Indra chuckled deeply, gazing with disdain upon the boundless Asuras roaring and snarling before him.

With a slight wave of his Vajra Scepter, half the sky immediately clouded over with dark storm clouds. Countless thick bolts of lightning twisted and coiled within the gloom, then suddenly descended with the sound of colossal thunder, forming a massive forest composed entirely of crackling electricity.

The endless Asura forms became suddenly translucent within the lightning, accompanied by innumerable wails of agony. With a single strike, hundreds of thousands of Asuras were pulverized by Indra. Countless others had their limbs severed or their bodies incinerated by the lightning-fire, collapsing to the ground, mangled and twitching, emitting sounds of sheer, desperate panic.

Yet, many brave and mighty Asura warriors still managed to block the lightning assault with their shields, riding water buffaloes, fierce tigers, or other bizarre mounts like multi-headed pythons, charging toward Indra and the other Devas like a malevolent gust of wind.

These Asura warriors swung their weapons with all their might, fiercely attacking the Devas led by Tuturo. The gleam of their blades tore through the void, the flash of their axes shattered the earth, and the multi-pronged flails in their hands danced across the sky like world-ending thunder. The darts they hurled obscured the heavens like a relentless storm. Red flames engulfed them as they attacked the Devas with their utmost strength.

Even more powerful Asura generals swelled their forms to a height of hundreds of miles. They excitedly brandished their myriad arms, hoisting entire fortresses of the Three-Linked City—structures built from black iron, bronze, obsidian, and inscribed stone—and hurling them with all their might at the Devas.

Such a multitude of fearless Asura warriors, such devastating attacks, proved too much even for the leaders of the Devas, whose cultivation stood at the mid-to-high stage of Daluo Jinxian. They no longer had the leisure to unleash broad-area finishing moves, forced instead into a defensive posture.

Indra too manifested his multi-headed, multi-armed Dharma form, but most of his arms were laden with heavy, golden shields. Countless streaks of lightning wrapped around his shields as he moved left and right, constantly parrying the assaults of the Asura warriors.

Blade-light struck the shields, axe-light chopped against them, flails smashed down with deafening noise, and innumerable darts peppered the defensive surfaces.

Indra’s Thunder God Shields sparked with ripples of light, and lightning bolts, like venomous serpents, shot out from the shields, snaking through the air with a hissing sound. Occasionally, an Asura warrior would be struck by a lightning bolt, their body convulsing as they fell to the ground.

Suddenly, Indra, whose combat skills were honed to perfection, let out a hearty laugh. He leaped airborne, abandoning his war chariot, and plunged toward an Asura general standing over three hundred miles tall. He swung several shields, shattering the mountain the Asura general held, and then brought down his heavy, dazzlingly luminous Vajra Scepter squarely onto the general's head.

The Three-Linked City shuddered. The Asura general erupted in blinding electrical light, his body shattering like a boulder. Countless fragments of flesh crackled with intense electrical energy; even as the celestial spring water and lotus blossoms poured down from above, his body refused to knit back together.

Indra’s immense lightning power managed to suppress the divine energy of the Three-Linked City, preventing the immediate healing of the Asura general.

Judging by the stalled regeneration, even with the potent restorative magic of the Three-Linked City, unless a sufficiently powerful Asura Demon King helped dispel the power of the Thunder God within him, he would not truly die, but he would remain unable to recover for a century.

Seeing their leader deliver such a sharp and mighty blow, felling the strongest general among the Asuras, the Devas erupted in joyous cheers, praising Indra’s wisdom, grandeur, divine valor, and invincibility.

Indra proudly raised all his weapons and spun his body with smug satisfaction, ensuring every Deva could behold his radiant countenance.

From the distance, a loud reprimand suddenly cut through the air: “Shameless Indra! You creature with the testicles of a goat, is your courage and might only fit to use against our lower-ranking Asura generals?”

An Asura, using a divine technique to enlarge his body to be taller than Mount Meru, with hideous features and skin the color of purple shale, strode toward them. Each footstep of his massive soles covered an area spanning tens of thousands of miles upon landing.

