Chapter 1778 - Her King
The crimson earth was filled with red-hot ores heated by geothermal energy. After years of being exposed to the nova source, even the most ordinary stones would be covered in divine patterns and become extremely hard. If placed in the mortal world, a tiny grain of sand from this world could become a weapon of ma.s.s destruction capable of shattering all other weapons. There was lava as far as the eye could see, and thick smoke erupted from the volcanos, soaring into the fiery sky. The clouds were millions of meters thick, like colossi in the sky, bursting with hot waves that resembled the roar of a beast. Those who lived in such an environment turned red from the bursts of nova source. An enormous divine astrals.h.i.+p flew across the fiery grounds. Although the nova source impeded its speed, there was no one on the sun that could catch up to the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb.
Tianming looked ahead. For thousands of miles, the mountains were ablaze. Fiery rain fell from the sky and crashed into the earth like meteors, creating craters that split the ground and made it more uneven. A cacophony of deafening noise filled the air. Surrounded by an environment devoid of poetic beauty, the people there had developed a fierce and tempestuous nature, the celestial orderians in particular. Having just returned from the dreamy Violetglory, Tianming was a little uncomfortable. Compared to that, this place was one of the fiery pits of h.e.l.l. Without the formation, many places would be unsuitable for living. Ordinary folk from Flameyellow would be burned to a crisp if they wandered around this place without protection.
In contrast, not only did the Azurecloud Divine Tree block out the fiery rain, it also provided shade for the citizens of Azurecloud, creating a paradise on the sun. After witnessing the fall of the divine tree, the entire astrals.h.i.+p was filled with sorrow. In that moment, they had lost something extremely important. Tianming couldn"t bear to watch, so he stared ahead, afraid to turn around. The energy supply to the astrals.h.i.+p was unstable because the saplings also felt the pain of losing their mother.
"Li Xuanyang!" Tianming exploded with rage. According to Yin Chen, he was the one who had made the decision to cut the tree down. "If only I’d killed him." Although Li Yunxi and the others were quick to respond, Tianming had had an opportunity to kill him. But at the time, he was filled with hatred and didn’t want to give Li Xuanyang an easy death.
"It won’t change a thing. If it weren’t Li Xuanyang, then others would cut it down. Besides, didn"t you say that the tree had foreseen its own end?" Qingyu said. Having spent a period of time among the celestial orderians, she understood them.
Over the past two years, the divine tree had absorbed a great deal of resentment that came from the people of Azurecloud. Tianming didn"t know what would happen to that resentment after the tree fell. While he contemplated the question, Yin Chen slowly narrated the events surrounding the death of the divine tree. Holding his breath, Tianming patiently listened. Upon hearing about the deaths and the sea of flowers that bloomed from the corpses, he was completely overwhelmed. Eyes red and gasping for breath, he rushed toward the crowd.
"Tianming, what"s wrong?" They were concerned.
"The divine tree! The Azurecloud Divine Tree!" he incoherently shouted. It wasn’t very often that he lost composure. He was so moved and would never have expected that the ancient tree would use its death to bring new life to Azurecloud. In a sense, when the celestial orderian corpses turned into a sea of flowers, their blood had formed new life.
"What happened? It had already fallen when we left."
"After it fell, the divine tree used the resentment to kill… kill all the celestial orderians in Azurecloud, including the three million troops from the Baiyang Army in the north! More than five million dead! That means that all seven million elite troops were slaughtered in just two days!" The reinforcements from the Baiyang Army were the reason Tianming had been so determined to take everyone away with the astrals.h.i.+p.
Everyone present knew of the army’s existence. Two million troops from the Xuanyang Army and three million from the Baiyang Army! Tianming’s words astounded them. They held their breaths, expression blank, mind struggling to make sense of it all. The entire tomb was dead silent.
"The divine tree used the resentment it’d absorbed over the years. It was the blood of our dead compatriots, and blood calls for blood. Their departed souls have collected their debt!" Tianming exclaimed. He was ecstatic.
Anyone could see the desire for revenge in his eyes. Azurecloud was merely a small part of the sun, yet more than seven million celestial orderians had been buried there. More importantly, they had conquered an empty continent and failed to obtain any treasure; they were really miserable. However, the invaders who left their homes to burn, kill, humiliate, and plunder didn’t deserve sympathy. They were the ones with contempt for human life. If anyone was to blame, it was their sun emperor, who had started the war.
Although Tianming"s words were convincing, the others were in shock. When they finally reacted, they cheered and cried.
"There’s divine justice after all!"
"It’s all karma."
"Those beasts deserved it!"
"The divine tree protected us from generation to generation. It’s a pity it had to die with those murderers.…"
Seven million! That was far more than the 1.8 million troops devoured by the Azuresky Myriadsword Formation. After the battle in the Myriaddragon Mountains, the celestial orderians had fought on multiple fronts to swallow up the third- and fourth-rate sects. Trapped in enemy territory and faced with the stubborn resistance of the Myriad Solar Sects, the celestial orderians had already suffered enormous casualties in pursuit of their goal.
This time, seven million troops had been wiped out at once. Not only had they failed to achieve their strategic goals, they’d also been tragically slaughtered. This incident, along with Tianming"s return and the revelation of his ten bane-rings, would cause a sensation in Orderia. The king had returned with ten totems; seven million dead and the celestial oderians defeated. After being suppressed for so long, the Myriad Solar Sects had finally welcomed a victory as stunning as the battle in the Myriaddragon Mountains. It would certainly boost their morale and rouse their killing intent to new heights.
"There’s going to be changes on the sun." Gujian Qingshuang said in shock.
"Maybe our chance is here. After this, Tianming’s appeal might surpa.s.s that of the Saintdragon Emperor and dreamless celestial emperor. Right now, the Sky Palace has lost its reputation after being crippled. We don’t have anyone to lead us, and what we need is a king who can unite all the sects." The way Long Wanying looked at Tianming had changed. Although he was still a child, he had another ident.i.ty—the king she was loyal to!