The members of the one-eyed giants, the Celestial Race, the Wood Race, and the Ghost Race on the Fifth Continent lived in constant dread.
The elderly, weak, and infirm of their races had been left behind, unqualified and powerless to take part in the battles above.
Even so, the outcome of the battles still weighed heavily on their hearts. They understood all too well that victory or defeat would determine their fate.
When the towering Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar lit up with blinding azure radiance, they feared disaster was upon them.
Unexpectedly, the azure radiance from the pillar spread out to envelop the entire continent.
The same light that once cast their mightiest warriors from the skies had turned into a protective canopy!
Such was the fickleness of fate. The world was truly full of ironies.
The foreign races cheered, some dropping to their knees in reverent prayers.
Only the Sovereign's power could turn the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars into a shield.
Before long, they saw a True God approach, emanating a fearsome aura from his Dharma Idol.
A blinding streak of azure light pierced through him.
The True God of the human race, Wanderer Tian Du, was dead.
Excitement stirred within the inhabitants of the Fifth Continent at his death. It seemed the war had entered its climax.
There was no other reason for a True God to charge into the Fifth World otherwise.
Some time later, two resplendent clusters of radiant clouds shot through the skies. An unseen force was drawing them toward the top of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar on the Fifth Continent.
"No idea. Looks like two rainbows."
"Why are they flying toward the top of the pillar?"
Murmurs of confusion filled the air as startled eyes watched the two clusters of radiant clouds, symbolizing Fortune, descend on Eight Trigrams City.
Dense murky energy churned within the City Lord's Mansion.
A copper chest floated quietly to the surface of the pool within the mansion's courtyard.
The lid creaked open, swallowed the two clusters of Fortune, and closed itself once more.
Then, just as silently, the copper chest sank back beneath the water.
No figures appeared, nor could any voices be heard. A supreme will simply guided everything from the shadows, driving them ever onward along the path it had long since ordained.
Outside the Fifth Continent, a colossal fist, brimming with dense murky energy, crashed down upon the azure barrier.
The impact exploded with a cascade of brilliant teal light, scattering like a rain of stardust.
Constellations twinkled across the radiant barrier. Suns and moons shimmered to life, and the five elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth danced alongside frost and lightning.
Everything that defined the Abyss manifested on the barrier, from rivers and mountains to the myriad human sects and their arrays.
The combined wisdom of the True Gods, the amassed karma of the Divine Kingdoms, and the Heavenly Daos of the divine beings of the Abyss were all intricately woven into the fabric of the barrier!
Even Zhu Ji's heaven-shattering strike, imbued with his Dao of Power, failed to breach the azure barrier.
Zhu Ji knitted his brows, a trace of fatigue appearing on his face.
"I can still draw upon the murky energy of this world, but the aura of death has increasingly intermingled with it, causing it to seep into my flesh and blood whenever I exert myself," he said with a shake of his head.
Glancing over, Li Wang saw that Zhu Ji had lost a great deal of vitality. If he continued hammering at the barrier shrouding the Fifth Continent, the aura of death would only accelerate its erosion of Zhu Ji's vitality.
It was possible that Zhu Ji's body and soul would wither away before the barrier broke.
Either Zhu Ji would die first, or the barrier would break. There was no other path forward.
Even Li Zhaotian's storm of sword light, Gui Mu's Pool of Reincarnation, and Su Wanrou's concentrated poisons merely left superficial marks on the azure barrier.
There were countless arrays in the Abyss, but the ones built into the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars were the undisputed strongest. They embodied the collective wisdom and strength of generations of True Gods.
Moreover, they were the legacy of the ancient True Gods.
One of the most powerful Fey Gods in the history of the Fey Race, the Celestial Phoenix, had even imbued the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars with her profound insights.
These Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars had now fallen into Luo Hongyan's hands. She had deciphered and empowered the pillars, turning them into unshakable bastions.
"The power I gained after merging with the barrier cannot be fully unleashed in the Fifth World," Li Zhaotian said, his frustration evident after delivering several more futile sword strikes. "Li Wang, this isn't going to work."
"If I had a better idea, I would've done it already," Li Wang replied, glancing toward Zhu Ji. "Keep going."
Zhu Ji silently gathered his strength once more.
The vitality within him drained away as the aura of death seeped deeper into his body, but he resolutely continued, unhesitatingly trusting Li Wang's instructions.
"Let's all synchronize our attacks with Zhu Ji's to shatter the barrier!" Li Wang commanded.
In the bizarre mist of Absolute Heaven in the Second World, Dong Tianze wielded his Bloodthirsty Sword in relentless pursuit of a Rank Nine Ghost Race warrior.
A crimson sword light, reeking of the metallic stench of blood and emanating an aura of savagery, pierced through the Ghost Race warrior's back.
When the blood-red glow faded, the only thing that remained was a bare skeleton.
