CHAPTER 312: CHAPTER 310 THE BATTLE OF THE HUMAN GOD

It’s thrilling to hit and run.

By the time the Heaven Palace discovered the fall of those twelve gods in the Western Wilderness, Wu Wang had long since appeared in the Northern Region of Central Mountain.

He incinerated his Black Armor to ashes, tucked the broken divine lance into the innermost layer of the Yin and Yang ring, and then restored his own aura and Dao rhyme, enveloping himself with the Yin and Yang Path.

It couldn’t be helped—the job was too big, and he did feel a smidgen of guilt.

Wu Wang found a range of undulating mountains, which looked across the sea to the southern border of the Northern Wilderness, and even hypnotized himself a few times:

I’ve just snuck over from the Northern Wilderness.

Later, he would deliberately expose a few flaws in the puppet within the Northern Wilderness territory to make it appear as though it had sneaked out.

A perfect alibi!

「Half a day earlier.」

When Wu Wang showed up to extract the Divine Cores from those twelve lesser gods, his hands trembled slightly.

The corpses of twelve Innate Gods, even if they were little-known minor deities, each represented command over a certain Great Dao, yet now their bodies lay before him.

In that moment, Wu Wang gained a deeper understanding of the current divine order.

The order established by the Heaven Palace protected these Innate Gods, whose strength wasn’t considered too great, allowing them to avoid being arbitrarily slaughtered by Strong Gods. The order of Heaven and Earth constructed by Emperor Shun wasn’t just about natural rules like the alternation of the sun and moon or the sequence of the four seasons. The Divine Court, the Divine Pool, the divine rules of the Heaven Palace, Strong Gods, the hierarchy of divine ranks—these were the true foundation of Emperor Shun’s rule.

Wu Wang looked back toward the Northern Wilderness.

His mother had already begun to look for a small tribe in the Northern Wilderness where the Hundred Races would gather to deduce a new divine order, in search of the sprouts of a new order.

The current order of the Heaven Palace could serve as a point of reference, but this new order had to be far superior to that of the Heaven Palace if it were to gradually unfold between Heaven and Earth.

"Wu Wang, you shall cultivate here."

Yun Zhongjun’s voice transmission rang out once more. "I’ll take care of some follow-up arrangements. You keep a low profile for now."

"Brother, please be extremely careful in your actions. The Heaven Palace will surely investigate this matter thoroughly."

"It’s also thanks to the Human Domain diverting their attention that our operation was relatively smooth."

"Brother," Wu Wang said solemnly, "I have given it a lot of thought on the way here. Let’s put a pause on the matter of hunting gods for now."

"I was thinking the same," murmured Yun Zhongjun. "I got a bit too excited before and couldn’t hold back, which made the situation a tad too big."

Wu Wang warned via voice transmission: "That Ghost identity should remain a secret of our Heavenly Dao. Let’s avoid the Heaven Palace’s sharp edge for the time being."

"Alright, agreed. What’s the next step?" Yun Zhongjun proactively inquired.

Wu Wang’s response was succinct: "Wu Wangzi enters Central Mountain."

Yun Zhongjun hummed thoughtfully, then laughed. "Alright, I know what to do."

Then, the cloud dissipated from around Wu Wang, sinking into the earth and, in a blink, disappeared from Wu Wang’s perception.

For some reason, Wu Wang felt no excessive worry at this point.

As Yun Zhongjun had said before, by lowering his status and dealing with those minor gods, he had tied himself to Wu Wang as grasshoppers on the same rope.

Bound on each other’s thieving boats, their mutual understanding soared!

Ming Snake immediately moved forward, vigilantly surveying in all directions, not more than three inches away from Wu Wang.

"Master, there’s a hidden place."

"Do not use the Heaven and Earth Divine Skills. If you can fly, then fly over there."

"Yes!"

With a soft response, Ming Snake enveloped Wu Wang in Divine Power and rushed him toward a crevice in a cliff.

As for this increasingly handy Magic Treasure of a person... Cough. This capable subordinate, due to a Divine Spell granted by Cang Xue, was growing increasingly loyal to Wu Wang. She was even beginning to consider transcending the simple relationship of master and mount. Wu Wang naturally would not be stingy with her.

He handed Ming Snake the rings that contained the Divine Power of two minor gods, instructing her to keep her strength concealed even if it improved, and that maintaining her previous level was enough.

"Master..."

As Ming Snake took the rings, soft ripples fluttered in those slender eyes.

"Master, I am not worthy."

"Just take them," Wu Wang said calmly.

"Though your crimes are great—cough—the sins you wrought in the Human Domain, as a member of the Human race, I cannot forget.

