Chapter 790: He Once Said….
Up in the air was another crisis!
Blood sprayed from Patriarch Song’s mouth. He had lost another eye, ripped out by the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief. Were it not for Meng Hao’s second true self interfering with the Time Sword, he would surely have perished.
Patriarch Song, having lost both his eyes, was in a sorry state. Suddenly, his forehead tore open, and a brilliant glow appeared, which was his Nascent Divinity. Since he had no fleshly eyes, he would use his Nascent Divinity as his eyes so that he could continue to battle.
He couldn’t afford to self-detonate. If he self-detonated in this moment of grave crisis for the Southern Domain, it would not only ensure that Pill Demon and Meng Hao’s second true self would be defeated even sooner, it would also be a crippling blow to the morale of the Southern Domain cultivators.
“A fight to the death! What’s the big deal in that?!” Laughing, Patriarch Song continued to battle on.
Pill Demon coughed up blood. He was fighting against two opponents, and considering how powerful the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief was, he couldn’t hold his own. Thankfully, Meng Hao’s second true self intervened, pinning down the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief as well as the obese woman.
“I already suppressed your true self, you trifling clone!” said the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief with a cold laugh. “Screw off!”
He waved his hand, and the Primordial Lightning Dragon appeared. Roaring, it bore down on Meng Hao’s second true self.
Meng Hao’s second true self looked coldly at the dragon. After his true self had been sealed, the connection between the two of them had been lost. Although he was incredibly nervous about the matter, there was nothing he could do about it except stall against the enemy.
The ground shook, and cracking sounds could suddenly be heard from the Ninth Mountain. A rift appeared on its surface, as if the person it was sealing would soon be freed. It was in that moment that a huge boom rang out; the Southern Domain’s final spell formation was destroyed.
The backlash attack that it unleashed sent the Northern Reaches cultivators flying backward in retreat. However, it was only moments later that they charged once again, eyes bloodshot, faces covered with ferocious, cruel expressions.
The Southern Domain cultivators had been pressed down to the limit. Of their original force of 200,000, less than half remained. Now, they were prepared to put everything on the line in a final, brazen charge.
“Kill them!!”
The ground quaked, rivers of blood flowed, and fierce fighting raged.
There was so much blood that the sky itself reflected it, turning red. The killing field that was the final battle for the Southern Domain shook violently.
Back inside the cage, Meng Hao was also experiencing deadly tribulation. His body trembled underneath the pressure, and he coughed up blood. It seemed that… the Southern Domain… would inevitably suffer a huge defeat!
The cultivators were in a disastrous situation. The Dao Seeking experts were in sore straits. The Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief’s eyes glittered ruthlessly; the battle seemed moments away from being won.
However, it was at this point that....
“South Cleaving!” An ancient voice rang out to echo through the land. It was like a windstorm that swept out in all directions.
“South Cleaving!!” A second voice rang out, uttering the same words. It was an equally archaic voice that swept out to fill Heaven and Earth.
“South Cleaving!!”
“SOUTH CLEAVING!!!” More voices rang out, until finally it was impossible to tell how many there were. Everything shook, and the sky flashed. Looks of shock began to appear on the faces of the Northern Reaches cultivators. The Southern Domain cultivators looked equally confused.
Up in the air, Patriarch Song and Pill Domain stared in shock. The Northern Reaches’ Dao Seeking experts turned to look off into the distance.
As for the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief, his face flickered.
“South Cleaving!” Amidst the rumbling, 10,000 figures suddenly appeared, striding through the air. They wore green armor that brimmed with an ancient air. It was as if these figures had existed for countless years; many were even dilapidated and broken down.
Inside the armor could be seen expressionless faces that appeared to be completely lifeless. They were puppets! Green-armored Demon guardians!
Every one of the green-armored Demon guardians had a core formation cultivation base, and the ground trembled as they advanced. Behind them were ninety additional figures wearing black armor.
Pitch black and circulating Demonic qi, these were… black-armored Demon guardians!
Each one had a Nascent Soul cultivation base, and possessed shocking power. As they advanced, it could be seen that behind them were six figures in violet armor.
