Jiang Yi had no idea who the Netherworld Thearch was; neither did he have any idea if this Netherworld General’s identity was born out of his own wild imagination. He only felt like these legendary creatures of the Netherworld Realm were all fake. Hearing the white-haired elderly man’s words, he began to suspect if the elderly man was trying to bluff him, seeing that he was not very educated.
Half-believing and half-suspicious, Jiang Yi asked, “Have the images we just saw really been transported back to the Netherworld Realm?”
“Keke!”
The elderly man scanned Jiang Yi from head to toe and answered, “If you don’t believe me, then see and analyze things for yourself in a month. En… I forgot to tell you: there is not much energy left in my remnant spirit. A million years have consumed most of my soul’s energy. I even helped you to defeat the Netherworld General earlier. A month later, if a huge army of Netherworld Generals attacks you, I alone cannot defend you. You must think of another solution!”
“Don’t…”
Jiang Yi was getting anxious. His face crumpled as he shouted, “Senior, I was wrong! I should not have doubted your words. I beg you to help us. Help the civilians of this world. You couldn’t bear to see billions and billions of people perish either, would you?”
“It’s not about whether I can bear it or not.”
The elder shook his head and continued, “I really don’t have a choice. If I am still alive—even if a billion Netherworld Generals come, I can still help you. Now, however… I can only kill five Netherworld Generals at most before my soul spirit disappears for good. This time, killing the Netherworld General will enrage the Netherworld Realm Patriarch and this planet’s Netherworld King for sure. They must have already set up their great array by now. I expect at least one thousand Netherworld Generals to arrive in a month.”
“Ah?”
Jiang Yi began to panic. These Netherworld Generals were so scary. Just one of them could cause them to feel so helpless. What would happen if one thousand of them came? Would Stellarsky Domain still exist in one month?
This elder’s tone sounded serious. He did not sound like he was lying to Jiang Yi. What’s more, Jiang Yi had at least some understanding of remnant souls. The Mystic Thearch left behind his own remnant soul in Stellarsky Domain back then, which itself could not withstand the test of time. The energy of that remnant soul kept depleting. This elderly man had been hidden in the Fire Dragon Sword for more than a million years, too.
In one million years, the fact that his remnant soul had not dissipated and was even able to destroy a Netherworld General—was already beyond Jiang Yi’s expectations. However, this remnant soul would likely not have what it took to tackle a thousand Netherworld Generals.
“Actually, if the Mystic Thearch—that brat—did not ascend, your Stellarsky Domain would not be controlled by the Netherworld Realm. After the Mystic Thearch ascended, a wisp of Netherworld aura entered Stellarsky Domain. Later on, it began to take over control of Heaven Nether Sect slowly and quietly. That little devil of Heaven Nether Sect was not wrong as well. If you had not appeared, this calamity would not have happened! Heaven Nether Sect—or… the Netherworld Realm—always had one main strategy: raise its creatures until they were fat and ready to kill and then slaughter them.
“If they kept causing battles to occur in Stellarsky Domain, they would keep receiving corpses. They would keep refining zombie soldiers and zombie generals for themselves and then send them to the Netherworld Realm. Stellarsky Domain’s creatures are all being reared by the Netherworld Realm. Young man, just think about it: if the very creatures you’ve been rearing suddenly pick up their slaying weapons and turn against you, what would you—as its owner—do?”
The elderly man’s words floated into Jiang Yi’s brain as his body trembled. Subconsciously, he replied, “I would kill all of these beasts!”
“That’s right!”
The elderly man turned toward the heavens as his expression hardened. “Actually, destroying this world is way too easy for them. They could easily send a Netherworld General down to do so. After killing all the living things in this continent, they would be able to recreate an entire civilization of humans and living creatures in less than a hundred thousand years. Two hundred thousand years later, this domain would prosper once again. By that time, they could just take control of any sect and give to that sect some skills and mystic realm divine artifacts before easily taking control of the entire domain once again!”
“Divine artifacts! Array formations!”
Something dawned on Jiang Yi all of a sudden. It was no wonder that Heaven Nether Sect possessed so many amazing formations, and that so many divine artifacts that did not belong to Stellarsky Domain appeared all of a sudden. So all of these were granted to Heaven Nether Sect.
