by RWX
This initial clash had already resulted in countless casualties for both sides.
While watching the overall battlefield, Ning suddenly saw from the corner of his eyes a flashing golden light.
“Is that…? Ah, the eldest brother of the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater?” When Ning saw the massive, terrifyingly fast gold-feathered eagle fly towards him, he was instantly shocked.
Whoosh! Instantly growing cautious, Ning’s weapons instantly transformed into two shields.
“Die for me, puny human.” The gold-feathered eagle pounced upon Ning, its sharp talons gouging towards him like terrifyingly sharp hooks.
Ning just stood there on the ground, not moving to dodge at all.
In the instant that the attacks of the gold-feathered eagle reached him, Ning brandished the shields in his arms. Boom! They struck head-on against the sharp claws of the gold-feathered eagle. Now that he was commanding three times as many Immortals, his Heaven Punisher was faster than it had been in the past, especially its arms, which were both dexterous and strong. Given that the shields he was using were quite large, he was able to completely block this strange, profound, terrifying claw attack.
BOOM!
The gold-feathered eagle was actually sent spinning backwards through the skies, only coming to a halt a few moments later. This instantly caused the always arrogant and brash Diremonster God, the Great Sage Who Swallows The Mountains, to feel completely humiliated and enraged. “Second brother, third brother, get over here! This Ji Ning guy is tremendously strong!”
* * *
Book 18, Chapter 34 - Lying Hidden
“Coming! Big brother, let me give him a try.” The nine-headed lion was like mobile mountain range, smashing straight through all opposition and pushing aside the Pangu War-Formations, Raindragons, and Heaven Punishers in his path.
Although the second brother of the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater, that ugly dragon with snapped horns, was actually more agile than the other three, it clearly found it rather difficult to traverse the battlefield. It wasn’t as fast as the clumsy-looking nine-headed lion.
Ji Ning could sense space around him shudder. He glanced sideways, instantly seeing the nine-headed lion charge straight towards him. He couldn’t help but feel shocked: “Him? The most powerful of the three Diremonster Gods…the nine-headed lion?”
Nine-headed lions were Godbeasts.
It was the only one of the three who had a truly exalted bloodline, one which was comparable to that of nine-tailed foxes and Five Elements peacocks.
It was normally quite low-key and unobstrusive, but in actual power it was the strongest of the three. The nine-headed lion was ranked amongst the very top experts in the entire Three Realms, comparable to the likes of Lu Dongbin. But of course, Lu Dongbin was a Ki Refiner, whereas the nine-headed lion was both a Ki Refiner and a Fiendgod Body Refiner, resulting in Lu Dongbin being at an innate disadvantage.
“I heard that his strength is comparable to Patriarch Lu’s.” Ning didn’t dare to be overconfident.
“Perfect timing, third brother!” The airborne gold-feathered eagle was delighted.
The nine-headed lion was bounding across the ground towards Ning, all of the Fiendgods and Terrorbeasts of the Seamless Gate parting before it.
Ning held those two shields in his hands, not dodging in the slightest.
“I want to see how powerful someone who supposedly stands at the very top tier of power amongst Empyrean Gods and True Immortals is.” Ning’s heart was filled with a desire to do battle. The nine-headed lion…Empyrean God Redsnow…Patriarch Lu…all of them stood at the very peak of power for Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. Each of them were very close to True Gods and Daofathers in power. However, Ning would never have a chance to test his Heaven Punisher out in power against Patriarch Lu and Empyrean god Redsnow.
Of course, Ning’s true body was within the underwater estate, and had sparred with Empyrean God Redsnow before. However…Redsnow, as the leader of the seven Empyrean Gods, had been praised by even Subhuti himself as someone who was just a hairs-breadth away from the Daofather level of power. When Ning’s true body had dueled Redsnow, Ning had lost catastrophically.
On this field of battle, however, Ning’s Primaltwin had the power of a Pure Yang True Immortal and the power of the Heaven Punisher Formation supporting him. Ning absolutely wasn’t afraid of giving him a fight!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground quivered as the nine-headed lion charged towards Ning, and as Ning leaped forward towards it.
