its might!" a Foreign Realm immortal cursed!
"Di Jie, come with me! We'll kill our way over and seize that ragged banner!" The immortal called to another immortal on his side, seeking to attack together!
On the battlefield in the void, a white-haired youth answered the call. He belonged to the lineage of a Foreign Realm Immortal King-an immortal from an Emperor Clan!
The white-haired youth shot forward like a streak of divine light, charging toward the True Immortal waving the war banner on the Nine Heavens' side! Unfortunately, midway through his charge, he was suddenly enveloped in a mass of divine light!
"Where do you think you're going? Be sealed!"
A startling roar rang out. A divine diagram manifested from the Nine Heavens' ranks, instantly becoming like a secret realm with boundless suction. As it suppressed heaven and earth, it drew the immortal named Di Jie inside!
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