Chapter 1231 An Empty City
However, the loss suffered by the Sun clan was not large.
The clan was already well prepared when the attack began. Layer after layer of Emperor-level enchantments were set up within the Sun's clans mansion and ancestral home, which had been operating for tens of thousands of years. With the vast number of booby traps and guards waiting for their enemies to arrive, even the elites of the Sky-reaching, Demonic Feather and Lofty Mountain race made little progress over the last ten days. They could only advance inch by inch, and if one made a detailed calculation, one would realize that the losses suffered by the three clans during their forceful siege were even larger than those of the Sun clan.
During the last seven days of their attack, the combined army of these three clans could not even break through the defense of the Sun clan mansion; it only succeeded after the intervention of two fake Emperors.
"Kill, we have to destroy the Sun clan at all costs."
A huge being whose entire body was enveloped in a faint black vapor roared in the void. It directed the combined army of three clans in a ferocious attack on the Sun ancestral temple like a blaze of wildfire, completely unworried about the number of their own soldiers that would perish if they did so. From its voice, it was evident that the commander was already getting frustrated.
It was a fake Emperor from the Sky-reaching clan.
He was the person who directed the attack that broke through the defences of the Sun clan mansion, eventually forcing all of the Sun clan into their last ancestral temple.
The situation of this battle was far more insane and bloody than the one in the number one military brothel.
The soldiers of the combined army were nearly overcome by bloodlust and their bodies were ground to bloody pulp as they forced their way into the barriers set up by the Sun clan. Many of the enchantments were eventually overwhelmed by the sheer amount of flesh and bone of the enemy soldiers.
The last ancestral temple of the Sun clan was about to collapse.
Faint Majestic Power permeated the temple, protecting the last surviving ground of the Sun clan. Many of the clan members wore expressions of rage and grief as they stood in the temple. At the beginning of the battle, a few of them regretted joining the new Emperor's side, but now, there was no longer any point in thinking about such matters. The only thing they could do now was to stay together and make a last stand for the survival of their clan. At the very least, they had to slay a few more enemies before they themselves perished.
All of the Sun clan members infused their yuan qi into the central hub of the defensive barrier to replace the already depleted power from the origin crystal. A few clan members even fainted from exhaustion by doing so.
The Sun clan was at the brink of destruction.
The old lord of the clan, who was standing at the center of the ancestral temple, acted again. He channeled his Emperor qi, but his life force was nearly spent. Even if he forced himself to fight, he could not possibly last for much longer.
"Old Lord, please leave with the lifeline of our clan; stop trying to protect us. As long as a few of us survive, we can rise again some day. We are willing to sacrifice our lives and bodies to protect this ancestral temple."
Many clan members urged the old lord to stop protecting them earnestly and leave with a few dozen of the clan's more talented individuals. Using his strength as a Martial Emperor to ensure that the crucial bloodline of his clan survived was probably the smartest move he could make at the moment.
However, the old lord of the Sun clan did not show any indication as to whether he accepted their proposal or not.
He kept his eyes shut as he released his Emperor qir to shield the entire temple. Evidently, he had no plans to leave.
"Old Lord…"
"Please act decisively, my Lord."
"Are you really planning to sacrifice your life here?"
Many of them felt indignant and emotional.
They could not understand his decision.
After a while longer, the Lord of the Sun clan, whose eyes were still shut, suddenly opened his mouth and spewed out a mouthful of blood. His body was trembling violently and countless wisps of bloody mist spurted out from his body. His Emperor qi was starting to dissipate—it was the sign of an Emperor's impending death.
"Old Lord!"
All of the surviving Sun clan members were greatly shocked.
A smile appeared on the lips of the old lord, however, as he slowly opened his eyes. "Finally… I've not let myself down… the final one has also become true… Very good. In this way, I've done my part," he muttered to himself.
Unexpectedly, he was completely unworried about the fate of his own clan; it even seemed like a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders. Evidently, he had been focusing his mind on a completely different issue and had not even heard what the other clan members had been telling him all this while.
Boom!
The attacks outside the temple grew increasingly violent; even the core power-channeling hub at the center of the ancestral temple was near collapse. Hundreds of Sun clan experts, who had channeled their own yuan qi into the hub, were sent flying backward as they spewed out large mouthfuls of blood.
It was time for the death of the Sun clan.
All of the clan members prepared themselves to fight to the death.
"After my passing, all matters of our family will be handled by Sun Yi. He has been holding onto the post of shadow elder for so many years now; it's about time for him to take up some real responsibility. He has a good relationship with the new Emperor, and that'll serve as the basis for the continued survival of our clan. All of you must remember that our clan cannot turn against the new Emperor no matter the circumstance. The prosperity of our clan lies upon him," the old Lord of the Sun clan said.
Everyone was speechless. They were about to be destroyed, yet here their leader was speaking about the continued prosperity of their clan. Could the old lord have finally turned senile?
He spoke up again, however, "Haha, His Majesty has arrived. What a right timing to make an entrance."
His eyes shone with a never before seen radiance as he cast his gaze upon the gates of the ancestral temple.
They opened at this moment.
Ye Qingyu, dressed in white as usual, walked slowly through the gates. Outside the temple, flames were burning and piles of corpses were strewn over the blood soaked ground, but it was completely silent. It was only then that the survivors of the Sun clan noticed how the alarming battle cries outside had vanished some time ago, having been since replaced by a deathly silence.
