Heart Survey

Chapter 2789 Singing the Song
At one point, Ji Furen lowered his head and stared into the black cat's eyes.

"You guy!"

He smiled and said, "The dignified Lord of the Mountain and Sea, the most romantic figure in the four thousand years of the Great Chu. The mainstay of the human race, the stabilizing force of the Chu Kingdom—why are you staring at me instead of the Seven Hatreds?"

The black cat squinted, seemingly half-asleep, purring softly, its long tail swaying gently—a posture of gentle enjoyment.

However, in the blink of an eye, the green vertical pupils revealed a complex world of light and shadow.

In the depths of that endless illusory light, there is a figure in flowing robes. Strolling along, glancing back amidst the birth and death of countless ephemeral worlds.

In that instant, her features were frozen in time, her demeanor unparalleled, like a painting of an exceptionally elegant and graceful figure.

“I don’t want to stare at you either, but why are you holding this cat?” Huang Weizhen’s tone was inexplicable, but the painting did indeed come alive because of her words.

The theater was originally filled with stage sets. Now, with spring gone and flowers faded, people arrive and birds are startled, and each hanging painting is like a window into the world.

The puppets in the cargo box were all mounted on it, as if today's leading actors had stepped onto the stage.

The theater that was originally used for selling goods now seemed to have become a theater for watching plays.

"Ha!" Ji Furen chuckled softly. "Even if time means nothing to us, you should at least show some respect to your seniors. This isn't how you cause trouble... And what does this cat have to do with you?"

He was like a warm, experienced person, sharing life lessons with young people on a peaceful afternoon, and showing tolerance for their sharp edges.

"All things in nature are nourished by the spirit, and I, who established mountains and seas, imbued them with life. All beasts are created by me." Huang Weizhen's robes fluttered: "You walk into my sight, yet you tell me not to look at you? How domineering!"

Ji Furen smiled gently: "In terms of beast taming, Huang Weizhen, who created the Mountain and Sea Realm and the Nine Phoenixes, is simply the best in the world."

"Even if the Immortal Emperor recovers and regains control of the Beast Taming Immortal Palace, it will only be that you and I each have our own strengths."

"But this is that little girl's creation, someone else's pet. You just manipulate it like this... It's not about controlling it, it's stealing it."

He emphasized the word 'steal' and looked intently at Huang Weizhen: "This is not a good habit."

“I have heard it said that ‘the corruption of people’s hearts begins with the officialdom!’” Huang Weizhen casually dusted off the corner of her clothes: “The Ji family has swept the morality of the sages into the dust of history and collected the accumulation of the sages into their own private property. Do they have the right to say that my habits are bad?”

Ji Furen smiled and said, "He who steals a hook is punished, he who steals a country becomes a prince, he who steals a beast... becomes the master of mountains and seas?"

Huang Weizhen looked at him and said, "Those who steal immortality become corrupt, those who steal longevity become trapped, and those who steal the Dao become nothing."

Ji Furen's expression changed.

His hand was still gently stroking the puppet cat. He still had that gentle, smiling face, but his chin was slightly raised and his eyes were a little more serious.

His imposing presence was immediately apparent!

Wei is a kind of power, an extension of authority, and is substantial force.

The entire opera house seemed to have been cut away from the grand world of Shenxiao, and the vibrant world that was evolving in the paintings on the four walls seemed to have been sealed off. That brilliant vitality had become like mosquitoes and flies trapped in amber.

Outside the theater, the divine war that has spread throughout the heavens is reaching a crucial moment.

Inside the opera house, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The closer to the eye of the storm, the calmer it is.

Although Youxiao's eyes were upright, reflecting the figure of another transcendent being, it was happily purring, its fluffy paws sometimes opening and sometimes closing, slowly patting in Ji Furen's arms.

Even now, Ji Furen, sitting here, announced his presence with just a glance.

It inevitably brings to mind... Emperor Jingwen, who centralized power internally, suppressed the Daoist sects, and convened alliances with feudal lords externally, ruling the world.

The person who came closest to the emperor in history.

He is also the first transcendent being since the beginning of the new Daoist calendar!
But Huang Weizhen simply met his gaze quietly, her eyes devoid of sorrow or joy, love or hate, only a sense of detachment and endless loneliness.

He had the same look in his eyes when he ascended Mount Kunwu.

Nine hundred years have passed, the landscape has changed, and the world has transformed.

He has not changed.

Ji Furen hooked the cat's chin with his index finger, his voice still gentle: "It seems that killing Gongsun Xi has brought you more than you imagined. It has made you aware of some things you shouldn't have known."

Huang Weizhen smiled slightly: "If what I know is something I shouldn't know, then what you know is also something you shouldn't know."

"Your privacy is no more precious than mine. When you look at others, they are also looking at you."

"Jing Er, you've already stepped down from the dragon throne, so don't sit so high anymore."

His lips pursed: "Shutting up is better for both of us."

