Chapter 1683: The Beauty You Truly Are

Zhu Shaoping led the remnants of the Heavenly River Navy, retreating thirty thousand miles. Saint Woodcutter did not pursue them because the Heavenly Court's main forces had not yet been deployed. This included the Heavenly Court's Ten Guards, Seven Dukes, Three Chancellors, Two Regents, and the Five Emperors' Inner Seats.

Moreover, the Heavenly River Navy was only one of the three armies; although defeated, its main strength remained.

Furthermore, there were still the other two armies!

This battle was a great victory for Carefree Village, Yankang, and the Primordial Realm, and also a great victory for the myriad heavens and worlds. However, for the Heavenly Court, it was merely a minor setback!

Finally, the main army led by Emperor Haotian and the Heavenly Court's civil and military officials arrived. They set up their camp, which was so grand and majestic it seemed as if the entire Heavenly Court had been moved there.

Zhu Shaoping hurriedly entered the palace, walked quickly towards the High Heavens Hall, and knelt to beg Emperor Haotian for forgiveness.

"Victory and defeat are common in warfare; a temporary loss means little," Emperor Haotian said gently. "It's fortunate that you, my dear Aiqing Zhu, are unharmed, and that reassures Us. It's just a pity that Left Junior Chancellor was lost, and the Nine Prison Platform fell into enemy hands. This defeat is not your fault; We simply didn't foresee that Yankang's reforms would produce so many peculiar contrivances."

A gleam flickered in his eyes as he smiled, "The formation diagrams that can combine to form a grand Heavenly Court, the large ships specifically designed to break the Heavenly River Pagodas, and those strange flying chariots... This is why We need Yankang."

Zhu Shaoping dared not speak.

"Yankang's crafting is already the finest under heaven, while the Heavenly Court's crafting resources are depleted," Emperor Haotian stated. "This is why We must seize Yankang."

Emperor Haotian rose, his voice calm. "These rebellious traitors believe that a mere minor victory can shake the foundation of the Heavenly Court. They truly underestimate the Heavenly Court, and they underestimate Us. We were even worried that these rebels wouldn't dare show their faces, but now that they've all jumped out at once, it saves Us the trouble of having to conquer them one by one. Advance! Level Carefree Village."

One divine city after another rose from the ground within the Heavenly Court army's ranks, and palaces floated into the air, advancing towards Carefree Village.

The Heavenly Court's three armies were arrayed at the front, followed by the Dragon Martial Guards, Divine Stratagem Guards, Feathered Forest Guards, and Divine Might Guards!

These eight guards stood like eight Celestial Venerables.

Emperor Haotian looked at Grand Emperor, saying, "Grand Emperor, break the Primordial Realm's Profound Capital Sky Curtain."

Grand Emperor bowed in acknowledgment, then rose. His Dao Tree ascended into the sky, and a Grand Luo Heaven descended from the ultimate void!

As his Dao Tree flew into the Grand Luo Heaven, a tremor shook the Primordial Realm. Its sky instantly cracked, and forty-nine beams of light descended from above, falling behind Carefree Village.

The place where these forty-nine beams of light fell was where Heavenly Duke had erected the Heavenly Principles, transforming into the Primordial Realm's Profound Capital. The forty-nine beams landed beside Heavenly Duke, transforming with a clatter into Heavenly Dao ultimate treasures, embedding themselves around him.

With the sky curtain shattered, the sun, moon, and stars hanging in the firmament all vanished without a trace!

Heavenly Duke's face was ashen. He wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, reached out, pulled the Heavenly Principle ultimate treasure from the ground, and swept his sleeve to collect the other Heavenly Dao ultimate treasures.

"Grand Emperor, your power remains as formidable as ever!"

Heavenly Duke looked up at the Dao Tree in the sky – Grand Emperor's Dao Tree and a Grand Luo Heaven. As long as it suppressed the Primordial Realm from above, his fifty Heavenly Dao ultimate treasures could not be activated again.

Outside the heavens, it was pitch black, with no sun, moon, or stars.

The entire Primordial Realm plunged into darkness and cold, with only the divine cities and various heavens emitting faint light, illuminating the night that enveloped the realm.

