Chapter 727: Defeating Heaven Devourer
On the battlefield of the Kunxu Fifth Layer.
A group of cultivators bustled back and forth, busily filming the scene.
Mu Qiansi, the former Heavenly Chosen of Joyful Union University who had participated in the Ten Greats League, was now among this group.
After being defeated by True Monarch Junior College, she had completely joined the Righteous Qi Alliance to save her own life and had become one of his team members.
At this moment, she was circling True Monarch Junior College, livestreaming the scene of him pinning his opponent underfoot.
Besides her, True Monarch Junior College’s team also included Ying Zhoufan from Celestial Monsters University, who had similarly surrendered after being defeated.
True Monarch Junior College currently had one foot on a cultivator’s head and held the man’s Nascent Soul in his other hand. He addressed the camera, “Everyone, this is a Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Dao Techniques Department of Myriad Laws University.”
“Heh, all I can say is… these rich kids from Myriad Laws University are fat and lazy. They have so much more money than us, yet they’re utterly useless — all reputation, no substance.”
“If you want to see me beat up more rich kids from the Ten Universities, please like, bookmark, and donate Spirit Coins…”
Mu Qiansi was already unfazed by such scenes. After joining the Righteous Qi Alliance, she discovered that the Finance Department had established a complete economic system within the Alliance.
Within this economic system, besides Righteous Qi Value, Spirit Coins remained an extremely useful currency.
After all, Spirit Coins, refined jointly by Spirit Transformation Cultivators and Righteous Gods, were a hard currency infused with spiritual energy. They not only anchored Immortal Dao Energy but also possessed an encryption method independent of the Spirit Realm, combining value, convenience, and security.
Mu Qiansi thought to herself, “Famous Nascent Soul cultivators in the Righteous Qi Alliance, like True Monarch Junior College and True Monarch Heaven Devourer, all livestream from time to time. They claim it’s to promote the Alliance and launch a public opinion offensive against the Ten Universities, but in the end… it’s all about making money.”
“Whether it’s advertisements, livestream donations, or various missions from the Alliance’s upper echelons, their goal is to earn both Righteous Qi Value and Spirit Coins.”
“Only with money can one acquire more Immortal Dao resources and advance further on the Immortal Dao path.”
Mu Qiansi sighed inwardly. “Heh… you had to make money in the Ten Great Universities, and you still have to make money here in the Righteous Qi Alliance. What’s the difference, really?”
As Mu Qiansi’s thoughts wandered, True Monarch Junior College noticed the messages scrolling across the livestream’s bullet chat. He raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh? Zhang Yu defeated Great Luminosity and the others?”
“I’m not surprised,” True Monarch Junior College said casually. “Those cultivators from the Finance Department are amateurs when it comes to combat.”
He quickly searched the Dark Spirit Realm and found a video of the battle between Zhang Yu and the twenty-one Nascent Soul True Monarchs, including True Monarch Great Luminosity.
As he watched the video with his audience, True Monarch Junior College analyzed and commented, “Tsk, that’s not how you fight. Zhang Yu clearly excels at area-of-effect combat. Surrounding him from the start was just playing right into his hands.”
“Besides his mastery of Kunlun in the Palm, he obviously has an extremely powerful spatial magical artifact, similar to the Great Void Cloud Repository, which he uses in conjunction with it to absorb his opponents’ attacks.”
“You can’t besiege someone like that. Or rather… you can’t besiege him as chaotically as Great Luminosity and his group did.”
Beside him, Mu Qiansi played along, asking, “Then how should one fight Zhang Yu?”
True Monarch Junior College chuckled. “With overwhelming force, of course.”
“Any spatial absorption ability has its limits.”
“To defeat Zhang Yu, you must use absolute, overwhelming force to completely overload his space pouch, leaving him with nothing left to absorb.”
With that, True Monarch Junior College addressed his livestream audience. “Does anyone know where Zhang Yu is right now? If you see him, tell me immediately. I’ll head over and livestream how to suppress him.”
