Chapter 1718: Selfish Governor Tu

Empress Void raised her hand, and the Youdu Demon God army halted. Behind them were countless dark Youdu demonic creatures.

Some of these creatures were corporeal, crawling on the ground, shaking their dark bone spurs and emitting black smoke. Others were ethereal, sometimes soaring into the air and transforming into a puff of black smoke with a pop, only to coalesce again.

"Father God." Empress Void swiftly stepped forward and knelt on one knee. Facing her were hundreds of millions of paper boats, each carrying an old Ghost Messenger resembling Celestial Venerable You. Ah Chou, the Earth Deity, stood in the center of these countless paper boats, his tall figure commanding attention.

"Your daughter greets Father God!" Empress Void bowed her head and declared loudly: "Father God, hearing that Celestial Venerable Mu acted violently in Youdu and killed you, I felt immense pain, as if my heart were being twisted. I wished I could kill Celestial Venerable Mu to avenge you. However, Celestial Venerable Mu is too powerful; your daughter is no match for him. Since Father God has revived, we should naturally join forces to flatten Celestial Venerable Mu's Eternal Peace and exact our revenge!"

Ah Chou gazed at her with a profound look. Empress Void remained kneeling there for a long time, not lifting her head.

Ah Chou started to walk out of the boat formation. Suddenly, paper boats drifted, blocking his path and preventing him from leaving the formation.

"You, there's no need for this." Ah Chou smiled and said, "This has been my long-cherished wish for hundreds of thousands of years. If I cannot achieve it, I cannot attain my Dao."

Celestial Venerable You hesitated for a moment, then the paper boats parted to both sides.

Ah Chou walked to the front of the two armies, approached Empress Void, and extended his hands. His voice was as gentle as that of the loving father he was in the Dragon Han era: "Void, my daughter..."

The unicorn horn on Empress Void's head suddenly shot out, piercing through his chest with a whoosh!

Ah Chou seemed to feel no pain. He placed his hands on her elbows, a grotesque smile on his face, and said, "The greatest regret of my life has been failing to protect you, to protect your siblings, and to protect your mother..."

Whoosh— The River Styx whip flew out from Empress Void's waist. It whirled and whistled, binding Ah Chou tightly. With a squelch, the River Styx whip tore through Ah Chou's body and drilled into him!

The whip drilled in and out of his flesh, tearing off chunks of his body. It even grew dark dragon scales, slicing through his flesh and circling around his primordial spirit, leaving it covered in wounds.

Even the golden body he had forged over hundreds of thousands of years from the karmic fire of countless sentient beings could not withstand Empress Void's divine abilities and divine weapon!

Ah Chou still bore his grotesque smile, as his karmic fire golden body was automatically regenerating.

As long as the karmic fire persisted, he could not die.

"Let go of this fame, fortune, and power, my daughter."

He bent down, his voice growing even gentler: "My greatest wish in this life is to reunite with you, father and daughter, to become a true human, to stay far from the whirlpool of power and these conflicts, and to be an ordinary father and daughter..."

"Father God!" Empress Void suddenly raised her head, her eyes containing intensely burning hellfire. With a roar, two beams of hellfire shot from her eyes, striking Ah Chou and sending him flying high. He was then impaled by these two beams of karmic fire and pinned to the ground.

Ah Chou's body regenerated. Empress Void snorted angrily, shook her whip, coiled it around Ah Chou, and then raised her hand to grab his throat.

"Father God, you are still so laughable." Empress Void smiled, her eyes filled with scorn: "I am your offspring, inheriting your bloodline. My soul was incredibly powerful from birth, and I was precocious since childhood. Do you really think I don't remember anything from my childhood?"

Seeing this, Celestial Venerable You immediately charged forward, intending to rescue Ah Chou. Empress Void raised her hand, and countless Youdu Demon Gods roared out from behind, meeting Celestial Venerable You!

