Chapter 1625: Battle!

Chapter 1625: Battle!

By the Lake of the Shadow Moon.

This is a realm of the Shadow Moon within the Domain of the Underworld.

Stretching endlessly, the lake of pure, icy cold reflects a single star of the Shadow Moon. Vast and overwhelming, the power of the Shadow Moon hovers upon the lake's surface, casting a chill upon anyone who gazes upon it.

Some divine beings who have mastered the laws of 'shadow' linger by the lake, drawing upon the potent Shadow energy radiating from its waters to elevate their own divine realms, and to deeply comprehend the pure and dense laws of the Shadow Moon.

High above, directly above the lake, Zhou Zhan, Tian Ren's will, and the Will of the Cycle stand still, calmly observing the divine beings below.

"Brother, let's clear the area."

Zhou Zhan spoke.

"Very well."

The Will of the Cycle glanced downward at the divine beings of the Illusory Clan, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

These deluded deities of the false lineage, having seized control of the Yellow Springs Realm, claimed the finest cultivation sites within it for themselves, driving or slaughtering the native deities who had once practiced there—thus came about the place by the Silver Lake.

Therefore, the Cyclic Will had no objection to Zhou Zhan's plan.

Clearing these insignificant pests away would prevent any interference with their great battle here later.

Zhou Zhan nodded in agreement and then issued orders to his subordinates.

Immediately after issuing the command, Bai Yun led a small contingent of deities from the Prairial Divine Nation into the shores of the Silver Lake. Within less than a minute, they expelled every single deity within a radius of one hundred thousand light years around the lake.

The process was remarkably simple.

These beings were at best at the level of Precise Supreme Will.

The Prairial Divine Nation brought along twenty such powerful figures—each at the Precise Supreme Will level—and driving them away was a matter of mere ease.

Once Bai Yun returned with her forces, Zhou Zhan and the Cyclic Will observed that the Unyielding King had not yet arrived. So, they simply arranged their forces in the sky, sipping tea and waiting.

A moment passed.

What they saw from afar was strange.

Zhou Zhan and the Will of the Cycle sensed it, turning their gaze toward the horizon.

And there, in a matter of moments, countless cosmic warships surged from the distance, halting at a distance not far from them.

Then, in waves, vast numbers of soldiers and deities from the Realm of Illusion poured out of the warships. Soon, the sky was filled with their forms—every inch of the heavens now teeming with the soldiers and spirits of the Realm of Illusion.

They stood in direct confrontation with the armies of the Sunlit Divine Realm and the forces under the Will of the Cycle. In sheer numbers, the soldiers and spirits of the Realm of Illusion outnumbered the combined forces of the Sunlit Divine Realm and the Will of the Cycle by more than double!

Zhou Zhan could only marvel.

It was clear that the Realm of Illusion truly valued the Yellow Afterlife Domain—their first conquered realm. They had sent such a massive force here.

At that very moment,

Four figures emerged from within the army.

It was precisely the four supreme willful beings, led by the Fearless King!

Two upper-tier supreme willful beings, one mid-tier supreme willful being, and one lower-tier supreme willful being!

The four supreme willful beings radiated an overwhelming pressure, silencing every living creature within this realm.

All the non-combatant members of the Illusory Clan and the native beings of the Yellow Springs Realm watched from outside the battlefield.

They knew.

The outcome of this battle would decisively determine the true fate of the Yellow Springs Realm!

"Waiting for you for so long," said the Cycle Will, addressing the Fearless King and his companions.

His voice carried a simmering fury and rage, barely restrained.

Having been chased across their own territory by these brutes for so long, his heart had long been seething with resentment.

Now this energy is about to be released.

At this moment, He even looks forward to the great battle ahead more than Zhou Zhan does.

"Imperial Sovereign of the People!"

The Fearless King glanced at the Cyclic Will, but ignored both Him and the Heaven-Blade Will, instead fixing his gaze upon Zhou Zhan.

"He's you—YOU killed my three brothers."

"Yes, and what of it?"

Zhou Zhan replied calmly.

"Fine, fine!"

The Fearless King's rage surged, "A mere third-tier Supreme God! How dare you show such fearless defiance before me? I shall hand over my title of the Fearless King to you!"

"You killed my three brothers—then let me have you in return!"

"You are the Third Reserve of the Supreme Lord. Killing you would leave the Supreme Will reeling for days!"

"My three fallen brothers didn't die in vain!"

The Cyclic Will and Zhou Zhan said nothing to dispute it.

That was indeed true.

After all, the Heavenly Sovereign of the People was the sole Supreme Lord reserve selected by the Supreme Will through an immense investment of resources and effort, via a grand competition involving master lords from countless realms and universes!

If the Heavenly Sovereign perished easily, it would be no different from the Supreme Will suffering a massive blow.

"Want to take my life?"

