The Northern Divine Region ate into the Eastern Divine Region like an audible plague.

The Eastern Divine Region had become far too used to peace. This coupled with their age-old contempt for the Northern Divine Region had made the profound practitioners of the Eastern Divine Region complacent. The words “drowning in disaster” had never even crossed their minds once when the Northern Divine Region had launched their sudden invasion.

The upper star realms, who should have been at the forefront of this fight, had inevitably decided to save their own skins when they found out that the devils would leave them alone if they did not stick their noses into things. They decided to wait for the Eternal Heaven God Realm, who had “instigated everything” to come out and solve this problem. They certainly would not allow themselves to blindly sacrifice themselves for someone else.

However, once this dark “plague” had infiltrated into the heart of the Eastern Divine Region, something which would be happening at an incredibly terrifying speed, they would no longer have enough time to react.

————

Southern Divine Region, Southern Sea God Realm.

After he received the news, the Southern Sea God Emperor slowly stood to his feet as a strange light glittered in his eyes.

“In the short span of two days, the devils of the Northern Region have occupied over two hundred star realms in the Eastern Divine Region. Heh, they’re just like a bunch of rabid dogs.”

The one who had spoken those words was dressed in silver robes and sinister malice bled from his eyes.

His name was Nan Feihong and he was one of the Four Sea Kings of the Southern Sea, the “Northern Hell Sea King”.

“However, these star realms are all middle or lower star realms, so they haven’t really suffered a great loss. I heard that every star realm that has been captured by these devils was practically drowned in blood. This debt of blood...” the Northern Hell Sea King gave a low and mocking laugh as he said, “will land squarely on the shoulders of the Eternal Heaven God Realm.”

“Right now, the Eternal Heaven God Realm only needs to take command, marshal the forces of the Eastern Divine Region’s upper star realms, and launch a counterattack. Once they do that, slaughtering these devils will only be a matter of time. However, I’m afraid that the reputation of the Eternal Heaven God Realm is going to take a beating as well.”

When the Northern Hell Sea King finished speaking, he saw that the Southern Sea God Emperor had simply been muttering to himself in a soft voice. He immediately asked, “My king, do you find something odd in this whole affair?”

The Southern Sea God Emperor looked up before he gave a deep chuckle. “Follow this king to the Eastern Divine Region.”

The Northern Hell Sea King’s brow immediately furrowed. “Could it be that my king desires... to help the Eastern Divine Region?”

Given his understanding of the Southern Sea God Emperor, the one thing he would not do in this situation was to render aid to the Eastern Divine Region. In fact, he would eagerly cheer on the devils in hope that they’d leave the Eastern Divine Region a tattered mess.

The Southern Sea God Emperor replied, “The Eternal Heaven God Emperor will want to put an end to these rampaging devils as quickly as possible. He will want to reduce the casualties to a minimum, so it’s very likely that he is requesting aid from the Brahma Monarch God Realm, Moon God Realm, and Star God Realm... So this presents to us an opportunity that only appears once in a blue moon.”

“Opportunity?” The Northern Hell Sea King grew even more puzzled. He took a step forward and whispered, “Does my king want to...”

“There’s no need for further questions.” The Southern Sea God Emperor turned his gaze toward the north before his eyebrows suddenly sank.

“In fact, the timing of this opportunity seems almost too good to be true.”

He could sense that there was something “off” about this opportunity, but nothing in this world could ever exceed the allure of “eternal life”.

“It’s rare for me to ever be willing to be a shield for someone else.” A cold smile flashed across the Southern Sea God Emperor’s face. “But since I’m doing it, I might as well go all out!”

When he said those words, a murderous light flashed in his eyes.

Whether he was willing or not was one thing. But as for the person who dared to use him as a tool... how could he let them off lightly?

————

Eastern Divine Region, Moon God Realm.

Yao Yue, Lian Yue, and Jin Yue respectfully bowed in front of a moon-white veil as they gave the Moon God Emperor reports on the chaos in the northern territories.

It had not been long since the devil people had launched their invasion, but they had already conquered three hundred star realms. Everyone had been rattled by just how fast their progress had been.

