Chapter 895: Dawning Light Rends the Seal
The Dawning Suns of humankind made their debut to the countless species of Revered Ancient when the Nightshades invaded human territory several years ago.
During that war, the Nightshades and other nonhuman species surrounded the humans and brought flames of destruction to their lands. They even advanced as far as the Imperial Region. Humans had been teetering on the verge of annihilation. In fact, most species had come to the conclusion that humans had no hope of surviving that war. Most assumed that humans wouldn’t end up wiped out as a species, but would probably lose half or more of their Imperial Region. As for the smaller administrative districts, the seven counties, they would just have to accept what fate had in store.
Who could ever have guessed that, in the most critical moment, the Dawning Suns would devastate heaven and earth, and shake Revered Ancient with their terrifying might?
The other species looked on silently as the Nightshades were driven into retreat. The species allied with the Nightshades to join the siege were shaken to the core.
That was the war in which everyone in Revered Ancient heard about the Dawning Suns. As a result, even powerful species such as the Firemoon Darkheaven people became deeply interested in the Dawning Suns. And they all started doing research to figure out how to deal with them.
As the number one chosen among the Firemoon Darkheavens, it was no surprise that Sir Firedark knew a bit about the Dawning Suns. Therefore, when she saw the Captain pull one out, she instantly knew what it was. Her pupils constricted, and her mind and heart shook with an intense sensation of deadly crisis. Without the slightest hesitation, she fell back.
If a domain treasure like that detonated, the effects would be very widespread. Although the emperor’s mausoleum seemed like it existed in its own reality, the truth was that it had specific borders. If a Dawning Sun was detonated here, the blast would cover everything. The mausoleum was inherently built in a superior way, and had its own immense pressure weighing down everywhere, so it was possible it might be able to contain the detonation. But every flesh-and-blood being inside would definitely be in unprecedented danger.
Sir Firedark wasn’t the only one to react in that way. Sir Heavenink, Tuo Shishan, and Fan Shishuang were deeply shocked. Their hair stood on end, and every inch of flesh and bone within them began to quiver as a sense of immeasurable danger filled them.
Danger. Danger!
Without the slightest hesitation, they interrupted their breakthroughs and used various defensive strategies to flee and seek a way to escape. The situation in the mausoleum had changed dramatically.
The Dawning Sun fell past the starlight dragons that had been knocked to the side by the sound waves. Then it dropped past the umbrella. Because of the explosive sound wave from before, the altar was now clearly visible, and there was nothing blocking the way to it.
Thus, the Dawning Sun dropped right onto the golden coffin!
It immediately released blinding light. That ancient sun had been crafted in the manner of a Dawning Sun, but it was far mightier than average. That was especially true considering that Xu Qing had put some of Crimson Mother’s flesh into it.
Considering the terrifying might in the Dawning Sun, it could definitely be considered a trump card for Xu Qing and the Captain. That said, because it could only be used once, it usually worked best when used as a threat.
As of now, it could no longer be used as a threat, as it had been truly activated! Boundless and terrifying might erupted, so dramatic it was difficult to put into words. Blinding light spread out in all directions, bringing raging heat that illuminated the starry sky and spread out over the surrounding lands.
The dome of heaven began to turn crimson. The lands heaved. The wailing of the 108 faces suddenly ceased. The faces’ expressions became pained, and as the light and heat swept over them, they were reduced to ashes. It wasn’t just the faces that were wiped out. The 108 planets weren’t able to hold on for long before they were wiped out of existence by the light and heat.
What was more, the detonation of the Dawning Sun had just begun. A sea of light spread out to cover everything. That included the bells, gongs, umbrella, and starlight dragons. Also affected were the altar, the terrain, the horses and soldiers, and everything else. Everything was turning crimson as the heat waves and sea of light sought to wipe everything out.
It was easy to imagine how, if nothing happened to stop it, the entire emperor’s mausoleum would be reduced to ashes. In fact, the planet that housed the mausoleum would likely also be affected.
Everyone inside the mausoleum felt themselves hovering on the brink of death. Sir Firedark’s hair was disheveled, and she kept coughing up blood. Howling, she released fist strike after fist strike to block the light and heat as she tumbled in the opposite direction. Clearly, not even she would last very long before she ended up dead.
It almost wasn’t necessary to mention Fan Shishuang and the other two. The three of them were already severely injured, with their souls on the verge of being wiped away. It was with complete madness, and a host of varied techniques, that they tried to save themselves. Nothing seemed to work.
There was no doubt that the Captain had done something extremely ruthless. And he didn’t just treat others ruthlessly. He also treated himself that way.
He and Xu Qing were both within the range of the Dawning Sun. Both of them were instantly overwhelmed with a sensation of deadly crisis.
However, advanced preparations ensured that the Captain was able to hold out longer than average. As the Dawning Sun detonated, he opened his mouth and looked at Xu Qing.
There was no need for communication. Xu Qing knew exactly what to do. Without any hesitation, he turned into a stream of light that shot into the Captain’s mouth. Once inside the Captain, Xu Qing unleashed his cultivation base, sending out defensive power as well as supreme yin power. He used every item and divine ability he could think of.
