The Purple Forbidden Star, seen as a single star to outsiders, is actually a realm of stars.
Ziwei, Taویی, and Tiānshì are collectively referred to as the "Three Enclosures" (San yuan).
These are three extremely vast star systems, with hundreds of thousands of stars under their rule. Ziwei Palace is located in the central area, while Taiwei Palace and Tianmarket Palace are positioned on either side, providing auxiliary support. The Twenty-Eight Star Apparatus and the One Hundred and Eight Immortals under heaven are actually within the jurisdiction of the Three Palaces.
All stars in Honghuang were created from the hair and beard of Pan Gu. While they appear as separate celestial bodies, they are actually different from the star wars mode in Emperor Huang's Great Expedition, where stars are conquered using interstellar warships. In terms of spatial position, all the stars in the sky are part of Honghuang, which is a cross-dimensional expedition rather than an interstellar war.
The former Ziwei Star was occupied by the demon race and became the center of the Zhou Tian Star Array. Towards the later stages of the war, this star was so severely damaged that it disappeared after the great calamity ended, entering a self-repair phase. The Ziwei Palace centered around Ziwei Star has also become desolate. The Taiwei Palace and Tiānshì Palace, which remained to govern the remaining star realms, have lost their original functions.
Now that the Ziwei Star has completed its self-repair and reconnected with the Honghuang world, it was not the phoenix's expeditionary army that connected them first, but rather the Tianhe River. A tributary flowing from below upwards, against the current of ten million miles, encircling the Ziwei Star long ago like a belt.
The lack of knowledge about the enemy's situation is a disadvantage for the Phoenix side, but controlling the initiative of the battlefield is their advantage.
The Tiānshì Star is the main star of the Tiānshì Realm among the Three Enclosures, and it is quite close to the Ziwei Star. The phoenix plans to use this star as the main base for attacking the Ziwei Star.
Zheng Lun and Chen Qi have already informed the local deities ahead of time that the army is on its way, telling them to prepare for their arrival.
After replenishing food and water, the vanguard army officially entered the Ziwei Star aboard their flying ships, while it was nearly two days later before the phoenix's main forces arrived at the Tiānshì Star.
"Little Immortal, I kneel before your might!" The three white-bearded and white-haired immortals bowed reverently, for there was no other choice. They were the only three celestial beings left on this star, which had been affected by the great war. It was not as severe as the Ziwei Star, but it still caused some damage to the Tiānshì Star. Although it had not reached the point of self-destruction like Ziwei Star, its prosperity was gone forever.
The three immortals are not demons, but rather wanderers from Honghuang who settled here and have been living for over ten thousand years.
Even though the Tiānshì Star is in ruins, it is still one of the Three Enclosures. The spiritual materials are only enough for the three of them to use, which is sufficient.
They really wanted to refuse, but how could they resist the tens of thousands, almost ten million, of heavenly soldiers and generals?
Surrender!
Both the righteous and the evil factions have said things like "Once the heavenly soldiers arrive, everything will be destroyed, why not surrender early?" But those heavenly soldiers were imposters; the heavenly soldiers this time brought by the phoenix are genuine.
The three immortals dared not resist.
The Phoenix nodded slightly while sitting in the chariot, his expression not exactly amiable but not completely off-putting either.
This kind of thing doesn't require her to be responsible for, she directly leads her construction troops to build palaces on the Tiānshì Star.
Assigning troops, conducting reconnaissance, and other work were all handed over to Zhang Guifang and their crew to handle. She was just waiting for a result.
Within the Ziwei Star.
Zheng Lun held two magic staffs in each hand, accompanied by a fierce-eyed beast as his mount. He landed with Chen Qi and their respective troops, with three thousand elite soldiers and one thousand auxiliary troops. Each of them had broad shoulders and strong waists, wearing armor blessed by Buddhist sutras, wielding large shields and long spears.
The Fire-eyed Golden-ring beast grumbled, as Zheng Lun had chosen a landing spot riddled with mud. Extending from the coastline, within over a hundred million miles, not a single plot of fertile land could be found; all one would see was muck that would sink one's foot with every step.
The expeditionary force was discovered by the demons in the Ziwei Star as soon as they entered.
Demons may have distorted values, but their intelligence itself is not affected.
The Ziwei Star used to be the most important node among the myriad celestial stars. Emperor Jun and Taiyi had been personally stationed there for a long time, and it was the Eleven Ancestral Witches who blocked the door for a challenge that prompted them to choose to face the enemy.
Those capable of being entrusted by Emperor Jun to guard the Ziwei Star were all top generals and fierce warriors. At this moment, the horde of demons had already made preparations, and when Zheng Lun's four thousand troops landed, they encountered a fierce attack from the demons.
The Ziwei Star did not stop time, but rather disconnected from the outside world. The horde of demons had been living in the star for over a hundred million years by themselves.
They had long since cleaned up the battlefield of old, using every available resource to the fullest, but it was still not enough. Demons do not value unity and friendship; if you are influenced by the heart demon, and I am influenced as well, does that make us friends? No such thing exists.
The resources were already scarce to begin with, and if they didn't compete for them, they would starve.
Demons who have managed to survive until today all possess certain skills. Today, they have united as an alliance, pooling their strengths to collectively resist external enemies.
The horde of demons used all bone arrows, with the sinister tips swirling with countless spirits and ghosts. The arrows flew like locusts, their rate of fire extremely fast.
"Lift shields!" Zheng Lun is an old subordinate who has followed Su Protect from the founding of the Han country. He has been involved in military affairs all his life and has extensive combat experience.
He sat atop the Fire-eyed Golden-ring beast, not a trace of worry.
His three thousand heavenly soldiers were also elite, presenting a unified shield wall for defense.
A crisp sound of "dang dang dang" echoed.
The lieutenant picked up a bone arrow used by the demons and examined it for a moment before exclaiming with joy: "General, the enemy's arrows are weak and fragile. This battle will definitely be won by our troops!"
Zheng Lun nodded silently, mechanically issuing orders: "Change to the crossbows!"
The prepared Qianmó crossbows were aimed at the demons in the distance. These were gifts from Lingshan Mountain, and every arrow carried blessings from monks. Ten thousand arrows were fired simultaneously, creating a golden light sea, and the demons who had turned black all fell to the ground. They had to circle around on both sides to try to close combat and then drive the expeditionary forces out of the Ziwei Star.
Zheng Lun's voice was extremely loud: "Prepare your spears!"
There was no small talk between the two sides, and they immediately engaged in battle.
The expeditionary force, with their well-crafted weapons and disciplined training, used a combination of shields and crossbows with long spears, pushing the demons one after another onto the muddy shores.
After a moment, Zheng Lun personally participated in the battle.
His "magic staff" was a formidable weapon forged by the Master of Forging Treasures from Lingshan Mountain, created by the Bodhisattva Jingang. When wielded, it radiated a brilliant aura and caused explosive impacts every time it struck a demon. When Zheng Lun exerted maximum effort, the scene would resonate with Buddhist chants.
Zheng Lun charged left and right as if there were no one in his path, his magic staff smashing through the tattered armor of the demons and their bizarrely patterned leather armor. Some demons with weaker cultivation levels were even reduced to blood mist by him on the spot.
They fought fiercely for an hour when the old Zhu led the Tianhe River Army, and Magi Liqing with his part of the reinforcements, finally arrived.
Zheng Lun led the heavenly soldiers to erect massive shields to defend the landing point. Magi Liqing joined the battle by wielding his large sword, and the water army fired arrows one after another from their ships at the demons on the shore, forming a Gekwang array of high martial arts.
