Chapter 1730: Counterattack on the Heavenly Court

The first wave of reinforcements to arrive in Maple Valley consisted of the Mute and the Heavenly Works specialists from Eternal Peace. They immediately set to work, and by the second day, they had erected numerous teleportation portals.

The second wave of reinforcements included Dao Master Lin Xuan, Dao Ancestor, and other arithmetic masters from the Dao Sect. Upon their arrival, they promptly adjusted each teleportation portal's calculations to connect them with the portals in other divine cities of Eternal Peace.

The apothecaries who emerged from the teleportation portals formed the third wave of reinforcements. Upon their arrival, they immediately took out their cauldrons and began refining the elixirs and stones needed to maintain the portals.

Once these preparations were complete, the teleportation portals in Maple Valley were connected to numerous divine cities throughout Eternal Peace. The armies of gods and devils from Eternal Peace's major divine cities then began to emerge from the portals in an orderly fashion.

Teleportation portals are treasures designed using teleportation divine arts. While using the divine art for long-distance travel consumes an enormous amount of magic power—even Qin Mu couldn't sustain it when he assassinated the Spirit Official's avatar—the portals, however, consume elixirs and stones. For large-scale troop movements like those of Eternal Peace, the consumption is immense, so teleportation portals are rarely used unless the situation is urgent. Now, however, is the most urgent of times!

Heavenly Venerate Yue and Divine King Lang Wo had rushed back, and the Woodcutter Wen Tiange knew this meant Jiang Baigui had already reached the Xuandu battlefield, granting them the chance to return.

“Carefree Village! To arms—!”

The gates of the divine cities in Maple Valley opened, and the surviving soldiers of Carefree Village marched forth. Emperor Yi Yue, Azure Emperor, Emperor Shitian, Tian Shu, Yan Yunxi, Zhuo Cha, the Old Fisherman, and the veteran generals who survived the Founding Emperor's Heavenly Court, each led their armies out of Maple Valley, advancing towards the Heavenly Court's main camp. Numerous Heavenly God-Warriors strained to lift Qin Mu's coffin, carrying it at the very front of the procession.

Ling Yuxiu and the soldiers from various Eternal Peace armies stood on the city walls, watching the Carefree Village army depart from Maple Valley. The Carefree Village army served as the vanguard, a sharp blade meant to tear through the enemy. If it failed to cleave the enemy, the blade itself would be broken! The Carefree Village army was heading into an unprecedentedly tough battle, and it was unknown how many of those departing the city would return alive!

Since the Heavenly Court's invasion, both Eternal Peace and Carefree Village had been on the defensive; the Heavenly Court attacked, and they defended. Now, this was their first proactive assault, and one could only imagine the terrifying wrath and counterattack it would provoke from the Heavenly Court! However, to win this battle, Carefree Village, as that sharp blade, had to strike fiercely, piercing through the Heavenly Court's seemingly invincible facade!

“Li Youran!”

Red Emperor Qi Xiayu left the city alone and called out to Emperor Shitian, saying, “You are Li Youran!”

Emperor Shitian shook his head. “Benefactress, there is no need to cling to names or appearances. I am a wrathful Buddha, a Tathagata who sees all beings as equal, without form or name.” He led his army away.

Red Emperor Qi Xiayu summoned her Phoenix Boat, flying overhead. Standing on the boat, she looked down and asked, “Have you forgotten the past?”

Emperor Shitian looked up, gazing at her beautiful face. “Benefactress, you still have the Phoenix Clan; there is no need to cling to personal feelings. If you believe I am Li Youran, then I am Li Youran. The boundless love of a Tathagata encompasses all beings, including you. Return.”

Qi Xiayu's eyes widened as she watched him depart.

On the city walls of Maple Valley, Emperor Yanfeng approached, standing beside Ling Yuxiu. He said in a deep voice, “For this first battle, we must tear a hole in the Heavenly Court's main camp. Carefree Village faces immense danger.”