“Hmph.” A savage light flashed through the eyes of the nine-headed lion. It lowered its heads, a layer of golden light emerging from them and covering its entire body.
Ning hunkered downwards, the two shields in his hands as he rammed straight forward.
Both sides were fighting head-on against each other.
Nine-headed lions were Godbeasts that were famous for their strength, and this Great Sage Who Devours the Skies had a particularly deep level of insight into the Dao, making him even more incredible.
Ning’s strength didn’t need to be described; on the battlefield, he had ravaged the many experts of the Seamless Gate.
BOOM!!!!
The nine-headed lion felt an flood of power sweep through it. There was no skill, no tricks to it; it was a surge of absolutely incredible raw power, causing it to stumble backwards uncontrollably. The nine-headed lion had no time to feel stunned; it hurriedly used an evasive technique, causing the surrounding space to become illusory as it retreated by a thousand kilometers in a manner that displayed no openings.
“Such power.” Ning felt a strange, powerful vibration transmitted towards him.
It wasn’t just pure, raw power; it was a type of vibration. The sort of vibration one might feel when an earthquake hit, a vibration that couldn’t simply be blocked or deflected. Ning immediately understood. No wonder all of the armies on their side, be it the Pangu War-Formations, the Raindragons, or the Heaven Punishers, were knocked backwards! In addition, the nine-headed lion’s headlong charge didn’t seem to have consumed much power.
This was actually a type of profound, high level technique!
Although Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher possessed nigh-infinite strength, it still couldn’t help but take three steps back before the vibrating power dissipated.
“He really is strong!” The distant nine-headed lion laughed loudly, his laughter echoing throughout the battlefield. “Come, again!”
“You think I’m afraid of you?” Ning’s Heaven Punisher once more charged forward.
Boom! Boom!
Ning and the nine-headed lion clashed repeatedly on the field of battle. Each time, Ning only took three steps back. While the nine-headed lion had a profound grasp over the Dao, with each step on the ground seeming to cause the ground to twist and space to distort, the difference in raw power was simply too great. Each time, the nine-headed lion would still be forced to dodge backwards by a thousand kilometers..
“Third brother, if the three of us join together to form the Three-Eyed God, would we be able to kill this Ji Ning?” The airborne gold-feathered eagle, still being harried by the Xia Emperor and the others, sent a mental message.
“Third brother, big brother and I are waiting for you to give the word.” The dragon with the shattered horns was flying around the area as well.
The three Diremonster Gods were capable of setting up a formation to form a Three-Eyed God.
The Three-Eyed God was primarily led by the most powerful of the three brothers, the nine-headed lion. It was very similar to the Seven Planets God, which was formed by the seven Empyrean Gods of the Starseizing Manor but primarily led by Redsnow. Redsnow and the nine-headed lion had the highest level of insights into the Dao in their respective squads, and they were the strongest in battle as well.
“I’m not certain,” the nine-headed lion sent mentally. “This Ji Ning is very skilled in commanding his Heaven Punisher, and his
strength is too incredible. Even if we join forces together into the Three-Eyed God…in a one-on-one fight, we’d naturally able to kill him, but a large number of experts of the Crimsonbright Realm are nearby. They’ll frantically assail us, which means we’ll have a very low chance of killing him, less than thirty percent at most.”
“Mm.” Both the gold-feathered eagle and the broken-horn dragon understood.
It was true. The Crimsonbright Realm had sent a total of six Empyrean Gods and True Immortals to tie down the gold-feathered eagle, which was the fastest of the three. There were other experts who had been assigned to deal with the broken-horn dragon and the nine-headed lion. As soon as they joined into the Three-Eyed God, the many experts would naturally join forces with Ji Ning against it, giving it less than a thirty percent chance of killing Ji Ning.
