Chapter 954: Chapter 948: The Western Border
What the Demon Suppression Grotto-Heaven had most of was secret chambers.
For over a hundred years, several new ones would appear every year, causing endless internal grumbling among the cultivators of the Grotto-Heaven.
The hiding spots for these chambers were exceptionally tricky—inside bathrooms, within tree hollows, at the bottom of wells…
There was even a Qi Refining clansman who stepped into empty air while using the latrine, thinking he had fallen into the cesspit, only to discover, upon looking, that it was actually a secret chamber.
Every few years, someone would travel millions of miles just to search these chambers one by one. Playing hide-and-seek in the Demon Suppression Grotto-Heaven had practically become a popular pastime for killing time.
At this moment, inside a newly excavated secret chamber.
Li Xinri sat cross-legged. Despite being an “old monster” who had lived through countless sixty-year cycles, this notorious dandy of Northguard City showed no signs of aging, still retaining the appearance of a handsome young man.
At this moment, his eyes were wide with lingering dread as he wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
“Zhijing has returned… this situation is definitely not simple. The people from the Azure Cloud Prefecture must be lurking within the Demon Suppression Grotto-Heaven, just waiting for me to reveal myself. Thinking I’ll fall for your trap? Laughable!”
This was wisdom accumulated over many years.
Back when he had gone to the Main Family to cultivate, he had been incredibly proud. But later, things started to feel increasingly wrong—people from the Azure Cloud Prefecture kept tricking him into going there, causing him no end of suffering.
That was when Li Xinri finally realized where the problem lay.
But later, those accursed scoundrels simply wouldn’t rest until they achieved their goal.
Every single year, someone would come and beat him until he was wailing for his parents.
They kept asking him if he admitted his fault, yet Li Xinri had racked his brains for over a hundred years and still couldn’t figure out exactly where he had offended them.
Clearing his thoughts.
Li Xinri looked inward with his spiritual sense. Upon inspecting his Dantian, he saw that the Nascent Soul within had grown robust—it had fully matured!
“Peak Nascent Soul realm.”
Li Xinri let out a cold sneer. “Just you wait until my cultivation breaks through. The next time you come to beat me, we’ll see just who ends up beating whom! Hmph!”
The more he thought about it, the more refreshed Li Xinri felt all over.
He had lorded over Northguard City for years; when had he ever suffered such an inexplicable grievance?
Little did he know, at that very moment, the Old Ancestor was watching him.
[Your descendant, Li Xinri, in order to hide from cultivators who inexplicably came to beat him, has remained in seclusion for many years.
Acquired Trait: Master of Concealment. Escape and concealment abilities increased. Wisdom increases by 100% while hiding.]
[In order to retaliate against the cultivators who beat him, he has cultivated diligently for many years, breaking through to the Peak Nascent Soul realm.
Acquired Trait: Yields to No One. Cultivation speed increases by 40% when feeling defiant.]
“What a talent.”
Seeing Li Xinri again, Li Wei felt a genuine wave of emotion.
When this brat wasn’t indulging in his bizarre vices, he really was a true genius.
Having devoted himself to cultivation with the sole motivation of taking revenge on the cultivators of the Azure Cloud Prefecture, his progress in the realm had been nothing short of explosive.
Just as Li Wei was thinking about pulling him into the Void Refining Space to offer a few words of praise, his face suddenly darkened.
He heard a sigh. “Ai… who knows when these days will finally end? Once I break through to the Divinity Transformation realm, everything will be fine.”
The words had barely fallen.
Li Wei saw Li Xinri stand up and face the wall. Naturally, he wasn’t facing the wall to reflect on his misdeeds. Instead, carved upon that wall were vivid paintings, and Li Xinri began to undo his trousers.
“???”
Li Wei instantly vanished from the spot. He didn’t say anything, though. After all, that brat Li Xinri had always been wild. Having hidden in a secret chamber for over a hundred years, this was probably his only form of entertainment.
Ignoring Li Xinri, Li Wei reappeared—this time, on the battlefield.
…..
This was the Floating Mountain, the seat where Grand Tutor Lin Jiu presided.
With Demon Emperor Xu Weng approaching the Northern Border, even Grand Tutor Lin Jiu felt a grave sense of urgency.
As a result, a multitude of cultivators had gathered inside the great hall atop the Floating Mountain.
Li Xinghuo and Zishu Wandong were present.
