Chapter 1308: It’s Been So Long, Revered Ancient

The Revered Ancient mainland was quiet and lonely. A bleak wind blew. It didn’t come from the sea. Rather, the sustained pressure on heaven and earth caused the wind to spring up from other parts. The wind was building up, blowing from all directions before converging on Revered Ancient, whimpering like a sorrowful dirge to the dead.

Within that wind were towering mountain ranges that looked like reclining dragons. But the spines of those dragons did not feature green scales, but rather, were covered with brown husks of earth. Plants and vegetation could not grow easily anymore. Lava oozed out of cracks in the mountains, scorching the mountain regions until they were like corpses.

It was the year 31 in the Summer Departure calendar of humankind. It had been twenty-seven years since Grand Emperor Swordsage unleashed his sword. Things had been difficult in Revered Ancient for those twenty-seven years.

Rumbling sounds echoed down from the canopy of heaven, like a countdown timer weighing onto all of the living beings in Revered Ancient. The sounds seem to be hastening them toward their demise. All the people could do was wait to die. Despair didn’t just fill heaven and earth. It grew in the hearts of the people. And it had been going on for twenty-seven years.

And thus… though Frost Descent had not yet arrived, heaven and earth were filled with a somber and desolate feeling.[1]

In Revered Ancient, the mountains became like corpses. The plants and vegetation withered. Mutagen levels rose. Leaden clouds clung to the sky, only to be occasionally pierced by scattered bits of blood-red sunlight. The spots below where the light hit looked like crisscrossed blade wounds.

It became harder and harder to stay alive. The north had been sparsely populated to begin with. On the ice plains, groaning sounds echoed out as mysterious glaciers which had been around for thousands of years now started to crack and crumble. Sealed within the fragments of ice was grief from antiquity, and as the cold wind blew, the withered weeds bent down to cover the corpses on the ground.

The despair was worse in the south. Different species began to fight over supplies, until the entire place devolved into war. As the countdown to death continued, better supplies could lead to better gifts of tribute, and that became the hope of many species. Seven years ago, a decree had descended from the holy lands beyond the dome of heaven.

“When we arrive, the five species who offer the best tribute will be spared from annihilation.”

War became increasingly common.

However, about a year before, something dramatic happened in the sky, and the wars became less common. But the corpses on the battlefield, and the wind-dried blood bore testament to the chaos that had ensued.

No matter how the wind scraped across the battlefield, it couldn’t take away the stench of gore. All it did was make the prayer flags and battle banners on the broken weapons flap a bit harder. That created a sound like the whimper that precedes death, which became a part of the wind. All of the Revered Ancient mainland felt immense pressure.

It was no different out on the Forbidden Sea. The once mighty waves had solidified into huge black walls of water. The entire Forbidden Sea… had become a sea of ice! The ice would occasionally crack, and the designs that resulted were like an astonishing prophecy depicting the destruction of Revered Ancient. Or perhaps it was a warning left behind by the noble spirit of Grand Emperor Swordsage.

And today… the crumbling picture received the final brush stroke. Cracking sounds were emanating from the depths of the ice sheets. The sound grew louder and louder. Similarly, the hearts of all the species in Revered Ancient beat faster and faster.

That included Sea-Sealing County, which contained the combined power of the Holytide Region and the Nightspirit Region. It had Seven Blood Eyes, as well as Xu Qing’s old friends and those among the Nightshades who worshiped him. All of them felt weary. The twenty-seven years that had passed had been difficult. But now… All of their eyes contained iron-willed strength, unswerving determination, and… a will of death!

Wu Jianwu, Kong Xianglong, and Zhang San were all there. All of the forces of Sea-Sealing County were being led by Marquis Yao to power a grand spell formation, the power of which was concentrated on the sky overhead.

In the immortal palace beneath Sea-Sealing County, Xu Qing’s god clone sat cross-legged in meditation. Behind the clone in the phoenix palace, Plumdark opened her eyes.

Things weren’t just happening in Sea-Sealing County. That sound like the beating of a heart echoed loudly in the Moonrite Region! The Heir Apparent, Grandpa Ninth, Grandpa Eighth, Princess Brightblossom, and everyone else was in the Green Spirit Pharmacy in the Bitter Life Mountains. All looked up into the sky with very serious expressions. Ling’er stood behind them. She had grown up. She was slender and elegant, and was entwined with a dragon and a snake. Her expression was resolute.

It was all the result of the operation of the Moonrebel Congregation’s precious treasure that Grandma Fifth had entered.

Similar scenes were playing out all over Revered Ancient.

***

In the west, in the ancestral palace of the Netherbones, there was a throne made from millions upon millions of bones. Atop it sat their king, who was looking into a bone mirror he held in his hand. The mirror didn’t reflect his face. Rather, it showed the dramatic changes occurring in the sky.

