Chapter 1707 — The Battle of Triumph

"The Primordial Realm needs a victory!"

The Woodcutter Sage looked down. Taihuang Heaven was already in dire peril; the Celestial River swirled and turned, forming two great circles before Taihuang Heaven, and as its waters flowed they carried the ships upon its surface, whose cannon-fire poured down like rain.

If Taihuang Heaven were blasted apart, it would surely come crashing down upon Jingping!

Though Jingping's territory now claimed half the Primordial Realm, the fall of Taihuang Heaven would crush countless living souls of Jingping, burying them beneath it!

Whether for the morale of Carefree Village or of Jingping, it would be a blow beyond measure!

"The Primordial Realm needs a victory..."

The Woodcutter Sage clenched his fist, drew his gaze from Taihuang Heaven, and murmured, "It needs a great victory — one that lifts the hearts of the people and the spirit of the army!"

The Martial Heavenly Master Zhuo Cha and the Zixi Heavenly Master Yan Yunxi were both waiting for his order to attack. The Ark of the Other Shore of the Heavenly King Di Shitian was besieged within the Celestial River; the other Heavenly Kings were in Carefree Village, and the armies of gods and demons of the Thirty-Three Heavens of Carefree Village were waiting for his command as well!

Yet the Woodcutter still gave no order. His gaze fell upon the rear of the Celestial River, where the main host of the Celestial River Navy had not yet moved.

The Heavenly Master Zhu Shaoping still sat firm at the center of the army; before and behind him were a hundred and twenty thousand giant tower ships — this was the true main force of the Celestial River Navy!

About him stood Shangfu Ge Yuntian, Liujia, Shangshu, Zuoshu, Youshu, and other beings of the Imperial Throne realm!

What had trapped Di Shitian and the Ark of the Other Shore and was battering Taihuang Heaven was merely the million warships released from the holds of those hundred and twenty thousand giant tower ships!

If Carefree Village committed its main force now, it would give Zhu Shaoping his opening.

"Wentian Ge!"

The Martial Heavenly Master's voice was hoarse. "Taihuang Heaven cannot hold much longer, and neither can Hantang! Let me go!"

The Woodcutter Sage did not answer, but raised his right hand.

Zhuo Cha stared at that right hand, and saw him lift a single little finger. Disappointment showed on his face; he snorted angrily and muttered, "If there were a stinking ditch here, you would be lying in it by now!"

As the Woodcutter Sage's little finger rose, suddenly, between the two divided streams of the Celestial River, a vast landmass cut across from the Dark Capital of the Primordial Realm, wrapped in boundless fog, with countless white bones piled like mountains; among its peaks stood a stone stele, and on it were written several words in blood.

"The Realm of the Living Dead!"

Fengdu's sudden appearance intruded upon the real world. Upon the countless ships attacking Taihuang Heaven, the bodies of the Heavenly Court's gods and demons at once sloughed away their flesh and blood, turning into heaps of white bone.

Every tower ship and great vessel was all stark white bone, and those gods and demons fell into chaos.

King Yama led the gods and demons of Fengdu in a sudden charge, slaying their way onto the ships. The Heavenly Court's gods and demons were turned to bone, while the dead of Fengdu grew flesh and blood — one waned as the other waxed, and the Heavenly Court's gods and demons suffered grievous slaughter in an instant!

Many ships lost control and careened wildly about; not a few were wrecked, with ships destroyed and men lost.

Zhu Shaoping raised an eyebrow. His gaze had never left the Woodcutter, fixed upon his little finger.

"Zuoshu, send troops!" he said decisively.

Zuoshu Ye Shuhuai at once led a great army in a long drive straight into Fengdu.

On the other side, the Woodcutter Sage withdrew his right hand and raised his left, crooking a little finger. In Carefree Village, the Heavenly King Tian Shu gulped down a mouthful of wine, shouldered the Imperial Gate Divine Saber, and laughed. "Lads, follow me to kill the enemy!"

He came running barefoot, and behind him tens of thousands of Carefree Village's soldiers ran barefoot after him, charging down from above upon Zuoshu Ye Shuhuai's army!

Zhu Shaoping acted at once, shouting, "Youshu, send troops and intercept the Nether Capital Heavenly King!"

Youshu Yue Wangyuan led a fleet, hoisted sail, and set forth; upon the tower ships the light of the sun blazed and shone far out. The Nether Capital Heavenly King Tian Shu cultivated the demonic way of the Dark Capital, and under that sunlight his demonic qi sizzled and crackled!

The Woodcutter Sage's brow twitched; his hand clenched into a fist, and he raised his index finger.

As his index finger rose, Qinghuang led Carefree Village's Heavenly Dragon Division in a charge upon Youshu's army.

Zhu Shaoping sneered. "Before the Celestial River Navy, any divine dragon is a worm! Liujia, attack — wipe out that old ghost Qinghuang!"

At Liujia's sortie, the Woodcutter Sage let out a breath. "Zixi, you go!"

Yan Yunxi laughed softly, mounted her donkey Lü Zheng, and led a great army charging at the Celestial River Navy under Liujia's command, crying, "Form ranks!"

"The Zixi Heavenly Master looks like a woman."

The Martial Heavenly Master Zhuo Cha praised her from the heart. "But her fighting strength is truly boundless! Woodcutter, isn't it my turn yet?"

At Zhu Shaoping's side, army after army was dispatched; the Woodcutter Sage ordered the armies of the Thirty-Three Heavens of Carefree Village to meet them, and even sent out the Shen clan of Qin Hanzhen's line — but Zhuo Cha alone he did not send.

Zhuo Cha clenched his fists and stared at the back of his head.

At last, the Woodcutter Sage raised a thumb, and the Divine King Lang Wan at once led the Creators in a headlong strike at the central camp of the Celestial River Navy!

At Zhu Shaoping's side only his personal guards remained. Though their gods and demons were many, they could hardly hold off a Heavenly Venerate like Lang Wan!

Zhu Shaoping laughed aloud and let Lang Wan's army of Creators come. When the two sides were no more than a hundred li apart, suddenly, upon the ships beside him, great curtains were drawn back, and a giant divine weapon appeared — the Taiji Vein of the Ancestral Court!

Zhu Shaoping bowed and said with a smile, "I beg Lady Taiyin to come forth!"

Lady Taiyin rose slowly from the Taiji Vein, reached out, seized the Taiji Vein, and went to meet Lang Wan.

Zhu Shaoping laughed from afar. "Wentian Ge, you still have Di Yiyue hidden in Carefree Village. Why not bring her out, and see whether this generation's Kaihuang can break my army!"

The Woodcutter smiled faintly and bowed. "I beg Your Majesty to come forth!"

From the Ark of the Other Shore where the Heavenly King Di Shitian was, a woman suddenly flew into the air, cleaving like lightning through the Heavenly Court fleet surrounding the Ark, and came straight for Zhu Shaoping!

Zhu Shaoping laughed. "So the Kaihuang is here! A pity — you are no match for the traitor Shen Ye."

Behind him, another curtain was drawn back on a tower ship, revealing more than ten volcanoes of the Ancestral Court, refined into weapons. Zhu Shaoping's personal guards formed their formation and drove the divine weapons, hemming in Di Yiyue.

Zhu Shaoping, wholly at ease, flicked his sleeve and said with a smile, "Wentian Ge, what is on these dozen ships behind me? You likely do not know — on these ships are the Celestial River Pagodas, the elite of the elite! And besides the Celestial River Pagodas, there are the Twelve Great Weapons of the Heavenly Court! And yet — do you still have any troops left?"