"We're both spectators in this theater, so don't be so tense. Since you've already transcended worldly affairs, why would I interfere?" Ji Furen raised his hand and beckoned, "Come sit over here—we're both seekers of the new era, and we haven't even had a proper chat yet."

“We’ve been talking all along,” Huang Weizhen’s voice said.

Youxiao's vertical pupils turned green again, and with a plop, that complex world became a stone that sank to the bottom, sinking into the endless river of light and shadow in time and space, followed by the gurgling sound of bubbles.

Ji Furen gently stroked the cat without saying another word.

Huang Weizhen is right.

They were talking.

……

……

gurgling, gurgling...

The tiny bubbles rising in a small puddle are also microscopic worlds that are constantly being created and destroyed.

In the depths of the chaotic sea, where it is impossible to tell whether it is vast or minuscule, there is a fresh burial mound.

It is described as "fresh" because the loess soil was freshly turned over, the grave mound was compacted, and there were no weeds at all... It was clear that the body had not been placed in the coffin for long, and the funeral procession had just left.

Yet it is also incredibly ancient. This small circle of graveyards carved out in the chaotic sea carries a profound sense of decay, where many stories have already been turned over by the time the viewer's gaze falls upon it. Time is the cheapest commodity here; it is lost as soon as it passes by.

A rustling sound arose, the yellow earth was pushed aside, and a pale, bluish hand emerged from it.

Then came the other hand, followed by a whole corpse covered in tattered clothes and mud!

He braced himself against the edge of the grave mound and began to breathe heavily.

"Whoosh...whoosh whoosh—"

The sound of breathing was as sharp as a whistling arrow, cutting through the chaotic waves outside the graveyard layer by layer.

It took him a long time to calm down. He braced his hands on the edge of the grave mound, his long, damp hair hanging down to the yellow earth, and his gaze moved with difficulty through the gaps in his hair.

These are a pair of deathly gray eyes, representing desolation, nothingness, and eternal oblivion.

His voice was cold and low, and his breath carried a chilling wind.

"Are we waiting for the right time for the sea creatures?"

He murmured, "I have received your sentiments. As for your karma... I accept it."

Click!
He tried to get up, supporting himself on the mound of earth, but his hands, which hadn't been used for so long, couldn't hold on and snapped. His face was buried in the ground, and he ended up with a mouthful of mud.

It was quite tenacious; it used its elbows to support itself, lifted its lower body, and rolled onto the bank of the grave.

He rolled half a circle away from his own burial pit before spitting out the yellow mud in his mouth for a long time.

"That's bad luck."

He looked up at the sky.

In the chaotic world, there is no distinction between heaven and earth, but at his level, everything is distinct; he is standing on the earth and looking at the sky.

"Although it's unlucky, the things that need to be done still need to be done. If you receive benefits but don't do anything... you'll get maggots."

He sighed, snapped the bones back into place with two clicks, raised his hand to his face, rubbed the yellow mud off his face, and pushed all his damp long hair back.

It was a rather handsome face, but his nose was too sharp and his dead gray eyes were too deep, making him look somewhat sinister.

After leaving the grave, his aura rapidly expanded, transforming from a flickering candle in the wind into a raging inferno!

The tattered cloth he wore had grown into an ancient-style witch's robe.

My gaze fell on the edge of this graveyard, where a roc's feather lay.

The supreme seal he had personally established—the [Azure Life, Profound Death, Illuminating Karmic Law]—gave him the complete answer.

Long ago, a powerful member of the Peng clan crossed the Chaos Sea and accidentally wandered into this place, where he was suppressed by the [Azure Life, Profound Death, Illuminating Karmic Law]. However, this Peng clan member possessed extraordinary strength, and he used one of his Peng feathers to suppress the evil spirits while he himself escaped, disappearing for less than half a year.

The cause and effect of Si Liang's fate originated from this.

He had an even clearer premonition—the cause and effect extending from this Peng feather could just interfere with the battlefield of that evil immortal emperor of the sea race.

In any case, at least the human race must lose an existence equal to Siliang, otherwise Siliang's death will not have been in vain.

He must at least make the same contributions on the battlefield as Si Liang to be worthy of the strongest Corpse Emperor of this era... dedicating all his life's accumulation.

The yearning for transcendence from Mount Shituo has all been buried in this pile of yellow earth. Climbing out of the mud, isn't he just a new tree?

“Qingyan…”

He murmured his name, smiling slightly, revealing his canine teeth.

"I wonder if those old Taoist priests and bald monks are still around... I really miss them!"

The corpse stood upright, as straight as a tall tree. He reached out and took the roc feather. His deathly gray eyes examined its downy texture, then his eyelids drooped like a falling gate.

He suddenly opened his eyes again.

He suddenly closed his eyes and then suddenly opened them again.

"One year, two months, and seven days have passed? Damn it... Could the Divine Firmament War be over already?"

