Chapter 313 Deity Transformation Late Stage

[Crack, crack.]

[Behind the Great Desolation Demonic Hammer, a sword mark surfaced on the demonic bodies of the dozens of Tier 5 Consummation demon lords, cleaving them in two.]

[Strands of demonic energy converged and intertwined, reforming their demonic bodies. However, the auras of the dozens of Tier 5 Consummation demon lords plummeted far beyond a mere fraction. They were essentially severely injured.]

["How terrifying!"]

["Is that Sword Lord really not a Demon Sovereign?"]

["If not for the Great Desolation Demonic Hammer's protection, we would have died long ago."]

[The demon lords felt a lingering dread. They all possessed Tier 5 Consummation cultivation, and their demonic bodies had been tempered thousands of times, making them incredibly formidable. Yet, even though the Great Desolation Demonic Hammer had shaved off ninety-nine percent of the sword beam's power, they still paid a tragic price just to survive.]

[The leading demon lord rejoiced. Although he had left behind a life-saving method in the Demon Abyss Realm that allowed him to "resurrect" even if this body died...]

[...he had expended an untold amount of blood, sweat, and resources to condense this particular demonic body. If it perished in the Human Realm, it would take him at least several centuries, if not a millennium, to recover.]

["We survived."]

[The leading demon lord looked at the Great Desolation Demonic Hammer shielding them.]

[Before he could speak,]

[Rumble—]

[At that moment, the suppression of the Human Realm's heaven and earth crushed down.]

[In an instant, the auras of the dozens of heavily injured Tier 5 Consummation demon lords plummeted once more, barely managing to maintain the level of newly advanced Rank 5s.]

[Moreover, though they had survived, residual Sword Intent lingered inside them, continuously eroding their physical bodies and souls. Bit by bit, this lingering Sword Intent wove together and merged within them. Suddenly, a few demon lords had their bodies inexplicably cleaved in two again. By the time they recovered, they couldn't even maintain Rank 5 power, dropping directly to Tier 4.]

[Whoosh!]

[The Great Desolation Demonic Hammer in front of them abruptly erupted with profound black light. It broke entirely free from the leading demon lord's control and charged toward the two-realm passage in the Northern Plains in an extremely tyrannical manner.]

[The Northern Plains were the furthest away from the Soul Capital where you were located, making it very difficult for you to intercept.]

["This?"]

[The leading demon lord was stunned, immediately realizing that the Great Desolation Demon Sovereign was taking action to control the demonic hammer.]

["Has the Demon Sovereign abandoned us?"]

[The other demon lords wore ugly expressions. The Great Desolation Demonic Hammer had been actively recalled, making it obvious that the Great Desolation Demon Sovereign didn't think highly of their chances.]

["Split up and run."]

[The leading demon lord took a deep breath. His figure rapidly faded, blending into the depths of space and vanishing.]

[The other demon lords did the same, scattering and departing.]

[In the Soul Capital, Heavenly Monarch Xingmang blinked.]

[By now, he naturally realized that the long line stretching from heaven to earth was the sword strike you had just unleashed.]

[That sword strike crossed nearly half the Human Realm continent, arrived outside Ethereal Peak, and slashed across that Giant Black Hammer—which was at least a Void Return demonic treasure—before sweeping through those dozens of Tier 5 Consummation demon lords.]

[The black demonic hammer actively fled, escaping toward the Northern Plains.]

[As for those dozens of Tier 5 Consummation demon lords, their auras all plummeted. Some couldn't even maintain their Rank 5 strength and fled in a wretched state.]

[This...]

[Heavenly Monarch Xingmang looked at you, awe appearing in his gaze for the first time.]

[That sword strike of yours definitely surpassed the scope of the Deity Transformation Stage. It was an attack on the Void Return level.]

[Even if that Deity Transformation Late Stage Heavenly Monarch at Ethereal Peak used the foundation of the Upper Realm to unleash his full strength, the resulting attack wouldn't come close to that level of power.]

