Chapter 1299: The Heavenly Emperor Descends

As Shi Wumian drew closer and clearly observed the cultivation world's appearance, he was overcome by an ominous premonition. It was too vast; the celestial body before him was immense, a perfect regular hexahedron. Stars appeared as mere specks of dust compared to the cultivation world. No such celestial body should naturally exist in the universe; the cultivation world utterly defied his understanding.

When he heard successive calls and distress signals from the command ships, he immediately ceased his hesitation, ordering the remaining fleet to flee the area at once. This was no beautiful world abundant with spirit stones; it was a demonic realm teeming with monsters and spirits!

However, the Integration Stage cultivators, forming the first line of defense, had no intention of letting Shi Wumian escape. "You've come to our cultivation world, and now you think you can just leave?" they scoffed. "All of you will stay!" The Integration Stage cultivators were infuriated at the sight of Shi Wumian's fleet. On a public level, they had painstakingly stationed themselves there for over half a year, specifically awaiting Shi Wumian's attack. Yet, Shi Wumian had used a spatial spell-like technique to send forces directly into the heart of the cultivation world. What then was the meaning of their vigilant watch? Personally, their friends were already boasting about their captured prisoners and war trophies via quantum communicators, while they, on the front lines, had gained nothing. Furthermore, some among them had been promoted to the Integration Stage specifically during this period of preparation, aiming to confront the Zhutian Civilization and achieve glorious deeds!

"Shrink the Ground to an Inch!" "A Short Distance, Yet Worlds Away!" "Divine Movement!" "Bring the ship!" "Senior Brother Lu, let me hitch a ride!" The mighty Integration Stage cultivators unleashed their various techniques, spells, and magic treasures in unison. If Shi Wumian's fleet were allowed to escape, they would be utterly disgraced! The Tribulation Transcenders on the second line of defense chuckled at the sight, reminded of their own youth. They were past the age of seeking glory; these matters could be left to the younger generation.

"Quickly, open the wormhole!" Shi Wumian urgently cried out. The technical crew, sweating profusely, replied, "Officer Shi, our ship needs to be stabilized in position to open the wormhole." "Then stop immediately and construct the wormhole!" The fleet ceased movement. Five hundred warships received the command, triggering infrasound resonance, and a faint wormhole shimmered into existence. "Faster, even faster!" Shi Wumian urged, noting that the cultivators were approaching them as if teleporting, closing the distance rapidly. "Report! Wormhole construction complete!" "Don't even think about escaping! Heaven-Overturning Seal!" The brilliantly golden Heaven-Overturning Seal pierced the dark cosmos, radiating with righteous and profound Buddhist luminescence. A mere second before the Integration Stage cultivators arrived, the warships swarmed into the wormhole. The Heaven-Overturning Seal struck empty space, and the wormhole's entrance vanished into the boundless cosmos.

"Finally, we escaped," Shi Wumian muttered, his body limp as if drained of all strength after his narrow escape from death. A blaring alarm jolted Shi Wumian. "What's happening?" he demanded. His subordinates didn't need to respond; the alarm itself explained everything: "Warning! Warning! Unknown spatial fluctuation detected." The wormhole that had just closed promptly reopened. One by one, terrifying cultivators, who had traversed the stars, emerged in a file, clutching primitive weapons. Their eyes gleamed with a ferocious excitement as they eagerly rubbed their hands. Shi Wumian's eyes widened in disbelief. They could even chase them through the wormhole? Even more horrified than Shi Wumian were the warriors knowledgeable in spatial technology. The deeper their understanding, the more acutely they grasped the terrifying nature of these beings. Traversing the void with their physical bodies was one thing, but these individuals could *tear open wormholes with their bare hands!* What *are* these humanoid life forms?! Their weapons, ranging from hammers and axes to swords, were increasingly primitive, yet the techniques they unleashed were progressively more formidable and defied all common sense.