Ling Yuxiu looked at her father. Emperor Yanfeng also seemed a little aged, appearing much more weathered than the decisive, reform-minded middle-aged emperor he once was. Yet, his spirit remained robust and his demeanor was radiant.

“Father Emperor, you should command this battle,” Ling Yuxiu said.

Emperor Yanfeng shook his head and chuckled. “You are already a qualified leader. If it weren't for you marrying someone named Qin, I wouldn't want to take on the burden of Eternal Peace. You may lack my boldness, but you are more meticulous, more patient, and you know better how to hide your strengths and weaknesses. You will direct this battle. I will personally go to the front lines and slay the enemy!”

Ling Yuxiu nodded, then turned and said, “Grandpa Blind, no one in Eternal Peace surpasses your mastery of formations. Your divine eyes are unparalleled. From now on, you are Eternal Peace's Heavenly Master of Formations, and you will stay by my side.”

Blind clapped his hands, and many young formation practitioners from Eternal Peace stepped forward. “One person's wisdom is limited,” Blind said. “In this era, knowledge and Dao arts are exploding, making it difficult for an individual to be a master of all trades in one field. I need these young ones to assist me.”

Ling Yuxiu bowed. “Thank you, Grandpa Blind.”

She straightened up and gave a command. In Youdu, countless paper boats set forth, with paper horses constantly leaping from their bows, galloping wildly through the dark Youdu. On the backs of the paper horses were the gods and devils who had fallen in this catastrophe. Though dead, their fighting spirit raged on, surging like a torrent as they charged towards the Heavenly Court's forces. On each of those paper boats, Youdu Heavenly Venerates carried lanterns, illuminating the path ahead. Above the countless paper boats, Earth Emperor's Book of Life and Death shimmered with golden light, like a paper-thin sheet of gold, casting its radiance down.

Behind the army of Youdu Heavenly Venerate avatars, Qin Fengqing, with three heads and six arms, each head bearing three eyes and a pair of horns, followed close behind. Behind Qin Fengqing, the Six Heavenly Wheels spun with a whistling sound, each revolving in a different direction, accompanying him.

Boom!

The divine cities in Maple Valley erupted with long plumes of light, slowly activating and moving towards the Heavenly Court's main camp. Within the cities, grand flying ships rose into the air, much faster than the divine cities themselves, and steadily sailed out. On their decks, rows of flying chariots were lined up. On the larger chariots, apothecaries from Eternal Peace were hastily calibrating their cauldrons, while other soldiers swiftly loaded various divine weapons and armaments onto them. Once they were ready, the commanders on each grand flying ship gave the order. The cauldrons of the flying chariots activated, launching them from the ships at a much faster speed, and the army of chariots roared away.

The Village Chief, with his vitality surging like a youth's, stood against the wind, a divine sword at his waist. He stood on the foremost flying chariot, as the chariot army largely consisted of Eternal Peace's finest, skilled in sword arts and the Way of the Sword.

Whoosh—

Red Emperor Qi Xiayu's Phoenix Boat vibrated its wings and flew out of the divine city, followed by the Phoenix Clan army. On the back of each phoenix stood over ten Eternal Peace soldiers, each carrying a battle saber longer than themselves. They also wore saber pouches at their waists, containing saber pellets.

The Butcher, with his burly physique, stood on the back of one phoenix. Two other phoenixes flew nearby: Divine Saber Luo Wushuang appeared on his left, Demonic Saber Zhe Huali on his right, and Ba Shan was frantically chasing from behind. Behind Eternal Peace's Four Saber Gods were the younger generation of Eternal Peace, practitioners of saber arts and the Way of the Saber.

“Why is he here too?” Zhe Huali glanced back at Ba Shan Libationer, frowning. “He's not from our Divine Saber Camp. He follows the path of combining battle techniques. Traitor!”

Ba Shan Libationer flew into a rage. “Brat, if you've got the guts, stop!”

“Don't mind him.” The Butcher didn't turn around. “The more you acknowledge him, the happier and louder he gets. Since Mu'er and Tian Shu aren't here, we can only bring him along to make up the numbers.”

