Chapter 571: Awake, My Third Sister (part 1)
The world fragment didn’t even have a ‘dome of heaven’ anymore. The ‘sky’ had previously been made of ice, but now that had mostly been shattered. And the growing rifts were ripping the rest of it apart.
The ground was in a similar state, being completely uneven thanks to the destruction that had been wrought on it. All of the layers of ice had been completely thrown to the side by the rise of the massive bronze coffin.
The coffin was actually larger than the one Xu Qing had seen at the bottom of the Heavenfire Sea. With most of it exposed, it radiated boundless majesty. It also pulsed with an incredibly ancient aura that spread out to fill the world fragment, as if the coffin was releasing all of the captured time that had remained buried with it through the years. It had been buried for a very, very long time, as was evidenced by its corroded exterior. The Imperial Sovereign’s nail had clearly unleashed a very powerful attack. Though it didn’t actually pass through the lid of the coffin, there were already numerous cracks spreading out from the point of impact. Meanwhile, some parts of the coffin were bulging outward, making it seem like it was just on the verge of completely exploding.
Seeing that, Xu Qing, the Captain, Wu Jianwu, and Ning Yan all exchanged glances, and then kept flying higher.
Meanwhile, the figure in the blue mist surrounding the nail spoke again.
“Third Sister, once I was free, I could sense you. The only people who emanated the fluctuations of consciousness from our homeland are me and you.... Our other brothers and sisters have all lost consciousness. Their souls are not intact. They were extracted by Fourth Brother, Li Pan.... Therefore, I came here to unseal you. Awake... my third sister.”
The voice contained grief that filled the entire world. Meanwhile, the bronze coffin trembled.
The cracks on the coffin’s lid expanded and grew deeper, and an increasingly terrifying aura spread out from inside. Then, the entire world fragment shook as a withered hand smashed through the coffin lid. A smashing boom echoed out as bits of coffin lid sprayed in all directions. It was difficult to identify much about the hand. It wasn’t obviously male or female, and it didn’t have any skin, only bloody flesh. There were no fingernails on the tips of the fingers, and the entire thing emanated an aura of death.
When the figure in the blue mist saw the hand, his sorrow deepened. This was his third sister, beloved by his father the king, and who had been doted on so lovingly. Among all of the siblings, she was the only one who qualified to stand on equal footing with their ninth brother. Her cultivation base had been astonishing, and she had revealed amazing battle prowess when on the campaign trail with their father. Beyond that, she had been famous among a myriad species for her astounding beauty. Countless nobles had admired her, and the emperor had personally bestowed upon her the title Princess Brightblossom. Back then it was said that she was “like a cloud above the masses, free from even a speck of dust.”
But then Crimson Mother came and changed everything. The peerlessly magnificent Princess Brightblossom ended up being sealed in a coffin when her father died. Their fourth brother, who was more beastly than most beasts, intentionally tormented her by placing the blood of their third brother in the coffin with her. As she became ravenous, she had no choice but to abandon her principles and humanity, and for the sake of future revenge, absorbed it. [1]
A human, but not human. A ghost, but not a ghost. Living, but also dead. Dead, but also alive.
The Heir Apparent’s grief grew as he looked at the coffin. The interior was pitch black, making it impossible to see what lay therein. It was only possible to see the hand slowly reaching out from inside. The coffin shivered, then went still. After a moment of silence, the hoarse voice of a woman spoke.
“Heir Apparent....”
That familiar voice made the Heir Apparent think back to better times. After that, the figure in the coffin slowly stepped out into the open. She stood tall and straight, so withered that the rusted suit of armor she wore hung emptily on her frame. As the wind blew through the cracks in the armor, it made whimpering sounds. The parts of her body that the armor didn’t cover were horrendous. They were covered with wounds infested with countless maggots. What was more, she had almost no skin on her, as if she had been skinned alive. Because of all that, she was horrendously ugly, and in fact, it was hard to tell if she was even male or female.
Her face was sunken in. Where the eyes should have been, there were nothing but empty cavities within which burned the fire of the underworld. Given her appearance, it was obvious that she had experienced torment and torture that defied imagination. And yet, she still emanated terrifying fluctuations, and those fluctuations grew stronger as she stepped into the open. The world fragment shook so violently that the effects were already spreading into the world outside.
The sky above the northern ice plains flashed, and winds swept back and forth. A huge vortex even appeared in the sky. As the vortex rotated, all of the lands in the north rippled and distorted. It seemed like a god was arriving. All living beings trembled, and off in the distance, a red glow appeared on the horizon.
Those were fluctuations from the Red Moon Cathedral. There was no way the cathedral would allow something as dramatic as this to occur without investigating it.
What was coming wasn’t a godherald. Instead, it was a massive palm.
The prints on the palm were like huge canyons, clearly visible as the thing emanated blood-colored light. It got closer and closer until it filled the entire sky, like the boundless hand of a god. After covering the northern ice plains, it pressed down toward the major world fragment. It was obviously going to crush everything here. The air shattered, the ice trembled, snowflakes were sent swirling, and countless living beings were stunned into a daze.
