Chapter 358: 357: Each Holding Their Ground!
Chapter 358: 357: Each Holding Their Ground!
Before they reached the Chaotic Divine Kingdom, Du Gang and his team encountered people who had escaped from that side.
With the exception of those who could potentially escape from the hands of Broken Nine Heavenly Kings, there were practically no chances of resistance.
Very easily, they captured a few people and gleaned some useful information.
“Over at Divine Kingdom, a group of terrifyingly powerful fellows arrived. Each were Broken Nine, effortlessly subduing four Broken Eight powerhouses…”
“There is a high likelihood that they’re the minions of the emperors who have been scheming in the shadows…”
“Only emperors have such strength to produce so many Broken Nines!”
That day, the Three Realms were utterly thrown into chaos.
Many people who originally belonged to the three major forces had fled.
Of course, those who escaped were all very weak, not even at the Heavenly King level. These people were overlooked by the reincarnators.
Those who were retained by them were at least Broken Six Heavenly Kings. No matter who they were or how famous they once were, on this day, they were all suppressed.
Even the suppressive Heavenly King, the most powerful Broken Nine powerhouse on the surface, was powerless in front of this group.
Everyone was spreading the news.
Various intelligence was spreading across the skies, this was a major event that shocked the world.
“The Heavenly Court has been seized. Hong Yu, Li Zhu, the Seal Master, and Feng joined forces but were defeated by just one person…”
“The Monster Court has been seized too, a group of powerhouses with the weakest among them being Broken Eight invaded there!”
“The Human World is done for. The Human Emperor, Demon Emperor, and Guardian God Suppressing Heavenly King have all been captured!”
“It’s the same for the Original Martial Continent. The eight Original Martial artists were defeated one-on-one by eight unfamiliar powerhouses!”
Whether it was the Human World or Earthly World, the Original Martial Continent or the Sea of Death, all the escapees were incessantly spreading the news.
Unconsciously, people were gathered at the Borderlands, in various blessed lands and caverns.
Because, only here had not been invaded, or rather, the forces here had not caught the eye of that group of people and had not been targeted.
Faced with such earth-shattering news, the blessed lands and caverns were afraid and completely discarded their usual preconceptions. They opened up their cavern realms, welcoming people from various factions to discuss the situation.
They never thought about closing their cavern realms because that would be pointless. A Broken Six Heavenly King could forcibly open their cavern realms, let alone those unfamiliar powerhouses who were comparable to Broken Nine?
“The unfamiliar powerhouses who appeared this time are divided into nine teams, each team has twenty people, all of them are mighty, the weakest among them are Broken Eight Heavenly Kings and there are even those who are Broken Nine…”
“It’s possible that Nine Emperors are still alive and have been laying plans in the dark!”
“In this world, the only one with the ability to produce such powerhouses is Nine Emperors!”
After consolidating the information, people discovered a terrifying, unbelievable but universally accepted truth.
“The nine teams of unfamiliar powerhouses, are likely to be under the Nine Emperors!”
“This is true, the nine teams are not united. I once personally saw two teams fighting each other upon meeting. The skies shook, rivers flowed backwards, it was an apocalyptic spectacle…”
After reaching this conclusion, the people of the world heaved a sigh of relief.
The Nine Emperors’ men are nothing more than contenders for the world. They wouldn’t hold much ambition against them, the ‘lower classes’.
Didn’t they see how these people were too lazy to stop them when they wanted to escape?
The Thirty-Six Heavens of the Source Land.
The Beast Emperor cursed, “You bunch of bastards, secretly produced so many Broken Nine powerhouses under the table, what’s your game?!”
The others were also visibly confused.
The Human Emperor’s face darkened, “I don’t recognize these people, they have nothing to do with me!”
“It’s not related to me either, I don’t recognize any of these people!”
One by one, the emperors firmly denied, while continuously observing the others.
Noticing that everyone seemed clueless.
These assholes!
At this moment, everyone had almost the same thought.
Everyone felt that the others were hiding something. They had produced such powerful teams of Broken Nine, everyone but them knew what’s going on.
After all, they were the emperors of this world and knew it well. To secretly cultivate such powerful Broken Nine individuals, only they were qualified…
“Wait, could it be the seeds that caused this?!”
Divine Emperor feels that something is awry. It’s one thing for him to outwit the others, but the possibility of the other eight working together to trick him is small given that he has people amongst these eight…
But now, his men were just as ignorant about this matter as him. This indicates that these nine teams of Broken Nine exceeded the numbers.
