In the Imperial Palace Assembly Hall of the Yafic capital, Hua Zheng, with twitching claws, stared blankly at the mountain of official documents before him. "Lai'er, let's elope!"

With eyes brimming with deep affection, the innocent young girl standing beside him holding a red ink pen blinked rapidly as Guo Hua made a proposal that nearly made the chins of all the Yafic high ministers drop to the floor. "Look, let's elope and travel to get married!"

"Nothing like this happens in the Three Realms—a female Emperor and her male Emperor consort abandoning such a massive nation. Me, an innocent person with absolutely no connection to this empire, no dealings, who hasn't even used a public toilet in this empire, completely clean and unentangled, suddenly appointed as the temporary Regent King!"

"This defies heavenly principle; it's inhuman!"

Puffing out his chest fiercely, Guo Hua gesticulated wildly at the Yafic Prime Minister, Minister of Military Affairs, Minister of Politics, and other high ministers in the hall, roaring, "I'm done playing! I'm quitting! What national affairs? I'm nothing more than a humanoid seal machine, solely responsible for stamping and signing your papers, and it’s been over a hundred years now."

Grabbing the stunned Bai Lai'er, Guo Hua grinned and shouted to Bai Zhu'er, "Let's elope, let's travel and get married! Whoever wants to deal with this damn Regent King business, they can have it... Ugh, I'll pass the throne to..."

Guo Hua's finger swept across the nearly one hundred core disciples of the Nine Nether Dao in the hall.

The core disciples of the Nine Nether Dao, led by Yan Jiang, let out simultaneous screams, using various divine abilities to quickly flee the hall. But even though they were fast, Zhou Hua's speed was several times faster. He pointed a finger, and a grayish cloud of corpse energy struck precisely onto Yan Jiang. Yan Jiang let out a miserable howl, instantly losing all strength, and collapsed heavily onto the ground. With a grab, Guo Hua snatched Yan Jiang, who was wailing strangely.

Guo Hua shamelessly clamped the Yafic Imperial Political Affairs System personal terminal attached to his arm onto Yan Jiang’s hand, squeezed out a drop of Yan Jiang's vital blood for setting permissions, then roughly pulled off the small, crooked crown on his own head and fiercely stabbed it into Yan Jiang's scalp. Patting the mournful Yan Jiang on the head, Gui Hua excitedly grabbed Bai Zhu'er’s little hand.

"My dear, we're off to travel and get married. Whoever wants to manage this messy political stuff can go ahead. Hmph hmph, I only issued an 'Vegetable Restriction Order,' and the people of Yafic cursed me like a pig's head all over the public network. Do you know how hard it is for me?"

"I'm quitting, quitting! My dear, our long-distance romance has lasted over forty years; it’s time for it to blossom and bear fruit. We’re going to travel and get married right now! Ah ha, you’re already carrying my child in your belly; we should settle things soon!"

Yan Jiang, who had been staring intently at Guo Hua's constant muttering, froze. He shouted as if seeing a ghost, "Damn it, Senior Brother, you have a child?"

Guo Hua pulled Bai Zhu'er out of the hall without looking back, coldly sneering, "You see ghosts every day; isn't that very normal? Oh, excuse me, Bai Lai'er has been pregnant for two years and seven months! Aiya ya, Gui Hua the Great's seed is indeed excellent. Tsk tsk, pregnant for two years and seven months and her belly hasn't even shown much yet! Heh heh, my son must be naturally sagacious, divine, handsome, and extraordinary!"

Bai Lai'er's pretty face flushed red, and she lowered her head, gently stroking her small abdomen, her face filled with the bliss of motherhood.

For immortals, pregnancy usually lasts three to five years, sometimes three to five thousand years. If a couple at the Great Overarching Golden Immortal level conceives, the pregnancy might even last for two or three primordial epochs.

As for the figures at the Primordial Chaos level during the ancient Great Desolation era, if they accidentally had a child whose innate aptitude and profound endowment were exceptionally terrifying, that child might hide in the mother's womb for an entire Kalpa!

Therefore, it was completely normal that Bai Zhu'er was pregnant for two years and seven months and still looked exactly like a young girl, with no change in her belly whatsoever.