Each of those six figures emanated Spirit Severing auras and shocking energy. As soon as they appeared, the ground trembled and the sky dimmed.
Behind those six figures were three old men wearing bronze battle armor. Their hair was white and floated about them, and their facial features were ancient. They seemed to have existed for many, many years. These old men were also puppets, no longer cultivators. However, the auras they emanated were that of the peak of Dao Seeking!
As these more than 10,000 people appeared, they all shouted the same thing.
“South Cleaving!”
As the sound rose up into the sky, the Southern Domain cultivators began to think about an ancient legend.
According to the legend, the Southern Domain and the Western Desert had not always been on stable terms like they were now. In fact, there had been lots of friction, including several instances of war.
In one of those wars, the Western Desert had been in the weak position, whereas the Southern Domain was much more powerful. The Southern Domain invaded the Western Desert, which prompted the Western Desert cultivators to join forces to create the South Cleaving Sentinels. Supposedly, all of their peak Dao Seeking cultivators volunteered to give up everything and become puppets. They created a mountain range to cleave the south from the west; it completely and thoroughly separated the Western Desert and the Southern Domain.
From that time forward, those boundless mountains were called… the South Cleaving Mountains!
Within those mountains existed eternal guardians of the Western Desert, which was the former legion… of the South Cleaving Sentinels! [1. The South Cleaving Mountains were described in chapter 504, and Meng Hao encountered a South Cleaving Sentinel in chapter 506]
Afterwards, the Western Desert declined in power, and then the Violet Sea arrived. No more Dao Seeking experts had arisen there, and so, relations with the Southern Domain gradually stabilized.
“South Cleaving Sentinels!”
“Those are the Western Desert’s South Cleaving Sentinels!!” The appearance of this new force left the Southern Domain cultivators completely shocked. That was especially because they weren’t sure if the South Cleaving Sentinels came as enemies or allies!
The Northern Reaches cultivators were in the same position. The sudden appearance of a third party left them astonished.
It was at this point that a group of tens of thousands of people could be seen charging out from behind the South Cleaving Sentinels. They wore simple clothes, and looked rough and coa.r.s.e. They had barbarous expressions, and their hair flung about wildly like savages.
They also gave off an archaic air, as if within their veins pulsed blood that had existed for countless ages. These people were… the Golden Crow Clan, the great Wild Flame Tribe, the great Demon b.u.t.terfly Tribe, and the great Cloud Sky Tribe!
The Western Desert had become the Violet Sea, the great tribes had migrated to the Black Lands, and these people were the warrior tribes of the Black Lands.
“Fellow Daoist Pill Demon, we are indebted to you for your kindness all those years ago. Fellow Daoist Meng Hao, we are here to join you in battle!!”
“Patriarch Meng Hao, we’re here!!”
“We might have had our differences with the Southern Domain in the past. However, when the Violet Sea Apocalypse came, the Southern Domain permitted the Western Desert to occupy the Black Lands, and did not interfere with us. Nor did you take advantage of our situation to harm us. Such kindness… will be repaid by the Western Desert cultivators on this very day!”
“We have already consulted with South Cleaving Pa.s.s on this matter, and the Patriarchs agree. We will aid the Southern Domain to drive out the Northern Reaches!”
As the voices rang out into the ears of the Southern Domain and Northern Reaches cultivators, everyone was shocked.
The Southern Domain cultivators were trembling. They had never imagined that at the eleventh hour, the Western Desert… would actually send troops to their aid!
The Northern Reaches cultivators were also trembling. Just when the battle seemed to be clinched, another setback occurred!
It was at this time that behind the Western Desert Cultivators could be seen hundreds of thousands… of wild beasts!
Although the beasts were not incredibly strong, their speed and numbers were enough to darken the sky. Numerous Dragoneers could be seen controlling the beasts as they charged toward the battlefield, forming a pincer formation with the Southern Domain cultivators to completely surround the Northern Reaches forces!
The Southern Domain cultivators’ spirits were instantly raised, and they began to fight pa.s.sionately.
