Chapter 873: The Battle of the Legendaries

The Great Dao of the World was both profound and mysterious. It represented the gateway to all wonders.

This Great Dao could be understood as the fundamental law that shaped everything in existence. It served as the foundation of all cultivation and divine abilities. Every spell, technique, or martial art was rooted in a branch of this Great Dao.

Its essence was scattered across the heavens and the earth, present in all things. Those who could perceive this essence gained divine power, and those who could touch it stepped onto the path of the Dao. Anyone who earned the recognition of a Great Dao branching from this source became a master of the Heavenly Origin—an eighth-realm Eminent One, a rare existence in the world.

The next realm up was even more difficult to attain. This was the Profound Realm, an even more elusive stage of cultivation. To reach it, the cultivator had to become one with the Great Dao itself.

With how the Great Dao was defined, it meant that those who had attained the ninth realm would be undying. Yet, in terms of the characteristics of origin life essence, even ninth-realm beings had a finite lifespan.

Hallowed Li had lived so long ago that no records of him remained. Hallowed Yang had not lived beyond a thousand years. Humans were blessed with divine wisdom but cursed with short lifespans, likely a balance imposed by the Heavenly Law.

Because no one could remain in the mortal world forever, even those who reached the ninth realm had to keep seeking a higher path. Perhaps that was why, in their twilight years, eighth and ninth-realm cultivators all chose to journey to the Divine Ruins.

The Demon God’s life essence had managed to survive for three thousand years thanks to the nature of its true form. As a spirit beast, the Heaven-Devouring Bug naturally possessed a long lifespan.

Even after its corporeal body perished and its soul shattered, its life essence remained. Its life essence then slowly eroded over thousands of years inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, yet it still had not been extinguished.

That was likely why the demons had always sought to bring back their god and why the Divine Ruins Monastery had not taken action. As long as its life essence still existed, the Demon God could not be considered truly dead.

The ancient ninth-realm beings of the past had long since lost even their life essence. Even if they could be revived by reconstructing their Great Dao, the nature of their existence would no longer be the same.

After the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda disappeared from Mount Shu, the Demon God’s life essence experienced an unknown fate and remained dormant for five hundred years.

It returned only in recent years, and even then, it did not awaken.

At that point, it was in its weakest state. To the current world, it was no longer an invincible force.

Originally, it should have been the Demon God’s believers who carried out the task of killing the Heaven-Devouring Bug, allowing a new one to be born. But now, with success just within reach and those followers no longer strong enough to complete it, the Demon God’s life essence finally took action.

Even at its weakest, the life essence of a ninth-realm existence was still powerful enough to shake the world. It pierced through the sky fortress above the Celestial Northern Prison with much ease and shone directly onto Moth.

Whoosh!

Golden light poured into his body, and divine radiance burst from all seven of his orifices. His bones crackled as his frame straightened, and an overwhelming majesty settled over the battlefield.

The prison guards with weaker cultivation could no longer resist. They dropped to their knees and bowed their heads low, unable to look directly at the divine glow.

Even the eighth-realm cultivators, Qu Hu and Immortal Yuan Lu, fell to the ground, unable to withstand the weight of the divine might.

Chu Liang felt Tuntun suddenly tighten her grip on his hand. When the light appeared, she clearly felt nervous.

Crack.

When the light disappeared, a crisp crack rang out as Moth’s skin split open, drawing a line of blood down his side..

This was a clear sign of incompatibility between the vessel and the power within. Resurrection at the ninth realm required an exceptionally strong body with a matching bloodline. The life essence of a ninth-realm being was simply too powerful for an ordinary being to contain. Even Moth, a greater demon at the peak of the eighth realm, was taking an enormous risk by acting as a vessel. However, if his corporeal body could endure for even a short while, that would be enough.

“Moth,” glowing with golden light, took a step forward. Wherever he passed, none could summon even a single thought of resistance. They stood frozen, completely paralyzed by the pressure he exuded.

He moved as if walking through another dimension—a frozen world where time had come to a halt. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Tuntun and looked down at her with a trace of fondness in his eyes.

Then he raised a single finger and pointed it directly at her forehead.

Kill.

Boom!

...

The entire world was waiting for the Demon God to appear.

It wasn’t just the descendants of the demon race. The righteous human sects were waiting too. After the descent of the Demon God, Chu Liang made no further move. He knew his role in this battle was already complete.

In truth, the righteous sects’ original plan had already been partially messed up by the demons' surprise attack. But Chu Liang had exceeded even his own expectations and managed to bring everything back on track.

The Demon God had descended.

It struck at Tuntun.

But... that finger never touched Tuntun. Just as it was about to land, the little girl suddenly released a white ring of light. It spun several times before expanding outward, enveloping a large portion of the surrounding space.

In an instant, “Moth” was pulled into another realm.