But you still can redeem yourself by helping the Human race and atoning for your sins.

Also, don’t misunderstand; I’m not asking you to switch sides and help the Human Domain, nor am I saying that by following me, you must serve the Human Domain.

You could have a bigger stage and more opportunities to demonstrate your value, understand?"

"Master, your subordinate understands."

"Mhm, now go increase your strength."

Wu Wang waved his hand, and Ming Snake held the ring in front of herself, slowly retreating a few steps to a spot slightly on the outside to sit quietly.

Wu Wang thought it over and still grasped the necklace on his chest.

"Mother."

"Hm?"

"Such Divine Spells, try to use them as little as possible in the future," Wu Wang sighed softly in his heart, erasing their nature, complete obedience...

Cang Xue chuckled lightly.

"You just relax. The ones that can be affected by such Divine Spells are all comparatively strong exotic beasts.

They are merely closer to certain Great Daos and have not mastered them, hence they can’t guard against this spell."

"That’s good."

Wu Wang’s eyes were slightly dazed.

Cang Xue asked gently, "Do you feel that the fall of over ten Innate Gods is somewhat unreal?"

"Yun Zhongjun taking personal action against more than a dozen gods who couldn’t even rank last in the Heaven Palace—that outcome is not at all unreal," Wu Wang chuckled.

"It’s just that I think of those Innate Gods’ subordinates, which include beings from various races. Perhaps they were not willingly serving those Innate Gods but ended up perishing with them.

When the Strong Gods waved their sleeves, those beings turned to ash without leaving a trace.

If this power isn’t restrained, the concept of order would be nothing but empty talk."

"The Heaven Palace has never restrained that power," Cang Xue stated calmly.

Wu Wang laughed and said, "Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been the Ancient Fire God’s oppression of the Human race, nor the Human race’s counterattack against the Ancient Fire God."

He pondered for a moment and continued:

"The relatively loose environment for beings between Heaven and Earth now is the result of multi-faceted games, not the credit of the Heaven Palace gods, nor Emperor Shun’s mercy.

Emperor Shun is now using this to self-promote, mouth full of benevolence and righteousness, all pretense.

The Heaven Palace will eventually be destroyed by the beings; the Heavenly Dao must stand on the side of the beings in the future."

Cang Xue said softly, "The current accumulation of beings is still far from enough."

"Aren’t we pushing it forward?"

Wu Wang’s eyes flashed with Divine Light as he felt the nearly overflowing Divine Power in the necklace, and he smiled.

"I am also a being."

Cang Xue chuckled without speaking.

Soon, silence fell in the crevice.

Wu Wang covered the area with the Yin and Yang Path, achieving a balance of Yin and Yang, the cycle of the Bagua, almost instantly becoming one with this place.

Let a gale rage outside.

Let the Four Seas surge with great waves.

The slaughter of the twelve Innate Gods of the Western Wilderness was now spreading like wildfire through the Nine Wildernesses of the Great Wilderness.

Perhaps it was the shocking nature of the number twelve, or maybe it was the Ghost who started it, always shrouded in mystery, inscrutable, that garnered the great attention of various powers between Heaven and Earth.

As soon as the news reached the Northern Wilderness, ’Wu Wang’ was also disturbed and hurriedly ended his seclusion.

’Wu Wang’ stood between Heaven and Earth, gazing south for several hours, his aura rising continuously, clearly making another breakthrough.

Then, in front of all the Immortal Soldiers of the Human Domain, he headed south, with the aura of Ming Snake surrounding him from start to finish.

Lin Suqing and Jingwei, however, were secretly stopped by Cang Xue and were not allowed to follow.

In a short while, the news of "Wu Wangzi emerging from the Northern Wilderness and entering the Northern Region of Central Mountain" reached both the Heaven Palace and the Human Domain.

This seemingly became a signal.

As the news of ’Wu Wangzi entering Central Mountain’ spread, accompanied by rumors like ’the resurgence of the Ancient God’ and ’the Ghost seizing the divine’, the major powers in the Great Wilderness began to make frequent moves.

In the relatively peripheral region of the Eastern Wilderness, a large number of Divine Guards flew out of Yang Valley. The majority rushed to Central Mountain, while a few remained on guard at the southern border of the Eastern Wilderness and the junction with the Southeastern Region.

In the Southeastern Region, various powers from the Human Domain assembled a large number of Cultivators.

Although their cultivation was not high and they didn’t have many experts, their sheer numbers still made for an impressive force.

