Chapter 682: The Hope of the People Summons Deceased Souls
Over countless years in the Moonrite Region, powerful species had created artificial suns for their own use. In total, there were eight such suns. When adding in the oldest sun of all from Xu Qing, the nine suns were exceedingly brilliant.
Never before had anyone awoken all nine of these suns at the same time. They all rose to brilliance at different time periods, and for various reasons, one after another fell from the sky. But today, the ancient suns were giving forth their light. Each one let off dazzling brightness that illuminated heaven and earth.
They were stupefyingly mighty, and with their light shining, the redness in the dome of heaven was surpassed. The formations in the ground were shaken. What made them even more powerful was the hair stringing them all together. That strand of hair from High God Moonfire contained the power of a god. And with hēr using those nine suns, they would be blessed. They would be the suns of a god. Their light would become the light of a god, and their flames would become the flames of a god.
A sea of light pulsed, and fire seethed. In the blink of an eye, the crimson light from the red moon was neutralized, and faded away. From a distance, the Moonright Region still looked red, but within that redness there was a large empty spot! It looked extremely ghastly.
The lake of blood also changed because of the sea of light, and instead of being crimson, was turbid and cloudy. It was possible to see countless skeletons rising up from it, almost as if they were the true form of the lake.
However, the island itself was still being bolstered by the god formation, so the Captain proudly waved his hand.
Instantly, the bracelet of nine suns exerted crushing pressure onto the god formation. Heaven-rending, earth-crushing power caused the lake water to explode, and shook the island violently. Cracking sounds rang out in all directions.
The Red Moon Cathedral’s spell formation was clearly on the verge of collapsing. Not only was it thinning, but also, irregular cracks were spreading out over it.
At that point, the Heir Apparent’s eyes glittered, and his hands flashed in an incantation gesture. The Imperial Sovereign’s nail surged with mountain-toppling, sea-draining energy, and it slammed into the god formation like a boulder crushing a drinking glass. A cracking sound rang out as a huge section of the god formation crumbled!
Princess Brightblossom, Fifth Sister, and Eighth Sib all unleashed their attacks one after another. Sustained cracking sounds rang out as the god formation crumbled even further. Ninth Sib’s eyes shone with cold light as he made a grasping gesture. The air shattered, then converged into the shape of a greatsword. Pointing it toward the god formation, he stabbed out viciously.
The god formation had already been put in great danger by the bracelet of nine suns. Then the Heir Apparent and his siblings crushed it further. Finally, Ninth Sib’s sword put it on the brink of destruction.
A deafening boom rang out. The god formation shattered, revealing a host of grim cathedral cultivators inside.
Many of them looked very surprised. Clearly, the god formation had been destroyed far more quickly than anyone had anticipated it would.
“Didn’t see that coming, did ya?” The Captain laughed heartily. “This isn’t my first time facing your god formation, fools! I got through it back in the day, and ever since then I’ve been planning how to destroy it. I came extremely prepared, didn’t I?”
As the Captain’s laughter drifted out, the Heir Apparent ignored him and rushed toward the island. Ninth Sib followed, with Princess Brightblossom at his side, and Fifth Sister and Eighth Sib close behind.
The five of them became five beams of light that shot like lightning into the Red Moon Cathedral’s headquarters. Not pausing for an instant, they headed right toward the twitching and writhing mortal husk of Crimson Mother.
They had no time to deal with the surrounding cathedral cultivators. Based on the godly fluctuations coming from the mortal husk, the Heir Apparent and his siblings knew that Fourth Sib was there... and it was in a critical stage of godly ascension. Time was of the essence, and they had to stop him. If Fourth Sib completed the godly ascension ceremony, then dealing with him would become vastly more complicated.
As they closed in, Princess Brightblossom’s hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, and then she pushed them out in front of her. Instantly, the river of time appeared, surging with waves as it surrounded them and then slammed into the mortal husk. Ordinary methods couldn’t get them into the mortal husk. Only by using a dao of time such as this could they get inside!
In the blink of an eye, the Heir Apparent and his siblings went with the river of time into the mortal husk. They vanished from sight.
The mortal husk twitched and wriggled, then suddenly contracted. Next, ear-piercing sounds rang out from inside, along with deafening shockwaves. It happened almost instantly. The cathedral cultivators were visibly shocked. After all, their mission had been to prevent any outsiders from entering the mortal husk until the godchild emerged.
Seeing that their efforts had failed, they shot to their feet. The pontiff frowned, and was about to order all of the cathedral cultivators to employ their god magics to help the godchild.
Beyond the island, the Mirror of Moonrebel suddenly accelerated. Shooting into the dome of heaven over the island, it covered Crimson Mother’s mortal husk. Fluctuations rolled off the mirror’s surface, becoming a crushing power that locked down the mortal husk. And then statues emerged from the temples in the mirror, looking like fiendish gods. As they shot out of the mirror, they surged with determination and killing intent as they shot toward the cathedral cultivators.
From a distance, hundreds of thousands of statues shot out, shattering the air around them. Natural and magical laws were unleashed colliding to create a tempest of raging killing intent.