The Moon God Emperor slowly spoke behind the veil, “They destroyed their own star realms and framed the Eternal Heaven God Realm. They used this ‘vengeance’ as an excuse to blitz our middle and lower star realms. After that, they seized all who surrendered as hostages but did not attack any upper star realms. This caused the upper star realms to blame the instigator of this entire mess, the ‘Eternal Heaven God Realm’, and made them unwilling to suffer losses in order to save the middle and lower star realms they already looked down upon.”

“It should have been easy to form a unified front when our enemies are devils, but this front fell apart from the beginning of this entire affair.”

“To be able to so skillfully manipulate the hearts of man, this is probably the work of that Devil Queen of the Northern Region.”

“Framed?” Yao Yue was confused. “But I already confirmed that the cauldron in the image was the Great Void Cauldron. There can be no doubt.”

“Lian Yue,” the Moon God Emperor said.

“Yes.” Lian Yue nodded her head before recounting what had happened to the other two. “Two years ago, in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning, I discovered a trace of the Great Void Cauldron’s aura where Honorable Tai Yin had fallen. The Great Void Cauldron should have fallen into Yun Che’s hands at about that time."

“But since the incident in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning also involved Zhou Qingchen, there was no way the Eternal Heaven God Emperor would let the loss of the Great Void Cauldron become known to the public. There’s also no way that the world would believe that such an important divine artifact would actually fall into the hands of the Northern Divine Region.”

“To think that such a thing happened.” Shock appeared on Yao Yue’s face.

“The scale and ambition of this devil invasion is far more terrifying than you can see right now,” the Moon God Emperor said unhurriedly. “It currently looks like they only dare to bully the middle and lower star realms as they claim to wait for the Eternal Heaven God Realm’s declaration.”

“But the profound arks that ‘fled’ from those conquered star realms are the most terrifying hidden threat.”

“Ah?” Lian Yue’s delicate brows knit together. “Is Master worried that the devils of the Northern Region will use the profound arks of those star realms to infiltrate the Eastern Divine Region? That should be exceedingly hard to accomplish. Devils are far too prone to losing control of their auras, so they will be easily exposed. Even if they hide in the depths of these profound arks, their dark auras will still be easily detected. So how can they accomplish any infiltration on a grand scale?”

After a brief period of heavy silence, the figure behind the veil spoke in a very soft voice, “In the end, the most dangerous and terrifying thing in the world isn’t something that is unknown. It’s something that ‘transcends all common sense’.”

The three girls looked at each other before Yao Yue said, “All of the Moon Gods and Divine Envoys have assembled in Divine Moon City. We await your command. Preparations at every level of power have also been completed. Once Master gives the order, we can go and retake the northern territories at any time.”

The veil raised up and Xia Qingyue slowly walked out of it. Her figure turned translucent before she appeared very far behind the three girls. “This king is going to make a trip to the Eternal Heaven God Realm. No one is to do anything before I return.”

The moment she stepped out of her imperial palace, she came to a sudden halt. She said, “Jin Yue, Shui Meiyin possesses the Stainless Divine Soul and she is full of tricks, so she may very well be planning to take advantage of this chaos to escape her captivity. You are to personally watch over her during this period of time.”

Jin Yue was taken aback by that command but there was no way for her to reject it. She merely replied in a soft voice, “Yes.”

................

The atmosphere within the Eternal Heaven God Realm had turned unprecedentedly strange.

News of devils terrorizing the north was being reported at every hour and each wave of news was more shocking than the last. Countless pleas for help were chaotically arriving with every wave.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The devil people of the Northern Region had claimed that this invasion was vengeance against the Eternal Heaven God Realm, so the rest of the Eastern Divine Region was waiting for the Eternal Heaven God Realm to respond.

It had not even been two years since his most beloved son died in the Northern Divine Region. He had even lost the last Untamed Divine Marrow in the Eastern Divine Region. Zhou Xuzi’s heart had not healed yet and he was clearly the biggest victim here, but he had suddenly... been framed as the instigator of this devilish plague that had descended upon the Eastern Divine Region.

Zhou Xuzi finally understood where all the previous rumors had been coming from and their reason for framing him, something that he had originally been completely unbothered by.

“The Scarlet Wind Realm has fallen! The Scarlet Wind Realm King is dead and seventy percent of his sect has been destroyed! The other thirty percent surrendered to the devils!”

