This chapter has been brought to you by me, and WanderingGummiOfDoom.
Chapter Eight Hundred and Eighty Seven – Facing Off
A golden square box floated silently in the flames and was covered in countless exquisite patterns.
The flames disappeared and the gold box flew into Zuo Mo"s hand. The box was exactly the size of Zuo Mo"s palm. A warmth came from the square box. Zuo Mo felt connected to the box and this made him smile.
"Starting from today, you will be called [King"s Domain]!"
This was the shen equipment Zuo Mo was most satisfied with. Ever since he obtained that shen device nucleus, he had thought about how to forge a shen equipment for himself. At present he could be called the top forger but he didn"t have his own shen device, an odd juxtaposition. Normal talismans would immediately collapse in his hands, like the gold crystal sword.
An Mo and Liang Wei were panicking like ants set on a fire. They could not understand why King was still forging at such an important time. That dark gold box looked ordinary and had no presence.
"King!" An Mo said urgently.
Zuo Mo nodded towards him and flew onto the Copper-Boned Nether Bird King. "We can talk as we travel."
An Mo was even more panicked. "King! Hai Xin Bing has gathered a great army of over three hundred thousand! If we go now, that will only be death … …"
"Are you afraid of death?" Zuo Mo asked bluntly.
An Mo stilled. He hadn"t thought that King would ask this. He answered seriously, "This subordinate is not afraid of death, but of a death without meaning."
"Yes." Zuo Mo nodded. Under the bronze mask, no expression could be seen. He said coolly, "Depart."
"King!" An Mo panicked.
"King, the Yin Tomb Guards and Nether Lord You Zhe"s battalion is hurrying over. How about waiting for them … …" Liang Wei said.
"We won"t wait. I have limited time," Zuo Mo said coolly and then flew into the sky.
An Mo and Liang Wei stared at each other. They couldn"t understand what was going on with King! If they went now, they would die without a doubt! Three hundred thousand! They didn"t believe that King would not be able to understand this. But King still insisted on doing so. Did King have some trump card?
They had discussed this before but no matter how hard they thought, they could not think of any way to defeat an army of three hundred thousand!
An Mo gritted his teeth. "At worst, we will die together with King!"
He got onto his mo steed after he spoke and then chased after Zuo Mo.
"It is so curious," Liang Wei murmured. He was almost sure now that King definitely had other plans. But he could not guess. What were King"s other plans?
The King"s Horn immediately moved as well.
Along the way, they did not encounter any more obstacles. The path was unusually smooth.
Hai Xin Bing had realised the mistake of her previous strategy. Her delay tactic had created the new king"s legendary advance, and pushed the new king"s reputation to an astounding height.
Without any obstacles, Zuo Mo"s group moved quickly.
There were scouts set up along the road. The mission of these scouts was to keep track of the new king"s troops. These scouts were not all Hai Xin Bing"s subordinates. All of Nether Realm was paying close attention to this final battle.
When Zuo Mo once again led his troops to advance like before, countless factions were shocked. Even an ignorant person knew Hai Xin Bing had set up a great net up ahead. An army of three hundred thousand, that was almost half of Nether Realm"s elite battalions.
This was a power that made people tremble.
No one could win!
Using force against force was the stupidest choice. In many people"s opinions, the new king should step back, avoid Hai Xin Bing"s forces and go around them. Such a large army was all the power that Hai Xin Bing had gathered for many years but it could not be maintained for long. The new king had the support of the old nether King. Now that he showed the people of Nether Realm his power and strength, his situation was much better than Hai Xin Bing.
The new king only needed to avoid Hai Xin Bing, delay for a while, and Hai Xin Bing"s army of three hundred thousand would quickly collapse.
That was the strategic method.
But the new king rashly advanced towards Nether King River like a moth to a flame!
Almost everyone saw his predicted outcome. Even more people felt that the new king was a brute with courage but no skill!
The new king would die!
Sorrow spread among the people. After the victorious seven day advance, they had thought that the new king would be like the old Nether King and be an unrivaled hero. But now, they thought he was only a brute. If the new king died, Hai Xin Bing did not qualify to become king, and the Nether Realm would once again become leaderless.
This was the greatest sorrow.
For ten years, they had lived a peaceful life. No battle, their lives were calm, Nether Realm was united. The direction the King"s banner pointed was the direction they advanced in.
Look at Hundred Savage realm. That place was so chaotic and filled with endless battle. The major factions warred with each other, and people died every day.
Low spirits and bewilderment spread in Nether Realm.
Was an era truly about to end?
Was ten years of peace all they would have?.
"He"s charging towards here?" Hai Xin Bing stilled and asked instinctively, "Did the Yin Tomb Guards and You Zhe already arrive?"
"No!" Zhu nan Yue"s eyes flashed with puzzlement.
"Strange!" Hai Xin Bing pondered this. "He doesn"t appear like a person without brains!"
Zhu Nan Yue didn"t speak but she agreed.