Innumerable Asura warriors and Deva soldiers were crushed beneath this Asura’s advance. But what enraged Indra was that every Asura trampled underfoot remained utterly unharmed, while every Deva crushed beneath those feet was instantly reduced to blood-pulp. Worse, a dense trace of demonic energy churned within the pulp, preventing them from regenerating and rejoining the fight anytime soon.

Furious to the point of explosion, Indra roared, “State your name! I do not kill insignificant thieves without renown!”

Indra’s fury stemmed not just from the massive losses suffered by the Deva army, but more so because this colossal Asura dared to rake open the old wounds of Indra—many, many years ago, Indra had engaged in a clandestine affair with the wife of an immensely powerful ascetic immortal. When the old immortal caught him, the terrifying immortal instantly cast a curse that emasculated Indra.

The old immortal’s power at the time far surpassed that of Indra and even the combined might of many Devas. Though Indra was then a cultivator at the initial stage of Daluo Jinxian, he was utterly unable to repair the damage. It was only later that the Devas performed surgical procedures to reattach two goat testicles, which finally restored Indra’s virility.

This damned Asura had just brought up two of the greatest disgraces in Indra’s entire life in a single breath.

Frantic to the point of near hysteria, his eyes bloodshot with rage, Indra howled in fury. He summoned the torrential storm clouds, called forth countless lightning bolts, and unleashed a thunderous roar capable of shattering heaven and earth, rushing with full force toward the Asura. “State your name! I do not kill insignificant thieves without renown!”

Maintaining his demeanor as the Heavenly Emperor, Indra demanded the Asura warrior state his name again.

The massive Asura laughed, a booming sound. “I am Tarado, son of the great Asura King Poxun, representing the terrible demonic impulse and bloodlust he commands. Esteemed Heavenly Emperor, I am only five thousand years old. It is understandable that you do not recognize me!”

An Asura only five thousand years old? This meant that Asura Tarado was only a few centuries older than Gu Xiechen. To the Guardian Heavens, who had existed for countless Kalpas, Tarado was barely an infant.

Upon hearing Tarado announce his name and age, the enraged Indra completely let down his guard. He casually shook his head and swung the Vajra Scepter haphazardly toward Tarado’s skull.

Unlucky Indra had forgotten one crucial thing… the divine powers and arts of the Guardian Heavens were entirely different from those of the Eastern Immortals or Western Buddhas. The Guardian Heavens were born with immense power; the foundation of their entire life’s achievement was often established within the first decade after birth. Through harsh asceticism and brutal sacrifice—if they could bear to torture their own flesh and soul—the Brahmin Demonic Arts could grant them tremendous strength.

When Little Daoist Zhang and his peers cultivated the Brahmin Demonic Arts for only a few decades, they attained divine power equivalent to early-stage Daluo Jinxian through cruel self-mutilation and asceticism. Tarado’s father was Poxun, one of the most terrifying figures among the Asura Demon Kings, the Lord of the Sixth Heaven of the Six Desires in Buddhism, holding an awe-inspiring position. With such a father, how could Tarado, despite being only five thousand years old, lack power?

Facing the casual downward swing of Indra’s Vajra Scepter, Tarado felt deeply slighted and exploded in fury. He drew the divine weapon forged for him by Poxun, the Lord of the Sixth Heaven of the Six Desires—a brilliant golden lotus staff—and put all his strength into countering Indra’s strike.

Five thousand years of cruel cultivation and grinding refinement, including slicing off his own head and organs as sacrifices to the ancient demon gods secretly worshipped by the Guardian Heavens to gain immense power, defying the laws of heaven and earth by merging his three souls and six spirits, and tempering his strength with the terrible agony of his souls dissolving—Tarado’s power was in no way inferior to Indra’s. One careless, one giving his all—Indra was blasted away by Tarado’s staff.

The lotus head of the staff smashed brutally into Indra’s body, cracking his fair skin, which seemed a blend of white jade and silver. Large amounts of golden divine blood sprayed out.

Indra roared in terror, glaring at Tarado as if seeing in him the figures of countless powerful Asura Great Demon Kings from history who had made Indra flee in disarray!

