On the battlefield, to kill or be killed was but a matter of thought.

Wu Wang, disguised as a True Immortal, wielded his Longsword, charging everywhere, having already claimed countless lost souls beneath his blade.

His Dao heart was calm, without any ripple.

From above the battlefield, monstrous noises came from time to time as the Dao rules repeatedly shattered and reformed.

Now and then, Divine Spirits would streak above him, invariably pursued by several, even more than a dozen, Human Domain Transcendents.

The great battle intensified as more and more experts from both sides were drawn in, stretching the battle lines ever longer.

The topography within thousands of miles was massively altered, with mountains occasionally seen flying across the sky, turned into weapons of convenience by powerful warriors...

It was a grand contention of Heaven and Earth!

Both sides were blinded by a blood rage.

Wu Wang observed the state of the battle covertly. Like other cultivators of the True Immortal Realm, he rushed across the land, "daring" not to easily step into the aerial fray.

But he always appeared at critical moments where some Human Domain cultivators were on the verge of collapse. Within a short time, he would use seemingly casual techniques to destroy one or two of the most powerful combatants among the Hundred Races before dashing off to the next battlefield.

Even the most robust command systems were now nearly inoperative.

Wu Wang ordered the Whispering Snake to covertly monitor the situation around Ling Xiaolan and to rescue her promptly if she was in danger.

But that was all he could do.

During the grand battle between the Heaven Palace of the Southeastern Region and the Human Domain, Wu Wang had mostly stood in the tent, facing the sand table, making adaptive decisions.

This time, however, he was in the very heart of the battle.

Life was as cheap as grass, floating one moment, sinking the next.

His clothes were blood-stained, yet his Longsword's gleam only grew more piercing.

His footsteps became more ghostly, his Longsword even swifter.

Gradually, spots of cold light appeared around Wu Wang. His unrestrained swordsmanship, like a chilling netherworld gust, swept into a group of Hundred Races elites newly joined in the fray.

With the intent of the dragon and serpent in his swordplay, he trod upon myriad Stars.

Wu Wang swept through the area like an autumn wind through fallen leaves, leaving behind hundreds of bodies.

Glancing back, he found emptiness behind him. The chaos of battle was everywhere, and the cultivators of the same Formation had long been unable to keep up with him.

He did not pause, his form charging toward the next engagement.

Do what a soldier must.

Let not my cultivation in the Human Domain be in vain.

Where are the formidable enemies that are hard to kill?

These were the only three thoughts in Wu Wang's mind at the time.

Within a thousand miles, the battle had completely spiraled out of control. Large-scale troop movements were wishful thinking, and the commanders' excellent "micromanagement" had no place to be used.

Now, it was a contest of elites, a test of resilience.

The constant interweaving of both sides' masters had turned this place into a new crucible of life.

What lessened the psychological burden was that those here were beings with 'power,' not the old, weak, sick, or disabled, nor the mortals from the Human Domain unable to cultivate.

And as he cleared the battlefield, Wu Wang also corrected some of his prior views.

Most of the Hundred Races' warriors knew why they fought.

Whether for personal belief, for survival, or for the convictions they held deepest in their hearts.

They were not empty husks.

From their eyes, Wu Wang saw their fear of death and their lingering desire for life...

But these were not reasons for Wu Wang to show mercy.

In a war between two armies, a life-and-death struggle, any bit of sympathy or pity was a betrayal of his comrades-in-arms.

This was a clash of stances, a battle for the right to live, a war of the Human Domain against divine authority!

Achieving that without bloodshed, without death, was impossible.

WHOOSH—

A sharp sound of piercing air shot toward him at high speed.

Wu Wang, hurtling forward, immediately braked. Immortal Light burst out around him to deflect a black arrow as thick as a thumb, his form swaying slightly backward.

Such formidable force.

He looked up only to see seven or eight male and female members of the Hundred Races appear before him.

A lion-headed warrior brandished a large shield, an alluring Qingqiu fox woman held a longbow, several robed Rong Dog Tribe Priests raised their wooden staffs, and two giants of different races lifted a long spear and a broadsword.

The lion-headed warrior holding the shield roared, "Hey, you! Battle with us!"

