Chapter 2301: The Primordial War

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Although the word "explosion" is simple, the disturbance is extraordinarily massive. The Da Sheng Bing sacrificed by the Zhutian cultivators detonated in the void outside the city walls at the same time.

Gazing from afar, each Da Sheng Bing's explosion spreads out halos of light, with their power directed at the incoming Honghuang Zhundi. The halos manifest, causing patches of void to collapse.

The Honghuang Zhundi change color, having just charged forward only to retreat abruptly. They never expected the Zhutian forces to defend in such a way. Da Sheng Bing are incredibly precious, yet they are detonated without hesitation.

Many evade the weapon explosions, but even more are hit. Even as Zhundi, they fear the blast of Da Sheng Bing. Countless Honghuang Zhundi are blasted away, their bodies mangled with blood and bones exposed.

"Kill for me."

As the explosion's power dissipates, the Honghuang Zhundi surge back.

Across the void, their faces are visible—grotesque and twisted, not human cultivators to begin with, now even more like demons, their eyes blazing with bloodlust, teeth gritted in rage.

The Zhutian cultivators show no fear. The Zhundi controlling the formations push them to their limits, unleashing fierce bombardments, while those standing on the city walls desperately hurl out their magical tools.

To put it simply, aside from their life-bound weapons, all the treasures in their storage bags have been sacrificed. The sky is filled with divine weapons, one after another, glowing brightly before collectively exploding.

They've gone mad—the Zhutian people have gone mad. To resist the Honghuang and buy precious time, they've all been driven to frenzy, sparing no cost.

The earth-shaking booms from the countless Da Sheng Bing explosions are beyond description.

Look at the charging Honghuang Zhundi—they're in utter disarray, blasted away one by one, and before they can steady themselves, the Zhutian's attack formations strike with divine light.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The blood flowers blooming in the void are strikingly vivid, all at the Zhundi level.

While the battle rages here, in the rear of the Honghuang army, the fighting is equally intense.

Figures like the Shen Jiang and Huang Zhe treat the Honghuang army as their battlefield, using the same tactics—creating as much chaos as possible, with shockwaves as powerful as they can make them. Any Honghuang forces nearby are caught in the crossfire, and they don't mind the casualties.

"Combine forces to surround and destroy."

Countless Honghuang clan Zhundi charge from all directions, sweeping in with overwhelming Honghuang aura. Each holds a Zhundi weapon, casting immortal techniques—it's no longer individual combat; it's all-out brawls.

Even the powerful Zhutian predecessors are now bleeding in the void.

They're unafraid in one-on-one fights, but group attacks are deadly. A few might be manageable, but this is thousands upon thousands assaulting at once. They're not Zhizun, so no matter how strong one person is, facing such encirclement forces them to shed blood. The Honghuang Zhundi are too numerous, completely overwhelming the Zhutian forces.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The decisive battle between the Zhutian Wanyu and the Honghuang clans fully ignites. The Zhutian people hold the city walls, while the Honghuang army attacks fiercely—formations clash, Zhundi charge, filling the sky and ground with fighters. The heavens shatter, the earth cracks, and amid the lightning and thunder, countless figures bathe in fresh blood, from both the Honghuang clans and the Zhutian.

This massive upheaval spreads endlessly across the four seas and eight wildernesses.

In the north, war rages like fire, but the border of Nan Chu remains eerily silent. On the mountain peak, he stands like a statue, utterly still, with ethereal visions manifesting around him. Chaotic Dao principles entwine his body, and the sounds of the Great Dao echo, evolving the Chaos Dao to its utmost. Though it's just a mountain peak, it resembles a vast realm, where all things form and dissolve within the chaos, creating a cycle like reincarnation, with faint laws emerging.

In the haze, he still sees the gate of Zhundi.

Unlike before, the Zhundi gate is clearer now, proving he's drawn one step closer to the Zhundi realm—but only one step. To truly cross it, he needs a stepping stone, or perhaps, in this precious time, he can undergo a nirvana and truly transform.

A gentle breeze brushes by, and blood flows from the corner of his mouth.

He isn't injured; it's his wife who is.

Indeed, the Honghuang attack is too fierce, with many Honghuang powerhouses already scaling the Nan Chu city walls, and even the Nan Tian Men is engulfed in surging Honghuang aura.

The one wounded this time is Chu Ling. She slew a Zhundi but took a sword strike in return.

"Kill!"

More Honghuang forces storm the city walls, from Zhundi down to Tianjing level, like tides and seas, like hordes of killing gods, ascending to harvest lives, their faces hideously twisted.

"Fight!"

The Zhutian cultivators resist fiercely, igniting a great battle on the city walls, defending every inch of territory with their flesh and blood. Batch after batch fall, yet batch after batch of Zhutian people rush from the city to fill the gaps left by the fallen heroes, battling the Honghuang in a mad frenzy.