"What! The sea creatures have surrendered?"

Qing Yan stood there, his face, which hadn't seen anyone for a long time, turning pale one moment and ashen the next... This was his unpredictable mood.

"In this vast world, with its myriad forms and diverse species, living freely and prosperously, how can any one entity dominate? I have awakened to the will of Heaven and must save the collapsing edifice."

Qingyan pulled up her sleeve with her stiff, pale fingers: "We always have to do something."

He raised his hand and breathed on it.

"I wonder if he's still as good as he used to be after all these years of not fighting."

The next moment, he reached into the chaos and pulled back a curtain.

"The living see death, and the dead see life. Penetrating the principles of Yin and Yang, the great supernatural power of the two polarities!"

His hand is the boundary between Yin and Yang, his gaze cuts through time and space, lifting a corner of the boundless chaos, and the next step is to ascend to the Divine Firmament.

But what they saw before them was not the vast world of Shenxiao, which contained infinite possibilities, but a pure black screen wall.

Take a cautious half-step back, and the chaotic spacetime becomes clear. The vast becomes insignificant, and what is close at hand becomes the ends of the earth.

Behind the curtain of chaos, a dark pit, resembling a nest, had appeared at some unknown time.

At the center of the dark pit, preening its feathers, was an extremely beautiful black phoenix.

The "screen wall" that Qingyan saw was actually the obsidian-like eye of this phoenix!
Thus, separated by a layer of chaos that had been lifted into the void, the graveyard and the phoenix nest were adjacent.

The first being in the world to enter the Dao through a corpse witnessed the virtuous influence of the Black Phoenix, who revived the Dao of Corpses after the new beginning of the Dao Era.

The ancestral corpse Qingyan saw the corpse phoenix Jiaxuan!

Qing chuckled, stepped forward, and reached out her hand: "Little Phoenix—"

His smile froze the next moment: "...Sorry to bother you."

His hand rose naturally, grasped the curtain of chaos, and then abruptly put it down.

He then activated the [Azure Life, Profound Death, Illumination, Karmic Law] to its limit, which he had been waiting to collect, and jumped straight back, lying back down in the pit.

The chaotic sea was calm and still; the ripples that appeared for a moment vanished like a tiny bubble.

Yin and Yang are in chaos, life and death are reversed, time and space are scattered—the graveyard has been hidden.

Inside the phoenix nest, Jiaxuan lay quietly. Every feather was as perfect as a sculpture.

Only in those obsidian-like phoenix eyes did a figure, shackled and disheveled, slowly materialize.

"Ah... they've found me."

His voice was very suppressed, as if every word was imprisoned and could only be escaped and heard by someone with great effort.

Jia Xuan's voice was frosty and aloof, as if he were looking down on the ants of the masses from the throne: "I never expected that Ji Yanshu's corpse would come to life. The previous path was not completed, and the next path was not continued... and it turned out to be like this. Even the sages of the past could not help but regret it."

This is yet another historical secret.

The renowned "Ancestor of the East," one of the Eight Sages of antiquity, the creator of human sealing techniques, the propagator of beast taming techniques, and the one revered as the "Azure Emperor" by the Yang Kingdom... After his death, his corpse and spirits were none other than "Qingyan," who later created the Corpse Path and wreaked havoc on the world!
The spirit woman was a male corpse, hence she appeared in male form. She bore no resemblance whatsoever to Ji Yanshu in her previous life.

"What kind of demeanor is this? Not dignified enough, not proper enough, not virtuous enough, not devoted enough to humanity?"

The figure embedded in Jia Xuanyou's eyes had a strange smile on its face: "He wasn't originally a human either."

He slightly shifted the shackled hand: "Just as the Celestial God Lord is not the same as Feng Hou, Qing Yan is no longer Ji Yan Shu. If you have any lofty fantasies about this ancestral corpse because of the Azure Emperor, then you are making a big mistake."

Jia Xuan sighed softly, "That's true. Because of that person's greatness, I can't help but... have some expectations for him."

“Expectation is the root of misfortune.” The shackled figure said, “What’s next? Let me remind you—once I leave the underground palace, time will begin to flow, and my sentence will be over soon.”

He is the "person without end" whom Gu Chi awakened from the underground palace by order of the Chu Emperor!
Once again, Huang Weizhen returned from her fantasy, and the Nine Phoenixes brought blessings to the world, with five of them returning to Chu. The Divine Phoenix Feique and the Corpse Phoenix Jiaxuan both landed at Zhanghua Terrace.

Therefore, the waiting outside the grave can be seen as a joint effort between Fengdu and Zhanghuatai, a voice hidden by the Chu court in the Chaos Sea.

Although Jia Xuan is among the Nine Phoenixes, her cultivation has increased daily since her birth. However, guarding outside the graveyard, it is clear that this "one without end" is the main force.