Trembling, Patriarch Song lifted his head and laughed. Next to him, Pill Demon also appeared to be moved. He had treated the Western Desert well in the past, often providing them secret a.s.sistance. That was because long ago, Reverend Violet East had once been on good terms with the Western Desert. [1. There is a reference that I"m sure some of you will remember that seems to connect Pill Demon with the Western Desert. It even relates to Zhou Dekun. Check out chapter 263]
Now that the Western Desert cultivators had arrived, the Southern Domain had been given a new lease on life from its imminent crisis!
This was especially true considering the presence of the South Cleaving Sentinels. As soon as they reached the battlefield, the old men in the bronze armor immediately shot toward the peak Dao Seeking experts’ battle.
“Dammit!” roared the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief. “You Western Desert barbarians are looking to die!” He was immediately pulled into fighting with one of the three peak Dao Seeking Western Desert puppets from the South Cleaving Sentinels. Fierce fighting caused everything to shake.
Three great territories were now locked in battle! The Western Desert! The Southern Domain! The Northern Reaches!
As the battle raged, the sky grew dark. The land was shattered into pieces, and the air itself was rent. The sky above was torn, revealing a peek of what appeared to be a different set of stars up above. Even the whole of South Heaven seemed as if it had been tilted on its axis, and the entire planet trembled.
Originally, the Ji Clan would have stepped in to prevent these three territories from going to war like this, and from shaking the very foundation of the lands of South Heaven. But now… the Ji Clan was acting as if they didn’t even notice. Not a single Ji Clan member appeared.
Within the rumbling of battle, beasts and cultivators slashed murderously at each other. The Southern Domain, the Western Desert and the Northern Reaches all fought with madness. Currently, it was actually difficult to tell who was in the winning position.
No one was confident of clinching victory, neither the Southern Domain and Western Desert, nor the Northern Reaches.
The lands flowed with blood, and fierce fighting raged everywhere. Miserable screams drifted about, and countless corpses fell to the ground. Everything was stained with blood. The sky was dark. Everyone seemed to have become mired in a b.l.o.o.d.y slaughterhouse. The only thing to do was kill… and keep killing!
Up in midair, the five Northern Reaches Dao Seeking experts were fighting against three Southern Domain cultivators and three Western Desert experts, a total of six. Their battle thoroughly shook the sky up above, dissipating the Ji Clan’s sky and revealing the true starry sky of ancient times.
On any other occasion, the Ji Clan would never have allowed such a thing to happen. But now… the Heavens of Ji were severed. They had lost their protector, making it so that the current sky distorted into a ma.s.sive vortex.
The spinning vortex looked like a huge eye, within which spun a starry sky!
The Violet Sea churned and the Milky Way Sea roared. The ma.s.sive quaking was such that, in the area where the two seas bordered each other, it was possible to see that the Violet Sea was now leaking out into the Milky Way Sea. Instantly, shocking transformations began to occur.
The transformations were astonis.h.i.+ng by themselves, but what was even more astounding was that… the blood that inundated the battlefield did not soak into the ground, but rather, began to slowly flow into the Milky Way Sea.
The lands which had once been the Blood Demon Sect were awash with blood that now poured into the Milky Way Sea. Considering that the Violet Sea was also flowing into it, the Milky Way Sea… erupted.
At this point, a faint voice rose up over the Milky Way Sea.
“He once said… when the vortex eye appears in the sky, when the lotus transforms, when there is a gap between Immortal and Devil, the Blue Lotus will appear…. And now…
“The stars can be seen, the blood of millions of cultivators flows freely, and the vortex eye can be seen in the sky.
“The Western Desert Apocalypse and the boundless Violet Sea concealed the transformations of the lotus.
“On the day the Heavens are numbed [1. I previously translated this "on the day of vicissitudes." I think this version is more accurate, and will go back to change the previous references later. Also, this line and the previous two lines rhyme in Chinese], filled with legions of grieving ghosts, I desire… to see the Blue Lotus!
“I will turn the blood of millions of cultivators into mud! I will transform all the wronged souls into a sludge. I shall… emerge spotless and unblemished from within that sludge of endless b.l.o.o.d.y mud! I shall… cast off the body of the Resurrection Lily and become the Blue Lotus!” [4. Confucian scholar Zhou Dunyi wrote, "I love the lotus because while growing from mud, it is unstained."]