Chapter Sixty-Eight: Zhu Rong, I heard you’re adept at playing with fire?

“Hurry, stop him! Don’t let him get away!”

The King of the East retreated into the midst of a thousand elite soldiers, his voice flustered and urgent. The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances, but none dared to disobey. Gritting their teeth, they shouted as one, leveled their spears, and charged forward.

“Hmph!” Wu Tian let out a cold, disdainful snort. With a sweep of his spear, a crescent-shaped arc of light flashed through the air. In an instant, a mass of heavenly soldiers screamed in agony and fell from the sky like dumplings tossed into boiling water.

“Stay where you are!” Wu Tian fixed his icy gaze on the King of the East ahead of him. With a sharp shout, he brandished his spear and gave chase.

“Gong Gong, Qiang Liang! You two follow—watch for any ambushes from the Heavenly Court!” Di Jiang, seeing Wu Tian in pursuit, worried about a possible trap, quickly instructed Gong Gong and Qiang Liang.

At his words, Gong Gong and Qiang Liang nodded and hurried after Wu Tian.

...

“Not good!” The King of the East was fleeing on a cloud when a sudden sense of dread surged behind him. Glancing back, he cried out in fright, a cold sweat beading on his brow.

Is this the end for me? Despair flooded his heart, and he was overwhelmed by a wave of sorrow.

“Stay your hand!” At this critical moment, a figure in red streaked across the sky, producing a fiery red gourd that blocked the path before the King of the East.

“Who are you?” Wu Tian withdrew his spear and hovered in midair, calling out coldly to the surroundings.

“I am Hong Yun.” Hong Yun, clad in a flowing crimson robe and holding the Ninefold Soul-Scattering Gourd, stood calmly before the King of the East.

The King of the East, now recovering his senses, wiped the cold sweat from his brow and bowed gratefully. “Thank you, King Hong Yun, for your assistance. I am deeply indebted.”

“It was nothing, Lord of the East. You need not trouble yourself,” Hong Yun replied with a warm and approachable smile.

The King of the East bowed again before retreating behind Hong Yun, unable to suppress a pang of envy at Hong Yun’s bearing. He recalled once coveting the Primordial Purple Qi that Hong Yun had obtained, but now, having just been saved, he felt only gratitude.

“Whoever you are, you’ll die all the same!” By this time, Gong Gong and Qiang Liang had arrived at Wu Tian’s side, bolstering his confidence. Wu Tian let out a thunderous roar and lunged at Hong Yun with his spear.

Startled, Hong Yun quickly raised his Soul-Scattering Gourd to shield himself.

At the same moment, Gong Gong and Qiang Liang advanced, but before they could take more than a step, a series of sonic attacks rained down from the sky.

“Who’s there?” Gong Gong and Qiang Liang bellowed in unison, but the force of the sound waves drove them back several paces before they managed to steady themselves.

“Fuxi.” Fuxi spoke his name in a calm, measured tone, descending with the Fuxi Zither in hand. Behind him stood the kings of the Heavenly Court—Ying Zhao, Ji Meng, Gui Che, Jiu Ying, and others.

Fuxi’s left hand swept over the strings, sending a powerful wave of sound toward Wu Tian, who was still locked in combat with Hong Yun and the King of the East.

“Hmm?” Wu Tian sensed the attack and quickly raised his spear horizontally to block, but it was no use. The spear could not withstand the force of the soundwave, and he was driven back dozens of steps before he stopped.

Seeing this, Hong Yun and the King of the East let out a sigh of relief and slipped behind Fuxi, joining the ranks of the Heavenly Court as more reinforcements arrived.

Wu Tian, Gong Gong, and Qiang Liang regrouped, but with so many Heavenly Court warriors present, they began to feel the urge to retreat—they knew they could not withstand such numbers.

...

In the Heavenly Court above, Li Tian and Nuwa watched as the forces of the Heavenly Court and the Ancestral Wu tribe converged. Knowing their turn had come, they appeared in a flash at the Southern Heavenly Gate, each riding a carriage—one drawn by nine dragons, the other by nine phoenixes—heading straight for Mount Buzhou.