Qingyan wanted to capture Jiaxuan as soon as he saw him, but upon discovering that he was "the one with no end in sight," he fled first. His terror needs no further explanation.

"This [Azure Life, Mysterious Death, Illuminating Karmic Law]...can you open it?" Jia Xuan asked.

The one with no end shook his chains, as if to say, "There is no unsolvable seal in the world. The [Azure Life, Profound Death, Illumination of Karma Law] is not at the level of the Nine Towns. But the reason why Qingyan chose it is because it is too perfect to place here - the Mysterious Karma of Life and Death is hidden in the Chaos Sea, and the Yin-Yang Tomb Soil becomes part of the Chaos."

"We can find a special drop of water in a sea, but we cannot find a different kind of chaos in chaos. Because chaos is chaos, and chaos is the beginning and the end of all things."

"Qingyan buried himself in the grave soil, hiding between life and death. He was supported by the Yin grave inside and obscured by chaos outside. This is the inexplicable and unpredictable state called 'eternity' in the sealing technique, which can only be encountered but not sought."

Jia Xuanling was born with exceptional intelligence and comprehension. He pondered for a moment, "So this is what the Nine Towns of the Long River are like?"

"The Emperor of Lieshan refined the Nine Towns with the nine sons of the Dragon Emperor, thus forging an immortal nature, which is why they can eternally suppress the Long River." The one without end said in a low voice, "When I came out of the treasure room of the underground palace, crossed the Long River and entered the Chaos Sea, the new stele erected on the viewing platform was actually a kind of suppression method... with a hint of 'eternity'."

"Let's not talk about that." Jia Xuan's feathers were like swords, with a hint of sharpness in them: "You mean, to break the [Azure Life, Profound Death, Illuminating Karmic Law], only a transcendent being can intervene?"

The man with a life sentence was silent for a while, then said, "There is another way—we can put this life sentence shackle on his grave. Since he loves hiding in graves so much, he might as well never come out again."

“Your sentence isn’t over yet, I have no authority to remove your shackles.” Jia Xuan smiled enigmatically: “It seems we still have to talk.”

“Then…” The man with life imprisonment brushed his hair aside with both hands, revealing a blank face: “Let’s talk.”

A vast expanse of blank space appeared at the edge of the Phoenix Nest, extending into the depths of chaos. The chaos outside surged for a moment, then quickly returned to its previous state. Qingyan had already lowered the curtain, but it had not yet disappeared completely.

The blank space surged forward, like a clump of sticky rice grains, binding the Qingyan graveyard and the Jiaxuan Phoenix Nest together.

He woke up Qingyan, who was pretending to be asleep, forcing the deaf ancestral corpse to hear the sounds from the Phoenix Nest.

……

……

"Let's talk."

Peng Erlai heard Ying Jianghong say this.

The high-ranking generals of the demon race all looked ashen-faced, their morale visibly plummeting.

Even Qi Guanying, who was in charge of this battlefield and personally led the heavenly soldiers of the Doubu, could only feel desolation in his eyes.

He remained unfazed even when mountains collapsed before him, and he could calmly face any dire situation; he possessed the qualities of a peerless military strategist. Even when the Jing Kingdom launched a surprise attack on the ancient imperial city, he simply and coldly committed his entire army to the campaign, striving to achieve the best possible outcome in the war.

But the current situation is different.

In a fleeting moment, Peng Erlai felt a chilling gaze, as if a wisp of cold air had gently brushed past the back of his head... and then vanished.

He didn't pursue the matter further; it was pointless anyway.

Who's been targeting me, or whose fate has been tainted by me—what does it matter? Even if the target is identified, what then? Can it change the course of this war?

He once felt deeply ashamed for failing to kill Li Yi. As a Great Sage of the Demon Clan, he had sat in the top power space of the Demon Clan for so long, yet he failed to take down a human cultivator who was not even a hundred years old.

His past cultivation efforts were utterly wasted, failing to achieve transcendence. For thousands of years, he had remained stagnant, only expanding without ever truly progressing. Accumulating more Dao essence did not guarantee a leap forward.

Those who forge ahead are forever mired in hardship, while those who follow progress by leaps and bounds. In every moment of his battle with Li Yi, he clearly felt the other's advancement!
As the times surged forward, they didn't take these old folks with them.

He felt like he was one of those useless people who held a position without doing any work.

He, this great bodhisattva of Mount Nan, a powerful being expected to transcend thousands of years ago, was destined to recreate his glory in the world of Shenxiao. But he failed. He was intercepted at the very first step, and then remained so until the end of the first round of war.

He believed he would bear a heavy responsibility if the demon race were defeated. The breakthrough he was supposed to open remained closed, ultimately becoming a wall of lamentation.

But this proved not to be the case.

Whether he kills Li Yi or is killed by Li Yi, it will not affect the outcome of this war.

The endless battles and the fleeting moments of life and death were merely a brief backdrop to this war. He was no different from the lightning bolt in the sky.

