"There’s no need for that, Emperor Zhou. I was just passing through."

With that, he flew off into the distant sky.

The Domain disappeared, and the night sky returned to normal.

Taiping City was in an uproar.

The massive number of Demon Fiend corpses falling from the sky was enough to alleviate the food shortage for some time.

After all, a single bite of Demon Flesh could keep an ordinary person from feeling hungry for a day, or even three to four days.

Gu Zheng had done it casually, without giving it much thought.

But Wu Sanli, his strength now greatly increased, had other ideas.

Gu Zheng may have left, but the awe of his power remained.

Wu Sanli seized this opportunity to quickly retake power.

He killed those who needed killing and won over those who could be won over.

Then, he had it proclaimed that this was Gu Zheng’s righteous deed, announcing that the Demon Flesh falling from the sky was what Gu Zheng had left behind after slaying the Demon Fiends.

Some of the common folk in Taiping City believed it, while others did not.

But whether they believed it or not, the number of people carving Longevity Tablets for Gu Zheng grew day by day.

...

...

The Middle Celestial Tripod and the Ten Thousand Dragon Tripod had been acquired one after another.

The next target was the Original Dragon Tripod, located in the region of the Original Dragon Dao to the north.

However, when Gu Zheng tried to sense it with the Human Emperor’s Seal Artifact Embryo, he couldn’t find the Original Dragon Tripod.

Clearly, the Original Dragon Tripod was in a Noble Ancestral Land.

As for the Northern Mountain Tripod in the Northern Mountain Dao, where Kang Country was located, Gu Zheng was able to sense it, but just like the Southern Mountain Tripod, it was inside the Royal Palace.

Since the Tripod Cauldrons were in the Royal Palace, he would put that aside for now.

The last remaining Heroic Body Realm expert from the Changsheng Clan was now useless to him. Gu Zheng stopped leading him on and simply killed him, scattering his body parts and burying them in different locations.

Afterward, he returned to the Western Celestial Dao.

He still hadn’t retrieved the Western Celestial Tripod!

...

「Wind Kingdom.」

「Pan Yun Mountain.」

Gu Zheng flew straight over from high in the sky. As soon as he drew near, the threat he had sensed before was now very faint.

From a great distance, Gu Zheng locked onto the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle, a fourth-tier Demon Fiend entrenched in the mountain.

"AWOOOO—!"

At that very moment, the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle—lying in a mountain hollow, its body the size of a small hill, a full fifty to sixty meters tall, its entire form golden-purple with sharp spines covering its back, arcs of electricity coiling around it, and dark clouds swirling above its head—also spotted Gu Zheng. Its withdrawn head shot out, and it let loose a threatening howl at the sky.

The cry was hoarse yet incredibly resonant, echoing for dozens of miles around.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

The mountain winds howled. In an instant, the Power of Heaven and Earth from a hundred-mile radius was drawn in, converging on Pan Yun Mountain. Controlled by an unseen force, it transformed into bolts of blackish-purple lightning as thick as an arm.

CRACKLE! SIZZLE!

BOOM! BOOM!

The claps of thunder were deafening, and the space rippled violently as it was stirred by the terrifying power.

A majestic pressure, vast and overwhelming, swept out to cover the sky and earth, battering everything in all directions.

"What’s going on? Has the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle gone mad?"

On a mountaintop seventy miles away, a Half-King from the Ying Family who was guarding the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle was startled by the commotion on Pan Yun Mountain.

’If the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle has suddenly gone berserk, something terrible could happen!’

’It’s been quiet for so long. Has it finally decided to cause trouble?’

The Ying Family Half-King’s expression turned ugly. He acted quickly, Divine Wondrous power surging as he condensed streams of information and sent a message using a Communication Jade Artifact.

’If the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle has gone mad, it must be contained by someone at the King’s Body Realm!’

"WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—!"

Suddenly, the roar of the gale intensified, transforming into terrifying astral winds, then into a hurricane that stood between the sky and the ground like a tornado.

FWOOM—! FWOOM—!!

On all four sides of Pan Yun Mountain, one or two tornadoes, each dozens of meters in diameter, connected heaven and earth, roaring madly as they besieged the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle.

CRACKLE! SIZZLE!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The deafening noise spread in all directions, shaking the mountains.

The bolts of blackish-purple lightning summoned by the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle surged toward the tornadoes like rampaging dragons.

The two forces clashed and intertwined in the air, tearing each other apart until they dissipated.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

A terrible tremor lingered between heaven and earth as balls of scorching flame materialized from thin air, merging with the tornadoes to assault the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle.

Hurricane and wildfire, the two forces merged. The wind fed the fire, and the fire fueled the wind.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

For a moment, the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s Thunder Power was suppressed, unable to display its might.

