Chapter 921: Chapter 643: Mystic Sky Grand Stage
Dao Oath.
The most stringent contract.
Within Tianxia Civilization, there have been repeated betrayals in the past—especially the harm caused by the Withdrawal Faction was exceptionally profound. Ever since, for all mid- and high-level cultivators at Grandmaster Realm or above, swearing an oath became mandatory.
After that, the situation improved significantly.
The Dao Oath cannot eradicate betrayal entirely, but at least it prevents a whole organization of traitors.
Now that the organization is expanding, and the enemies to face are ever stronger, without unity, even a multitude would be but a disorderly mob.
Better to have Tianxia Civilization go it alone.
Lu Chenzhou held his wine cup, while Spirit Phoenix Dominator, Dragon Lord, and Hanhai Sect Lord fell briefly into silence.
The higher their own cultivation realm, the more they dreaded the Dao Oath—for they had cultivated for thousands of years.
A single misstep, and all would be lost.
"Good! It should be this way, lest the tragedy of Divine Court repeat itself," Hanhai Sect Lord declared.
Behind him emerged an ethereal Heaven-Reaching Sword Dao, entwined with strands of Sand Law, weaving a golden contract paper glowing with heat. He wrote upon the golden paper, one Daoist Text at a time, each word solemn and reverent.
"My Dao is the Vast Sea Sword Dao! It is a branch of Sword Dao, merged with Five Elements of Earth, forming the Sand Dao. Should I break this oath, I willingly accept that my body be turned to yellow sand, my soul rent asunder by ten thousand swords, spirit scattered and Po dissipated!"
The middle-aged man’s words resonated like stones falling on iron.
As his declaration ended, the contract golden paper behind him shone together with a supreme and lofty Dao.
"That’s ruthless."
The bald giant murmured this inwardly.
He intoned in a buzzing voice, "My Dao is Death. Should I break this oath, I willingly consent for my dragon body to rot, my bloodline to run dry, my dragon bones to decay, with no hope for rebirth for all eternity."
Spirit Phoenix Dominator smiled charmingly.
"It seems your resolve is strong. My Dao is Cold Ice. Should I break this oath, let my body be reduced to ash by Fiery Fire, my three souls and seven spirits, eternally fallen into the fiery hell."
Heavenly Swordsman, Old Man Fishing Mountain, and other powerful cultivators also swore their oaths in succession. Afterwards, the Southern Heaven Realm and Beidou Region allies, and all the Seventh Realm giants across the world, raised their cups and made their vows.
In the end, all eyes turned to Lu Chenzhou.
Lu Chenzhou declared solemnly, "My Dao is World. Should I break this oath, I shall sink into damnation for all eternity, never to enter reincarnation."
"So it’s World Dao—no wonder he could, with only Seventh Realm, defeat Achilles. That makes sense."
The bald giant muttered to himself inwardly.
As for Lu Chenzhou’s Dao, everyone outside had long speculated, for there were too many Dao’s attributed to him.
Now it seemed, World was at the core of his Dao; all others were but branches of World Dao.
This astonished everyone even more.
To master the most difficult Dao, yet break through Seven in a mere century—how could those with ordinary cultivation compare?
Next, all the higher-ups of Seventh Realm took their turns making their vows. When it came to a certain Dragon Clan cultivator at the Seventh Realm, he hesitated, unwilling to speak.
"Hmm?!"
The giant axe-wielder’s eyes bulged like bronze bells, golden pupils shooting beams like searchlights.
"Tuken, who would’ve thought you’d betray the Dragon Clan! Was it you who passed information to the Divine Race when the Void Tribe Chieftain went to the Ruins Sea for trials?"
The other strong cultivators all turned their eyes toward this Dragon Clan member.
Lu Chenzhou stood with folded arms, saying nothing.
This Dragon Clan cultivator stammered, unable to speak plainly.
"I... I didn’t."
"Then swear it!"
"I, I..."
Still hesitating, the giant axe-wielder sighed lightly, then suddenly slapped down fiercely.
"Don’t kill me, I’ll take the oath!"
The giant palm stopped in midair.
