Three months after Qinghua sent a medicine god to deliver a vast supply of alchemical pills, the Heavenly Court's forces launched another assault.

They had changed their target. Instead of striking individual celestial bodies, they aimed at a massive army on the move.

Under Xu Zhongliang's command, tens of thousands of celestial soldiers gathered swiftly, marched in formation, and slipped ahead into a field of drifting planet debris to set an ambush.

Several top experts struck at once.

Across space, enormous spatial rifts tore open, each stretching for hundreds of thousands of miles. They trapped the enemy army within, yet deliberately left a narrow passage for teleportation. In mere moments, dozens of enemy elites were lured into the trap.

Finally, the trap snapped shut. Zhi Bing, Wang Shan, and Wu Tianshou moved to intercept reinforcements from the outside.

Qinghua remained hidden, watching closely, ready to eliminate any powerful being who would dare reveal themselves.

The Great Dao of Death suppressed countless other Daos.

Once the outer battlefield stabilized, the flood dragon carriage tore across the horizon.

Wang Sheng stood within it, clad in gleaming golden armor. The Dragon Sword rested on his back, and the Great Dao sword case was at his side. Leaning lightly on Spiritless, he shone brilliantly in space.

The marshal's banner snapped loudly, though no one could say how it even fluttered without air.

The celestial soldiers formed battle formations and charged toward the trapped enemy. These battle formations were among the Heavenly Court's most closely guarded secrets.

Wang Sheng remained still upon the carriage, waiting. Behind him, nearly a thousand Heavenly Court experts split into three groups and charged forward in streaks of light.

Scholars who once served as officials now wielded sabers and cast spells. Gentle female immortals now hurled treasured artifacts without hesitation.

Space trembled and distorted endlessly, and waves of battle cries echoed.

Wang Sheng's gaze sharpened as he studied every battlefield.

Far in the distance, five colossal divine statues floated silently, waiting for the incantation that would activate them.

Not yet. If I move now, I can't unleash my full strength.

Spiritless trembled softly. Threads of immortal light coiled around Wang Sheng's arm, climbing up before merging into him.

Their unity had advanced after his last conversation with Yaoyun. Now, it had surpassed mere fusion of spiritual and immortal powers. Their minds and bodies had become intertwined and inseparable.

Even amid thousands of enemies, he would never stand alone.

Lishang had already rushed into battle with the celestial soldiers. She had only just reached the mid-stage Heavenly Immortal Realm. No matter how many divine abilities she possessed, she could not challenge a Golden Immortal. Hence, she instead volunteered to lead a squad into battle, sparing Wang Sheng the need to worry about her.

Corpses filled the space as the armies clashed head-on.

Blood sprayed but did not fall. Bodies drifted into the cold emptiness, quickly freezing or breaking apart.

The main forces collided within, while the true experts battled outside.

The countless grudges between the two factions erupted once more. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Fei Yu, you're up," Chun Yangzi telepathically said from the shadows. He had been suppressing the battlefield and guarding Wang Sheng.

With his spirits jolted, Wang Sheng rose to his feet at once.

Dozens of Heavenly Court immortals around him gripped their weapons. The golden banner was lifted high above the banner.

Wang Sheng raised his left hand, palm to the sky.

Five beams of divine light shot down from space, pouring into his hand and instantly transforming him into a radiant golden figure.

Spiritless hummed, and a small cyan dragon coiled around him. The Great Dao sword case also emitted a faint blood-red glow.

Wang Sheng slowly rose three zhang into the air, leaving the carriage behind. A flame ignited between his eyebrows.

With a phoenix-like cry, he transformed into a divine bird. He locked onto a Taiyi Golden Immortal and charged. Accelerating repeatedly over a span of several hundred li, he flew across space like a comet.

The target was a strategist commanding a third of the enemy formation.

Seeing Wang Sheng approach, the enemy waved a battle flag. More than a dozen people rushed to intercept him, including Grand Dao Golden Immortals.

One of them reached out, intending to capture Wang Sheng. However, several figures burst forth behind him.

Chun Yangzi casually pointed forward, and a sky filled with sword radiance descended.

Taken by surprise, the enemy experts immediately scattered, breaking their ranks. The sword radiance cut down those with shallower cultivation where they stood.

Wang Sheng then dropped lower, the divine phoenix tracing a brilliant arc. By the time Spiritless flared with immortal light in his hand, he had already reached his target.

Soaring Red Feathers, unleash! Ziwei Sword, bloom!

Like a river, waves upon waves of starlight surged endlessly.

The Taiyi Golden Immortal threw out several treasures in defense and retreated at once, abandoning command of the battlefield. However, the incoming starlight tore his scroll before it could even open. Spiritless also sliced apart the banner he raised before it could fully activate.

My body is the sword! The sword is my body!

His unity with Yaoyun was no longer just Yaoyun enhancing Wang Sheng's power. Now, Wang Sheng also poured his own immortal power and life essence into Spiritless, sharpening it to an extreme. In that fleeting moment, it reached a level comparable to a natural spiritual treasure.

A blade too sharp risked breaking. However, Wang Sheng and his sword shared one life.

He moved with it like a sovereign roaming the stars. With each swing of it, the Taiyi Golden Immortal was dragged into a dazzling river of starlight.

The opponent gripped a jade ruyi and swung it down toward Wang Sheng's head. It instantly expanded to a length of a hundred zhang.

Nevertheless, Wang Sheng did not slow down. Sword in hand, he pressed forward without hesitation. Hundreds of afterimages trailed around him, then swiftly merged into one. He had unleashed the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art's strongest technique!

The Heavenly Ziwei Strike—the strike that came from the north!