The Captain did the same. Faces appeared in his pupils, and a vortex sprang up in his chest. At the same time, four blue arms burst out from inside of him, rapidly performing incantation gestures. Their power combined with Xu Qing’s to form into a block of protective ice.
Meanwhile, the Captain’s eyes filled with a crazy look as he took out large masses of human skin. They were, in fact, pieces of his own skin, which he threw over his shoulders like a cape. Then he took out a green jade slip, which he crushed between his fingers. A blast of time power erupted from the jade slip.
“Little Junior Brother!” the Captain shouted. Inside of him, Xu Qing unleashed his sundial to bolster the time abilities of the jade slip. Together the two of them bolstered each other defensively.
And yet, the explosion of the Dawning Sun shattered the block of ice. The time power rippled and distorted, and the Captain’s skin burst into flame. Bloody wounds opened up all over him, and the four blue arms collapsed.
Xu Qing suffered similarly. Cracks spread out over his sundial, and his cultivation base trembled. None of the defenses seemed enough to dispel the crisis at hand; they only seemed capable of buying time.
But Xu Qing trusted the Captain. The Captain acted crazily sometimes, and often courted death. But every time... he survived! He didn’t actually have a death wish. And that was the case this time as well!
As the Dawning Sun detonated and threatened to destroy the emperor’s mausoleum and everything else... the mausoleum finally fought back!
This was the tomb of an immortal emperor, and the mausoleum of an ancestral emperor. Though it couldn’t compare to Revered Ancient, on a personhood level, the entity buried here couldn’t have been more noble and majestic. That wasn’t even to mention that everything here had been set up by a god.
The bells, which were crimson from the heat, began to ring. The burning altar shivered and started to pulse in unison with the drums. The starlight dragons emitted deafening howls as they charged forth. From a distance, it looked like eight huge fingers! The bells were the fingernails. The drums were the white crescents on the nails. And the dragons’ bodies formed the fingers.
The lands below were made of patches of skin that were currently burning. All of a sudden, eyes opened up on all of the patches of skin. The gazes that exploded out caused the fingers to be covered with skin!
The countless soldiers and horses, which were also burning now, began to move. Energy surged as they rose up into the air and turned into the palm of the hand.
One palm. Eight fingers! Mountains, rivers, and other terrain features rose up, becoming the prints on the palm and fingers! Most shocking of all was that the altar emitted black light that represented destruction. It infected the heat and light spreading from the Dawning Sun, and also poured into the palm itself, turning the entire hand pitch black.
As all of that happened, it was again possible to hear a heartbeat from inside the coffin.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump!
The heartbeat seemed to awaken the huge hand that had formed overhead, as it lurched toward the Dawning Sun. As of this moment, the light was covered up! As of this instant, the heat was cut off!
The enormous black hand covered everything. But the Dawning Sun was a domain treasure, and this was an extraordinary version. Not even a counterattack by the personhood of the emperor’s mausoleum was enough to wipe it out.
Next, as the black hand contacted the heat of the Dawning Sun, an intense conflict erupted. Shortly after, a thunderous boom rang out that rocked the entire mausoleum.
The black hand vanished, and the Dawning Sun faded. The terror from the Dawning Sun had ultimately been driven away.
Up in the air, Sir Firedark looked to be in very bad shape, and was splattered with blood. Sir Heavenink, Tuo Shishan, and Fan Shishuang were all in one piece, but they were incredibly weak and were still filled with lingering fear. All of them had come very, very close to dying.
The Captain was similarly bedraggled. He had used every trick he had, yet was still on the verge of collapsing. When he saw that Sir Firedark and the others had all survived, he seemed a bit disappointed. But then his eyes glittered as he looked down.
Xu Qing flew out from inside him, looking weak and exhausted. He also looked down.
The emperor’s mausoleum looked very different. The bells, drums, soldiers, horses, and terrain features... were gone. The altar was cracked and crumbling, and even the coffin was damaged. In fact, the coffin had split in two, and each piece had rolled off to the side. Visible inside the coffin was a withered corpse wearing a burial suit of gold and jade! The body was completely withered, but it had an imperial crown, and the gold and jade burial garment was actually shaped like an imperial robe.
The raiment imparted a sense of majesty, but not as much as this person would have commanded in life. And that was because there was a spider on his face. It had fused with the corpse so that they were inseparable.
That spider’s face had become the corpse’s face.
“A soundwave to break the barrier. Dawning light to rend open the seal. Finally... the coffin of this world’s ancestral emperor is open! Let’s go, little Junior Brother!”
The craziness began to build again in the Captain’s eyes as he shot down toward the corpse. Xu Qing viciously gritted his teeth. Given that things were reaching a climax, there was no way he was going to give up right now. Eyes looking similarly crazy, he shot toward the corpse.
Sir Heavenink, Tuo Shishan, and Fan Shishuang were powerless to do anything. Seeing what Xu Qing and the Captain were doing caused their hearts to pound. They quickly backed up. They were scared and tired.
As for Sir Firedark, her hatred had completely erupted, and thus, she raced after the Captain. It didn’t matter what he did. She had one plan: kill the bastard!
As the three of them got close to the corpse, the spider face of the corpse suddenly opened its eyes! They were golden eyes. They were the eyes of a god!