In the vast desert, fifteen sleek, shuttle-like warships posed a grave threat to the colossal fortress that loomed over nearly half the world.
“Begin.”
“Begin.”
Within the fifteen warships, two of them received the same secret message through hidden communication treasures.
“So, after all this waiting, the time has finally come?” A gaunt old man’s face twisted into a cruel sneer. He was not part of the Six Great Transcendent Factions, but rather the leader of a small, self-established Transcendent Sect overseas. Known as “Pei Shan,” he had always kept a low profile. The Xia Clan trusted such demigods, at least far more than they trusted those from the Blood Blade Tavern or the Earth Temple.
“Though this is a betrayal of the entire Xia Clan! But I have no regrets. The mighty Great Demon God shall reshape my physical form, allowing me to live on. For my near-immortal life, the Xia Clan can perish—it matters not.” Pei Shan’s eyes gleamed with icy resolve.
Inside another warship, Yuan Qing, a young man with a delicate face, wore an expression of sorrow.
“Xia Clan…”
His thoughts drifted to familiar faces: “Master Xueying, Senior Jing Qiu, Brother Changfeng, Senior Puyang…” For two centuries, from birth until now, most of his life had been spent among humans. Dongbo Xueying and the others had truly treated him like a brother.
“I’m sorry!” Yuan Qing closed his eyes tightly.
The painful memories of his childhood haunted him forever.
“Mother, mother, why won’t you move? Are you asleep?”
“Run! She’s been killed by the humans!”
A male wolf clamped his pup in his jaws and fled desperately.
“Father, father!” A half-grown wolf pup watched helplessly as a group of Xia soldiers slaughtered his father, hoisting the body onto their shoulders and walking away.
“Aaaaah~~~” Yuan Qing let out a low, anguished growl.
Boom!
The shuttle suddenly veered off course. A massive black grinding disc erupted from it, slamming directly into a nearby warship. The impact, with the power of a peak Divine-level attack, sent the struck vessel spinning sideways and crashing into another warship nearby.
Two of the sleek warships had turned against their own.
“Pei Shan!”
“Yuan Qing!”
The other thirteen warships were stunned.
Far away, Dongbo Xueying, resting with his Blood-Drinking Spear in hand, suddenly stiffened, his expression darkening. He had suspected there might be traitors, but never Yuan Qing! He had few close friends among the Transcendents, and this shy, younger cultivator had always been like a younger brother to him.
“How could it be him?” Dongbo Xueying could hardly believe it.
“Pei Shan, you dare betray the Xia Clan! How could you—how could you do this!” The furious roar of Chao Qing echoed through the sky.
“Old Brother Chao Qing, you were lucky—you became a god. But what about me? My time is nearly up! Haha! Whether the Xia Clan lives or dies—what does it matter to me once I’m gone?” Pei Shan showed no remorse, his voice filled with arrogance.
From the sky, Chi Qiubai’s voice rang out, filled with grief and fury: “Would you truly live for the sake of living? Have you forgotten the days you spent climbing from a mortal to where you are now? Without the Xia Clan, would you even exist? Would you truly choose to reincarnate in the Dark Abyss, sacrificing the entire Xia Clan for your survival?”
“Chi Qiubai, I’m not like you. You’re a transcendent genius. What am I?” Pei Shan’s cold voice echoed through the sky.
All this time, Yuan Qing had remained silent, his expression unreadable.
“Hmm?”
“What’s going on?”
Both Yuan Qing and Pei Shan suddenly realized they could no longer control their warships.
“You two needn’t worry. The warships must have some safeguards in place—traitors cannot control them.” They both received a message, “But without pilots, these two warships lack divine crystals and pose no real threat.”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The space around them blurred into chaos.
A figure clad in golden robes materialized from the void. With a sweeping motion of his arms—each stretching like boundless heavens—he effortlessly seized the two warships. Ordinarily, divine crystal-powered vessels would unleash overwhelming energy, far surpassing what even a demi-god level Witch Deity avatar could withstand. Yet now, devoid of power, they were captured as easily as plucking fruit from a tree.
Zzzz!
The golden-robed Witch God soared forward, appearing unhurried yet distorting and compressing the space around him. In an instant, he plunged directly into one of the subsidiary strongholds.
“Witch God, die!” Dongbo Xueying roared in fury, transforming into a streak of light and charging forward. He swung his Blood-Drinking Spear, which stretched for over a thousand li. The spear shaft radiated immense power, crashing into the auxiliary fort with a deafening boom. The outer walls shimmered with protective arrays. The entire fortress was hexagonal, with six auxiliary forts at each corner, supporting the main structure.
Inside the auxiliary fort, the two warships were placed on the ground.
“Even if these warships have hidden tricks, dismantling them would be effortless for me. No need for concern,” declared the golden-robed Witch God as he strode aboard Yuan Qing’s vessel. Bereft of divine crystals to fuel its defenses, the warship offered no resistance to the Witch God’s intrusion.
“Whoosh——”
Suddenly, the hatches of both warships opened simultaneously.
“What?” The Witch God was startled.
Yuan Qing couldn’t control the ship, and he hadn’t begun to refine it yet. So why had the ships opened on their own?
“Something’s wrong!” Without a moment’s hesitation, the Witch God seized Yuan Qing.
