[V6C75 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
Qianye was sitting quietly and cultivating the Profound Combatant Formula as a formless origin vortex revolved slowly behind him. It was as though the extreme pressure had ripped the void open and strands of void origin power were pouring into the maelstrom for Qianye to absorb.
As he was cultivating, the void shuddered violently and grew extremely unstable. The influx of origin power grew increasingly violent as more and more fractures appeared. The once stable vortex was now fluctuating wildly. Affected by the turbulence, a pale Qianye let out a muffled groan with blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.
Qianye was fairly shocked at this point. He quickly stopped the Profound Combatant Formula and managed to calm down only after all of his origin power had been retracted. The Profound Combatant Formula was so powerful that a single accident would result in immediate injury when mild, and foundational damage when severe.
Qianye stood up in bewilderment, unable to understand why these sudden changes had occurred. A sudden thought stirred in him as he opened his True Sight and glanced toward Zhang Boqian’s main camp.
In his True Sight, he could see a mass of intense light in that direction. Zhang Boqian’s origin radiance was like the midday sun, and wherever it fell was his domain.
At this very moment, however, Qianye actually saw two suns, and the new one was even stronger than Zhang Boqian’s.
Startled, Qianye hurriedly retracted his True Sight. He didn’t dare cast another glance at the command center.
Qianye didn’t dare look again regardless of whether his True Sight could be discovered or not. Those two masses of light were so intense that he might’ve been scorched blind had he continued looking for a couple more seconds.
Qianye had avoided spying on other people in this imperial camp where experts were as numerous as the clouds. It was only because he had suffered agitation during cultivation and was nearly wounded that he traced the source back to the command center. In the end, he had discovered something truly shocking.
The new origin radiance was even more powerful than Zhang Boqian. No doubt another heavenly monarch had arrived. It was said that a heavenly monarch’s might could cover thousands of kilometers, but only today did Qianye personally experience a power that was even capable of stirring up the void. No longer daring to circulate the Profound Combatant Formula, he merely sat in silence to adjust himself and gradually calm down his surging blood.
In the central command tent, a tall, thin man with brows growing down to his cheeks suddenly opened his eyes and glanced toward Qianye’s location. “Boqian, your army is truly filled with concealed talents.”
Zhang Boqian didn’t seem to mind it at all. “That little fellow is indeed a bit talented, even I’m quite surprised. Marshal Lin Xitang also gave him a good evaluation.”
The long-browed elder said, “Oh? At first, I felt that this little fellow’s origin power is a bit strange, as if tainted by a certain shadow. But since Lin Xitang has already seen him, then I guess he should be quite alright. These children might be able to replace us old bones when they grow up.”
Zhang Boqian laughed indifferently. “The Pointer Monarch honors them too much.”
The old man only replied with a laugh, “Since I’ve already arrived, shall we begin? My arrival can’t be hidden for very long.”
“My thoughts exactly.” With that, Zhang Boqian stood up to summon a general and instructed, “Issue my command, all units will move out as planned. The entire army will attack!”
The old general trembled as he responded in affirmation before leaving in due haste. Moments later, the long, desolate blare of a bugle resounded throughout the entire imperial camp.
The long peaceful camp immediately jumped into action as assembly commands were issued in every division. The well-prepared army mobilized with great speed—the first unit had left camp before an hour had passed, followed by a great tide that was the main army. They moved along the edges of Giant’s Repose and circled around it like a torrent of steel poised to assault the Evernight main camp.
A dense fleet of airships took to the air soon after the main army had moved out and, like dark clouds, blotted out the entire sky.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were charging forth on a magnificent scale.
Zhang Boqian and the long-browed elder were in the air, observing all movement within a thousand-meter radius.
The former was standing with his hands behind his back. His eyes were profound, and the roar of landslides and tsunamis could be heard between his breaths. The surrounding origin power fluctuated with the rhythm of his breath, and the affected area was gradually expanding outward.
The long-browed old man was calm and collected, but he couldn’t help but sigh emotionally as he watched the airship fleet in the sky and the snaking army on the ground. “The last time this monarch witnessed such a scene was over a decade ago. Time sure flies, our generation has turned into old men in the blink of an eye. The empire is the realm of the young, but this monarch will still feel overwhelmed with emotions even if I see such a lineup thirty years later.”
Zhang Boqian replied with a laugh, “Your Excellency has led many generations of troops, what kind of lineup have you not seen before? Come to think of it, my first battle back then was also under your command. Oh look, old friends have arrived.”
A black cloud and a bloody mist rose up at the same time from the Evernight front lines, traversing the ravine with great momentum as they rolled toward the imperial camp.
The old man laughed unfathomably. “Boqian, it looks like they really don’t think much of you.
Zhang Boqian didn’t reveal any killing intent after hearing this. On the contrary, the smile on his face grew even wider as his deep, void-like eyes flickered with lightning.
The old man added, “Since they’re already coming to us, why don’t we go and welcome the guests?”
“Agreed!”
The bloody mist and black cloud were the embodiment of Medanzo and Noxus’ domains. The two were as gloomy as still water as they flew out at full speed, arriving at the center of the ravine in the blink of an eye. However, two men suddenly appeared in the air in front of them and blocked their path—the latter group had arrived first despite setting out late.