How could a person that forced them to such a state, and had grabbed the only chance to resolve the situation when he was surrounded by enemies be a person without brains? It was the opposite. Zhu Nan Yue saw decisiveness, intelligence, bravery and hardiness from that person.
She had followed Hai Xin Bing from childhood and they were like sisters. This bond was the only reason she was willing to be enemies with such a person.
The other definitely had other plans!
"He has to have other plans!" Hai Xin Bing felt uneasy, like an invisible pressure weighing on her mind. She could not understand the enemy"s actions at all.
"Maybe there are spies?" Zhu Nan Yue reminded.
"You are right!" Hai Xin Bing was startled. "You have to prepare for that."
Zhu Nan Yue looked in shock at Hai Xin Bing. She had never seen the Nether Lord so panicked before. In her mind, the Nether Lord was always calm and composed. Now, she was panicking just because of one poorly understood move that the enemy had made.
The pressure the enemy gave the Nether Lord was so strong!
The shock that Zhu Nan Yue felt could be imagined.
The scouts reported at a rapid pace, departing and landing constantly, to report of the enemy"s position.
"Report! The enemy is estimated to be a day"s travel away!"
"Report! The enemy is accelerating! Estimated arrival is in twelve hours!"
"Report! Four hours!"
As the enemy came closer to nether King River, the atmosphere suddenly grew tense. The pressure of the impending battle caused the entire army to tense. Everyone became nervous. Even those battle generals that had been through hundreds of battles had stern faces and threads of worry.
The other was clearly only two battalions, and not even ten thousand people.
But for some reason, an invisible yet great pressure was on each person"s mind.
The other"s unusual action caused each person"s nerves to be on edge. The enemy was not unknown. He had proven his strength.
The more unusual it was, the more people were wary.
The army of three hundred thousand prepared to face a great enemy.
The sounds gradually disappeared. They unconsciously closed their mouths. They instinctively gripped their mo weapons, and the mood was unusually nervous and strict.
When a group of black dots appeared in the distance, everyone"s hearts jumped.
"They"ve come!"
The army s.h.i.+fted and the roar of the battle generals came in waves.
"Be alert!"
"Prepare to fight!"
"Be prepared, do not slack off at the crucial time!"
The little black dots arrived with a strangely quick speed. In a blink, they felt their visions darken and the enemy was already close to them. The enemy were clearly not even ten thousand in number but when they advanced at such a high speed, it made people feel as though there were tens of thousands roaring and charging at them.
Everyone"s hearts uncontrollably shook!
Was this the flood of metal that no one could stop for seven days and nights?
Seeing the enemy about to step into their attack range, every battle generals" expression became stern and nervous. They waited to attack as the other to stepped into their attack range!
The enemy suddenly stopped!
Stopped without any warning. From a fast charge to a sudden stop. There was no transition between the two states and it was so uncomfortable that people wanted to spit blood.
They finally saw the person at the front of the group!
Zuo Mo looked coldly at the enemies in front of him.
In reality, this was the first time he saw a battalion of three hundred thousand gathered together. The battalions were packed together and stretched into the distance. It caused people to feel weak and powerless.
But Zuo Mo didn"t feel this way.
He sat motionlessly on the back of the Copper-Boned Nether Bird King. Even his gaze didn"t change. It was still cold and emotionless.
"Hai Xin Bing!"
The cold and aloof voice was clear in each person"s ears.
Compared to the previous panic, Hai Xin Bing calmed down now. She walked out fearlessly.
Completely outfitted in armor, Hai Xin Bing seemed to have a martial bearing. At this time, she finally showed the glory and mannerism of a nether lord. She held a long blue sword, her long hair flying in the wind. Her beautiful features did not seem to be of the mortal realm. The decisiveness and intelligence she showed made people trust her.
She did not dodge Zuo Mo"s gaze but she did not want to verbally spar with Zuo Mo. She said, "No need to waste words! Let"s fight!"
Hai Xin Bing"s eyes suddenly gave off a sharp light. She raised the long sword in her hand, her murderous deep shout echoing in the air, "In the name of Nether Realm!"
At this time, Hai Xin Bing shone like a star.
"In the name of Nether Realm!"
Everyone was motivated by her. All of the nervousness disappeared in this moment. Their blood boiled and their spirits rose! The army of three hundred thousand roared together, the waves of sound filling the surroundings!
Hai Xin Bing suddenly had a feeling, the matter was done!
The morale of the battalions had reached a peak. When the morale of three hundred thousand rose, no one would be able to reverse all this.
The person wearing the bronze mask on the other side suddenly stood up.
He stood on the back of the Copper-Boned Nether Bird King as though he was standing above the clouds. He looked down from high up. He seemed to be looking at all life below.
The cold gaze was filled with disdain. The voice was not loud but could be heard over the entire field. The tsunami of cheers and shouts suddenly stopped.
"You, how do you qualify to invoke the name of the Nether Realm?"
Translator Ramblings: Lil" Cliffy makes a rare appearance.