Poor Indra! Ever since he ascended the throne of the Heavenly Emperor, he had endured a disastrous defeat every so often. Each time, the veteran Indra lost to Asura heroes who were barely a few thousand years old, sometimes only a few hundred or even a few dozen years.

Each time, Indra lost his armor and fled, sometimes even losing his wife. If not for the favoritism shown by Mahabrahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, Indra would long ago have been deposed, and he and his Deva brothers would have been chopped into meat paste by the Asuras. This time, he lost to Tarado in a manner he was now tragically accustomed to.

With a great rack of broken ribs, bleeding profusely, Indra was sent flying with a shriek. He tumbled end over end, flying in a trajectory that was fatally close to Gu Xiechen, who was currently soaring toward them on clouds.

The scene suggested that Tarado and Gu Xiechen were colluding. Tarado, fierce as a hungry tiger, tossed the gravely wounded lamb that was Indra toward Gu Xiechen, the primordial venomous dragon cloaked in sheep’s skin.

Gu Xiechen, having morphed into an Asura warrior, cheered to the sky. He excitedly shook his thick, three legs and wildly swung his arms toward the descending Indra, slamming down. He shouted loudly, “Long live the great Asura King Tarado! Brothers, let us fight hard and crush these damned Devas! Let us steal their women and strip them bare!”

Seeing Tarado defeat the fearsome Heavenly Emperor Indra with a single blow, the Asura warriors present became instantly feverish with battle lust. Stirred by Gu Xiechen’s voice, which blended the Soul-Bewitching Demonic Sound technique from the Great Wilderness Scripture, these Asura warriors forgot all about life and death and charged madly toward the Devas.

Even the infinitely powerful Tarado was momentarily stunned by Gu Xiechen’s Soul-Bewitching Sound. He rolled his eyes skyward, pondered for a moment, and then, like a crazed bull, began waving his lotus staff haphazardly, lunging toward the cluster of Devas without any discernible formation.

Gu Xiechen roared with laughter and swooped down, laying Indra low with three or five heavy punches.

Consider the weight of his fists now: a casual blow could shatter stars and reduce the void to chaos. Indra, barely clinging to the high-stage Daluo Jinxian cultivation, wasn't even considered powerful among the Devas. After several blows to the head from Gu Xiechen, he immediately passed out.

Gu Xiechen, acting like a starving ghoul who hadn't eaten in a hundred thousand lifetimes, frantically clawed at Indra’s weapons and ornaments.

Unlike other Guardian Heavens such as Kamandalu, Indra held a special status and importance among the Guardian Heavens. All his ornaments were protective Buddhist treasures imbued with the power of formidable Buddhas; his weapons were not mere psychic constructs molded from Buddhist thought-power, but rather exotic treasures naturally formed with Indra at birth. His armor, shield, and the Vajra Scepter were a complete set of Innate Sacred Artifacts.

This set of Innate Sacred Artifacts was several grades superior to Mo Yue Long Gen’s innate black staff. Furthermore, they were blessed by the merits accrued when Indra ascended as the Heavenly Emperor, making them an exceptionally potent collection of exotic treasures.

Heaven knew to what extent Indra had been crippled; possessing such a powerful set of artifacts, coupled with dozens of protective Buddhist treasures, and possessing strength subtly greater than Tarado’s, yet he was still wounded by a single strike from Tarado.

Such a Heavenly Emperor! It was a miracle he had persisted in the Guardian Heavens for so many years without being overthrown; it could only be attributed to the excessive leniency of the Three Giants—Mahabrahma and the others.

Satisfied after stripping Indra of all his treasures, Gu Xiechen even collected the several gleaming, jewel-encrusted rings on Indra’s fingers.

These rings were extraordinary. Though merely decorative items on Indra’s hands, each one contained over a dozen powerful spells, including instantaneous lightning bolts capable of instantly killing an early-stage Daluo Jinxian, rapid healing spells, wards against soul-bewitching magic, and defenses against water, fire, wind, and thunder attacks. In terms of utility, they surpassed even the top-grade Immortal Artifacts personally refined by Gu Xiechen.