One of them was Zhang Boqian—the two dark monarchs were already expecting him—but they were visibly moved after seeing the long-browed elder. “Pointer Monarch! Why are you here?”
Pointer Monarch laughed kindly. “Why can’t this monarch be here?”
“Shouldn’t you be in the outer void?” Medanzo said with a stern voice.
“I don’t think I need to report my whereabouts to the Lightless Monarch,” the Pointer Monarch replied with a smile.
The expressions of Medanzo and Noxus were fluctuating rapidly. According to reason, the imperial heavenly monarchs should be at the void borders to prevent the Queen of the Night and the Eternal Flame from ambushing imperial lands. Now that the Pointer Monarch was here, could it mean that an accident had occurred on Lilith’s side?
This notion flashed through both Medanzo and Noxus’ hearts, but their reactions were vastly different.
Medanzo was both shocked and furious. After all, the status of the vampires would fall precipitously should something happen to the Queen of the Night. One needed only to look at the werewolves to know what fate would await them after losing a seat on the sacred mountain.
Meanwhile, Noxus’ expression was much more complicated. He couldn’t quite ascertain things from Zhang Boqian and the Pointer Monarch’s expressions. If Lilith really had encountered an accident, it would be good news for the arachne.
The vampires had firmly suppressed the arachne for tens of thousands of years. Even if Lilith’s problem wasn’t enough to lose her that seat on the sacred mountain, it would be great news for them if she couldn’t appear for a long time. It wasn’t as simple as a difference in honor and dignity between the two races, but it also involved land, resources, and special privileges.
But all of this had to be left for later as the war at present had to be fought first. Medanzo and Noxus shot each other a glance before flying high up into the air, followed closely by Zhang Boqian and the Pointer Monarch. The four supreme experts flew higher and higher until they vanished above the skies.
A battle between people at their level was too powerful, and the affected range was too vast. It might cause irreversible damage to the land if they were to go all out in battle. One could see the seriousness of such an outcome from how the battle with Sky Demon changed a vast area of land on Evernight Continent.
As such, the experts from each faction would head into the void for an all-out battle. Unlike the void colossi, they had descendants and relatives on the continent—fighting there would benefit no one.
Medanzo and Noxus were now at a disadvantage after the sudden appearance of the Pointer Monarch, the most powerful human expert at present. It wasn’t a problem for the two dark monarchs to escape—they would be slightly injured at most. But they were quite clear that the imperial troops on the ground held the absolute advantage and that the Evernight Council’s army was in precarious position.
Meanwhile, on the ground.
Qianye was in a jeep, watching as the scenery on each side passed by him. Following close behind the command-vehicle was a convoy made up of dozens of transport trucks. For some reason, the duke didn’t assign another commander after the incident with Zhao Guanwei. Currently, Qianye had well over a thousand soldiers from two battalions under his command.
The soldiers and officers of the vanguard battalion recovered their elite qualities after the appearance of Zhao Jundu’s aide and Zhao Junhong. There were no more problems thereafter.
No one caused any problem for Qianye at all, not even other battalions or the logistics sector where conflicts could easily occur.
Qianye recalled that clumsy provocation and Duke You’s high evaluation of Zhao Guanwei. He had a vague feeling that the person behind the scene wasn’t just trying to push him out. It was quite likely that he was also trying to target Zhao Jundu.
At this point, Qianye shook his head and cleared away those distracting thoughts. He instead focused his attention on the operation at hand and did his best to memorize each and every detail. He had received instructions for this operation just as he was about to leave. It detailed the order of mobilization, the routes of advancement, designated positions, and targets.
The most important thing at present was the war.
This time, the imperial army had turned out in full strength, leaving behind only the craftsmen, logistics team, and less than ten thousand soldiers. The rest were all charging majestically toward the Evernight main camp.
According to the plan in his hand, the imperial army would circle around the entire valley that was Giant’s Repose, and fall into formation outside of the Evernight main camp. Afterward, they would launch an all-out attack on the following day. The Zhao clan private army was in the second part of the line-up and would be in charge of defense upon arrival. He was to block any counterattacks from the Evernight army first and launch an attack later on.
At this moment, a flash of light appeared outside the window, followed by rumbling explosions. Qianye cranked open the window and glanced out to find a large ball of fire in the air. It fell into the bottomless ravine, exploding continuously and shooting out fragmented debris in all directions.
That was a burning airship, but the flames on it were so intense that he couldn’t see which faction it belonged to. The destruction of this vessel seemed to have opened up the gates of disaster as balls of flame lit up repeatedly in the sky.
One airship after another caught on fire, burned up, and either exploded or came crashing down. The airspace above Giant’s Repose had turned into a killing zone with an unending stream of vessels from both sides charging into the fierce battle.
Qianye focused his gaze from a distance and was finally able to make out the destroyed vessel’s affiliation—it was an Evernight battleship. For every imperial airship destroyed, two would fall from the Evernight faction.
This was the first time Qianye had experienced a war of such scale. For a moment, he was deeply shaken.
