The giant divine statue rose higher and higher under the gaze of countless stunned, dumbfounded eyes. Xie Lian saw that it was in perfect condition, completely undamaged—there was no trace of the broken leg White No-Face had inflicted.
"San Lang, you fixed it?" he exclaimed with delight.
Hua Cheng flashed a smile. "I couldn't possibly come to the heavens to pick gege up empty-handed. Let's go!"
Xie Lian nodded. "Everyone, hurry and get on!"
But that was when the crowd of heavenly officials finally saw that Hua Cheng was the one standing beside him. They almost fell to their knees.
"Your Highness, the man next to you is…?!"
The furrow between Feng Xin's brows was growing deeper and deeper in distress, and he finally started calling out, "Jian Lan! Jian Lan!"
No one responded. Lang Qianqiu spotted Qi Rong sneaking about and hiding in corners—he was about to go seize him when, with a great rumbling boom, the Palace of Tai Hua collapsed as he passed by, like something inside had exploded. When the heavenly officials turned in shock to look, they saw a figure standing there amidst the rubble and raging fire—head lowered and utterly silent.
Jun Wu had broken free of the silver chrysalis.
As expected, the silver butterflies couldn't stop him for long!
Qi Rong hastily scuttled behind Jun Wu, then shouted cockily at the crowd, "GARBAGE! TRASH, ALL OF YOU! Come over here if you've got what it takes!"
Only he was still foolish enough to approach, ignorant of his own impending demise—none of the heavenly officials even dared to speak!
Black aura billowed and white light blinded, both colors radiating from the body of the martial god clad in white, ever-changing and unpredictable.
The heavenly officials found this "Jun Wu" infinitely foreign, and they stared at him, not even daring to breathe too loudly. Jun Wu stared at Xie Lian intently and slowly walked toward the gathering of gods. With every step, the flames of war sparked beneath his feet, lively little flames that were spreading madly in all directions until they became a raging inferno that stormed through the heavens. Just like the ghost at the bridge.
The flames caught on to Qi Rong. Howling, he fled quickly with Guzi in his arms. With a face covered in soot and Yin Yu's corpse on his back, Quan Yizhen stood in the middle of the main avenue; when he saw Jun Wu, his eyes were also set alight by blazing fires of rage. He didn't even put the body down before stalking toward him, and Xie Lian had to pull him back.
Getting close to Jun Wu right now would be courting death!
Another wave of silver butterflies shot forth. Xie Lian used this chance to shout, "Hurry! Don't just stand there!"
The heavenly officials hesitated for a moment, then, finally, they acknowledged the order one by one. Like an army of black ants climbing aboard, hundreds of heavenly officials leapt onto the giant divine statue and crowded its shoulders and chest. When there were no more places to stand, they had to grab on to the hem of its robes.
The giant divine statue couldn't depend on the Blessings Lanterns and silver butterflies to fly, but Xie Lian couldn't make a move on Hua Cheng with so many people around. But adversity breeds ingenuity—Xie Lian grabbed a random heavenly official and yanked them over to block the others' view while he cupped Hua Cheng's face and brought him in for a deep kiss.
Time passed, and Xie Lian's whole body was filled with spiritual power. The heavenly official who had been used as a screen had gone completely stiff.
"What are you two doing behind my back?!" he cried in shock.
Countless eyes focused on them. Only then did Xie Lian discover that the random official he had used to block the view was Lang Qianqiu.
What a sin, what a sin! This child mustn't witness such things, Xie Lian repented in his mind.
"We've done nothing! Nothing you should see!" he exclaimed. Then he turned around and shouted at the divine statue, "Fly!"
Upon hearing his command, the divine statue came to life. Its squinted eyes flashed open, and the smile on its face deepened. The silver butterflies and Blessings Lanterns scattered in an instant, but it still floated steadily in the sky. Its long hair, sleeves, and robes seemed to flutter in the wind.
It was flying!
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng leapt aboard and stood upon the jade crown platform on the divine statue's head.
"Everyone keep steady! Hang on tight!" Xie Lian shouted.
The body of the divine statue sank as he spoke, then it shot forward with rumbling force, bringing wild, shrieking gales along with it!