Ancestral God King in Profound Capital had long since obscured the stars and removed the Primordial Realm's sun and moon, leaving the realm adrift and isolated in the dark universe.

Now, the Primordial Realm would have no distinction between day and night. People would wake from the night but never see the sun rise as usual, and at night, there would be no moon or stars in the sky!

Seven days later, the oceans would begin to freeze. A vast dark cloud would form above the Primordial Realm, covering it entirely, and heavy snow would fall for months, until the entire realm was covered in ice and snow!

After that, even the deepest oceans would be frozen into a giant ice block, and the entire Primordial Realm would transform into a land of extreme cold!

By then, even the air people were accustomed to would freeze!

Some air would freeze, some would turn to liquid, the Primordial Realm's spiritual energy would cease to flow, and all life would perish!

But for now, it was only the first night.

In this darkness, suddenly, a sun slowly rose beside a divine city in Yankang. The enormous solar ship, like a colossal beast with twelve legs, moved steadily along its predetermined trajectory.

Beside another divine city, a new solar ship activated, releasing its sun.

Gradually, more and more solar ships appeared in various corners of Yankang and Carefree Village. From high above, they looked like bright candlelight rising from the dark earth, but the candlelight grew stronger and stronger, gradually dispelling the night.

On the solar ships were numerous white-robed divine beings, members of the divine race from Profound Capital.

During the Profound Capital War years ago, Qin Mu rescued Heavenly Duke and many members of the Profound Capital divine race, sending them to Yankang. They were originally the sun-keepers of Profound Capital, but now Profound Capital's sun-keepers had been replaced by Heavenly Court gods and devils. These individuals came to Yankang and became the sun-keepers of the Primordial Realm.

These sun-keepers stood on the solar ships, pulling enormous artificial suns, giving light to the world, allowing crops to grow, and dispelling the cold.

The destinations of these solar ships were the already constructed solar wells. Each solar well contained an artificial sun. At the speed of the solar ships, it took precisely half a day to travel from their starting point to their destination. Upon arrival, the solar ships entered the solar wells.

From within the Heavenly Court's palaces, powerful Emperor-level and High Heavens realm experts watched this scene from afar, feeling a profound shock.

"So many solar ships and solar wells... Emperor Yanfeng of Yankang is truly an unparalleled genius, to have prepared such countermeasures in such a short time!" murmured Grand Duke Chu Yuming, one of the Seven Dukes.

"It shouldn't be Emperor Yanfeng," another person whispered. "Emperor Yanfeng has only reigned for nineteen years; nineteen years is not enough time to prepare so many solar ships and wells. To build so many solar ships and wells would require forty to fifty years of preparation! Construction must have begun when that esteemed lady was on the throne! At that time, she was already planning how to deal with the disappearance of the sun."

During Ling Yuxiu's reign, she redesigned the solar ships and wells, improved the artificial suns from the Kaihuang era, and secretly constructed many solar wells throughout Yankang.

Today, they finally proved their worth.

As the Heavenly Court's three armies and various forces arrived at the cliff, before they could even form their ranks, the sound of a zither drifted over. An ancient zither flew between the two armies' formations, playing itself.

Then, an hourglass flew over, hovering in front of the cliff. Soon after, a brilliant Dao light shone in the sky, and a Dao Tree descended from above, with Dao fruits hanging from it, but no one stood beneath the tree.

The Heavenly Court's three armies halted, daring not to approach.

Emperor Haotian smiled faintly. "The rebels Celestial Venerable Yue, Celestial Venerable Yun, and Heavenly Empress Yin have arrived."

Behind the Heavenly Court's formation, two Dao Trees and a great Abyssal Maw of Gui Xu appeared, stabilizing both sides' battle formations.

Within the Heavenly Court's formation, various treasure halls soared into the air, radiating the fortunes of powerful beings from past universes, suppressing everything!

Furthermore, various heavy treasures from the Ancestral Court emerged, their aura shaking heaven and earth!

Suddenly, a World Tree appeared, standing behind Carefree Village. Fifty Heavenly Dao ultimate treasures flew from the tree, scattering throughout Carefree Village.

A long lava horn slowly rose from behind the Heavenly Court. Lava flowed from the horn, forming a long river of magma behind the Heavenly Court, and a Styx River also emerged, revolving around the horn.

