Chapter 458 – A Storm Is Stirring
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In the great and limitless South Sea, mighty waves raged endlessly and the high sea was turbulent with chaos. In the depths of the South Sea, there were waves that frequently reached hundreds of feet into the air. These large waves would pierce towards the sky, washing even the clouds away. In such a sea, even a 1000 foot long dragon boat would be thrown around like a leaf in a storm.
The water depth there was difficult to calculate. In ancient times, there were Sacred Beasts like the Giant Leviathan with a 1000 mile body that lived in the South Sea. Thus, it could be seen just how deep the South Sea was.
Within the deep sea, there were winding mountain ranges on the seabed that were thousands of miles long. Within the canyons of these mountain ranges were glowing blue barriers of light. Within these light barriers, one could see tall and great buildings, vast swathes of underwater forests as well as broad plazas.
Within a grand temple among the buildings, there were six or seven bluish black-skinned humans sitting around a square stone table. They didn’t look any different from normal people, except they were covered with dark blue scales and their nails were especially sharp and long.
They were the dominant overlords of the nearby several million miles of sea – the Black Flood Dragon Clan.
These six or seven Black Flood Dragon clansmen all had an astonishing cultivation. Besides one at the late Revolving Core realm, the rest had a cultivation at the extreme Revolving Core.
The Patriarch of the Black Flood Dragon Clan had two green scales on his forehead. He held a jade slip to his forehead, his eyes closed in meditation as he pondered the contents of it. The surrounding Black Flood Dragon clansmen were all patiently waiting.
A moment later, the Black Flood Dragon Clan Patriarch lay down the jade slip and slowly said, “So that’s how it is. I wondered what those old bags of the South Sea Demon Region had been doing all these years, but it seems as if they found some way to open the South Sea’s ancient battlefield…”
The South Sea Black Flood Dragon Clan had already existed for 20,000 years. The life of their clansmen was much longer than a normal human’s, thus, they also had a much richer and deep understanding of the South Sea’s history than humans. Just the Patriarch of the Black Flood Dragon Clan had already lived for over 3000 years; he had been living when the Netherworld Great Emperor was alive.
“It looks like what is recorded in our clan’s ancient texts is true.”
“Mm, according to the ancient texts, the broken world of the South Sea battlefield is where the sixth-grade sect Demon God Imperial Palace once existed. The size of it is truly terrifying. Even Silent Demon Emperor City of the past cannot dream of comparing to it!” Another Black Flood Dragon clansman slowly said.
A few of the younger clan Elders gasped as they heard the term sixth-grade sect. A top fifth-grade sect could call itself a Holy Land. As for what concept a sixth-grade sect was, they simply couldn’t imagine it. In a fourth-grade sect, Revolving Core powerhouses were Elders, and in a fifth-grade sect, those extreme Revolving Core masters that had crossed the stages of Life Destruction were Elders. In a sixth-grade sect, wouldn’t Emperor level powerhouses be Elders?
What kind of cultivation did the strongest powerhouse of that sect, the Demon Emperor, have?
It was just too hard to imagine. During its grand times, the Demon Emperor had taken the ruins of an independent world as his sect’s Demon God Imperial Palace. The countless legacies within were unimaginable, and the treasures must be endless.
Why would such a great power fall?
“This old man has already obtained accurate information. Although this broken world has been opened, because of the terrifying space storms that cover it, those old idiots of the South Sea Demon Region cannot enter. This is the chance for our Black Flood Dragon Clan! Once we succeed, there is a chance that we will rise to become a Holy Land!”
With these words, the six or seven Elders in the temple had different expressions; some were excited and some were nervous.
Their Black Flood Dragon Clan was among the lowest of the fifth-grade clans. Their heritage was already sufficient. As long as there was an Emperor level powerhouse that was born within their clan, they would only need to add on a few more Life Destruction powerhouses and then they would become a Holy Land!
However, since ancient times, opportunities came with dangers. This was absolutely a great storm that was stirring within the South Sea. They didn’t know how many powerhouses would gather to this, but disputes would be unavoidable. If they were too weak, they would be swallowed with not even bones left.
Not just that, but who knew what sorts of dangers existed in this broken world?
But the temptation of the Demon God Imperial Palace was simply too great. Not even mentioning the prospects for their Black Flood Dragon Clan, these Elders thought mostly for themselves. If they could obtain some sort of lucky chance, they could pass their first Life Destruction and extend their lifespan by hundreds of years.
Many times, the reason that extreme Revolving Core powerhouses risked their lives to try and cross Life Destruction was not for strength, but for a longer life.
An extreme Revolving Core master was what sort of awesome character? If they wanted rain they had rain, and if they wanted wind they had wind. How could such a person be willing to die? They had cultivated for their entire lives, only to turn to dirt in the end? They were unwilling!
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Meanwhile, north of the South Horizon Region – Great Zen Region.
The Great Zen Region was larger than even the combined area of the South Horizon Region and the Five Element Region. In the Great Zen Region, Buddhist sects were the most prosperous and grand. The head of all these was the fifth-grade sect Great Zen Temple. They had united many third-grade and fourth-grade sects and created an alliance of the righteous path. In the past, the Great Zen Temple had once participated in the siege of Silent Demon Emperor City.
At this time, in a hidden pagoda at the Great Zen Temple, there was an eminent monk wearing a golden cassock. He was holding in his hands a letter that had crossed millions of miles to arrive.
This letter came from Divine Phoenix Island, and was Mu Fengxian’s personally written letter.