Unable to participate in the direct battle, they did what they could on the sides, engaging the Heaven Palace’s forces, contributing their part to the great war between the Human Domain and the Heaven Palace.

Heaven Palace.

The Heavenly Emperor was enraged, and a host of gods awakened.

The Heaven Palace established a heavy military defense line, blocking the three-pronged offensive from the Human Domain. A large number of Innate Gods rushed towards the Western Wilderness and, in almost half a day, had turned it inside out.

Without any trace, without the slightest hint.

The Ghost had vanished without a trace, just as it had appeared.

One after another, the names of fallen Ancient Gods circulated among the Innate Gods. They constantly compared the vague silhouettes obtained through the Young Master’s Divine Skills, trying to identify which Ancient God it was.

The gods were unsettled, no longer able to rest peacefully beneath the Heaven Palace.

But almost at the same time, the Heaven and Earth Seal began to exhibit severe fluctuations.

The Candle Dragon God Divine Faction from the Outer Sky, to everyone’s surprise, started to assault the seal in full force, which caused quite a few Innate Gods to feel anxious.

「In the Southern Region of Central Mountain, the southwestern area.」

About three thousand miles away from the Human Domain’s defensive wall, groups of Cultivators sat on clouds or on the surface of the water, drawing Spiritual Energy from the nearby great marsh.

The marching strategy of Cultivators prioritizes searching for spirit veins, great marshes, and dense forests, in descending order of importance.

Spirit veins contain an abundance of Spiritual Energy, and Spirit Stones can be mined from them to be carried for future use. Great marshes also hide endless Spiritual Energy. Although it dissipates more slowly, water-attribute Spiritual Energy is milder and offers many benefits for healing injuries and nourishing the Primordial Spirit. Dense forests are the least preferable choice, though they are full of vitality and good for concealing one’s tracks.

This place was one of the thirty-six camps of the Human Domain’s army that had invaded Central Mountain.

After three years of fierce fighting, they had pushed forward more than three thousand miles. To mortals, this was inconceivable, but for Cultivators and Immortals who could fly through the sky and burrow through the earth, such progress was hardly a significant achievement.

If one were outside the war zone and could see the whole picture, one would notice the Human Domain’s dense mobilization orders were efforts to avoid unnecessary deaths and injuries among ordinary Cultivators. Furthermore, the elite troops of the Human Domain had yet to appear. The experts from the various Military Families were also positioned further back.

Although the Human Domain took the initiative to attack... such an offensive was, to a large extent, a ploy to lure the snake out of its hole.

Just as stated by General Xu Mu, the Deputy Commander of the Left Army at this camp, who was at the Heavenly Immortal Realm:

"Rest assured, a fight won’t start for the time being. Those Innate Gods from the Heaven Palace are all hiding in the back, not daring to show their faces.

Just you watch. When one of them dares to show their face, see how many of our Human Domain’s veterans will rush forward to bash their heads until they bleed!"

The soldiers who heard Xu Mu’s ’brave words’ all just laughed and didn’t take it seriously.

The Deputy Commander was just boosting their morale.

They had already reached Central Mountain. How could they not make a detour to the Heaven Palace to take a glimpse at the Heavenly Emperor’s fair face?

"Deputy Commander Xu, have you heard? Something happened in the Western Wilderness."

"Something happened? What happened?"

"Twelve Innate Gods were slaughtered, their Divine Power completely drained. It’s said an Ancient God has awakened and is seeking to settle accounts with the Heaven Palace."

"Oh? That’s good news for us."

Xu Mu laughed, his scholar-like demeanor barely concealed even though he wore Battle Armor.

He lay leisurely in a rocking chair, under a ’sunshade’ that was a bit worn-out, with a bamboo cup filled with cool fruit liquor beside him...

These were habits he had picked up in the Women’s country.

He often told people that he and Wu Wangzi had fought together, even getting their clothes torn in scuffles, but few around him believed it.

At this moment, Xu Mu leaned his arm against his head and gazed at the northern sky, chuckling.

"However, the dispute between the Ancient Gods and the Heaven Palace is like a brawl between bedraggled enemies, a quarrel between dogs and wolves.

We must not harbor any illusions about the Ancient Gods. The future of the Human race relies on the Weapons in our hands, on the Great Dao we contend for."

A few young officers nearby feigned laughter and quickly found excuses to slip away.

Here we go, General Xu Mu was starting his speech again.

"You young people!"

Xu Mu called out with a touch of helplessness, as those officers scurried off even faster, and burst into laughter once they were far enough.

"You youngsters don’t want to learn and progress!"

Xu Mu sighed softly, then looked helplessly into the distance.