Especially rare were the materials used for these rings: the eyeballs of billion-year-old venomous dragons, bone beads from billion-year-old spirit snakes, and spiritual pearls condensed within the shells of Primordial Spirit Turtles, among others. Such materials could no longer be found in the Three Realms. Unlike ordinary innate materials, which could still be sought in the chaos space, these spirit beasts were entirely extinct.

Satisfied with having stripped Indra completely bare, Gu Xiechen delivered a heavy kick to the crown of his head and casually tossed him into the midst of a group of frenzied Asuras.

Seeing the white, plump, and cute Indra plummet from the sky, the Asuras went absolutely wild with delight. They brandished their weapons excitedly and swarmed him, attacking Indra with malicious glee.

Weapons of all kinds—sabers, spears, swords, halberds—slashed down indiscriminately. Indra’s body instantly erupted in flying gore, hacked into a shapeless mass in the blink of an eye.

Gu Xiechen’s fists were too heavy, and the kinetic energy concealed a trace of the strange Law of Chaos. After being hammered by those heavy blows, Indra could not regain consciousness for a long time. Even though he was chopped into a state resembling something squeezed from a juicer, he remained unconscious.

The bloodthirsty Asuras cheered wildly. Excitedly, they grabbed the chunks of flesh hacked from Indra and distributed them to their kin nearby, gleefully sharing the flesh of the noble Heavenly Emperor. With every piece consumed, these Asuras felt their power increasing, and their strength becoming purer as many mottled impurities were driven out.

Suddenly, the Asuras cried out: Did Indra’s flesh possess such a miraculous effect?

During the ancient wars between gods and demons, the Asuras had consumed countless unfortunate celestial soldiers, but aside from a delicious taste, there were no other benefits. Yet, the flesh of a high-ranking Deva possessed such a marvelous effect! The news spread rapidly: “Eat the Heavenly Emperor’s insides! Eat the Heavenly Emperor’s flesh! Hurry and eat the Heavenly Emperor’s flesh!”

Crunch, crunch—the sound of blades and swords falling continued as Indra’s flesh was hacked off piece by piece and distributed among the multitude of Asuras.

Countless lotus flowers in the void poured down, bearing clear spring water. Tiny drops of the spring merged with Indra’s body, and the flesh that had been severed swiftly regenerated. In an instant, a complete, smooth, white, plump, and tenderly lovely Indra lay on the ground once more.

Several Asuras who had shared a piece of Indra’s flesh discovered that the newly grown flesh still possessed the magical effect of enhancing and purifying power. Countless Asuras descended into complete madness. Including Tarado, dozens of Asura Demon Kings who rushed over organized the countless Asuras into a powerful defensive formation surrounding Indra, dedicated solely to guarding him.

Dozens of Asura generals, renowned for their swordsmanship and prestige among their kin, cheerfully approached Indra. They set up tables crafted from pure gold, placed Indra upon the sacrificial altar, and began slicing off his flesh piece by piece to distribute among the assembled Asuras.

The other Deva leaders witnessed this scene of Indra being sold off like a sacrificial pig. They were instantly enraged to the point where their inner demons leaped forth, consumed by a fury that made them want to destroy the entire world. Yama and the other most powerful Devas rushed over, leading their boundless divine armies to join the assault on this layer of the Asura city. Clouds of amassed divine soldiers churned the sky, and the pressure of their colossal divine power made the Three-Linked City tremble.

But even more Asura Demon Kings, along with their elite Marshals and Great Generals, arrived leading their finest troops.

These Asura leaders, who had caused terrible catastrophes for the Devas in history, along with some of their allies—the Guardian Heaven tribes leaning towards demonic power, such as the Yakshas, Dragons, and Mahoragas—confronted the Devas without yielding ground. Indra’s flesh continued to be sliced and distributed among the Asuras.

However, this time, it was the numerous Asura Demon Kings who first received Indra’s flesh.

Led by Poxun, the Asura Demon Kings obtained Indra’s flesh. They hastily devoured it, chewing vigorously. A surge of heat similarly arose within their bodies. Their cultivation, which had been progressing hundreds of times slower than hard training, now rapidly ascended. The demonic energy within them, previously mixed with many impurities, was rapidly refining, making them increasingly powerful.