Wu Wang's mouth twitched slightly, and he suddenly shifted about ten meters to the side.

Behind him, dozens of streaks of light burst forth simultaneously, directly covering those seven or eight figures and riddling them with holes.

The group of cultivators not far away let out two roars and continued to plunge deeper into the chaotic battle.

Wu Wang performed a flourish with his Longsword and leaped up, landing beside the group of cultivators to guard them for a moment.

Suddenly, at the farthest point of his vision!

On a cloud dyed fiery red, an Innate God of respectable strength was besieged by two figures covered in flames.

This Innate God was pinned down on the cloud with a palm strike, his heavily injured body nearly shattering entirely.

An old woman, her expression serene, appeared with a flash behind the Innate God.

In the next instant, a fierce, bright light erupted between Heaven and Earth.

Wu Wang felt the violent throbbing of the Yan Emperor's Edict, and his eyes ached, pierced by the intense light.

That was the old woman igniting her own Primordial Spirit, using the Dao of Fuel and Fire to unleash the simplest yet strongest strike.

After the bright light passed, a mushroom cloud slowly rose into the sky.

Wu Wang thought he heard a sigh from the old woman, a sigh full of solace, as if a matter weighing on her heart for countless years had finally found its resolution.

To become a flame itself must be able to shed a glimmer of light in the darkness, right?

It must be able to, right...

Another elder, nearing the end of his life, did not hesitate. He turned and threw himself at the next Innate God.

At this moment, the retreat of those Divine Spirits was abundantly clear, but they absolutely could not break free from the encirclement of Human Domain cultivators.

In the sky, intense light suddenly burst forth. Before Wu Wang could even lift his head to look, Yun Zhongjun's voice rang out,

"The Gold God can't hold on any longer, she's likely going to run."

Run?

Wu Wang was about to lift his head and shout, but just as he straightened his neck, he felt as if Heaven and Earth were being torn apart. An intense pulling force came from all around, and a streak of black light blossomed!

A gaping abyss appeared from nowhere right in front of him!

No, it was more than that!

Wu Wang did not hesitate at all. He quickly retreated and, with a flick of his hand, pushed several slightly slow-reacting cultivators backward with his immortal power!

「In the high sky.」

The Gold God was covered in wounds, while the seven Human Domain cultivators surrounding her still burned with the last of their strength.

She roared softly and angrily, letting out roars like a wild beast, and the numerous arms on her back suddenly exploded.

With each arm that exploded, an abyss appeared in Heaven and Earth.

As these abysses rapidly expanded, grew, and spread, in the blink of an eye, there were more than thirty chasms tearing apart the fabric of Heaven and Earth within a thousand miles.

These were no ordinary abysses!

This was the Gold God using her immense Divine Power to tear open Heaven and Earth, to break the Dao rules!

An old woman snorted coldly and shouted loudly,

"Annihilation Origin God!"

Seven peak powerhouses pressed forward, finding a path through the dense, branch-like cracks to rush ahead.

"Annihilation God!"

The Gold God was already at her limit. Seeing her still vicious demeanor, it seemed she wanted to fight them to the death.

The thousand-mile area was filled with cracks in Heaven and Earth. Countless cultivators who could not escape in time were sucked in, and many creatures were directly torn apart and crushed to death by the turbulent forces of Heaven and Earth.

And that Gold God, a cold smile at the corner of her mouth, quickly turned her head and slipped into a crevice, disappearing in an instant. The rift she entered also swiftly closed after swallowing thousands of lives.

The seven elders lunged at nothing but showed not a hint of sentimentality as their figures plunged toward the trapped Innate Gods.

They were, after all, merely attempting to see if they could kill one of the Five Elements Gods.

Their primary goal in this move was to target the more vulnerable Main Gods of the Heaven Palace.

To deliver a heavy blow to the Heaven Palace.

To protect our Human Domain and accomplish the transition between the old and new Human Emperors.

"The Gold God has been defeated! Slay all the gods!"

"Yes!"

Amidst the ravaging of dozens of abysses, thousands of cultivators roared in response, disregarding the turmoil of Heaven and Earth, uncaring of their own fates.

A thousand years of arduous cultivation to forge immortal thoughts! Three hundred gather to suppress the Heavenly Gods!

