Chapter 579: Captain Of The Divine Guard
For cultivators, the Nigong meridian could only contain a maximum of twelve palaces. Forcefully opening further palaces would only result in the destruction of the Nigong meridian, along with the other palaces.
At this point, a roar appeared with the emergence of the twelve palaces. One palace opened its doors and a dried trunk that looked like a hand flew out. This was the tree branch he obtained from the Thousand Islands.
At this point, thousands of roots entrenched themselves in Li Qiye’s Nigong meridian while newly grown green branches stretched into the pond. These new branches were like divine spears and penetrated into the depths of the pond, quickly taking root inside under Li Qiye’s command.
These branches swiftly absorbed the water in the pond and led them into Li Qiye’s meridian.
After absorbing the essence under the pond, Li Qiye shivered as his dried Nigong meridian suddenly became quite moist.
“It is time!” Li Qiye became fairly spirited as he took a deep breath. His blood energy surged with the opening of the sea of blood while his Life Wheel powered his Longevity Blood. All of these things fueled each other, allowing his dao foundation to suck up even more essence from the bottom of the pond.
At the same time, his body continued to emit terrifying sounds since the physique tribulation’s deathly energy and physique devil was still rampaging while being suppressed by his Hell Suppressing Godly Physique.
***
The arrival of the Divine Guard’s captain was explosive news inside the Prime Ominous Grave.
Although the captain entered the grave with a low profile, being part of the Ancestral Realm’s Divine Guard made maintaining a low profile a difficult feat. Amazing images appeared where he trod, such as auspicious clouds and golden springs. The grand dao hymned in resonance as phoenixes flew quickly behind him.
The captain wore a set of divine armor that gave him a majestic and awe-inspiring aura. Auspicious rays surrounded his body while the supreme universal laws shone below his steps. When he moved, the stars would also rotate as the heaven and earth followed him.
Such a heaven-defying and powerful existence was worthy of fear and awe. Even legendary masters had to retreat before an existence of his level. Moreover, the captain had the backing of the Ancestral Realm behind him. This meant that even eternal existences would not carelessly offend him.
Some reclusive ancestors of the Ancestral City also accompanied this existence. Whether this captain was strong or not was not important. Since he represented the Ancestral Realm, the ancestors had to follow and protect him.
The lord of the Ancestral City was an amazing character. He had lived for an entire generation, yet his blood energy was still extremely formidable. The captain of the Divine Guard was not necessarily much stronger than the city lord, but since he came from the Ancestral Realm and represented their will, even the city lord didn’t dare to neglect him.
The ghost race was quite alarmed to see the current situation: “One Ancestral City Lord was already scary enough, but now the Divine Guard Captain is here too! Who would dare to cause strife in this situation? I think even legendary masters wouldn’t dare to act boisterously here.”
A ghost king shook his head and said: “Boisterously? Only suicidal people would act this way at this key moment.”
Although the Ancestral Realm belonged to the ghost race and there was a legend stating that the Ghost Progenitor was sleeping in this realm, many lineages, especially the ones with emperors, viewed them unfavorably.
Other ghost lineages appeared to be very welcoming and respectful to the Ancestral Realm on the outside, but they were secretly full of caution and had the desire to resist.
Naturally, these sects didn’t want an existence looming over their heads and interfering with their business or commanding them, especially imperial monsters such as the Myriad Bones Throne.
For millions of years, no one understood the significance and reason for the Ancestral Realm’s existence. Some said that the Ghost Progenitor was slumbering there. An even older legend dictated that the Ancestral Realm stopped a terrifying race of devils from the outside to protect the paradise that is the Sacred Nether World for the sake of the ghost race. However, all of these were only legends. Regardless of whether the Ancestral Realm was where the slumbering progenitor was or if they were acting as a guardian, these events happened many, many years ago. No one had seen the Ancestral Realm taking action or attacking any evil devils. Moreover, no one had ever seen the progenitor before as well.
