Chapter 25 The End of the Black-Cloaked Godking

The two camps stood far apart. The Three Pure Ones, Tathagata, Fuxi, Shennong, Ji Ning, Houyi, Jueming, and Gonggong were communicating via divine telepathy.

“Everyone, shall we continue the battle, or force them to leave the Three Realms?” the Three Pure Ones asked via telepathy.

“Kill them all, eradicate the root of future trouble,” Gonggong transmitted, his voice filled with murderous intent.

“Who will kill the Lord of All Fiends?” Tathagata asked.

For a moment, silence fell. Tathagata asked again, “Houyi, can you kill the Lord of All Fiends?”

“I cannot. His speed is too fast. Although my arrows are faster, they are only slightly faster… I might be able to hit him with one or two arrows, but by then he would have already fled beyond my arrow’s range. Moreover, in dealing with the Heartlord, I have suffered severe damage and can no longer kill a Primalgod,” Houyi said.

Ji Ning and the others sighed inwardly. They could all see that Houyi was gravely wounded. In fact, it was already a pleasant surprise that he had managed to kill the Heartlord.

“No one can kill the Lord of All Fiends,” Tathagata transmitted. “If we truly fight to the death, the Lord of All Fiends is so fast… he will likely launch a frenzied counterattack. In the end, we would certainly win, but our losses would be heavy. In particular, the Lord of All Fiends might still escape.”

“Yes,” everyone agreed.

“In my opinion, let us force them to leave the Three Realms,” Tathagata transmitted. “Let us minimize our losses… If they dare to return in the future, we can fight them then.”

“Very well,” the Three Pure Ones also agreed. He transmitted, “Ji Ning, what do you think?”

The other major powers also waited for Ji Ning’s opinion. They were well aware of the enmity between Ji Ning and the Seamless Gate. It could be said that Ji Ning’s growth had been accompanied by ‘torment from the Seamless Gate’.

“Let them leave, but they must hand over the Black-Cloaked Godking,” Ji Ning stated his opinion. He would never forget the scene of the Godking killing his senior apprentice-sister. No matter what, he could not forgive the Black-Cloaked Godking. During the battle, for the sake of the larger situation, he had not had time to kill the Black-Cloaked Godking. Now, it was even more impossible for him to let the Godking leave alive.

“Yes, many of the calamities in the Three Realms were caused by the Black-Cloaked Godking. He indeed cannot be let off easily.”

“Agreed.”

“Good.”

The major powers of the Nuwa camp quickly exchanged views in secret and reached a consensus.

…

“Our Seamless Gate is willing to leave the Three Realms,” the Lord of All Fiends spoke. “Let this battle end here.”

A stir ran through the Seamless Gate.

The major powers, Immortals, and Fiends of the Seamless Gate looked at their leader. Many Immortals and Fiends had unwillingness in their eyes. Many of them had been born and cultivated in the Three Realms and truly did not want to leave for the unknown, terrifying Chaos. Those with Primalgod strength could naturally roam the Chaos with confidence, but those Immortals and Fiends were too weak. Even True Gods and Daofathers were mere nobodies in the Chaos.

Yet they also understood that continuing to fight meant death. In the face of death, leaving the Three Realms, though dangerous, was relatively better.

“Just leave like that?” the Three Pure Ones said coldly. “You think it’s that easy.”

“Then what do you want?” the Lord of All Fiends said in a low voice. “Do you want to continue fighting?” He also needed time to rescue people. The Seamless Gate had too many major powers. If a real battle broke out, he might only be able to save a portion, while the rest would be killed by the Nuwa camp. Naturally, he hoped to save as many as possible.

“Lord of All Fiends,” the Three Pure Ones spoke. “We will not make things difficult for you. Hand over your nominal leader, the Black-Cloaked Godking, as your apology. Then you can all get out of the Three Realms and never return. If you agree… the battle ends. If not, we will continue to fight.”

The Lord of All Fiends looked at the Nuwa camp.

The major powers of the Nuwa camp, standing in the void, looked back from afar. They had agreed to let the Seamless Gate go only because the ‘Lord of All Fiends’ was indeed difficult to kill, so they had to force them to leave. Otherwise, they would have taken the opportunity to annihilate the Seamless Gate.

…

The Lord of All Demons looked toward the army of the Heartless Gate behind him. The Black-Robed Divine King, whose emotions had been complicated, changed his expression upon hearing the Three Pure Ones' demand. When the Lord of All Demons looked at him, he became even more terrified.