Ba Shan Libationer's face turned green as he shouted, “Teacher, doesn't it hurt to favor outsiders? After all, I'm your biological disciple!”

The Butcher's face turned ashen.

Luo Wushuang was puzzled, thinking, “How valiant and cultured is Heavenly Saber? So learned, speaking eloquently. How can his disciple be such a boor?”

A section of the Celestial River flew out, growing longer and more turbulent. Emperor Xuan and Emperor Wu transformed into colossal Xuanwu, like continents floating in the river, swimming through the Celestial River. Behind the Black Tortoise and the Soaring Serpent, an even vaster great marsh was being dragged along—the ancestral land of the two Xuanwu Emperors. Within the ancestral land, the demigods from the Xuan and Wu clans were full of vigor, each finding their partners—always a man and a woman—to form battle arrays together.

In the sky, Wei Sui Feng flew through the air, his wide sleeves billowing, followed by tens of thousands of Imperial Feathered Forest Guards, flying with beating wings.

Emperor Wu, transformed into a thousand-winged Soaring Serpent, looked up and chuckled, “Emperor Yun Luo, be careful in this battle; beware of living up to your name!”

“Pah!” Wei Sui Feng burst out laughing. “I'm one of the few in the world who can use the Immutable Divine Art, albeit an incomplete version, but it's enough to save my life! You two, however, must be extra careful!”

“Good luck and great prosperity.” Emperor Xuan, transformed into a Black Tortoise, looked up and smiled. “I'm skilled in divination; I cast a hexagram, and this journey is highly auspicious!”

The divine cities of Maple Valley gradually accelerated. In the valley, the Mute led tens of thousands of Heavenly Works specialists in activating newly built armories, forging divine weapons to prepare for depletion. At the same time, many other divine art practitioners bustled about, transporting elixirs, rare metals, and divine ores from Eternal Peace. In the sky, over a hundred divine cities advanced towards the Heavenly Court's main camp, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Below the divine cities, Granny Si led Eternal Peace's ground forces. As the Eternal Peace soldiers marched, they continuously activated summoning divine arts. The sky beneath the divine cities repeatedly split open, revealing the vast and boundless world of the Beast Realm. Ancient colossal beasts peered out from the other world one by one, then descended from the sky. Granny Si led thousands of soldiers to mount the broad backs of the colossal beasts. The beasts galloped, making the ground tremble, and their speed grew faster and faster.

Granny Si glanced to her side and saw Young Ancestor Wen Yuan and Hua Xuanxiu standing on the back of another colossal beast. She quickly said, “Wen Yuan, take good care of your junior sister! She is the Saintess of our Heavenly Saint Cult!”

Ancestor Wen Yuan felt a little wronged, thinking, “An old phoenix is not as good as a chicken. My status has plummeted. Am I, like Mu'er, past my prime and losing my luster…?”

Still worried about Hua Xuanxiu's safety, Granny Si said to Jiang Yunjian, “Yunjian, your cultivation is high; take good care of your junior sister Hua!”

Jiang Yunjian nodded with a serious expression. The army he commanded this time was the Four Emperors' Divine Weapon army. Every soldier carried a Four Emperors' Divine Weapon, such as the Five Thunder Pot. Behind Ancestor Wen Yuan and Hua Xuanxiu was an army composed of scholars from the Heavenly Saint Academy, the Imperial College, and Libationers. These individuals often hailed from the former Heavenly Saint Cult, including venerable elders like Heavenly Kings and Protectors. After Qin Mu became Cult Master, he reformed the Heavenly Saint Cult into the Heavenly Saint Academy. The Heavenly Saint Cult originally had a bad reputation, being called the Heavenly Devil Cult, but now its reputation had been cleansed. Ancestor Wen Yuan was the current Cult Master, but it was merely a titular position.

All the various Eternal Peace armies advanced. After two days of marching, the Heavenly Court's main camp came into view. At this very moment, the Carefree Village army had already directly clashed with the Heavenly Court's forces!

Eternal Peace's first counterattack had begun!