Book 23, Endwar, Chapter 15 – The Battle for Karmic Luck (2)
War was a cruel affair.
The Empyrean G.o.ds and True Immortals were all fighting in ma.s.sive formations. Each of them commanded many Celestial Immortals and a sea of Loose Immortals and FiendG.o.ds! Each time a formation was broken apart, a huge ma.s.sacre would follow! Only a few lucky individuals would be able to survive, generally when allied Immortals and FiendG.o.ds who were still in formation managed to scoop them up into estate-treasures.
Ji Ning’s eyes were bloodshot. When he saw all this happen, he couldn’t help but wish to charge into the fray himself as well.
However, he knew that he had to remain calm. Although the numbers indicated that the Nuwa Alliance’s losses were heavier than the Seamless Gate’s, that was because the Seamless Gate was losing golems as well! As more and more golems were destroyed, the Seamless Gate began to lose more and more Immortals and FiendG.o.ds as well.
“Eh?” Ning suddenly relaxed slightly.
His Primaltwin had been in the Heavengazer Tower the entire time. Just now, it had finally mastered and unlocked the fourth level of the Triult Sword! As his Primaltwin was now also an Ancestral Immortal, he now used up a staggering amount of energy when he sped up time inside the tower. Thus, his Primaltwin now merely maintained a rate of thirty times the normal speed of time.
At twenty times the normal speed of time, the Primaltwin was able to maintain an energy equilibrium. At thirty times the normal speed of time, the Primaltwin would need to occasionally consume spirit pills in order to stay steady.
Roughly three months had pa.s.sed in the outside world, but roughly eight years had pa.s.sed in the Heavengazer Tower. Finally, the fourth level had been unlocked.
“Now, the Triult Swords will be slightly more powerful for me than they were for Swordfather Triult,” Ning mused to himself. To be able to increase his own power at such a critical moment in time was something which pleased Ning greatly.
The war for karmic luck continued. As more and more golems were destroyed, the Nuwa Alliance’s advantage became increasingly apparent. However, the Seamless Gate was quite resolute as well. They triaged their losses whenever necessary, determined to give the Nuwa Alliance no chance at all for a quick victory.
The battles continued, and the casualties continued to climb…
By the 179th day of battle, after roughly half a year had pa.s.sed, the Nuwa Alliance had lost a total of more than twenty thousand Empyrean G.o.ds and True Immortals! The Seamless Gate had also lost more than twenty thousand as well! If this was a battle between mortal armies, such terrible casualties could very well have caused a complete breakdown in moral, resulting in one side collapsing.
However, the two vast armies continued to fight with utter bloodl.u.s.t.
“It’s about time.”
The Lord of All Fiends, Keeper Everwood, Daomother Devilhand, Daofather Bloodswan, Old Man Yuan, and the other major powers were all standing in the darkened skies, watching as the battle proceeded.
“Prepare for the Endwar,” the Lord of All Fiends sent mentally.
“The Endwar?” Everyone present felt their hearts clench.
Daomother Devilhand sent frantically, “Windfiend, we haven’t lost the war for karmic luck yet. Our losses in Empyrean G.o.ds and True Immortals are equal to their losses. We can keep fighting.”
“We can, but can we win?” The Lord of All Fiends asked her.
Daomother Devilhand instantly fell silent.
The Lord of All Fiends swept them all with his gaze. He sent mentally, “Things weren’t so bad at the start, primarily because we had so many golems in storage! But more and more of the golems have been destroyed. Over the course of the past half year, we’ve lost nearly 90% of our golem army! The formations of the Nuwa Alliance, however, remain as powerful as ever. They completely suppress our formations in power. We aren’t a match for them in terms of mobilizing True Immortals and Empyrean G.o.ds.”
The major powers of the Seamless Gate had to admit to this. The Nuwa Alliance’s formations had been left behind by Mother Nuwa herself. Their formations were superior, which meant that their Empyrean G.o.ds and True Immortals were able to join together more effectively.