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng stood at the highest point of the divine statue and carried the countless heavenly officials away from the Heavenly Capital.
Many of the officials had left years of savings behind in the capital, so they kept looking back, pounding their chests and stamping their feet in dejection and despair.
Once he had regained some calm, Xie Lian remembered that there hadn't been time to take a headcount amidst all the chaos. He had no idea whether Pei Ming and the others had met an unfortunate fate. Worried, he searched the crowd below for the few figures he was familiar with.
"Master! General Pei! Are you here?"
"I'm here!" the state preceptor's voice replied from a distance.
Only then did Xie Lian relax, just a little.
Just then, someone cried out. "It's gaining on us! It's gaining on us!"
Pursuit was expected. And sure enough, something huge and bright red was chasing the giant divine statue, glowing with life-stealing light.
It was the Heavenly Capital itself!
The Heavenly Capital was normally wreathed in auspicious clouds. But now it was burning with the flames of war—it had transformed into a demonic, fiery fortress!
"It's the Emperor…" someone said in terror. "The Emperor is moving the Heavenly Capital… He's going to annihilate us all…" "He's going to catch up!"
"Not so fast!" Xie Lian shouted.
His hand seals changed rapidly, and the giant divine statue's eyes flashed. The wind whipping around the heavenly officials' ears howled harder and faster, and the red light chasing them fell away into the distance.
The divine statue was now flying even faster!
But the red light didn't give up so easily. With a great rumbling noise, its speed suddenly exploded—it was now even closer than before, and many of the heavenly officials cried out in alarm. At this distance, they could almost see the figure standing within the Heavenly Capital!
Meanwhile, the people of the Mortal Realm had no idea what was happening. When laughing children at play saw a white light shoot across the sky with a red light in pursuit, their jaws dropped and they clapped in delight.
"Lights! So pretty!"
Xie Lian knew this couldn't go on for much longer. They had to speed up once more, but he was feeling slightly dizzy—he had been piloting the statue for so long, after all, and on a single breath. Hua Cheng helped him up, but before the two could exchange words, they heard the state preceptor yelling from below.
"What are you all standing around for?! A bunch of heavenly officials need to rely on the spiritual power of a ghost king to make their escape?
Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?!"
Some heavenly officials didn't appreciate his tone and shot back, "Who are you? What right do you have to lecture us?"
"It doesn't matter who I am!" the state preceptor countered. "I was in the Upper Court when you were playing in a sandbox somewhere! Hurry up and place your precious little hands on this divine statue, and give it all the spiritual power you have; that's the only way it'll fly faster! That is, unless you're waiting for him to catch up? Are you lot so used to watching from the sidelines that you've forgotten your lives are on the line? Do you need me to remind you?"
That seemed to knock some sense into the heavenly officials—they had actually forgotten they could lend their support that way! With a chorus of ashamed exclamations, they hurriedly got to work pressing their hands to the divine statue.
"Your Highness, I will, uh, give you a hand!"
"Ah, me too, then…" "There's not much…but I'll do what I can."
Seven or eight hundred hands and feet poured spiritual power into the divine statue, filling it once more, and Xie Lian was reenergized. With a loud rumble, the divine statue powered up once again and left the red light far, far behind!
The heavenly officials sighed deeply in relief, each wiping away the sweat on their brows.
Xie Lian was doing the same when Hua Cheng suddenly said, "Gege, go lower."
Since he had spoken up, Xie Lian didn't ask why; he immediately dipped downward and broke through the layers of pitch-black clouds only to find further darkness—not even a bit of light or civilization could be seen.
The heavenly officials were agitated.
"What…what is this place? Why is it so dark? It's quite frightening."
"Your Highness, why did we come down here?"
"I don't think we should stay long…" Hua Cheng said firmly, "We will stay here, and we will not move. Let's wait."
The giant divine statue thus floated in midair. "Mmm… What are we waiting for?" Xie Lian asked.
"We're waiting for him to catch up so we can make a stand," Hua Cheng whispered back.
As soon as he spoke, a streak of red light broke through the blackened clouds and the blazing Heavenly Capital sank down.
