Chapter 153: Half-Step Heavenly Lord

The King of Gods gripped the ancient golden spear. Originally just a wisp of residual soul hidden within the divine throne, he was meant to strike only once.

Yet at this moment, drawing upon the ancient golden spear and the remnants of his former power preserved within the Hall of Gods, he imbued this vessel with the might for battle.

Screech!

He struck directly. Between his palms, stars spun and the universe shattered, enacting the very creation of heaven and earth.

A universe was clutched within his palm, containing endless stars and encompassing all things. With a flick of his wrist, he sought to pull Zhou Changsheng and the others within, suppressing them and refining them alive.

Bang!

The small vessel in Zhou Changsheng's hand floated upward, Xuanzhenzi hoisted an ancient pagoda above his crown, and Yan Mo forced himself to raise a suppressing ruler. Though his physical body was fragmenting, he knew he could not retreat now.

The three Heavenly Venerable artifacts erupted with boundless brilliance, condensing into a single point that annihilated eternity. The stars within the giant palm shattered into fine dust, and the cosmos was cleaved apart.

Even so, Zhou Changsheng and his companions were sent flying backward, spewing mouthfuls of fresh blood. The cracks on Yan Mo's body multiplied, and some fragments even fell away, revealing a glowing white light within—he was not purely of flesh and blood after all.

"Half-step Heavenly Venerable!"

Zhou Changsheng's expression turned grim, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. The blood he coughed up was mixed with golden divine essence, his true origin. The small vessel in his palm had dimmed, resembling a mere mortal object.

In the ancient past, the King of Gods had unquestionably been a true Heavenly Venerable. They had not anticipated that this wisp of residual soul, through various methods, had reached the realm of a half-step Heavenly Venerable. Combined with his peerless combat arts, they found him difficult to withstand.

Before coming, they had calculated extensively, even bringing along three fragmented Heavenly Venerable artifacts. Yet the reappearance of the King of Gods was entirely beyond their expectations. Back in ancient times, besieged by several Heavenly Venerables, how could any residual soul possibly have escaped?

It seemed they might truly perish here today. Zhou Changsheng's expression flickered uncertainly as he plotted their next move.

"Now, it is truly the final moment."

The King of Gods murmured softly. His full head of hair drifted, every single strand crystalline and dazzling; his eyes were as deep as a sea of stars. The ancient golden spear in his hand emitted a blinding light, with divine laws intertwining around it, capable of shattering the nine heavens.

The Holy Spirits and others fell silent, assuming the God King was merely lamenting his impending ultimate dissipation, for once this period passed, the residual soul of the King of Gods would vanish with the wind.

Meanwhile, Zhou Tian, still resting within the mysterious space, wore a faint smile. Only he understood that the old bastard's words were meant for him. Shaking his head, he targeted the King of Gods with the [Cultivation Replication] ability.

In an instant, the body of Zhou Tian resting upon the god king's throne underwent a drastic transformation. A heaven-shaking aura erupted, and myriad Dao laws intertwined, as if merging with the Great Dao itself, while simultaneously transcending the heavens and earth.

Simultaneously, Zhou Tian's consciousness returned to his physical body. At this moment, he was already a half-step Heavenly Venerable entity—from the inside out, from flesh to divine soul. That divine throne space could no longer trap him in the slightest.

It was an indescribable sensation, as though all things in the world were within his grasp. With a mere shift of his thoughts, worlds seemed to be born and opened up. Zhou Tian felt an overwhelming rush of euphoria, for the feeling was simply intoxicating.

Everyone cast their gazes toward this sudden anomaly. Unlike ordinary believers, these deities possessed the ability to scan the heavens and the earth, and they instantly detected the commotion here.

Initially, they had noticed a body lying upon the god king's throne, but knowing that the residual soul of the King of Gods resided within, they had not dared to overstep and interfere. Now, however, the scene before them left them utterly incredulous.

"It is not yet the final moment, Lord God King."

Zhou Tian stood suspended in the void, a faint smile playing on his lips. His aura was as vast as an abyss and as deep as the sea, wreathed in hazy immortal mist.

"Tian'er?!"

Zhou Changsheng froze in utter disbelief. Just moments ago, he had steeled himself for mutual destruction, resolved to drag the Holy Spirits down with them to buy time for the younger generation. Yet Zhou Tian had suddenly bounced out as a half-step Heavenly Venerable—it was simply too unbelievable.

"How is this possible!"

The King of Gods was equally stunned. Wasn't this merely a mortal?

In his mind, the youth posed no real threat whatsoever; he could have crushed him with a flick of his finger and erased every trace of his existence. However, having only a single chance to strike, he had deemed it a waste to squander it on a mortal, leaving him alone. Who could have foreseen such a bizarre mutation?

"Die!"

The King of Gods let out a furious roar, his long hair dancing wildly through the air. He was enraged. Had it truly been a mortal, he would not have deigned to care, but now Zhou Tian had proven to be a mighty expert qualified to converse with him as an equal. In his view, Zhou Tian's earlier inaction had been an intentional mockery—a supreme insult to his dignity!

With a wave of his hand, the Hall of Gods vanished, and they reappeared in the outside world, for the interior space of the hall was too cramped for such a battle.

A mighty, terrifying pressure wreaked havoc across the external battlefield, drawing the eyes of everyone present.

"Good grief, don't tell me that's Zhou Tian!"

Zhou Zui tore apart a Holy Spirit, staring in gaping astonishment at the figure confronting the God King in the void. The aura emanating from him was even more terrifying than that of Zhou Changsheng and the others.

"Heavens, how could this fellow..."

That was Liu Yan's voice, her entire figure wreathed in roaring flames like an empress of fire.

Beside her, Tianling gripped a jade sword, her beautiful eyes shimmering with complex emotions.

The God King lunged forward with his spear, his eyes as cold and piercing as ice, determined to impale Zhou Tian and eradicate the threat he had carelessly left behind with his own hands!

This was a half-step Heavenly Venerable striking with full force; the resulting spectacle was unimaginable, far more terrifying than the creation of heaven and earth.

The void trembled in unison. The river of time coiled around his torso, and space swallowed his form. He seemed intent on tearing open this realm and reshaping the cosmos.

That colossal dharma body was matchless and peerlessly supreme.

Rumble!

The God King struck. Heaven and earth fractured, and even the river of time threatened to snap.

"Come!"

Zhou Tian soared into the air, unleashing his own colossal dharma manifestation. His physical form was similarly terrifying beyond measure. This was no special divine ability, but a basic technique that Zhou Tian, now in the realm of a half-step Heavenly Venerable, could naturally wield.

His body stood towering between heaven and earth, piercing the firmament, resembling the collision of history's two most gigantic gods—a deeply breathtaking sight.

Zhou Tian instantly erupted with dazzling brilliance. Flames, lightning, the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, and all manner of disparate energies swirled around him, fused together by his will, wrapping his fist in a hazy, chaotic hue.

Boom!

Between the two of them, the aura of creation and destruction intermingled, and the radiance of reincarnation flowed, as if granting passage to the afterlife—a bizarre phenomenon born of their clash.

"Kill!"

Amidst their mutual onslaught, an uncounted number of order chains of divine law intertwined and tangled together. Ten thousand beams of light blossomed, every single one capable of slicing through the void and etching itself into eternity.

The fierce battle was intensely horrifying. The two fought their way up into the highest heavens; given their current destructive power, had they remained fighting on Myriad Gods Mountain, the number of people capable of surviving their shockwaves could be counted on two hands.

Seeking recommendations, seeking monthly votes.