Wu Shattered Star River

Five years had passed, but Jiang Han and Ye Wanqiu had not yet successfully cultivated the eighth stage of the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art.

Inside, they continuously absorbed lightning and tempered their bodies, having no idea how far into the Endless Lightning Abyss they had ventured.

Over these years, they had encountered many different types of exotic beasts, none of which were the same. These beasts were incredibly powerful, but fortunately, they weren't very aggressive, only attacking if approached too closely.

After five years of cultivation, their physical bodies had improved at least tenfold, but they felt that this wasn't the limit, sensing that they were still far from the deepest part of the abyss.

Jiang Han calculated for a while, estimating that they had only traversed half the distance. This meant it would take at least another four to five years to complete the eighth stage.

Jiang Han wasn't surprised by the long cultivation time. Back then, the Nine Revolutions Emperor had spent hundreds of thousands of years cultivating to the eighth stage.

Of course, the Nine Revolutions Emperor had spent so long mainly because he needed to find rare materials.

Jiang Han and Ye Wanqiu were able to gather the materials so quickly due to their status. Almost the entire Heavenly Court's Divine Race and the Blood Fiend Race of the Eternal Night Land were helping them search.

During this time, Heavenly Demon hadn't crushed the jade token, nor had any special news arrived. The two ignored the external conflicts, focusing solely on tempering their bodies to achieve the eighth stage as soon as possible.

Here, the lightning was many times more terrifying than outside, consisting entirely of purple lightning, turning the mist into a purple haze.

Each time Jiang Han and Ye Wanqiu were struck by lightning, they inevitably suffered injuries, their skin often charred black. Fortunately, they were lovers and fellow cultivators, not minding each other's appearance.

They also took care of each other, taking turns to rest. When one couldn't withstand it, they would retreat into the other's spatial immortal artifact, resting for a few days to replenish their soul power and recover their spirits.

One day, the two stopped cultivating again and continued flying forward.

"Five years!"

Jiang Han looked back and said, "I wonder what's happening outside?"

"It's nothing serious!"

Ye Wanqiu comforted Jiang Han, saying, "We both have jade tokens. If there's an enemy situation outside, Sixth Ancestor will crush the jade token, and Heavenly Demon will too. Since our jade tokens haven't broken, it means nothing major has happened."

"Yeah!"

Jiang Han nodded. Ye Wanqiu glanced at Jiang Han and said, "Are you homesick? Missing your wives, concubines, and children?"

"A little!"

Jiang Han didn't shy away from it, then smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't leave until I successfully cultivate the eighth stage, unless something earth-shattering happens outside!"

"Let's keep going!"

Ye Wanqiu nodded slightly. The two didn't speak further, continuing to fly forward. When their bodies could no longer withstand it and were injured with each lightning strike, they stopped and sat down in the void to cultivate.

Although cultivating here tormented their bodies, it was actually very peaceful, without worrying about any danger.

The cultivation speed was also fast, with them feeling their bodies improving almost every day, which greatly encouraged and motivated them.

… …

Time flew by like water, and another three years passed in the blink of an eye.

For many immortals, a few years was just a fleeting moment, with many immortals secluding themselves for tens or hundreds of years.

However, these eight years were very difficult for many immortals, because the Heavenly Court had mobilized fifty billion troops to the Divine Race's side, and over twenty billion soldiers had already died in battle.

Twenty billion soldiers meant twenty billion immortals.

Although many of these twenty billion immortals were cultivated using spiritual materials, they were still twenty billion living beings. Most of these immortals had their souls completely destroyed, with no remnants escaping, completely disappearing from this world.

Countless children lost their parents, countless wives lost their husbands, countless families were broken, and countless heroic souls remained forever within those hundreds of realms of the Divine Race.

The Divine Race suffered even heavier casualties, with the number reaching over thirty billion, including half of the older Divine Race members who had fallen in these hundreds of realms.

They originally possessed long lives and could live forever, but now they could only become small graves, sleeping eternally.

Similarly, because the Myriad Buddhas Hall didn't send out any strong individuals, both sides consisted of ordinary soldiers, with similar combat power. The Myriad Buddhas Hall also suffered heavy casualties, with conservatively fifty billion soldiers killed.

In other words…

The total number of soldiers killed in battle by the three major forces had exceeded one hundred billion.

In addition, considering the previous attacks by the Divine and Demonic Races against the Heavenly Court, the Myriad Buddhas Hall's attacks against the Demonic Race, and the Eternal Night Land, the number of cultivators and civilians killed in the Great Thousand World over these decades was estimated to exceed three hundred billion.

All races in the entire Great Thousand World were severely weakened!

Some wandering poets had already called these decades the Dark Ages, unseen in millions of years.

The Calamity of All Living Beings!

Now, not only was the Myriad Buddhas Hall extremely weary of war, but even the Divine Race and the Heavenly Court were finding it difficult to continue fighting, all becoming passive and reluctant to engage.

Each time a battle occurred, both sides would symbolically release some attacks from a distance, bombard each other for a while, and then disperse…

The previous small battles every ten days and large battles every month had turned into small battles every half month and medium battles every three months, with large battles becoming impossible to initiate.

The Emperor-level and King-level figures in the Myriad Buddhas Hall were well aware of this situation. They didn't urge or blame their subordinates, and even their faith in the Buddha was somewhat shaken.

Previously, after the Myriad Buddhas Hall destroyed the Heavenly Demon Cave, the various races of the Myriad Buddhas Hall were allocated a large territory.

They all received a large amount of resources, all enjoying the benefits, whether large or small races, all being beneficiaries.

Therefore, at that time, all the races absolutely supported the Buddha. Over the years, they had steadfastly carried out any orders from the Buddha, even exceeding expectations.

When the Buddha ordered them to mobilize troops for slaughter, the races didn't hesitate, continuously mobilizing the elites of their clans.

Now, the faith in the Buddha among the high-level figures of the various races had been somewhat shaken.

After fighting for so many years, they hadn't conquered a single territory, not even completely capturing a single realm.

With over one hundred billion soldiers killed in battle by the three sides, all the races in the Myriad Buddhas Hall were severely weakened, with every household mourning.

Most importantly, the high-level figures of the various races in the Myriad Buddhas Hall didn't understand the meaning of this war. The Myriad Buddhas Hall had lost fifty billion soldiers, what had they gained?

Everyone was confused…

Since the Buddha hadn't provided any explanation, and the soldiers below were reluctant to fight, the high-level figures of the various races naturally turned a blind eye. Did they really want all their clansmen to die in this?

"Has Tathagata really gone mad?"

Within Divine Fortune City, in the backyard of a luxurious manor, the Azure Emperor sat cross-legged in a bamboo forest, his eyes filled with surprise.

Over the years, he and the Violet Firmament Heavenly Emperor had discussed this many times, unable to understand why the Buddha would do this.

The only conclusion they had reached was that the Buddha had gone mad, otherwise, it was impossible to make such an incomprehensible decision.

"Buzz ~"

Just then, the space in front of the Azure Emperor fluctuated, and then three figures appeared before the Azure Emperor.

The Azure Emperor glanced at them, discovering that it was Shen Tianwen leading two Supreme Divine Emperors. A look of surprise appeared on his face as he asked, "What happened?"

Shen Tianwen's face was solemn as he cupped his fists towards the Azure Emperor and said, "Brother Qinghua, something major has happened. Near our Eastern Divine Universe Realm, there have appeared… Evil Races, and quite a few of them!"

"What?"

The Azure Emperor's sword-like eyebrows rose as he stood up abruptly and said, "That's impossible!"