[While the foundation of the Upper Realm indeed counted as a Void Return weapon, a Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarch couldn't unleash a Void Return strike even while wielding a Void Return level weapon. At the very least, those few Upper Realm foundations in the Human Realm couldn't do it.]

['What a pity...']

[You sighed inwardly.]

[For that sword strike just now, you utilized the Sword Intent you had nurtured for hundreds of years. It was your strongest strike at your current stage. You could unleash a sword beam of that power at most two or three more times.]

[Even so, it still failed to thoroughly kill those dozens of Tier 5 Consummation demon lords. You felt quite disappointed.]

[Of course, though those dozens of Tier 5 Consummation demon lords hadn't died, they could no longer pose any threat to the Human Realm. The residual Sword Intent you left inside their demonic bodies would inflict continuous injuries upon them. Coupled with the suppression of the Human Realm's heaven and earth, for a long time to come, these demon lords would have to exert all their effort just to keep their injuries from worsening, let alone wreak havoc in the Human Realm.]

['That Giant Black Hammer...']

[At the exact moment the sword beam struck, your gaze arrived as well. You knew those dozens of demon lords survived primarily because of that giant hammer.]

[The hammer's power was definitely far above that of the Myriad Demon Mountain. Especially when it flew away on its own at the end, it proved that even the twelve Demon Sovereigns in the Demon Abyss Realm valued that Giant Black Hammer immensely, leaving countermeasures on it.]

[You felt somewhat regretful. Had the giant hammer hesitated for even a moment just now, you definitely would have chased after it yourself. Even if it meant leaving the Soul Capital to briefly fall and be temporarily occupied by the Demon Abyss Realm, you would have been willing to pay that price as long as you could obtain that giant hammer.]

[Not to mention weakening the strength of the Demon Abyss Realm's Demon Sovereigns, you could also use and comprehend that giant hammer yourself, and even leave it for your future self a hundred thousand years from now.]

[It was just that the Giant Black Hammer reacted extremely quickly. Not only did it flee without hesitation, it even flew toward the Northern Plains, away from you. Under these circumstances, even if you left the Soul Capital to pursue it personally, you wouldn't be able to catch up. The distance was too vast, and the Giant Black Hammer's speed was barely any slower than your own.]

["Alright, everything is fine now."]

[You glanced at Heavenly Monarch Xingmang standing beside you and spoke in a calm tone.]

["Yes... yes."]

[Heavenly Monarch Xingmang steadied himself, suppressing the shock in his heart, and cautiously asked, "Sword Lord, have you stepped into Void Return?"]

[Although he had yet to witness any heaven and earth anomalies indicating a breakthrough from Deity Transformation to Void Return, who else besides a Void Return Venerable could have unleashed the sword strike you just executed?]

["How could stepping into Void Return be so easy?"]

[You shook your head slightly. With your current cultivation realm, you naturally felt the deep-seated suppression from the Human Realm's heaven and earth. Even if you carved out the prototype of your own inner heaven and earth and cultivated to the Peak of the Deity Transformation Stage, you still wouldn't be able to step into Void Return.]

[This was a suppression inherent to heaven and earth itself—just like how a pond couldn't raise a whale.]

[Heavenly Monarch Xingmang listened respectfully, the awe in his heart not diminishing in the slightest. Although you denied stepping into the Void Return Stage, based on that sword strike just now, there wasn't much difference between you and the Void Return Stage as far as the Human Realm was concerned.]

[On the contrary, even if all the Heavenly Monarchs in the Human Realm joined forces, they wouldn't be able to block a single stroke of your sword. Whether you had reached Void Return or not was no longer important.]

["Keep this strand of Sword Qi. It can sense the locations of those dozens of demon lords. Just arrange for the Heavenly Monarchs to surround and kill them."]

[You took out a piece of jade, which contained a strand of Sword Intent you had left behind.]

[Although the dozens of demon lords outside Ethereal Peak survived your sword strike, your Sword Intent remained in their bodies. As long as the Sword Intent you unleashed was still within the Human Realm, you could naturally sense it.]

[Now that those dozens of demon lords were scattered and hiding in the depths of the Human Realm's many spatial layers, you couldn't be bothered to hunt them down yourself, so you simply left the task to Heavenly Monarch Xingmang.]