Yan Jiang's eyeballs spun wildly. He shouted loudly, "Good news! This is the very first third-generation successor of our Nine Nether Dao! We must report this to the Master. Senior Brother, even if you flee, you must report to the Master before you run off!"

The high ministers of Yafic were wide-eyed. They didn't really care who became the Regent King; after all, the Regent King was mainly responsible for overseeing state power, and they didn't expect Guo Hua or Yan Jiang to handle much of the daily affairs anyway.

They were just curious: Guo Hua was undoubtedly a zombie! But Bai Lai'er was a genuine human. When she combined with Guo Hua, she hadn't even cultivated into an immortal yet. What would the child born from them be? A zombie? A human? Half-human, half-zombie? Or something else?

The ministers in charge of the Yafic Empire's scientific research all had green lights flashing in their eyes. To obtain even a single embryonic cell from Guo Hua's child—what a meaningful specimen for research!

But none of them dared to reveal such thoughts; they didn't want to be beaten into meat paste by an enraged Guo Hua. How could they possibly obtain just a few cells from Guo Hua's child for research?

Yan Jiang was rolling his eyes too. Senior Brother was planning to run away with his pregnant fiancée; this matter needed to be reported to the Master immediately!

While everyone in the hall was racking their brains, a demonic gust of wind suddenly surged in, and a small, comical demon immortal, no more than two feet three inches tall and looking like an infant, stumbled out of the wind. As soon as this demon immortal entered the hall, he yelled, "Acting Grand Master, Acting Second Master, bad news!"

Guo Hua and Yan Jiang recognized this demon immortal as the commander-in-chief of the scout team dispatched by the Spiral Star Domain to monitor the movements of the Guardian Heavens—though this little demon only possessed the cultivation of a Third-Rank Heavenly Immortal, his true form was a rare innate spirit beast, the 'Wind-Riding Azure-Eyed Beast.'

This beast’s other divine abilities were lackluster and not worth mentioning, but its innate light-escape speed was almost comparable to a Great Overarching Golden Immortal, especially its method of concealment, which was exquisitely subtle. Even an old-timer like Guo Hua, a Great Overarching Golden Immortal, couldn't locate a Wind-Riding Azure-Eyed Beast that had completely suppressed its aura.

This beast now commanded over a million demon immortals, monitoring every move of the Guardian Heavens around the clock. Some minor demon immortals had even infiltrated the ranks of the Guardian Heavens, serving as kitchen hands or logistics personnel, meaning almost no action taken by the Guardian Heavens could escape their ears and eyes.

Especially since the Wind-Riding Azure-Eyed Beast, relying on its astonishing innate divine abilities, frequently approached to eavesdrop on secret meetings of the giant figures of the Guardian Heavens like Vishnu, gaining countless crucial secrets. Most of the Guardian Heavens' actions and decisions were no longer hidden from the Nine Nether Dao's ears and eyes. Seeing the Wind-Riding Azure-Eyed Beast rush in so nervously, Guo Hua hurriedly called out, "What's the rush? What's the panic? Could it be that group of people have gone mad and are planning to attack our Spiral Star Domain?"

Excitedly rubbing his fists, Chou Hua grinned wickedly, "Good, if they come, open the grand formation, and the children can have a good exercise and a massive slaughter!"

The Wind-Riding Azure-Eyed Beast urgently cried out, "Acting Grand Master, they aren't coming to attack us; it's that 'Tri-City' they built that has finally finished construction! When this subordinate departed a few days ago, their Tri-City had already begun its 'sea trial' in space!" The term 'sea trial' being used for a city made Chou Hua and Yan Jiang's faces both sink into bitter smiles. Guo Hua wrapped his arm around Bai Lai'er's waist and sighed helplessly, "A life of toil! I say, Junior Brother, our Sect Master, if you don't equip my son with a full set of Innate Supreme Treasures to carry around, I'm really going on strike!"

Sighing mournfully, Guo Hua shook his head and muttered, "My traveling wedding, my honeymoon, my world for two... it's all completely ruined!"

Yan Jiang had already dispelled the corpse energy Guo Hua had shot into him. He jumped up and shouted sternly, "Ring the Immortal Gathering Bell! Summon all important disciples and all Heavenly Generals, Divine Lords, Star Lords, Heavenly Masters, and Heavenly Officials of the Thirty-Three Heavens for a grand assembly!" The Tri-City, a city that Gu Xie Chen had set his sights on long ago, was finally complete!