"Your… Your Majesty?"
A few elders of the Sun clan recognized Ye Qingyu and exclaimed in surprise.
Everyone had believed the new Emperor to be dead after they heard the vicious proclamations of the combined army. They had lost all hope; but now, at their moment of utter despair, he appeared like a savior before the very gates of their temple.
"We're saved!"
"We're saved!"
After the huge shock that they felt initially, all of the Sun clan members entered a state of wild joy and ecstasy. Seeing one's hopes turn true at their most moment would always hit one the hardest.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
All of them came to their senses and knelt down as they greeted Ye Qingyu in the most formal manner. Even those who had some misgivings about him taking up the Immortal Domain training spot of their clan were entirely convinced by him at that moment.
Ye Qingyu nodded and arrived before the sovereignof Sun clan in a single step. The old lord regained some spirit as a Ye Qingyu infused some Emperor qi into him. Unexpectedly, his condition even improved.
"I seemed to have arrived too late."
Ye Qingyu felt immensely guilty.
In reality, both the sovereign of the Sun clan and him had already predicted that today's situation would happen. Earlier on, the Lord had reminded Ye Qingyu to be wary of his own people, and the new Emperor had left Royal City in haste because he wanted those who were plotting behind him to reveal themselves automatically, besides going to the aid of the Unmoving City of Darkness. It had been the suggestion of the Sun clan's sovereign.
However, both of them did not expect the schemers to be so powerful. Three great Lords of the Sky-reaching clan showed themselves, and Ye Qingyu was nearly unable to contain the situation.
Ye Qingyu had secretly communicated with the sovereign of the Sun clan, the moment he returned to Royal City. The sovereign told Ye Qingyu that the situation was not really bad for his clan; it was for this reason that he took so long to turn up to the clan's rescue, after he settled the matter of the city walls—even when he knew that the clan had been attacked and was in a possibly precarious situation.
Now, however, Ye Qingyu realized with one look that the sovereign of the Sun clan had been forcibly trying to hold the fort, and he was already close to death. The situation was far worse than how he had described it to be.
"Leave us, all of you. Tidy up what you can; both his Majesty and I have some matters to discuss in detail," the sovereign of the Sun clan said to his clan members.
"Yes, my Lord."
The clan members dared not dally around and hurriedly got up before exiting their ancestral temple in an orderly manner.
The mental state of the clan members were entirely different from the despair and gloom that enveloped their very thoughts earlier on. They were rejoicing now. The new Emperor had returned, and the future of their clan was settled. Their clan had stood by the new Emperor's side consecutively for a few times now; even if their old lord really perished due to the battle, it was not hard to imagine the rise of their clan from now on.
The gloom was finally over.
The clan members believed that the glory days of their family would last for an incredibly long time as they saw how much respect the new Emperor accorded their old lord.
The doors of the ancestral temple shut slowly.
Only Ye Qingyu and the old sovereign of the Sun clan were left in the great hall.
The old lord took out a piece of divine jade from his shirt and placed it in Ye Qingyu's hand. "The unrest in Royal City this time has been driven by a few Emperor clans. Aside from the Sky-reaching clan, the Lofty Mountain clan, the Dark Feather clan and the Dark Yellow clan, dozens of other Emperor clans were also behind it. I spent all of my effort to deduce and analyze with the leads they leaked out and stored a list of all people involved in this piece of divine jade. You can use it to follow up on this matter some other day. I know you have a mind to cast away all of the dark clouds and make the skies bright again, Your Majesty, as well as restoring order and a good atmosphere to the Dark Realm. This will take great willpower and ambition. I used to have the same thinking when I turned Emperor in the past; unfortunately the forces that were against me were too strong, and I lacked the will to push through. I only felt guilty over the recent years, when I began to feel my age catching up with me. The effects of your plan will be felt over the next few generations, but these Emperor clans are up to no good. They've created and plotted the huge amount of bloodshed in this realm; if you want to accomplish your goals, Your Majesty, you've to first crush and suppress them. This uprising is a great excuse for you to do so," he said with a smile.
The old sovereign had spent all of his effort in casting a premonition, at the possible expense of his own clan, to gather this name list.
Ye Qingyu felt grateful, and he could also sense the feeling of regret in the sovereign's voice.
To be honest, no one except this aging old lord in the entire Royal City could give Ye Qingyu a sense of closeness and respect. Even the extremely loyal Lin Xuan was incomparable in stature to the sovereign of the Sun clan. He had once harbored the same intentions as Ye Qingyu and tried his best, but ended up failing. Now, he was placing all of his hopes on Ye Qingyu, and it was an unselfish dream. Not for the sake of his own clan, but rather the betterment of the lives of all beings in the Dark Realm.
"Now, Royal City is an empty city. The residences of the larger Emperor clans are empty, and the sovereigns who have hidden themselves in the dark have left. They are still lying patiently in wait; they do not want to risk a head-on confrontation with a Martial Emperor in his prime like yourself," the old sovereign of the Sun clan said. "Royal City is in your pocket now, and the day where you unite the entire Dark Realm is near—it's just a matter of time. You have to remember, however, that these hidden sovereigns are very terrifying and insane. They'll do anything to accomplish their goals, and they're lying in the dark like venomous snakes. They can strike even after hundreds of thousands of years later, so you can never afford to let your guard down."
