Chapter 1710 — A Beauty Beyond Compare

Zhu Shaoping led the remnants of the Celestial River Navy in retreat thirty thousand li, and the Woodcutter Sage did not lead his troops in pursuit, for the Heavenly Court's main forces had yet to emerge—the Ten Guards, the Seven Lords, the Three Chancellors, the Two Auxiliaries, and the Five Emperors' Inner Seats had all yet to enter the fray. Moreover, the Celestial River Navy was but one of three armies; though defeated, its main strength remained. And beyond that, there were still the other two armies!

This battle was a great victory for Carefree Township, Jingping, and the Yuan World, and a great victory for the myriad heavens and worlds as well, but for the Heavenly Court, it was merely a minor defeat!

At last, the main army led by Emperor Haotian and the civil and martial assemblies of the Heavenly Court arrived in slow procession, pitching their camps in towering, magnificent array, as though the Heavenly Court itself had been transplanted here.

Zhu Shaoping hurried into the palace, striding swiftly toward the Lingxiao Hall, where he knelt and prostrated himself, begging Emperor Haotian to punish him for his failure. "Victory and defeat are commonplace for a general.

A single battle's outcome explains nothing. " Emperor Haotian spoke in gentle tones: "It is well that Lord Zhu came to no harm—We are reassured.

It is only regrettable that the Left Junior Chancellor was lost, and the Nine Prisons Terrace fell into enemy hands.

For this battle, the fault is not yours.

It is that We did not foresee that the Jingping Reforms could produce such a host of curious contraptions. " Light flickered in his eyes as he smiled and said: "A formation diagram capable of assembling the Great Heavenly Court, great ships designed specifically to break the Celestial River Pagoda, and those outlandish flying carriages—this is precisely why We need Jingping. " Zhu Shaoping dared not speak.

"Jingping's foundry work is already the finest under heaven. The Heavenly Court's own foundry has been emptied bare.

This is why We must seize Jingping.

" Emperor Haotian rose to his feet and said calmly: "These traitorous ministers and rebellious sons believe that a mere minor victory can shake the Heavenly Court's foundations. They underestimate the Heavenly Court—they underestimate Us.

We had worried these traitors would not dare show their heads; now that they have leapt out all at once, it spares Us the trouble of pacifying them one by one. Advance—raze Carefree Township to the ground. " One after another, divine citadels of the Heavenly Court army rose from the earth, celestial palaces floating in the air, pressing toward Carefree Township. The Heavenly Court's three armies arrayed in the front, and behind them the two Dragon Martial Guards, the two Divine Strategy Guards, the two Feathered Forest Guards, and the two Divine Might Guards!

These eight Guards were as eight Heavenly Venerates enthroned in guard!

Emperor Haotian looked toward Taichu and said: "Retired Emperor, break the Yuan World's Xuandu Sky Curtain.

" Taichu bowed and assented.

He rose to his feet, and his Dao Tree soared into the void; the One Qi Grand Luo Heaven descended from the ultimate void!

His Dao Tree flew into the One Qi Grand Luo Heaven, and with a thunderous tremor, the firmament of the Yuan World split open, transforming into forty-nine beams of light that descended from the heavens and plunged into the rear of Carefree Township.

Where those forty-nine beams of light fell was the very place where the Heavenly Lord had erected the Heavenly Principles and transformed them into the Xuandu of the Yuan World. The forty-nine beams crashed down beside the Heavenly Lord—zheng, zheng, zheng—transforming into one supreme treasure of the heavenly dao after another, planting themselves around him.

The sky curtain shattered, and the sun, moon, and stars hung upon the firmament all vanished without a trace! The Heavenly Lord's face turned ashen. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, reached out and plucked the supreme treasure of the Heavenly Principles from the ground, then swept his sleeve, gathering up the other supreme treasures of the heavenly dao.

"Taichu, your abilities remain as formidable as ever!

" The Heavenly Lord raised his head, gazing at the Dao Tree in the sky—that was Taichu's Dao Tree and the One Qi Grand Luo Heaven. So long as it suppressed the skies above the Yuan World, his fifty supreme treasures of the heavenly dao could never be deployed again.

Beyond the heavens all was pitch-black; there was no sun, no moon, no stars whatsoever.

The entire Yuan World plunged into darkness and cold. Only the divine citadels and the myriad heavens emitted a faint, ghostly radiance, lighting the night that shrouded the Yuan World.

The Ancestral Divine King within the Xuandu had long since obscured the stars and moved away the Yuan World's sun and moon, leaving the Yuan World drifting lonely in the dark cosmos.

The Yuan World of this day would know no distinction between day and night. People would wake from the night and never again see the sun rise as it once had; and in the night, there would be no moon in the sky, no stars!

After seven days, the oceans would begin to freeze. Above the Yuan World would appear a vast black cloud shrouding the entire realm, and great snow would fall from the heavens, lasting for months on end, until the whole Yuan World was buried in ice and snow!

After that day, even the deepest oceans would be frozen into one massive block of ice, and the entire Yuan World would become a land of extreme cold! By then, even the air people had grown accustomed to would freeze!

Part of the air would be frozen solid, part would liquefy. The spiritual energy of the Yuan World would cease to flow, and all life would perish!

And now, it was only the first night. In that darkness, beside one of Jingping's divine citadels, a sun rose slowly.

A massive Sun Boat, like a giant beast with twelve legs, moved its limbs, advancing along a predetermined orbit.

Beside another divine citadel, a new Sun Boat activated, releasing its sun into the sky. Gradually, more and more Sun Boats appeared in every corner of Jingping and Carefree Township.

Seen from high above, they were like brilliant candles lit in a dark land—yet the candlelight grew ever brighter, slowly dispelling the night.

Upon the Sun Boats stood mostly white-robed divine beings—the Divine Race from Xuandu. In the battle of Xuandu years ago, Shen Mu had rescued the Heavenly Lord and saved many clansmen of the Xuandu Divine Race, sending them to Jingping.

They had once been Xuandu's Sun Wardens; now the Xuandu Sun Wardens had long since been replaced by Heavenly Court gods and demons, while they had come to Jingping and become the Sun Wardens of the Yuan World.

These Sun Wardens stood upon the Sun Boats, hauling one massive artificial sun after another, giving light to the world, allowing crops to grow, driving back the cold. The destination of these Sun Boats was one Sun Spring after another, long since constructed. Within each Sun Spring was stored an artificial sun.

At the Sun Boats' speed, the journey from their starting point to their destination took exactly half a day.

Upon arrival, the Sun Boats entered the Sun Springs. Within the celestial palaces of the Heavenly Court, mighty Imperial Thrones and Lingxiao powerhouses watched this scene from afar, struck by a shock that rose from the very soul. "So many Sun Boats, so many Sun Springs—Jingping's Emperor Yanfeng is truly a talent without peer.

In but a short time, he prepared such countermeasures! " Among the Seven Lords, the High Lord Chu Yuming murmured: "Emperor Yanfeng is indeed most fearsome—a man of magnificent talent and grand strategy.

. . " "It should not be Emperor Yanfeng.