Furthermore, the leading Asuras, such as Poxun and Ravana, sensed a terrifying trace of lightning energy within Indra’s flesh. Through consuming his flesh, they began to perceive the rules of lightning. Once they mastered the rules of lightning, the most powerful weapon the Devas used against the Asuras would become completely nullified.

Poxun, the Lord of the Sixth Heaven of the Six Desires—the most cunning, the most powerful, and holding the highest rank among the Guardian Heaven Asura Demon Kings—smiled sinisterly: “Eating Indra piece by piece is too slow. How long must we wait for all our warriors to taste his flesh? Set up an altar! We will use Indra as the offering, presenting this unique and precious sacrifice to the three hundred and sixty million Ancient Demon Gods, allowing all of us to gain power simultaneously!” Three hundred and sixty million Ancient Demon Gods? Gu Xiechen’s heart convulsed violently.

He knew that the Brahmin Demonic Arts of the Guardian Heavens relied on various terrifying ascetic practices and sacrifices to gain in a short time the power that cultivators and Buddhist practitioners needed tens of thousands, or even millions and tens of millions of years to acquire. While this power was impure and inherently suppressed by Immortal and Buddha energies, it was undeniably terrifyingly strong. Gu Xiechen had always been puzzled where such immense power originated.

But Poxun’s words suggested that this power directly stemmed from the three hundred and sixty million Ancient Demon Gods born on the Earth Origin Star? Yet, many of those Ancient Demon Gods had perished, others had gone into seclusion, and entities like the Great Evolution Fierce Saber Balance Wheel had been merged into Gu Xiechen himself. So, where did the power the Guardian Heavens gained through sacrifice truly come from?

Did some Ancient Demon Gods still exist in this universe? Or were they sacrificing directly to some rule beneath the Heavenly Dao, essentially gaining rewards from the Heavenly Dao’s rules?

With a slight movement, the Taiyin Primordial Spirit silently emerged from Gu Xiechen’s body, subtly morphing into a hideous and grotesque Asura warrior. He squeezed himself near Poxun and the other Great Demon Kings, puffing out his cheeks and glaring aggressively, adopting the stance of a fiercely loyal guard to the Great Demon King. With the Taiyin Primordial Spirit nearby, it should be sufficient to steal the secrets of this sacrificial method, right?

Of course, this was still not secure enough, so Gu Wuchen summoned the Solar Primordial Spirit, which also transformed into an Asura Warlord and slipped toward the Demon Lords.

The heavenly deities floating in the void learned that the Asuras intended to use Indra as a sacrifice to offer to the Primordial Demon Gods, and these deities instantly went mad. They didn't particularly care whether Indra lived or died—or rather, not all the heavenly deities had the attention to spare for Indra's fate.

But they knew that if Indra, the Heavenly Emperor, were sacrificed, the Asuras would gain terrifying power from this unimaginable offering—a destructive force potent enough to make the heavenly deities tremble in dread.

Ignoring Indra’s personal cultivation level, his status was too unique; he was the Heavenly Emperor among the Dharma-Protecting Heavens, an identity acknowledged by a certain portion of the Heavenly Dao. Naturally, this position of Heavenly Emperor did not compare to the stature of figures like the Haotian Shangdi, who truly commanded the Three Realms, but Indra was nevertheless a signature existence under the Heavenly Dao.

If the Asuras sacrificed him, they would undoubtedly gain immense power and great rewards, but the heavenly deities might be even more likely to be directly erased by a segment of the Heavenly Dao's rules. Such a thing had never happened before; no one knew what devastating consequences would follow the Asuras’ sacrifice of Indra—perhaps the entire Asura-Heavenly God race would vanish into smoke along with it.

The heavenly deities charged toward the Asuras in a mix of rage and terror. The situation was so grave, so utterly horrifying, that even Yama, usually the most solemn, the calmest, and the one never to lose composure, became utterly distraught. He lost all sense of direction, his heart drifting aimlessly, unsure of where he stood or how to respond. To be continued. For future developments, please log in for more chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading! D