The hall was spacious, and Li Xinghuo, as the Commander of the Asura Army, came here often to receive orders. Yet, never before had the hall felt as cramped as it did today.
There were many cultivators present whom Li Xinghuo had never even seen before; he could only sense the formidable auras radiating from them.
With just a single sentence, Lin Jiu caused Li Xinghuo’s expression to change slightly.
“The Western Border… is about to fall.”
“What?!!”
The cultivators of the Northern Border were universally horrified.
Yet, no one present dared to question the Grand Tutor; they could only wait for him to explain further.
Lin Jiu scanned the room. He maintained his usual composed demeanor, stroking his beard as he spoke.
“Demon Emperor Xu Weng’s visit was a probe.
In the past, had a Demon Emperor dared to cross our borders, our Dynasty would have certainly responded in kind, marching into their Demon territory to display our might. But now…”
Lin Jiu fell silent for a long moment before continuing in a deep voice.
“Demon Emperor Xu Weng came in haste and left without a shred of hesitation.
He has already discerned where the problem lies. Our Human Race possesses five Great Emperors, while the Wu Race and the Demon Race within the Endless Forest have only six between them.
This is the reason why, for over a hundred thousand years since the Great War of the past, we have been able to keep both races outside our borders.”
“His Majesty holds the supreme authority of the Human Race, possessing power that rivals the heavens.
In the past, he would have undoubtedly made Demon Emperor Xu Weng suffer for this. But now that he has allowed him to leave unharmed, from this day forward, he will no longer fear our Dynasty.”
The Grand Tutor atop the eight-step platform remained as majestic as ever, yet the crowd could sense the heaviness in his words.
A cultivator standing at the very front, clad in the armor of the Asura Army, furrowed his brows and asked,
“Grand Tutor, since it was Demon Emperor Xu Weng who conducted the probe, and considering the Northern Border is currently overrun with the Demon Race, why is it the Western Border that faces calamity?”
Lin Jiu glanced at the Grand Commander.
“He fears me, but the Western Border does not have me. Once the Wu Race catches wind of this news, they will not hold back.”
Behind the Great Hall.
As Lin Jiu continued his explanation, Li Xinghuo quietly slipped away with his wife, his expression grim to the extreme.
“Xinghuo!” Zishu Wandong’s face was pale. “The Western Border… we must go now!”
“It’s too late.”
Li Xinghuo narrowed his eyes slightly.
“The Grand Tutor has just received the news himself. The Wu Race is already slaughtering their way toward the Western Border, targeting Crown Prince Fei Heng directly.
If the Crown Prince dies, the Western Border will inevitably descend into chaos. I fear the Wu Race has already made their move.”
“Inform the Old Ancestor!”
[Special Event—Crisis in the Western Border]
Meanwhile, in the Western Border.
An almost endless swarm of Wu Race tribesmen could be seen charging into the Shadowfell Prefecture.
The shamanic techniques of the Wu Race invoked the natural forces of heaven and earth—animating stone statues, controlling birds and beasts, and summoning spirits of nature—forming a terrifying black tide.
Meanwhile, the Human Race was putting up a desperate resistance. Yet, surrounded by the Wu Race from all sides, their battle lines were collapsing step by step.
At that moment, a giant tree standing over a thousand meters tall was packed with Wu tribesmen.
Its trunk was covered in sharp spikes, while its crown bore only a scattering of green leaves.
The bark of this giant tree twisted together to form a massive human face, possessing the demeanor of a composed scholar.
The spikes on the trunk appeared small relative to the tree’s massive body, yet compared to a human, they were colossal.
Beneath the trunk, two long wooden legs had formed, sprinting across the earth and causing the ground to thunder and sand to roar.
Even when human cultivators bombarded it with Spiritual power, they could inflict no damage upon the giant tree.
Whatever stronger techniques were cast were easily blocked by the Wu Race Elders stationed atop the tree crown.
On one of the giant tree’s green leaves stood numerous Elders clad in the long robes of the Wu Race.
While ordinary Wu tribesmen wore animal skins, those who had attained the status of Elder mostly imitated the Human Race by wearing robes, with patterns embroidered upon them representing their respective tribes.
Lei Dong was among them at this moment, his purple robe inscribed with motifs of thunder and lightning.
However, Lei Dong was relegated to the very back of the group; among the twenty-odd Elders standing on this green leaf, he truly held no significant rank.