By now, the armies of the Heavenly Court and the Wu tribe stood locked in a tense standoff. The battlefield was suffocatingly silent—a calm before the storm that all could sense.

“Where is your lord of the Heavenly Court? Is he so frightened by the might of the Wu tribe that he dares not show himself?” Zhu Rong, transformed into a towering giant of flame, advanced a step and shouted at the Heavenly Court’s ranks.

“How dare you!”

“Courting death! How dare you show such disrespect to the Heavenly Emperor!”

The Heavenly Court’s great powers erupted with rage, glaring furiously at Zhu Rong.

“The Emperor is here!” At that moment, a calm yet commanding voice, filled with the irresistible authority of a Sage, rang in everyone’s ears.

Li Tian and Nuwa, riding the nine-dragon and nine-phoenix carriages, had arrived.

“Greetings, Heavenly Emperor! Greetings, Empress!” Instantly, all members of the Heavenly Court bowed deeply to Li Tian and Nuwa, chanting their salutations in unison.

“Rise.” With a wave of his hand, Li Tian lifted them up with a surge of divine power, earning looks of worship from the Heavenly Court’s hosts and envy, jealousy, and awe from the ancestral witches.

Standing atop his dragon-drawn carriage, Li Tian swept his gaze across the Wu tribe. His eyes paused on Zhu Rong, the fire giant, and he spoke with faint amusement.

“Zhu Rong, I hear you fancy yourself a master of fire?”

“And what if I am?” Zhu Rong swung his massive flaming arms, his voice booming like thunder.

“Nothing much. I simply thought to show you what true fire is.”

Li Tian smiled, extended a finger, and uttered a single word: “Ignite.”

At that instant, an uncanny fire blazed across Zhu Rong’s giant body—its heat surpassing even his own life flame. For a moment, even his fiery form felt a sharp, growing heat.

“Ah!” Zhu Rong, enveloped by the strange flames, bellowed and pounded his chest like a wild beast, unleashing waves of searing heat that rolled out in all directions. Gradually, the strange fire faded under his desperate efforts.

“Curse you!” Eyes blazing red, Zhu Rong glared murderously at Li Tian, ready to charge, but Li Tian merely looked at him with cool indifference, barely acknowledging his existence.

That attack was nothing more than a casual flicker of the Dao of Fire—a mere lesson for Zhu Rong.

“Zhu Rong, compose yourself!” Di Jiang called sharply.

The other ancestral witches, seeing how easily Li Tian had humiliated Zhu Rong with a single gesture, were shaken to their core. Yet, remembering the might of Pangu’s true body, their spirits steadied.

“Hurry, form the array! Summon Father Pangu’s true body!” Di Jiang urged, transforming into his original form.

“Right!” The eleven other ancestral witches responded as one, each transforming as well.

Li Tian watched with interest, making no move to interfere. With his Sage’s power, it would be easy to disrupt the formation, but he felt no need—his confidence was unshakable.

He did not believe that the Twelve Heavenly Demon Formation alone could defeat the combined might of himself and Nuwa.

A crimson radiance flared, and before the gaze of countless onlookers from both the Heavenly Court and the Wu tribe, a shirtless giant covered in strange red runes emerged from a sea of blood and killing aura.

Arms outstretched, he let out a thunderous roar to the heavens.

“Wu! Wu! Wu!”

All the Wu tribe’s people felt their blood surge at the sight.

Though the Heavenly Court’s side boasted two Sages and could not lose, such overwhelming might forced them to take a step back.

“Indeed, formidable—but still not enough.” Li Tian shook his head at the giant’s appearance. Though this Pangu’s true form possessed power on par with a Sage, it could not command the force of Heaven’s Dao, and thus could never truly match a real Sage.

Exchanging a glance with Nuwa, both grew solemn. Together, they summoned the endless power of Heaven’s Dao, their oppressive aura crashing down upon the bare-chested giant.

...