On hearing the elderly man’s explanation, Jiang Yi finally understood all of these things. His face broke into a bitter smile. The truth was so cruel. All these years, the hundred and eight territories of the East Imperial Continent have been battling without rest. Every minute and every second, someone died. The Heaven Nether Sect was behind all of these things. The warriors in this world seemed to love killing others, but this was also the doing of the Heaven Nether Sect’s years of influence!
The Netherworld Realm set up such a scene in Stellarsky Domain, just to turn Stellarsky Domain into a corpse-rearing field. Yet, everybody here was kept in the dark. None of them knew that they were just beasts being reared by and for the Netherworld Realm. The Heaven Nether Sect wanted more zombie soldiers and zombie generals, and so they decided to stage a huge war and cause tens of millions of living people to die. At last, these people were refined into zombie soldiers and zombie generals underground.
“Senior, is there really no hope?”
Jiang Yi suddenly got down on one knee in front of the elderly man. He never liked to kneel to others, but this was necessary for the fate of himself and the people he loved. For the sake of the civilians in Stellarsky Domain, he dumbed himself down and cupped his fists, shouting, “Please, Senior, rescue Stellarsky Domain! Rescue the innocent civilians of this world. Jiang Yi will try till his death to do anything that you want me to do!”
Thud! Thud!
The people below could not hear clearly what these two people were talking about, but seeing Jiang Yi kneel down made them rush to kneel down themselves. Even the Xuan Thearch, who was heavily injured, got to his knees. The Xuan Thearch was not sure what Jiang Yi was begging the elderly man for, but given that this elder was able to kill the Netherworld General, the entire Stellarsky Domain was indebted to him. Of course, he was deserving of having everyone kneel down to him. His skills alone were worthy of respect and praise.
The elder fell silent. He did not look at Jiang Yi but placed his hands behind his back and stared into blank space instead. After a long, long time, he said in a low voice, “I cannot help you. Given the capabilities of my soul at this moment, I can only kill five more Netherworld Generals at most! However, I can help you to set up a huge array so that the people from the Netherworld Realm and the Higher Domain cannot enter this realm!”
On hearing the elder’s first sentence, Jiang Yi’s heart sank. However, his emotions turned around upon hearing the rest of what the elder had to say. He could set up an array that would stop people from the Higher Domain from coming? Wouldn’t they be safe then?
“Don’t celebrate too early!”
Jiang Yi was just about to thank the elder when the latter spoke up in a cool tone. “Once I set up this array, not only would people from the Higher Domain be forbidden from coming in, but all the heaven and earth essence energy in this world would not be able to break through as well. Thus, once the array is formed, the spiritual energy in Stellarsky Domain will be consumed bit by bit. A thousand years later, there will be no more spiritual energy left in this domain.
“Spiritual energy is the foundation of all living creatures. Without it, the creatures in this domain will die slowly as well. At last, a thousand years later, the entire Stellarsky Domain would become a dead world. This is an array that would surely lead to death.”
“Ah?”
Jiang Yi’s heart tightened once again. The situation was turning too quickly. If his heart was weak, he would have been scared to death by what the elder was telling him. Jiang Yi decided not to say anything for now. He waited for the elder to keep explaining more details to him. He believed that the mysterious yet powerful elder would have a way out of this.
“There’s one other way!”
Indeed, the elder’s tone changed once again. He pointed into space and said, “I can create another array, which leads to life! This array can stop the creatures from the Higher Domain from entering and can also allow heaven and earth essence energy to enter. However, this array will take up way more energy from me. Given the amount of energy my remnant soul has now, I think I can only hold it in place for ten years! In other words, ten years later—if your Stellarsky Domain still has not figured out a way to fight the army of the Netherworld Realm, you will still perish in the end. There are two choices in front of you. Take your pick!”
“Ten years?”
Jiang Yi looked astonished. What could he do in ten years? Could he ascend to the Higher Domain?
Even if he could, would he be able to fight the army of the Netherworld Realm?
From what the elder was saying, one of these two paths led to death, and the other led to life. However, to Jiang Yi, both were paths of death.