[Those dozens of demon lords could currently maintain Rank 5 strength at best. Constantly tormented by your Sword Intent and facing the encirclement of the Human Realm's Heavenly Monarchs, they wouldn't be able to make any waves.]

["I shall follow the Sword Lord's command."]

[Heavenly Monarch Xingmang accepted the jade and respectfully took his leave.]

[You glanced at the two-realm passage in the sky above, took a step forward, and returned into the Soul Capital to continue your secluded cultivation.]

[In the vast Demon Abyss Realm.]

[The twelve Demon Sovereigns fell into silence.]

[Demon Venerable Guixu glanced at the other eleven Demon Sovereigns and similarly said nothing.]

[His task had only been to pinpoint the Sword Lord's location. He had also informed the other Demon Sovereigns about the sword strike the Sword Lord had unleashed.]

[Buzz—]

[A Giant Black Hammer abruptly shot out from a spatial rift and landed in a certain Demon Sovereign's hands.]

["Thank goodness."]

[The Great Desolation Demon Sovereign stowed away the Giant Black Hammer, his mood improving slightly.]

[Although the plan had failed, and the dozens of Tier 5 Consummation subordinates dispatched to infiltrate the Human Realm would likely be of no use, at least his intrinsic demonic treasure hadn't been lost.]

[A huge portion of the Great Desolation Demon Sovereign's combat strength relied on this demonic hammer. Had he lost this treasure, his strength would have plummeted, and he likely could no longer be called the strongest among the twelve Demon Sovereigns.]

["What should we do now?"]

[The Demon Sovereign with a bull's head and a snake's body spoke. Originally, according to the plan, the moment the dozens of infiltrating demon lords made their move against Ethereal Peak, they were supposed to cooperate by tearing open a new two-realm passage, while the other two-realm passages would also launch a full-scale invasion of the Human Realm.]

[Through such a multi-pronged approach, the various Deity Transformation Stage Heavenly Monarchs would have been exhausted from running around, and the Human Realm wouldn't have been able to hold out for long at all.]

[But now, the most crucial step had failed. Without those dozens of demon lords trampling Ethereal Peak and then scattering to wreak havoc on the Human Realm's rear, even if they forcibly continued their invasion across multiple passages, they wouldn't be able to conquer the entire Human Realm in a short time.]

["This plane is merely an ordinary major realm. How could it give birth to such a being...?"]

[A Demon Sovereign couldn't help but speak up. He had also seen the sword strike you unleashed just now through an image projection. It almost reached the threshold of a Void Return Demon Sovereign. While it couldn't do much against a Demon Sovereign of the same level, it was an absolute slaughter against Rank 5 demon lords.]

[Such a Rank 5 entity belonged in legends, even in the Demon Abyss Realm. At the very least, they hadn't heard of one in the last million to several million years.]

[Perhaps the legendary Ten Creation Demon Lords possessed this kind of capability when they were at Rank 5, but what sort of existences were the Ten Creation Demon Lords? On what basis could the Human Realm give birth to such a being?]

["Great Desolation, what should we do now?"]

[Demon Venerable Guixu looked at the Great Desolation Demon Sovereign and asked.]

["What should we do?"]

[The Great Desolation Demon Sovereign fell into thought. Give up? Giving up was definitely out of the question. They had already invested so much into this plane; how could they give up now?]

["Let's launch a brute-force assault."]

[The Great Desolation Demon Sovereign pondered for a moment before speaking.]

[A so-called brute-force assault was exactly what it sounded like: dispatching a massive number of demonic creatures to descend upon the Human Realm. Using Tier 3 and Tier 4 demonic creatures, and even Rank 5 demon lords, to forcibly wear down the Human Realm's strength.]

[The foundation of the Demon Abyss Realm vastly exceeded that of the Human Realm. Even if they had to trade a hundred for one, a thousand for one, or ten thousand for one, the ultimate victor would definitely be the Demon Abyss Realm.]