Wu Wang briefly pondered, then his figure disappeared from the battlefield.

The tearing rifts in Heaven and Earth that raged across the land provided the perfect cover for the Whispering Snake to strike from the shadows.

「...」

I am invincible!

"COUGH! SPLUTTER! COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!"

「In the dissolving earth, amid the scorching magma.」

Her battered body lay atop the magma. Her left arm was severed neatly at the elbow, her skin pocked and scarred with wounds, and her right arm and right leg were twisted into irregular shapes.

She coughed a few more times, blood spouting from her wounds. The Divine Power within her body barely stabilized, no longer depleting further.

To let these injuries worsen would indeed be fatal.

The Five Elements God, the Gold God.

That cry of 'invincible' seemed to still echo through Heaven and Earth. Now she lay here in a corner of the Great Wilderness, unable to move.

Why are those Human Domain cultivators so fierce when they disregard their own lives?

The Gold God grimaced and took a sharp breath before closing her eyes to concentrate, carefully recalling the various events of the great battle that had just taken place.

After all, she had somewhat underestimated the combat strength of the Human Domain.

Surrounded and ruthlessly beaten by seven old-generation Human Domain experts who burned everything, she knew that no matter how strong she was, she had weaknesses and limits.

The seven of them, joining forces, had firmly pushed her to her breaking point.

As the great battle ensued, though they were gravely injured, those seven who sought to fight her to the death showed no sign of cowardice.

They formed an iron-clad offensive Formation that targeted the weaknesses of her immortal body, waiting only to breach her flesh and then, with their last dying light, perish alongside her.

This so-called dying light was self-destruction induced by the Dao of Fire.

To some extent, Gold was restrained by Fire.

Thus, she, this Gold God of the Five Elements Gods, in a critical moment, made a very strategic retreat, showing a great sense of the bigger picture.

Using her last Divine Power, she did three things:

First, she destroyed thirty-six Divine Weapons, completely tearing apart Heaven and Earth for a thousand miles around, directly severing the core battlefield, creating chaos, and leaving the Human Domain side in disarray.

Second, she protected herself by diving into a rift in Heaven and Earth.

Third, she used all her remaining Divine Power to protect herself, concealing her presence in this unknown region. She lay in the lake of magma she had created when she tore space, silently waiting for her divine body to regain the ability to move.

Too ruthless.

Those seven Human Domain cultivators who had given up everything—indeed, too ruthless!

Hah, do they really think I was reckless?

Despite the twists and turns, and not having expected the Human Domain to act so decisively, the outcome was still quite satisfactory.

It seems quite a few Innate Gods were duped...

TSK.

The Gold God grinned, revealing gums nearly devoid of teeth. She then lay in the magma, cursing the Human Domain cultivators for a while and scouring her body for Divine Power to heal her wounds.

I can't move for the time being.

My injuries will be difficult to recover within a millennium. This will conveniently allow me to avoid the confrontation between the Heaven Palace and the Human Domain.

In this battle, how many Main Gods will perish?

Ten? Or eight?

The Human Domain must have also suffered many casualties among its experts. It's probably a minor victory for the Human Domain and a disadvantage for the Heaven Palace, with both sides suffering greatly.

The Human Domain couldn't have used all their strength just to deal with me, could they?

If so, that would indeed be a waste on their part.

If any Main Gods fall, the Heaven Palace will expend Divine Power in the Divine Pool to reshape their divine bodies.

And as long as enough Main Gods are being restored at the same time, the Divine Power of the Divine Pool will drop to a lower level for a period, triggering a series of chain reactions.

Perhaps an 'opportunity' can be found amidst it.

Moreover, whose orders the newly reborn gods will heed is another matter.

Wisps of Divine Light flitted through the Gold God's eyes, and she could not help but laugh weakly again.

"Hmm?"

Someone actually followed me here.

The Gold God had been prepared. Her form immediately sank into the lake of magma, and the boiling magma instantly returned to calm, leaving no trace behind.

In the sky, streaks of Liu Guang swiftly shot across, landing not far from the lava lake.

The Gold God heard a long howl and cursed her bad luck a few times in her heart, knowing full well that this was a common method of communication used by Human Domain cultivators.

