The People's God: Sacrificing Trillions to Ascend

Fear crept into Liu Jincheng’s eyes. The power Han Wu had displayed shook him to his core. Years of combat experience told him that if he continued defending passively, Han Wu would eventually cut him down.

“Rock Golems, all forces attack! Crush the enemy before us!” he commanded.

The exhausted Rock Golems obeyed and rose in a battle formation. They concentrated their Formation Might and condensed it into a massive meteorite before hurling it at Han Wu.

Han Wu remained perfectly calm. The fifth slot, which housed the Abyss Armor, lit up. The fifth Peerless Slash was already charged.

“Skyshell!”

Vast energy took the shape of a Black Tortoise that hovered above Han Wu like a protective dome. The meteorite crashed into it with tremendous force, yet the Black Tortoise remained completely unscathed. Meanwhile, cracks spread across the meteorite before it disintegrated.

It was the first time Liu Jincheng had encountered an opponent who could match him in defense. Unwilling to accept it, he repeatedly ordered his Rock Golems to reform their formation and create more meteorites to bombard Han Wu. He needed to see the Black Tortoise dome shatter. He needed to land even a single hit on Han Wu.

Under the dome’s protection, Han Wu had already activated the sixth Peerless Slash.

“Skypiercer!”

Triggered by the Heavenly Demon Spike, the attack took the shape of a horn spinning at incredible speed. It shot from Han Wu’s blade tip.

Liu Jincheng issued an emergency command for his Rock Golems to scatter.

Unfortunately, it was too late. The horn shot forward at the speed of light, piercing through everything in its path. Even after nothing remained to stop it, the spinning horn continued upward and tore straight through the heavens. That single strike wiped out fifteen percent of the Rock Golems, a race renowned for its defensive power.

Liu Jincheng was stunned. He could clearly tell that the attack could effortlessly break his best defenses. If Han Wu had used it earlier, Liu Jincheng would have already died. At that moment, he fully understood the gap between them. Slowly, he raised his hand in preparation to surrender.

Sadly, Han Wu had no intention of allowing that. He was far too perfect a target, and Han Wu hadn’t enjoyed himself yet!

The seventh Peerless Slash was ready, and it triggered the Dark Curse Nail.

“Shadow Realm Slash!”

In an instant, pitch-black shadows blanketed the entire battlefield. Liu Jincheng’s raised hand froze in place, unable to move even a fraction higher. He had been completely restrained. His energy refused to respond. The surviving Rock Golems suffered the same fate and were frozen like statues.

The next moment, the eighth Peerless Slash took shape. This time, it triggered the Giant Locust Blade.

“Colossus Slash!”

A 100,000-meter-long blade of energy swept across the battlefield. All the Rock Golems, even with their frames swollen to 100 times their normal size, were cleaved in half at the waist. Liu Jincheng’s core race was annihilated.

Every War Faction member watching the finals was stunned. A single slash had bisected that many Rock Golems. The sight was terrifying. If used in a war against a foreign civilization, against ultra-giant life forms or structures, the devastation would be unimaginable.

Watching from the stands, Evilspawn nearly lost his mind with excitement. “I want it! I have to get that Divine Weapon!”

The weapon embodied everything Evilspawn desired in a Divine Weapon. It was the weapon of his dreams.

On the other hand, Pious grew serious. He wanted the weapon as well, but unlike Evilspawn, he approached the matter rationally. He had seen firsthand how strong Han Wu was while wielding it. Acquiring it would require strategy, not brute force.

Zhong Heng felt a headache coming. Han Wu’s performance had already secured his victory in the finals. However, if Han Wu secured a seat in one of the Three Armies, how was Zhong Heng supposed to handle the grudge with the Butcher’s War Family? They were counting on him to deliver justice.

Inside the arena, with every unit destroyed, Liu Jincheng had gone numb. He had lost thoroughly and sighed. “You’ve killed all my units. You win. Whether you let me go or kill me is your choice.”

With his units gone, something in him had shifted. Earlier, he had felt fear and worried about what Han Wu would do to him. Now he felt nothing at all. His heart, which had been hanging in suspense, had finally given out.

Even if Han Wu killed him, he no longer cared. At most, it would be one more life lost. His foundation was gone. Without the units he had painstakingly cultivated, he had nothing left to rely on within the War Faction. Whether he lived or died hardly mattered anymore. The choice rested with Han Wu.

Han Wu stared at Liu Jincheng, somewhat hesitant. Liu Jincheng was, at most, a stranger who had left a bad impression. That wasn’t enough reason to kill him. Even so, simply letting him go didn’t sit right either.

Han Wu still had one technique left to try out. So far, he had displayed only ninety percent of what he had. Leaving the last technique unused felt incomplete.

I might as well go all the way! he thought.

Han Wu said, “If you can survive this slash, I’ll let you go.”

Liu Jincheng looked at Han Wu expressionlessly. His face practically said, “If you want to kill me, just do it. No need for the runaround. I’m tired of all this. Just end it.”

Han Wu gathered his remaining energy. The ninth slot, which housed the Locust Dragon Seal, lit up.

Energy surged outward and took the form of an Azure Dragon that radiated boundless majesty. The Azure Dragon released a roar brimming with the might of the Great Dragons.

To Han Wu’s surprise, the Azure Dragon dove into Peerless. He stared at the blade in his hand, visibly confused. A vivid, unmistakable Azure Dragon marking had appeared along its edge. After carefully sensing it, Han Wu understood what it did.

The final Peerless Slash was called Dragon Slayer. It wasn’t an offensive technique, but an enhancement. Any weapon imbued with Dragon Slayer would have its base performance amplified tenfold or more.

Realizing this, Han Wu casually released a Heaven-Earth Severance with Peerless. In an instant, the earth split open. The entire arena shattered and crumbled into ruin.

Liu Jincheng was dumbfounded once again. The slash hadn’t struck him, yet it hurt more than if it had. It meant that Han Wu had never used his full strength throughout their battle. If he had used this technique earlier, Liu Jincheng’s units would have been wiped out long ago.

“What are you standing around for? Get out of here.” Han Wu withdrew his units and left first.

Liu Jincheng hurried after him. Ten seconds after they exited, the arena collapsed completely. The void tore through every inch of the ground. Under its relentless pull, the entire arena disintegrated as if it had never existed.

Every War Faction member who had watched the battle drew a sharp breath. Before this, many of them had believed the reports about Han Wu forcing the Butcher to his death were exaggerated.

Now, however, those reports seemed understated instead. Given the power that Han Wu had displayed, if he had intended to kill the Butcher, there was no way he would have had the chance to self-destruct. Han Wu had clearly shown mercy and allowed him to preserve a final shred of dignity.