Chapter 28: Gong Gong in His Fury Strikes Mount Buzhou

Faced with the overwhelming divine power of the Heavenly Emperor Di Jun, the Water God Gong Gong finally felt the stirrings of fear. He had never imagined that Di Jun’s power would far exceed his expectations, and he began to dread the prospect of defeat.

Deeming it time to eliminate both the War God Xing Tian and the Water God Gong Gong, the Heavenly Emperor Di Jun used the Sun and Moon Divine Wheels to force them together. With cold indifference, Di Jun split the wheels into three parts. The solar wheel transformed into ten sharp blades, and the lunar wheel into twelve, totaling twenty-two blades that hovered like autonomous drones, flying toward his adversaries with conscious intent.

The ten solar blades unleashed scorching solar light, while the twelve lunar blades emitted freezing lunar radiance, surrounding Xing Tian and Gong Gong in a comprehensive, inescapable assault. Di Jun, meanwhile, held the Star Disc, waiting for them to be battered into shreds before delivering the final blow. Despite their desperate resistance, the two gods were left covered in wounds, their state truly harrowing.

After a few moments, Di Jun, deciding it was time to finish things, unleashed the power of the stars. The surging starlight converged into a torrent, rushing toward them like a cosmic rapids. At that moment, Xing Tian cast aside all thoughts of death, feeling that to fight until the very last second was the only way to honor his divinity. He ignited his entire divine essence, allowing his own power to consume him as he charged directly into Di Jun’s torrential starlight.

"Hahaha! Di Jun! I shall fight you to the death!" Xing Tian roared, his voice echoing through the cosmos as if to steel his own resolve.

"BOOM!"

The massive ripples of divine power surged in every direction. Such an attack, capable of annihilating the entire galaxy and even destroying the universe itself, was far too overwhelming. Even with his death-defying spirit, Xing Tian could not withstand it; his divine head was swallowed by the torrent of starlight.

The resulting explosion glittered in the cosmic void like a supernova. A headless divine torso stood tall in the universe, but this was not the end. Xing Tian’s final strike seemed to have unlocked hidden potential; even with his head erased, his headless body erupted with even greater power. He broke through the boundaries that had long confined him: his nipples transformed into eyes, and his navel became a mouth. Burning his very divinity, he launched a new wave of attacks at the Heavenly Emperor.

"Hahaha! I am truly invincible!"
"Di Jun! I have finally reached a new height!"
"Come! Di Jun! Let us fight another three hundred rounds!"

Watching the even more powerful yet completely unhinged Xing Tian, Di Jun sighed softly. "Xing Tian, I truly admire your unyielding, heroic spirit. It is a pity that you chose to oppose me. For a god to defy the Heavenly Emperor, even if they grow stronger through battle, is destined to be a tragedy. I acknowledge your steadfastness and bravery, and so, I shall bestow upon you the final strike with the highest honor."

With a solemn expression, Di Jun recalled his twenty-two blades. As they orbited the Star Disc, vast power surged forth, blanketing the surrounding space. Force was imprisoned, time was paused, space was stilled, fate and causality were severed, and all other laws were isolated—it was the Heavenly Emperor’s Stele! Invoked from the distant Origin Ancestral Star, Di Jun had decided to bury the awakened War God with the highest level of ritual.

Facing such a terrifying display, Xing Tian felt no retreat, no fear—only battle. Endless, burning intent. This was his duty as the War God, and the very meaning of his existence. A War God cannot know fear.

Silently, the Heavenly Emperor Di Jun brought down his blade.

***

"Woooo..."

The universe seemed to mourn the fall of the War God, and a rain of red light fell across the void. Watching the scene, Di Jun remarked, "Xing Tian, this is my final gift to you." He then looked toward the Origin Ancestral Star. "Heh, Gong Gong, you are not worthy of the title of Water God. Even Xing Tian could resist until the very end, but you? A cowardly wretch who fears death; if you were to become the Heavenly Emperor, the world would know no peace." With that, Di Jun vanished from the space.

***

Seeing Xing Tian choose to fight to the bitter end, Gong Gong had fled immediately. He fled with ruthless efficiency, unable to embody the defiant, fearless spirit of the War God. Returning to the Origin Ancestral Star, he sought a place to hide, his resentment toward Di Jun reaching a boiling point. Di Jun’s failure to understand him, coupled with the humiliation that had left him a stray dog with nowhere to go, filled him with a burning desire for revenge.

In his flight, Gong Gong stumbled to the foot of Mount Buzhou, the Pillar of Heaven. Looking up at it, he decided that to spite Di Jun, he would strike the mountain in a fit of rage. If the Pillar of Heaven collapsed, it would surely cause chaos for the Emperor. His reason clouded by hatred, Gong Gong threw himself against Mount Buzhou solely to vent his spite.

***

Di Jun returned to the Kunlun Imperial Capital and announced the stripping of Gong Gong’s status as Water God. The Ten Divine Generals, seeing Di Jun’s return, knew their foes had fallen, and after reporting their losses, requested permission to hunt Gong Gong down.

The assault on the capital by the beasts of the Huaxia realm had ended in failure, with over ninety percent of the beasts perishing. Henceforth, they would become a rare and endangered species. Suddenly, the entire capital shook, followed by a thunderous "crash" from the outside world. The gods turned their eyes to the source and watched in shock: the Pillar of Heaven, Mount Buzhou, had collapsed.

***

Through an owl scouting in the distance, Athena used her divine power to project a screen, allowing herself and Mu Changge to witness Gong Gong’s act of destruction.

Mount Buzhou had been shattered! With its fall, half the sky split open, revealing jagged stone fissures—the Cracks of Heaven. The world groaned in sorrow, and every living thing felt the onset of a great catastrophe, sensing that the apocalypse had arrived.

After a few moments, a black shadow over five hundred meters long emerged from the celestial fissure. It possessed five massive dragon heads, two pairs of claws, and a pair of enormous, bat-like wings, its body as dark as ink. Descending from the fissure with an aura of boundless oppression and invisible power, the black dragon gazed down at the world with eyes that saw all life as mere ants, as if it were the Reaper himself.

Athena stared in horror at the projection. "How is this possible? Why has it come to this?" She turned to Mu Changge, who had asked about the creature's identity. "Even the official records of the Dragon Kingdom mention that Nüwa slew a black dragon to patch the heavens, but this... this is no mere water spirit!"

Sensing the terrifying intent of destruction radiating from the creature, Mu Changge trembled.

"Teacher Athena, what is it?"

Athena’s expression turned grim. "This dragon is the Beast of the End, the only one of its kind at the universe's limit. And clearly, it has crossed over from another universe through the Crack of Heaven!"

"What?! A Beast of the End from another universe!?"