[It was just that by doing so, the price the twelve Demon Sovereigns had to pay would be much higher, requiring a massive number of demons to serve as cannon fodder.]

[A brute-force assault was also the safest approach. It didn't matter how strong that Sword Lord was; as long as the two-realm passages remained, endless swarms of demons would descend. That Sword Lord couldn't possibly kill them all.]

["A brute-force assault is our only option."]

[The other Demon Sovereigns nodded slightly. Under the current circumstances, a brute-force assault was their only remaining choice.]

[Furthermore, the multiple two-realm passages currently spanning the Human Realm met the conditions for a brute-force assault.]

[If there had only been one or two passages, the Human Realm would only need to block the entrances.]

[But multiple two-realm passages? Moreover, as time passed, more and more would appear, eventually even forming a true grand-realm passage.]

[Even that Sword Lord wouldn't be able to be everywhere at once.]

[The events that occurred outside Ethereal Peak quickly spread among the Heavenly Monarchs and even the true monarchs of the Human Realm.]

[After all, when those dozens of demon lords made their move, their demonic might had run rampant, allowing even the true monarchs to sense it.]

["Demon lords have infiltrated the interior of our Human Realm?"]

["It's Ethereal Peak! Oh no, Ethereal Peak is the Demon Abyss Realm's target!"]

[Many Heavenly Monarchs immediately realized what the Demon Abyss Realm was trying to do. The Heavenly Monarchs and true monarchs of Ethereal Peak, in particular, looked extremely anxious.]

[But before long, another piece of news spread among the Heavenly Monarchs and true monarchs.]

[The demon lords from the Demon Abyss Realm who infiltrated the Human Realm had already been dealt with.]

[Standing in the Soul Capital, the Sword Lord had unleashed a single sword strike, heavily injuring the dozens of Tier 5 Consummation demon lords who had infiltrated the Human Realm.]

[This shattered the Demon Abyss Realm's conspiracy.]

[This news shook the hearts of all the Heavenly Monarchs.]

[The higher their strength and realm, the more they realized how unbelievable this news was.]

[Those were dozens of Tier 5 Consummation demon lords... Had the Sword Lord arrived in person and slaughtered them until they fled with their tails between their legs, they would have been able to understand.]

[But heavily injuring those dozens of Tier 5 Consummation demon lords with a single sword strike from nearly half a Human Realm continent away?]

[What kind of strength was this?]

[Countless cultivators in the Human Realm boiled with excitement. Those at the true monarch level and above, in particular, saw the hope of holding back the Demon Abyss Realm for the very first time.]

[For a long time, under the relentless invasions of the Demon Abyss Realm, the higher one's status, the deeper their despair. The more they knew, the more acutely they realized the disparity between the two sides.]

[The Soul Capital.]

[You paid no attention to the discussions in the outside world.]

[At this moment, you were observing the operating laws of the world within the Twelve-Layered Small Pagoda.]

["Interesting."]

[You observed carefully, feeling the differences in how the world operated on each layer of the small pagoda.]

[The Twelve-Layered Small Pagoda had a corresponding world mechanic on every layer, which you needed to observe one by one.]

[At the same time, you compared them with your past accumulations and gains. You had been in the Deity Transformation Middle Stage for hundreds of years. Every single moment had been spent comprehending various inner worlds, resulting in a terrifying accumulation of insights. Had it not been for your failure to comprehend an embryonic Sword Dao world that perfectly suited you, you would have broken through to the Deity Transformation Late Stage long ago.]

[Suddenly.]

[After observing this Twelve-Layered Small Pagoda, your hundreds of years of comprehension and accumulation finally reached a qualitative change.]

[The Sword Intent and sword light before you continuously intertwined and merged, condensing into a brand-new embryonic Sword Dao world.]

[This new embryonic Sword Dao world was incomparably stable and perfectly aligned with your Sword Dao. With just a slight sensation, you knew this was exactly the embryonic form you desired.]

[With this, you no longer faced a single obstacle in stepping into the Deity Transformation Late Stage.]

["My Dao is complete!"]

[You sighed softly, a look of heartfelt joy spreading across your face.]