“This is not a good place to talk. When this matter is over, I shall explain everything to you slowly,” the True Martial Progenitor replied.

Xu Zimo nodded slightly and did not say anything more.

But on the side of the Eight God-Clans, they were clearly displeased. The Mountain Titan True God snorted coldly. “True Martial Progenitor, do you think you alone can stand against the Heavenly Court and the Heavensward Tower?”

“The Heavenly Court is worth watching. As for the Heavensward Tower…” The True Martial Progenitor chuckled. “A group of decrepit relics from a bygone age who should have died long ago. The ship of a new era holds no seats for them. My True Martial Sacred Ground has planned for a million years. We should overturn this Absolute God Heaven and create a new era. They cannot stop me, nor should they try.”

“Arrogant beyond measure,” snapped the Supreme Ascendant. As he waved his hand, the Heavensward Tower suspended in the sky erupted in magnificent radiance. It was as if almighty primordial beings were awakening. From within that celestial hall, prayers to the Heavenly Dao resonated; ancient slumbering existences awakened one by one. Some were surrounded by boundless sacred might, others twisted the void with their Primordial Edicts, each of them incomparably strong.

From the Heavensward Tower, threads of starlight drifted outward. Each speck represented a powerful being, an ancient heroic spirit. When they were young, they had all been unmatched cultivators in the Absolute God Heaven. In their old age, they joined the Heavensward Tower to guard the world’s peace.

The reason the Heavensward Tower was revered was not merely its own power. It was because it gathered many predecessors and seniors of the Absolute God Heaven. Even Xu Zimo had to admit that the Heavensward Tower’s status was extraordinarily high, transcendent, above the mundane, surpassing even the Ten God-Clans.

Perhaps, in the very beginning, the Tower’s ideals were correct. The predecessors of many generations had a duty to safeguard the domain. But time erodes everything. They gradually lost themselves.

The Heavensward Tower was no longer what it once had been. They were too idealistic, wishing to mold the Absolute God Heaven into their imagined perfection, something impossible. The Ten God-Clans could not rule the world forever. Heroes rise in every era, each leading brilliance for hundreds of years.

And this era belonged to the True Martial Progenitor.

From the Heavensward Tower, an ancient existence revived. A hoarse, aged voice echoed coldly, “True Martial Progenitor, when you first arrived at the Absolute God Heaven, this old man took great care of you. I never expected you to carry such wolfish ambition.”

Hearing that voice, the True Martial Progenitor immediately identified him.

The Ancient Desolate Mountain Lord, the ancient head of the Ancient Desolate Mountain lineage.

Ancient Desolate Mountain’s history was extremely ancient, even older than the Ten God-Clans. It once dominated half of the Absolute God Heaven. No matter the faction or the cultivator, none dared to act presumptuously before the will of Ancient Desolate Mountain. Only in Ancient Desolate Mountain’s later era did the Ten God-Clans finally form and begin to rise.

The True Martial Progenitor was not surprised. When he first arrived in the domain, he had discovered certain things, namely, Heaven’s Annihilation, which later became the True Martial Tribulation Tower. He had sought collaborators to accomplish a heaven-shaking deed. The Ancient Desolate Mountain Lord had been the best candidate. Unfortunately, he discovered that the mountain master lacked great ambition. Ruling half a heaven was enough for him.

But the True Martial Progenitor’s dream reached too far, bordering on the outrageous. He was rejected and even ridiculed.

Because what the True Martial Progenitor wanted… was to defy the heavens.

Yes, defy the heavens and crusade against the heavens.

Strike at that Old Villainous Heaven.

Throughout the history of the Nine Heavens, there had been three Heaven-Defying Crusades.

The first was launched by the Primordial God-King, who attained the Great Dao at the God-Demon Abyss and proclaimed, “For the next three hundred million years, the world shall belong to us Primordials!”

He began the first war. After the age of the Ancient Gods passed, the Primordial God-King was regarded as the only deity under heaven, unrivaled across creation. But he failed to defy the heavens.

Later, the Infernal Lord ended the Primordial Era. Between the Primordial and Ancient Eras, he established a brief age called the Demon Descent Era.

At that time, the Infernal Lord could no longer be described merely as “astonishing.” His army’s proclamation still echoed in the memories of countless believers.

“Wherever the sun and moon shine, wherever rivers flow, all shall be demon soil!”

Ancient Demon banners pierced every corner of the Nine Heavens. Many revered him as someone who surpassed the Ten Ancient Gods and even the Primordial God-King. He launched the second Heaven-Defying Crusade. It shook the world the most. It was said that the sky was torn open, leaving a massive rift that took hundreds of millions of years to heal.

But he too failed.

In the late Ancient Ages, the High Queen gathered all the cultivators of the Nine Heavens to begin the third Heaven-Defying Crusade. The High Queen had no name recorded, or perhaps her name simply never spread. People only called her the High Queen.

Even “peerless” could not describe her. Later generations praised her as unparalleled, unprecedented and unrepeatable.

It was commonly acknowledged that she was the greatest woman in all Nine Heavens through history. When she announced her intention to defy the heavens, she received universal support. Ninety percent of all cultivators in the Nine Heavens were willing to follow her. Her charm and brilliance were absolute.

But alas, she also failed.

That war inflicted the heaviest casualties in history. The Nine Heavens were crippled for millions of years, all cultivators nearly wiped out. Only after a hundred million years of recuperation did the world begin to recover.

It was that war that revealed the terror of the Heavenly Dao.

The Primordial God-King’s failure felt distant. The Infernal Lord’s failure only affected his own followers. But the High Queen… the Nine Heavens experienced her war firsthand. Everyone directly faced the overwhelming might of High Heaven, so terrifying that even the thought of resistance vanished.

Because of this, after the High Queen, countless eras passed. Yet no one dared to attempt defying the heavens again.

But the True Martial Progenitor had spoken such words.

No wonder the Ancient Desolate Mountain Lord had mocked him. He thought it impossible.

And when the True Martial Sacred Ground later grew strong and began to show signs of dominating the Absolute God Heaven, he staunchly opposed them, even asking the Heavensward Tower to aid the Ten God-Clans in destroying the sect.

To him, the True Martial Progenitor was a madman. One who wished to defy the heavens would only bring disaster to not only the Absolute God Heaven but the entire Nine Heavens.