At this moment, a hurricane lamp flew out from the Primordial Realm's Youdu, hanging in the Grand Emperor Heaven, its light dim and uncertain.

The two Grand Ultimate Ancient Gods exchanged glances, then activated the Grand Ultimate Sand Table, which transformed into the Grand Ultimate Star Region in the air, spinning black and white.

Just then, behind Carefree Village, a plump young boy leaped swiftly from one mountaintop to another. With a mighty bound, he jumped onto the thirty-third heaven of Carefree Village, and with a gasp, he conjured his innate ultimate treasure, the Azure Nether Mirror, hanging it above the Grand Purity Heavens.

The Azure Nether Mirror on the Grand Purity Heavens shone brightly, standing in distant opposition to the Grand Ultimate Sand Table.

In the sky behind the Heavenly Court army, Heavenly Duke's enormous face appeared, obscuring half the firmament. His snow-white long eyebrows hung down like long white ribbons, reaching from the sky all the way to the ground.

Behind Heavenly Duke's face were successive suns, with divine temples and treasure chariots in front of them, and countless sun-keepers, burning the western sky crimson.

Boom!

Violent tremors came from behind Carefree Village. The earth cracked, and one gigantic divine metal wheel after another pierced half the Primordial Realm, with half continuously sinking into the Primordial Realm's Youdu and the other half into the living world!

Qin Fengqing, with two horns on his head and his body wreathed in the Youdu Great Dao formed from Youdu demonic energy, rose from Youdu with his three eyes tightly shut. His six arms spread open, his palms almost touching the Six Paths Heavenly Wheels.

The Six Paths Heavenly Wheels rotated in different directions, and the Path of Reincarnation, born from the Youdu Great Dao, began to operate.

Emperor Haotian, Grand Emperor, and Empress Dowager (who had transformed into Mother of Primordial Origin) were moved. They each rose, stepped forward, and gazed from afar at the Six Paths Heavenly Wheels, separated by Carefree Village and Grand Emperor Heaven.

The Lord of the Spirit Official Hall also couldn't help but step out. He still hadn't managed to decipher Qin Mu's sword art and grow back his head, so he had to peer with the three eyes on his chest. He whispered in admiration, "Young Master Seven is incredible, to be able to forge even such divine weapons! This treasure is truly amazing, truly amazing!"

"Zuofu Heavenly Palace, activate the Divine Artifact Celestial Venerables!" Emperor Haotian commanded.

At Emperor Haotian's command, Celestial Venerable Xing An, the master of Zuofu Heavenly Palace, opened its gates. One Divine Artifact Celestial Venerable after another grew increasingly massive, standing within the palace with astonishing might.

Not only that, but Zuofu Heavenly Palace also contained various Divine Artifacts of the Four Emperors, Divine Artifacts of Heavenly Duke, and Divine Artifacts of Earth Count!

Although the Heavenly Court's Creation Divine Artifacts had been destroyed, Celestial Venerable Xing An was a genius in the Path of Creation. He had forged many powerful divine artifacts using the Heavenly Court's resources, earning Emperor Haotian's deep regard.

Just then, Emperor Haotian's pupils contracted as he saw a young man walk out from Carefree Village.

Lan Yutian.

Behind Lan Yutian, one Lan Yutian after another stepped forward.

These were Yankang's Creation Divine Artifacts, Divine Artifact Celestial Venerables that had been manufactured!

What's more, these were Divine Artifact Celestial Venerables that Lan Yutian himself had overseen the construction of, allowing Yankang's skilled artisans to survey and design, with his personal involvement in the creation process!

Emperor Haotian burst into laughter, riding his imperial carriage out from the Heavenly Court army, and loudly proclaimed, "Celestial Venerable Mu, since you've arrived, why not show yourself?"

The Golden Ship of Crossing Worlds bypassed Grand Emperor Heaven and slowly sailed over. At the ship's bow, Qin Mu rested his hands on the rail, facing Emperor Haotian from afar.

Between the two was the Primordial Realm's Cliff.

The cliff was immeasurably high and incredibly steep.

"You are truly a noble man, yet why do you join the rebels?" Emperor Haotian's gaze fell on Qin Mu's face as he spoke mournfully.