"We'll fight them!" Shi Wumian roared, his anger finally erupting. He had never been so humiliated. It was commonly said not to corner a desperate foe, precisely because they might bite back when pushed too far. Today, these humanoid entities would witness the true terror of the Zhutian Fleet! The thousand warships that had been teleported to the cultivation world were merely ordinary vessels equipped with conventional firepower. His current fleet of five hundred warships, however, represented the main force! "Activate the plasma cutting warships!" A crimson beam of light materialized between two warships — the plasma cutting line, a new weapon system developed after the Celestial Emperor assumed leadership of the Zhutian Civilization. Previously, the Zhutian Civilization's star-destroying weapons functioned by disrupting planetary cores and structures, causing planets to collapse under their own gravity. The plasma cutting line, however, could directly cleave a planet in two. Its only drawback was its enormous energy consumption, but at this critical juncture, energy conservation was no longer a consideration!

"What is this thing?" an Integration Stage cultivator wondered aloud as he initiated an attack, only to be struck by the plasma cutting line. An extremely thin crimson beam sliced through the cultivator, who felt absolutely nothing, utterly perplexed. "What kind of attack is this?" he murmured. Shi Wumian guffawed at the sight. "Natives are just natives," he thought, "brazenly accepting any attack simply because they're strong." When a person is cut by plasma, the incision is so incredibly smooth that they often don't realize their head has been severed from their body immediately. The cultivator turned his head, noting the strange gazes of his companions. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" he asked. "Your hair… it's been cut off." "What?" The cultivator touched his head, and sure enough, it was true. It looked as if someone had taken a giant pair of scissors and haphazardly snipped away the hair at the nape of his neck. "Damn it, you fiendish outsiders! How dare you humiliate me in such a manner! Nether Ghost Fire!" Emerald green ghost fire flickered into existence, resembling scattered starlight. Shi Wumian was dumbfounded. This was a vacuum; where could flames possibly come from?! The Nether Ghost Fire adhered to the warships, which, being organic masses, instantly ignited upon contact, transforming them into eerie ghost ships. "Sixteen-Foot Golden Body." Shi Chan from Hanging Temple leaped down from Lu Yang's covered boat and activated his Sixteen-Foot Golden Body. Like a bowling ball, he single-handedly toppled several warships. "Mountain-Suppressing Great Hand Seal!" "Universe Staff!" "Immobilizing Talisman!" Shi Wumian had initially believed that his proud fleet, fighting to the death, could at least achieve a pyrrhic victory against these natives. But the moment they clashed, he finally understood why Warships One through Five had wailed in despair, urging him to flee. These natives were simply monsters in human guise; no offensive measure could harm them! Plasma cutting lines, infrasound attacks, nanobot clouds, gravitational wave bombs… all were utterly useless! It was an utterly one-sided battle. The cultivators were initially excited, but as the fighting continued, they grew bored. Warships shattered with a mere poke, requiring little effort, and they even had to be careful not to damage potential spoils of war or captives. They had been preparing for over half a year, and *this* was the caliber of their opponents? Shi Chan forcibly ripped open the command ship, intending to capture Shi Wumian alive.

Suddenly, a golden light streaked from the distance. A divine figure, bathed in sacred golden radiance, appeared in the center of the battlefield. Neither Shi Chan nor anyone else had perceived how this individual arrived. The atmosphere of the battle grew strange, and both sides tacitly ceased hostilities. The golden divine figure didn't intentionally exude an aura, yet his every gesture revealed boundless power, proclaiming his identity as the Lord of the Universe. Observing the battlefield, the Celestial Emperor secretly shook his head. He had, it seemed, arrived a step too late; the Azure Heaven Legion was already engaged in battle with the cultivation world. Still, it wasn't entirely too late. Just as he was about to speak and explain, Shi Wumian, to his surprise, erupted in joy and extreme excitement. Seeing a new hope, he declared, "His Majesty the Celestial Emperor has personally joined the campaign! Surrender at once!" The remaining warships, which had been on the verge of surrender, reignited their fighting spirit upon witnessing the Celestial Emperor's descent. They launched a fresh wave of attacks, all the while loudly proclaiming, "His Majesty the Celestial Emperor has personally joined the campaign!" The Celestial Emperor simply looked bewildered. *Shi Wumian, I should have come here and crushed you to death the moment I arrived!*