“Heh, ‘Ten Great Undergraduates,’ ‘Red Packet Spammer,’ ‘Salary Raiser,’ ‘Heaven-Piercer’ — such grand titles, such massive popularity,” True Monarch Junior College sneered. “Perfect for me, the Strongest Junior College Student, to crush underfoot.”
Soon after, the chat exploded with messages about Zhang Yu and True Monarch Heaven Devourer. He quickly realized that True Monarch Heaven Devourer was engaged in a fierce battle with Zhang Yu.
Since True Monarch Heaven Devourer was also livestreaming, True Monarch Junior College immediately opened his channel.
He saw a colossal, sky-scraping Stone Monkey clutching Zhang Yu in its palm. The next moment, its giant hand clenched violently, its fingers like mountain peaks pressing down on Zhang Yu.
“Boom!”
The mountain-like fingers shattered, and Zhang Yu leaped free from the Stone Monkey’s grasp.
Watching this, True Monarch Junior College’s eyes lit up. “See? This time, Zhang Yu didn’t use Kunlun in the Palm to absorb all the falling rocks and debris.”
“It’s just as I said: his spatial absorption has a limit. He can’t endlessly absorb thousands or tens of thousands of tons of rock.”
“So, the best way to deal with him is to attack with massive quantities of cheap materials. He won’t be able to absorb it all, and he won’t dare to.”
“Heaven Devourer’s current strategy is the right one.”
As he spoke, True Monarch Junior College turned to Mu Qiansi and the others beside him. “Let’s go! We’re heading over too!”
“We can’t let Heaven Devourer get there first. Zhang Yu’s heaven-defying popularity must fall into my hands.”
In an instant, True Monarch Junior College waved his hand, and his entire team shot toward the battlefield.
Simultaneously, he initiated a co-stream request with True Monarch Heaven Devourer’s channel.
The next moment, True Monarch Heaven Devourer accepted the request. His monkey-like face and the ongoing battle scene appeared together on True Monarch Junior College’s livestream.
True Monarch Heaven Devourer roared, and mountain-sized Stone Monkeys erupted from the ground, swarming toward Zhang Yu with earth-shattering power.
Meanwhile, lines of text appeared on his livestream screen, maintaining the conversation with True Monarch Junior College.
True Monarch Heaven Devourer: “Junior College, can’t you see I’m busy? Spit out whatever bullshit you have to say, and make it quick.”
True Monarch Junior College chuckled. “Heaven Devourer, Zhang Yu is unfathomably powerful, and his popularity is astonishingly high. I was worried you couldn’t handle him alone, so I’ve come to support you.”
True Monarch Heaven Devourer: “Piss off! Don’t come leeching off me!”
True Monarch Junior College smiled faintly. “Don’t worry. Just hold on a little longer. I’m almost there.”
On the battlefield where True Monarch Heaven Devourer and Zhang Yu were locked in fierce combat…
True Monarch Heaven Devourer let out a furious roar. Instantly, the earth trembled, mountains shook, and the tectonic plates groaned!
Amidst the continuous tremors, mountain peaks rose from the ground, transforming into colossal Stone Monkeys that reached the heavens. They joined the siege against Zhang Yu.
Watching the ever-increasing number of Stone Monkeys, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Why the sudden urgency? His attacks have intensified significantly.”
Facing the mountain-like Stone Monkeys crashing toward him, Zhang Yu suppressed True Monarch Heaven Devourer with one hand while shattering mountains and rocks with the other. He refrained from easily using Kunlun in the Palm and Immortal Descendant.
After all, Immortal Descendant had a limited capacity of only ten cubic meters. The mountains of stone were too massive; even with volume compression, they would quickly fill the space.
Suddenly, Zhang Yu felt a searing heat in his palm. An intense, scorching temperature erupted from within True Monarch Heaven Devourer, releasing boundless light and heat that relentlessly battered the spatial barrier.
