Chapter 1744 — You Are Not Worthy

Five days later, the remnants of Wuyou Township finally arrived at the Lanfeng Valley. The ambushes, raids, and losses along the way had left the great Wuyou army with less than thirty percent of its original strength.

Fortunately, Wei Suifeng, the Northern Emperor Xuanwu, the Southern Emperor Zhuque, the Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu, and others had led the Jingping army to rendezvous with Di Yiyue and his forces, deterring the Heavenly Court's divine and naval armies from acting rashly, which was the only reason they had been able to reach the Lanfeng Valley at all. Whether it was Wei Suifeng's troops, the soldiers under the Northern Emperor, or the warriors of the Southern Emperor, the Crimson Emperor, and Wuyou Township, morale was uniformly low.

This was especially true of Wei Suifeng's troops—the Yulin Guard, whose cultivations had mostly been at the Jade Capital and Lingxiao realms, a ferocious force capable of doing battle with Heavenly Venerables. Now every last one of them had plummeted directly to the God-Slaying Platform or Nine Hells Platform realm, their cultivation and strength severely diminished.

Many soldiers of Wuyou Township had likewise cultivated to the Jade Capital and Lingxiao realms, and in this moment they too had all been cut down to the God-Slaying Platform realm. Even the mighty—the Martial Celestial Master Zhuo Cha, Yan Yunxi, Di Yiyue, the Indra Heavenly King Li Youran, the Azure Emperor, Tian Shu, and others—had all been reduced to the God-Slaying Platform realm! Yet the most pitiful of all was not them, but the Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu.

Qi Xiayu had originally cultivated nine Heavenly Palaces and refined a Minor Heavenly Court, and now she too had fallen directly to the God-Slaying Platform realm, stripped of three and a half realms of cultivation!

They were, after all, the leaders of their respective armies, and their Dao hearts were extraordinary—they would not collapse on the spot. But the blow to the soldiers of each army was devastating.

There was no path forward in cultivation any longer, and the commanders of every army had been weakened so severely—if the Heavenly Court were to attack again, how could they possibly resist?

What was more, the Left Guard of Divine Strategy had already led the great army of the Youdu demon race to the rear of the Lanfeng Valley, forming a pincer attack with the Heavenly Court's forces from front and back. Above were the Xuandu armies, below were the Youdu armies—a complete encirclement was in place!

This battle offered no hope. It drained many of their courage to fight on.

By contrast, many Jingping soldiers were not greatly affected. First, Jingping had existed for a relatively short time, and few among them had cultivated to the Jade Capital, Lingxiao, or Imperial Throne realms; those who had reached the Heavenly Court realm numbered only Shen Mu himself.

Second, the Jingping reforms had added the Four Heavenly Gates realm, the Heavenly Sea realm, the Nine Hells Platform realm, and other realms to the Heavenly Palace system. Even without the Jade Capital, Lingxiao, Imperial Throne, and Heavenly Court realms, the impact on them was minimal. There were moreover some generals—such as the Ming Emperor, the Crimson Emperor, Shu Jun, Granny Zhu, Zai Fu, Li Zheng, and others of the older generation—who had never walked the traditional Heavenly Palace system.

They walked the Dao Realm system instead.

Though the Primordial Human Emperor had walked the path of the Heavenly Palace system, he had walked the path of cultivating both Heavenly Palace and Dao Realm together.

And the reborn A Chou and Tian Gong also walked the Dao Realm path, so the impact on them was slight. The younger generation—Yun Jianli, Zhe Huali, Wang Muran, Qi Jiuyi, and others—hailed from the Jingping Academy of Dao. Along their cultivation journey, they had long since availed themselves of the Academy's reform achievements, and had not walked the traditional cultivation system. Instead, after entering the Heavenly Palace realm, they had studied the achievements of Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua, and each had attained remarkable accomplishments of their own.

As for the even younger generation—Hua Xuanxiu, Patriarch Wen Yuan, and others—they had studied the Ancestral Court Dao Realm system of Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua from the very foundation, and had no such concerns.

Yet the impact of this matter on the overall course of the war was immense. Had the Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master not unleashed the Jade Capital Trap and stripped away the four great realms, then upon Shen Mu's return, they could have launched a counterattack against the Heavenly Court!

But now, for Jingping to simply hold on and not be annihilated was already a stroke of sheer luck!

The Moon Heavenly Venerable, the Nether Heavenly Venerable, Lang Wan, and others wore expressions of hidden worry.

After this sudden upheaval erupted, they had resolutely severed the Jade Capital Cities within their Heavenly Palaces, decisively leveled their Lingxiao Halls, and retained only their individual Heavenly Palaces. Their cultivation in the Dao Realm was exceedingly high; though the loss of these four realms dealt no small blow to their cultivation, they still retained six or seven tenths of their strength. But the Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu—her cultivation and strength now amounted to only a few thousandths of what they had been. That was the truly terrifying part.

And there were many others who had been similarly weakened! The Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu looked toward the Indra Heavenly King Li Youran with some hesitation.

She saw that this man was no longer the handsome monk of former days, but a ferocious demon god with a hideous visage, so much so that for a moment she dared not recognize him. She nonetheless summoned her courage and stepped forward, saying, "This fellow disciple, you resemble an old friend of mine.

" Li Youran, ashamed of his wretched state, avoided her without response.

Qi Xiayu stepped forward once more and said, "I knew a monk from Wuyou Township. His name was Li Youran. He was once the Indra Heavenly King Buddha of the Buddhist realm.

" Li Youran could not evade her, and said, "The female benefactor has mistaken me for someone else. Over there are the Buddhist soldiers of the Buddhist order, coming down the mountain to save people.

That Battle Void Tathagata should know the Indra Heavenly King Buddha you speak of.

" Qi Xiayu did not go to see the Battle Void Tathagata, but instead stared fixedly at him and said, "No matter what Li Youran has become, I would recognize him.

" Li Youran remained unmoved. "Imperial Brother, come and give a lecture.

" Above the Lanfeng Valley, Shen Mu looked down, taking in the myriad expressions of sentient beings, and said, "Speak of your cultivation system for three days, and let everyone in the Lanfeng Valley hear it.

" Lan Yutian scratched his head and said in a low voice, "Brother, Xu Shenghua once told me that what I speak of is too profound, and few can understand it.

If I lecture on the Ancestral Court Dao Realm cultivation system, I fear not many of these gods and demons will grasp it. And in three days, even if they could comprehend the Ancestral Court Dao Realm system, I'm afraid they could not cultivate it.

" "No matter. " Shen Mu said, "You just speak.

Those who can comprehend the various realms of the Ancestral Court Dao Realm system within these three days are all extraordinarily talented people, and these people must also be experts of the traditional Heavenly Palace system. They will benefit greatly, and in the future they can teach others.

After you speak for three days, Li Zheng and Granny, each of you will speak for three days as well.

" Li Zheng Su Mozhe and Granny Zhu nodded.

Granny Zhu said dubiously, "What we comprehend is surely far inferior to that of a founder like Lan Yutian. What use is there in us lecturing?