The heavenly officials watched the red light's approach with unblinking eyes, chills running down their spines. They all began shouting questions at Xie Lian.
"Your Highness, why aren't we leaving?!"
"You can't be thinking of fighting him head-on? We've got no chance of winning!"
"He's gone stupid again! I just knew it—that guy loves being stupid!
It's been hundreds of years, and it's always been like—hey, who kicked me?!"
"Me," the state preceptor said. "Say one more word and I'll push you off instead."
"Who are you?!"
The divine statue might have been huge, but the Heavenly Capital was even more majestic in stature; it would definitely crush the statue in a head-on battle. However, Xie Lian had complete trust in Hua Cheng's judgment, so he stayed silent and focused. Thus, one stone man and one city confronted each other in the cold night sky. When the red light was less than a quarter of a kilometer away, Xie Lian felt something stirring down below.
When he looked down, he saw the darkness beneath his feet moving— splashing, rising, and folding in on itself. It was almost like… Waves.
Suddenly, Xie Lian knew exactly where they were.
Some other heavenly officials had also noticed, and someone exclaimed in terror, "My heavens, this is…the Black Water Demon Lair!
We've been brought to a ghost den!"
Just then, several sharp, white things broke through the darkness below and leapt into the air!
Four sets of eyes glowered at the fiery demonic fortress—huge, haunting green eyes like ghost fire lanterns. As if highly displeased by the rude intruder, the eyes' owners let out long, malicious howls and whipped their giant tails back and forth, slapping at the surface of the sea and stirring up thousands of tall waves.
It was the four bone dragons!
They raised their heads, opened their jaws, and blasted the demonic fortress with torrents of water from their mouths. The enormous water guns blasted with such immense power that they could have torn through iron walls.
Xie Lian couldn't help but reevaluate his initial impression. "The last time we saw them, they were a little… Ha ha, I didn't think they were so ferocious."
More and more giant skeletal monsters broke through the pitch-black surface of the sea, and fish sailed through the air with whooshing noises like they were catapulting boulders at the fortress.
The heavenly officials were completely confounded by the sight. Jun Wu was pursuing them with intent to kill, while Hua Cheng and Black Water seemed to be helping them. It made a bizarre scene.
The four bone dragons surrounded the demonic fortress and kept up their wild barrage, but it wasn't terribly effective—mere water could hardly extinguish the raging flames of war. The fire only grew more and more furious after the fish bombardment, and it burned all the way down to the sea.
The surface of the Black Water Demon Lair became a raging inferno;
firelight danced wildly upon the water while wails and howls sounded from the abyssal depths.
Sweat rolled down Xie Lian's forehead. "Is…is it okay…that we made such a mess of Black Water's domain?"
"Don't worry about it," Hua Cheng said. "He owes me money. Fight however you wish."
Xie Lian could only make a confused noise in response.
Suddenly, someone pointed ahead. "What… What is it doing?!"
Xie Lian turned to look, and his heart jolted when he saw.
The fiery demonic fortress that was once the Heavenly Capital was shaking in the sky, and a cacophony of cracking and snapping noises filled the air. Countless bits of flaming rubble rolled and tumbled into the water as the body of the fortress ponderously turned around.
The many divine palaces built upon the ground of the Heavenly Capital were moving and shifting—at first laid out flat, they were now realigning themselves vertically and dividing into sections. What was once a perfect fortress was breaking into seven or eight large pieces!
"Have we defeated it? Is it falling apart?" a heavenly official wondered.
"How could it be that easy?" Xie Lian said. "This is probably—" Before he could finish, the broken pieces of the fortress's body began to rapidly reconstruct themselves, filling the air with the sound of stone grinding against stone. As the heavenly officials watched, their eyes grew larger and larger; some were even left with their mouths hanging wide open.
The fiery demonic fortress wasn't falling apart—it had broken into pieces to build itself anew.
And after reconstruction, it had become…a fiery giant!
The giant was roused from its slumber and stood tall in the air. Its body was almost entirely covered in shimmering golden palaces, as if it was wearing sturdy, solid armor. It had replaced the Heavenly Capital and was now facing off against Xie Lian's giant divine statue.