Numerous streaks of light flew from the distance, gathering hundreds of cultivators on a hillslope not far from the lava lake.

All the cultivators looked shaken. After some searching, they elected the person of highest rank among them.

Thus, Xu Mu, the deputy commander of the 'Young Master's Army,' somewhat bewilderedly became the leader of these several hundred Human Domain cultivators.

Half of those present had been his subordinates before.

As if finding their backbone, everyone crowded around Xu Mu, blocking any exit. They began to discuss, many voices chiming in at once.

"Deputy Commander Xu, what shall we do now?"

"That Gold God is truly terrifying! Just now, I thought Heaven and Earth were about to collapse. She actually stuffed hundreds of thousands of people into the cracks of Heaven and Earth!"

"That wasn't her doing. Fractures appeared throughout Heaven and Earth, and the Spiritual Energy surged toward the openings, pushing us inside.

"Alas, who knows how many were crushed by the turbulent forces of Heaven and Earth."

"There won't be too many. Some died the moment Heaven and Earth shattered, but most were essentially transported away by the fissures. As long as you're not unlucky enough to fall into enemy lines or end up in the Heaven Palace, there's a chance to survive."

The crowd nodded in agreement.

Xu Mu said, "Enough talk. Let's first search the vicinity for anyone who can be rescued. Then we'll find a way to contact the main force and determine our exact location!"

"Yes!"

At his command, the crowd immediately began a systematic search.

A few cultivators dashed in all directions, extending their Immortal Consciousness far and wide. They eventually confirmed that they were in the southwestern region, slightly to the west—a corner of the Great Wilderness.

More cultivators kept arriving to join them, and they also found many experts from the Hundred Races. This led to dozens of small-scale battles erupting.

In less than an hour, over eight hundred cultivators had gathered, and the remains of several hundred of their comrades had been found.

Xu Mu immediately ordered them to head directly to the western border of the Human Domain. At this point, most of the cultivators were exhausted and badly wounded, no longer able to continue the fight.

The shock to their Dao hearts was even greater. They needed timely rest to avoid long-term consequences.

That Gold God...

She was indeed a bit frightening.

They gathered the remains scattered around, formed into battle Formations, and were about to race toward the southwest, close to the ground.

However, they had not gone far when a presence descended from the sky, putting the cultivators on high alert.

"Oh? I could not find traces of the Gold God, but I found you bunch of minnows."

Xu Mu's expression changed. He immediately rushed above the cultivators, gripping his Longsword in his hand and shouting,

"Form up!"

A somewhat frail Formation light barrier reluctantly sprang up above their heads.

Above them, three figures appeared at once, bringing a heavy pressure that made all the cultivators' complexions change.

The Evil God, Qiong Qi.

The Evil God, Kui Ox.

They each maintained the appearance of Innate God bodies, standing to the left and right behind the male Innate God in a golden robe who had just spoken. His Dao rhythm seemed to be associated with the Wood Great Dao, slightly akin to a Thunder God, but his specific identity was still unknown.

Xu Mu looked down at his people. The strongest among them seemed to be a few Heavenly Immortals.

This...

How had I suddenly become so unlucky? A group of True Immortals and Yuanxian thrown into a corner of the Great Wilderness to the southwest, and now we've encountered three formidable foes well beyond our capacity to handle.

Could it be that after so many years of good fortune, my luck has suddenly run out?

Xu Mu smiled bitterly but immediately straightened, looking up at the sky.

"Gentlemen, let us not disgrace our Human Domain."

Most of the men showed a faint smile, looking up into the sky with resignation and channeling their last reserves of immortal power.

In secret, Wu Wang glanced at the magma pool where the Gold God was hiding, ready to leap out and face these three Gods from the Heaven Palace.

With the Whispering Snake, I'm not entirely without a chance of victory.

But before he took a step, a flash of fire suddenly lit up the sky, and several figures rapidly descended. Wu Wang could not help but raise an eyebrow.

The first to catch his eye was Ling Xiaolan, guarded by two middle-aged Fairy Immortals, followed by the tall, slender silhouette in front of them.

The Xia Official, Fire Plume.

「In the sky above the clouds.」

Qiong Qi subconsciously retreated half a step, his movement unexpectedly adept.