The loud and soaring clang of the Immortal Gathering Bell echoed. All immortals in the Spiral Star Domain across millions of planets who possessed cultivation at or above the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal level heard the call simultaneously. Streams of auspicious clouds rose from famous mountains and rivers, and streaks of auspicious light shot out from hidden paradises and blessed lands. All qualified disciples of the Nine Nether Dao rushed towards the Heavenly Court of the Thirty-Three Heavens at their fastest speed.

In the highest hall of the Nine Nether Hall among the Thirty-Three Heavens, the Supreme Sect Master of the Nine Nether Dao, the Corpse Emperor, sat motionlessly on the master's throne, staring blankly at a small, floating censer before him. This palm-sized censer held a stick of sandalwood incense three inches long. This stick of incense could burn for a quarter of an hour. When the incense extinguished, if any disciple of the Nine Nether Dao who should have attended the meeting was missing, they would immediately face severe disciplinary action according to the sect rules.

When the sandalwood stick was down to half an inch, all disciples of the Nine Nether Dao whose strength surpassed the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal had gathered in the Nine Nether Hall—a total of several hundred thousand powerful immortals assembled, their Three Flowers and Five Energies surging above their heads, condensing into a mixed cloud of gold, purple, cyan, gray, black, and red hues within the hall. Sheets of light rain sprayed down, and the powerful fluctuations of magical force were enough to instantly shred immortals below the Taiyi Golden Immortal level into dust.

The Corpse Emperor nodded with satisfaction. With a wave of his finger, he extinguished the sandalwood incense in the censer and roared in a deep, powerful voice, "The Guardian Heavens have made a move!" The various disciples of the Nine Nether Dao were instantly galvanized, straightening their chests to look towards the Corpse Emperor.

The Guardian Heavens—between them and the Nine Nether Dao, there was only a thick scent of blood, no possibility of reconciliation. When they first appeared, they slaughtered a group of Nine Nether Dao disciples and rescued the disciples of Kunlun and Zhongnan, who were great enemies of the Nine Nether Dao.

Subsequently, under the leadership of Gu Wuchen, the Nine Nether Dao retaliated with bloody measures, meeting violence with violence, and inflicted heavy blows on the Guardian Heavens several times in succession.

Especially since Politiwi, known as the Earth Mother Goddess and holding a unique status within the Guardian Heavens, was utterly destroyed by Gu Xie Chen, and the Goddess of Fortune was captured alive and has been imprisoned by them for years. The feud between the two sides had naturally grown deeper and deeper.

This time, with the Guardian Heavens making another move, no matter what they intended to do, the Nine Nether Dao was determined to strike them head-on, letting them know that in this universe, the Guardian Heavens were merely a fading memory of yesterday, holding no authority whatsoever. The Nine Nether Dao was by no means a soft-hearted sect; they inherited the residual lineage of the Chan School! Looking at the imposing assembly of disciples in the hall, a deep killing intent surfaced on the Corpse Emperor’s face. The power contained within them was formidable.

No matter what the Heavenly Host of the Guardians intended to do, the Corpse Emperor had only one choice: use the most violent and ruthless means to make them kneel down and weep!

Clasping his fists, just as the Corpse Emperor was about to order all the disciples of the Nine Nether Dao and the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals of the Thirty-Three Heavens to mobilize, a golden-crowned, purple-robed immortal suddenly rushed in, treading on a cloud. As soon as this immortal entered the Nine Nether Hall, he knelt on the ground and shouted loudly, "Supreme Sect Master above, the Guardian Heavens' Brahma in the outside world requests an audience. They seek to exchange the complete structural blueprints of the Tri-City for the release of the Goddess of Fortune!" The Corpse Emperor was stunned; Guo Hua and Yan Jiang were both dumbfounded.

In that endless void, countless members of the Guardian Heavens were arrayed in neat ranks, marching into a magnificent city in the void, bathed in radiant light and encircled by three suns, twelve moons, and hundreds of thousands of stars.

Indra, Varuna, and other deities of the Guardian Heavens, leading the Asura host and the attendants of deities like the Gandharvas, excitedly entered the highest golden city—the first of the three linked cities, symbolizing the Celestial Realm, illuminated day and night. Vast demonic energy surged within the city, which was filled everywhere with clear springs and streams, all gushing forth the Somar elixir of beauty.

