I Have a God Simulator

The Divine War began, and members of the Funeral Race gradually awoke from their slumber. They dismantled the Black Tombstones in the rear and redeployed them at the front.

This was the fastest way to build a defensive line.

The clusters of tombstones formed a nearly insurmountable barrier. Hundreds of Black Tombstones spewed Nether Fire simultaneously, making it incredibly difficult for the enemy to break through this line of defense.

Even the few who occasionally broke through were intercepted by Ghouls and eliminated with the help of the Nether Fire.

Yan Jiu took it all in.

The Ghost Realm was well-rested and waiting for an exhausted foe, but the strategic situation was far from optimistic.

Their enemy was no ordinary foe.

The vanguard of the attacking Bamboo Reed Kingdom consisted entirely of Bamboo Beasts. They were formed from individual Bamboo People and came in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

The Bamboo People were tall and slender, constructed from segments of bamboo. Their bodies were extremely flexible and highly resistant to damage, but their weaknesses were slow speed and a lack of explosive power.

However, against the Ghost Realm’s tombstone formations, these weaknesses hardly mattered.

They had plenty of time to merge and assemble into Bamboo Beasts, with some Bamboo People forming the joints, others the spine, some the limbs, some the skeleton, and still others constructing the head.

Numerous Bamboo People interlocked with one another, entering the battle in the form of a Bamboo Beast.

Each Bamboo Beast was the size of a two-story wooden house. They were typically clad in special bamboo armor, their bodies emitting loud CREAKING sounds as they ran, yet they were surprisingly light and agile in combat.

They could stretch their bodies significantly and were able to turn and maneuver in all sorts of unbelievable ways, making it difficult for the tombstones’ crossfire of Nether Fire to hit them.

If burned by Nether Fire, a Bamboo Beast would either shed its back armor or immediately retreat. After swapping out some of its constituent Bamboo People in the rear, it would charge the formations again.

The Bamboo Beasts had two methods of attack.

The first was a simple, savage charge. Using sword-like horns, bamboo spears, and bamboo spikes that extended from their bodies, they would pierce and tear through the Ghouls at high speed, destroying the tombstones’ rammed-earth foundations, brickwork, and even the Nether Fire skulls.

The second was to transport Bamboo People warriors.

Once a Bamboo Beast broke through the wall of fire and reached the inner perimeter, it would disgorge the Bamboo People held within its belly.

At that point, armored, sword-wielding Bamboo People warriors would tumble out. They would quickly use chisels and pickaxes to break open the Black Tombstones and rush inside to occupy them.

The Ghosts were completely helpless against these warriors. So once a Bamboo Beast got close, the Ghosts had no choice but to abandon their tombstone and retreat. Not far behind, however, the Funeral Race would forge new Black Tombstones to continue bolstering the defenses.

The front line fell into a stalemate, with both sides locked in a constant tug-of-war.

The Ghost Realm’s lack of mobility was gradually exposed as a critical weakness.

Yan Jiu had been in the Ghost Realm for many years, so he had a basic understanding of the situation.

Although this Divine Kingdom had a population of nearly one hundred thousand, the vast majority were Ghosts. By gathering together to inhabit the Black Tombstones, the Ghosts could increase the lethality of the Nether Fire and continuously nourish these wondrous structures.

The Ghosts’ Combat Power was feeble, and they lacked supportive equipment like Ghost Armor. Thus, they were utterly dependent on the tombstones’ Nether Fire and the Ghoul guardians in battle.

Once both defensive lines were breached, the Ghosts lost all ability to resist.

The core group, the Funeral Race, only numbered around 200. They were a variant of both Extraordinary Beings and Ghouls. Their birth rate had always been low, and though they had long lifespans, they couldn’t reproduce like ordinary people.

Every death was a permanent loss.

The Bamboo Beasts understood this. In addition to destroying the clusters of tombstones, they specifically targeted members of the Funeral Race who appeared to make repairs or build new ones.

In contrast, the Bamboo People were more numerous, their strategies and tactics more diverse, and they held the initiative.

After some probing attacks confirmed that the Ghost Realm lacked any means of Counterattack, the Bamboo Reed Kingdom split its forces of Bamboo Beasts, attacking from different areas and along various fronts to stretch the defenders thin.

It seemed as though the Bamboo Beasts were taking a beating in many places, but Yan Jiu, who could move swiftly through the sand, saw clearly that most of their assaults were feints. Their true targets were the Funeral Race. They were willing to trade life for life to deplete the true core power of the tombstones.

If a Divine War could not be ended quickly, it would become a contest of comprehensive strength between the Divine Kingdoms involved.

Having personally witnessed the war between King Wuzi and the Bos God, Yan Jiu already understood this.

But the Ghost Realm was not at a complete disadvantage.

The Funeral People could absorb Ghosts into their bodies. When a Bamboo Person was killed, its spirit would be collected and transformed, becoming a new living force for the Ghost Realm. In this way, the clusters of tombstones slowly grew stronger.