The Elder standing at the very front possessed a kind and benevolent countenance.
He wore a robe as red as fire, upon which was depicted a soaring golden bird, making it appear as though the old man’s entire garment had been ignited into a blazing inferno.
His white hair was tied into numerous small braids that scattered across his back, and in his hand, he held a white branch burning with wisps of flame.
Divine Bird Tribe, Sage Elder Nirvana—one of the Body Integration realm Sage Elders of the Divine Bird Tribe.
“I never expected the Human Race to be this weak. The moment we, Sage Elders, stepped forth, we were able to occupy their Shadowfell Prefecture.”
“Find the Human Crown Prince!”
“The Crown Princes from over a hundred thousand years ago were nowhere near this frail.”
“…”
Atop the giant tree, the Wu Race tribesmen laughed boisterously.
Sage Elder Nirvana gazed ahead, his expression unable to conceal his delight.
It had been over a hundred thousand years, and he had finally set foot on this land once again!
The giant tree, towering over a thousand meters high, advanced from the rear of the Wu formation.
Each step caused the earth to shake and the mountains to sway as it strode over the heads of the tide-like Wu army.
With just a single step, it easily breached the Human Race’s defensive lines.
The soldiers of the Human Race raised their heads, gazing up in terror as the giant ancient tree’s massive foot descended toward them.
The sole, large enough to blot out the sky and the sun, was imbued with immense Spiritual power; they could only wail in despair as they awaited the arrival of death.
From the rear, the Wu Race swarmed in from all directions.
The Human forces were like a patch of parched earth, gradually being encroached upon and submerged by a dark liquid pouring in from the distance, dyeing everything black.
One after another, cultivators attempted to intercept the experts atop the giant tree. Yet, with a mere wave of Sage Elder Nirvana’s hand, Heavenly Fire descended, instantly incinerating them.
The giant tree advanced as if entering an uninhabited land, trampling the ant-like soldiers beneath its feet as it marched straight toward the garrisoned city of the Shadowfell Prefecture.
Inside the city, fleet after fleet of Spirit Boats were docked. Yet, like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, the moment they saw the giant tree approaching and felt the terrifying aura radiating from it, they scattered in panic, fleeing in all directions.
That city, which had once seemed impregnable and had withstood the Wu Race’s assaults time and again, saw its defensive formations fall without the Wu Race even touching them.
The cultivators, in their desperate haste to escape, had torn the arrays open themselves.
Atop the giant tree, Lei Dong let out a sigh.
Two years ago, he had been terrified that the Elders were being manipulated. But he realized now that he had underestimated their capabilities.
It was said that for over a hundred thousand years, the Sage Elders dared not set foot into the Azure Dynasty. Yet today, a Sage Elder had arrived in person!
Lei Dong suddenly furrowed his brows. He didn’t know who spoke, but a voice drifted over: “It seems the Human Race still has capable people.”
Hearing this, he turned his head to look.
In the distance, far behind the Human army that was retreating inch by inch, a crimson army was charging onto the battlefield.
Three hundred thousand cultivators strong, they were well-trained and utterly fearless of death!
However.
Sage Elder Nirvana didn’t even spare a glance backward. Only a few Elders raised their eyebrows before flying toward the rear to intercept.
“Li Tianyue.”
Lei Dong exhaled a long breath.
He recognized this army, and he spotted Li Tianyue wielding dual swords, commanding her troops to slaughter the enemy.
Back in the Azure Cloud Prefecture, she had once beaten them into a pathetic, scrambling rout.
Over the past century of warfare in the Western Border, this army had caused him no small amount of trouble.
But now…
“Is she trying to draw attention away to cover Crown Prince Fei Heng, buying him time to escape?”
Lei Dong turned his head away, unable to bear the sight.
“What a pity. I never got the chance to fight your Li Clan fair and square on the battlefield.
The Human Emperor cannot even leave the Heavenly Palace.
The world… no longer has any rules to speak of.
They can enter the Azure Dynasty at will. In their eyes…”
He raised his head.
There stood Sage Elder Nirvana, wielding a Spirit Treasure, summoning Heavenly Fire with a mere wave of his hand, and arbitrarily holding the power of life and death over the world.
This was his first time seeing a Sage Elder, yet within the Wu Race, there were many such Sage Elders.
In their eyes…
“All living beings are but ants.”
—
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