Unfortunately, compared to the cathedral’s forces, they were few in number. This was the cathedral’s headquarters, and it wasn’t just cathedral cultivators who were present; there were all sorts of supporting organizations. For example, the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect was on call.
As the battle began, the cathedral experts gathered, and one Void Returning expert after another shot toward the Moonrebel forces. Third Vice-Bishop and Fourth Vice-Bishop, along with their subordinates, raced forward to intercept the Void Returning enemies. Their fighting caused shockwaves to spread out in heaven and earth, making it seem like the end of days had come.
The unsealed cultivators from the Moonrebel Congregation also advanced to meet their counterpart experts from the Red Moon Cathedral. Every single clash caused storm winds to rage.
It wasn’t just the Void Returning experts who began fighting. There were even more Spirit Trove cultivators who engaged in combat. Individually, such fighting would have been impressive, but given the battlefield as a whole, they didn’t stand out much.
Of course, there were vastly more Nascent Soul cultivators. Because of all the various factors at play, casualties and deaths immediately occurred. Blood fell like rain, along with mangled corpses. Insane and defiant shouting rang out left and right.
Given how much of an advantage the Red Moon Cathedral cultivators had in numbers, it didn’t matter that the Moonrebel cultivators were able to be resurrected after dying. They clearly weren’t a match. Yet all the Moonrebel Congregation had to do was buy time and stop the cathedral cultivators from helping their godchild. That, they could do.
After all, the true battle which would decide everything was being fought inside Crimson Mother’s mortal husk. Yet the vast disparity in numbers ensured that the Moonrebel cultivators were approaching a crisis situation.
That said, it was only natural that Xu Qing and the Captain would have come prepared. Seeing the dangerous situation, Xu Qing unhesitatingly activated another of the Moonrebel Congregation’s divine abilities.
The Mirror of Moonrebel vibrated. Then, in locations throughout the entirety of the Moonrite Region, the numb commoners, who were simply waiting to die, suddenly found themselves witnessing the battle taking place at the Red Moon Cathedral headquarters. The bitter scene was hair-raising to say the least.
The same voice that had narrated the events at the God Decapitation Altar then spoke into their minds.
“This is the final battle with the Red Moon Cathedral! It will decide your life and death. It will decide your survival! People of Moonrite, you don’t have to come here to fight. But... we need your strength for this battle! Everyone, extend your hand in the direction of the Penitence Steppes and offer your faith to bolster the Moonrebel Congregation!”
Few people held back from raising their hands, especially considering how they could hear the bitter cries of the Moonrebel cultivators, and could see people dying everywhere. As the living beings of the region lifted their hands, streams of white light emerged from their palms, turning into motes that were very reminiscent of what played out at the God Decapitation Altar. The white motes rose into the air, then shot toward the Moonrebel Congregation. It was the power of the people! This was the final hope of all living beings. The hottest blood that burned in their hearts!
This was the divine ability of the Moonrebel Congregation, which was a domain treasure that contained the will of Imperial Sovereign Li Zihua that survived his death. And it could gather the hope power of the masses. And that power could summon the souls of the Moonrebel cultivators who had died in battle from ancient times until now!
In the blink of an eye, that hope power became a multitude of white motes that shot into the Mirror of Moonrebel.
Once inside, the old spirit automaton atop the lake waved his hands out in front of him. The lake waters boiled as soul shadows from many previous epochs rose up. Every soul shadow was a Moonrebel cultivator from a previous time. When they had been alive, the Heir Apparent and his siblings were sealed, and couldn’t help. Nor could they benefit from Xu Qing’s curse-quelling assistance. Most relevant of all, Crimson Mother hadn’t been asleep during their time. When the red moon came, hēr gaze could vanquish all resistance. Therefore, they had no way to escape defeat at the hands of the Red Moon Cathedral, and ultimately be crushed and devoured. But they had not been forgotten by the Moonrebel Congregation. And the only thing that could summon them was the hope of the people. Today, they were making their debut!
One battle soul after another rose from the lake. When their eyes opened, they glowed with mysterious light. And then they shot out to the battlefield. When they had been alive, they fought for freedom. And now that they were dead... they were doing the same thing!
Bitter fighting played out on the battlefield surrounding the Red Moon Cathedral’s headquarters.
Li Xiaoshan and Madam Godfinch shot at high speed toward the pontiff from two directions. They hadn’t finished their last fight with the pontiff, and were more than happy to continue it here.
Fighting wasn’t just happening at the headquarters. At cathedral subsidiary bases throughout the region, various species and sects were rushing to combat. The entire region was being turned upside down.
And yet, though the Moonrebel Congregation had numerous divine abilities to unleash, the Red Moon Cathedral had been harvesting this region for generations. And thus, they also had reserve powers. Though they might not be on the level of Crimson Mother’s mortal husk, they could still shake Smoldering Gods.
And thus, as Li Xiaoshan and Madam Godfinch closed in, the pontiff’s eyes glittered with blue light. Expression calm, he extended his right hand and pushed down toward the ground.
“Blood guardians of the Red Moon Cathedral, hear the orders of a god! Execute all who blaspheme against our god!”