Chapter 962: Empress Executes Gods (part 2)

The empress’ eyes shone with ferocity. It was a given that shē knew how strong the Northfate Kings were, and that provoking them would have repercussions. But humankind had an Altar God now, and that meant it wasn’t appropriate to

conceal one’s strength and bide one’s time

. Patiently hiding would only result in many other groups probing humankind to see how strong they were. And of course, the Northfate Kings wouldn’t cast aside their malicious intentions because of that.

Years ago, Grand Emperor Swordsage had relied on his shocking battle prowess to cow everyone. That was what made it possible for him to keep humankind safe. Even when he was only a clone, he still managed to keep most of the gods away.

Right now, strength was the best protection!

Shē wanted to tell the Northfate Kings that humankind was like a protruding nail. Northfate might be strong, but striking that nail would still come with a price. Shē also wanted to reveal how valuable of an ally shē could be. Shē wanted everyone to know that shē wasn’t just an Altar God. She was a very strong Altar God!

Therefore, as shē spoke the words and then stepped out, shē closed her eyes. The sky above all regions in Revered Ancient vibrated.

There were many suns in Revered Ancient, and it was the same with moons. As a result, at any given time, it could be daytime or nighttime in different locations. It just depended on the region.

When the empress took that step, all areas with sunlight in Revered Ancient were affected. If the broken face opened hīs eyes at that moment, hē would see a patchwork of white and black. And just like a lamp being put out, all of the areas in which daytime existed... suddenly went dark.

Every single region in Revered Ancient slipped into nighttime. A god had blown out a lamp, causing all light to temporarily leave Revered Ancient. That included the territory of humankind. What was once day had now become night.

Except... in the sky above the imperial capital, the empress hovered, hēr eyes closed, and shē was now the only source of light in all of Revered Ancient. This was the godly authority of the empress: to remove the concept of light, and collect it in hērself, to become the only light in the world.

In fact, it was like a Dawning Sun. When that authority was unleashed, Revered Ancient would enter a long night.

The empress opened hēr eyes. Infinite light spread from hēr eyes. It was the source of all light in Revered Ancient, like the concept of light for all regions. It was like the dawn breaking the night. Where that light went, heaven and earth became bright. The snowstorm melted. The god Northfate became nothing. That didn’t involve perishing. But it was a grievous wound, similar to the injury suffered by Yu Liuchen years ago. The only thing left behind was a voice that thrummed with fear.

“I can’t believe your godly authority... is that of light....”

The voice faded away. In the end, that godly authority made it impossible for hīm to save the god Tempest.

Tempest’s god blood fell like rain into the world of mortals. That god no longer existed. The world went back to normal. The regions which had lost their concept of light returned to their original state. The sky above human lands was once again filled with the light of day. Two statues of gods descended from the sky, landing in the south and the west.

One was Blazeflame. The other was Nightcorpse.

The empress didn’t wipe thēm out of existence, but instead sealed thēm in the lands of humankind. Enough god blood had been spilled. The godly ascension ceremony was now concluded. All parties present were completely silent.

Sunfire, Moonfire, and Starfire looked at the empress for a moment before slowly leaving. The deal was concluded. Thēy had no reason to stay.

Everything everywhere was quiet.

Humankind as a whole should have been excited. But just as the tide ebbs and flows, after the surge of the species’ will, humans now felt sorrow because of the departure of the Grand Emperor.

Xu Qing sighed softly as he looked around. Perhaps even heaven and earth were affected. Xu Qing felt like he could just barely hear the heaven of Revered Ancient singing a dirge.

A cold wind blew over human lands... and it contained a sobbing sound, a coldness that could pierce down to the bones. It grew more intense until fluctuations filled the sky. An endless wind filled the sky, and it seemed full of the howl of ghosts and ghouls. It was endlessly ravenous, as if it came directly from the netherworld.

In the imperial capital, in a certain courtyard, the current palace lord of the Summer Immortal Palace looked up at the heavenly wind. “An inauspicious omen,” she said in a hoarse voice that sounded almost like a sigh. “A wind from the Nine Serenities....”

***

Someone had opened the netherworld. The wind from the Nine Serenities blew stronger and stronger across Revered Ancient.

The wind hastened across the imperial capital of humankind. It passed the multiple regions belonging to the Firemoons. It swept across empty wastelands. And eventually it gathered... in the Heaveneater Region. In the Heaveneaters’ imperial capital there was a mirror image of the godly ascension ceremony carried out by the empress. There, the wind from the Nine Serenities turned into a massive vortex.

In all directions, reflected images of the godly ascension ceremony shimmered. In this location, five past Heaveneater emperors raged with godfire. However, they were not in the process of godly ascension. Instead, their fleshly bodies were burning.