Those people only then calmed down, looking at each other.
Unintentionally, the ones who truly formed an alliance under the table confirmed their answers from one another’s faces, and then finally knitted their brows.
At first, everyone thought that the others were playing underhanded tricks and had secretly cultivated so many powerhouses.
But based on the answers from the allies, it is certain that these nine teams of powerhouses are likely unrelated to the nine emperors.
Western Emperor shivered, “I mean, someone definitely wants to frame us…”
“It’s just a perfect number of nine teams, all Broken Nine and unfamiliar powerhouses. Once these people appear, anyone would think that they were secretly cultivated by us. But we’re all trapped here, it’s absolutely impossible…”
“Wait!”
The Human Emperor suddenly squinted, glanced at the Divine Emperor, and said, “Could it be that person?!”
At this moment, the same two words emerged in the minds of everyone.
Heavenly Emperor!
That first person of the world who forcibly detached from the Original Way, leaving loopholes in the Three Realms, and cultivating the Nine Emperors and Four Heavenly Emperors to fill these loopholes… That first person of the world, the Heavenly Emperor!
The Divine Emperor nodded, “If it is him, it is possible. He has been free these past few years. Although his life is connected to the seeds, he is a free being able to navigate the chaos…”
“His goal is to completely incorporate the Nine of us and these Three Realms into it, so that he can truly be free…”
Everyone’s brow creased.
Although they fought against each other, they had a common enemy, the Heavenly Emperor.
Spirit Emperor frowned, “But where can he find so many Broken Nine powerhouses? There are not one or two, but more than a hundred Broken Nine under him…”
With so many powerhouses, if they joined forces, they would be a tough match for them!
The Eastern Emperor knitted his brows, a sense of foreboding arose in his heart.
“What if he has already taken that step?”
“What?!”
Everyone was startled, staring at him in shock.
“It’s not possible!”
Divine Emperor was the first to regain his senses, shaking his head, “If he took that step, he wouldn’t bother coming back for us…”
“At most, he only took half a step, just like the seeds, capable of splitting his power to lend to others…”
Everyone nodded in agreement. This prediction was plausible. After all, these were figures capable of breaking through the ninth realm. Such beings, even in the ancient times, were formidable presences that could shake all corners of the world. But now, over a hundred of them had appeared, all carrying unfamiliar faces.
No one noticed the Spirit Emperor’s dazed expression, which was quite unlike the others. She had no idea about these people either.
Yet, she was the one who knew the Heavenly Emperor’s plan in its entirety!
Could it be that I am also destined to be part of the plan?!
In that instant, she felt a pang of sorrow.
The Earthly World.
The Heavenly Court’s base.
At the top of the Tongtian Palace, a man stood, surveying the world below with the aura of a sovereign emanating from him. This was Wu Yang. Upon learning that the world’s power had been divided into four parts, and that one of the factions was named the Heavenly Court, he led his people there.
Approaching concurrently with him were three other Golden Teams. Like him, they were drawn by the mention of the Heavenly Court.
The Heavenly Court, a name that reverberated across several worlds that all held legends of its existence. Besides the name, there was also the slim chance of acquiring the Heavenly Court’s divine providence, the reason why they were so eager for this territory.
The four teams, upon meeting, did not immediately engage in a life-or-death battle. They were not so reckless, unless absolutely necessary.
After all, besides their four teams, there were six other teams. If their teams were to be left crippled after a fight, the other teams would no doubt seize the opportunity to eliminate them altogether.
Thus, the four teams each sent a representative to assess each other. In the end, the confrontation resulted in the death of a peak True God, two others heavily injured, and Wu Yang remaining unscathed.
In agreement, the other three teams, very sensibly, withdrew from the area and turned the Heavenly Court’s base over to Wu Yang’s team.
Despite the three-way split of power, those who could break through the eighth or ninth realms were quite numerous. Thus, they still had other options.
“Have we located that team of four?!”
From the top of the palace, Wu Yang asked indifferently.
“Swoosh!”
A figure, like a shadow, appeared in response. Bowing slightly, the figure reported, “No, they appear to have several anti-tracking devices. We’ve tried everything, but we can’t find them.”
Wu Yang nodded faintly, already having anticipated this.
He replied, “It doesn’t matter, if we can’t find them, that’s fine. For this fourth mission, the objective to kill the Heavenly Emperor, is clearly intended for only one team. No matter where they hide, they can’t change the outcome!”