So, while the overall number of tombstones was gradually shrinking, their individual strength was continuously increasing. The front lines were now composed almost entirely of Tier Two Tombstones, with Tier Three Tombstones providing support from the rear.

Over the next three years, the war grew increasingly fierce. Warriors on both sides fell continuously, and each began to reveal its hidden strengths.

A Tier Four Black Tombstone appeared on the battlefield.

It was four stories tall, but the stone stele was covered in blood-red veins. The skull on its face was half-covered in rotting flesh on the left, while the right was bare bone. Two balls of green fire burned in its eye sockets.

Its jaw gnashed and chewed as it let out a strange, cackling laugh.

The Nether Fire pouring from the half-faced skull’s eyes was highly adhesive. It ignited on contact and would spread rapidly over a Bamboo Beast, proving incredibly lethal.

The first time the Tier Four Tombstone appeared, two Bamboo Beasts were incinerated into black ash in their very first engagement with it.

The skull watched its prey struggle and wail in agony within the flames, letting out a piercing, bizarre laugh.

Before anyone in the Ghost Realm could celebrate, the half-faced skull sprayed its flames on its own allies, incinerating four Ghouls who writhed on the ground before they, too, were reduced to charcoal.

This mad skull didn’t distinguish between friend and foe. Anyone who entered its attack range would be burned for its amusement.

The Tier Four Tombstone had transformed from a *Black Tombstone* into a *Mad Tombstone*.

Yan Jiu finally understood why Tier Four Tombstones were never seen.

An uncontrollable weapon like this would be a disaster in times of peace.

Moreover, the hundreds of Ghosts within the Tier Four Tombstone had been completely absorbed by the skull—a process akin to a mass sacrifice, making the cost of its creation extremely high.

The Bamboo Reed Kingdom immediately implemented a countermeasure.

A type of Bamboo Beast that had never been seen before entered the battlefield.

They resembled large, sharp-headed dragonflies, gliding through the air on thin, wide wings.

Yan Jiu watched in astonishment.

’The Bamboo Reed Kingdom can actually control the skies! This is the worst possible news for the Ghost Realm.’

He soon discovered, however, that he had overestimated the Bamboo People.

The Bamboo Birds couldn’t achieve true Flying. They had to perch on towering, interconnected Bamboo Towers constructed by Bamboo People. From there, a flexible rope woven from numerous Bamboo People would draw back the arrow-shaped Bamboo Bird and launch it with immense force.

The entire process was like shooting an arrow.

The arrow-shaped Bamboo Bird was shot toward the clouds, where it would spread its wings and begin to glide on the strong high-altitude winds.

This process required tall, special Bamboo Towers, and relied on the Precision and coordination of the Bamboo People, the expert control of the Bamboo Bird itself, and the exploitation of weather and wind.

Yan Jiu observed from the shadows and discovered that the Bamboo Birds’ launch success rate was low, with failures and crashes happening frequently. ’This must be why the Bamboo Reed Kingdom didn’t roll them out en masse from the very beginning,’ he mused. ’Just like the Tier Four Tombstone, the technology is immature and the losses are high.’

Even on a successful launch, a Bamboo Bird could not remain airborne for long. They would basically circle the battlefield once, flying in an arc before returning.

If it didn’t return in time, the Bamboo Bird’s altitude would drop rapidly, making it difficult to control and liable to crash in enemy-occupied territory.

Although they couldn’t fly for long distances, they still controlled the high ground.

The strategic significance of the Bamboo Birds was immense. Not only could they fly over the tombstone front lines and get a clear view of the Ghost Realm’s defenses, but they could also scout the positions of the Funeral Race in the rear.

They began dropping Bamboo People deep into the Ghost Realm to carry out sabotage and assassinate the Funeral Race, which made the deployment of the Mad Tombstone at the front feel like a punch landing on cotton—utterly useless.

...

Yan Jiu hadn’t planned on interfering.

This was a war between two Gods, a confrontation between two Divine Kingdoms.

’After all, I’m just an outsider,’ he thought. ’Apostle Blo even told me not to participate in the Divine War.’

But a short while ago, a flock of Bamboo Birds had suddenly targeted him.

Bamboo People soldiers dropped from the sky, their bodies twisting before they landed completely unscathed. Wielding bamboo swords and spears, they launched a fierce and unceremonious attack against him.

"We finally found you, you Heretic spy!"

"To think you were secretly gathering our kingdom’s intelligence in the rear! You’re not getting away today!"

"You’re a dead man!"

Yan Jiu felt a sense of resignation.

’I’d only planned to be a spectator, but I got dragged in anyway.’

When war comes, no one can truly remain on the sidelines.

’So be it.’

’Might as well enjoy the fight.’

The sandy blur of Yan Jiu’s head solidified back into a face. He raised a hand and said, "Yan Jiu of Yan City. Please, give me your best."