Seeing this, Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened. “Vajra University’s Civil Engineering Department military-grade cultivation technique… Great Sun Manifestations?”
True Monarch Heaven Devourer laughed heartily. “Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power, Mount Sumeru King Sutra, and Great Sun Manifestations — how do you like my Civil Engineering Three Divine Arts?”
“Zhang Yu! How much longer can you last?”
“And how long can your magic power keep me trapped?”
Gazing at True Monarch Heaven Devourer, who had transformed into a miniature sun in his palm, Zhang Yu had already activated Kunlun in the Palm and Immortal Descendant, continuously devouring the flames erupting from his opponent.
Zhang Yu replied calmly, “Heaven Devourer, you cannot escape my Five Fingers Mountain.”
Meanwhile, the colossal Stone Monkeys besieging him gradually shattered under the relentless impacts, crumbling into piles of broken rock.
But no sooner had the rubble fallen than it soared back into the sky, accelerating like a meteor shower, hurtling toward Zhang Yu.
In that moment, Zhang Yu felt as if he had become the Earth itself, with countless fragments of rock transforming into a barrage of meteorites, swarming to engulf him.
Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened. “This guy… he noticed I wasn’t absorbing the rocks and now wants to bury me with them?”
Though Zhang Yu continuously pulverized the stones, they remained swirling around him, as if intending to use his body as a center point, burying him completely under a mountain of rubble.
With a soft cry, Zhang Yu formed a Dao Seal with his hands. Instantly, layers of spatial barriers unfolded, enveloping him in a sphere dozens of meters wide.
The next moment, countless rocks slammed into the spatial barriers, unable to advance another inch.
At this moment, True Monarch Heaven Devourer had transformed into a black sphere, its flames extinguished, held aloft in Zhang Yu’s palm.
Zhang Yu stood within the spherical space formed by the spatial barriers. Outside, rocks hurtled in from every direction — above, below, and all around — quickly encasing the entire sphere and forming a massive mountain floating in mid-air.
As more and more rocks converged, the mountain continued to expand, relentlessly compressing the spatial barriers within.
Facing the mountain outside his protective sphere, Zhang Yu willed it, and the Heaven-Shattering War God Armor’s waist opened a Great Void Cloud Repository. A torrent of intense fire erupted — the Heavenly Sun Radiance God.
“Go!”
At Zhang Yu’s command, the Heavenly Sun Radiance God unleashed streams of Eternal Sun Radiance Flame, piercing through the spatial barriers and incinerating the surrounding rocks, continuously refining the matter into magic power.
Feeling the magic power flowing from the Heavenly Sun Radiance God, Zhang Yu glanced down at True Monarch Heaven Devourer in his hand and said calmly, “Heaven Devourer, using trash to attack me was a decent tactic.”
“But I’ve been learning how to deal with trash since my freshman year of college. Now, I’ve perfected the art.”
“If you have any other tricks, bring them all out now.”
As he spoke, Zhang Yu had already deployed the Great Sky Sacred Law Sword Formation, preparing to launch a Spirit Realm attack against True Monarch Heaven Devourer.
To ensure smooth communication and extract information from his opponent, Zhang Yu did not sever their vocal connection.
True Monarch Heaven Devourer sneered, “Human scum, if you think you’ve already won, you’re gravely underestimating me, the Great Sage Heaven-Swallower. I, the Great Sage Heaven-Swallower, am…”
He abruptly paused, then continued, “Hold on a moment. I have an urgent matter to attend to first.”
Zhang Yu stared in astonishment at the True Monarch in his palm. “What kind of urgent matter needs to be handled right now?”
True Monarch Heaven Devourer snorted coldly. “Naturally, it’s a major affair concerning Immortal Dao resources and my ascent to the peak of the Immortal Dao.”