Zhou Zhan gave a faint smile. "Then show me what you've got."

"Very well!"

The King of Fear laughed outright.

He had never seen a Supreme God so brazen in confronting him.

"Kill!!"

Zhou Zhan said no more, simply activating "The King," elevating his power to the level of lower Supreme Will, and charging straight toward the King of Fear.

The Cyclic Will surged toward the other upper Supreme Will.

As for the Heaven Blade Will, it would handle the remaining mid-level Supreme Will and one lower-level Supreme Will on its own!

This was the division they had planned beforehand.

Their strategy was simple:

Zhou Zhan would first eliminate the strongest foe—the King of Fear—then assist the Heaven Blade Will, and finally surround and attack the last upper Supreme Will.

If Zhou Zhan could defeat the King of Fear, the rest would be nothing but a distant shadow.

Yet when the Fearless King beheld Zhou Zhan daring to charge directly toward him, he froze in fleeting bewilderment before bursting into a tempest of laughter.

"A mere Third-Tier Supreme God, even if a secret technique allows you to breach the threshold of a Lesser Supreme Will, what of it?"

"I am the High Supreme Will—the Fearless King himself!"

"Even if a hundred Lesser Supreme Wills conspired to strike me down at once, victory would still elude them!"

"Hahaha..."

With a booming laugh, the Fearless King surged forward to meet Zhou Zhan's advance.

His Sacred Will Artifact took the form of a pair of gauntlets, a Lesser Sacred Will Artifact.

One glance sufficed to reveal that the Fearless King was a powerhouse of the Supreme Will realm who specialized in the brutal art of close-quarters combat.

Beyond that, he was clad in a complete set of Sacred Will Artifacts, every single piece a High Sacred Will Artifact.

For the very first time, in a contest of pure equipment and armaments, Zhou Zhan actually found himself at a distinct disadvantage.

After the two collided, Zhou Zhan was immediately at a disadvantage.

Zhou Zhan did not panic at all; in fact, his mind began to analyze the situation.

"This Unyielding King must rank among the elite within the ranks of supreme willful beings."

Zhou Zhan thought to himself.

Then, he grew even more excited.

His will had just ascended to the lower tier of supreme will, and his strength now desperately needed a worthy opponent to test it.

The Unyielding King had arrived at the perfect moment.

With a burning desire to fight, Zhou Zhan engaged the Unyielding King in an even more intense battle.

No wonder this Unyielding King is a supreme willful being of the upper tier—dressed in a sacred artifact of upper-tier willpower, his combat strength was truly unparalleled.

Even with Zhou Zhan's willful sacred artifact and his supreme sacred body shielding him, he was still struck down in an instant, wounded all over.

Yet his divine body healed with incredible speed, the injuries vanishing as if they had never existed.

But moments later, he was wounded again—everywhere.

The Unfearful King ought to have been delighted.

Yet his expression betrayed no joy.

For he realized that although he could rely on his own strength and his consciousness-based sacred artifact to suppress the opponent, his invincible will artifact felt like an indestructible sack of sand—no matter how fiercely he attacked, he could not inflict any fatal damage.

He was deeply astonished within.

How had this body been forged?

Without resorting to any other tactics, he found himself powerless against this body, forced instead into a war of attrition, slowly eroding the opponent's physical strength.

He did not believe this body's regenerative power was limitless.

And most vexing of all, though He could lift bricks with his bare hands, this individual's martial cultivation had reached an exceedingly high level—no less than the mid-tier Supreme Will Realm—and from the subtle scent of their martial school, He sensed a faint, elusive familiarity.

"Imperial Martial School?!"

"You've actually mastered the Martial Arts of the Emperor?"

The Fearless King repelled Zhou Zhan's attack with a single punch, his voice tinged with astonishment.

How could someone so young have grasped the Imperial Martial School?

"Pay close attention."

"This is not the Imperial Martial School—it is my own creation, the People's School of Martial Arts, forged from the Imperial School!"

Zhou Zhan said nothing further, merely pressing forward with attacks based on the Imperial Martial School.

"Useless."

"You are only at the lower tier of Supreme Will Realm, while I stand at the upper tier, protected by a Sacred Will Artifact. Your blows against me are no different than a gentle massage."

The King of Fear laughed coldly.

"Then let's try again!"

Zhou Zhan's mind flickered, and the Yellow Springs Stone Plate and the Yellow Springs Imperial Sword materialized in his hands.

The Yellow Springs Stone Plate radiated a dim, yellow glow, and a continuous flow of Yellow Springs power surged forth, merging seamlessly into Zhou Zhan's divine body, instantly elevating his realm from the lower tier of Supreme Will to the mid-tier, then to the upper tier of Supreme Will.

Now, with the power of the upper tier Supreme Will and the offensive Yellow Springs Imperial Sword—a Supreme Will holy artifact—Zhou Zhan's combat strength surged by more than tenfold!