But face-to-face, Xie Lian's statue seemed delicate and small and even a little pitiful, like a child standing against an adult. The giant divine statue could easily be described as colossal, but the fiery giant dominated both Heaven and Earth. It was bigger by five or six times at least; it looked as though it could crush a fortress underfoot with a single step—it was so terrifying it made one's hair stand on end!
After its rebirth was entirely complete, the fiery giant slowly turned its head. A torrent of flame blew from its mouth and swept toward the four bone dragons. The wall of flame cut through the volley of water guns, and the four bone dragons dove back beneath the waves when they realized that things were going downhill. As for the giant, it landed upon the surface of the sea and advanced toward the huge divine statue, walking steadily upon the water as if it were land.
The Palace of Divine Might sat like a crown atop the giant's head, and Jun Wu radiated an oppressive aura from where he was enthroned within. Its presence was suffocating, and the heavenly officials cried out to Xie Lian.
"Your Highness, don't just stand there! Hurry and run away—we're dying here!"
"We can't win! There's no way we can win! Wake up, Your Highness, it's a million times bigger than you!"
However, Xie Lian responded, "We can't keep running away. Even if we can't win, running won't work much longer."
Although the heavenly officials were first taken aback, it soon dawned on them—indeed, they couldn't keep running. On the off chance Hua Cheng stopped providing spiritual power, the divine statue could not fly for long with their combined power alone; they would be exhausted far too quickly by the strain. In the end, they had to find somewhere to stand and fight.
And rather than luring the fiery giant somewhere populated, why not just take care of things here? There was not a single soul to be seen amidst the waves of the Black Water Demon Lair, so no mortals would be dragged into the fray!
Such considerations were proper for a heavenly official to have, but who wouldn't be terrified when facing off against such a menacing fiery giant with an endless abyss of pitch-black water below them? Still, no one wanted to be the first to demand that Xie Lian quickly take them somewhere with more people around.
Thus, Xie Lian said, "Everyone hang on tight—careful not to fall off!
Everything sinks in the Black Water Demon Lair!"
The fiery giant lunged forward and reached out to grab the much smaller divine statue. As Xie Lian dodged and leapt with great agility and vigor, the heavenly officials holding on to the divine statue were flung around, flipping and toppling, sometimes rising, sometimes falling. It was both extremely distressing and extremely thrilling, and the sound of their screams traveled up and down with the divine statue. Very few martial gods had ever experienced a battle like this—never mind that most of the officials present weren't martial gods and usually sat in their palaces all day.
Xie Lian heard Quan Yizhen yell, "You don't have a weapon! You need a weapon!"
The heavenly officials finally couldn't hold back any longer. "Yeah, Your Highness! It's too hard to win if you don't have a weapon!"
"I'm trying to think of what I can use!" Xie Lian shouted back.
Ruoye very excitedly twisted its body into loops and snuggled up to his cheek, but Xie Lian pushed it away.
"Thank you, but you won't do—you're too small!"
Hua Cheng spoke up. "If you need a weapon, there are options at hand.
Use this for now."
Xie Lian heard another round of shrieking howls. The four bone dragons that dove beneath the sea to evade the fiery giant's flames poked their heads out again, surrounding the giant divine statue.
The heavenly officials couldn't help but be alarmed. "What do they want?"
But they hadn't surrounded them to launch an attack. Xie Lian watched as each dragon bit onto the tail of the next, and soon, the four long bone dragons had linked themselves together to form a single extremely long bone dragon!
The linked bone dragon leapt into the air and came flying over.
Without thinking, Xie Lian raised his hand, and the giant divine statue caught it.
"This is…" Xie Lian murmured in wonder.
It was a Bone Dragon Whip! He could control it just like he controlled Ruoye, and it'd work just fine!
With a flick of his hand, the Bone Dragon Whip hurtled straight for the fiery giant's head. The fiery giant raised its hand and caught the end, but the Bone Dragon Whip snapped itself in half and the divine statue simply took another step forward with shortened whip in hand and struck at the giant's head once more. It seemed that the fiery giant had taken a painful hit, as it loosened its grip on the piece of bone dragon it had caught, which slithered back and relinked with the rest in Xie Lian's hand.