The next moment, True Monarch Heaven Devourer’s voice rang out: “Thank you, Divine Monarch Chain Nexus, for the gift of 66 Zhang Ascension Certificates! May Divine Monarch Chain Nexus’s stocks soar, his crypto prices skyrocket, and may he never suffer a loss! May he be invincible on the Spirit Transformation Battlefield…”
But just as True Monarch Heaven Devourer was halfway through his speech, a furious rage — a fury he hadn’t shown since the battle began — flashed in his eyes.
At that very moment, he discovered his livestream room was lagging, on the verge of disconnecting.
This was the effect of Zhang Yu’s Level 40 Great Sky Sacred Law Sword Formation finally taking hold.
True Monarch Heaven Devourer roared in fury, “Zhang Yu! You dare cut off my network?!”
Zhang Yu replied coldly, “So what if I did?”
True Monarch Heaven Devourer bellowed, “Today, this ends only when one of us is dead!”
Amidst his roar, a simian silhouette shot toward Zhang Yu’s back.
“Hmm?”
Zhang Yu frowned. His Nascent Soul emerged from his back and collided with the monkey shadow with a thunderous boom.
Staring at the monkey-shaped black silhouette, a thought struck Zhang Yu. “True Monarch Heaven Devourer’s Nascent Soul? He must have released it before I suppressed him, hiding it and waiting for a chance to ambush me.”
In the blink of an eye, the two Nascent Souls were locked in a fierce exchange of blows. Amidst the explosive shockwaves from their clashing power, Zhang Yu’s Nascent Soul unleashed Kunlun in the Palm, suppressing Heaven Devourer’s Nascent Soul in its hand as well.
But then, in the next instant, another monkey shadow appeared. Then a third, a fourth, a fifth…
Not just within the spherical space, Zhang Yu could sense countless monkey shadows continuously materializing outside the rocky sphere as well.
True Monarch Heaven Devourer laughed maniacally. “Blazing Light! You can suppress one of me, but can you suppress hundreds, even thousands?”
With those words, True Monarch Heaven Devourer dissolved into a wisp of green smoke and vanished without a trace.
Watching this, Zhang Yu thought, “Another clone? Did it exhaust its power?”
At the same time, the entire spherical space created by the spatial barrier was filled with a dense swarm of monkey shadows.
The next moment, the spatial barrier was withdrawn, and the massive mountain encasing it shattered with a deafening roar.
Zhang Yu and True Monarch Heaven Devourer burst out from the mountain, standing proudly on opposite sides above the sea of clouds, their gazes locked.
Behind Zhang Yu hovered his mist-like Nascent Soul, the blazing Heavenly Sun Radiance God, and twelve Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords.
Behind True Monarch Heaven Devourer stood thousands of chattering Monkey Demons, roaring incessantly at Zhang Yu. Some were flesh-and-blood bodies identical to the True Monarch, while others were Nascent Soul forms.
The thousands of Monkey Demons roared in unison at Zhang Yu, “Scum! You’re dead!”
Zhang Yu frowned slightly at the sight. “What a formidable clone technique…”
The recent battle flashed through his mind as he began to organize combat intelligence.
“An unknown clone technique… Known number of clones…”
A line of text appeared in Zhang Yu’s Bionic Eye: “Identified enemies: 344.”
Within his Bionic Eye, True Monarch Heaven Devourer and all his clones were identified and marked with a red overlay.
“The clones have different types. Some are mere illusions, while others possess physical bodies.”
“Among the physical types, most are extremely fragile, collapsing with a single strike. A small number, however, possess considerable strength and can even execute various martial arts, appearing identical to the main body… This is the crucial point.”
Zhang Yu recalled the True Monarch Heaven Devourer he had just suppressed, which had ultimately dissolved into a wisp of green smoke.
“I must find his true body.”
As Zhang Yu strategized, True Monarch Heaven Devourer waved his hand, conjuring a massive sandstorm that obscured the entire battlefield, concealing both their figures and the live broadcast.