Sword radiance tore apart and shattered the jade ruyi, a spiritual treasure. The Taiyi Golden Immortal's expression darkened drastically. He tried to activate a life-saving treasured artifact, but the surrounding space suddenly contracted. A streak of sword radiance bloomed in his vision.

No, it can't be!

The Taiyi Golden Immortal felt it clearly. His chest and heart meridian had already been pierced, and the blade had already cut apart his Primordial Spirit. Only then did he see the sword phantasm.

The two combatants crossed each other in an instant.

Wang Sheng did not look back. He rode the flow of starlight straight toward the fiercest part of the battlefield. Behind him, Chun Yangzi and several Heavenly Court experts followed closely, clearing away all enemies above the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm.

The Taiyi Golden Immortal lowered his head and looked at his chest. The manifestation of his Dao appeared behind him, revealing a paper umbrella.

His Dao remained intact, but he was already at death's door. With no life to sustain it, his Dao collapsed and dispersed.

He murmured to himself, "Was he really just a Heavenly Immortal... three hundred years ago?"

He then slowly closed his eyes. Thin lines of blood appeared across his body as he fell unconscious.

Wang Sheng had been too fast, his starlight too sharp.

In the distance, starlight erupted again. Wang Sheng swept across space with the Heavenly Ziwei Sword, its reach boundless. Several Grand Dao Golden Immortals and Taiyi Golden Immortals, who had survived the great war from over a hundred thousand years ago, felt a surge of unease.

The sacred spirit of the Ancient Era... The Northern Emperor, who had once kept the great powers of the Immortal Saint Realm restless, felt as if he had returned today.

After the battle, the celestial soldiers quickly cleared the field.

Exhausted, Wang Sheng sat in the carriage, leaning on Spiritless to keep himself from collapsing. Chun Yangzi and Zhi Bing stood nearby. Chun Yangzi kept telepathically communicating with her, trying to coax a smile from her.

Zhi Bing only responded with a few soft snorts, which made Chun Yangzi feel slightly embarrassed. He seemed to enjoy it, though.

Before long, the army regrouped and prepared to leave.

At that moment, the situation gained an unexpected development. Across a wider stretch of the battlefield, rifts opened throughout space. More than a dozen people with terrifying auras appeared in all directions, sealing off every path of escape.

Chun Yangzi smiled. "It seems they have finally decided to stop holding back."

Xu Zhongliang frowned. "Be careful."

"It is fine," Chun Yangzi replied. "Great Divine Guardian Wang, gather the celestial soldiers. The next stage is not something they can take part in."

Wang Sheng was about to speak when Zhi Bing pressed a hand onto his shoulder. A cool aura flowed into him, easing some of his exhaustion.

Wang Shan flicked his sleeve. His divine ability, Heaven and Earth Within Sleeve, activated. Tens of thousands of celestial soldiers, most of the Heavenly Court's immortals, and the carriage carrying Wang Sheng were all drawn into his sleeve.

Wang Sheng looked out through the sleeve's opening and saw the towering beings outside.

Chun Yangzi, an off-heritage member of the Heavenly Court, stood in white robes, looking peerless. Wang Shan, gaunt and imposing, suppressed heaven and earth.

Wu Tianshou, also known as Star Deity Bi Yue, donned shimmering armor. His gaze seemed to be holding countless suns and moons. Zhi Bing, the mystical-ice immortal maiden, stood with overwhelming grace, as if she had claimed all the beauty of heaven and earth.

Xu Zhongliang, also known as Star Deity Wenqu, carried himself like a refined nobleman, calculating across past and present.

These few faced more than a dozen extremely powerful beings alone, yet their presence did not weaken in the slightest.

The vast expanse of space trembled once more under the clash of Great Daos.

At that moment, a wooden coffin eerily appeared deep within space. A man wrapped in red robes stood atop it.

The last thing Wang Sheng saw outside the sleeve was a crescent-shaped arc of light forcefully splitting open the sealed space.

A warrior clad in silver armor arrived with the saber radiance. He held a three-pointed, double-edged long saber, and a divine eye shone upon his forehead.

He had striking features and narrow phoenix eyes. A glance from him was enough to make all sound in heaven and earth seemingly fade.

"Let's fight."

Swoosh!

The dimension within the sleeve was sealed. Wang Sheng and the celestial soldiers could only faintly sense dozens of Great Daos colliding violently outside.

Lishang, whose armor was stained with blood, flew over and stood guard beside Wang Sheng, scanning their surroundings. She also glanced at the bone necklace around Wang Sheng's neck, then at the worn red string wrapped around his wrist. Afterward, she just quietly stood at his side.

***

The battle could truly be called a grand event.

Nearly half of the Northern Sky Region felt the collision between the powerful beings.

Space was torn apart at will, and even great beings who should be indestructible in the face of calamities bled.

When Wang Sheng and the celestial soldiers were released from the sleeve, half a month had already passed.

Wang Sheng stood beside Wang Shan and noticed his pale expression.

Chun Yangzi and Zhi Bing were meditating on a distant slope. Wu Tianshou was covered in blood, his condition even more alarming.

Meanwhile, Xu Zhongliang moved back and forth, busy with various matters. He seemed to be a living proof of the old saying that the strongest experts of the Heavenly Court were often among the civil officials.

"What happened to Emperor Qinghua and the Second Master?"

"They are unharmed. The Second Master has returned to the stationed forces, while His Imperial Majesty is pursuing two enemies toward the Western Sky Region."

Only then did Wang Sheng breathe a sigh of relief.

He did not ask about the outcome. Exhaustion surged over him, causing him to sway lightly. Fortunately, Lishang stepped in to support him.

Wang Shan cupped his hands toward Wang Sheng, then turned to disperse the celestial soldiers into smaller groups.

Wang Sheng was helped over to Chun Yangzi. He closed his eyes and meditated, waiting for the others to finish their matters before speaking further.