A Concubine, No Less — The Final War Begins
A Concubine, No Less — The Final War Begins
The sensation caused by this news was simply too enormous, leaving many cultivators unable to react for a time.
Countless people were speculating about the relationship between the Sky Deer Goddess and Gu Changge, as well as why she had appeared in the Beyond.
One had to know that this was a critical period of war between the two realms, where every rustle of grass seemed like an enemy soldier — let alone the appearance in the Beyond of a figure as important as the Sky Deer Goddess.
In the eyes of many, this seemed more like an extraordinary signal.
Many ancient existences began to speculate, feeling it was very likely that the Sky Deer Goddess had merely been suppressed by Gu Changge and was unable to escape. But soon after, an even more shocking piece of news spread, once again raising the already enormous waves to new heights.
In an instant, it swept through every Daoist orthodoxy and power — even the upper echelons of the Immortal Gu Family were left dumbfounded.
The Sky Deer Goddess was staying by Gu Changge’s side not as a so-called hostage or anything of the sort, but in the status of a Concubine.
When this news spread, it raged like a hurricane, leaving all cultivators and living beings wide-eyed in disbelief.
The dignified Sky Deer Goddess — an invincible figure of an entire era, with peerless talent and a transcendent status — how could she be willing to serve as a Concubine beside a young man?
Although that man was Gu Changge...
Even so, in the eyes of many, this was something unimaginable, far too inconceivable.
Many young prodigies were shaken to their core, unable to recover their senses for a long time.
The status of a Concubine was inferior to that of a proper wife, though it was quite common among many great clans.
But for an existence like the Sky Deer Goddess, becoming a Concubine was an absolute humiliation — death would have been preferable.
How could she have agreed to it?
Or was this her own choice, an attempt to trade something with Gu Changge?
For a time, all sorts of speculation arose. Some great clans and ancient orthodoxies, in particular, began to deduce...
In the end, they concluded that the victory in the great war at the Aether Abyss against the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains might very well have had something to do with the Sky Deer Goddess.
This left them with mixed feelings. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that the guardian deity of Sky Deer City, who had resisted the Beyond for so long, would now appear in the Beyond in such a manner.
It could truly be called the cruel trickery of fate.
In an instant, opinions flew everywhere, and speculation ran rampant.
“The Sky Deer Goddess? A Concubine?”
“Where did this even come from? Gu Changge never mentioned it before.”
Gu Xianer’s delicate brows knitted together, and a strange sense of unease suddenly welled up in her heart.
She felt inexplicably irritated.
“Young Master Changge is so outstanding — perhaps the Sky Deer Goddess was won over by him, and that’s why she surrendered to the Beyond.”
Beside her, An Yan’s face was beaming with an innocent, radiant smile, looking every bit like someone who deeply admired Gu Changge.
Gu Xianer glanced at her, her brows knitting even tighter. She felt that ever since An Yan had met privately with Gu Changge that one time...
Her entire attitude toward Gu Changge had undergone an enormous transformation.
The feeling she gave off was just like those heaven-blessed maidens who could hardly conceal their admiration at the mere mention of Gu Changge’s name.
This was nothing like the An Yan she had known before.
However, when she had asked An Yan what exactly Gu Changge had wanted with her that day, An Yan had kept her lips sealed, refusing to say a single word.
Gu Xianer could only let the matter drop.
“Taking the Sky Deer Goddess as a Concubine — as expected of Brother Gu. Though it seems the Sky Deer Goddess must have compromised in the end.”
Within a palace hall, Wang Zijin sat cross-legged, her entire body suffused with an aura of Celestial Spirit.
At the center of her brow, there seemed to be some dazzling radiance hidden away, flashing past with a terrifying aura that made all living beings tremble.
Hearing this news, she couldn’t help but break into a smile, one that brightened the somewhat dim palace considerably.
“The call of the Immortal World?”
She shook her head slightly, and the radiance at her brow gradually faded away.
“But now is not yet the time. I haven’t pushed him down yet.”
And soon, in the blink of an eye, several months passed. Over at the Boundary Marker Sea, the terrifying commotion of giant waves battering the heavens and worlds turning had already vanished.
Just as the Beyond had speculated, after resisting for the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains for countless years, the Boundary Marker Sea had finally welcomed the day of its exhaustion.