And that made the wind grow stronger! It turned into a Nine Serenities vortex, rumbling loudly as it spread out to cover the imperial capital, everything around it, and eventually the entire Heaveneater Region. The wind didn’t whimper. Instead, it cheered and chanted in anticipation.

“Return!”

In the vicinity of the ceremony were innumerable Torchlight agents, and countless cultivators in black robes. All looked up and shouted the same thing.

“Return!”

The sound grew louder and more majestic, affecting all heaven and earth, kicking up huge winds. Then, the Nine Serenities vortex rumbled up toward the dome of heaven.

Taking it in as a whole, the Heaveneater Region was awash with rivers of blood and full of mountains of flesh. There were too many corpses to count, and they were arrayed as if for a feast. It was horrendous and appalling. It almost seemed as if the Heaveneater’s imperial capital... was the location of a ceremony of an even larger scale than that in human lands! This was definitely a ceremony that could shake heaven and shatter the earth!

And that was exactly what the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan was aiming for. He wanted... to restore the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan! He wanted to take his old kingdom and bring it back from ancient times and into the modern era. He wanted his personal nation to once again be a part of Revered Ancient! He wanted to restore his country!

Years ago, Bai Xiaozhuo had been working toward the same dream. Sadly for him, he had failed.

As for the crown prince, he desired to bring back the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan in full. It was a task of monumental difficulty! And thus, he needed a massive ceremony!

He had to... organize, actuate, and participate in an unprecedented ceremony of godly ascension. He needed to take a portion of time and prepare it as a sacrifice to offer to Living God Eminent Desolation. And in selecting a location in which to restore his kingdom, he needed to perfectly duplicate the ceremony, in something akin to substituting one life for another.

Have someone else suffer the tribulation, with the result of both parties succeeding! The more majestic, radiant, and unprecedented the ceremony, the more likely he would succeed in restoring his kingdom. Therefore, he chose... the godly ascension ceremony of the human empress!

Humankind originally didn’t want their emperor to become a god. So in that sense, the ceremony was unprecedented.

For an Imperial Sovereign to cast aside the path of the cultivator to become a god was something that had never happened in all the countless years that had passed. And thus, it was monumentally difficult.

As of now, the empress had succeeded. Therefore, he would succeed. He didn’t actually need to personally be there. Everything was playing perfectly according to his plan.

The broken face was delighted. Deafening rumbling sounds filled the dome of heaven over the lands of the Heaveneaters. Cracking sounds rang out as the vortex overhead spread, and the door to the netherworld was cracked open.

“Return!”

“Return!!”

Countless Torchlight agents, black-robed cultivators, and experimental god bodies howled the same thing. Their voices called out to the souls of the deceased. With a nation-wide ceremony backing it, that sound stretched into the netherworld.

It dragged the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan to the forefront of the netherworld, from a section in time before it had been destroyed, and was complete. Then it descended into the Heaveneater Region.

The intense sound shattered the sky and crushed the land. An illusory kingdom appeared from within the netherworld. It came out of the shattered cosmos down into Revered Ancient.

This was the very same Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan that, years ago, had shaken all species in Revered Ancient. Shrieks and howls full of defiance and madness echoed out from the illusory kingdom. Countless souls of the deceased cried out from the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan that had long since been buried in time.

They included citizens, soldiers, and government officials.... There seemed no end to the sea of souls that swept out over the Heaveneater Region. They swept toward the rivers of blood and mountains of flesh and began to devour all of it. It was all nutrients for them. All of the flesh and blood of an entire region had been prepared for the people of the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan to use as new bodies.

One after another, new bodies formed, and new auras erupted out. Eyes opened, and they were full of piety. As for their hearts, they were full of hatred toward heaven, earth, and all species!

They had returned!

The Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan had been restored!

A magnificent imperial capital descended upon the Heaveneater imperial capital, replacing it. It was now an enormous, violet city. Similar cities appeared in other locations in the Heaveneater Region. In total, there were 99 of them.

Inside the imperial capital, there was an imperial palace of violet and cyan. There, flesh and blood bodies appeared, and they all looked into the depths of the palace, where the imperial throne was. They kowtowed.

It wasn’t just them. As of that moment, all of the awakened citizens of Violet and Cyan turned in the same direction and fervently kowtowed. They were waiting. Waiting for their unparalleled crown prince to return and sit on the imperial throne. When he did, he would ascend the throne and become... the Emperor of Violet and Cyan!

Years ago, when the crown prince fought his last battle, he made a promise to the entire Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan.

“When I return, I will ascend the throne as emperor!”

As of this moment, the emperor for whom they awaited, the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan, who had already achieved most of his larger goal, was walking toward the imperial capital of humankind. Every step he took caused the ground to moan and the sky to ripple. His expression was warm, and he was even smiling.

“I’ve come to get that doll, lil’ bro.”