The monk silently read the letter and then folded it and returned it to its envelope. He sat in meditation for a long time and then mumbled, “This is truly the hand of destiny. Three thousand years ago, Master Ancestor was urged by a close friend and participated in the siege of Silent Demon Emperor City. Now, 3000 years later, I also receive a letter from Divine Phoenix Island’s Mu Fengxian. It looks like I will have to go to on a journey to confront and eliminate the evil remnants of that Silent Demon Emperor City. This is a lucky chance of the South Horizon Region, yet Mu Fengxian actually writes a letter to this old monk. It seems as if she has already completely lost control of the South Sea!”
The Great Zen Region and Divine Phoenix Island were simply too far away from each other. Even with such a great matter, it was difficult to immediately obtain news. It was simply impossible for the Great Zen Region’s intelligence network to extend that far and in such a distant land. If it wasn’t for Mu Fengxian informing him on her own initiative, the Great Zen Temple would never have known about this.
This also meant that Mu Fengxian was aware that she wasn’t strong enough to win this war. She could only depend upon the righteous path alliance of the Great Zen Region to carve out the spoils of the ancient battlefield. Even if nothing was found, as long as Great Zen Temple was able to suppress the South Sea Demon Region and cause great losses to several Elders of the South Sea Demon Region, this could help ensure that Divine Phoenix Island would not be destroyed!
This was Mu Fengxian’s gamble.
……………….
On the South Sea, vast areas of South Aurora Island had collapsed. In these areas, there were countless large and small swirling waves of water.
Strong winds rose from all directions, and the sea waves stirred. At this moment, a massive whirlpool suddenly sprayed out water, and a group of ragged martial artists flew out from the whirlpool!
The following second and third groups had less and less people. Most of the martial artists that came out were pale and wounded all over.
In around an incense stick of time, all the martial artists had rushed out, soaring into the skies above the wild sea. Many of them had overwhelming joy and gratefulness for having been able to survive such a calamity.
“I finally made it out!” It was as Lin Ming had expected, the exit was in the air.
Lin Ming glanced at the number of martial artists in the sky, there were still around a hundred martial artists missing. During the second time that the martial artists had soared out of the whirlpool, some of the peak Houtian martial artists had perished.
Lin Ming sighed. If any of these peak Houtian martial artists went to a mortal country, they could live a life of absolute glory and wealth. It was just that many of them were unwilling to resign themselves to a less than 200 year long lifespan, and wished to take that step past the peak Houtian realm to the Xiantian realm. This single step would extend their life to 400 to 500 years. Yet this was also the reason that they had died here.
Winners fly to the sky, and losers become nothing but bones…
After this successful escape from the jaws of death, both sides naturally no longer held a mindset to continue the battle. They separated in the air, and the Demon Region martial artists flew back to the South Sea Demon Region headquarters. As for the Wartime Alliance martial artists, they were a bit at a loss as for what to do. Their headquarters were destroyed, yet many of them had military exploit points they couldn’t trade in. The reason that they had come to fight at the South Sea was for these military exploit points. They wanted to accumulate enough in order to trade them for a Heaven Opening Pill, but now that the Wartime Alliance headquarters were destroyed, where could they go to trade them? It probably wasn’t even recorded…
As the martial artists thought of this, they were dazed. The joy of surviving this calamity was watered down a great deal.
Even the Fire Ax Squad members didn’t seem happy.
As Lin Ming saw this, he sighed. This was the difficulty of a small sect martial artist’s path. They were better off than a common martial artist, but they still had to rely on their own abilities.
Lin Ming took out a handful of spatial rings. He held them in his hand and said, “Captain Fire Ax…”
“Brother Wild Halberd.” Fire Ax turned to look at Lin Ming, “What is Brother Wild Halberd planning to do after this?”
“I will wander the world and temper my martial arts.”
“Wander the world? Does Brother Wild Halberd plan on leaving?”
Fire Ax didn’t know what Lin Ming’s true identity was, only that he was the Blood Demon. The bearded big fellow, Violet Rain, and Enchanting Shadow all looked at Lin Ming, their expressions complicated, sad, and a tad morose. The truth was that they knew the situation well enough. For someone like Lin Ming, it was impossible that he would remain with them.
“Mm. The reason I came to the South Sea battlefield was to adventure and gain experience. But now something seems to have happened and I don’t know what changes will come from it. I will have to rest for a period of time and wait to see what happens. These are some things… these are the spoils of war that I have collected these past months. I have no use for them, so I give them to you.” As Lin Ming spoke, he extended his hand. In his palm were over 20 spatial rings.
“This…” The Fire Ax Squad members were stunned for a moment. All of these spatial rings were at the high-grade human-step rank or above. Not to mention what was in them, but just these spatial rings in themselves could sell for a great number of true essence stones.
From the looks of it, Lin Ming had mostly thrown away the medium-grade spatial rings and only kept the high-grade treasures.
“This is too valuable, I cannot take it.”
Lin Ming said, “I have left the true essences stones here too, and taken what I’ve needed. Inside these are mostly common treasures, pills, and other such things. To be honest, I cannot sell them unless I set up a stall and sell them one at a time. I don’t have the time to do this. But for you, these resources are much more meaningful and will be put to better use.”
Although Lin Ming hadn’t been with the Fire Ax Squad for a long time, Lin Ming was still touched by the squad members’ affection and support towards him. With this warmth etched in his heart, if Lin Ming had the chance to help them then he naturally would. Much less, he didn’t have any use for these things.