Boom!!
The firmament trembled, the universe roared, and the entire cosmos could scarcely bear it.
Great stars shuddered one after another, as if they would crack apart under this unimaginable aura, crumbling into dust, shattering into ash.
It was an unimaginably terrifying sight — heaven and earth ran dry, and time and space fell into chaos.
One ancient world after another came under oppression, intimidated by that world-suppressing aura.
Terrifying figures from every race and every orthodoxy crossed through space, tearing apart the universe to descend upon this place, their bodies shrouded in thick mist, their might boundless.
There was the terrifying Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow with eyes like blood moons; there were colossal war beasts with bodies as vast as continents; and there was the Ancient God Clan, walking while carrying stars upon their backs.
Such a sight left all living beings trembling in despair.
The great army of the Beyond had finally arrived, crossing over the Boundary Marker Sea, with numerous True Daoists appearing and descending together.
Beyond that, there were even ancient-level figures who were truly close to immortality, beings who had not awakened for many epochs — a mere gaze from them was enough to make ordinary True Daoists tremble all over.
Rumble!!
Between heaven and earth, a great rift valley stretching tens of millions of miles appeared, from which Chaos Energy surged forth, flooding the four seas and eight wastelands.
Countless troops charged out from within, a mighty and endless torrent.
The commotion of the great cosmic tunnel was far too terrifying, suppressing the entire stretch of spacetime to the point of collapse into nothingness, while distant lands trembled.
Nearly every powerhouse of the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains felt this terrifying fluctuation, their expressions graver than ever before, sensing that the final battle was about to arrive.
The invincible figures who would decide the outcome of this war for the Beyond were about to descend outside Sky Deer City.
The entire Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains began mustering all their forces, rushing toward Sky Deer City.
And during this time, news of the Sky Deer Goddess appearing on the side of the Beyond naturally reached the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains as well, triggering a terrifying earthquake of shock even greater than in the Beyond.
Many cultivators and living beings refused to believe it at first, but in the end they discovered it was an undeniable fact.
In an instant, they felt a profound despair.
Even the Sky Deer Goddess had surrendered to the Beyond — so what of them? Should they continue fighting and resisting the Beyond?
Even more people felt fury — the anguish of betrayal. None had imagined the Sky Deer Goddess would do such a thing.
She had forsaken Sky Deer City, forsaken everyone. They wished they could condemn her with every written and spoken word.
Boom!!
On the other side of the Aether Abyss, at the distant horizon...
A magnificent ancient city, as tall as heaven and earth themselves, stood towering there. Countless stars revolved around it, yet each one looked as tiny as dust, utterly incomparable to it.
Sky Deer City was enveloped by a terrifying force of heaven and earth. Stars rotated through the Eight Wastelands, letting down vast cascades of chaotic mist, with supreme rules and orders interweaving and condensing within.
It was also engraved with the runes of all the supreme powerhouses of the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains since time immemorial, serving as the final barrier against the Beyond.
As long as Sky Deer City had not been breached, the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains still had hope — the most critical moment had not yet arrived.
On the side of the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains, a terrifying world-force repelled the supreme powerhouses of the Beyond, making it difficult for them to exert their full strength here.
The moment they descended, they would suffer irreversible injuries to their Great Dao, giving the powerhouses of the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains an opening to exploit — there was even the risk of falling.
Thus, the supreme powerhouses of the Beyond were all very cautious, unwilling to take the risk.
Nor were they clear on exactly how much strength the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains still had left.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
And at this moment, within Sky Deer City, at one altar after another, brilliant gates of light began to open.
Thick mist billowed, and the power of teleportation permeated the air!
Ancient soldiers charged out from within the teleportation gates, as if they had fought their way out of a sea of blood and corpses.
These were the powerful soldiers of the various races of the Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains, all veterans of countless battles and campaigns. Now, having received their orders, they descended from the Ten Domains!
Rumble!
In the sky above, great numbers of Ancient Battleships and flying vessels assembled. Strange beasts galloped, fierce birds took to the skies, blotting out the sun, divine light surging into the heavens — an incomparably magnificent sight, dense and endless, converging from every direction.
The final great decisive battle between the two realms was gradually beginning!