Chapter 424: Relics

This battlefield stretched for hundreds of miles, divided into over a dozen smaller battlefields, all aligned along the Divine Cleaving Mountain Range.

The Five Immortals of the Monster Race, King Kun, King Yi, the Blind, Master Ma, the Butcher, the Mute, the Deaf, the Imperial Preceptor, the Village Chief, Granny Si, the Old Daoist Master, the Old Buddha, and the Quiet Mountain Dweller each engaged their respective opponents. As the most formidable combatants of their races, they had few rivals in this world. However, when compared to the deities from the Celestial Heavens, they were a realm lower in cultivation.

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace and Earth Elemental Peak were already top-tier powerhouses. The Imperial Preceptor fought desperately, slaying a one-eyed deity but suffering severe injuries himself. Earth Elemental Peak engaged his opponent in a mutual kill, highlighting the vast difference in their strength.

The Five Immortals of the Monster Race and Granny Si were slightly less powerful, but they possessed a wider array of abilities. They had to rely on mobility and divine arts to engage their formidable opponents, who left them struggling to cope.

Yan Jingjing arrived just in time. As the sun from the Sun Ship descended, the Yellow Immortal had already opened the bag on his back. From it billowed streams of intensely foul-smelling yellow smoke, choking his opponent and making them vomit uncontrollably, as if their insides were tearing apart.

The Yellow Immortal advanced to seize his opponent's soul but was stomped to the ground by his adversary, unable to move.

The Willow Immortal revealed her true form, a massive green serpent resembling an azure dragon, coiled around the snowy mountain. Her opponent also revealed his true form, as tall as a snowy mountain and covered in white fur, with eyes like lightning concealed in darkness. He struck the Willow Immortal, causing her to vomit blood, which flowed unceasingly from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

The White Immortal, the Grey Immortal, and the Fox Immortal also suffered severe injuries. Granny Si managed to hold on, relying on her teleportation banner and the Great Luo Celestial Palm to evade her opponent's killing blows.

The Five Immortals often chose to team up against a single enemy, but they were still outnumbered. They needed to hold back two deities, which was extremely difficult for them. While Granny Si's help alleviated some pressure, it was still not enough to contend with two deities.

On another battlefield, the Old Daoist Master had unleashed the fourteenth chapter of his Dao Sword Art. He had only mastered half a move of this fourteenth chapter, but with it, he fought his opponent, causing mountains to crumble and the earth to crack. However, his opponent quickly found a flaw in this half-move. A divine light shot from the opponent's eyes, piercing through layers of sword light and pinning the Old Daoist Master to a cliff.

"Dao Sword… is nothing more than this!" the deity sneered as a massive palm print descended upon the Daoist Master pinned to the cliff!

The Old Buddha activated the Twenty Heavens with his Mahayana Sutra of Tathagata. His body transformed into a grand Buddha, surrounded by myriad Buddhas. He engaged his opponent in a head-on clash but was still at a disadvantage, his Grand Buddha's Twenty Heavens tattered and broken.

The deity he fought had three heads and six arms. Both engaged in close-quarters physical combat, their fists landing solidly. The Old Buddha's body quickly became stained with blood, his white eyebrows dyed red and dripping.

He was old; his vitality was no longer as vigorous as before, and his physical strength had greatly diminished.

In the past, with the power of the Mahayana Sutra of Tathagata, he could have fought tirelessly, his vigorous vitality greatly amplifying the power of his moves and divine arts. But now, he felt his strength failing him, overwhelmed by his opponent.

On another battlefield, Master Ma repeatedly tried to come to his aid but was constantly entangled by his own opponent, unable to free himself. His situation was similar: he had also cultivated the Mahayana Sutra of Tathagata to its final stage, the Great Brahma Realm, surrounded by gods and Buddhas, manifesting twenty layers of precious forms.

However, Master Ma had the advantage of youth and robust strength, while the Old Buddha's vitality was failing, meaning he couldn't sustain the fight for much longer.

"Sariputra, form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form!"

Chanting emanated from the Old Buddha's mouth. His vitality suddenly surged, the power of his techniques grew stronger, and his combat prowess became increasingly terrifying, surpassing his opponent.