“Perhaps certain tactical schemes and traps can turn the course of battle, but the enemy commander is Xuan Yuan. His control over their armies is completely flawless; he doesn’t strive for brilliant victories, he only seeks to make no mistakes. He fights against us in a frontal, aboveboard manner, slowly draining our armies! He relies on his superiority in numbers and his superior formations rather than compete against us in tactical brilliance!” The Lord of All Fiends shook his head. “Traps and schemes might be useful against another commander, but we can forget about using them against Xuan Yuan when he’s commanding troops in such a manner.”
“But our karmic luck is weaker than theirs. The situation is disadvantageous to us.” The black-robed G.o.dking spoke out in worry as well.
The Seamless Gate had lost many of the important Realmwars, resulting in their karmic luck weakening. They were at a disadvantage in this battle as well. If their karmic luck was to weaken even further, then during the Endwar it would be much more difficult for them to use certain formations to summon enough energy from Heaven and Earth. The Nuwa Alliance, however, would find it easier to summon and maintain those formations. It would be as if Heaven and Earth were both trying to a.s.sist the Nuwa Alliance.
“Yes, our karmic luck is a bit weaker right now…but if we keep fighting like this, we’ll probably lose all of our karmic luck,” the Lord of All Fiends said.
“Everwood?” Daomother Devilhand looked towards the silent Keeper Everwood.
“I agree with what Windfiend said.” Keeper Everwood said slowly, “No matter what…we have to start the Endwar at some point. Although it does seem as though we still have a chance at winning the war for karmic luck…that’s precisely why, if we attack now, we might be able to catch the Nuwa Alliance off their guard. If we wait until we completely lose the war, not only will we have even less karmic luck, the Nuwa Alliance will be fully prepared as well.”
“Fine.”
“Then let the last battle begin.”
“I haven’t had the chance to make the Nuwa Alliance pay for my child’s death yet.”
“The Three Realms was created by the collision of our Seamless Chaosworld and their Pangu Chaosworld. Why, then, have they always put on airs of being the ‘true masters of the Three Realms’? I’ve been p.i.s.sed off about this for eons.”
“Fight!”
The major powers of the Seamless Gate cast aside all their doubts and worries. Only one path existed before them…that of battle!
The Lord of All Fiends sent mentally, “Daoist Yuan, don’t end up becoming soft-hearted when the battle starts.”
“Don’t worry.” Old Man Yuan chuckled calmly.
“Witherspike.” The Lord of All Fiends sent a mental message deep into the darkness of the Void, to a location where a dark-golden castle was located.
Inside the castle, G.o.dfiend Witherspike was seated atop his throne as always. Smiling coldly, he made his reply. “Don’t worry, Allfiend…if I don’t intervene, your chances of winning the Endwar would be pathetically low. I’ll definitely take part.”
“Good.” The Lord of All Fiends looked calmly at the two vast armies battling before him. “Transmit my orders.”
All of the major powers of the Seamless Gate turned solemn, preparing to enter battle at a moment’s notice.
The battle between the Immortal armies turned increasingly vicious.
Ning and the other major powers of the Nuwa Alliance all held their breaths, unable to breathe as they saw so many familiar faces perish. They felt tremendous pain in their hearts, but all they could do was watch!
Although he felt pain, Ning was still continuing to focus on attuning to his own body. He continued to train in accordance with the [Solitary World G.o.d], seeking to find that spark of insight in his own body so that he could break through to become an Elder G.o.d. If he could become an Elder G.o.d…given how he had the [Taowu Eighteen FiendG.o.ds] and [One True Body] divine abilities, he would become a half-step World G.o.d. In all the Three Realms, most likely only the mysterious, inscrutable Lord of All Fiends would be a match for him.
Alas…
Ning desperately wanted to make the breakthrough, and he had mastered the Heavenly Dao of Water, but mastering a Heavenly Dao was just one of multiple prerequisites for becoming an Elder G.o.d. In the Three Realms, quite a few True G.o.ds had mastered Heavenly Daos, and a good number of them had been taught the [Unbound Elder G.o.d Visualization] technique. However, Suiren was the only one to break through to become an Elder G.o.d! From this, one could see how hard it was to become an Elder G.o.d.
Ning had been unable to find that spark of insight inside his body. Despite that, Ning had never given up on trying. He continued to search for that spark at all times.