The King of Fear gazed upon Zhou Zhan, and for the first time, he felt a flicker of unease in his very core.

At that moment,

Zhou Zhan had already surged forward.

They clashed in an instant.

With the upper tier Supreme Will strength now within him, Zhou Zhan stood on par with the King of Fear in power, and with the offensive Yellow Springs Imperial Sword at his command, their first clash sent the King of Fear reeling—his sense of pressure from Zhou Zhan was ten times greater than before, and growing with every passing moment.

And what made the Divine One deeply uneasy was that, as the Yellow River Imperial Sword struck upon his armor, a fissure appeared in his upper-tier will artifact armor—cracked, as if split by a force beyond comprehension.

That blade, it seemed, ranked among the very elite within the hierarchy of upper-tier will artifacts.

His defensive will artifact—no, not merely defensive, but perhaps superior to the enemy’s—was clearly no match.

The King of Fearlessness gasped in alarm.

Yet within his eyes, a cold resolve flared.

“Fearless Body!”

He roared, and suddenly a faint glow enveloped his form.

That glow shielded him, and a smile bloomed upon his face.

Zhou Zhan, wielding the Yellow River Imperial Sword, charged forward—only to find that the attack, once unstoppable, now met no resistance, doing little more than brushing against his defenses.

He tried again and again. Each time, the result remained the same.

The King of Fear grinned with ferocious delight.

"I am the Fearless Sacred Body—unharmed by any ten thousand methods."

"Within our own race of delusions, I am immune to the damage inflicted by the majority of Conceptual Divine Powers."

"If you could command that legendary Delusion Holy Seal, I might feel even a sliver of fear."

"But you are merely a false Supreme Will being. Do you truly believe you can harm me with secret techniques and Will Sacred Weapons?"

"Let me not laugh—ha ha ha…"

Zhou Zhan said nothing.

Indeed, at this moment, he could not control that fragmented Delusion Holy Seal.

He sensed, faintly, that he could only activate the Delusion Holy Seal if he gathered all its fragments or elevated his power to the true level of Supreme Will.

Until then, the Delusion Holy Seal could offer him only protective functions—like when he previously slew the Death Whisperer.

But to have it actively attack enemies?

Basically impossible.

"Worthless Sacred Form,"

Zhou Zhan spoke slowly. "They say it was precisely through this concept-based divine ability that you fought against my brother, the Heavenly Punisher, on the Dusk Battlefield."

"You were driven back in panic, fleeing in disarray—then, even more, you've been too afraid to show yourself, only sending subordinates to fight against the Heavenly Punishment Legion under the Heavenly Punisher's command?"

"You?!"

The King of Fear instantly flushed crimson.

Zhou Zhan's words had pierced straight to the core of his deepest wound.

The Heavenly Punisher's Divine Punishment Lightning—how it was forged, no one knew. Even the King of Fear's own Sacred Form proved powerless against it. A single strike could leave him in agony for a full year. Since that fateful encounter, he had never dared face the Heavenly Punisher again—only risking confrontation through overwhelming armies.

Recalling all this, the King of Fear stared at Zhou Zhan, his eyes blazing with resentment and fury.

"I will grind you to dust and scatter your ashes!"

The King of Unfaltering Courage roared, and then he saw—himself split into three, three Kings of Unfaltering Courage appearing before him.

And with each, the sacred artifacts of his will were perfectly replicated.

Together, the three Kings of Unfaltering Courage launched a coordinated assault upon Zhou Zhan, instantly multiplying his pressure tenfold.

The Cyclical Will and the Heavenly Blade Will observed the situation on Zhou Zhan's side and felt their hearts race with anxiety, yet they could do nothing.

For both were lower-tier Supreme Will Beings engaged in cross-tier combat, struggling to hold their own, let alone offering aid to Zhou Zhan.

At that very moment—

"Throughout the world, there is no land not the king's!"

"Command of the Ten Thousand Laws and Stars!"

Two foundational techniques of law unfolded, and Zhou Zhan's power surged tenfold, beyond measure.

Yet the King of Fearlessness had seen his power dwindle by roughly ten percent.

That Fearless Body of his truly was formidable.

Even against Zhou Zhan's "Throughout the world, all is the sovereign's," it could only suppress the other's strength by a mere tenth.

"Enjoying summoning duplicates, do you?"

Zhou Zhan gazed at the three Kings of Fearlessness, his voice cold. "Brothers, come out."

Shh-shh-shh-shh!

Zhou Qi, Zhou Ba, Zhou Ji, and Zhou Shi-Wei appeared instantly around Zhou Zhan.

Together, they summoned the Kingship and shared the Yellow Spirit Power from the Yellow Spirit Stone Plate, their strength surging instantly to the level of Upper Supreme Will.

They regarded the Kings of Fearlessness as they would a corpse.