Chapter 1673: Five Years

Li Luo's secluded cultivation lasted an entire five years. The world underwent many great changes during this period.

During the second month of his seclusion, black meteors rained down on the ten divine continents ceaselessly, and boundless clouds of corruption filled the sky. Every single meteor was an Other Dominion looking to descend.

The start of this era's Origin Reversion War had truly begun. The bright side was that the divine continents had some time to prepare themselves for the Shadow World's incursions. With the Academic Federation at the lead, the peak powers had come together in a grand alliance: the Divine Continent Federation.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

This alliance was led by the Academic Federation, Golden Dragon Mountain, and the Dragon Race, the strongest Heavenly Emperor powers in the world. With the Heavenly Emperor Edict preventing all Heavenly Emperors from setting foot on the divine continents, their Heavenly Emperors had all entered the Nobles' Battlefield to resist the Shadow World's invasion.

Thus, the leaders of the Divine Continent Federation were the peak Triple Crowned Kings. Some of the more renowned ones were Radiant King Qi Huang and the Heavenly Origin Ancient College's principal, Wang Xuanjin.

Shocking battles broke out throughout the continents. Despite the divine continents' preparations, the entire world was instantly plunged into chaos and turmoil. No one knew how many kingdoms had been annihilated on the very first night alone.

Corpses were strewn across the lands and all sorts of weird and terrifying things occurred at every moment, turning the landscape of those kingdoms into full-on nightmares. Not all powers had Kings to protect them, and without such experts, they were naturally unable to stop the Other Dominions that were led by Other Kings.

Such tragedies were particularly common within the outer divine continents, as they were weaker and had less robust foundations than the inner divine continents. Due to the relatively barren lands, there were very few Kings. Even though the Academic Federation had dispatched some of their Kings to help, they couldn't protect every single kingdom.

Despite having stronger foundations, the inner divine continents weren't exactly having an easy time. The rich worldly natural energy that blessed their lands attracted a larger number of Other Dominions than the outer divine continents, as well as stronger Other Kings.

The fires of war swept across every corner of the divine continents. No location was left in peace. As the dirge of death filled the air, who knew just when would things end.

In the second year of Li Luo's seclusion, the chaos intensified. For example, many of the kingdoms and dynasties of the East Divine Continent fell and their people scattered across the four cardinal directions, in fear and terror. Everyone sought refuge in the areas watched over by Kings.

The Xia Kingdom was one of the last undefiled lands on the continent, as a large number of Kings resided there. While other minor powers were destroyed by Other Dominions, the Kings of the Xia Kingdom completely wiped out some of the weaker Other Dominions before they could even fully descend. Even some of the stronger dominions, ones led by Other Kings at the Dual Crowned King Stage, were quickly surrounded and crushed.

While the rest of the East Divine Continent was falling into ruins, the Xia Kingdom maintained a certain degree of peace and stability. Thus, it became one of the few places that the people of the East Divine Continent flocked to, hoping to seek shelter.

When faced with this situation, the Xia Kingdom didn't stop anyone from entering. After a discussion between the Kings, with Jiang Qing'e and Pang Qianyuan at the helm, they realized that defeating Other Dominions one after another would attract more and more attention from the Shadow World. This was beneficial for lifting the pressure on the other locations and thus, with the Divine Continent Federation's support, they began to integrate nearby powers into a cohesive local force.

In the end, the Xia Kingdom continued to expand and a brand new power was born—the Xia Alliance! It was made up of the dozens of minor powers that surrounded the Xia Kingdom, with a population of over ten billion lives. With Jiang Qing'e and Pang Qianyuan's hard work, they repeatedly beat back the Other Dominions and slaughtered vile Other Kings one after another. Seeing their success, some of the Kings from the East Divine Continent led their respective powers to join them.

After two years of constant battles, everyone understood that the situation couldn't be dealt with alone. Only by sticking together could they obtain the peace they so desired. As a result, the Xia Alliance continued to flourish and grow. They gave the powers of the East Divine Continent a ray of hope, causing more and more alliances to emerge across the East Divine Continent. Everyone's goal was to overcome the disaster.