He didn't know whether it was more tragic that he couldn't influence the outcome of the war at all, or more painful that he had caused the demon race's defeat.

They don't even know which way to make a wish.

It turns out that the Buddha's teachings have limits, but there is no shore to turn back to.

If the first round of the Divine Firmament War was a tragic song jointly composed by the human race of the present world and the allied forces of the heavens, then both sides displayed their strength and courage, and with an equally resolute determination to die, they ultimately maintained a fragile balance on the battlefield of the heavens.

The second round of the Divine Firmament War was a complete crushing defeat of the era.

At the outset of the war, the battles across the four continents and five seas were nothing more than a replay of the Heavenly Realm battlefield. Those heroic tales, worthy of song and tears, were merely a reenactment of the previous life-or-death struggle. The demon warriors were not afraid of death, and the allied forces of the heavens, assembled in the Divine Firmament World, were prepared to fill the roads with corpses. But at the end of the war, the Puppet World rose to prominence, the colossal city appeared in the sky, and countless puppet war machines surged like a raging sea.

The victory was not achieved by any specific individual, but by the ruthless crushing of the old by the new. As the tide of humanity surged forward, it incidentally swept away the dust of history.

Yu Zhen created the Divine Firmament World, and Chai Yin Yong lost the first step. Countless heroes and warriors of the All-Heavens Alliance rushed to the Divine Firmament for a bloody battle... all to prevent this day from coming.

Everyone knows that if we just keep waiting like this, this day will come sooner or later.

Humanity occupies the present world, suppresses the heavens, and is ambitious and innovative, innovating generation after generation. Sooner or later, they will crush the boundary markers of all other races as if they were mere fences. Whether they hide in the depths of the Heavenly Prison or conceal themselves at the end of the Void, they cannot change the outcome.

The allied forces of the heavens fought to the death, from top to bottom, all in an attempt to overthrow the world before that day arrived, establish relative freedom, and accumulate resources sufficient to contend with it.

They were willing to pay a huge price to push the door open ahead of time.

But it's still too late.

And what's even more terrifying is...

The rise of the Puppet World is just one chapter in the realization of humanity's brilliant visions!
Of the Hundred Schools of Thought, Mohism was only one of them. With the advent of the new Daoist era, sectarian sects were no longer the mainstream in the world.

The human race has far greater potential, and what has been developed so far is less than a fraction of it.

From a rational perspective, Peng Erlai could understand Zhan Shou's surrender.

When Xi Xiangyi completed her final leap, the Divine Firmament War was effectively over, and this gamble where everything was staked had reached its conclusion. All Zhan Shou had to do was leave the gambling table as gracefully as possible.

The first loser to leave the game loses the least!
"Surrendering means losing half the stake" is of course impossible.

But if he wanted to retain some leverage to go home for dinner, no one would push him to the brink.

Just like before he surrendered, he first demonstrated his strength to kill Beigong Ke.

The fighting spirit and courage of the sea creatures have been fully demonstrated in the battles of the past year and more. Throughout the struggles of past eras, the bloodshed of the mystical realm has never receded.

No one can doubt the courage of the sea creatures.

No one can ignore the tenacity of the sea creatures.

Everyone came with a sliver of hope, a do-or-die determination, only to find that the pool of bets no longer offered the option of victory. It was either certain death or a miserable existence.

Zhan Shou is not only the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces of the Central Moon Gate Battlefield, but also the supreme military commander of the Sea Clan's expedition to Shenxiao. He cannot only consider his dignity and honor; he must make the most difficult decision to preserve the flame for the Sea Clan.

Peng Erlai's feelings are understandable... but I can't help but feel deep resentment.

It all started with the Dragon Clan splitting off from the Demon Clan, joining forces with the Human Clan and all other races to rebel against the Heavenly Court. Today, it's the Sea Clan that's the first to withdraw!
Those small tribes that came from afar are still fighting to the death, and those weak tribes that can't even muster a large cross-border expeditionary force in an entire small world and have to travel on corpse ships are still conquering cities and seizing strongholds in the four continents and five seas, bravely advancing...

The sea creatures, one of the main forces of the allied forces, retreated in organized units.

Princess Tang Wenxue of the Jing Kingdom, along with Beigong Ke, the commander of the Yong Kingdom's expeditionary force, accepted the surrender of the Sea Clan on behalf of the present-day human race, allowing the Sea Clan to return to the vast ocean.

During the war, the negotiation terms were finalized quickly. The State of Jing was eager to unleash its military power, the State of Yong was happy to develop in peace, and the Sea Clan only wanted to cut their losses and survive. The three parties were in perfect agreement.

From then on, the sea race no longer claimed to be the orthodox one in the mortal world and officially withdrew from the realm of illusion, retaining only the Saha Dragon Domain and the East Sea Dragon Palace as boundary markers for the sea race.