“Zhang Yu…”
True Monarch Heaven Devourer took a deep breath and looked at Zhang Yu. “You… have awakened a Monster Saint Bloodline, haven’t you?”
Zhang Yu remained expressionless, inwardly pondering why True Monarch Heaven Devourer had reached such a conclusion.
True Monarch Heaven Devourer didn’t wait for Zhang Yu’s reply and continued, “Do you know how the first monster in the world came to be?”
“The first monster was an ox in a field.”
“The ox’s master, wanting it to plow his fields and labor for him automatically, enlightened it day and night… until he finally transformed the ox into a monster.”
“This is the origin of monsters. They were created by humans… so that animals would work for them for free.”
“After that, more and more animals and beasts were transformed into monsters, becoming slaves — beings who worked without pay.”
“But slaves lacked technological accumulation, and their production efficiency was abysmal.”
“So, to make the slaves more capable and willing to work, humans began to impart Immortal Dao Technology to them, which ultimately led to the Human-Monster War…”
At this point, True Monarch Heaven Devourer paused briefly before changing his tone. “Did you think I was going to tell you the story of the Human-Monster War?”
He shook his head. “There’s nothing much to say about the Human-Monster War. In the end, the Human Race achieved absolute victory and completely exterminated every monster in the world at that time!”
Hearing True Monarch Heaven Devourer’s words, Zhang Yu’s gaze flickered, a trace of doubt rising in his heart. “Completely exterminated?”
“That’s right,” True Monarch Heaven Devourer said. “Billions of lives were utterly annihilated. That is the fate of those who resist humans — or rather, those who resist Immortals.”
“As for the current generation of monsterfolk, they are descendants of an Immortal-Made Monster.”
“To replace the exterminated slaves, the Immortals created an Immortal-Made Monster that would not resist, feel no pain, and serve humanity with single-minded devotion. She was the first Monster Saint — and also the first Monster Saint to rebel against the Heavenly Court.”
“She hid the blood of rebellion within our bodies, ensuring that among the countless monsterfolk treated like beasts of burden, a few Heavenly Chosen would always awaken, daring to defy the Heavenly Court and the Immortals.”
“Zhang Yu, since you have awakened the Monster Saint Bloodline, you are destined to oppose the Heavenly Court. Why not join us?”
Zhang Yu naturally didn’t answer. He had no way of knowing if the True Monarch’s words were true or false, and he sensed no genuine sincerity in the invitation.
“So be it.” True Monarch Heaven Devourer smiled faintly. “I’ll just have to beat you into submission first, then bring you back to the Righteous Qi Alliance and hand you over to the Alliance Leader.”
As he spoke, True Monarch Heaven Devourer dispersed the swirling dust storm, resuming the live broadcast of their battle.
At the same time, True Monarch Heaven Devourer’s form twisted and contorted, taking on a striking resemblance to True Monarch Celestial Elephant.
True Monarch Heaven Devourer laughed heartily. “Zhang Yu, I was waiting to refine Celestial Elephant’s bloodline. What were you waiting for?”
In the next moment, True Monarch Heaven Devourer charged forward with his numerous clones. Many of these clones had transformed into the likeness of True Monarch Celestial Elephant, unleashing power even greater than before.
Just as Zhang Yu was being overwhelmed, he suddenly flung his hand forward, casting a Spirit Realm Projection of countless red envelopes across the entire battlefield.
These red envelope projections flowed through the Spirit Realm layer of the battlefield, containing the purest form of Spirit Coins. Transactions could be completed even if disconnected from the Spirit Realm Network, much like the digital currencies Zhang Yu had seen on Earth. In Kunxu, this was real money that could literally be picked up.
As Zhang Yu scattered the vast number of red envelopes, a large portion of them quickly vanished across the battlefield.
True Monarch Heaven Devourer sneered, “Blazing Light, have you lost your mind? Throwing money at me? Do you think that will make me let you go?”
“Then again, maybe not,” he added mockingly. “Throw a little more my way, and perhaps I really will let you walk away.”
