Chapter 530: Human Domain Treasure; Dawning Sun! (part 1)
During the end of the tenth month in the year 2,932 of the Dark War calendar, the 3,915th descendant of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, Guyue Zhang’an, the seventh son of the magnificent and glorious Emperor Dark War, received imperial orders to save Sea-Sealing County by opening the ninth operations palace of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity.
Seventh Prince summoned the Nightshades’ Crimson Mother into that operations palace to devour the vile god sleeping therein. Thus, a potential calamity was expunged, assuring a thousand years of peace and security for Sea-Sealing County.
Because that dharmic decree of the magnificent and glorious Emperor Dark War was carried out, humankind could walk the path to victory in the war. It was a matter that shook the countless species of Revered Ancient to the core. The myriads of species in Sea-Sealing County cheered in delight. Humans all looked up to Seventh Prince; the emperor himself praised the prince for the services he had performed.
In the same month, after the ninth operations palace of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity in Sea-Sealing County had been opened, the magnificent and glorious Emperor Dark War, who had been besieged in the imperial capital for months by the Nightshades, finally revealed his heavenly might by unleashing Dawning Sun into the heart of the Nightshade Region.
The immense, spherical sun was just like a real, scorching sun. It represented humanity’s drive to rise to prominence, and when it exploded in the darkness of the Nightshade Region, it released boundless light that filled heaven like burning fire.
All of Nightshade Region was lit ablaze. The sky there collapsed, and the ground cracked open everywhere. Countless Nightshades died, and all Nightshade cultivators were seriously injured.
A tempest came into being, spreading out far and wide, like an eternal sea of fire that drew the attention of all eyes. The Nightshade’s pitch-black region was now filled with radiance and light.
Rough estimates indicate that the burning sun will remain in place for a full sixty-year-cycle. However, its effects will continue to play out for much longer than that. For the next thousand years, the dark night of the Nightshade Region will be replaced with bright fire.
Countless lives were lost, but at the same time, humankind had a new lease on life.
***
The news was a huge shock to Revered Ancient. All species were shaken. The allied army that had besieged the imperial capital of the humans fell into retreat. Back home, they sealed their borders and trembled in fear. Even the most powerful species on the mainland were absolutely flabbergasted.
It marked the beginning of a time of prosperity the likes of which hadn’t been seen for many tens of thousands of years.
Emperor Dark War became so famous that his name was known to everyone from all species. By unleashing Dawning Sun, the human emperor was making a clear announcement to everyone: from this day on, humans are no longer prey. We... have the power to defend ourselves!
And that was because of the humans’ domain treasure, Dawning Sun! That domain treasure was not created by a god; it was the work of human hands!
The Nightshades suffered heavy losses. However, their fury overshadowed their terror, and they did not surrender. In fact, they started fighting back even harder. They unleashed their domain treasure, ultimately destroying a third of the human imperial capital. They stubbornly insisted that the humans were actually bluffing. Their narrow-minded assertion was that the humans hadn’t actually created a domain treasure. They believed that Dawning Sun was nothing like traditional domain treasures. In fact, they were sure that it was a single-use magical technique, or some lone relic of the ancient past.
War horns continued to sound.
***
In the eleventh month of the year 2,932 of the Dark War calendar, seven days after the first unleashing of Dawning Sun, Emperor Dark War once more revealed his heavenly might, as he again unleashed his domain treasure on another of the Nightshades’ regions, plus the neighboring Holytide Region!
The second usage of Dawning Sun created a destructive sea of flames and an eternal light. In the blink of an eye, the Nightshade’s other region collapsed. The lands were set aflame, and the sky burned red.
Countless Nightshades howled in anguish as the light melted their skin and dissolved them into ashes. Cultivators and mortals alike, as well as any species that adhered to them, were thrown into the ultimate distress. The death toll was too high to count. It was as if godly might had been unleashed.
The Holytide Region was also affected. Tempests of fire swept through it, crushing anything and everything. The countless species of the Revered Ancient mainland watched in silence.
The Nightshades trembled. Countless members of their species were sacrificed as god magics were unleashed and they beseeched their god Crimson Mother to come and punish the humans. Such efforts... completely failed.
They made three attempts to summon their god. They failed three times.
Completely demoralized, the Nightshades had no choice but to retreat. However, the imperial army gave chase, causing Nightshade blood to fill heaven and earth. The Nightshades... were routed. It was only by using their domain treasure to cover their own retreat with a canopy of frigid cold that they managed to stop the human counter assault.
The war caused a sensation among the countless species of the Revered Ancient mainland. The prestige of humankind was once again on display. Emperor Dark War had truly lived up to his name.
Despite the great victory won by humankind, Emperor Dark War didn’t greedily take the war into Nightshade territory. What was more, he informed all interested parties throughout Revered Ancient that the creation of Dawning Sun had been proposed tens of thousands of years in the past by Emperor Mirrorcloud. [1]
There had been many twists and turns in its creation, and construction was only finished recently. As for its operating principles, Emperor Dark War didn’t keep them a secret. Besides, now that Dawning Sun had been unleashed, it would have been hard to do so, and ultimately, the secret would have been revealed. Instead, he courageously chose to reveal the truth himself, thus revealing the spirit of what it meant to be human, and simultaneously striking fear into the hearts of the lowly.
Dawning Sun was connected to the Lightborn species!