Powerful divine beings like Ashvins and Vayu led the Dragon Clan, Garudas, and other members of the Heavenly Host, happily entering the middle, silver city that represented the Terrestrial Realm. This city was crisscrossed with countless clear springs, in which golden lotuses bloomed. Countless dill birds played and danced among the golden lotuses, while divine creatures like white oxen, white elephants, and white apes bathed and cultivated in the waters.

The silver city was also filled with immense demonic energy, which materialized into large demonic crystals dancing in the air. Seven-colored halos spun everywhere, and countless beautiful maidens clad only in a light veil danced gracefully amidst the colored light, holding various musical instruments.

The most terrifying figure among the Guardian Heavens, the God of Death Yama, wore a grim expression, holding his scepter—a weapon no deity dared to confront head-on. He led countless Yakshas and Asuras, including their most famous generals, the Yaksha King and the Asura King, along with the famous Kshatriya kings and nobles belonging to the netherworld who had died many years ago. They walked solemnly towards the lowest, black city.

This city was enveloped by a massive demonic energy that inspired despair and terror. Clear springs flowed quietly within it, and black and cyan lotuses bloomed in the water. The deceased kings and warriors found boundless peace and comfort here, sitting contentedly by the clear springs to silently worship and offer sacrifices, constantly strengthening their power.

On the other side of this city, it was filled with seas of fire and pools of blood. Fierce and powerful soldiers like the Yakshas and Asuras danced happily in the fires and pools, fighting each other to hone their combat experience and will. Drawing upon the abundant demonic energy in the seas of fire and pools of blood, they constantly tempered their physical bodies, making them increasingly powerful. In the void, countless colossal bodies of the Tri-City were merging and devouring one another.

These strangely shaped Tri-City bodies fused together like jelly, with wondrous flashes of light surging through the massive forms. Powerful streams of consciousness flowed through these bodies.

Tens of millions of colossal bodies, each the size of a planet, gradually assembled and gradually devoured the hundreds of millions of smaller bodies, some as small as cells, others only a few thousand meters long. Vishnu, riding atop a Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird, watched cheerfully as the Tri-City bodies merged and consumed each other.

Shiva stood beside Vishnu, a black lotus pedestal beneath his feet. He displayed his true form as the God of Destruction: five faces, three eyes, four arms, his long neck a shade of cyan-black, resembling ancient bronze vessels eroded by countless years of wind and rain, radiating a faint, chilling air.

Shiva's expression was not pleasant; he kept turning his head to look at Vishnu, his mouth curved into a mysterious, inscrutable smile.

Vishnu noticed Shiva's scrutiny of him. He turned back and asked mildly, "The Tri-City has finally been reforged successfully. Why do I sense that your heart is not joyful or tranquil, but rather filled with agitation and various desires?"

Shiva gave a cold laugh, not answering Vishnu's question, but pointing at the huge bodies merging, saying calmly, "Ducat, or perhaps, the soul projection controlled by that man called Ducat—all these bodies required countless materials to create!"

Stroking the Great Peng Bird beneath him, Vishnu stated coldly, "What do you intend to do? Kill him? Recycle all the materials? Can you guarantee that the Tri-City won't be destroyed again? Can you guarantee that we won't need him to repair the Tri-City?"

With a sneer, Vishnu rebuked, "Your heart is always filled with this tyrannical desire to destroy everything. You want to destroy Ducat, you want to destroy everything, you even want to destroy me and Brahma. But you must remember, the three of us are one entity. If you destroy me and Brahma, then your own doom will arrive. The fate of the three of us is intertwined!"

Shiva pondered for a moment, then pointed at the rapidly merging Tri-City bodies: "But... he... if it were only to mend the Tri-City, we could still manage it!" Vishnu looked down with half-closed eyelids and said coolly, "No." Shiva grunted lowly, "We can repair it!"

Vishnu said coldly, "No... if we could repair it, we could build it. But in fact, what we are best at is destruction! Except for the first King of the Asuras who built the Tri-City—that miraculous craftsman whose soul imprint you completely destroyed—none of us in the Guardian Heavens can build the Tri-City, even if we possess the blueprints!"