Because of these legends, the majority of great powers and a few imperial lineages had always been wary of the Ancestral Realm. The majority of them across time had maintained a certain distance. No one knew why, not even these lineages themselves, but these were the warnings from their Patriarch Immortal Emperors.
The city lord welcomed the captain to the camp. After the captain sat down, the city lord commanded others to leave, leaving only the two of them behind.
The captain was not arrogant and politely asked the city lord: “City Lord, how goes the preparations for the lost mythical island?”
The city lord answered: “Respectful Captain, we temporarily cannot enter right now. The mist is too thick; two of our ancestors died in an attempt to get there.”
“Then when can we set our foot on it?” The captain asked with a graver voice.
The city lord pondered for a moment before replying: “In my opinion, the Prime Ominous Grave can lessen the mist of the island since it is becoming thinner and thinner. The moment we can set foot on the island should be right before the closing of the grave.”
“We don’t have time.” The captain shook his head and explained: “We have to go there as soon as possible since there are many things to do up there. If we wait for the grave to drive the mist away, then we won’t be able to finish our business before the closing.”
The city lord answered carefully: “Captain, we can’t do anything about it. You can also see that this mist is an extremely powerful and evil curse. The person who performed this curse must have been an invincible existence across the times in order to stop others from reaching the island. We have no way of breaking this curse, so we can only wait.”
“City Lord, I’m afraid that we do not have the time to wait. This matter has reached His Excellency, the Heavenly God. He commanded me to bring down a decree to accelerate this matter.” The captain spoke with a serious tone: “City Lord, I am not trying to posture before you, it’s just that this matter is not trivial. His Excellency wants me to expedite the process, please understand.”
“This matter even reached His Excellency’s ears?” The city lord spoke with a changed expression. He had only seen the Heavenly God once, but he understood the Heavenly God’s invincibility.
“Yes! His Excellency told me to descend just to rush this matter. If it wasn’t for the fact that it wasn’t time for the portal to open, His Excellency would have come down himself.” The captain replied with gravity.
The city lord was scared out of his mind. The Heavenly God himself descending — such a thing had not happened for a long time, and it would create widespread panic if this news were to come out.
“Captain, just what is inside the lost mythical island?” The city lord asked. Despite being the city lord, he didn’t know what was up there.
“City Lord, there are a few things better left unknown. Knowing too much is not good for you.” The captain looked at the city lord and scowled.
The city lord smiled awkwardly and said: “If that is the case, then I won’t ask any further with my big mouth.”
The captain looked at the city lord and lowered his aggressive tone: “Brother Bai, we have known each other for a long time so there is no need for this posturing act. I have no say in this matter and am only following the Heavenly God’s command; I am but a mere errand boy. If something were to happen, then a bigger character will come down.”
The captain had a great sense of propriety. Although he came down from the Ancestral Realm, the city lord could directly communicate with it as well, so his status was not much higher than the city lord’s. If he wanted things to go smoothly in the Sacred Nether World, then he needed the help of the city lord, so he conducted himself in a very polite manner.
“Captain is too polite. Like you said, we are friends so there is no need to act so reserved like this.” The city lord quickly replied: “I was only casually asking, nothing more.”
The captain shook his head and said: “I’ll be frank with you, brother, I don’t know what is on the lost island. This is only something His Excellency knows. He commanded that we must go to the island right away and that we have to report any and all changes on the island. This matter is very important and we bear a huge weight. If we want to get this done, I will have to rely on Brother Bai’s strong support!”
The city lord hurriedly responded: “Captain is too reserved, just let me know if you need anything. Your business is my business.”
“We cannot wait for the curse to go away by itself since we have to go up there as soon as possible. Before the closing of the grave, we will still need time to communicate with His Excellency. After going up there, we have to do so again, which requires a lot of time, so we have to quickly dispel this curse!”