As soon as the words left Yale’s lips, the middle-aged man signaled outside the palace.
The armored troops waiting in the doorway then led two men covered in wounds inside.
Their wounds were still gushing fresh gold and red blood, and their faces were so battered that it was difficult to recognize them.
“This is them, Master Yale.” The middle-aged man pointed at the pair. “They are, respectively, the Minister of the Left and the Secretariat Star. They’re the ones who arranged for those million people to escape. I captured them and brought them back for you.”
“The Minister of the Left! The Secretariat Star!” Yale nodded. “No wonder their blood flows red. It was indeed right to destroy the First Era. Had they continued growing, these star bearers might very well have achieved divinity. One day, they might have even replaced us, the glorious true gods!”
“How could that be possible? With you, Master Yale, the gods will only continue to flourish. How could people of such a barbarous land possibly replace us? The very idea is ludicrous,” said the middle-aged man toadyishly.
Yale had heard similar flattery far too many times before. He simply ignored it. He was much more interested in this pair of Auxiliary Stars.
Yale.
He was a god who’d risen to prominence in the past ten thousand years, a representative of a newly-arisen faction. He loved war, and was granted the godly title of “the Heavenly God of Destruction.” He was ranked fourth amongst the four Master Gods.
Although he hadn’t directly changed the setup of the god race, he’d undeniably had quite a bit of influence.
For instance, he’d destroyed the devil race!
The gods and devils both existed outside of the larger world, free of the limits of eras. They’d existed throughout antiquity.
In the past, although there’d been conflict between the two races, there had only been small-scale clashes. After Yale took the throne, however, the very first thing he did was obliterate their neighbors. The devils were gone for good, all save their king, who’d disappeared without a trace.
War gave him pleasure comparable to illicit drugs; he couldn’t resist. After cleaning up the devils, he’d targeted the surrounding regions, either destroying them or bringing them under the gods’ banner. The Goddess of War was a commander he’d recruited during that war.
After destroying the surrounding nations, he fixed his sights on the already transcended Third Era.
To his surprise, their resistance was even more enjoyable than the devils’ or the surrounding kingdoms.
He’d been immersed in the joy of destroying the First Era ever since…
Although he’d been fixated on the First Era all this time, he’d yet to lay eyes on one of its people, much less one of its Auxiliary Stars.
Snap!
He snapped his fingers, and two spheres of water appeared before the Minister of the Left and Secretariat Star’s faces, washing away the blood.
If Ye Zichen were here, their appearances would have stunned him.
Yin Shang! Han Nan!
They were unconscious, but the cold water startled them awake. They were greeted by Yale’s curious face.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am one of the four God Kings, Yale!”
“It’s you!” Yin Shang’s eyes widened.
The god race expert behind him pushed forcefully on his shoulders, forcing him to kneel. “Behave yourself. You now stand before the Heavenly God of Destruction, His Excellency, Yale!”
Yin Shang roared continuously, his gaze so vicious and hateful, it seemed he wanted to eat Yale alive.
“What a let-down.” Yale’s gaze suddenly filled with disappointment. “Barbarian lands are barbarous indeed. Even the Master of the Star’s Auxiliary Stars have such poor tempers. It’s truly hard to understand how such an era could have even come close to reaching transcendence.”
“Screw you!” Yin Shang roared.
The god race expert keeping him under control punched him in the gut. A beast’s claws had already left him grievously wounded, and this blow only made it worse. Red blood mixed with gold gushed from the wound and dripped onto the red carpet. Strangely, it didn’t leave a stain; the carpet seemed to devour it, its red hue growing even brighter.
“Barbarian, due to your low class and poor manners, I am in no mood to continue conversing with you. But then, I am the compassionate sort. I’ll give you a chance to live. All you have to do is tell me…”
Before Yale could even finish speaking, Yin Shang burst into hearty laughter. His teeth were covered in blood, but his laughter was shockingly wanton and arrogant. He viciously shoved the guard restraining him away, then turned to Yale and laughed. “Go home and ask your mother!:
His pupils turned completely red, as did his skin. The sight was terrifying to behold. “Just you wait. The Third Era is sure to level this place! I’ll wait for you in hell!”
“This is bad! He’s going to blow himself up!” The middle-aged man cried out urgently. The other gods hurried to Yale’s side, their divine power surging around Yin Shang and sealing off the surrounding space completely.
Suddenly, Yin Shang’s gaze softened. He send tenderly, “Zhu’er, I’m coming to see you!”
But in a flash, the tenderness disappeared as quickly as it had come, replaced with madness as his divine power rampaged.
Boom!
The massive explosion of divine power was completely trapped in the sealed off space, but the sheer intensity of the blast was nevertheless shocking.
Although multiple true gods, all of them with godheads, were working together, cracks still formed on the barrier’s surface.
“This is bad! He’s…” At that moment, one of the gods noticed that Han Nan was grinning coldly at them too. From the look of him, he was on the verge of blowing himself up, too.
The gods had no time to reseal the surrounding space, but they saw Yale stretch out his hand and tap the air, creating a vacuum and instantly severing the surrounding space.
Han Nan blew himself up too.
After regaining consciousness for just a few breaths of time, both Auxiliary Stars of the First Era immediately chose death.
The energy poured into the vacuum. Then, Yale clenched his hand, compressing the divine power into a silver crystal. It clattered to the ground.
The middle-aged man was just about to ask if he’d been hurt when Yale kicked him away.
“Master Yale.”
“Why didn’t you seal their spiritual cores before bringing them to see me? Why….” This was Yale’s first time meeting people of the First Era. There had been a lot he wanted to ask them, but now…
He knew nothing at all!
He was furious!
Furious to the point of wanting to kill this inept subordinate of his to vent his fury.
“Your Excellency….”
“Answer me!” Yale’s eyes had completely frosted over.
The middle-aged man knelt, trembling, on the ground. “I…. It didn’t occur to me…”
“It didn’t occur to you?” Yale suddenly laughed and clapped his hands. Blood gushed from the middle-aged man’s seven apertatures. His head went limp, and he collapsed on the ground. “I bet it didn’t occur to you that I’d kill you, either!”
The others in the hall fell silent. The dead man had followed Yale for thousands of years.
Yet Yale killed him, just like that!
Everyone present, whether they were god race experts or servants, bowed. Yale glowered darkly and summoned the gem formed out of the compressed energy of Yin Shang and Han Nan’s self destruction.
“The Third Era is going to level this place, huh? ….I’m looking forward to it!” With that, Yale roared in wide-eyed fury, “Spread my orders! Call back every last Primordial Giant Beast, and prepare… to invade the Third Era!”
