After swallowing ninety-nine godheads, the God-King Blood Puppet kept swelling until it shot up to nearly thirty feet tall. At the same time, its previously featureless face began to morph, revealing actual facial features.
But weirdly enough, the face that appeared was actually that of one of the Heavenly Gods sacrificed in the ritual.
On the small array platform, six Owens Family Upper Heavenly Gods bit their fingers, scribbled runes in the air, chanted spells, and sent those runes flying into the God-King Blood Puppet's body.
The puppet's face kept shifting, and every time it changed, it took on the features of another sacrificed Heavenly God—each expression full of pain, ferocity, resentment, or outright terror.
Time ticked by.
Eventually, the faces on the God-King Blood Puppet faded away, and its body started turning transparent. Inside, you could just make out the fused mass of ninety-nine godheads.
And that mass was about the size of a basketball.
"It's almost done!" The Owens patriarch shook with excitement. "Noah, get ready. As soon as the God-King godhead is complete, you swallow it immediately!"
"Yes, Father!"
Noah Owens nodded, eyes blazing. As long as he swallowed and refined that God-King godhead, he'd become a God-King himself.
The God-King Blood Puppet kept getting more and more transparent, and the God-King godhead inside shrank further, starting to radiate a powerful pressure, like it was trying to break free.
The six Owens Upper Heavenly Gods sped up the runes they were channeling into the puppet, sweat beading on their foreheads as the strain showed.
Inside the warship.
Ian Song glanced around at everyone. Except for Frank Shaw, Rhea Redmoon, and Galen Silverwing, all the others stared at that pseudo–God-King godhead with burning desire.
He finally got it. The reason they'd waited until the pseudo godhead was complete to make a move was because they all wanted a shot at claiming it.
As for whether those ninety-nine Heavenly Gods lived or died, nobody really cared.
Finally.
Two hours later, the God-King godhead inside the puppet erupted with blinding light and overwhelming pressure. With a loud crack, the puppet's body shattered, and the godhead shot skyward, trying to escape.
But it was blocked by the array platform.
At the same time, the six Upper Heavenly Gods all unleashed spells, trying to pin the godhead in place.
"Noah, get in the array—now!"
The Owens patriarch shouted, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Yes, Father!"
Noah Owens moved in a flash, darting into the array. He snatched up the godhead, swallowed it, and sat cross-legged on the Taiji fish diagram to refine it.
"Go!"
Just then—
Brennan Cliff let out a cold snort. The warship hidden in the grass shot into the sky, instantly expanding into a massive battleship. With a thunderous boom, a beam of light blasted out.
The beam slammed right into the crowd of Owens Family Heavenly Gods.
More than thirty Heavenly Gods were instantly blasted to death.
Before the Owens gods could even react, eighteen figures shot out from the warship and started a massacre.
"Damn it!"
The Owens patriarch's eyes turned blood-red as he instinctively charged at Frank Shaw.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Energy exploded, space trembled, and the two clashed dozens of times in just seconds.
Frank Shaw started to fall behind.
Meanwhile, the Owens Family's Heavenly Gods were being slaughtered—barely any were left.
Galen Silverwing joined the attack on the Owens patriarch.
At the same time, Brennan Cliff charged into the array, aiming straight for Noah Owens.
"Courting death!"
Noah Owens, who had been refining the God-King godhead with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and unleashed a slash of black sword-qi.
"Hmph!"
Brennan Cliff's eyes flashed with disdain as he threw a punch.
But he was sent flying right out of the array.
"Damn it!"
Brennan Cliff's eyes turned vicious. He hadn't expected Noah Owens's strength to skyrocket after refining just a sliver of the godhead.
"Kill him! Take the godhead!"
By now, all the other Owens Heavenly Gods had been wiped out. More Seven-Star God-Demons arrived, charging into the array with Brennan Cliff to surround Noah Owens. As for the six Owens elders, they couldn't move—they had to keep the array stable, or Noah would be killed by godhead backlash.
On the other side—
With Frank Shaw and Galen Silverwing teaming up, the Owens patriarch was already wounded. Moments later, Galen split him in two, and Frank seized the chance to blow his head apart.
Inside the array.
Noah Owens was strong, but up against fourteen Upper Heavenly Gods, he couldn't hold out for long.
Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!
Wounds opened all over his body, blood pouring out nonstop.
Moments later—
His body exploded, and the God-King godhead flew free again—right into Brennan Cliff's hand.
"Hahaha, kill them all!"
Brennan Cliff laughed, leading his men to slaughter the six remaining Owens Upper Heavenly Gods.
The six Upper Heavenly Gods were already exhausted. After just a few exchanges, they were all killed.
Down in the canyon, plenty of Owens Family gods watched in shock as their Heavenly Gods were wiped out in seconds—even the patriarch and heir were dead. For a moment, everyone just stood there, stunned.
"Wipe them out—leave no survivors!"
One of the Seven-Star God-Demons suggested.
"Sir, they're just ordinary gods. Let them go!"
Song Yan jumped off the warship and spoke up.
"Who do you think you are? Get lost!"
The Seven-Star God-Demon glanced at Song Yan with disdain.
"He's my little brother. Insult him, and you're asking for death!"
Rhea Redmoon strode forward, her eyes cold as she stared down the Seven-Star God-Demon.
The Seven-Star God-Demon sneered, "Rhea Redmoon, aren't you full of yourself? Too bad, I'm Qianhe Lord. Your intimidation doesn't work on me. Move, or I'll kill you too!"
"You're courting death!"
Just then, Rhea Redmoon vanished from sight.
The Seven-Star God-Demon wasn't about to back down. He clashed with Rhea Redmoon in midair, but after just three breaths, he was sent crashing to the ground.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Rhea Redmoon looked down at him, arrogant as ever. "If you weren't part of my brother's God-Demon crew, you'd already be dead!"
"Good! Good!" Qianhe Lord grinned viciously. "Rhea Redmoon, you really live up to your reputation. But you can only protect your little brother for now—can you protect him forever?"
At that moment—
Song Yan stepped forward, facing Qianhe Lord. "Give me a hundred years, and I'll have you begging for mercy at my feet!"
"No need for a hundred years. Sis will take care of him for you right now!"
Rhea Redmoon said with a bright smile.
Then, Rhea Redmoon vanished again.
"Not good!"
Brennan Cliff's face changed suddenly. He appeared in front of Qianhe Lord, and after a few violent crashes, both were sent flying, slamming into the ground.
Seeing this, several of the other twelve Seven-Star God-Demons turned pale and rushed over to shield them.
"Sis, leave it! I can handle this myself!"
Song Yan spoke again.
"Fine, for your sake, I'll let them go. If they bully you again, just tell Sis—I'll set them straight!" As she spoke, a blood-red crescent-shaped artifact appeared in Rhea Redmoon's hand. "Little bro, do you know what this is?"
"No idea!"
Song Yan shook his head.
Rhea Redmoon chuckled. "It's called Redmoon. It's tasted the blood of thirty-seven Upper Heavenly Gods. It's gone ten thousand years without a drink—I've been itching for a chance to use it, so don't make trouble for yourselves!"
As she spoke, Rhea Redmoon swept her gaze over the other Seven-Star God-Demons. Instinctively, a chill ran down their spines.