Chapter 738: Xu Qing Is Your Younger Brother, Right?
In any other situation, Grand Duke Holytide wouldn’t ever have participated in any sort of succession struggle. In any time period and among any species, succession struggles were always a huge gamble. If you won, you would bask in endless glory. But if you lost, you ended up damned by myriad tribulations.
To Grand Duke Holytide, remaining unfettered and free in the Holytide Region was obviously the best decision. But he didn’t have that luxury right now. At this point, Sea-Sealing County basically represented the Holytide Region. It wasn’t an option for the grand duke to stand independent. What was more... the Holytide Region was right next to the Moonrite Region.... He really had no choice. He was inextricably tied to Sea-Sealing County. And that was where King Heaventide had died.
That’s how Sea-Sealing County rises above the rest.... In any other location, the death of a heavenly king would be a big deal. But after what happened in Moonrite, everyone is shaken. Even the emperor won’t casually make a move. And if you add in a succession struggle, then as long as the emperor and the imperial capital get a good explanation as to why the heavenly king died, then it won’t mean much.
The fight between Sea-Sealing County and King Heaventide is actually a fight between Twelfth Prince and Seventh Prince.... To the nobility, this is a family matter relating to the imperial clan. Sea-Sealing County has someone really important now!
And thus, Grand Duke Holytide chose to acknowledge allegiance. With him added into the mix, all of the Holytide Region was now united!
As of now, Sea-Sealing County was the core of the Holytide Region. No organization or species in the region had the ability to resist, or even the will to do so. When dealing with absolute power, one had no other option than to acknowledge allegiance.
It went without saying that, now that Sea-Sealing County had an army of 10,000,000, plus the forces of Grand Duke Holytide, it was at the ultimate peak in the region.
When it came to Xu Qing, it was as the saying went: when the tide rises, the boat floats . He now stood at the ultimate peak of the Holytide Region.
Thus it was that a dharmic decree spread from Sea-Sealing County out into the region as a whole.
“All species and all sects will heed the call to fight against the Nightshades!”
Not one sect or species in the region dared to ignore the orders. In the past, Grand Duke Holytide probably would have scorned such a dharmic decree. But after what happened in the Moonrite Region, and after finding out that High God Crimson Mother was dead, things were different. Xu Qing had played a role in that event. Because of that, the grand duke didn’t have an ounce of scorn in him.
In fact, it went beyond that. As far as Grand Duke Holytide was concerned, there was something very mysterious about Xu Qing. He simply couldn’t imagine how a Spirit Trove cultivator could reach the point of being revered by so many people.
There’s definitely something miraculous going on. This Xu Qing... is no ordinary individual!
Eighty percent of King Heaventide’s army was mobilized.
Time passed. The unified Holytide Region sent cultivators from numerous sects and species to the front lines. Master Seventh and Marquis Yao planned everything. Once again, the flames of war burned bright....
Word spread of what happened in Moonrite. There were two reasons why rumors began to spread so fast. One was that people finally discovered that the red moon was gone. The other... was that a message had been sent out of the Moonrite Region via jade slip.
The message was written by the Heir Apparent, and it was a notice to all of the Revered Ancient mainland. Humans and nonhumans alike all received a copy. It explained that Crimson Mother was dead and that Moonrite’s Imperial Sovereign had been awakened.
It caused an instant stir in Revered Ancient. There were even hidden gods who, after finding out what happened, were worked up into a frenzy. It was easy to confirm the truth of the news. After all, everyone had noticed earlier when the broken face’s eyes opened, and everything changed in the Moonrite Region.
***
As expected, one of those jade slips was sent to the humans’ Imperial Region.
Inside the imperial palace, in a building that rose tall into clouds and wind, the emperor stood looking off into the distance.
Behind him was a table with two jade slips on it. One of them was from the Heir Apparent in the Moonrite Region. The other was from Seventh Prince. He looked neither pleased nor angry, and his gaze was focused on the swirling sea of clouds outside.
If you looked closely, you would realize that he was looking at something absolutely gargantuan, though it was hidden beneath a thick cloud cover. It was almost like... an incomparably massive planet. As the clouds rolled over it, it resembled a majestic painting.
After some time passed, a calm voice spoke from behind the emperor.
“Your Majesty, I finished looking through both jade slips.”
The emperor didn’t look over his shoulder. “What do you think?”
At some point, a person had appeared on the other side of the desk. His face was as fair as jade, and he had long violet hair that flowed down his back like a cloak. He wore a white robe as he sat there, his expression tranquil. He was the imperial preceptor.
“I noticed on that very day that someone had borrowed some of my time power,” the imperial preceptor said. He lifted his cup of tea, took a sip, then softly continued, “Isn’t that what you wanted to see, Your Majesty?”
The imperial preceptor looked at the emperor and smiled faintly.
For a long moment, the emperor didn’t respond. Then he said, “How confident are you in succeeding?”