Boom!!!!!!!
A terrifying explosion erupted from within the warship, its power far surpassing even the peak of Divine-level strength. Strictly speaking, it had reached the Divine Limit tier.
What was the Divine Limit?
Within the celestial hierarchy of cultivation, deities were stratified across four profound realms: the Nascent Divinity, the Ascendant Divinity, the Supreme Divinity, and the Zenith Divinity. Yet those who mastered the primordial界神-tier arcane arts, forged apocalyptic techniques, or commanded界神-grade armaments could shatter the very pinnacle of divine supremacy. Thus emerged the sacred concept of the Divine Threshold.
“Damn it!” The Witch God, clutching Yuan Qing, stood enveloped in a swirling vortex of distorted space. Despite the cataclysmic explosions tearing through the surroundings, not a single strand of their hair was disturbed.
After all, even Dongbo Xueying’s attacks barely managed to scratch the golden-robed Witch God.
Let alone this “Divine Fire Thunder.”
The explosion was one of the Divine Fire Thunders Dongbo Xueying had secretly placed on each of the fifteen warships, each requiring ten thousand divine crystals. Its power far surpassed even his own attacks, reaching the Divine Limit tier. However, this explosion was purely brute force, lacking in subtlety or mastery of the laws of existence.
Thus, the Witch God could easily evade it.
“Aaaaah~~~” Pei Shan’s desperate scream came from the other warship, followed by his instant annihilation. Even if the Great Demon God learned of this, he couldn’t rescue Pei Shan’s soul in time. The Divine Limit attack was too terrifying—Pei Shan’s soul was utterly destroyed in an instant, leaving no trace.
Boom! Boom!
Although the Witch God’s cultivation was formidable, the surrounding structures were devoid of life and fragile. Under the blast’s impact, they started to shatter and collapse.
From the sky, Dongbo Xueying watched coldly. He had anticipated betrayal and used it to his advantage for a devastating counterstrike.
The fortress was protected by defensive arrays on the outside, making it difficult to destroy. But its interior lacked such protections, making it far more fragile. Two Divine Limit Divine Fire Thunders had done the trick. As for Yuan Qing and Pei Shan’s possible deaths—though Dongbo Xueying had feelings for Yuan Qing, if he had betrayed the Xia Clan, Dongbo Xueying would show no mercy.
The massive hexagonal fortress lost one of its corners in the blast.
“Hmm?”
Dongbo Xueying’s eyes narrowed.
Beyond the shattered auxiliary fort, the outer walls of the main fortress remained intact, protected by arrays.
“Very cunning,” Dongbo Xueying muttered, shaking his head. “But with one auxiliary fort destroyed, the six can no longer form a perfect defense. It’ll be much easier for me to break through now.”
“Damn it! Damn it!!”
The golden-robed Witch God, clutching Yuan Qing, glared at the devastation.
The six auxiliary forts had supported the main fortress, absorbing much of the impact. Now, with one gone, the main fortress’s ability to withstand attacks was greatly diminished.
“Yuan Qing.”
Dongbo Xueying gazed down from the heavens at Yuan Qing, who was firmly grasped by the Witch God.
“Why did you betray the Xia Clan? Why?”
“Betray?” Yuan Qing stared back at Dongbo Xueying.
“This isn’t betrayal! Blame it on being a Beastkin, while you are human!”
“A Beastkin?”
Dongbo Xueying was stunned.
Yuan Qing was a Beastkin…
“My parents were killed by your kind.” Yuan Qing’s gaze met Dongbo Xueying’s.
Dongbo Xueying fell silent.
Yuan Qing went on, “Though I bear remorse toward you, I have never wavered nor regretted my choices. That time when the Witch God set a deadly trap for you, you narrowly escaped by sheer fortune. It was I who revealed the intelligence that led to your ambush. For the sake of my Beastkin brethren, I have no regrets—only this lingering guilt toward you.”
Dongbo Xueying fell silent, his earlier anger greatly diminished.
Each had their own people. It was hard to say who was right or wrong.
“Hmph, Dongbo Xueying, we shall see who emerges victorious in the end.” The Witch God sneered, clutching Yuan Qing tightly as his figure flickered. In an instant, he vanished into the towering fortress wall.
Within the towering walls of the citadel, the Witch-God flung Yuan Qing aside with a dismissive gesture. “Begone to my domain and hone your craft,” he commanded, his voice echoing with ancient power. “This battle is beyond your reach now.”
The Witch-God beheld Yuan Qing as a singular marvel among the Beastkin—a race often sluggish in mastering the arcane arts. Yet here stood one who had ascended to supremacy even among humans, a rare jewel gleaming amidst his kin.
The Witch God valued talent, for these would be his future subordinates.
“Yes, Divine Sorcerer,” Yuan Qing replied with a reverent bow before swiftly taking his leave. For him, this battle had reached its conclusion. Moments later, he stepped through a shimmering portal of space, departing the realm of Xia.
Whoosh.
The Witch God stepped into the grand hall of the central fortress, where the Great Demon Lord awaited his arrival.
“How did it go?” the Witch God inquired.
“I have a plan to deal with Dongbo Xueying. It will succeed, but the cost will be great.” The Great Demon God replied.
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