This war lasts a full night.

The Zhutian cultivators don't disappoint those behind them, forcing the Honghuang army to retreat. "Retreat" means driving them off the Nan Chu city walls, but the battle continues as Honghuang powerhouses press on relentlessly, surging back after being repelled.

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, the Bei Tian Men is breached, its gates shattered and walls blown open, even the emperor-level array patterns left in ruins by the Honghuang.

"Not one left alive." A Honghuang Zhundi howls, leading the charge through the breach, followed by a vast swarm of Honghuang forces, each more savage and bloodthirsty than the last.

"Fight!"

The roars shake the heavens. The Honghuang forces swarm like dark clouds, while the Zhutian cultivators rush like tides, desperately blocking the breach, refusing to yield an inch.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The thunderous sounds come one after another. After the Bei Tian Men, the Dong Tian Men, Xi Tian Men, and Nan Tian Men are all breached, like a river bursting its banks, with countless Honghuang forces pouring in.

The battle instantly turns utterly brutal.

The Honghuang try to surge through the breaches, while the Zhutian block them fiercely, both sides exploding in droves.

This day is a day of blood.

Only when night falls do the roars from all sides gradually fade, and with the billowing blood mist, the Honghuang's two-day assault is finally repelled.

Both sides seem to have an unspoken agreement: a brief respite.

Gazing at the Nan Chu city walls, they're now in shambles, with too many sections collapsed and walls destroyed. The walls and grounds are littered with corpses—from Zhutian cultivators and Honghuang alike—piling up like mountains, their blood flowing like rivers, staining the lands of Da Chu red.

Under the heavens, there are no cries of grief, only faces streaked with tears.

In two days of war, too many loved ones have fallen, their bodies heaped below the walls. They have no time even to wail, standing with iron resolve.

This is the cruelty of war.

Figures like the Huang Zhe and Shen Jiang return to the walls.

Even they, powerful as they are, are drenched in blood—not from lack of strength, but because the Honghuang Zhundi are too numerous, making the fights extremely grueling. They return treading seas of blood and mountains of corpses.

Outside the city, the Honghuang clan's faces are even more grotesque.

They've truly underestimated the Zhutian ants' tenacity. Despite their absolute superiority in power and numbers, they thought they could take the city easily, but after two days and nights of relentless fighting, they haven't even captured a single wall.

Little do they know what this city wall represents—built of stone, yes, but soaked in the blood of heroes since hundreds of years ago, forged from flesh and blood into a great wall. Even the Tian Mo couldn't take it lightly, let alone the Honghuang clan.

The night is quiet and cold, devoid of light.

Inside and outside the city walls, it's as still as death. The Honghuang army rests and reorganizes, forming ranks while grinding their teeth at the Nan Chu walls, vowing that the next assault will seize it once and for all, slaughtering every Zhutian being and quenching their fury with blood.

On the city walls, the Zhutian cultivators stand tall, like unyielding monuments.

"Found that feeling from fighting the Tian Mo back in the day." Xie Yun speaks, shoving pills into his mouth desperately to restore his scattered magical power as quickly as possible.

"At most, it's just death—I'm not afraid." Xiong Er laughs.

"Just wonder if the ending will be the same." Situ Nan smiles wearily, also swallowing pills. Compared to Xie Yun, he's more severely injured, with one arm crippled and blood flowing freely.

His words make the crowd of juniors laugh—not in sorrow, but in bold defiance.

"Ye Chen, you damn well better win!"

This line echoes what they shouted before being devoured by the Tian Mo years ago, still ringing in their ears. In that battle, the Sheng Ti Ye Chen didn't disappoint the Wanyu beings; he defied the heavens and slaughtered the Tian Mo emperor, avenging the Da Chu heroes who fell.

Now, as then, regardless of the outcome, they'll stand unhesitatingly before Ye Chen, firmly believing that the tenth emperor of Da Chu can create another legend.

At the Nan Tian Men mountain, that striking figure is also tinged with blood.

Ye Chen's wives are like female commanders, their blood-red capes fluttering, showing no less courage than any man.

They guard not only their homeland but also a husband named Ye Chen.

Perhaps from the moment they stepped onto the walls, they held a resolve: as long as they live, the walls stand. In this battle, they fight not for the beings of the world, but solely for their Ye Chen.

To this point, none of the women look back, leaving Ye Chen only blood-red silhouettes, etched with tales of hardship—words only their husband can truly understand.

In the Bao Lian Deng, the female Sheng Ti holds a spirit fruit, staring blankly. They are Ye Chen's wives, but she doesn't understand their bond. If they care so much, why don't they look back?