"AWOOOO—!"

Its furious, startled howl shook one’s very soul and tore at space itself.

The Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle pushed its colossal body up on its eight thick legs, its head raised to the sky as it let out a formless roar.

Waves of pure Spiritual Power, invisible to the naked eye, drifted out and charged toward Gu Zheng.

HUMMM~

The void shimmered.

Gu Zheng felt nothing, completely immune to the assault of the Anomalous Power.

The next moment, the Heaven-piercing Halberd appeared in his palm. His figure flickered as he wielded his two Domains, Hurricane and Liaoyuan, to combat the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s barrage of Thunder Power. At the same time, he appeared above the enormous Demon Fiend.

SHING!

The Heaven-piercing Halberd slashed out a line of light that tore through space, heading straight for the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s head.

SWOOSH~

The Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s head seemed to vanish as it retracted into its shell.

Its eight massive, sturdy legs also pulled in.

Its massive body lay once more in the mountain hollow, the electric arcs around it growing ever denser as it continuously generated Thunder Power to strike at Gu Zheng.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The deafening sound of collisions rang out ceaselessly.

Although the three forces of wind, fire, and thunder were all concentrated around the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s body and its immediate vicinity, the power of the shockwaves still destroyed Pan Yun Mountain, blasting the entire mountain into pieces.

Several surrounding mountaintops collapsed and shattered, and countless pieces of rubble and broken trees were pulverized into dust.

"AWOOOOO—!"

The Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle remained withdrawn in its shell, its formless Spiritual Attacks continuing while the terrifying blackish-purple lightning roared and raged.

SHING!

Gu Zheng brandished the Heaven-piercing Halberd, his two Domains countering the might of the thunder as he aimed the Divine Weapon downward and stabbed straight at the turtle’s shell.

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—"

The Heaven-piercing Halberd struck the shell, sending sparks flying and causing intense vibrations, but it couldn’t tear through or pierce it.

The Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle, a turtle of vajra!

The hardness of its shell was actually comparable to the sharpness of a Divine Weapon.

At least, the Heaven-piercing Halberd couldn’t break its defense.

’The Heaven-piercing Halberd won’t work. What about the Half-sized Divine Weapon?’

Listening to the commotion outside, he confirmed that the King’s Body Realm expert from Wind Kingdom had not yet arrived. Gu Zheng took out the Half-sized Divine Weapon and enveloped it in Divine Wondrous power.

In the next instant, he fiercely launched the Spear of the Soul!

"AWOO—"

The Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle let out a sudden roar, its anger greater than its pain.

WHOOSH!

Enveloped in Divine Wondrous power, the Half-sized Divine Weapon shot straight into the crevice in the shell where the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s head had retracted.

"SQUELCH—!"

The distinct sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh reached his ears.

"AWOOOO—!!!"

The Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s pained roar suddenly intensified.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

While Gu Zheng hovered in mid-air, the Half-sized Divine Weapon under his control plunged deep into the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s body, forcibly tearing a path of injury from below its neck straight to its internal organs.

Everywhere it passed, the wound deepened, blood gushed out, and the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle suffered extensive internal damage.

Now, its howls were more pained than angry.

The Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s enormous body was no longer lying still; it began to roll about.

The blackish-purple lightning condensed even more densely, then crashed down. Its violent power completely obliterated Pan Yun Mountain from the midway point up, and the surrounding mountaintops for several miles were also flattened, collapsing completely.

"SHICK SHICK~"

Gu Zheng’s figure flickered as he used his Divine Wondrous power to envelop the Half-sized Divine Weapon, causing it to wreak havoc inside the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle, ripping and tearing.

In this battle, stabbing the shell from the outside with the Heaven-piercing Halberd was merely a feint.

It was a deliberate show Gu Zheng put on for the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle.

His goal was to make the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle lower its guard at the opening where its head retracted.

The real killing move was the Half-sized Divine Weapon!

The Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s outer shell was so hard that even the Meng Family’s Four-direction Sword Divine Weapon couldn’t break its defense.

Since Gu Zheng already knew this, he was naturally aware that the only way to kill the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle was to attack from the inside.

And just as planned, he first agitated it with the Spear of the Soul, then launched a sneak attack with the Half-sized Divine Weapon, successfully breaching the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s body!

...

"WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~"

The sound of something tearing through the air approached at high speed from a distance.

Three figures—Ying Jiuxin, Meng Ao, and Lu Jing—streaked through the sky in three beams of light. As they neared Pan Yun Mountain and saw the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle rolling about, heard its pained howls, and witnessed the disappearance of the surrounding mountaintops, their pupils all contracted.

Then, in the next moment, the three of them saw Gu Zheng.

"It’s Gu Zheng! He’s back! But... why is he killing the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle?"