He didn’t know whether he should thank his close disciple Ji Mo, or scold the fellow a few times.

He had asked the Ji Family for help so he could be assigned to the front line, hoping to take part in a great battle with the Heaven Palace and not waste his cultivation journey.

However, the Ji Family had perhaps taken too much care of him, Xu Mu, placing him directly within the ranks of the ’Young Master’s Army’ as a deputy commander.

What is the Young Master’s Army?

Any of the young generals just now, if randomly chosen, comes from the family of some prominent military household.

Of course, there are even more from various smaller Military Families here.

The elders from these families go to fiercely contested battlefields, shedding their blood for the Human Domain. They want their heirs to earn military merits and yet do not wish for them to be in too much danger, so they form an army like this Young Master’s Army.

The young people who join the army are all full of enthusiasm, but the speed at which they advance is always a step slower than the other main forces.

And the enemies they face are either remnant troops and roaming soldiers or a collapse-at-a-blow rabble from the Hundred Tribes Coalition Army.

Ji Mo arranging him to be here certainly showed good will.

Aside from when Xu Mu stayed beside Wu Wang, his cultivation speed was also very swift.

After leaving the Four Seas Pavilion, Xu Mu was practically a retainer of the Ji Family and had taught Ji Mo for many years, so the Ji Family would naturally not treat him unfairly.

Even now, Xu Mu had not figured out...

Why, when I stay beside Wu Wang, do the epiphanies in my heart fade away as they come to mind?

Truly puzzling.

"General Xu."

A soft call came from beside him, the voice clear and cool.

Xu Mu immediately jumped up and turned to look at the figure approaching swiftly with two old nannies in tow.

Xu Mu smiled and said, "Fairy Ling, are you getting used to staying in the army?"

Ling Xiaolan stepped on lotuses with each stride, and in the blink of an eye, she was in front of Xu Mu. She frowned and said, "Could General Xu issue a military order to transfer me to a different army?"

"Oh?"

Xu Mu’s thoughts shifted, and he quickly understood what Ling Xiaolan had in mind.

The Tianyan Saintess also realized that their army wouldn’t face any tough battles and wanted to join the vanguard army that could fight with the Heaven Palace.

Didn’t you see the two old nannies behind Ling Xiaolan giving him meaningful glances?

"Fairy Ling, we’re old acquaintances, so I won’t keep it from you," Xu Mu spoke calmly. "To change one’s assigned army unit during active deployment requires a direct order from the Human Emperor Pavilion... That’s considered taboo."

Ling Xiaolan’s almond eyes were filled with helplessness.

She looked down at her Short Sword and said softly, "If I’m just going to dwell in the rear, then why did I leave his side to hurry back to the Human Domain? What would be the point?"

"Ahem! This!"

Xu Mu’s thoughts raced, and he smiled, saying:

"Actually, we too are following the commands of that great person.

How could that person possibly allow the Fairy to go to the front lines to battle?"

Ling Xiaolan’s brows furrowed slightly. "General, you better not be deceiving me."

"I might deceive anyone, but I would never deceive you, Fairy Ling," Xu Mu said with a laugh, spreading his hands. "If you don’t believe me, you can go and inquire with the Ji Family."

Ling Xiaolan pursed her lips slightly, saluted Xu Mu with a fist, and carrying her Short Sword, she turned to leave without saying much more.

The two old nannies behind her gave Xu Mu a thumbs-up from their sleeves and then hurriedly followed her.

Xu Mu raised his eyebrows, revealing a serene smile.

That great person...

Sigh, I’m always falling further behind Wu Wang.

「Just at that moment!」

Xu Mu hadn’t yet reined in his smile, and Ling Xiaolan’s figure hadn’t flown far. The military camps all around were quiet, with white waves crashing at the edge of the marshland.

In the southern sky, a burst of firelight suddenly rose, transforming into the figure of a Fire Azure Dragon in an instant, tilting its head back and roaring towards the north.

The thirty-six army camps of the Human Domain and countless Cultivators in Central Mountain and behind the Long Wall heard that ancient and authoritative voice.

Emperor Yan of Shennong issued a direct command:

"The Human Dao endures, and Heaven and Earth are at peace.

The Heaven Palace has bullied the Human Domain for far too long. Past dark turmoils sought to extinguish the flame of the Human Domain, slaughtering countless of our kin.

Today, we raise our arms in Central Mountain and launch a fierce attack on the Heaven Palace.

The war of Human Gods will not end until death."

Xu Mu trembled all over, feeling as if a flame had ignited in his Primordial Spirit. He turned abruptly and bellowed:

"Sound the drums! Prepare the army—"