He was confident because he was already sure his team would ultimately prevail.
He drew his confidence not from being a core member of a third-level guild, nor from being in control of one of the top ten Golden Teams.
All of it stemmed from himself. He was only one step away from stepping into the Celestial God Level. That was where his confidence lay!
The shadowy figure did not comment. However, as a subordinate, it felt compelled to report, “Among the top ten Golden Teams, there are two more, namely…”
“No need to say more!”
Wu Yang shook his head and smiled lightly, “I don’t care about the top ten Golden Teams. In my eyes, they’re all the same. Their only fate is death!”
“For now, let’s focus on finding the emperors and that Heavenly Emperor!”
The Sea of Death.
Instead of joining in the chaotic Divine Kingdom, Du Gang and his team had moved on. The kingdom was already claimed by a team of reincarnators.
Out of the ten reincarnator teams, eight had chosen to side with the mainstream forces such as the Original Martial Continent, Human World, or Earthly World’s forces.
Only Du Gang’s four-member team and a twenty-member team had ventured to the chaotic Divine Kingdom.
Looking at it from this perspective, it was clear that the twenty-member team had come here due to their lack of confidence.
Indeed, the team’s strategy had shifted. After encountering Wu Yang’s team and losing one member, they had fled the mainland for the chaotic Divine Kingdom, planning to sit on the sidelines and watch as the others battled it out.
In appearance, they were like a mantis stalking a cicada while unaware of the oriole behind, but in reality, they were just making a helpless move due to their inadequacy.
Everyone could see that the Heavenly Court faction was the most appealing to approach compared to the other factions. However, the ones who could seize that area were undoubtedly strong teams.
If there hadn’t been two other teams around at the time, their team, when facing Wu Yang’s top ten Golden Team, might have been the first to be eliminated.
“We can only hope that they’ll end up fighting each other so fiercely that both sides get decimated!”
While the twenty-member team in the chaotic Divine Kingdom was quietly praying for such an outcome, Du Gang and his team had already reached Wangwu Mountain.
Wangwu Mountain, the First Cave-Heaven, was the home of Moon Spirit, daughter of the North Emperor and wife of Hong Yu. Not wanting to join the other factions, she had relocated Wangwu Mountain to the Sea of Death.
Since she was the only Celestial God in her faction, she had been ignored by many reincarnators.
Under normal circumstances, she would have happily retreated at any time due to her proximity to the chaotic Divine Kingdom, and would have fled quietly after the chaotic Divine Kingdom was seized.
Unfortunately for her, she then encountered Du Gang.
After she had moved Wangwu Mountain tens of thousands of kilometers, Du Gang and his team blocked her path and apprehended her.
“Who are you people? How dare you, I am the daughter of the North Emperor…”
Moon Spirit, like Du Gang had seen her in the novel, was ferocious on the surface but weak on the inside, trying to bluff her way out.
Du Gang ignored her yelling and asked calmly, “Where is the North Emperor?”
When he read “Global High Martial Arts”, the story was just getting started, and Moon Spirit had just made her appearance. The major forces that came later were basically not touched upon, so he had no idea about the situation of the nine emperors.
At his side, Tao Xuanzhu whispered gently, “If you cooperate, we won’t mistreat you. But if you resist… we’ll let him handle you…”
As she spoke, she indicated towards Kou Yingwu.
Listening to this, Kou Yingwu was speechless. Even though he was lascivious, he would never stoop to forced transactions. It was so disgraceful to his Kou Family.
However, he still played along by displaying a lecherous expression.
Moon Spirit knew none of this and was scared out of her wits, her hands tightly clenching her chest.
Du Gang rolled his eyes. It wasn’t as if she was a defenseless maiden. Was such a reaction necessary?
Coldly, he said, “Stop pretending, Moon Spirit. Are you the type of person to fear this? Be honest, where is the North Emperor?!”
Moon Spirit looked gloomy. Just now, she had tried to probe them, to see just what kind of people they were. She didn’t expect one of them to see through her.
However, she had still gleaned what she desired from Kou Yingwu and Tao Xuanzhu’s attitudes: These people weren’t active on the mainland and might even not be from this continent.
“He’s dead!” She replied icily.
Du Gang narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t be sure if this woman was telling the truth or lying. The Dream Entry Technique wouldn’t work on a True God like her, meaning he had to use other means to extract useful information!