Chapter 1351: Nation-Founding War (Part 1)

Chapter 1351: The War of Foundation (Part I)

A grand, sweeping line of golden divine runes of law manifested high in the heavens.

[Supreme Will Announcement: Lord of the Blazing Sun—Zhou Zhou, it has been detected that you have fulfilled the vast majority of the advancement conditions required to ascend to a Lower Divine Kingdom-tier Lord faction. Do you wish to initiate the final War of Foundation to officially promote your Blazing Sun Empire (Advanced) into the Blazing Sun Divine Kingdom (Lower)?]

"Yes!"

Zhou Zhou took a deep breath, his voice ringing out with solemn resolve.

In the very next instant.

Wreaths of white mist materialized out of thin air across the skies of the Blazing Sun Empire's territory. This white vapor multiplied exponentially, blanketing the entire firmament in the blink of an eye and completely enveloping the Blazing Sun Empire within its dense, mysterious shroud.

"What is this mist?"

Zhou Zhou’s grave gaze swept across the bizarre, encroaching fog.

With his current sight, he found himself utterly unable to pierce through the secrets veiled within the mist.

At that very moment.

The white mist suddenly underwent a new transformation.

And it was precisely this transformation that caused Zhou Zhou and every living being in the Jiaoyang Empire's realm to instinctively widen their eyes in shock.

The fog in the sky rapidly coalesced, and within a brief span of time, it formed an endless expanse stretching across countless light-years above the heavens.

This spectral image enveloped the entire sky above the Jiaoyang Empire's territory—its contents clearly revealing a phantom reflection of the empire’s vast lands.

In that instant,

a real Jiaoyang Empire and a phantom one emerged simultaneously—above and below—seeming utterly miraculous.

Yet none of this was what truly stunned the onlookers.

What most stunned everyone was that within this phantom image of the Sunlight Empire, they could see their very own existence.

Whether it was the high-ranking generals of the Sunlight Empire—White Yun, Wu Xin, Ying Ning, Yuan Chong, and others—

or every soldier from the main combat regiments under the Sunlight Empire’s command—

or every common citizen of the Sunlight Empire—

they could all be found within this spectral reflection of the Empire.

Even Zhou Zhan and Zhou Wu, leading the Sunlight Empire’s armies far away on Blue Star, who had not yet returned to the Supreme Continent, were present within this phantom sky of the Sunlight Empire.

It mirrored the Empire perfectly, with no omission or error.

Seeing this, everyone reacted with a mix of shock and unease.

Only Zhou Zhou and his duplicates, after moments of astonishment, broke into a smile.

"Indeed."

"You can only replicate 'now's' me, not my peak form."

Zhou Zhou smiled to himself, murmuring the words.

And just then—

The Zhou Zhou within the phantom Sun Empire, watching the Zhou Zhou in the real Sun Empire, their faces flickered with a sinister smile.

Then, they led all their armies, warships, and war machines out of the shadow of the Sun Empire, completing the pivotal step from illusion to reality—materializing truly before Zhou Zhou and his companions.

"[I am the Chaotic Phantom Deity-Mage, One Thought.]

[Today, by divine decree, I shall take your lives!]

One Thought manifested as Zhou Zhou, with seven phantom duplicates of Zhou Zhou trailing behind.

They stared at Zhou Zhou, and then One Thought spoke:

"Emperor of the People."

"I already possess everything you have, and beyond what you own, I possess my divine and demonic talents. Therefore, you can never defeat me."

"Submit peacefully and surrender—let me take your place."

"Rest assured, after I take your place, your divine realm will still stand, only now it will be ruled by me and my host of phantom divine generals."

"The name of the Sun's Divine Realm shall not be lost."

"It shall flourish under my hands!"

"I will also help you claim the Supreme Lordship."

"I will ensure you sit upon that exalted throne!"

"Ha ha ha ha..."

At the height of excitement, one thought couldn't help but cause him to raise his head and laugh wildly.

"Just like your friend 'Phantom' said—indeed, you are exactly the arrogant, self-proclaimed second master of the heavens."

"Your arrogance makes me want to beat you senseless."

Zhou Zhou smiled calmly.

"Quite composed even at the brink of death."

"Still, composure means nothing."

"Your downfall is fated."

One Thought sneered and said so.

Then, without further words, he swept his right hand and instantly created a battlefield on the scale of a myriad of worlds.

Zhou Zhou's eyes flickered with surprise.

"This place from now on shall be my domain."

"I won't allow my territory to become a mess."

One Thought saw Zhou Zhou's expression, and with a gentle smile, said,

"You've thought this through quite thoroughly."

Zhou Zhou laughed.

One Thought snorted coldly, then immediately raised the Emperor's Supreme Dao Sword, pointing it directly at Zhou Zhou, and coldly commanded,

"Full assault!"

"Reclaim our godland!"

"Yes!"

A total of 25 jing, 9423 million, 7507 billion, 8227 million, 9324 soldiers, 57,620,3871 deities, 12,315 true gods, and 53 supreme gods roared in unison.

They surged forward together.

Both sides tacitly agreed that they had not hired any divine personnel from the Life Ark.

After all, everyone had it, and using it wouldn't grant any advantage—only waste the fog hearts and divine crystals spent on recruitment.

Soon.

Combat erupted between the two sides.

Because Zhou Zhou still had a portion of his forces stationed on Blue Star, disguised as the army of the Commoner Empire, the forces of the Jiaoyang Empire were completely outmaneuvered from the outset by the replicated armies of the One Thought God-Monster.

This was the first time in Zhou Zhou's history that he had been subjected to such overwhelming numerical pressure.

Though he had anticipated it mentally, seeing this scene still left him helpless.

It truly was the hardest to fight against oneself.

Yet he had no solution.

He could only watch helplessly as the scene unfolded, waiting for his hidden countermeasure to arrive.

At that very moment.

He suddenly perceived a distant thought, instantly raising his hand. Then, a wave of invisible ripples emanated from the center of his palm, spreading outward across the entire battlefield, swiftly engulfing every inch of it.

Meanwhile.

Zhou Zhou emitted a faint glow of golden light.

This golden light, upon encountering the invisible ripple, seemed to trigger an immediate reaction—expanding simultaneously, it spread across the battlefield in an instant, forming an unshakable shield that protected the armies of the Jiaoyang Empire from the effects of the other’s invisible ripples.

"You and I are the same," Zhou Zhou said, his face oddly expressionless.

"Can't you just play with it like that?"

The thought responded coldly.

Could he truly claim curiosity?

This was a tactic of the Lord's rule—though He, as a phantom god-mage of chaos, had never employed it more than a few times since His inception.

Zhou Zhou pursed his lips, remaining silent.

Then He, along with His own avatar and His single thought, and His avatar once more, silently chose not to participate in the conflict below.

The same reason, again.

No matter which side entered the war, the other would inevitably follow.

Once the forces were equal, fighting would become meaningless.

Thus,

why not simply observe from the sidelines, waiting for the battle below to decide its outcome?

As he watched,

a sinister smile curled at the corner of One-Thought's mouth.

For He clearly saw that His legion of clones, leveraging numerical superiority, was gradually expanding His advantages across every facet of the battlefield.

As long as this continued, in no time at all, His forces would have nearly a hundred percent certainty of securing victory on the field!

Then,

Every aspect of the famed Celestial Emperor Sovereign of all realms would become His own!

That was the very purpose of the Founding War!

It was directly ordained by the Supreme Will—no one could ever defy it.

Thinking of the unimaginable wealth and power possessed by this Celestial Emperor Sovereign, a tremor surged through His divine body!