Desolate Era

Within the Seamless City.

“Daofather.” Sixty-one Empyrean Gods and True Immortals all called out respectfully in unison. As for the others? They had all died in that great clash when the Seven Planets God had appeared. The Seamless Gate had suffered heavy casualties during that battle; if it hadn’t been for Grandmaster Blackheaven intervening, the Godking and Daofather Ink Bamboo probably would have chosen to give up the fight for the Grand Xia.

“Our losses in this Realmwar were very heavy.” Daofather Ink Bamboo stared downwards at his forces. “However…our Seamless Gate isn’t giving up this Realmwar.”

“Not giving up?”

The sixty-one Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were all surprised. The three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater in particular stared intently at Daofather Ink Bamboo. The three of them had truly been beaten so badly by Redsnow’s Seven Planets God that they didn’t have any of their usual bravado remaining.

“Daofather, dare I ask…how are we to deal with the Seven Planets God?” The eldest of the three Diremonster Gods, the Great Sage Who Swallows the Mountains, called out in a loud voice.

“Look.” Daofather Ink Bamboo waved his hand.

Whoosh.

An enormous creature suddenly appeared out of nowhere into the air above the palace. It was a red-gold color, dazzling to behold. It had a body similar to that of a spider’s, with a total of eight slender and knife-sharp legs. It crouched there in the air, emanating an aura that caused the Empyrean Gods and True Immortals below to feel shocked.

“A Daofather golem?!” A series of shocked cries rang out.

Daofather Ink Bamboo nodded. “It is indeed a Daofather golem.”

“I need to pick one of you to be the controller of this Daofather golem,” Daofather Ink Bamboo said.

The sixty-one Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were all stunned for a moment…and then they grew wildly excited. Even the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater were rather eager. They all knew exactly how powerful a Daofather golem was, how tough its body was. Not even True Gods or Daofathers would find it easy to destroy it. It possessed the strength of a Daofather and was nearly indestructible.

The might of a Daofather golem was definitely above that of the Three-Eyed Demon.

“These are spoils of war which we gained from vanquished members of the Crimsonbright Realms; ‘Splitters’.” Daofather Ink Bamboo willed the ‘Splitter’ to transform into the appearance of the Daofather golem. “Each of you shall take control over a Splitter that has been transformed into the form of a Daofather golem. Use the eight legs to launch your attacks.”

“Spar against each other,” Daofather Ink Bamboo ordered. “The victor shall control the real Daofather golem.”

“Yes!” The Empyrean Gods and True Immortals were all extremely excited.

……

They began to spar internally against each other. Soon, the more formidable ones were clearly evident, such as True Immortal Whitepole, Sword Immortal Evergreen, the three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater, the Elder Fairy of the Nine Cloudmist Fairies…and then they began to compete against each other as well.

The most dazzling performances were actually rendered by Sword Immortal Evergreen and the nine-headed lion.

In the end, after a long and hard struggle, Sword Immortal Evergreen was actually able to just barely achieve victory over the nine-headed lion.

“Great Sage Who Swallows the Skies, the eight slender legs of this Daofather golem are like eight Immortal swords. I am a Sword Immortal, and specialize in the ‘Eight Trigrams Demonslayer Sword Formation’ that was created by Human Sovereign Fuxi. I’m perfectly suited for controlling this Daofather golem, which is why I was able to fight against you for so long and just barely win,” Sword Immortal Evergreen said with a smile. “You, Great Sage, are an Empyrean God; you are best suited for close combat, and so were at a disadvantage when competing with me in this manner. I won, but I was lucky to win.”

Evergreen had a very modest attitude right now. He knew very well when he could afford to be arrogant, and when he had to lower his head.

The three Diremonster Gods of Mount Dragoneater clearly weren’t people he could afford to offend. Even if he ended up controlling the Daofather golem, that was only in service to the Seamless Gate. The Daofather golem belonged to the Seamless Gate; it hadn’t been gifted to him.

“Hmph.” The nine-headed lion had an ugly look on his face. He had actually lost.

Sword Immortal Evergreen’s face flickered slightly, then quickly returned to normal. In his heart, however, he mused to himself, “It’s rare for me to be so courteous, but he actually gives me no face at all. Once I become a Daofather, you’ll be kneeling before me like an obedient puppy.”