"Demon Lord." The Black-Robed Divine King called out in panic.

"Buxiu," said the Lord of All Demons, "for the sake of the Heartless Gate, you must sacrifice yourself."

"No, Demon Lord, no," the Black-Robed Divine King said frantically. "I am the leader of the Heartless Gate. If you hand me over... will the Heartless Gate have any face left? Better to fight to the death than this."

Hearing this, the Lord of All Demons frowned and said coldly, "You and your master, the Heart Demon, are truly of the same kind." With a snort, he waved his hand, and a green rope flew out, transforming into a green divine dragon. The Black-Robed Divine King tried to flee in panic, but the space around him shifted. Before he could react, he was bound by the rope. How could his strength escape the Lord of All Demons' methods?

"No, Demon Lord, no! You cannot hand me over..." The Black-Robed Divine King struggled as he was bound.

The great cultivators of the Heartless Gate watched the Black-Robed Divine King. Though some disliked him, he was still their nominal leader. Handing over their own leader... this brought them shame. But they had indeed lost this battle. Even the Heart Demon Lord was dead, and they had no words to argue.

The Lord of All Demons casually tossed the bound Black-Robed Divine King, who tumbled through the air toward the Nüwa camp.

White-robed Ji Ning transformed into a black electric serpent and flew swiftly. Soon, he stopped, looking at the drifting Black-Robed Divine King. For some reason... at this moment, Ji Ning's heart was quite complicated. Scenes flashed through his mind: the time he knelt before the Divine King for his senior sister, the time the Divine King killed her...

"Divine King," Ji Ning murmured softly.

"You, you, you..." The bound Black-Robed Divine King looked at Ji Ning in terror.

"Don't worry. You won't die so easily," White-robed Ji Ning said softly.

The Black-Robed Divine King's heart trembled at these words. The last thing he wanted was to fall into Ji Ning's hands, but he lacked the courage to kill himself. He still had a strong will to live: "As long as I live, there's a chance. If I really can't endure, I can still kill myself later."

Ji Ning reached out and grabbed the Black-Robed Divine King, then put him away with a cold smile.

He could guess what the Black-Robed Divine King was thinking...

Preventing a great cultivator from killing himself is very difficult! But Ji Ning, who had inherited many secret techniques from the World God Beishan, had such means.

"Let my senior sister suffer in hell; everything will be slowly repaid to you." Ji Ning put away the Black-Robed Divine King and looked into the distance at the Heartless Gate camp. Their formations had been disbanded. The Celestial Immortals and True Immortals had sorrow, reluctance, disappointment, and pain in their eyes, but they could only let the great cultivators put them away.

Most of them had been born in the Three Realms and had long considered it home.

The thought of heading into the unknown endless chaos filled them with fear. But since they stood with the Heartless Gate, they had no choice now.

...

The Celestial Immortals and True Immortals of the Heartless Gate began to be collected en masse. The Nüwa camp also began to disband its formations, as maintaining them consumed vast amounts of divine power. However, to be cautious, the Celestial Immortals and True Immortals of the Nüwa camp remained in the void, ready to set up formations again at a thought and resume battle.

"Look at Sourcewalker," Houyi said, standing beside Ji Ning, looking at Sourcewalker, who seemed somewhat desolate in the Heartless Gate camp. "I wonder what he was thinking, ending up on the Heartless Gate side in the end."

"Mm," Ji Ning nodded.

Sourcewalker had chosen the wrong side, so now he had only one path... to leave the Three Realms with the Heartless Gate.

Not pursuing and killing Sourcewalker, but letting him leave the Three Realms, was already a great concession from the great cultivators of the Nüwa camp. There was no way they would let him stay in the Three Realms.

"He will probably be ostracized in the Heartless Gate," Ji Ning said softly. "Still, he always wanted to enter the endless chaos. This fulfills his wish."

...

Sourcewalker stood desolately in a corner among the great cultivators of the Heartless Gate, watching everything unfold. A hint of disappointment flickered in his eyes, and he sighed inwardly: "Alas, I didn't expect it to end like this. The Heart Demon Lord, who caused all this... was killed just like that. The appearance of Houyi really surprised me, but using the 'God-Slaying Arrow' must have cost him greatly."

Suddenly, a ripple emanated from Sourcewalker, spreading instantly across the entire void battlefield.

"My children, make your move," Sourcewalker's voice sounded in the minds of some beings.