“My lord, the defences of both the Celestial Heaven Realm and the Purple Rainbow Realm have been breached. We have already sent multiple stern orders to the four nearest upper star realms, but none of them are willing to send reinforcements to support or reconquer those star realms!”

“The Nine Maha Realm has been completely conquered by the devils...”

“My lord, the number of devils that have poured out of the Northern Divine Region is at least fifty times the estimate we made yesterday. It is very like... It is very likely that we haven’t even seen all of their forces yet. Furthermore, we have already confirmed one thing multiple times. The dark profound powers of these devils show no sign of weakening even after they have entered the Eastern Divine Region!”

“My lord, all of the star realms in the northern territories have descended into complete chaos. Countless profound practitioners and profound arks are frantically fleeing toward the south even as we speak. The central and southern territories are already starting to descend into panic and chaos.”

“...”

One side had made ample preparations, while the other side was as scattered as a dish of loose sand.

One side did not fear death while the other side valued their own lives greatly.

But no one had imagined that the Eastern Divine Region, which had enjoyed peace for too long, would actually react in such an incompetent and disorganized manner now that they were faced with a true crisis.

An endless stream of news caused the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s face to grow incredibly dark and solemn, but he had not lost any of his composure.

Below him, the vast army of Eternal Heaven had finished their preparations and there were six Guardians among them.

“My lord, we cannot afford to wait any longer,” Honorable Tai Yu said.

Every breath that passed resulted in the sacrifice of more Eastern Region profound practitioners, and this debt of blood... half of it belonged to the devils of the Northern Region and the other half had landed squarely on the shoulders of their Eternal Heaven God Realm.

They could not shake this responsibility even if they tried.

“How many troops have we assembled?” Zhou Xuzi asked.

“Currently, the core forces of one hundred and forty-three upper star realms have been assembled, and all of them are being personally led by their realm kings,” Honorable Tai Yu replied. “However, something strange has occurred. The Holy Eaves Realm stopped responding to our sound transmissions recently.”

“Also, the teleportation profound formation has been prepared and the power it contains is enough to transfer everyone here to our northern borders five times.”

The Eternal Heaven God Realm specialized in spatial powers. Even if they did not have the Great Void Cauldron, they could still build a long-range spatial profound formation which could teleport large numbers of people in a short amount of time... However, they had undoubtedly expended an incredible amount of resources in this undertaking.

“We really can’t wait any longer.” Zhou Xuzi muttered under his breath. At this time, his gaze suddenly shifted to the side.

A purple figure instantly drew near and appeared beside Zhou Xuzi. She had moved at such a fast speed that it seemed like she had stepped out of a rift in space.

“Has the Moon God Emperor come to point fingers at this old one as well?” Zhou Xuzi asked in a calm voice.

Even though the messengers had deliberately concealed them, he did not even need a second thought to know that these stricken star realms, these terrified Eastern Region profound practitioners, were definitely... cursing and blaming him with language even more venomous than he had imagined.

Even though these people had just been sincerely praising him and revering him just a few days ago.

This was an all-too normal response, totally human nature.

Xia Qingyue gave a dull laugh before saying, “Your Eternal Heaven lost a Great Void Cauldron and got an extremely large pot in return.[1] This king has hardly even begun to pity you, so why would I come to point fingers at you?”

Zhou Xuzi looked slightly moved. After that, he said, “The Moon God Emperor’s discerning eyes truly burn as bright as a torch. I’m just not sure how many eyes the Moon God Emperor has within the Eternal Heaven itself.”

“This doesn’t seem to be something that the Eternal Heaven God Emperor should be concerning himself with right now.” It didn’t seem like Xia Qingyue had any intention to refute what he had just said. Instead, she turned the tables on him. “Before this all happened, you disdained to prove your innocence. But now, it’s impossible to prove your innocence even if you want. So you have no choice but to obediently carry this pot on your back.”

She glanced at the distant grand formation which was radiating a dense spatial energy. Her crescent brows knit together slightly as she said, “More than one hundred upper star realm kings and their sects. You truly do live up to your name as the Eternal Heaven God Emperor. Even though you’ve been labelled as the sinners who have instigated this devilish plague, you can still mobilize such a huge amount of strength within this short period of time.”