“SNOW SCORPION!!!” Suddenly, an agonized cry rang out from behind Ning. It was Redsnow, and he had a frantic, heartbroken look on his face.
Redsnow had left his secluded meditation when Ning was fighting against the Primordial Ruinworld. He had already broken through to become a True G.o.d! Redsnow was staring at a distant Pangu Genesis Formation, one which had already been broken apart. Empyrean G.o.d Snow Scorpion had been inside that formation, and her body had been torn through by the sharp claws of an Envoy of All Things. She died on the spot.
“Snow Scorpion…” Ning felt pain in his heart as well. Seven Empyrean G.o.ds had followed him from the Sta.r.s.eizer world…and one of the seven, Snow Scorpion, had just perished.
Compared to Ning, however, Redsnow felt far greater pain.
Redsnow and Snow Scorpion had been the right and left arms of Daoist Threelives. He would never be able to forget how the two had fought side-by-side for countless years. The other Empyrean G.o.ds and True Immortals under Daoist Threelives’ command had all slowly trickled away, with only a few remaining within the Sta.r.s.eizing Manor. Redsnow and Snow Scorpion had stayed behind, and the two had long ago grown close to each other. Although they didn’t formally join together to become Dao-companions, they had lived alongside each other for so long that they were like family.
“d.a.m.n.” Redsnow’s eyes glistened with unshed tears.
Rumble…
Suddenly, a streak of black light appeared in the distance. The streak of black light moved faster than the limits of the Heavenly Daos, charging straight towards the vast armies of the Nuwa Alliance. This alpha strike had been launched by the most terrifying figure of the Seamless Gate, the Lord of All Fiends. He was simply far too fast when he attacked…but the Nuwa Alliance had been watching vigilantly this entire time.
“KILL!” Daoist Three Purities’ face changed and he immediately let out a furious bellow!
“KILL!” All of the major powers had been keeping their growing rage suppressed. Now, they let it all explode outwards. True G.o.d Redsnow and the others had bloodl.u.s.ted eyes as all of them instantly went berserk.
“ALLFIEND!” Ning and Suiren simultaneously let out angry howls.
The two of them were the fastest on the Nuwa Alliance. When faced with the sudden attack of the Lord of All Fiends, Ji Ning was actually the most suitable candidate for defending against it, thanks to his mastery of the [Five Treasures].
Ning immediately executed the [Three Heads, Six Arms] technique as well as the Sixth Cycle of the [Sta.r.s.eizing Hand]! The divine tattoos appeared on his six enormous palms, filled with such power as to cause the entire Void to shudder. They were like six t.i.tanic stormclouds that swept through the skies, each palm surpa.s.sing the limits of the Heavenly Daos as they struck towards the armies of the Seamless Gate!
Ning knew very well that in terms of speed, he was still a bit inferior to the Lord of All Fiends. Thus, he launched an attack in order to force the Lord of All Fiends to withdraw his attack as he sent his six cloud-sized palms towards the army of the Seamless Gate! In this way, he could ensure that the Lord of All Fiends would have to withdraw his attack.
“Not good.”
“Careful.”
“Block it.”
The soldiers of the Seamless Gate stared ashen-faced at the six t.i.tanic stormclouds that were descending towards them. The Lord of All Fiends had only struck with a single sharp blade that moved like a streak of black light, but Ji Ning had struck out with six gigantic palms. How many of them would die to this strike?
“Hmph.” The Lord of All Fiends frowned. The black streak of light curved in midair, expanding to become hundreds of thousands of kilometers long as he swung it towards Ning’s palms.
BOOM!
A ma.s.sive blast could be heard, and the incomparably powerful collision caused Ning to uncontrollably fly backwards a few steps.
The Lord of All Fiends’ body trembled momentarily as well. The weapon in his hand was a strange, black-colored weaver’s shuttle.
Sword Immortal Darknorth and the Lord of All Fiends had exchanged blows. Now, all the other major powers of the two alliances entered the fray as well. Some began to take command over Envoys of All Things, some began to take command over many Empyrean G.o.ds and True Immortals to a.s.sume mighty formations…
The battlefield quickly transformed from the final battle over karmic luck to the true Endwar!