Ah Chou's voice was hoarse: "You, defend Eternal Peace! Don't worry about me!"

Celestial Venerable You had originally intended to recall all his avatars and attack Empress Void. Hearing Ah Chou's words, he had no choice but to send his countless avatars to confront the overwhelming horde of Demon Gods and demonic creatures!

He knew that Ah Chou, cherishing their father-daughter bond, would absolutely not harm Empress Void. Fearing that Ah Chou might die at Empress Void's hands, he unleashed all his abilities!

His hundreds of millions of avatars were all transformations of his primordial spirit. Each was comparable to a Demon God, and their thoughts were interconnected. More crucially, his avatars had no main body; any single avatar could serve as his primary form!

Furthermore, he could merge several avatars at any time to enhance their strength.

If they encountered more powerful gods or demons, they could merge to confront them!

The blind man from Disabled Elderly Village had long ago seen the ingenious applications of this unique cultivation technique. As long as Celestial Venerable You possessed extraordinary mastery in array formations, he could unleash the full power of his endless avatars to their utmost potential!

When Celestial Venerable You fought one-on-one, his relatively low physical cultivation would put him at a disadvantage. However, in large-scale group combat, he was practically invincible!

Over the years, the blind man had designed many array formations for him, with various battle formations. Celestial Venerable You learned the application of these formations by following him.

For anyone else, it would be difficult to master so many complex array formations in just over a decade. Even if mastered, it would be hard to simultaneously control hundreds of millions of avatars while deploying various array formations in a rapidly changing battlefield to defeat enemies.

But Celestial Venerable You was different.

Although he was reclusive, he was not a fool. Far from being foolish, he was exceptionally intelligent. He merely wasn't accustomed to interacting with others, which made him somewhat isolated in terms of knowledge and prevented him from keeping pace with the reforms of Eternal Peace.

But he suppressed his reclusiveness and diligently studied with the blind man. He truly mastered this seemingly impossible task!

At this moment, his cultivation of over a decade finally shone brightly!

His avatar army clashed with the legion of Demon Gods and demonic creatures, instantly causing a river of blood. No matter how countless the Youdu Demon Gods and demonic creatures were, facing his army of paper boat Ghost Messengers, it could only be a one-sided slaughter!

Countless paper boats surged forward, causing waves of blood to splash. Within the hundreds of yards-tall blood waves, the corpses of Demon Gods and demonic creatures tumbled everywhere!

One by one, the paper boats moved through the blood waves, stirring up more waves and pushing straight through!

The Demon God and demonic creature army surged forward from both sides of Empress Void and Ah Chou. Then, two surging blood waves rushed forward, instantly blocking the momentum of the Youdu army and even pushing them back!

In this vast slaughterhouse of the Primordial Realm's Youdu, paper boats continuously merged, and old Ghost Messengers combined, their strength surging. They slew generals amidst the chaos, then immediately separated again, turning into individual old Ghost Messengers piloting boats and forming killing formations to attack other Demon Gods!

From the Dragon Han era until now, countless geniuses and talented individuals have died, including many at the Emperor's Throne, Soaring Heavens, and Jade Capital realms. Most of these powerful beings returned to Youdu.

This time, as Empress Void campaigned in the Primordial Realm, those deceased powerhouses were filled into various armies, becoming generals of the Demon God army.

However, in this terrifying clash, even the primordial spirits of Emperor's Throne realm powerhouses perished rapidly!

Countless paper boats flew in with a rustling sound. Rushing towards the generals, they merged into one, their strength instantly surging to the level of several celestial palaces. They killed in one blow, absolutely never needing a second!

Having Celestial Venerable You obstruct Empress Void would only result in mutual destruction; no one could claim to be the last one standing.

But let Celestial Venerable You enter the battlefield—one man, one boat, one lamp—and he could flatten Youdu!

What worried Celestial Venerable You, however, was that Ah Chou had not fought back or dodged Empress Void's attacks!