The imperial preceptor smiled. “One hundred percent. All you need to do is nod, Your Majesty, and the transaction can be completed.”
The emperor looked deeply thoughtful as he continued to stare out at the clouds. The room was completely silent for a long time. Then the emperor walked out, leaving behind only some coldly spoken words that could only come from the mouth of a superior.
“That Xu Qing is your younger brother, right?”
The imperial preceptor’s facial expression didn’t change at all. He finished his tea, put the cup down, and smiled as he disappeared into thin air.
The wind blew, causing the sea of clouds to slowly sweep over the palace.
***
In the Holytide Region, cultivators from all sects and species waged war with the Nightshades. This time, Seventh Prince and King Heaventide had nothing to do with the fighting. This time, it was Xu Qing who issued the orders, and Twelfth Prince who led the troops. It was time to finish things with the Nightshades.
The humans had a lot more cultivators this time, thanks to Grand Duke Holytide joining the war effort. Master Seventh and Marquis Yao split the armed forces into three legions that invaded the Nightspirit Region.
Though King Heaventide had been defeated, his reserve powers were still in place. The immortal skills could still be used, and considering how much land King Heaventide had already taken, the Nightshades were already under a lot of pressure. Besides, the Nightshades had to fight on many fronts, which meant they couldn’t expect reinforcements on any particular front line. All they could do was hold their own as best they could.
The reality was that if the Nightshades really wanted to fight back in the Nightspirit Region, the war would have been much more brutal. But strangely enough... the Nightshades hardly fought back against the invasion from the Holytide Region. Things were different than when they faced King Heaventide.
Xu Qing didn’t go to fight on the front lines. He stayed on the border of the Nightspirit Region and the Holytide Region to process the reports coming in.
As time passed, and the army advanced smoothly, Xu Qing came to a realization about the Nightshades’ overall battle prowess.
The Nightshades controlled two regions. One was called Nightspirit and the other Nightshade.
Their emperor, along with many of their other top experts, were killed by a mysterious individual before the fighting even started. Because their leadership had been taken out, when the war did erupt, the Nightshades suffered defeat after defeat.
Their species was facing the threat of extermination, but they had no strong leaders, and thus, they ultimately split into three factions.
One faction was led by the Nightshades’ imperial clan. The army they gathered was the one who faced the humans’ main forces in the Nightshade Region.
The second faction was led by the nobility. They didn’t do much in the war, and instead went into hiding. They hoped to negotiate with the humans, and were active in both the Nightshade Region and the Nightspirit Region.
The final faction was the one who had been fighting King Heaventide, and they were led by the Nightshade priesthood.
Nightshade priests had godly authority, which normally meant they were superior to the emperor himself, and were the highest-ranking members of Nightshade society. But when their god magics stopped working, they suffered huge defeats. Their god was ignoring them, and soon, rumors spread that their god was sleeping.
As a result, the priests weren’t as respected as before. They were now extremely weak, and were coming to be hated by their fellow Nightshades.
In the end, they chose to gather in their main temple in the Nightspirit Region, and make their stand there. They and the divine guards that formed their troops were constantly reaching out to their god to ask for help. They were the first ones to sense that Crimson Mother had died. They were also the ones who issued a dharmic decree telling the Nightshade forces to make way for Xu Qing’s army, and let them enter the land of fog where their temple stood. It was the same spot where King Heaventide had been ambushed.
Having learned from the previous disaster, Master Seventh, Marquis Yao and the other leaders of the Holytide Region forces were careful not to charge in blindly. They cleared the way with the immortal skills, and also sent scouts ahead.
However, before any further arrangements could be made, someone emerged from the Nightshades’ fog. He had no hair and wore a violet robe. After stepping out, he bowed to the Holytide army and then made one request.
The priests wanted Xu Qing to come personally. They wanted to meet him.
As long as Xu Qing came, then whatever happened after, they would surrender.
Grand Duke Holytide was hesitant to comply, and in the past, he would have outright refused. After all, they were talking about a mere Spirit Trove cultivator. But things were different now, as he knew who gave orders in Sea-Sealing County now.
Therefore, he deferred to Master Seventh and Marquis Yao.
Xu Qing, who was still on the border between the two regions, received a voice message from Master Seventh.
It made Xu Qing think of how he had sensed something calling out to him recently while out on the Forbidden Sea. Before long, he was heading into the interior of the Nightspirit Region.
A few days later, he stood in front of the Holytide army, just outside the fog. He was experiencing a very strange sensation. In the depths of the fog, he could sense... his own authority.
The moment he appeared, the fog seethed, and a dozen Nightshade high priests emerged wearing violet robes.
When they saw Xu Qing, they instantly got excited and bowed at the waist. In the lead was the old man, who spoke to Xu Qing in a hoarse voice.
“Please, return to your rightful position, Violet Lord!”