The Bone Dragon Whip was exceedingly flexible and could break apart and reattach—sometimes break in half, sometimes half and then half again. It was a difficult weapon to defend against, especially coupled with the giant divine statue's incredible agility.
The whirling winds had thoroughly tangled the heavenly officials' hair and blown their sleeves into their faces, but still they provided commentary.
"I can't believe His Highness can move like that!"
"I've only ever seen him collect junk! I can't believe he really does come from a martial god background!"
"You can skip the 'I can't believe' at the beginning of your sentences," the state preceptor said. "And there's no need to put so much emphasis on the junk collection either!"
"Uh, ha ha ha ha…" Xie Lian laughed awkwardly.
The incredibly long Bone Dragon Whip was like a steel chain blanched white, and the bones crackled as it tangled their opponent. The fiery demonic giant's body began to fall, and the heavenly officials snapped back to attention.
"Quick, quick, quick, pull it into the sea!"
Below the midair battlefield lurked the Black Water Demon Lair—the water where everything sinks!
The giant divine statue gripped the Bone Dragon Whip, and Xie Lian gritted his teeth as he exerted more force. "Come on down!"
Sure enough, the fiery demonic giant sank a bit further. All the heavenly officials quickly pressed their hands and feet to the giant divine statue to transfer spiritual power again, chanting as they did, "Sink! Sink!
Hurry and sink!"
As he listened to the chorus of voices shouting "Sink!" at Jun Wu, Xie Lian felt a subtle chill shake his heart. Sitting atop the giant divine statue, he looked at the Palace of Divine Might. Although he couldn't see the expression of the one enthroned within, he could somehow sense that Jun Wu was sneering at them.
The fiery demonic giant was gradually dragged to the abyssal depths, but the flames on its body still burned; they were not extinguished even after it entered the water. The red light continued to glow from the blackness of the deep sea, only fading as the bone dragons dragged it deeper and deeper.
The heavenly officials sighed in relief, but Xie Lian didn't dare relax completely.
For a while, silence fell. Abruptly, Xie Lian remembered that Pei Ming hadn't answered his call, nor had he heard the voices of Banyue or the others.
They had probably been dragged into the sea with the giant. Xie Lian feared the worst for them.
Suddenly, the surface of the sea below began to roil and bubble. As it spread outward, waves surged, and white smoke began to rise. The seawater was boiling!
Oh crap, Xie Lian thought. Just as he was about to fly upward, a hand broke through the waters and grabbed the giant divine statue's ankle, yanking it down.
Xie Lian felt the violent jolt and looked down to see that the fiery demonic giant had dragged itself from the depths once more!
Its chest had already emerged, dripping with water. Most of the flames on its body had been extinguished but were now blazing back to life.
Although its body was still tangled in the Bone Dragon Whip, the linked dragons could clearly no longer subdue it.
Jun Wu's laughter echoed throughout the endless sea. It wasn't wild, crowing cackling, nor was it mocking…but it was all the more chilling for its indescribability.
Half of the giant divine statue's body had been dragged into the boiling water, and the heavenly officials hanging on near the bottom had to quickly climb higher. Even at the very top of the giant divine statue, Xie Lian could feel the suffocating steam and heat; it was so hot that sweat rolled from his forehead and down his back. If they were fully pulled into the sea, they would be cooked from toe to head!
This wouldn't do—he needed a sword! No other weapon could release his full potential.
Suddenly, he heard the state preceptor's voice. "Um… Fluffy child, what are you doing? Don't just toss a corpse at me! Wait! Where are you going?!"
Xie Lian was alarmed to hear that. Still maintaining the hand seal, he shouted downward, "Qi Ying?"
There was no response, yet he saw a figure dash along the giant divine statue's leg, then down the fiery demonic giant's arm and straight for its head.
"Qi Ying, come back!" Xie Lian shouted.
However, voices could no longer reach Quan Yizhen. He was discovered the moment he dashed onto the giant's arm, and its other hand descended like it was slapping at a mosquito on its limb. It was incredibly fast and accurate and hit its target head-on with a resounding noise. Smack!