“What a powerful nine-headed lion.” Ning was stunned by their exchange as well. “It’s actually only at a slight disadvantage in a one-on-one fight against me. I’m a Pure Yang True Immortal, and I’m commanding three thousand Celestial Immortals and three hundred thousand Loose Immortals. He’s too powerful! If the intelligence reports are correct and they really can join together into a Three-Eyed God, how powerful would that be?! One-on-one, I’d probably be killed quite quickly.”
Ning glanced sideways.
Because the three Diremonster Gods were here, a large number of experts of the Crimsonbright Realm had hurried here as well. There were five Raindragons and six Heaven Punishers that were commanded by Empyrean Gods or True Immortals.
This was how much of a threat the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater posed to them.
……
Atop the walls of the Seamless City. Daofather Ink Bamboo watched the battle for quite some time. Both sides had suffered significant losses, but they continued to battle wildly. The Daofather gave the order: “Pull back.”
His voice echoed in the minds of every Seamless Gate commander.
“Pull back.”
“Let’s go.”
“We’re done.”
The Seamless Gate quickly joined together to begin an orderly, step-by-step retreat back to their camp.
Daofather Crimsonbright was watching this from atop the Eight Dragons Cloudcity. Frowning, he gave the order as well: “Pull back and rest.”
……
Atop the walls of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.
“Ji Ning, how did it go? How were our losses, compared to the losses of the Seamless Gate?” Celestial Immortals Unity, Whacko, Dustfloat, Allbeasts, and Rainsoar had gathered together with Ning. The six had battled together for many years and were very close to each other; they were a tight-knit squad which advanced and retreated in unison on the battlefield.
“Right. On the battlefield, we didn’t have any spare energy to watch the others,” Celestial Immortal Dustfloat added.
Ning sighed. “Both sides suffered significant losses, roughly ten thousand Celestial Immortals each. I’m not sure of the exact numbers. The Xia Emperor should know.”
“We lost that many?”
“That’s not bad; the Seamless Gate has many more golems than us. For us to match them in casualties isn’t bad.”
“This was just our first engagement. The Realmwar is going to be crazy…”
They all let out sighs.
In the past, this had merely been a war for the Grand Xia. Now, it was a Realmwar. It must be understood that the Xia Emperor had only commanded a total of ten thousand Celestial Immortals, and despite so many years of battle, more than half remained alive. But today…ten thousand had died in a single engagement!
……
Battle. Rest. Battle again a while later. Rest again.
This became the cadence of the Realmwar.
Battling for too long would result in one’s magic energy and divine power being drained. If they were forced to fight nonstop, they would have to eat Immortal pills to replenish their energy, which neither side was particularly willing to do. Thus, after fighting for a while, they would withdraw their forces to rest.
On the surface, each clash was simple and didn’t result in heavy losses.
Both sides, however, were searching for an opportunity…and once they found it, the seemingly morasse of a battle would instantly explode. When that happened, large numbers of Celestial Immortals would perish, and even Empyrean Gods and True Immortals would fall. It must be understood that despite having clashed three times, not a single Empyrean God or True Immortal had fallen yet!
Even when a Pangu War-Formation was destroyed, the commanding Empyrean God had easily escaped.
Since neither Empyrean Gods nor True Immortals had perished, the war clearly had yet to reach the critical point yet.
……
Within the vast world of darkness.
The Godking was seated upon his towering throne, levitating high in the air and staring down at the masses from his position in the center of the world.
“Godking.” A figure was kneeling before the throne.
“This Realmwar has seen three clashes thus far. Daofather Ink Bamboo has essentially finished calculating the Crimsonbright Realm’s power, as well as some of their hidden forces. It’s time for a fatal attack.” The Godking looked down towards the kneeling figure. “You’ve been hiding by Daofather Crimsonbright’s side for so long…it’s time for you to unleash your power.”
“Your subordinate has been awaiting this day for a long, long time,” the kneeling figure said respectfully, his voice filled with eagerness.
“After this battle, your status will have been exposed, and you will no longer be able to remain with the Nuwa Alliance. Come straight to the Seamless Gate. You are the key to this battle; don’t disappoint me,” the Godking said.