Behind the Dragon Clan cultivator, the contract golden paper emerged, the words of the oath continually appearing. But when it reached the term forbidding collusion with Divine Alliance, the golden paper suddenly flared up, turning into blazing flames, and started burning.
The Dragon Clan cultivator, terrified, fell abruptly to his knees.
"Chieftain, I’m sorry, it’s my fault. It was Divine Alliance’s threats and temptations—I was forced to betray the clan! I only sold one piece of information. Other than that, I’ve never done anything to harm the clan. Please, I beg you to save me, I don’t want to die!"
He kowtowed again and again, banging his head on the floor.
The giant axe-wielder gazed at him coldly.
"In earlier times, considering how few remain of the Dragon Clan, perhaps I would have spared you. But with the greater cause at stake—if I saved you, wouldn’t that be a slap in the face to Mystic Sky Alliance? What of Land Army Master’s reputation?"
At the mention of Land Army Master, the Dragon Clan cultivator suddenly recalled—the leader in charge of Mystic Sky Alliance was Lu Chenzhou.
He turned and kowtowed to Lu Chenzhou:
"Alliance Hierarch, I wish to reform. Please, grant me a chance to atone for my sins! Now is the time Mystic Sky Alliance needs people most—I beg you to spare my life."
All eyes once again turned to Lu Chenzhou.
Lu Chenzhou shook his head and merely said, "You may go to your Dao... I doubt any Dragon Clan ancestor would want someone like you polluting their bloodline. I might spare you, but would they?"
No one spoke a word.
Everyone watched in silence as that Dragon Clan cultivator was devoured by backlash from the contract golden paper, his soul finally dissolving into nothingness.
The giant axe-wielder sighed:
"What a disgrace."
He thought to himself.
This Land Army Master truly was iron-blooded.
Not giving him face at all, either.
Spirit Phoenix Dominator was well satisfied within.
"This is as it should be."
Having personally witnessed the fate of the betrayer, all other oath-bound allies were inwardly shaken.
By the end of the oath-taking, only one betrayer had emerged among the high-level Seventh Realm cultivators. With their strong heart realms, such top-tier individuals rarely betray their clan. Divine Alliance and the Evil God seldom waste resources to recruit them. But below the Sixth Realm, there were countless spies and moles—again and again people tried to flee, all of whom Lu Chenzhou killed with a single glare, transforming them into blue butterflies fluttering away—a rather graceful way to die, if anything.
"Seems we have been neglectful of our clans—didn’t think there’d be so many moles." Spirit Phoenix Dominator sighed ruefully. By comparison, Tianxia had a much better situation—betrayers were rare.
"Brother, why are your people so loyal and civilized?" the giant axe-wielder asked curiously.
"Because they’ve fought the Evil God in Xia Realm for so long."
Lu Chenzhou replied offhandedly.
But perhaps only the experts of Xia Realm would understand the deeper meaning behind his words. The Dragon and Phoenix Clans had always been too powerful, too comfortable, lacking a sense of crisis.
Finally, Lu Chenzhou said, "After pledging by wine, our fates are shared—each glory, each loss, is all of ours. Rather than break our oath and die by Dao backlash, far better to burn our bridges and fight with our backs to the river—dying honorably on the battlefield. Give up illusions—only in resistance can we, in this Great Destruction Era, seek a slim hope for survival."
Thus, the Mystic Sky Alliance officially took charge of Mystic Sky Continent. Lu Chenzhou became Alliance Hierarch; Eternal Immortal, Emperor Shitian, Priest, Cangtian Dragon King, Spirit Phoenix Dominator, Ancient Dragon Lord, and Hanhai Sect Lord became seven Vice Alliance Hierarchs. Together, these eight Hierarchs formed the Hierarchs’ Council, responsible for major decisions. In terms of Eighth Realm combat power, Mystic Sky Alliance now utterly outmatched Divine Alliance.
The eight Hierarchs were only part of the picture. Among the high ranks of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans, the leaders of Southern Heaven Realm and Beidou Region were also Eighth Realm—though Sword Elder and Beidou God Monarch both needed to guard their own Fire Seed Civilizations.
Altogether, over ten Eighth Realm powers—nearly one third of all overt Eighth Realm combat force in the entire Three Thousand Worlds.