“Let this king guess, the coordinates of this new grand teleportation formation you’ve constructed are...” Her crescent brows knit together once more before she whispered, “set at the borders of the Eastern Region’s northern territories.”

“That’s right.” Zhou Xuzi nodded his head.

Xia Qingyue replied, “So you are going to teleport such a large force to the rear of the devils before getting forces from the central and southern regions to assault them from the south, trapping them in a pincer movement. Once you have made your move, all of the devils attacking the Eastern Divine Region will be trapped like turtles in a jar.”

“You truly do live up to your reputation. You didn’t make a move for several days, but once you do make a move, it’s decisive and merciless. It looks like this devilish plague will very soon dissolve into smoke and ashes. This king does not need to add any more worries to my plate.”

Once she finished speaking, Xia Qingyue turned around, as if to leave.

“Is the Moon God Realm not going to provide any assistance?” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor asked.

Xia Qingyue replied, “In the eyes of the world, this devilish plague was caused by your Eternal Heaven God Realm, so if you can solve this by yourselves, you will greatly lessen the blame assigned to you.”

“But if the devils are far stronger than expected...” Xia Qingyue glanced to the side as she said those words. “The teleportation is right there and our Moon God Realm will naturally come to your aid. Speaking of which, that was also what that Qianye Fantian said.”

“However, news from all over the place has already confirmed one thing. The Northern Divine Region has mobilized many of their upper and middle star realms, but we haven’t seen a trace of their three king realms. After all, rulers are always afraid of death, so why would they personally venture out of the Northern Region? I’m afraid that my Moon God Realm and the Brahma Monarch God Realm won’t even have a chance to ‘intervene’.”

On the surface, she made it sound like she was doing this for the sake of the Eternal Heaven God Realm, that she would let them monopolize the glory so they could lessen their blame.

But in reality... neither the Moon God Realm or the Brahma Heaven God Realm wanted to lose any fighting strength.

“Ai.” The Eternal Heaven God Realm gave a long sigh of lamentation.

Now that he thought about it, he had completely fallen into Chi Wuyao’s trap... the moment he had decided to bring Zhou Qingchen into the Northern Divine Region.

Xia Qingyue left and Zhou Xuzi decided that he would no longer wait for those upper star realms who had yet to respond to his call to arms. He said, “Prepare to be teleported!”

“Tai Yu, stay behind to defend our territory.”

“Yes,” Honorable Tai Yu replied.

“Royal father!” A young man with sharp brows and dreamy eyes descended from the skies. His white robes fluttered in the air as he landed in front of Zhou Xuzi. His eyes shone with sincere determination as he said, “This child requests to join the battle.”

This man was Zhou Xuzi’s newly-appointed Eternal Heaven Crown Prince, Zhou Qingfeng. In fact, the ceremony to officially confer this title upon him was fast approaching.

“Qingfeng, you must not,” Honorable Tai Yu said. “These devils are extremely vicious and there are far too many strange things about this invasion. As the future crown prince, you must not endanger yourself!”

“No.” Zhou Qingfeng lifted his head. There was no fear on his face as he said, “It is precisely because this Qingfeng is the future crown prince that I cannot afford to be timid in the face of this devilish calamity! This is not only a disaster for the Eastern Region, it is also a huge disaster for our Eternal Heaven God Realm. I request royal father allow this child to battle side by side with you. I will share your burdens with you and I won’t regret this decision even if I die!”

A few traces of admiration appeared in Zhou Xuzi’s eyes. He did not hesitate for long before giving a slow nod of head. “Alright. Qingfeng, you will accompany your father and we will bury these devils in the Eastern Region forever.”

“Yes!” Zhou Qingfeng bowed gracefully, his eyes burning with fervor.

————

Author’s Note:

【The time for this strange setting of the stage is about over. A lot of huge explosions are about to occur... Eternal Heaven, Moon God, Brahma Monarch, tremble in fear! 】

【Oh? I seemed to have missed one? Does the Eastern Divine Region still have a fourth king realm? Forget it, it isn’t important!】

1. Both things can be used for cooking, but being framed in chinese is literally “being made to carry a black pot”.