Inside the major world fragment, neither the Heir Apparent nor Princess Brightblossom who had just emerged from the coffin seemed to be affected at all.
The two of them looked at each other. Given their cultivation level, there were many things which could be communicated with a mere glance. Princess Brightblossom knew what the Heir Apparent was planning.
“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice as grating as two chunks of iron being rubbed against each other.
“Crimson Mother is asleep, Third Sister,” the figure in blue replied. “It’s a rare opportunity. I want to go see our fourth brother and bring an end to the enmity from years back. As for how it will turn out, I’m done contemplating the possibilities. I’d rather fight than continue living like this.”
Princess Brightblossom didn’t say anything. She waved her hand, and the nail of the Imperial Sovereign vanished from its spot next to the dilapidated coffin. When it reappeared, it was outside of the major world fragment, shooting right up toward the enormous blood-colored hand. It emanated force that could shatter space itself, as well as something profoundly ruthless.
In the blink of an eye, it stabbed into the hand. A heaven-rending, earth-crushing boom rang out over the northern ice plains. The seemingly unstoppable palm stopped in midair as the nail hit it. Blinding blue light spread out, wrapping around the bright red hand. And as the nail stabbed into the middle of the palm, cracks spread out from that point. As the cracks spread, the hand collapsed. In the blink of an eye, it shattered into dozens of fragments. At the same time, numerous beams of blood-colored light shot out over the northern ice plains. The pieces were like crimson shooting stars that slammed into the ground and created bright red craters.
The blue nail didn’t stop moving. It continued moving until it disappeared over the horizon.
Princess Brightblossom looked up. “He knows that we’re free. That palm strike was actually an invitation. In that case, let’s go. It’s time to see how this little brother of ours, child of our father and mother, has fared since joining Crimson Mother.”
She took a step forward and floated up into the air.
The Heir Apparent looked at Xu Qing off in the distance. He completely ignored the Captain, Ning Yan, and Wu Jianwu.
“Many thanks for your help, young friend.” With that, he looked at his third sister and nodded. She, in turn, looked at Xu Qing.
Xu Qing stopped in place, clasped hands, and bowed to the two of them.
No facial expression could be seen on her ugly, skeletal face. However, she did reach out with a withered hand and push down toward the ground. The world fragment rumbled. Lands shook, and mountains rocked. The ice shattered, creating black snow. It seemed like, going forward, this place would be a land of endless black blizzards. At the same time, creaking sounds could be heard. It was almost as if this Imperial Sovereign’s daughter had somehow taken control of the entire world fragment.
As she did, the world fragment started to shrink. In the shortest of moments, it transformed into a palm-sized chunk of stone that looked like black glass. She sent it flying toward Xu Qing. As it neared, flames erupted from its surface, burning it and purifying it. By the time it came to a stop in front of him, it looked like a black crystal, sparkling and translucent.
A boundless energy surged within it, and it glittered like the stars in the sky. What was more, thanks to the way it had just been purified, it was masterless.
Something like this was indescribably precious!
Xu Qing’s heart pounded. Though he had been prepared for something like this, he was still deeply moved. After taking the crystal, he looked at Princess Brightblossom, as well as the Heir Apparent, and he bowed deeply.
The Captain, meanwhile, was breathing heavily, and his eyes shone with deep longing. Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu were shaken to the point of madness. The latter seemed to have it better off, because he apparently didn’t realize as much as Ning Yan how significant and meaningful the gift of a world fragment was.
S-s-seriously? You can just give those things out as a gift? As Ning Yan reeled, Princess Brightblossom vanished. When she reappeared, she was in the outside world. As for the Heir Apparent, he nodded at Xu Qing again, then similarly vanished.
The two of them stood tall next to each other in the crimson rain of blood.
“There’s no need for such a detestable species to exist in this world.” Princess Brightblossom looked down at the mountain headquarters of the Gloomites. Clenching her fist, she punched downward.
A massive fist projection appeared right above the Gloomites. The mountain exploded. The lands collapsed. All of the buildings were destroyed. Everything was wiped out. All that was left behind in the city landscape was a huge, blood-colored hand print.
With that done, the two figures became prismatic beams of light that shot off into the distance. They carried with them incredible majesty, unstoppable will, and a grudge that had existed for countless years. Their destination: the Penitence Steppes. That was the place where their father’s corpse was, and it was also the headquarters of the Red Moon Cathedral.
Out over the Heavenfire Sea, the air rippled and distorted as a streak of blue light shot along, piercing through the fire, splitting apart the canopy of heaven, and dazzling the cosmos.
Looking closely, it looked like a 30,000-meter-long nail!
As it descended from above, its target was clear: it was locked onto a location beneath the surface of the Heavenfire Sea. Its passage caused a deafening roar. Lava sprayed everywhere as the spike shot down toward... the bronze coffin.
1. When it comes to all of these siblings, there are a handful of different ways the author refers to them. I will, for the most part, standardize the forms of address to make it easier to keep track of them. ☜