Within the Soul Kingdom of Heaven, all water wonders were placed in the lowest ocean where the fish dwelled, miscellaneous wonders were arranged across the continent upon the fish's back on the second layer, and only a single wonder stood atop Ruby Mountain on the back of the bull.
The tiny Substitute sorcery spirit made its way up Ruby Mountain with practiced ease, scurrying ahead like an obsequious flunky to beckon the bewildered Heart Sword God along. At the summit of Ruby Mountain sat an iron throne inlaid with countless sharp blades. The Substitute sorcery spirit fluttered over and took a seat upon it, then patted the spot beside it like a host welcoming a guest, gesturing for the Heart Sword God to come sit down.
At that moment, the Heart Sword God finally understood. She stepped forward, sent the Substitute sorcery spirit flying with a slap, plopped down onto the seat, and thrust her greatsword—taller than her entire body—straight into the ground. The majesty of universal laws radiated from the iron throne to every inch of land across all six continental layers. Every swordplay sorcery spirit dropped to the ground in prostration, offering their allegiance to the heavenly kingdom's very first god and monarch!
The Heart Sword God had taken command of the wonder!
The Mirror Demon casually brandished his hands, his blade tracing out crescent after crescent of inky moons. Where the sword marks of Soul Pressure had previously been utterly incapable of matching the eternal wonders, they were now barely able to neutralize and weaken the Divine Lords' sorcerous assaults. Under the Mirror Demon's precise manipulation, the inky-moon sword marks launched a counterattack inch by inch, expanding his safe perimeter from within a single sword's reach to within ten paces.
Amidst a storm of sorcery powerful enough to raze the Senluo Realm multiple times over, the Mirror Demon forcefully carved out a pure mortal sanctuary within ten paces. Neither wind nor rain could breach it as he stood alone against supreme divine might!
Yet even the Mirror Demon was halted at this ten-pace limit. Although the 'Heart Hunt Throne' had advanced from a high-rank wonder to a heaven-rank wonder alongside the promotion of the Heart Sword God, an ordinary heaven-rank wonder still struggled to counter eternal wonders... Come to think of it, the names the Nether Demon came up with were simply dreadful. Since it had now ascended to a heaven-rank wonder, it might as well be renamed 'Heart Hunt Sovereignty.'
*If the Nether Demon had put in even a modicum of effort and summoned just any random soul god, I wouldn't be stretched so thin right now. Starting a fight without a single god to my name—how many years has it been since I fought such an impoverished battle?... Then again, the Nether Demon has always possessed such a perfunctory temperament. Ever since she could no longer see the path ahead, she lost all drive and abandoned herself to depravity, no different from a Lalafell living merely to scrape by and indulge in pleasure.*
*Still, do I have any right to reproach her now?* The Mirror Demon's thoughts drifted aimlessly, yet his sword swung ever faster. The relentless chain of inky moons shredded the tempest like razor blades, carving open a fleeting, open pathway. His feet stomped heavily against the earth without leaving a single footprint in the soil. Under the regulation of divine might, not a speck of energy leaked out; every bit of it was converted entirely into forward momentum. Like a phantom traversing a hundred meters, the Mirror Demon charged directly before the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon in the blink of an eye!
Divine Might Circulation!
During movement, one flawlessly harnessed the reaction forces of the environment, air resistance, and ground friction, converting every vector into one's own kinetic energy. The resulting speed rivaled a divine miracle, rendering short-range movements virtually indistinguishable from instantaneous teleportation!
The Lord of Joy's brow twitched wildly at the sight. Divine Might Circulation was an apex technique of the fist-and-claw school, one that most angels and demigods specializing in that discipline could not necessarily master. To his surprise, however, there was hardly any astonishment left in his heart.
Faced with a monster capable of summoning a god right in the midst of a fierce battle, the Lord of Joy already had a premonition that today's war would reshape everyone's understanding of the world.
In stark contrast to the Lord of Joy's detachment, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon was thoroughly consumed by wrath and horror. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would be the very first target locked onto—he had actually been treated as an easy target ripe for a swift takedown!
