Zhou Wu was the God Emperor, the nominal leader of the god race. Why didn’t he know about the demon and yao invasion? There were many contributing factors.
Naturally, the most important was that his subordinates had deliberately concealed this matter and prevented word of the invasion from reaching his ears. Or perhaps it was just because he wasn’t the least bit concerned about this sort of thing. If he didn’t care, it was only to be expected that his subordinates didn’t care either.
Zhou Wu’s expression was unsightly. The Lightning Emperor’s Xiao Family had betrayed the god race. Other races had invaded his territory, yet he was still in the dark. As the God Emperor, this was an enormous oversight on his part.
It was the people who granted him his position at the top of the hierarchy, and his primary mission was to ensure that the god race did not fall.
Yet now, the Yao Realm’s Southern Kingdom was already attacking the River Styx, and they were on the verge of entering god race territory. And yet, his subordinates hadn’t received any word of this whatsoever. If not for the Holy Maiden’s visit just now, and if he hadn’t sensed her presence and bumped into Xuan Ji, he’d still be completely in the dark even now.
“The situa-….” Zhou Wu started to press for details, but before he could finish his question, Xuan Ji led Ye Zichen and the rest of the Upheaval Alliance away.
The experts gathered to watch this play out were overcome with terror; they, too, had only just learned of the invasion.
But they had also just realized that there seemed to be something strange between Zhou Wu and Xuan Ji. Quite a few people remembered the incident with Spirit City’s Bai Family; it seemed the rumors they’d heard about it weren’t without basis.
Zhou Wu could only watch as Xuan Ji led her people away. He had no choice but to force his questions back down.
After being so blatantly ignored, his expression was decidedly unfriendly. Naturally, even if he’d said nothing out loud, he’d known their relationship had soured for a long time. Even so, for Xuan Ji to treat him like this, and worse, for her to do so in front of so many top factions of Heavenly God City, left him feeling humiliated and insulted.
“God Emperor.” The Divine Arbiter, who he’d sent to investigate, rushed over. As for how she’d learned of this so quickly, or where she’d learned about it, no one knew but her.
In any event, she did indeed return with the news Zhou Wu wanted.
“The demons and yao have indeed joined forces, but it seems that the yao are internally divided. Some of the invaders split off to attack the Yao Realm’s Nine-tailed Fox Clan. The Four Sacred Beast Clans have always been on good terms with the foxes, so they sent their forces to reinforce them.”
“What about god race territory?” asked Zhou Wu.
“The Yao Realm’s Southern Kingdom has already attacked the River Styx’s line of defense, and they’re preparing to cross. The demons caught both the Northern and Southern Divine Mountains off guard. The other Divine Mountains have yet to be attacked, but I expect the demon army will arrive there too before long,” said the Divine Arbiter solemnly.
In response, Zhou Wu nodded slightly, but he said nothing about how they’d fight back.
“Should we send reinforcements too?” asked the Divine Arbiter tentatively.
“Reinforcements?” Zhou Wu sneered. “Brothers Bi’an and Chao Feng have never been on good terms with me. Why should I send my forces to their aid?”
“Then the other Divine Mountains….”
“The Jade Pool has sided with the Sea of Innocence, as has the Hermit Emperor and his Hermits Palace. Mahesvara and the Supreme Hall, meanwhile, both clearly rejected my attempts to pull them to my side. Why should I help any of them?”
When she heard this, the Divine Arbiter’s expression froze. She stared at Zhou Wu in utter astonishment.
There had indeed been some friction between their factions, but was he really going to fuss over that when life and death were on the line? Was he really going to disregard the other Divine Mountains’ Holy Lands’ fate over mere petty disputes?
“Order all forces in Heavenly God City to bide their time!”
“Bide their time?” The Divine Arbiter frowned. “The demons have already started their offensive. Shouldn’t we start preparing in advance? Also, down in the Lower Lands, almost the entire Southern Kingdom army has begun their attack on the River Styx. We’re really not going to send any troops…”
“Emperor Hades was close to Five Elements before he died!”
It was just one simple sentence, but in response, the Divine Arbiter fell silent, leaving the rest of her argument unsaid.
His meaning was obvious: Emperor Hades and the Five Elements Great Emperor had been close friends. The God Emperor had seized Five Elements’ imperial celestial fate and rightful throne. Naturally, he’d always seen Emperor Hades as an eyesore. As such, as soon as Zhou Wu ascended to the throne, he sent Emperor Hades to defend the God Realm’s borders.
In truth, in his heart of hearts, he was hoping Emperor Hades would die in the process!
The Divine Arbiter bit her lip, then lowered her head in silence. Zhou Wu’s eyes flashed with sinister light. He crossed his arms, drumming his fingers against them. “Have our people continue investigating Xue Tie. There’s no need to pay the invasion any heed. I trust that the great emperors won’t disappoint me.”
“Yes…. Yes, sir!”
….
After Xuan Ji and the others left, they didn’t go to Profound Pavilion. Instead, they went straight into the Upheaval Alliance’s headquarters.
When the alliance members saw Ye Zichen’s group return, they rejoiced. They’d been keeping an eye on the situation in the Lightning Emperor’s Estate this whole time, and they’d been overwrought with concern, especially when they saw Xiao Ting take out his Lightning Emperor’s Scepter.
Fortunately, Ye Zichen and his allies had returned safely. The only thing they found strange was that Yang Jian was among their ranks.
Yang Jian had betrayed the alliance. Everyone in the upper echelons of Upheaval knew that.
Ye Zichen noted the higher-ups’ expressions, then glanced at Xiao Yumei, indicating that she should explain the situation to them. Then, he and Xuan Ji entered the spatial treasure the Outsiders had given him.
“This space is rather special.”
“It’s a spatial divine artifact, a gift from the Outsiders. In here, even though it’s a seperate space, you can still comprehend the Laws of Heaven and Earth. Furthermore, time flows differently inside,” said Ye Zichen.
“So, it can change the flow of time? That’s very special indeed,” said Xuan Ji.
She was, whatever else you said about her, the head of the Profound Pavilion, the famed Lady Providence. She’d accumulated a vast breadth of experience, and unlike Ye Zichen, she didn’t get worked up over every little thing. She merely nodded, but said no more about the spatial divine artifact. Instead, she changed the topic back to the invasion.
“You’d best hurry up and accept the great emperors’ friend requests.”
“….” Ye Zichen was briefly stunned. Then, he scratched his head and laughed. “Seems we’ll have to take yet another quoting.”
After leaving the spatial divine artifact, the first thing Ye Zichen did was accept all his new friend requests.
Unlike in the past, after accepting the requests, he didn’t get any messages. It was clear that the great emperors were busy dealing with the invasion; they’d been to busy to type a greeting.
“Is the situation that bad?”
“You’re asking me, but I don’t know either,” said Xuan Ji. “The summary I gave earlier is all I know. But I do know that the situation is the worst in the River Styx and the Nine-tailed Fox Clan.”
Ye Zichen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. If he contacted the Great Emperors too long… Well, the issue wasn’t that it would be too much trouble, but rather, that they couldn’t afford any delays.
They were at war, and every second was precious. The invasion had come far too suddenly, and the Divine Mountains hadn’t had time to arrange a proper defense. Only the River Styx had prepared in advance, but who knew if they’d anticipated fending off the entirety of the Southern Kingdom’s forces?
After thinking it over a bit, he realized there was only one viable method: creating a chat group!