The female Sheng Ti, infinitely close to great completion, feels an ancient confusion in this moment. Gazing at their blood-red backs, she suddenly recalls past events.

In some bygone era, there was a brutal war, and a blood-red silhouette, desolate and beautiful, bathed in immortal blood, standing against the Zhutian for the sake of all beings.

She—they—are so alike.

Suddenly, she turns her head and, through the Bao Lian Deng, looks toward one side of the city walls.

There, another blood-red figure stands.

It's Nian Wei, also stained with fresh blood, constantly pleading, begging the Tai Chu Shen Huo to submit to Ye Chen, to help him attain the Zhundi realm and connect to the Di Huang, turning the tide.

Alas, the Tai Chu Shen Huo is too stubborn, showing no sign of submission.

"Really want to grind that flame to dust." On Jie Ming Mountain, the Ming Di speaks flatly, but his words carry the killing intent of an emperor, laced with real anger. If the Tai Chu Shen Huo had submitted, the Zhutian wouldn't be fighting so desperately, with mountains of corpses.

Di Huang stands silently, saying nothing.

Compared to Ming Di, this great Sheng Ti shows no anger at all.

Or perhaps, he sees it more clearly.

The Tai Chu Shen Huo, ranked second, has its own obsessions and pride, along with immense intelligence. It's not that it won't submit; it knows that even if it does, even if it fuses with the Xian Huo, Ye Chen still can't reach Zhundi—he's not quite ready yet.

In plain terms, the Tai Chu Shen Huo is waiting, waiting for Ye Chen to reach that critical point.

Breaking through to Zhundi is incredibly difficult. The Tai Chu Shen Huo can be a stepping stone, but the key lies with Ye Chen himself. Without the strength to leap, even with the stone, it's futile.

Di Huang understands this, and Ye Chen has realized it too, which is why he's immersed in enlightenment. Before fusing with the Tai Chu Shen Huo, he needs a minor nirvana.

"All forces, heed my command—attack for me."

As the two Zhizun watch, the Honghuang clan's Huang roars across Da Chu. The intermission is over; the Honghuang have rested enough and are launching another assault.

Boom! Boom!

The heavens tremble as the vast Honghuang army, like an ocean, surges toward Nan Chu with terrifying waves, their momentum even greater than before, intent on seizing the walls in one go.

"Fight!"

The Zhutian cultivators roar, their boiling battle blood burning like fire.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The brutal war erupts in an instant.

The Honghuang's attack is indeed ferocious. In less than half an hour, they scale the walls, weapons in hand, faces twisted in savagery, pouncing on living beings.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The splendid blood flowers in the dim heavens are exceptionally crimson.

The bloody stench drifts from the north toward the south.

In the border of Nan Chu, the still Ye Chen sheds not only blood but also tears from his eyes. Though his eyes are closed and he's separated by countless miles, he can clearly see familiar silhouettes falling in pools of blood, devoured by the Honghuang and buried in the world.

He's helpless, feeling utterly useless, with his magical power nowhere to go. He wants to rush to the battlefield and fight alongside his wives and children, but he can't. His battlefield isn't the north; it's the Great Dao. Grasping another trace of truth is the wall he must breach.

Reflected in the dim starlight, another gentle breeze blows.

But this breeze carries a chill.

"Kill intent." Ye Chen suddenly lifts his gaze, without a second thought, instantly retreating.

Sure enough, as soon as he moves, a killing sword thrusts from the void before him, its blade wrapped in seven-colored Xian Mang. Though dazzling, it's ice-cold—none other than the damned Zhu Xian Jian.

"Still haunting like a ghost." Ye Chen snorts coldly, retreating at top speed, for the sword's tip is only three inches from his brow, its killing intent piercingly cold.

Towering rage instantly clouds his mind. This anger is directed at the Zhu Xian Jian—it's trying to disrupt his enlightenment! Coming now to cause chaos, with it around, how can he focus? Without finding the breakthrough, he can't advance to Zhundi, and without that, he can't connect to Di Huang or the Ming Di—the Zhutian will be trampled by the Honghuang.

In an instant, he uses Fei Lei Shen, vanishing on the spot.

When he reappears, he's behind the Zhu Xian Jian, where a wheel of reincarnation mark is etched. The Dao Jian transforms, enhanced by his Sheng Ti essence, and he strikes with unmatched force, sending the Zhu Xian Jian flying.

Zheng!

The Zhu Xian Jian rings out but, before Ye Chen can deliver a second strike, it flees into the void, vanishing in the blink of an eye, its trace lost.

Ye Chen says nothing, gripping his Dao Jian, spreading his divine sense to its fullest, searching inch by inch. He's certain the Zhu Xian Jian is still nearby and will emerge to cause more trouble.