Shaking his head mockingly, Vishnu sighed deeply, "Look at our members: Indra is obsessed with lust and wine, Soma is addicted to singing, dancing, and fine wine, Yama only likes to sit in tombs conversing with the dead... Among all the powerful deities, who still has any ambition? Even the three of us..."

Shiva opened his mouth, then smiled coldly and closed it.

Looking at Shiva sternly, Vishnu grunted deeply, "Even the three of us—if it weren't for the ultimate desire controlling this Heaven and this universe lying before us, wouldn't we have turned against each other long ago?"

Pointing at Shiva's chest, Vishnu warned sinisterly, "If anyone dares to covet Akshmi again, I will destroy him!" Shiva laughed coldly, "Didn't you just say our fates are intertwined?"

Vishnu shrugged indifferently, saying almost jokingly, "Then, I can consider beating you half to death!"

Furious lightning shot out from Shiva's three eyes. Vishnu watched Shiva coldly, and terrifying flames of destruction also erupted from his own eyes. Both their bodies flickered suddenly, both spat out a mouthful of blood, and then simultaneously turned their heads away.

On the golden walls of the Tri-City, the Little Daoist Zhang, the Orthodox Daoist, the Water Daoist Bai, and the Cold Crane Daoist, surrounded by ten disciples from both sects, were looking over. The Little Daoist Zhang's ears gently fanned back and forth, and he heard all the conversation between Shiva and Vishnu.

Although Shiva and Vishnu had cautiously set up various restrictions around themselves, the Little Daoist Zhang seemed to know a unique secret method for breaking their Brahmin restrictions, easily bypassing them to eavesdrop on their talk.

Hearing that things between Shiva and Vishnu seemed less than harmonious and cordial, the Little Daoist Zhang was quite pleased.

Using divine sense to transmit the dialogue of the two, he informed the Orthodox Daoist and the others. The four old Daoists exchanged glances, smiled in unison, turned away from the city wall, and flew away on clouds to the districts allocated to the immortals of the two sects.

The three cities of the Tri-City were connected. Each city was hundreds of levels high, and every level was a self-contained world, spanning billions of miles in area. After years of development and recuperation, the disciples of the two sects had selected countless children with excellent aptitude from various planets in the mortal realm to join their ranks. Currently, the number of disciples in both sects was only around ten million, yet they were only allocated an area spanning about two thousand miles on the first level of the golden city.

The number of Dharmapalas was simply uncountable; even Vishnu and Shiva could not ascertain precisely how many there were.

In short, the Asuras, Yakshas, and Shuras were inherently powerful races with extremely strong reproductive capabilities, meaning their populations had multiplied exponentially over the years. In the primordial era, the Deva lineage and the Asura lineage were constantly at war, each conflict resulting in massive casualties among elite members and a significant reduction in population.

But now, the Dharmapalas had effectively become one family; with no more wars, the warriors of all races naturally dedicated themselves to procreation with vigor. Despite the immense size of the Three-City Nexus, its inhabitants, complete with families in tow, had crammed the entire expanse.

Excluding the tribal leaders like Indra, Soma, and Yama, who each retained a city of their own, and excluding the three titans—Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma—who secured territories equivalent to a small mortal kingdom for their personal use, the rest of the Three-City Nexus was utterly packed.

Fortunately, the Three-City Nexus ran on inexhaustible magical energy, with Soma nectar spurting forth everywhere and countless delicacies materializing from thin air. Thus, the warriors of the Dharmapalas faced no existential pressure; they were free to dedicate themselves entirely to making babies within the Nexus, further swelling the ranks of the Dharmapalas.

With such a vast population, the warriors of the Dharmapalas, whether from the Deva-Shura lineage or the Asura-demon lineage, shared a common penchant for stirring up trouble. As soon as Little Daoist Zhang and his companions returned to the district belonging to their respective two sects, they saw a group of Kunlun disciples surrounding a few Shura soldiers, all swaying drunkenly. In the hands of these Shura troops were more than a dozen Kunlun female disciples, stripped entirely naked, their mouths frothing from exhaustion.

More Kunlun disciples rushed in from all directions, but an equal number of heavily inebriated Shura Heavenly Soldiers eagerly streamed in to join the fray. Swords were drawn, tensions were at their peak, and a large-scale brawl was imminent.