"Earth Deity, why don't you fight back?" A paper boat flew over, and an old Ghost Messenger standing on it shouted. However, the next moment, he was swept to pieces by Empress Void's whip.

"Father God," she said, "I remember everything from my childhood. I remember the hard life you led with me." In Empress Void's hand, the River Styx whip, like a python, coiled around Ah Chou's mighty body. It pierced through his chest, through his heart, and emerged from his front. Like a giant python, it raised its head and twisted around to look at Ah Chou's grotesque face.

"I remember you leading Mother, Big Brother, and Second Brother, hiding here and there, living on husks and greens, constantly terrified, fleeing from pursuit and danger. I also remember Mother dying in a cave."

Empress Void's eyes, like a python's, gleamed with cold light as she looked at the suspended Ah Chou and sneered: "How bitter those days were, I remember every single detail! My brothers, sisters, and I were divine children, children of the strongest Ancient God in this world! Yet, what was our fate?"

Ah Chou remained silent, lowering his head.

His karmic fire golden body was too powerful; it could easily regenerate without him needing to use any cultivation technique or divine ability. It was so powerful that even if he didn't resist, Empress Void couldn't kill him.

Empress Void activated the River Styx whip, drilling it into his skull, and said sharply: "Our fate was to flee for our lives with you across the world! All because of your magnificent wish to become human!"

The River Styx whip was evaporated by the raging karmic fire, and Ah Chou stood up again.

Empress Void roared in fury. Her sharp horn emerged from Ah Chou's broad back, piercing into the back of his head, and knocking Ah Chou flying towards her.

Empress Void unleashed her divine abilities, attacking Ah Chou with maddening ferocity, aiming to kill: "My mother, the woman of the world's strongest Ancient God, did she enjoy a single day of glory and wealth? No! She followed you, constantly anxious, wandering destitute, and eventually died from exhaustion, illness, or fear!"

Her divine abilities grew stronger and stronger, as she wantonly vented the surging hatred in her heart. She battered Ah Chou until he was covered in wounds, laughing wildly, appearing like a mad demon: "And what about my brothers and sisters? Like me, they possessed the most powerful demigod bloodline. If they had lived, each of their achievements would not have been inferior to mine! How did they die? Also because of your great dream of becoming human, which dragged them down to their deaths!"

Ah Chou was trampled under her feet. Empress Void looked down at her father's grotesque face, gritting her teeth and saying: "Your bloodline was too strong. My soul awakened with memories even while I was in my mother's womb. After I was born, I saw everything you did with my own eyes! Did you always think it was the Heavenly Emperor instilling hatred for you in me? No! When you transformed into Ah Chou, the Earth Deity, and stormed the Heavenly Court, my gaze at you was already filled with hatred!"

Her foot pressed firmly on Ah Chou's head, twisting it continuously: "The Ancient God Heavenly Emperor saw the hatred in my eyes, and that's why he took me in! But you didn't notice; you were still focused on retaliating against the Heavenly Court! I hate you for not erupting sooner! I hate you for wanting to become human! I hate that we are clearly the strongest race, yet we cannot stand high above, enjoying the fear and worship of all beings!"

She lifted her foot, and Ah Chou struggled to get up. However, she stomped her foot down, pressing his head into the ground!

"Father? You are just a selfish fellow. Whether you are Earth Deity or Ah Chou, you are equally selfish! You never had us in your heart; you only had yourself, only your pitiful, humble dream of becoming human. Selfless Earth Deity? You don't deserve that title!"

Empress Void stomped down again, viciously saying: "You want to become human, but I don't! I want to be high above all, I want to become the object of fear and worship for countless people! I want to annihilate all of humanity, completely shattering your dream!"

She grabbed Ah Chou's calf, which was pressed into the ground, and dragged him out. She then stepped towards Eternal Peace, smiling: "Father God, just watch. I will destroy everything you care about."