Chapter 55: The Curtain Falls

"Retreat!" the God King directly sent a telepathic message to Patriarch Mozhu.

"Retreat directly? Without the Dao Ancestor puppet covering the rear, our losses will be severe—most of us will probably die. Did using Yu Wei to threaten Ji Ning not work? If he loosens his grip just a little, the Dao Ancestor puppet can escape and help cover the rear." Patriarch Mozhu sent back hurriedly. Once a retreat turned into a rout, they could no longer fight the Crimson Bright Territory forces with full strength, and they would face slaughter! This time was different from the last; last time the gap between the two sides wasn't so great, yet the losses during the rout were already considerable.

This time the gap between the two sides was truly enormous.

"There's no choice," the God King sent. "Retreat. The earlier we retreat, the more of us can survive."

"Fine." Patriarch Mozhu's face was grim.

"Retreat!"

Patriarch Mozhu's voice instantly echoed throughout the Abyss Alliance army.

"Retreat."

"Hurry and retreat."

The entire Abyss Alliance army, already struggling immensely and with signs of a rout in some areas, finally surged back like a tidal wave, beginning a great rout.

"It's over." The three great demon gods of Mount Tunlong transformed into streaks of light, fleeing as fast as lightning.

For them to escape was still easy.

"They didn't even leave the Dao Ancestor puppet to cover the army's rear." The three demon gods, being the fastest, soon fled into the Abyss City. Turning back to watch the slaughter behind them, they couldn't help but sigh and shake their heads.

"What a massacre."

"I wonder how many will survive."

The three demon gods could only watch from the walls of Abyss City, not daring to get involved.

They had run fast, so naturally they escaped. If they had been surrounded by the Crimson Bright Territory army, even they would have lost their lives!

"That Ji Ning's Heaven Punisher is far too strong." The three demon gods looked into the distance. The Heaven Punisher Ji Ning was in no way inferior to the Dao Ancestor puppet, the Evergreen Sword Immortal, and had completely tied him down.

"With Ji Ning holding back the Dao Ancestor puppet, the Seven Luminaries Heaven God is invincible."

"Slaughter, pure slaughter."

The three demon gods shook their heads.

Even they felt a pang of sorrow seeing this scene.

Too tragic!

"No."

"Save me."

"Help!"

The panicked Abyss Alliance army fled in rout, but could they escape? Some were killed the moment they turned to flee. Others were surrounded and cut down after fleeing a short distance. As for the Celestial God puppets, facing complete inferiority, some were overwhelmed and destroyed, others were directly suppressed and collected.

Flee, flee, flee.

The Abyss Alliance army fled for their lives.

"They said the Dao Ancestor puppet was so strong, but now it's suppressed by a single Heaven Punisher. It's cost us our lives."

"That Evergreen Sword Immortal is nothing but trash."

"Evergreen has ruined us."

"Ah!"

The slaughtered Celestial Gods and True Immigrants were filled with resentment. Even in the vast army, only a very few managed to escape. Most were surrounded and killed. After all, the Crimson Bright Territory army focused more on these Celestial Gods and True Immigrants.

...

The Western Paradise, Mount Ling.

The Buddha sat high above, gazing through the endless void at the battle in the Great Xia world.

"Victory." The Buddha smiled.

"This Ji Ning is truly remarkable. Bodhi's disciples are still so formidable." Amitabha nodded. "Ji Ning's growth rate is in no way inferior to that monkey from back then."

"That monkey is different from him. The monkey was born from the multicolored stone left by Nuwa when she mended the heavens, gathering the essence of heaven and earth. After taking Bodhi as his teacher, he quickly became a Celestial God. But his nature was hard to change... Our Buddhist sect suppressed and tempered him for a long time before he gradually awakened. After hiding for a long time, he truly transformed and reached the True God realm." The Buddha nodded.

In ancient times, there were some notorious peerless prodigies.

Figures like Erlang Shen Yang Jian, Sun Wukong of Flowerfruit Mountain, and others... Although they were not born at the dawn of creation but emerged in the ancient era, they all possessed astonishing talent. After surviving the destruction of the ancient era, many had already reached the True God or Dao Ancestor realm by now. Of course, the vast majority of those prodigies had not broken through.

After all, across the Three Realms, the number of major powers was limited.

...

The Heavenly Court, Eastern Dao Palace.

"This Ji Ning seems to have reached the fourth level of heartforce." Lord Sanqing nodded approvingly.

"Indeed. Without the fourth level of heartforce, the power of the Heaven Punisher he controls couldn't be this strong."

