Chapter 1729 — Bloodbath at Jade Cliff Pass

By the time his Sword Dao's Thirtieth Heaven fully unfurled, the golden molten metal and iron formed from the million divine weapons had transformed into the forms of thirty heavens, frozen solid!

Sword-light shone upon those thirty heavens.

Countless fine, dense Sword Dao runes leapt and danced within those heavens, like Sword Dao steel seals. The Sword Dao runes were the most fundamental sword moves, only twenty sword forms in all.

The twentieth form was the Sword Domain! The thirty heavens were like a massive Sword Dao divine artifact, appearing in all its splendid and magnificent glory amidst those dozen-plus Imperial Throne powerhouses.

These Imperial Throne powerhouses were dodging the Village Chief's sword-light.

By the time they evaded his sword moves, they suddenly realized they had fallen within this massive divine artifact! The Village Chief roared like thunder, driving his Sword Dao—yet this massive divine artifact did not stir in the slightest.

The successive generations of Human Sovereigns led the Jingping officers and soldiers beneath their command, standing in strict formation, ready to meet the charging Southern Heaven army. Seeing the Village Chief's face flushed red yet unable to activate that Thirtieth Heaven Sword Dao divine artifact, they hurriedly shouted, "Young Su!

Why aren't you activating your Sword Dao?

" "I don't have enough mana! " The Village Chief's forehead was covered in cold sweat. He truly wished to fully activate the power of this Sword Dao divine artifact, but the artifact's completion was beyond what his mana could command! The dozen-plus Southern Heaven Imperial Throne powerhouses each breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately charged toward the outside of the Thirtieth Heaven Sword Dao divine artifact, attempting to cut the Village Chief down before he could activate the artifact.

Just then, the First Ancestor Human Sovereign stepped forward: "Su Muzhe, Primordial Spirit Resonance!

" The Village Chief understood. His Primordial Spirit soared into the air, and the First Ancestor's Primordial Spirit flew out at the same moment.

The two Primordial Spirits crossed in midair, their vital energies converging—and the power of the Thirtieth Heaven Sword Dao divine artifact instantly erupted! The power of the Sword Dao divine artifact was immeasurably greater than the Village Chief's sword moves.

In an instant it enveloped those dozen-plus Southern Heaven Imperial Throne powerhouses.

The Sword Dao that burst forth in that moment created a magnificent spectacle of layered heavens rotating in the skies above the Southern Sea! In that instant, the brilliance of the Sword Dao was clearly visible even to the Southern Emperor, Qi Xiayu, and the others who were hunting down the remnants of the Southern Heaven forces. They could not help but look up.

"Has the Founding Emperor been reborn? Or has Lord Mu Tianzun made his move? " Qi Xiayu wondered, uncertain. The first heaven of the Thirtieth Heaven Sword Dao divine artifact was not particularly powerful, but the higher one went, the stronger it became.

Three Southern Heaven Imperial Throne powerhouses trapped in the Thirtieth Heaven were instantly devoured by the Sword Dao's power, sliced to pieces, their bodies and Primordial Spirits utterly obliterated! The other dozen-plus Southern Heaven powerhouses forced their way out, but were covered in wounds.

Most miserable were those in the Twenty-Ninth and Twenty-Eighth Heavens—scarcely a whole piece of flesh could be found on their bodies.

In the very instant they burst free of the Sword Dao divine artifact, that massive artifact abruptly collapsed, shattering into fine dust. After all, the Sword Dao divine artifact had not been personally refined; it was the Village Chief's Sword Dao that, by chance, had transformed the molten million divine weapons into a Sword Dao divine artifact. After this one eruption of power, it had exceeded the artifact's capacity to endure—and thus it shattered. Even so, the results of this strike were extraordinary.

At the same time, the million defeated Southern Heaven gods and demons charged up Jade Cliff Pass, and the successive generations of Human Sovereigns, leading the Jingping officers and soldiers, immediately fell into a death struggle! "Hold fast! " The Human Sovereign Qi Kang shouted, "Hold until the Southern Emperor and Qi Xiayu arrive—then we win!

" "Those who block me, die! " The Southern Heaven soldiers came charging like mad demons, terrifying to behold.

They knew that if they were stopped at Jade Cliff Pass, what awaited them would surely be pursuit by the two Emperors of Red and Bright, the Red Emperor, the Southern Emperor, and the others. By then, all of them would be buried here. Only by carving out a bloody path and breaking through Jade Cliff Pass could they join forces with the Heavenly Court's army!

This war was truly a battle of blood and gore, a meat grinder, and the most terrifying battle of cornered beasts.

The defeated Southern Heaven army went mad, fearless of death. No matter how many were slain, not one retreated or surrendered!

Around the successive Human Sovereigns, familiar faces fell one by one.

Even Human Sovereigns suffered losses.

And the First Ancestor, joining hands with the Village Chief to face more than a dozen Imperial Throne powerhouses, fought an even more savagely brutal battle.

Gradually, the sky darkened, yet the fighting at Jade Cliff Pass had still not ended. In the distance, a Moon Keeper passed by. Moonlight spilled down, illuminating Jade Cliff Pass, stained red with blood and gore.

The battle continued.

The moon tilted; the Moon Keeper steered his Soul Boat farther and farther away. By the time the moon vanished and the sunlight of the Sun Boat gradually rose, the Red Emperor Qi Xiayu's Phoenix Ship and the Southern Emperor Yanyu, leading the Jingping Feiyu Army, finally arrived at Jade Cliff Pass. The armies of the Red Emperor and Bright Emperor were slower, still behind.

They looked ahead and saw that along the unbroken chain of mighty passes at Jade Cliff Pass, the bodies of gods and demons hung everywhere.

And at the cliff base below the pass, the ground was also piled full of gods' and demons' corpses.

Within the pass, waves of divine ability still emanated. The Red Emperor Qi Xiayu immediately steered the Phoenix Ship forward, leaping over Jade Cliff Pass. They saw the battlefield stretching nearly a thousand li behind the pass, strewn everywhere with fallen gods and demons, the fires of war still burning.

The Phoenix Ship flew on, catching up to where the divine ability waves originated.

There they saw the First Ancestor Human Sovereign, Su Muzhe, and the others leading several thousand Jingping officers and soldiers, fighting the enemy in near-mad desperation. And beside the First Ancestor, only six or seven generals remained.

Of a hundred thousand officers and soldiers, only these were left.

Even of the Human Sovereigns, only eight survived. The battle of Jade Cliff Pass had been unimaginably brutal.

The First Ancestor looked up, his eyes filled with blood. Through the blood, he saw countless nine-headed phoenixes flying toward him from the Phoenix Ship. Bloody tears streamed from his eyes. They had finally held out until this moment.

The defeated Southern Heaven army was completely annihilated by the forces of the Red Emperor and the Southern Emperor Yanyu. The Red Emperor and Bright Emperor also led the Red-Bright army in belated arrival. The commanders met at Jade Cliff Pass, each silent, wordless.

The battle of Jade Cliff Pass had been too brutal.

Yet Shen Mu had no way to send more troops—he could only let the First Ancestor and the others pile up flesh and blood, hold the line with their bodies.

The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.