The Greedy Court

Carved into the bloodstone was a map of the 3,000 provinces, with each small section representing the land of a single province.

The glowing mist suspended above represented the spirit towers; where they hung, all was grey dust.

The white bands of light represented spirit rivers. In the eastern corner lay a region called the Immortal Land.

The places where the spirit towers had just been extinguished were called Jianzhou and Huangzhou.

A few days ago,

A gold chapter had been sent back from the territories beyond, reporting that four living spirits had appeared in that area.

In just over half a month, they had taken several cities, destroyed three towers, and slain countless dark creatures.

The Great Spirit Lords along the way were no match for them and had requested aid from the Greedy Court. Consequently, a few days prior, the Ancestral Spirit Hall of the Greedy Court had dispatched an Ancestral Spirit at the early stage of the Immortal King realm to suppress them.

By now, they should have already arrived.

Yet, the mist symbolizing the spirit towers had still dissipated. Moreover, it wasn't just in one location; in the corresponding east, the tower in Sword City had also been extinguished around the same time.

These two places were separated by nearly ten million miles of mountains and rivers. Even if he were to take action personally, it would be difficult to accomplish such a feat in so short a time.

Unless,

The intelligence was incorrect, and there were two groups of people, one of which had been lying in wait in Jianzhou all along.

But why Jianzhou?

Where did they come from?

Had they truly ascended from the lower realm?

What was their purpose in doing this?

A diversion?

Or a coincidence?

The old man's eyes darkened as he muttered to himself, "Of all places, Jianzhou... Jianzhou... is this related to 'Him'?"

Most of those in the clan were young, and many did not know the hidden secrets of Cangming.

However, he knew a few. Long ago, during the Era of Primal Chaos millions of years ago, the magnetic field of the Boundary Sea fluctuated, and the Sea of Chaos went berserk. The seal on the Spirit-Devouring Tribe had opened once more, following the end of the Ancient Era.

But it was also at that time that a truly extraordinary figure was born in the Cangming of the Era of Primal Chaos. With a single tower and a single sword, he suppressed the entire Boundary Sea. Later, he even severely wounded the True Spirit of our clan.

Before He fell, He sealed the Chaos again, and it has remained so until this day.

When the darkness returned and swept through the Nine Heavens, Ten Lands, and 3,000 provinces, the three First Spirits had attempted to find this person, but to no avail.

He had fallen.

However, that Sword Tower had been left behind, entrusted to one of His descendants from years past.

The place where those descendants settled and multiplied was Jianzhou.

Later,

When the darkness overran that land and slaughtered the entire clan, the enemy never brandished the Sword Tower, nor was any clue of it ever found.

It was as if it had vanished into the long river of history.

But even so,

The three Ancestral Spirit Halls in Cangming—the Delusional Court, the Wrathful Court, and the Greedy Court—had never stopped searching for that tower.

In the blink of an eye, ten thousand years had passed.

The darkness was held back west of the spirit river, unable to advance an inch, and there was still no news regarding that tower...

Now,

Intelligence reported that spirits had ascended and were wreaking havoc in the darkness. Initially, he hadn't thought much of it. What kind of waves could a few tiny living spirits stir on the dark wasteland? He had only sent a single Ancestral Spirit to suppress them.

But now that the spirit tower in Jianzhou was also gone, countless terrifying and unrealistic thoughts flashed through his sea of consciousness.

For a moment, he couldn't tell if this was just a minor interlude—a few powerful living spirits happening to pop up—or if it was the cycle of fate, a destined killing tribulation.

He slowly raised his left arm, and a hand with distinct knuckles and veins like glazed glass emerged from his wide sleeve.

In his hand was an ancient bell. With a flick of his wrist, the bell gave a soft chime.

A moment later,

A person emerged from the dark void behind him and bowed respectfully to the old man. "Leader of the Sequence!"

"It's been hard on you, but I'm afraid you'll have to make the trip yourself..."

The newcomer glanced deeply at the grey dust on the giant stone map where the spirit towers were missing and asked, knowing the answer, "Didn't Spirit Sequence Eighteen go just a few days ago?"

The old man did not look away or change his expression. "I am uneasy. You go."

The newcomer said nothing more and respectfully accepted.

"Understood!"

Then he vanished. At the same time, a streak of light like a meteor traveled in the opposite direction, heading east.