***

In the eastern parts of Revered Ancient were the Heavenjoints, the strongest species in those parts. In the lands of that species, numerous mothernests were wriggling madly. Within the nests were huge cocoons covered with patterns that looked like eyes, all of which were oozing green liquid.

In the middle of the biggest of the mothernests was the larvaqueen of the species, who sat cross-legged, her twelve tentacles spasming. Three of the tentacles then snapped, and sticky ichor flowed from the severed stumps. She was trying to deduce a way for her species to survive!

***

In the south was the Totemspirit species. In recent years, they had cannibalized other smaller species to become bigger and stronger. They used their own ancestors as totems, but at the moment something dramatic happened in their grand totem plaza. Of the twelve totem poles they had there, nine shattered! Their chieftain’s four eyes oozed with blood as he looked up into the sky with vicious madness.

***

All species who did not worship gods were behaving similarly. All of them waited in combat readiness, full of anxiety and despair as they bitterly waited for the terror to come.

It was something they had no choice but to face. All looked up into the dome of heaven. That was especially true… of humankind!

In the middle of Revered Ancient, in the great region controlled by the humans, Empress Summer Departure stood on the Phoenix Perching Terrace! Shē wore an imperial gown of brocade gold, and hēr hair was bound with an imperial crown. The twelve tassels of pure gold hanging from the crown did not sway in the wind. They were as resolute as hēr heart.

At the end of each tassel was a phoenix marrow pearl that had been refined with godfire. And that… made the blood-red god striations on Empress Summer Departure’s brow even more enchanting. At the same time, they reflected the endless black snow falling outside of the imperial capital.

Put precisely, it wasn’t actually snow. The sword energy which had protected Revered Ancient for the last twenty-seven years was crumbling, and bits of sword energy were falling down. When they landed on the ground, or in the mountains, or in the rivers, they made sharp chiming sounds.

Someone approached the empress from behind. He was a young man whose robe was decorated with a four-clawed dragon. He had long hair and a thin face, and he seemed like someone very capable and experienced. He was none other than Ningyan. He was no longer the pudgy kid that Erniu had used as a shield. He had shed his youthfulness, and now had an expression of unswerving determination. What was more, he now pulsed with the majesty of a crown prince.

After coming to a stop behind his mother, he looked out at the lands surrounding the imperial capital.

“Mother,” he said, “the Firemoon Darkheavens have sent back our emissary. They publicly announced that they will go into seclusion in the coming days and will not allow any visitors. It’s a very clear message that they don’t want to participate in our conflict with the holy lands.

“The Firemoons aren’t the only ones. The Northfate Kings in the north, the Redland Nobleplexuses in the west, the Netherworld Chasmcorpses in the south, as well as the Godgazers in central Revered Ancient, are all isolating themselves from the outside. All species in Revered Ancient who offer sacrifices to gods are doing the same.”

The empress said nothing. Shē had predicted this outcome long ago. But Ningyan hadn’t been willing to accept it, and had sent an emissary to the Firemoons anyway. The gods were apathetic. It made sense that gods would simply watch things play out.

The empress looked up into the sky. The canopy of heaven seemed to be flowing into the shape of a massive vortex. The size of it was shocking. As it turned, heaven seemed to become an eye that leaked tears of blood. More and more sword energy fell.

In the middle of the vortex was something that only someone on the level of an Altar God could see. Either that, or one of the extremely rare human cultivators who had reached the Quasi-Immortal level…. In the middle of the vortex was a bloody wound that was slowly opening up!

Grand Emperor Swordsage’s sword had created a sword energy that covered the sky. It had been intended to last for half of a sixty-year-cycle, to prevent that ancient immortal and the holy lands from invading…. But now it was collapsing. Seven years ago, the process had sped up, and now it was almost over. It was happening three years early!

The empress looked at the wound, and could see that beyond the sword energy were the numerous majestic holy lands.

Cultivators were emerging from those holy lands. And among them… were Quasi-Immortals!

Revered Ancient’s last Quasi-Immortal had been Swordsage. But in the holy land… the legacy of the immortals had not been severed!

And behind the holy lands, the empress saw an even more majestic figure. He was… the very same ancient immortal who had put the species of Revered Ancient under such pressure for the past twenty-seven years!

Though the empress was only seeing him through that opening, it caused hēr heart to pound. Shē could sense how terrifying he was. Though shē had a special type of godly authority, the aura coming off of this immortal caused hēr to pale in comparison. How could mere Quasi-Immortals fight a Summer Immortal?

Thus, shē could imagine how this would play out. When the last of the sword energy crumbled, Revered Ancient would experience a great catastrophe.

Unless… we make a sacrifice!

The empress’ hand gripped the balustrade of white jade in front of hēr as shē slowly looked in the direction of the continent of South Phoenix!

1. Frost Descent is one of the solar terms. Here’s the link. As you can probably guess from the name and the context, it’s the period of time when things start to get cold. ☜