“Evergreen, you shall have temporary control over this Daofather golem,” Daofather Ink Bamboo said.

“Evergreen shall not let you down, Daofather.” Sword Immortal Evergreen was extremely respectful, but his voice was filled with complete confidence.

……

Dark clouds covered the skies, and a savage wind howled through the land. Drops of rain could be seen within the clouds.

The vast army of the Seamless Gate, however, was filled with an utterly indomitable aura. The energy of the natural world flooded through them in a tidalwave, causing even the Golden Crow in the skies to appear distorted. The dark clouds in the skies rammed into each other, causing lightning to crash down chaotically, as though they too were terrified of the Immortal army below it.

“Crimsonbright, come out and fight!”

The grand army was calling for their foes to come out and engage them. They were within just a few thousand kilometers of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity, and the sound of their cries filled the heavens themselves.

……

“They actually dare to call us out?”

“They didn’t dare to come out earlier, but now they do?”

“Hmph, it seems as though the Seamless Gate feels that they haven’t lost enough men yet.”

“Let’s teach them a good lesson.”

Instantly, the Eight Dragons Cloudcity became filled with eager cries. The Empyrean Gods, True Immortals, and army commanders all flew towards the main palace.

Within the main palace. Daofather Crimsonbright was already seated upon his throne.

Ji Ning and the others entered, their eyes filled with an eagerness to do battle; clearly, they wanted to go out and fight right away.

“You are not to engage.” A hint of worry could be seen on Daofather Crimsonbright’s face as he spoke in a low voice.

“Eh?”

Everyone was stunned. Not to engage?

“Dare I ask, Daofather…why not?” Empyrean God Redsnow asked.

“The Seamless Gate feels a very, very strong desire to take over the Crimsonbright Realm. They’ve actually manufactured a Daofather golem for that purpose.” Daofather Crimsonbright shook his head. “Sending you out right now is tantamount to sending you to your deaths.”

“Daofather golem?” Empyrean Gods Redsnow, Primelight, Snow Scorpion, and the others revealed puzzled looks.

The seven of them had been staying in seclusion on the Starseizer major world for far too long. They knew very little about the outside world.

“Daofather golem?” The Xia Emperor and the others, however, cried out in shock.

Ning was puzzled as well. He didn’t know what this golem was either.

“You should have already seen Empyrean God golems,” Daofather Crimsonbright said. “I trust you are fully aware of how hard they are to deal with.”

“Yes. They’ve just barely reached the Empyrean God level in terms of power, but they are incredibly tough. It is very hard for ordinary True Immortals or Empyrean Gods to damage them.” Empyrean God Redsnow nodded.action

“Daofather golems have just barely reached the Daofather level of power. They possess enormous power, and are also incredibly tough. Even I am unable to destroy one.” Daofather Crimsonbright sighed. “There’s no way whatsoever for the rest of you to damage it, while it can damage you. Redsnow…we would probably need a second Seven Planets God of equal power to yours in order to tie down that Daofather golem. Otherwise…you by yourselves will be completely dominated to the point of not being able to fight back.”

Everyone present now understood. Their hearts turned icy cold.

For them to have gained the assistance of one Seven Planets God was already a stroke of tremendous luck. A second one? How likely was that?

A single Daofather golem was much more powerful than the Seven Planets God and Ji Ning’s Heaven Punisher combined. There was simply no way to fight such a thing. It must be understood that the enemy also had a Three-Eyed Demon, which was only slightly weaker than the Seven Planets God. If they were to truly fight…it really would be a lopsided battle.

……

The mood within the main hall was quite depressing. Everyone felt resentful and unwilling to accept this.

Rumble…

Suddenly, a ripple began to spread out.

Ning and the others couldn’t help but look upwards. Through the gates to the main palace, they saw that in the distant skies above them, a tear in the heavens could be seen. Through that tear, out walked a handsome youth who had a red dot in the center of his forehead. The handsome youth was dressed in Daoist robes, and he gracefully flew towards the main palace of the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.

“Cloudust greets you, Daofather,” the youth said with a smile as he bowed.

Daofather Crimsonbright’s eyes lit up.

“On orders of Human Sovereign Shennong, I have come here to assist you in winning this battle, Daofather.” The robed youth smiled confidently as he spoke.