The sea race takes the Mysterious Realm as its border and will never expand beyond it. From then on, they have provided annual tributes without fail and paid huge war reparations for the Divine Firmament War, which they hastily initiated, encroached upon the interests of the human race, and hurt the feelings of the human race.

Once the treaty on the walls of Jucheng was finalized, the azure aura of the soldiers on the colorful Tianjing battlefield immediately receded.

Looking out over the four lands and five seas, one sees a vast expanse of sky, as if encountering a dried-up seabed.

The fragile balance of war collapsed in an instant!
"What do you want to talk about?" Qi Guan asked.

Ying Jianghong was not in a hurry to launch an offensive. The news of the sea tribe's surrender had not yet spread completely, and the morale of the Allied Forces of the Heavens had not yet plummeted.

The moment to set a new record for killing enemies is when the enemy is in disarray.

This battlefield was entirely dominated by the demon race. To encircle and annihilate the Jing army, Qi Guan had deployed a large number of elite demon troops. Therefore, there wasn't a sudden withdrawal of the sea race's forces, nor an instant collapse of the battle line. But other battlefields were different…

The collapse of mountains and the devastation of the seas will soon sweep in. Even if the ancestor of war were to be reborn, he would be unable to save the situation.

"Let's talk about surrender." Ying Jianghong commanded his troops to advance slowly and methodically, keeping the enemy's nerves on edge, waiting for the inevitable snap.

"Heaven cherishes life, and the Central Government is benevolent in saving the world. Our Great Jing Empire has guarded the gates of ten thousand demons for nearly four thousand years. Even if we are not good friends with the demon race, we are still close neighbors."

Why not surrender to me?

He spread his arms wide, making a gesture of embracing all: "Heroes may be strong, but why do they do things in vain? Warriors may be brave, but they need not die needlessly."

"The Central Grand View will give you the best conditions, and some of our promises can only be fulfilled by us."

A vast and magnificent landscape certainly has the right to say such things.

It can nod what Yong dares not do. It can do what Jing cannot do.

"What's there to talk about!" Lu Zhi roared. "Humans are the servants of demons, and demons are the raw materials for human pills!"

"We can talk to the sea creatures. Can we talk to the demon race?"

"Things have come to this, death is the only option!"

"Come, come! Ji Yumin!" He stepped forward before the army: "I was honored by your teachings last time, and now I am willing to die by your hand!"

The Minister of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, who was overseeing the military affairs, merely lowered his eyelids slightly and said with a slow laugh, "It's easy."

They say it's easy, but they don't actually do anything about it.

He was 98% confident he could kill Lu Zhi one-on-one, but he waited until the demon army collapsed completely... At that point, Lu Zhi was more constrained and had to make a sacrifice.

The Heavenly Breath Wasteland, which Zhu Yi ruled, was invaded by the Jing Kingdom. Her homeland was completely wiped out, and only one in a thousand of her bloodline descendants survived. She was the one with the least reason to surrender. But at this moment, she remained silent.

Lu Ximing's injuries are still severe and he has not been able to retreat to recuperate. He has been forcibly holding on on the battlefield for more than a year, and he is still holding on now.

"Did you hear that?" Qi Guan looked at Ying Jianghong and cried out in a pained voice, "Can you promise to stop plundering the Dao veins of the demon race and stop using demon race members as raw materials for alchemy?"

“When the demon race rebelled against the Heavenly Court in ancient times, they made a promise that they would no longer serve the human race as servants, but instead pledged to be brothers, saying that they were of the same origin.”

Ying Jianghong stared at the commander of the Heavenly Soldiers of the Dou Division: "But when the demon race sent out that promise, His Majesty Suiren had already breached the Heavenly Gate. What kind of achievements have you made today to demand this promise?"

Qi Guanying remained silent.

He indeed failed to achieve any real victory. The demon race lost their desperate gamble with Shenxiao, and he also failed to win against Jiang Hong in this localized battlefield where he had heavily invested his forces.

"Actually, wolves eat sheep, sheep eat grass, and humans refine elixirs; it's just the cycle of nature, the natural order. We haven't seen sheep become extinct or grass die out, and life still goes on, hasn't it?"

Ying Jianghong's voice was like a giant vortex, endlessly swallowing the hearts of the listeners.

"General Qi, the great Bodhisattva, Mr. Lu, Spider Celestial Venerable, Deer Celestial Venerable..."

His gaze swept over each one earnestly: "On behalf of the Jing Kingdom, I promise you all the Heavenly Venerables—you will not lose your glory and wealth, and your future will continue. Nothing will change, except that many fewer soldiers will die."

"Your surrender would be a better outcome for both of us."

Humanity never wanted this war of the gods from the beginning. If they had just continued to develop in a step-by-step manner, sweeping away all the heavens would have been a natural outcome.

It was Yu Zhen who created this path, giving the demon race a chance to rebel. The demon race then rallied various alien races in the heavens, wanting to reenact the ancient story of the Heavenly Court.

