Nearly a million streaks of violet lightning crashed down from the heavens, plunging into the Bloodlight Divine Domain. Each bolt transformed into a Thunder Lord or a Thunder King. This was far more than a mere Thunder Lord or the Lightning Mother assisting him.[1]

Every god of the Heavenly Thunder Division had answered the summon. As they swept through the Bloodlight Divine Domain, karmic debts were settled and evil demons subdued.

Even with their combined might, Liyang and Taizhong stood powerless before the Thunder Divine Domain. In a single clash, bloody cracks split across Liyang's face, from which crimson light seeped outward.

Disbelief filled his eyes. "Who exactly was the god you visualized!?"

A surge of fear gripped him, born of the unknown. He did not even dare glance at Thunder’s projection, seated high in the skies. Forget the master of this Divine Domain, even the thunder gods overwhelmed him, and they were merely projections. How strong would their true forms be? Liyang could not imagine it.

Thunder stood in the void, robes snapping in the wind as ten thousand bolts of lightning crackled around him.

"Great Sage, Great Compassion, Supreme Emperor, Supreme Dao!" He said no nonsense, his voice rolling across like ten thousand thunderclaps.

Right after, every thunder general swelled by tenfold, their auras surging to terrifying heights. Gods descended by the decree of the Thunder Ancestor, eradicating all evil.

Liyang's Divine Domain shattered piece by piece. If not for the support of his star, he would have fallen long ago. Even so, in just a brief exchange, one-third of his domain had collapsed. Between him and the enemy lay a chasm that could never be bridged.

***

Outside the Divine Domain, the war raged no less fiercely. Nine star projections had suddenly appeared in the sky of the Qingheng Continent. Vast and terrifying, their edges seemed almost within reach. Everyone across the continent could see them.

One radiated a dreadful aura, while all nine in formation exuded murderous intent across the heavens. The Nine Luminaries spread across the sky. The fortunes and calamities of all gods were no longer in their own hands, but in theirs.

The older twin was the sun, while the younger was the moon. One yin, one yang, together forming Taiji.

All nine Star Officers let out a roar. "Taiji Ultimate, Nine Luminaries, Slay the Firmament!"

Like a celestial canopy, a Taiji diagram crashed toward the earth, blazing with seven stars. [2]

Countless evil gods shot skyward like fireflies, but there was no escaping the grand formation. It was like savages in hides, wielding wooden spears, charging against a modern steel army. Death was their only fate.

"Aaah!"

"No!"

"All Great Venerables, follow my command! Break out together!"

Chaos engulfed the base camp. The disordered enemy troops began forming battle arrays, striking back at the Nine Luminaries. Normally, a thousand Venerables could take down a single Great Venerable. This time, they couldn’t even graze one. The gap between Divine Domains could not be bridged by numbers. The Nine Luminaries could even contend with a Mythic. How could mere Venerables and Great Venerables compare to them?

Moreover, Qi Yuan had summoned only the orthodox gods of the Heavenly Division. Not only did they preside over the thirty-three heavens, but each also wielded boundless divine power. They held divine authority, and their might surpassed their peers tenfold. When nine Fifth Step Great Venerables struck together, their power was unimaginable.

The rest of the True Gods also charged at the evil gods as if leaping into empty space. It was a one-sided massacre.

The enemy base camp had over a hundred Great Venerables, far more than the Southern Lands. Yet to the Nine Luminaries and the others, their Divine Domains were as fragile as paper airplanes. No matter how many paper planes there were, could they drown a fighter jet?

The outcome had been decided long ago. The base camp was reduced into a wasteland. Divine Domains overlapped everywhere. Careless Venerables were killed instantly by stray shockwaves.

Ten thousand meters away, cultivators and ancient gods alike rose into the air, watching the massacre from afar. Though the details were unclear, they could see an inverted sea of lightning threatening to swallow the world on one side, and nine stars suspended high above. Like moths to a flame, the evil gods surged upward only to plummet back down.

"A great war has erupted at the evil god base camp!"

"Mythic, there are Mythics!"

"A Mythic is besieging the camp! But how? When did our Mortal Heart World get a Mythic?!"

Countless eyes watched the heaven-shaking battle. Horror gripped some, joy the others; some sank to their knees in tears, while others wept openly. A thousand miles away, a headless ancient god stood atop a mountain. Watching the distant flames of war, bloody tears flowed from his severed neck.

"Haha! Hahaha!" Lingzhong laughed wildly. "A sea of lightning... Nine luminaries hanging in the sky like a heavenly canopy—I... I've seen them!"

He recalled half a month before the Hongtang War, No-Food Goddess had sought him out and given him something.

That day, her eyes held a rare glimmer of brilliance. "The Mortal Heart World will not perish. Hope has always existed. Someone will rise in the distant future. He will smash the stars and tear the Yang Spirits apart!"

Lingzhong grew frenzied. "He truly exists... No-Food Goddess..."

Hope had always been there. Yet the No-Food Goddess and the Mythics who had perished in battle would never see it again.

***

Meanwhile, Qi Yuan stood calmly in the void, clad in a green robe. His EXP bar surged wildly as evil god spiritual energy poured in. Before long, his gains had already surpassed everything he earned in the battle at Sunset Slope.

Glancing sideways at Lishan, he said lightly, "Your suona skill needs work. You're playing too softly, the ancient gods fighting below can't even hear you."

Lishan blushed. He had even expanded his Divine Domain, dispersing his spiritual energy into countless avatars, all blowing suonas simultaneously. Yet, it was to no avail.

The battlefield was simply too loud! The combined forces numbered over ten thousand, with the weakest being True Gods! The Divine Domains below were practically cheating, all carrying divine authorities!

Divine authority had always been coveted by peerless prodigies. The enemy base camp numbered nearly ten thousand evil gods, yet only a few dozen possessed it. On their side, every single True God did. Even the most ordinary Venerable held the office of Gatekeeper of Heaven. It was absurd. Lishan felt shaken.

Thunder, with his terrifying Divine Domain, made Lishan’s eyes blaze with envy. Rolling divine thunder and endless lightning made for an overwhelming atmosphere. Lishan even thought that if speed were not a concern, Thunder alone could kill all enemies.

Qi Yuan said casually, "If you destroy your Divine Domain, I can give you a louder God Visualization Art. You won't have to worry about your suona being too quiet."

Lishan froze. "Heavenly Sovereign, I do not wish to blow the suona forever. I want to personally cut down these evil gods!"

Murderous intent filled his eyes. His entire family had been slain by the evil gods.

"You'll have your chance," Qi Yuan replied calmly.

Following that, he glanced toward the Thunder Divine Domain. Taizhong had fallen. Only Liyang remained, struggling desperately. Even his star had dimmed, as if swallowed by the endless sea of lightning.

Qi Yuan’s forces were like incarnations of celestial soldiers and generals, cutting down the evil army. Soon, two-thirds of the evil gods had fallen.

1. They are a divine pair who control thunder and lightning in traditional Chinese folk religion and Daoist cosmology. Used in this context, this is not merely calling upon the usual thunder deities. Instead, every thunder-affiliated god has answered the command. ☜

2. A Taiji diagram is the circular yin-yang symbol that represents the fundamental structure of the universe in Daoist cosmology. It visually expresses how yin and yang arise from unity, oppose each other, and yet remain interdependent. ☜