"Truly remarkable. Having reached the fourth level of heartforce and comprehended the heartforce-soul technique, among Celestial Gods and True Immortals, when it comes to commanding great formations like the Heaven Punisher Formation, this Ji Ning is undoubtedly number one."

The major powers of the Dao Palace below all nodded.

If at first they thought Ji Ning was only at the third level of heartforce, after seeing that battle, the major powers were no fools.

No matter how powerful the third level of heartforce was, it couldn't achieve such feats.

But the fourth level of heartforce...

Even without relying on the army of immortals and demons, Ji Ning was already at the pinnacle of Pure Yang True Immortals, comparable to the other top archers. With the army and the heartforce-soul technique, he definitely possessed the power of a Dao Ancestor or True God!

...

In the chaos, outside a thatched hut.

Shennong and Patriarch Bodhi also watched the battle in the Great Xia world through endless obstacles.

"Bodhi, you have taught a fine disciple. We have gained another great general." Shennong praised with a smile.

"The master leads the disciple in, but cultivation depends on the individual. For him to achieve such success... I can only say I played a guiding role. I never expected him to reach the fourth level of heartforce in such a short time. I always felt his talent in swordsmanship surpassed his talent in heartforce." Bodhi said. "So I actually hoped he would focus more on the sword, after all, the power of the sword, when cultivated to a very high level, is in no way inferior to heartforce."

"It can only be said that your disciple can achieve great success in both the power of the sword and heartforce." Shennong laughed.

...

While the major powers of Nuwa's camp rejoiced at gaining a new general, the Abyss Alliance camp was naturally furious.

This realm war was lost!

Nuwa's camp had also gained a fierce general in Ji Ning. One Ji Ning was probably more threatening than the three great demon gods of Mount Tunlong combined. It seemed that only those Celestial Gods and True Immortals of the Abyss Alliance camp who truly intimidated all sides and guarded the most important realms of the Three Realms could compare with Ji Ning.

There truly was no Celestial God or True Immortal who was definitely stronger than Ji Ning!

Of course, there had been in history.

The strongest in history, Houyi, when he was a Celestial God, had killed a Dao Ancestor in one-on-one combat! As for the current Ji Ning, even leading a million-immortal army, if he encountered a true True God or Dao Ancestor, he would still face defeat and death. So compared to the legendary Houyi, he was still far behind. But in the current Three Realms, there was no such prodigy.

"We actually lost. Even with the Dao Ancestor puppet, we lost." In the Myriad Demon Realm, the Celestial Immortal Wuxiao looked at a mirror before him, which displayed the war scene in the Great Xia world.

"My Dao Ancestor puppet couldn't even defeat a Ji Ning? He's only been cultivating for a hundred years."

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao was furious.

"Idiot, moron, trash."

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao ground his teeth. "That Evergreen Sword Immortal who controlled the Dao Ancestor puppet is a complete waste! Although he is skilled in swordsmanship, his achievement in the power of the sword is only at the second level. If his power of the sword had reached the fourth level, would he still fail to kill Ji Ning? This Ji Ning has only been cultivating for a short time, yet his heartforce is already at the fourth level."

"What to do, what to do?" Celestial Immortal Wuxiao was filled with various frustrations.

Celestial Immortal Wuxiao suddenly realized...

Killing Ji Ning had become very, very difficult.

"No matter what, I absolutely cannot let that Evergreen Sword Immortal control the Dao Ancestor puppet again. He is nothing but trash." In his anger, Celestial Immortal Wuxiao completely vented his wrath on the Evergreen Sword Immortal.

...

The Dao Ancestor puppet was determined to escape. Although Ji Ning repeatedly obstructed it, slowing it down somewhat, before long, the Dao Ancestor puppet still fled into Abyss City.

After all, the Dao Ancestor puppet was truly flawless; Ji Ning couldn't harm it in the slightest.

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

The entire battlefield resounded with earth-shaking roars. Countless immortals and demons roared in excitement. The battlefield was left with endless blood; the blood of immortals and demons had formed rivers, dyeing the wilderness red.

The towering Heaven Punisher and the Seven Luminaries Heaven God stood together, gazing at the distant black Abyss City.

"It's over." The Seven Luminaries Heaven God sent a telepathic message. "The Abyss Alliance has suffered heavy losses; less than twenty percent escaped. This realm war is truly over."

"Mm." The Heaven Punisher Ji Ning nodded.

"Ji Ning, now that your strength has broken through, you should be able to undergo the Celestial God Tribulation, right?" The Seven Luminaries Heaven God sent another message.