But now that opportunity has been squandered, it's time to drive the demon race back to the pigsty.

It would be best if they obediently walked back on their own.

Otherwise, this tough nut would have broken a few teeth.

Humans are not afraid of sacrifice, but it is best not to sacrifice.

Qi Guanying raised his eyes and said, "Are you saying that the human race's plunder of the demon race should be replaced by our voluntary sacrifice?"

"If sheep are allowed to graze freely, they will eat all the grass and turn the grassland into wasteland. If the hay is harvested regularly and delivered to the sheepfold, both sides will prosper."

"It's always good to look at things from a different perspective."

Jiang Hong patiently advised, "Paying tribute in exchange for peace is a wise choice."

Buzz~!

The entire Divine Firmament World, encompassing the four continents and five seas, suddenly trembled.

Endless divine light surged and rolled like a tide, revealing a figure with withered hair and frosty eyebrows on every battlefield.

When Peng Erlai first looked at him, he couldn't believe it was Chan Jingmeng.

Standing on the Conferred God Platform, facing all the heavens and myriad realms, the cicada, startled by a dream, cried out in anguish: "I deserve to die! I was entrusted with the fate of the world and had a command over the entire situation, yet I failed at every turn, and my great advantage was destroyed in an instant. I cannot atone to the heavens if I do not die!"

"The Divine Firmament World was pioneered by our demon race. The opportunity to fight back against the mortal world was created by our demon race. Those who lead the charge on the Divine Firmament battlefield are none other than our demon race."

"In this battle, the demon race suffered the most casualties, charged the front, and made the greatest contributions. From the Demon Emperor down, none were willing to die. The demon race did not retreat! Even as the human race broke through their borders, even as the demon realm was in dire straits, even as the ancient imperial city met the Jing army's advance—the sea race retreated!"

"It is torn apart from humanity by demons, and from the world by water. It survives in the vast ocean by polluting its own spiritual veins. Today, it seeks to retreat, thus breaking the alliance!"

"It is not our demon race that will exert its utmost efforts; time waits for no one, and fate does not favor us."

"We part today, and I don't know when it will be."

"So that you may all remember this—it is not our demon race that has wronged the heavens, but the sea race that has wronged the demon race!"

Rumble! Rumble!
At the beginning of the year, the Qian Tian Yao Zhou Plateau was the first to develop a fissure tens of millions of feet deep, which continues to expand.

The inland sea, named "Wild Swamp," was engulfed by a massive tsunami. The surging floodwaters rushed in all directions.

The disaster spread rapidly.

Everywhere, across land and sea, is in turmoil; crimson lightning illuminates the heavens!

Then came the omnipresent, inescapable bombardment, the blood-red lightning like wisps of smoke, almost binding every alien creature. The slaughter would be complete once the next bolt of blood-red lightning struck.

This is the Great World of Shenxiao's retaliation against outsiders. All interference and harm caused by outside forces in this world will be met with the world's revenge... known as divine retribution!

The demon race created the Divine Firmament Great World. In this world, they made the earliest moves, laid the longest-standing plans, and brewed such terrifying methods. This was supposed to be the decisive factor in the final battle—

This can indeed be considered the final stage.

But just as the entire Divine Firmament Great World was shaken, the ethereal and unknowable highest heaven was suddenly torn apart, from which four stone archways were projected, each bearing the characters "East Heavenly Gate," "West Heavenly Gate," "South Heavenly Gate," and "North Heavenly Gate."

This is the Heavenly Gate in the present world!

The Divine Firmament Great World, like a wildly shaking dice cup, was slammed to a stop on the table. The clattering sounds ceased, and the dice inside came to a stillness.

The crimson lightning that illuminated the heavens was instantly wiped out. The turmoil in the four continents and five seas was forcibly quelled.

The timeline of the Divine Firmament World has already aligned with that of the present world, so any slight anomaly cannot escape its influence.

By order of the six great hegemons, the Divine Firmament moved and the Heavenly Gate descended to suppress them.

On the ancient plateau, a towering statue of a divine deity, ten thousand feet tall, had long stood. Now, its divine radiance shone brightly, soothing the fear in the hearts of all living beings.

The towering Yaozhen Heavenly Palace opened its gates wide, and Cangming emerged, his entire body shrouded in a long robe. Meanwhile, the nine-thousand-foot-tall statues of other gods loomed high in the sky, their dark eyes merely sweeping across the ground, instantly smoothing the fissures in the Shisui Plateau!

The annexation of Yaozhen Heavenly Palace brought immense benefits to this statue of the Outer Gods.

Those who are in charge of destruction can now turn death into life.

Arona, the Lord of Destruction, now has the possibility of looking to something higher.

Just as the Heavenly Gate of the mortal world was suppressing the Divine Firmament Great World, a blood-red portal appeared on all the battlefields in the Four Continents, Five Seas, and Two Heavens Realms.