Little Daoist Zhang was horrified. They rushed forward to restrain the disciples of the two sects, who were on the verge of losing control of their anger, while demanding an explanation of the preceding events.

The cause of the dispute was simple: the fame of the Three-City Nexus resonated powerfully in the minds of the Dharmapala warriors; this so-called Unfallen City had sheltered the Asuras for countless years. Upon entering the city, the Shura Heavenly Soldiers felt their moment for unrestrained pleasure had arrived. They immediately flocked to the springs and rivers flowing with Soma nectar and drank their fill.

With potent liquor flowing, the adage that lust follows drunkenness took hold. These Shura soldiers drunkenly stormed the Kunlun sect's encampment and quickly subdued more than a dozen newly initiated female disciples. After nearly a hundred Shura soldiers engaged in two hours of "friendly interaction" with these female disciples, they were finally discovered by patrolling Kunlun disciples, leading to the standoff.

Little Daoist Zhang backed away a few steps; this was a matter for the Kunlun sect, to be handled by the sect master, Daoist Zhengyi.

Daoist Zhengyi stepped forward a few paces, glaring furiously at the Heavenly Soldiers before him, trying to devise a course of action. Just then, a streak of lightning flashed across the void, and the Indra’s Thunder Chariot, familiar to the disciples of both sects, roared into existence. Indra, the Heavenly Emperor and leader of the Shura Heavenly God faction of the Dharmapalas, materialized, drunkenly embracing several scantily clad Asura beauties.

He shot an impatient glare at Daoist Zhengyi, then carelessly slammed an Asura beauty onto the chariot’s railing and began to whip her. Panting with effort, he bellowed, "You trash-like beings, you damned slaves, what do you think you are doing? Trying to rebel against our glorious Shura lineage?"

Indra pointed fiercely at Daoist Zhengyi and harshly commanded, "Offer a thousand beautiful women who cultivate Eastern Daoist arts, and this incident of you surrounding my valiant subordinates will be dropped. Otherwise, even if you were personally recruited by Vishnu, I will eradicate you!"

A vast cloud mass drifted from the rear, and dozens of Heavenly God leaders, displaying the same behavior as Indra, laughed as they flew over, each embracing beauties from various races.

More and more drunken Shura Heavenly Soldiers gathered from all directions. Their armor was askew, and they had clearly lost track of their weapons. Their faces were flushed red, and they guffawed and teased, their lustful eyes fixed on the dozen naked Kunlun female disciples. Daoist Zhengyi took a deep breath and raised his right hand, preparing to unleash the Yuqing Thunder Art against Indra.

Little Daoist Zhang seized Daoist Zhengyi's hand, sharply admonishing him, "Take a step back, and there's room to spare; suppress your anger for now! The foundation we have built is hard-won... Remember this, remember it well!" He firmly squeezed Daoist Zhengyi's arm and slowly retreated a few paces.

Indra chuckled dismissively, nodding faintly. "Daoist Master Zhang is wise! Your two sects combined total barely over ten million people. My throne commands tens of thousands of mighty legions, each army boasting billions of valiant warriors. Any who dare disrespect me will face devastating annihilation!"

More and more Shura Heavenly Soldiers arrived. Forming layers—three above, three below, and three in the middle—they created a sheet of black mist, completely obscuring all the heavenly light in that district. Only the buildings within the district glowed, illuminating Daoist Zhengyi's ashen face.

Slowly lowering his head, Daoist Zhengyi let out a cold sneer, then bowed deeply. With a casual wave of his hand, a gust of clean wind swept up a thousand newly initiated Kunlun female disciples, beautiful in appearance, who screamed as they were carried away by the breeze toward Indra and the other Heavenly God leaders.

Indra roared with laughter and swung a lasso, snatching over a hundred beauties. The other Heavenly God leaders promptly acted, unleashing various magical artifacts. Some snatched dozens, some snatched over ten, and a few only managed to grab three or five. The Heavenly God leaders roared with laughter, grabbing and fondling the female disciples wantonly.

Daoist Zhengyi kept his head lowered, his face bloodless, though his heart hammered furiously, blood rushing to his eyes, turning them scarlet.