It was a realm of absolute void.

The ring had stretched to the very edges of this enclosed sky and earth. Through the boundary of the void, it was possible to catch glimpses of the world beyond—Tuntun and Chu Liang’s enormous faces, and the towering walls of the Celestial Northern Prison.

For the first time, the Demon God spoke. "The Celestial Cosmic Ring..."

Its voice carried no emotion. It seemed to just be conveying a simple fact.

And it was indeed correct that this was the world within the Celestial Cosmic Ring!

The reason Chu Liang had never worried about Tuntun’s safety was that he knew she carried a legendary artifact. If anyone dared to strike at her, they would be immediately pulled into this isolated realm.

He had fought with everything he had earlier because if Moth had attacked first, the setup would have been exposed, and all their painstaking preparations would have gone to waste.

Now, this realm had finally welcomed the one it had been waiting for.

At the edge of the void, a golden apparition appeared, its form cloaked in radiant light like a Buddha. The face of the projection belonged to none other than the Noble Dharma.

“So this is the power of the Hallowed One?” the Noble Dharma’s voice rumbled like distant thunder. “Even the Celestial Cosmic Ring can barely contain it.”

All around the Demon God, the dim void began to glow. Cracks and fractures spread across the space, only to be repaired instantly by the spiritual energy of the legendary artifact.

Without the Noble Dharma constantly reinforcing it, this realm would have collapsed under the weight of the Demon God’s presence in moments. This was all happening while the demon god had not even made a move yet!

Rumble!

At the far end of the realm, a grand constellation disc radiating divine light appeared, as if it were supporting the entire celestial vault. Rivers of stars flowed across its surface, circling the heavens and flashing with terrifying celestial energy.

It was the General’s Supreme Constellation Disc, a divine artifact from the Celestial King Sect, ranked sixth in the Catalog of the Mortal World’s Ten Thousand Treasures!

At the center of the constellation disc stood a tall woman dressed in elegant violet robes. A golden mark gleamed on her forehead, and starlight swirled in her eyes. Her hands formed seals as she stood upright, appearing ten zhang tall from a distance.

She was Wenren Yue, the leader of the Celestial King Sect.

Wenren Yue had originally come from the Sea King Sect. The current leader of that sect, Wenren Jiao, was her elder brother. However, her talent had far surpassed her peers from a young age. Fearing that staying within the Sea King Sect would limit her potential, they sent this peerless prodigy to the Celestial King Sect to cultivate.

As expected, she went on to take control of the Great Dao of Purple Star and assumed the most important position of King on the General’s Supreme Constellation Disc.

Hovering at her side were three eighth-realm cultivators from the Celestial King Sect. Surrounding them stood more than a dozen seventh-realm cultivators, each commanding a General’s Constellation Orb on the disc.

If any one of them had faced the Demon God alone, they likely would not have even remained standing. However, with the support of the General’s Supreme Constellation Disc, their combined momentum surged with awe-inspiring force. They stood firm, showing no fear in the face of the divine pressure unleashed by the god!

As the constellation disc ascended into the sky, a giant sword of divine light appeared at the far edge of the world. Its blade gleamed with celestial brilliance, and seven stars shimmered along its surface. The mere act of drawing it forth released a force powerful enough to shake the very cosmos.

Standing behind the sword was Enlightened Wulou, the leader of the Celestial Pivot Pavilion.

The name of that sword was obvious. It was ranked second in the Catalog of the Mortal World’s Ten Thousand Treasures, known to all as the legendary Seven-Star Sword.

Behind the Demon God, a heavenly palace slowly took shape, formed from ten thousand suspended swords. Beneath it floated a bronze Vessel of God. It radiated a fierce and ancient aura from the primordial age. As it advanced, it bore down on the Demon God with overwhelming force.

Venerable Wen Yuan stood at the prow of the vessel. Inside the cabin, the one holding the hilt of the Sacred White Emperor Sword was the peak master of the Azure Falling Peak, Daoist Yan.

This airship was the Mount Shu Sect's Vessel of God, ranked eighth in the Catalog of the Mortal World’s Ten Thousand Treasures.

Surprisingly, Baize, the most powerful existence of the Mount Shu Sect, was absent in this battle. Regardless of whether the humans would succeed in their attempt to slay the Demon God, Baize would remain the key to Mount Shu Sect's survival. As long as she remained, the Mount Shu Sect would stand.

For this reason, Venerable Wen Yuan had insisted on leading the charge himself in this battle, where life or death was uncertain, and entrusted Baize with the responsibility of defending their home.

This realm was separated from the real world by the Celestial Cosmic Ring, and within it, ambushes had been arranged on all sides. The scale of the battle formation was immense.

A clash between legendary artifacts and the Demon God had begun...

This was truly a battle of the legendaries!