Under the guise of launching a final assault, Chan Jingmeng chose to sever the connection between the Demon Realm and Shenxiao, reclaiming all of its moves in Shenxiao... and retreating to Tianyu!
His statement, "It is not that the demon race has wronged the heavens," is because the demon race is also withdrawing and will no longer care about other families.

The enormous corpse ship, named "Doubu Tiangong," suddenly appeared in the sky.

Facing Ying Jianghong head-on, Qi Guanying brandished his sword and charged into the fray in his boat!
Ying Jianghong retreated again and again, tightening the sack layer by layer, and then commanded his army to swiftly and decisively cut through the demon army like a sharp knife piercing through a gap, slicing it in two!

He was also earnestly trying to win people over psychologically and sincerely trying to persuade them to surrender. This did not prevent him from making ruthless military deployments.

The demon army was cut in two like a long snake. One part retreated towards the Divine Firmament Blood Gate, while the other remained in the central battlefield, baring its fangs and claws.

The Jing Kingdom's army, like a pair of sharp, staggered blades, pursued and killed the enemy while simultaneously burying them on the spot.

This is just a microcosm of the vast Shenxiao battlefield.

If the surrender of the sea tribes was the beginning of this landslide, then the great retreat of the demon tribes was like the ridge being hollowed out and the roots being uprooted, immediately killing the situation.

From the highest realm of the Two Heavens to a single county or island in the Divine Firmament World, the Allied Forces of the Heavens collapsed across the board!

This brutal extermination is pervasive, from top to bottom. No matter how powerful or insignificant you are, there is no excuse for escaping. Once caught in the trap, you must accept your fate.

The most devastating casualties of the Shenxiao War occurred at this time.

The allied forces of the heavens retreated frantically, but the human army held them off.

It was a repeat of the massive withdrawal of troops from the central Moon Gate of the Jing Kingdom. But on a larger scale and in a more urgent situation.

The Allied Forces of the Gods had to carve out actual flesh and blood in an attempt to slightly slow down the human army's advance, but even that was not enough to stop them.

At this moment, there was no longer any distinction between the six great powers, the Li and Wei kingdoms, or the different sects... The human army was frantically cutting down enemies.

In just a few hours, the casualties of the Allied Forces had already exceeded the total casualties of the previous year.

The five seas were all stained red, the four continents of Shenxiao were covered in blood, and blood was constantly falling from the sky!

At some point, the "Doubu Heavenly Palace" lifted itself upwards, crashing out of the Divine Firmament World. It seemed to have no intention of flying back to the Heavenly Prison, but instead plunged headlong into the depths of space. This left the human army's carefully laid trap empty-handed.

Ying Jianghong grabbed Ji Jinglu, who was about to give chase, and said, "Eat the meat in front of you first."

Qi Guan should lead the remaining troops to flee far away; it is not worth pursuing them.

Sending too few troops will be ineffective, while sending too many will only reduce the pressure on the demon realm. After all, the Heavenly Prison World is the current foundation for the demon race.

"Next, the demon race's defense line in the Heavenly Prison World will inevitably shrink. We have the bridgehead built by Marshal Tiandu in the Heavenly Breath Wasteland, so we can take more."

The cicada, startled by a dream, burned out its remaining lifespan, exchanging all its plans for the Divine Firmament World for a chance to withdraw its troops.

The many blood gates that opened in the Divine Firmament World all lead directly to the Ancient Imperial City.

After the Blood Gate incident, the Demon Emperor Xuanbi personally drew his sword and guarded the city gate!

Behind him stood a forest of armored warriors, the last of the imperial city's soldiers, who accompanied him in etching his will to die.

"All the people are guilty, but my guilt is less than theirs!"

"I cannot lead you to victory, so I... will take you home!"

Outside each of the last blood-red gates, human flags were erected in abundance.

The countless blood gates are like countless greedy eyes watching over the demon realm.

Emperor Xuanbi picked up the Ruyi Scepter and, with a mournful sound, shattered those eyes. This also proclaimed that those warriors trapped on the battlefield of Shenxiao would never return.

……

……

In the vast universe, starlight is annihilated along its path, leaving only endless darkness ahead.

Lu Ximing is dead, Zhu Yi is dead, and Lu Zhi led his army back to Tianyu...

The most magnificent corpse ship in the demon realm carries a group of defeated and annihilated soldiers.

"Commander Qi! Where... can we escape to?"

Under the battle flag, which had been broken and then re-tied, the general holding the flag spoke in a heavy voice. One of his bull horns was broken, and the remaining horn was stained with blood. His eyes, like copper bells, strained to stay open, trying not to let the commander-in-chief hear the sob in his voice.

Qi Guan stood at the bow of the boat, gazing into the vast, endless distance; his demonic eyes also reflected a boundless expanse.

"Keep running."

　See you on Friday!
　　(End of this chapter)