The warrior's flesh and blood had all been stripped away.
The bizarre mist was filled with many such skeletons, all victims of Dong Tianze and his Bloodthirsty Sword.
Dong Tianze roamed the bizarre mist, hunting down foreign race warriors and leaving a trail of skeletons in his wake.
The knowledge that both Pang Jian and Wu Yuan had already ascended to godhood stirred an intense urgency within him.
Not long after, the blood-colored sword light flew back, condensing into a slender thread of blood.
Dong Tianze opened his mouth and, with a look of pure satisfaction, swallowed the thread of blood as if savoring the finest delicacy.
His heart pounded violently. A thunderous thumping echoed throughout his chest.
To the left! A hundred li! the sword soul within the Bloodthirsty Sword shrieked.
Dong Tianze's blood-colored divine soul in his sea of consciousness felt like it was about to explode.
An unfathomable surge of blood essence pulsed within the bizarre mist to his left.
It was a vast amount of blood essence beyond anything he could have ever imagined!
Dong Tianze shot toward the source at full speed and soon saw a churning mass of crimson emerge from the gray bizarre mist.
The sight of the pure blood essence made his blood boil with excitement!
Using his understanding of the Blood God Technique and his keen perception of blood, he vaguely discerned that these droplets of blood essence came from Rank Nine foreign race warriors of the Fifth World!
He sensed some that even appeared to be from Rank Ten powerhouses!
Among these was the blood essence of a Black Dragon, a Blazing Qilin, and an ice-covered serpent!
Liu Fu's Blood Vault has fallen! the sword soul crowed. Who did it? Who broke Liu Fu's seal and stole the blood essence in the Blood Vault?
They even refined the blood essence within the Blood Vault and brought it right before us!
The sword soul let out a series of shrill, eerie howls of excitement.
It doesn't matter who did it, Dong Tianze replied. I won't let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away!
Streaking toward the crimson mass, he tossed aside the Bloodthirsty Sword and plunged his emaciated body directly into the swirling blood.
The blood essence melted into his flesh like rain into the sea.
His cultivation realm, physique, and comprehension of the Blood God Technique surged at an unimaginable rate.
The Bloodthirsty Sword hovered to the side, quivering with eagerness. Although it desperately yearned to join in and siphon a share of the blood essence, it remained suspended in place.
The fact that Dong Tianze tossed it away meant he planned to claim all the blood essence for himself.
After spending all this time with Dong Tianze, the sword soul was intimately familiar with his ruthless nature.
If it dared to overstep and approach, the Bloodthirsty Sword would survive, but the same could not be said for the sword soul within.
At this point, Dong Tianze was already strong enough to annihilate it if he wished.
Compliance was the sword soul's only option.
The sword soul sighed. All hope is gone.
No one will be able to restrain this madman once he absorbs that blood essence.
But who is helping him? They plundered Liu Fu's Blood Vault for this. Could they have killed Liu Fu?
The sword soul pondered silently.
Time had no meaning in the bizarre mist. There was no way to keep track of it without certain special artifacts.
The sword soul neither cared for the passage of time nor had such artifacts, so it was unaware of how long it took for Dong Tianze to absorb the blood essence.
Eventually, the last drop of blood essence merged into Dong Tianze's body.
Dong Tianze opened his blood-red eyes, his gaze piercing as he said, We're leaving this bizarre mist.
Anywhere besides the bizarre mist will do.
What are you planning to do?
To ascend to godhood.
With that, Dong Tianze soared away on the Bloodthirsty Sword.
A long while later, a crimson sword light shot out from the bizarre mist and into the Second World.
The Bloodthirsty Sword hovered silently as Dong Tianze sat down on its blade, quietly channeling the blood essence coursing through his body.
A dazzling cluster of radiant clouds, representing Fortune, plummeted from the skies of the First World, stirring the attention of many watchful eyes.
The radiant cluster of Fortune drifted downward until it hovered right above Dong Tianze's head.
The crown of his head generated an unfathomable pull, like the most terrifying vortex in existence.
It typically took True Gods ages to refine and absorb Fortune.
Dong Tianze, however, simply drew it straight into his sea of consciousness in one effortless pull.
A mere hour later, he opened his eyes, licked his lips, and stood up from the Bloodthirsty Sword.
It's done? Just like that? the sword soul shrieked incredulously.
Dong Tianze hummed in casual confirmation, with no trace of pride or excitement. Like Pang Jian and Wu Yuan, I've fused a cluster of Fortune with my divine soul and became a Blood God.
It was as if ascending to godhood was no more difficult than drinking water or eating a meal to Dong Tianze.
Let's head back, Dong Tianze said, maneuvering the Bloodthirsty Sword to return to the bizarre mist.
He sought to stabilize his ascension and explore the mysteries of the True God Realm with Wu Yuan.