Many of the heavenly officials screamed in alarm, but when they looked again, Quan Yizhen was still running. The slap had been accurate indeed, but he had dodged into a crevice between the giant's fingers and escaped the tragic fate of becoming a bloody smear of flesh. Quan Yizhen leapt over the fingers and continued to run, and the giant continued to slap— he only barely dodged the first and second slap and it was clear that he might not be so lucky when the third came. He could end up crushed into a bloody pulp!
However, Quan Yizhen had already reached his destination before the third slap hit. He jumped inside the skull of one of the bone dragons that was tangling the fiery demonic giant. The ghost fire lanterns inside the bone dragon's eye sockets flashed with an explosion of light the moment he leapt in; its whole body radiated a white glow. It raised its head and gave a long howl as its body wrapped even tighter around the fiery giant. Xie Lian could hear the heavy sound of boulders grinding together. As it was crushed tighter and tighter, the fiery demonic giant loosened its grip and finally released the divine statue's ankle. Once free, Xie Lian instantly flew higher and reached out a hand.
"Qi Ying, come up here quickly! Don't keep tangling with it!"
Not only did Quan Yizhen not let go, he roared and used all of his strength to yank the linked Bone Dragon Whip even tighter as he rode it.
Countless bits of rubble and debris fell into the sea, and the fiery demonic giant lost its patience. It hauled itself out of the water completely, and the flames of war roared anew from within the Palace of Divine Might to spread and burn across its body.
The bone dragon firmly wrapped around its body was submerged in the sea of fire, along with Quan Yizhen!
"Qi Ying!" Xie Lian cried. He leaned forward to charge the fiery giant and punch the linked Bone Dragon Whip apart!
Blanched, burning bone joints tumbled into the sea. Just as Xie Lian was about to catch the bone dragon skull with Quan Yizhen inside, the fiery giant slapped the skull and sent it flying kilometers away. The giant divine statue didn't manage to seize it in time before it was sent soaring off into the distance—and Quan Yizhen would probably have already fallen into the sea with the linked Bone Dragon Whip no matter how quickly they rushed over.
And right now, the sea was literally boiling—the water where everything cooks!
At the last very second, a giant white bonefish leapt out of the water and caught the bone dragon's head; then, like a fish that had escaped the net, it whipped its tail and swam far, far away.
Although this had given Xie Lian a fright, there was no actual danger, and he sighed in relief as he rushed over to see.
The flames in the bone dragon's eye sockets had gone out after breaking away from the giant, but the teeth inside its skull were still chattering, and its mouth opened and closed like it was panting harshly. Quan Yizhen was sprawled inside its jaw, roasted and charred completely black.
Perhaps it was because of the fire, but his hair seemed even curlier than usual. Thankfully, the bone dragon skull had acted as a protective shield—he wasn't burnt too badly and, given time and quiet care, he would heal from this. After all, Quan Yizhen was resilient.
The four bone dragons' condition was worse—scorched and battered, their bodies were scattered all over the surface of the sea, some pieces still burning even now. Xie Lian glanced at them and couldn't help but feel another wave of embarrassment.
"Um… We destroyed the guards of Black Water's abode. Is this really okay…?"
Hua Cheng smiled. "Don't worry. It's fine."
"Just how much money does he owe you…?" Xie Lian wondered.
Gawking at Quan Yizhen's tragic state, the heavenly officials murmured amongst themselves. "I…I can't believe His Highness Qi Ying. So very brave to stand tall in the face of danger and save everyone…" Xie Lian recalled all the scorn and rejection Quan Yizhen had suffered in the Upper Court and shook his head, thinking, He didn't go out there to save everyone.
Far in the distance behind them, they heard a familiar crackling sound.
When they looked back, the giant's body was completely enveloped in raging fire. It didn't charge at them to attack—instead, it flew up into the sky and through the clouds. Then it vanished, just like that.
Despite their bewilderment, the heavenly officials rejoiced that they'd survived this calamity. "Has he given up on attacking us?!"
But Xie Lian had a bad feeling about this. "San Lang, how did he just vanish like that?"
"He activated the Teleportation Array," Hua Cheng answered.
"Where did he go?"
Hua Cheng's gaze was solemn. "The royal capital."
Which was where Shi Qingxuan was guarding the human array!