But in the next instant, Zhang Yu and his Nascent Soul simultaneously activated the Kunlun in the Palm cultivation art.
This was the first time Zhang Yu had ever unleashed this cultivation art at full power. With his main body, his Nascent Soul, and the enhancement from his Nascent Soul’s Cosmic Annihilation of the Ten Great Extraordinary Meridians, he instantly expanded the range of Kunlun in the Palm to its absolute limit.
In Zhang Yu’s eyes, the locations where every red envelope had vanished were now marked and tracked by the Great Sky Sacred Law Sword Formation.
“Only those connected to the Spirit Realm or possessing a Spirit Realm Wallet can collect my money,” Zhang Yu thought.
“Which means… anyone who could grab a red envelope might be your true body, right, Heaven Devourer?”
“Suppress!”
In the next moment, one True Monarch Heaven Devourer after another was violently suppressed between Zhang Yu’s hands.
The clones struggled fiercely, roaring in fury. “Zhang Yu! You can’t trap me!”
Zhang Yu merely smiled faintly. “Heaven Devourer, I don’t need to trap you for long.”
“You asked what I was waiting for?”
“I was waiting for the swords to fly a little longer…”
High in the sky, layers of the sea of clouds were torn apart as countless distorted streaks of light descended from the heavens, streaking toward Zhang Yu’s position.
Staring at the scene, True Monarch Heaven Devourer froze. “That’s…”
Zhang Yu knew. It was the Great Void Flying Thunder, a long-range support attack from Heavenly Sword University that he had called for shortly after the battle began. Jointly controlled by twelve Nascent Soul True Monarchs, the full barrage of 9,999 Great Void Flying Thunders was enough to blast any Nascent Soul Realm cultivator into dust.
Of course, that was assuming it hit its target.
Hitting a Nascent Soul True Monarch from thousands or even tens of thousands of miles away was no easy feat.
But at this moment, with True Monarch Heaven Devourer temporarily suppressed by Zhang Yu, there was nowhere left to run.
“Zhang! Yu!”
As the 9,999 Great Void Flying Thunders drew closer, True Monarch Heaven Devourer struggled violently, roaring in unwilling fury. “If you weren’t so damn rich, you never would have used a money-scattering trick! And if I weren’t so damn poor, I never would have been tempted to pick it up! To think that I, who defied the Heavenly Court and swore to shatter Kunxu, would be defeated by money today…”
“Money?” Zhang Yu said calmly. “Heaven Devourer, are you truly poor? So poor that you couldn’t survive without picking up my money?”
“Heaven Devourer, you weren’t defeated by money. You were defeated by greed.”
Zhang Yu’s mind flashed with images of Heaven Devourer: plundering monsterfolk, raiding the Ten Universities, thanking donors for tips, and snatching up red packets…
“You pillaged heaven and earth, your greed insatiable. You refused to miss a single opportunity for profit, unwilling to let go of even one Spirit Coin. That… is the true reason for your defeat.”
The next moment, with a push from Zhang Yu’s hands, the suppressed True Monarch Heaven Devourer was propelled directly into the path of the Great Void Flying Thunders. Amidst a sky-filling inferno, he was reduced to ash.
Simultaneously, in the Supreme Clarity Realm, Zhang Pianpian, who was divining intelligence on the Fifth Layer, looked up. Within the Soul-Guiding Pool, a cultivation art was slowly materializing.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the Dark Spirit Realm, True Monarch Heaven Devourer roared in fury: “Zhang! Yu!”
Not far from Zhang Yu and Heaven Devourer’s battlefield, True Monarch Junior College smiled faintly. “Excellent. Heaven Devourer’s defeat is perfect. Not only has Zhang Yu expended a great deal of Magic Power, but the value of defeating him has now increased.”
But just then, a message appeared in True Monarch Junior College’s Bionic Eye.
True Monarch Immortal Slayer: “Zhang Yu is mine to slay. Do not interfere.”