The remaining two-thirds were composed of Divine Alliance, the four neutral Divine Races, various loose cultivators like Kunxu, and other major worlds. Mystic Sky Alliance was now the undisputed top power in the Three Thousand Worlds and dared to challenge Divine Alliance.
As for the Seventh Realm?
All forces combined counted more than one hundred and thirty, but some long resided in the Three Thousand Realms on tasks and were not in Mystic Sky.
About a hundred of them participated in the war.
The news of Mystic Sky Alliance’s formation swiftly spread from Eastern Extreme Territory, sweeping through the Three Thousand Realms.
...
"Far too arrogant."
At Divine Alliance headquarters, Thunder Realm Venerable, Xuanshan Venerable, and Gale Realm Venerable appeared one after the other.
"Let our elder brother become Third Step. With one breath he’ll blow that rabble away. Lu Chenzhou hasn’t even survived the Eighth Realm Tribulation—he’s nowhere near there—and yet dares be the decision-maker for Mystic Sky Alliance?"
"Exactly. If he dies in the tribulation, won’t it be a joke? Those two old monsters, Dragon and Phoenix, have made a clever move—letting a youngster stick his neck out."
Mystic Sky Alliance formed.
There was little the Three World Venerables could do but mock and sneer. The trend now went against Divine Alliance, and they could only defend their own worlds, not daring to strike first.
...
Eye of Truth.
"The Mystic Sky Alliance? Just children playing house. Once we’re out, it’ll break up on its own."
The Death Herald of the Evil God laughed.
"Let Divine Alliance and Mystic Sky Alliance bite at each other first. Once both are badly wounded, Blood Demon Grandmother and the Ten Thousand Flower Ghost Saint should be breaking through to Third Step as well. They’ll lead the Star Palace Demon Saints to attack—swallow up both Divine Alliance and Mystic Sky Alliance. Even though Lu Chenzhou may have an Undying Body and cannot be killed, if civilization is wiped out, under the fall of the nest, not a single egg remains. He wouldn’t survive for long either," Blood Ancient God said calmly.
"Indeed, there’s no need to stubbornly focus on killing Lu Chenzhou. Killing someone at the Undying Realm is far harder than eradicating the Tianxia Civilization."
The Evil Gods had already shifted their tactics.
The Witch gazed in the direction of Xia Realm.
"The great screen is almost at its limit."
...
Southern Boundary Domain.
A giant golden-winged bird flew swiftly through the Ruins Sea, followed unhurriedly by a black boat.
"Hei Zhou, you’ve gone too far!"
"You’re not a person—you’re a bird."
Soon after, a Divine Talisman engraved with the emblem of the Golden Winged Great Peng fell into the palm of the woman in black.
She hummed and smiled, "Worthy of the ancient exotic variant that carries the Wind Thunder Golden Peng bloodline—at mere First Step Peak, yet many times relying on escape skills to elude death. Sky-reaching Golden Light is second to none among escape skill divine powers. Now, I’ve already subdued the nearly Third Step Devouring Dao True Spirit [Kunpeng], the Second Step Illusion Realm Dao True Spirit [Gu Diao], Yuji Dao True Spirit [Xuan Turtle], Power Extreme Dao True Spirit [Mang Elephant], and First Step Speed Extreme Dao True Spirit [Wind Thunder Golden Peng]. Though all are just True Spirit descendants, they are still leaders among their realms. Paired with my own treasures, as long as that Kunxu old dog stays out of the world, I can claim second place—who would dare claim first?"
The Primordial Fire from Mountain and Sea Tower was swapped by someone for another artifact—that was surely Kunxu. Kunxu’s lived nearly ten thousand years, his time is running short, and he’s bound to hole up for a final assault, striving for the Great Power breakthrough.
If Kunxu wants to undergo the Great Power Tribulation, to make it easier, he won’t dare to tangle himself with worldly causality. He probably won’t interfere with me.
Kunxu has witnessed too many failed tribulation attempts. The stronger one is, the more cautious one becomes."
In other words—
She was invincible. With this thought, Hei Zhou cleaved the Ruins Sea, heading for the Mystic Sky Realm.
"Becoming a god is the only way out!"