From a far distance, a frantic roar suddenly echoed, sounding like millions of voices screaming in unison. This was immediately followed by a deafening clang of swords and spears, and then a column of smoke shot skyward. Judging by its scale, at least tens of thousands of houses were ablaze.

Approximately three million Asura soldiers from the Black Iron City at the very bottom of the Three-City Nexus had taken a detour and stormed into the Golden City, launching an attack on the Deva lineage.

They madly plundered every treasure they saw and killed every male Shura in sight, from infants not yet weaned to the elderly—every single male Shura was slain. The terrified, bewildered women of the Deva lineage were joyfully seized by the Asura soldiers and rapidly transported down to the Black Iron City.

Among these rampaging Asura soldiers, hundreds of Asura generals, each one a hundred miles tall, became visible.

Furthermore, these Asura generals were all the biological children of the Asura King Vṛtra—it was clear that several Asura Kings were the masterminds behind this raid.

Indra stood stunned for a moment before letting out an enraged roar. He dragged all the Heavenly Soldiers, staggering, toward the burning district tens of thousands of miles away.

Little Daoist Zhang and Daoist Zhengyi exchanged glances. Together with Baishui and Hanhe, they burst into loud laughter. This was the true nature of the Dharmapalas; this was their real face!

The Dharmapalas, who had escaped the control of Buddhism by claiming the entire army was annihilated, had hidden fearfully in the mortal realm for countless years, terrified of being hunted down by Buddhist forces.

The various races, previously rife with deep-seated conflict, had cooperated more closely than ever under the existential threat of Buddhism, pooling their resources to construct the Three-City Nexus.

Now that the Nexus was complete, the Three-City Nexus, boasted as the Never-Falling City, became the most formidable armor for the Dharmapalas. The leaders of the Dharmapalas, including Indra and Vṛtra, believed that with the Three-City Nexus, they need no longer fear even the Twin Sages of Buddhism if they appeared in person. The external threat was completely gone, and resolving the internal conflicts was now placed on the agendas of certain individuals.

The Dharmapalas had not yet fully entered the Three-City Nexus, with most of their people still waiting outside the gates. Vṛtra impatiently organized a contingent of elite warriors and launched an attack on the Shura Heavenly God lineage led by Indra! Immediately following this, the great birds of the Garuda lineage began their ferocious assault and hunt against the Dragon lineage.

The Dragon Kings were caught entirely off guard; nearly a thousand of their princes were snatched and eaten by the great Roc birds. The beautiful women of the Gandharva lineage, the Gods of Music, were attacked by an unknown enemy that descended upon them almost simultaneously from all directions. One-third of the Gandharva women were seized and vanished without a trace.

Next were the ascetic immortals, who possessed great personal strength and formed self-contained factions—Indra himself had suffered losses at their hands in the past. Due to their immense power, they had all married beautiful wives and fathered beautiful daughters.

This time, these ascetic immortals, whose alliance was loose and characterized by self-governance, suffered a deliberate and powerful assault. Countless elite soldiers furiously attacked their newly assigned residences, seizing their wives and daughters, looting their treasures and spiritual medicines, and smashing their altars and homes.

The enraged ascetic immortals launched a bloody retaliation, unleashing their most formidable immortal arts.

Immense booming and crashing sounds erupted everywhere, as if trillions of nuclear bombs had been dropped. Black smoke billowed up throughout the Three-City Nexus, crowned by towering mushroom clouds that pierced the heavens.

Following this, the vassal races of the major lineages joined the fray. The Kinnaras, Mahoragas, Goblins, Spirits, and Giants gleefully began attacking any race that was not their comrade. Blood rained down and gore piled up; the Three-City Nexus instantly devolved into chaos.

Powerful immortal arts and forbidden spells were unleashed as if they were free. Indra even deployed his most potent lightning attack, each bolt effortlessly obliterating everything within a radius of several million miles. The Wind God roared, the Sea God thundered, the Fire God spewed vast flames, and the Moon God soared high in the sky, chanting battle hymns.

The Yaksha King leaped wildly in the sea of blood; the Shura King laughed uproariously in the sea of fire. Altars were erected atop piles of corpses, vicious forbidden spells flew and tumbled across the sky, and terrifying destructive power swept through the surroundings, reducing countless Dharmapala hosts to bloody pulp.