Master Ma's heart trembled as he cried out, "Master!"

The Old Buddha looked back at him and smiled, saying, "The Dharma is now yours. Pass it on for me!"

"Feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness, likewise are not different from emptiness!"

The Buddha light erupted, engulfing both the Old Buddha and the deity.

The Blind circulated among the various battlefields, using his Mind Eye to pinpoint opponents' weaknesses and launch surprise attacks. However, he could only barely force the deities to defend and save the lives of his allies.

The Butcher's battle with his opponent, Lord Yanxing, was nothing short of madness. It was a reckless fighting style, focusing solely on his blade. A single person, a single blade—regardless of how severe his injuries were or how powerful his opponent's attacks, he advanced with his blade, cleaving through everything!

From the Mute's furnace on his back surged divine flames. Silver pellets flowed from his box, transforming endlessly into various divine weapons and artifacts. It was as if his dantian contained a boundless energy furnace, and both furnaces burned simultaneously, providing him with incomparable power.

The Deaf splashed ink to create paintings, the ink-wash permeating heaven and earth. He painted on the snowy mountains and the earth, causing his paintings to overlap with reality. The paintings were hidden within the landscapes, and the landscapes overlapped with the paintings, revealing a series of magnificent and eerie worlds. He led his opponent through these worlds, traversing between painting and reality, but he avoided direct confrontation.

In a direct confrontation, he would surely be no match.

During this time, he grandly painted mountains and waters stretching for over a hundred miles, with paintings within paintings and realms within realms. This caused his opponent to enter the painting, lose their way, and be unable to find a path out of the painted world.

The Deaf leaped out of the painted world, just as he was about to annihilate this landscape along with the painted world within it. Suddenly, a sword light flew out from the painting, piercing his chest.

The Deaf was sent flying backward by the sword light. He channeled all his strength into his paintbrush, making a heavy stroke. Immediately, mountains and rivers spanning over a hundred miles completely collapsed and disintegrated, imploding and annihilating inwards. The unleashed energy was utterly terrifying!

"Mere mortals should not wield the power of gods and devils!"

A roar came from the explosion of the collapsing world, and a bloody hand reached out, grabbing at the Deaf as he flew backward.

King Yi and King Kun had already revealed their true forms, flying through the sea and sky like two colossal beast gods. Their roars were deafening. As these giant beasts fought the giant deities, the heavens crumbled, the earth cracked, and dark clouds obscured the moon. Only occasionally would the sky crack open, allowing moonlight to spill through.

King Yi and King Kun were covered in wounds, but their fighting spirit soared. King Yi manifested her true form, transforming into a giant bird, and flew across the sea, flapping her wings. Where she passed, the sea was churned open. She suddenly spun rapidly, and in that spin, fiercely drew her blade, splitting the air, and slicing towards the deity standing on the sea, who was suppressing King Kun.

Her blade cleaved the sky. At that moment, what spilled from the ruptured sky was not moonlight, but a sun that tumbled down from the crack her blade had opened.

King Yi was startled, unsure of what was happening. But her blade was already unleashed and could not be retracted, so she could only channel all her strength into striking the deity who was suppressing King Kun.

At the same time, the dark clouds parted, and another deity emerged from the clouds with a ferocious expression. His massive hand vibrated as it slammed down, five fingers like mountains, descending upon her!

This deity hidden in the clouds also noticed the descending sun. He paused, slightly bewildered and confused.

"What kind of divine art is this?"

Just then, the sun erupted. Beneath it, extremely sharp golden rays engulfed him!

Not only him, but almost all other Celestial deities were also attacked by this sun at the same time. The sun's golden rays were unparalleled in sharpness, directly piercing the bodies of the gods engaged in battle, leaving behind multiple wounds.

Yan Jingjing was not as violent as Qin Mu. Qin Mu would directly wield the Sun Ship's sun and smash it, causing astonishing destruction but also easily damaging the sun. He didn't know how to control the sun or unleash its full power. However, as a Sun Guardian, Yan Jingjing had frequently controlled the Sun Ship to battle enemies in the darkness. She was thoroughly familiar with all the functions of the Sun Ship and the sun, controlling them with perfect ease.