The grey-robed old man called the Leader of the Sequence put away his bell. With his hands behind his back, he turned and slowly walked out of the hall, looking up into the hazy blood-red light at the grey sky in the distance.

His gaze pierced through infinite mountains and rivers. In his deep blue, sea-like eyes, he seemed to see those two conflicts, the river, and the faint glimmer of dawn behind it.

He muttered to himself, "I hope... I'm just overthinking. But in recent years, those fellows have indeed become increasingly active."

...

In Jianzhou,

At Black Spirit City, Xu Xian struck down the last lunging black spirit. With a flick of his hand, he expertly sheathed the immortal sword, Wait.

Before him was a scene of ruins, with broken walls and debris as far as the eye could see.

Among the shattered tiles and earthen walls, dark creatures lay scattered everywhere, their eyes extinguished.

Dust covered the corpses, and the corpses lay atop the earth.

Or rather, they couldn't be called corpses, for they were a group of dead spirits—monsters unacknowledged by reincarnation.

The air was thick with the smell of smoke, without a hint of blood. Xu Xian was exhausted, and the six spirits also showed signs of fatigue. They were strong, it was true, but their strength was limited by their master.

Xu Xian was, after all, only at the Mortal Immortal stage. Even with the Sword Tower, the sword embryo, and the acquired sword body, his true essence was far greater than an average person's, but it was still insufficient to support them in exerting their full power.

Slaying the dark spirits was already his limit. Sustaining it for nearly an hour was also his limit.

"Withdraw," Xu Xian said weakly.

The spirits transformed into six streaks of light of different colors and vanished into the youth's body.

As the sword was sheathed and the spirits returned, Xu Xian's weary, pale face regained a bit of color. He did not dally, walking out of the ruins and leaping onto a high platform.

The others immediately crowded around him. Several asked after his well-being with clear concern. Xu Xian waved them off and forced a strained smile, indicating he was fine and had only exhausted some strength in the recent battle.

Bypassing the pleasantries, he walked toward Li Shuhe, who was standing at the edge of the spirit tower.

Following her gaze, the ruins shrouded in blood-red light seemed even more desolate, and the grey in the distance became even more eerie and chilling within the hazy red glow.

He asked her, "What are you looking at, Senior?"

"A fight."

"Hmm?"

Li Shuhe raised her hand, her grey index finger pointing toward the road they had come from in the west. "Over there!"

Xu Xian gazed out again but still saw nothing, so he frowned.

Li Shuhe glanced at him from the corner of her eye and consoled him, "It's very far. It's normal that you can't see it!"

Xu Xian thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "Is it a fierce fight?"

Li Shuhe nodded. "Yes. A clash between Immortal Kings."

A clash between Immortal Kings?

Xu Xian's heart skipped a beat. Just now, the battle between Li Shuhe and the Great Spirit Lord of the fourth-stage God Immortal realm had caused such a massive disturbance; what would an Immortal King be like?

It was no wonder she could see it.

But,

Where did this clash between Immortal Kings come from?

The only person he could think of was the Twilight Emperor. Moreover, He had been heading west from the start.

Amidst his contemplation, a look of worry crept onto his exhausted face.

If that were truly the case, and the Emperor had entered the Immortal King realm in just a few days, then that fellow was truly terrifying. The karma between Xu Xian and Him was complex; if He grew strong, Xu Xian would naturally be anxious.

After fighting for so long in the mortal realm, there would eventually be a reckoning here in the Upper Realm.

However,

It was somewhat unexpected that He had gotten into a fight with an Immortal King-level creature among the dark spirits.

As for who he hoped would win?

He truly couldn't say. He wanted the Emperor to lose, preferably die, to rid himself of a hidden threat. Yet he also feared that if He lost, the dark creature He was fighting would come after them and slaughter them all.

Thinking it over,

It would be best if both sides were wounded or perished together; that would be the most practical outcome.

But he also knew in his heart,

That fellow was undying, and the Ancestral Spirits with the power of an Immortal King were rumored to be eternal as well.

Finally, he just muttered, "He'll catch up soon, won't he?"

Li Shuhe knew Xu Xian's worries, so she said, "They are everywhere to begin with."

"True."

Li Shuhe withdrew her gaze and jumped down from the stone pillar, moving closer to the center of the spirit tower. "Back to work!"

Xu Xian pulled back his thoughts, took a deep breath, and followed her. "Right!"