Chapter 1681 - Battle of Gods, Part One

The myriad realms lowered their heads in submission following the death of the dragon-phoenix.

The fusion between the Golden Dragon Emperor and the Nine-colored Phoenix King had fused into a Primordial Dragon Phoenix, a being whose combat strength reached the Half-God realm. They believed such power would be enough to challenge the Deep Abyss Demon Lord. Reality proved otherwise. The dragon-phoenix was slain in a single move, utterly powerless to resist.

The myriad realms witnessed that.

Who still dared to claim that the Deep Abyss Demon Lord wasn’t a God? Who dared say that he hadn’t attained the Dao?

All defiance, indignation, and resistance were crushed the instant the dragon-phoenix died. In the face of such overwhelming strength, who across the myriad realms could stand against him?

They had no choice but to submit!

Thus began the darkest era in the history of the myriad realms.

In the blink of an eye, another century passed.

The demon race reigned supreme across the myriad realms, and they enslaved all, making them live a life of misery.

The once-glorious forces of the myriad realms vanished without a trace. Sage-level powerhouses either perished, surrendered, or disappeared into hiding, drifting through existence without purpose.

Darkness swallowed everything.

The Featherlight Sect had long since fallen. Heavy casualties littered its history, and the surviving disciples were reduced to slaves, tormented day after day.

The Tianwu Continent had also fallen, occupied by the demons. The True Martial Academy was turned to dust. Huang Wuji and the others had their cultivation crippwere led, turned into slaves, and forced into labor, mining for ores, never to see the light.

Where, then, was the light of hope for the myriad realms?

In the icy depths of the cosmic starry sky, that question found its answer.

On this day, the Qian Yuan Sanctuary, long hidden within the void, emerged once more. Inside it, a divine body that had remained dormant for countless years slowly opened its eyes.

His gaze was like lightning, piercing through the cosmic starry sky. It was as though everything that had transpired across the world replayed itself before him.

“More than a thousand years had passed...” Chen Fan murmured, his eyes heavy with the weight of time. “The Deep Abyss Demon Lord succeeded in the end. The myriad realms have fallen, swallowed by darkness...”

“Father, Mother, Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters...”

Scenes unfolded within his divine eyes. He saw his parents and family reduced to slaves. He saw Huang Wuji and the others, their cultivation destroyed, forced to mine ores under demonic whips, beaten whenever they slowed even slightly.

“Master... the sect...” The Featherlight Sect lay in ruins. Its disciples struggled in misery, their lives broken and trampled beneath demonic rule.

Moments later, Chen Fan slowly closed his divine eyes, then slowly opened them. Ferocity surged within his divine eyes.

“I shall protect the myriad realms!”

Rumble!

An unparalleled force erupted from him, laced with divine might. The cosmic void trembled violently, and space itself shuddered under the pressure.

Meanwhile, in the Demon Realm, a figure sat on the supreme divine throne: Deep Abyss Demon Lord, the ruler of the myriad realms.

Boom, tch!

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, divine light shooting forth and piercing the void, collapsing it into a swirling black hole. It was as though he saw through endless space and locked onto Chen Fan’s presence.

A terrifying aura swept outward, like a ferocious beast awakening from slumber, reverberating with divine might.

“Qian Yuan!” Deep Abyss Demon Lord spat out two words, grinding his teeth.

Swish!

He stood up from his throne, radiating divine might that turned into a storm. Wind, fire, and lightning roared in unison as space shattered and regenerated. The terrifying might spread across the myriad realms.

Countless people prostrated on the ground and trembled in fear.

They had no idea what was happening.

They had no idea what had happened, only that the Demon Lord’s fury shook heaven and earth.

Rumble!

Another boundless wave of divine might swept outward, casting a colossal divine silhouette visible across the myriad realms.

“Deep Abyss, today, I’ll kill you!” A divine voice echoed across the myriad realms. Countless people gathered their courage and looked up, only to see another silhouette standing against the Demon Lord’s own. Their trembling only grew worse.

Could it be...

“

Roar

!” Deep Abyss Demon Lord let out a divine roar, laden with boundless rage. It tore through the heavens, ripping apart the calm of the myriad realms. Countless creatures felt their souls shatter. Blood poured from seven orifices, and weaker beings died instantly under the sound alone.

Divine clouds gathered across the myriad realms. Lightning tore through the sky.

The Deep Abyss Demon Lord moved, triggering the laws of the great Dao of heaven and earth within billions of kilometers. Space folded beneath him as he crossed an immeasurable distance, arriving in the cosmic starry sky before Chen Fan.

“Qian Yuan, you’re still alive!” he roared upon seeing him.

Qian Yuan (Chen Fan) had killed his father, the Hell Demon God, and exhausted the last of his divine might to suppress him within the Chaotic Demon Sea. For three hundred thousand years, Deep Abyss Demon Lord had endured relentless torment. Were it not for his iron will, he would have long perished beneath the Demon Suppression Tower.

“I live to protect the myriad realms,” Chen Fan said coldly, meeting his gaze. “To kill you, and to return peace to heaven and earth! When I suppressed you back then, I planned to wear you out with time. I never expected that suffering to temper you instead, forging a divine heart.”

“Hahahaha, that’s right. You are part of the reason I attained the Dao and became God today.” Deep Abyss Demon Lord laughed, but his voice was filled with killing intent.

“Attain the Dao and become God?” Chen Fan chuckled. He shook his head and said, “You’re just a Pseudo-God.”

Deep Abyss Demon Lord’s eyes immediately contracted violently.

A Pseudo-God possessed a divine heart, divine body, divine strength, and divine origin, yet lacked the recognition of heaven and earth—one final step short: attaining the Dao.

It was not a matter of insufficient accumulation, but of a fragmented Dao of Heaven. With the great Dao incomplete, heaven and earth could not bestow recognition. Thus, the grand phenomena of true godhood never manifested.

Of course, a Pseudo-God was also God, incomparable to a Half-God. In primordial and early ancient times, such beings were acknowledged as Gods, albeit the weakest among them.

“

Hmph

, if the great Dao of Heaven and Earth were complete, I would have surely become a real God!” Deep Abyss Demon God didn’t deny it. That was a fact. However, he quickly changed the topic.

“Hoho, but you... You are merely a reincarnation fused with your shed divine body. The old Qian Yuan is indeed dead. Hahahaha, good. Good. If you were still alive, you would be the only true God in this world, and I would stand no chance. Like me, you are also only a Pseudo-God, aren’t you? Very well. If I refine you and your divine origin, I would have a very high chance of becoming a real God even if the great Dao of heaven and earth is fragmented!”

Seeing through Chen Fan as if unraveling a flame’s mysteries, the Deep Abyss Demon Lord threw his head back and laughed aloud.