***
Everyone knew that the Lightborn were close allies of the humans. The Lightborn had special eyes that could absorb and store sunlight. Because of that, there was an entire industry in Revered Ancient focused around the sale of Lightborn eyes. [2]
That said, few people knew that, tens of thousands of years in the past, there was no such species as the Lightborn in Revered Ancient.... They were actually a hybrid variety of humans created by Emperor Mirrorcloud. And their eyes were actually miniature versions of Dawning Sun.
When that news started to spread, it was difficult to tell what was the truth and what wasn’t. The idea that the humans had hatched a plot that took tens of thousands of years to come to fruition left many species trembling in fear.
The war wasn’t over yet, though.
***
In the same month that the Nightshades were defeated, Emperor Dark War’s seventh son, who was stationed in Sea-Sealing County, unsealed the county and led an army of 60,000,000 to wage war against the Holytides. The human army crushed everything in their path. They reclaimed three prefectures which had recently been lost, then advanced into the depths of the Holytide Region. Their warpath carved out rivers of gore and caused blood to rain from the sky.
The Holytides experienced setback after setback, suffered countless casualties, and lost vast swaths of territory.
Seventh Prince possessed godly power, heavenly genius, and a courageous heart. Ignoring his own safety, he slaughtered the enemy, expanded human territory, and conquered half of an entire region! The four Holytide emperors were enraged.
In the moment of greatest crisis, the Holytide ancestral emperor experienced a breakthrough in cultivation. He emerged shouldering a major world. Having stepped into the Smoldering God level, he completely transformed the Holytide Region by severing his species’ bloodline connection with the Nightshades. From that moment on, the Holytides no longer adhered to the Nightshades, and were completely free.
The arrival of a Smoldering God changed everything. Seventh Prince’s rampage was brought to an end, and in the ensuing deadlock, Seventh Prince revealed his magnificent benevolence by kindly offering the Holytide species clemency. The Holytides, having already come to hate war, and convinced by Seventh Prince’s boundless sincerity, were deeply moved. At the behest of their ancestral emperor, they agreed to return to the fold of humankind.
***
The momentous turn of events caused a huge commotion among the court and common people alike. That, of course, was something the emperor had expected. The return of the Holytides wasn’t something that could be affected in a short time; there were still plenty of aspects to be negotiated. As the person in charge of the affair, Seventh Prince remained in the Holytide Region to see the matter to its conclusion.
It was in that manner that a war which had lasted for half a year was brought to a conclusion.
The Nightshades had suffered crippling losses. The humans won a great victory, and made a huge impression on the countless other species that existed.
Seventh Prince had saved Sea-Sealing County, carried out imperial orders to a tee, expanded human territory, and overseen the return of the Holytides. His numerous accomplishments earned him widespread fame. He became a hero to all, and was even rumored to be named the crown prince in the future.
Humans in Sea-Sealing County and the other counties were very excited to read the official reports about the resolution of the war. All households had shrines in which to make offerings to Emperor Dark War and wish him longevity. But now, such shrines also had a plaque to wish longevity to Seventh Prince. After all, this was the first time during the Dark War calendar that humans had ever expanded their territory! In fact, tracing back the history, it was also the first time since Emperor Eastglory’s spectacular defeat that humans had expanded their territory! [3]
The implications were impossible to overstate.
What was more, the betrayal of the Holytides during the Dao Life calendar had brought unending pain to Emperor Dao Life, and to humankind as a whole. But now, during the Dark War calendar, Seventh Prince guided them back to the right path, thereby accomplishing something downright amazing!
Thus came to an end a skirmish that had long been playing out on the Revered Ancient game board.
But what most people saw was only what lay on the surface. As for what happened behind the scenes, opinions were mixed on whether or not things had been handled properly. And it wasn’t the sort of matter that could be decided with a few casual words.
That was simply how war worked. War was not just about fighting and killing. It was not about one person attacking and one person retreating. Wars like that were either children’s games, or fiction. The reality was that war was brutal. What most people saw was simply the blood spilled on the battlefield, not all the other countless elements involved. Few people understood the truth, not even the majority of people in Sea-Sealing County. Only those who actually participated in the war had an inkling. And frankly speaking, it was better that way.
Not understanding the truth left the commoners happier.
Xu Qing currently sat in his sword pavilion, gripping his command sword and taking in the reports and news. It had been twelve days since he learned the truth. Nowadays, reports were released every day, and they inevitably caused lots of cheering and rejoicing.
The county capital was swept up in the moment. The mortals were all visibly exuberant, and even swordsages who had witnessed Palace Lord Kong die in battle seemed relieved and impressed.
Kong Xianglong hadn’t made a public appearance in days. He spent all of his time drinking alone.
Xu Qing was also drinking at the moment. He had a jug of alcohol at his side from which he would sip.
More days passed.
As the dust settled, Seventh Prince finished his initial negotiations with the Holytides, then returned to Sea-Sealing County. Because of how he had won the hearts of the people, he was received much more formally. The grand celebration thrown in his honor rivaled any celebration thrown for the sake of the emperor.
It lasted an entire day. Later that evening, in a building in the Governor’s Mansion, Seventh Prince stood looking out at heaven and earth.
“I offer my thanks for all of this,” Seventh Prince said calmly.
As his words echoed out, a figure appeared next to him.
1. Emperor Mirrorcloud was mentioned inchapter 401 . ?
2. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the Lightborn and their eyes. They were mentioned inchapter 390 , even in the chapter title. ?
3. Emperor Eastglory was also mentioned inchapter 401 . ?