The kneeling figure said, “Your subordinate has been waiting and hiding for countless years for this moment! Everything I’ve endured…all the lies…it was so that I could explode forth at this moment. Even if I die, I won’t disappoint you, Godking.”
“Good. Of my many minions, you’ve always been the most dazzling one. After you return to the Seamless Gate, I’ll personally accept you as my disciple and give you the three Protocosmic spirit-treasures of the ‘Vacant Sword Formation’,” the Godking said.
Upon hearing the words ‘Vacant Sword Formation’, the kneeling figure instantly grew excited. Raising his head, he said resolutely, “Godking, just watch and see.”
The upraised face…
Was that of Sword Immortal Evergreen!
* * *
Book 18, Chapter 35 - Evergreen Reveals Himself!
The Eight Dragons Cloudcity. The main palace.
Daofather Crimsonbright sat on the throne. Below him sat a host of Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and Celestial Immortal commanders, Ji Ning amongst them.
“Both Daofather Ink Bamboo and myself have been keeping an eye on our respective armies.” Daofather Crimsonbright looked downwards upon his subjects. “We are both trying to suss out the true strength of each other’s forces, find a weakness, then launch a fatal attack! The Seamless Gate’s greatest advantage lies in its intelligence network, making it much easier for them to investigate us. Based on the multiple Realmwars which have occurred within the Three Realms…the Seamless Gate often launches a fatal attack first. Thus, I have to warn you…the more battles that occur, the greater the chances that the Seamless Gate will launch an all-out fatal attack on the next one. You have to be vigilant at all times.
“Master.” The Xia Emperor said worriedly, “To always be vigilant isn’t a winning solution…when will we lauch our own all-out attack?”
Daofather Crimsonbright nodded. “I understand what you are saying, of course. However…I can dimly sense that the Seamless Gate has another force that is lying in wait. I have to hold some of my forces in abeyance to deal with it. Otherwise…if we launch our all-out attack, we might end up being tricked and countered by the Seamless Gate, resulting in a great loss.”
Everyone, Ji Ning
included, nodded.
There was nothing for it.
Whenever there was a significant disparity in intelligence, the only choice was to allow the enemy to strike first. Perhaps one might suffer a bit for it, but they would still be able to deal with the forces they saw. If they revealed all of their trump cards at once in an attack…their fate would be completely up to luck.
“There’s one thing we can be certain of.” Daofather Crimsonbright looked at Ning. “Ji Ning.”
“Daofather,” Ning replied respectfully.
Daofather Crimsonbright looked at Ning. “You have a talent for commanding Heaven Punishers. Once you breakthrough to become a Pure Yang True Immortal, the power of your Heaven Punisher shall explode to a new level. Thus, the Seamless Gate is definitely going to try and kill you to avoid future problems! The intelligence we’ve obtained regarding them concurs; they’ve wanted to get rid of you this entire time.”
“During each of the past three battles, the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater have been in your surrounding area,” Daofather Crimsonbright said. “This has resulted in much of both side’s forces being concentrated around you, roughly 30% or so of the entire battlefield. Minor battles are going on in other places; the only place where both sides are concentrating their forces is the area around you. Once an all-out attack is launched, that place will be the most dangerous place on the entire battlefield…and the first target they will want to eliminate is you, Ji Ning.”
“Xiamang.”
Daofather Crimsonbright looked towards the Xia Emperor. “Stay next to him and assist him. You have to protect Ji Ning; be wary of any sudden changes in the battlefield.”
“Yes, Master,” the Xia Emperor said respectfully.
“The rest of you need to keep an eye out as well. Even if the other minor battlefields take a turn for the worse, casualties will be limited. The region around Ji Ning and Xiamang, however…once there are casualties there, the casualties will be heavy, so heavy as to potentially change the entire dynamic. You need to keep an eye out and be prepared to deal with anything on the fly,” Daofather Crimsonbright instructed.