Yama, the God of Death, laughed as he brandished his scepter. Wherever his authoritative gaze fell, the karmic fires from the Hells consumed everything. Whether Asura or Yaksha, Garuda or Dragon, Gandharva or Kinnara, Mahoraga or Spirit, any being who was not a warrior of the Deva-Shura lineage had their life extinguished in the karmic flames.

From the sea of fire in the Black Iron City, thousands of terrifying figures, each ten thousand miles tall, suddenly emerged. They roared madly toward the heavens, bringing with them innumerable Asuras, who swarmed toward the Golden and Silver Cities to attack.

Yama's fury could not halt these mad Asuras; even Yama himself was struck by a Dharma Wheel from an Asura Demon King who suddenly appeared behind him, sending him flying. The blow was so heavy that even the powerful Yama spat blood from all seven orifices, flying a great distance like a bird with broken wings.

All the ancient Asura Demon Kings, famous throughout history for inflicting heavy losses on the Shura Divine Race, revealed themselves simultaneously. Leading their loyal subordinates, they charged out in a disordered mass.

Countless gigantic serpents served as mounts for these ancient Asura Demon Kings. The largest of these snakes stretched millions of miles long and possessed tens of thousands of massive heads. When these gigantic serpent heads began spewing dense smoke, intense flames, and corrosive venom, even Indra's face turned ashen. The Three-City Nexus descended into massive, total disorder.

The disciples of Kunlun and Zhongnan watched this spectacle with delight, cautiously guarding the districts under their control, observing the Dharmapalas tear each other apart with amusement. In the void, Vishnu and Shiva observed everything with cold indifference.

After a long, long while, Vishnu finally sneered, "You see, if you destroy Du'Karth, we will be forced to exert ourselves repairing the city damaged by these scoundrels. Do you think we have the ability to perfectly restore the city to its former glory?"

Shiva gazed upon the Three-City Nexus, now covered in flesh and blood, and remained silent. After a long pause, he coldly scoffed, "Then let them fight. Within the Three-City Nexus, there is no fear of death! They have accumulated too much anger and resentment over these years; let them vent it!"

Both of them turned their gaze toward the direction of the Spiral Nebula. Vishnu said lightly, "As soon as Akshmi returns, we can begin our plan. If you insist on giving these fools something to vent their anger on, then go destroy those imbeciles in the Nine Heavens and Ten Realms who signed agreements with us... Did they really think we would share the treasures of the Celestial Court with them?"

Shiva smiled, his eyes flashing with joyful fire. He happily nodded, "I would be delighted to undertake such a mission. But before I go kill them, make these damnable creatures stop fighting; I need a massive army to accompany me to attack the immortals of the Nine Heavens and Ten Realms." Vishnu smiled and waved his hand gently.

Countless clear springs surged up within the Three-City Nexus, and innumerable lotuses rapidly bloomed. Those who had been killed, regardless of their race, were swiftly reborn, appearing identical to how they were before death and injury. They excitedly rose, grabbed their weapons, and charged back toward the enemy. "With the Three-City Nexus, we shall not fear death!"

Within the Three-City Nexus, as long as the clear springs did not run dry and the lotuses continued to grow, the warriors within the city could be infinitely resurrected! The warriors of the Dharmapalas would no longer fear death!

Even if their bodies were burned to ash and their souls shattered into fragments, they would be reborn within the Three-City Nexus!

The Eternal and Never-Falling Three-City Nexus, in a certain sense, lived up to its glorious appellation. In the void, Du'Karth’s body was gradually fusing. A terrifying body, the size of the Three-City Nexus itself, perhaps even larger, gradually took shape.

An immense pressure gradually emanated from this body. Du'Karth's form gradually shrank, reducing itself to the height of an ordinary person.

A brilliant blue light flickered in Du'Karth's eyes. He clenched his fists tightly and let out a joyful roar toward the heavens! Vishnu and Shiva simultaneously sighed, "Now, we only lack the power of Akshmi!" They now only lacked the innate divine ability of Goddess Lakshmi to tear open the void and travel through myriad worlds.

The first update of the day has been delivered. After dinner and a short rest, I will begin the journey for the second chapter. I will strive for the second update today! Well, off to eat and rest. 00 One hundred thousand characters; everyone enjoy it slowly! F