Under her control, the Sun Ship could unleash its maximum power with minimal damage.

In that instant, thousands of miles of the Divine Cleaving Mountain Range were illuminated. King Kun, from beneath the sea, used his golden horn to pierce the lower body of the deity who was standing on him, pinning the deity to the sea surface. The god-devil couldn't evade in time and saw himself disintegrating in the sunlight.

The hand reaching for the Deaf fractured under the sun's rays. The palm striking the Daoist Master was pierced by multiple rays of light. In the brilliant light, the faces of the god-devils were illuminated.

The Buddha light was intense, but it was dispersed by the sunlight, revealing two unyielding figures within the light: the Old Buddha and the deity had perished together.

The light bursting from the sun continued to shine onward, illuminating the towering snowy mountains. The snowy mountain where the Willow Immortal was fighting turned red as the azure-dragon-like great serpent tumbled down. The Yellow Immortal's bag was pierced through, and the Yellow Immortal beneath the god-devil's foot was crushed into a pulp, while the god-devil himself was riddled with the White Immortal's silver needles, resembling a large porcupine.

The sunlight continued to spread, illuminating one battlefield after another. The figures of the Butcher and Lord Yanxing in mid-air were illuminated. The figures of the Quiet Mountain Dweller and Flower Lord, falling from the sky, cast long shadows in the light.

The sun's light shone further. Just then, the light of the Ninth Move of the Sword Diagram flared, engulfing Lord Qiaoxing and another god-devil.

Beneath the Sun Ship, the three-headed deity's two heads were severely wounding the Cripple and the Apothecary. Both were sent flying high. A Heavenly Silkworm flew out from the Apothecary, desperately spewing silk to wrap around the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace, saving him from being killed.

*Boom!*

The Sun Ship shook violently. The three-headed deity retracted his two heads and landed on the ship, charging towards Yan Jingjing, who was at the center of the four divine pillars. The Sun Watcher Clan Chief and others' expressions changed drastically, and they rushed to stop him. Countless Sun Watchers were smashed to pieces by the deity, yet still couldn't stop him.

The appearance of the Sun Ship had a tremendous impact on the battlefield. If Yan Jingjing were allowed to continue attacking other deities, the Celestial deities would likely be annihilated.

Yan Jingjing controlled the Sun Ship, an ancient divine artifact whose power was supremely Yang and unyielding, capable of threatening everyone. However, precisely because she was controlling the Sun Ship, her mobility was restricted, putting her in great danger. If someone got close to her, it would be extremely disadvantageous.

When the Sun Ship appeared, this three-headed deity was nearby, pursuing the Cripple and the Apothecary. He was the closest to the Sun Ship, and no one expected him to directly attack the ship.

The Sun Watcher Clan Chief, holding the Sun Bell, engaged in a head-on clash but found it difficult to stop the deity. He was steadily forced back and had now reached the edge of the divine pillars. The three-headed deity suddenly launched two of his heads again. They bypassed the Sun Watcher Clan Chief and rushed between the divine pillars, spraying torrents of water and fire at Yan Jingjing from left and right.

Yan Jingjing vomited blood. She reached out both hands to block, and the sun's power immediately greatly diminished.

Meanwhile, on that side, the Ninth Move of the Sword Diagram unleashed its full power. Dazzling sword light illuminated the world, eclipsing the sun's brilliance, and then gradually dimmed.

On that battlefield, Lord Qiaoxing stood unyielding, coldly staring at his opponent, his old adversary, the Human Emperor of yesteryear.

"You're old."

Lord Qiaoxing sneered, a crack suddenly appearing between his brows. "If this were your peak, I'd surely be dead the moment you unleashed that move. But now, your vitality is almost depleted. This move actually failed to directly take my life; it merely…"

He suddenly swayed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He chuckled, "You still cut off my life force. But I'm not bad either; at least I'm dragging you along with me."

Beside him, the deity who fought alongside him suddenly burst into pieces, collapsing into chunks of flesh and blood.