Meanwhile, the Ancient Covenant that was activated by Heavenly Emperor Jiang had borrowed the blessings from the future to bolster the present, causing numerous geniuses to emerge in the short span of three years. Everyone's strength improved at unimaginable speeds, also allowing their names to spread far and wide. Despite that, the smaller alliances fractured and collapsed as more Other Dominions descended. The remnants were absorbed into larger alliances.

In the third year of Li Luo's seclusion, only two large alliances and a handful of medium-sized alliances remained. The smaller ones with just one or two Kings had all collapsed. The Xia Alliance was one of the large alliances, and the Enlightened Sage Alliance was the other.

The Xia Alliance had absorbed many of the smaller powers of the East Divine Continent and now contained fifteen King Stage experts. Jiang Qing'e, a seventh-grade Transcendent Duke, was the undisputed leader and all of the Kings trusted her deeply. This was because during one of the Shadow World's offensives, the Xia Alliance was placed in a dire situation.

When everyone was inundated by fear, Jiang Qing'e revealed extraordinary strength, killing the Dual Crowned Other King that had led the assault. On that day, divine light poured down from the sky, shining across every corner of the Xia Alliance. A beautiful and holy figure filled everyone's eyes, instilling an incredible sense of awe in them. Behind her were twelve wings of light.

At that moment, Jiang Qing'e's name echoed throughout the East Divine Continent, and her admirers started to respectfully address her as the Twelve Winged Radiant Goddess. This act had caused countless geniuses who admired her sacred appearance and temperament to join the Xia Alliance, including the likes of Kings!

Meanwhile, the one who led the Enlightened Sage Alliance was none other than the principal of Enlightened Sage College, King Zhao Ming. He was a veteran King Stage expert and had borrowed the boon of the world to step into the peak of the Dual Crowned King Stage. With the help of the Academic Federation and the allegiance of certain powers, he formed the Enlightened Sage Alliance to block the hordes of Others.

As a result, the Xia Alliance and the Enlightened Sage Alliance were the two brightest banners of humankind, giving all living creatures a sense of hope in this world filled with despair.

However, even such alliances were barely capable of protecting themselves from the Other Dominions, so eliminating them and restoring peace across the lands was out of the question. In a sense, they seemed a little powerless.

All of the divine continents continued to be plagued with strife and discord. The world was like a raging furnace that continued to boil everyone inside. Neither the inner nor the outer divine continents could avoid this fate.

The battles in the inner divine continents exceeded the outer divine continent in both scope and scale. The Heavenly Emperor powers were also forced to band together.

The Divine Continent Federation was able to serve its purpose in this situation. It could coordinate the numerous parties and help them out, constantly extinguishing the fires that cropped up due to the Shadow World. No one knew how much longer this would last. The only thing they did know was that no one could avoid these battles. They would shed every last drop of blood, all for that glimmer of hope for the future.

Time passed.

Bloody battles continued one after another, engulfing all of the divine continents. Some of the Kings fell, but some Dukes gained lucky opportunities to break through their limits, becoming new Kings. There were even some Heavenly Emperor powers who had their supporting pillars wiped out, ensuring their inevitable decline.

The Shadow World's Other Dominions seemed endless, coming one after another without any pause. It looked as though black meteors were ceaselessly falling from the sky, bringing further despair to every living being. The flames of war were unquenchable.

However, in the midst of this anguish, another ray of hope appeared.

In the fourth year of Li Luo's seclusion, the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent released shocking news. In a grand offensive launched on the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent by the Shadow World, the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li's Lineage Chief Tantai Lan reached the Ninth Transcendent Duke Stage and single-handedly executed three Triple Crowned Other Kings within the Guyuan Mountain Range. This triggered a tremendous uproar among the human forces.

Not long after, sacred light bathed the sky above the East Divine Continent's Xia Alliance, parting the clouds as eight holy suns filled the air, side by side. This pristine and untainted aura spilled across the lands unhindered. All of the experts within the East Divine Continent were moved as they turned to look at the Xia Alliance.

Jiang Qing'e had reached the Eighth Transcendent Duke Stage!