Among the six Divine Lords, aside from Stars, he possessed the greatest seniority. In fact, Stars had ascended with her heavenly kingdom only several decades before him; in truth, he and Stars were two Divine Lords of the exact same era! The co-rule of Blood Moon and Stars had enveloped the mortal realm for thousands of years, ruthlessly crushing every sorcerer who dared set foot in Heaven. Throughout her millennia of existence, the Spectre Prophet had lived beneath the authority of Blood Moon and Stars until her demise, after which the Lord of the Endless Abyss entered Heaven to break their duopoly.
Were there, then, no Divine Lords in Heaven before Stars and Blood Moon?
Because the co-rule of Stars and Blood Moon had lasted for so long, and because both shared the habit of uprooting problems by the stem, that ancient history had long since dissolved into the golden river of time. Yet many believed that before Stars stepped into Heaven, there had indeed been Divine Lords; but after Blood Moon stepped into Heaven, only two Divine Lords remained!
Now that Stars had stepped into the seventh layer of the Void Realm to achieve supreme sorcery, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon naturally considered himself the foremost Divine Lord. Furthermore, the Lord of Joy was indecisive, the Weaver was overly cautious, and the Lord of the Endless Abyss was a dried husk in a tomb. Looking around, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon could not help but feel that no one else was worthy of contending with the supreme Stars.
Yet now, he was being treated as the low-risk target who could be disposed of first among the three Divine Lords?
Secret blood and inky moons churned through time and space, causing all four world secret realms to shudder simultaneously. Even the female sorcerers far beyond the combat zone felt their scalps prickle with dread; they could not begin to imagine the sheer devastation unfolding inside that sorcerous tempest!
The Weaver and the Lord of Joy naturally held no regard for chivalry. They immediately adjusted their combat styles to launch a relentless barrage in coordination with the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon; it would be ideal if Yaxiu and the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon mutually destroyed each other. Having been truly provoked to fury, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon completely ignored the predatory gazes of Weaver and Joy. He burned his fragmented consciousness without reservation, cloaking himself in an entire mountain of corpses and sea of blood to unleash the six-winged might of his eternal wonder, vowing to shatter Yaxiu's arrogance!
Yet the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon did not get the fight to the death he anticipated. After exchanging a few blows, the Mirror Demon turned and attacked the Lord of Joy instead, refusing to engage further even as the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon pursued him with furious strikes. The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon instantly regained his composure and dialed down the efficiency of his consciousness, leaving the Mirror Demon to entangle the Lord of Joy. He had not forgotten that a second phase of contest lay ahead; spending more mental energy now meant an earlier exit later.
Whoever was entangled by Yaxiu would be forced to expend more mental focus, and the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon was more than happy to watch someone else suffer. As for whether Yaxiu had any chance of pulling off a miracle reversal, he wasn't worried in the slightest—the two sides weren't even on the same playing field.
Without a world secret realm, an eternal wonder, or an exclusive wonder, Yaxiu could not even break through their defenses. No matter how many miraculous feats Yaxiu displayed, at most he could only drag this into a battle of attrition. But when it came to endurance, how could he possibly compare to Divine Lords wielding world secret realms?
The reason eternal wonders were called eternal was precisely because once they entered their cycle, they could function indefinitely without consuming any resources whatsoever!
The Lord of Joy shared a similar thought. Thus, when Yaxiu turned to strike at the Weaver, he likewise dialed down the processing speed of his thoughts. The only one gripped by unease was the Weaver. As a seer standing at the apex of the prophecy school, her instincts were sounding frantic alarms at this very moment—Yaxiu was by no means waging a desperate final struggle; he truly possessed a way to overturn the situation!
Yet the Weaver could not convince Joy and Blood Moon to go all out, because she could not even convince herself!
In such a hopeless impasse, what opportunity could Yaxiu possibly be seeking?
Was he stalling for time until their fragmented consciousnesses burned out? Was he waiting for the supreme Stars to dispatch an angel to the rescue? Or had someone inherited the legacy of the Senluo Azure Lord, destined to pierce the dark night of Senluo like an erupting supernova?
Yet nothing happened. After entangling the Weaver for a few exchanges, the Mirror Demon came to a halt, resuming his previous defensive stance and ceasing his offensive. His sudden assault on the three Divine Lords seemed almost like a fleeting whim, yet also like...
Preparations before a hunt.
"It's time to bring this to an end," the Mirror Demon suddenly said. "Since there are three Divine Lords, then for the three of you, I shall..."
"...forge three swords."
Chapter 1179