Furthermore, the Giant Ghost King knew that someone who was only interested in slaughtering enemies would never be able to rise to prominence in these Eternal Lands.
“What we need to do now is look for people from the Heavenspan Realm!” he said, flicking his sleeve. Then he continued to speak, driving each word home like a hammer slamming into a nail. “No attacking. No drinking. No more wallowing in despair!”
Bai Xiaochun sat there quietly. He was now trembling visibly, and his eyes were bloodshot. The Giant Ghost King’s words had struck him deeply, stabbing into his heart like a sharp knife. A moment passed. Then he looked up.
“I'm not wallowing in despair!” he said, his voice hoarse. “And I already went looking for them!”
Waving his hand, he caused a small pile of medallions to pour out of his bag of holding and pile up next to him.
They were identity medallions from Heavenspan cultivators. Clearly, these were not from rogue cultivators, but rather, cultivators from powerful organizations in the Wildlands and the four Heavenspan Rivers. They were objects that cultivators would normally use to transmit messages or prove their identity.
“You know what I found? Corpses! All I could do was bury them and take their identity medallions!” Bai Xiaochun's eyes bulged as he spoke, as though all of the anger and resentment he had been building up inside of him were finally being released.
“I want to keep looking too,” he continued hoarsely, “but what if all we find is more corpses? I know…. I know I shouldn't give up. But the Eternal Lands are huge! Just one prefecture is as big as the entire Heavenspan Realm! The third immortal domain alone has well over a dozen Heavenspan Realms inside of it! How am I supposed to search through all of that?!”
The Giant Ghost King looked at the pile of command medallions for a long moment. Then he shifted his gaze back to Bai Xiaochun and said, “If we can’t find them, maybe we can get them to find us!”
The Giant Ghost King’s eyes began to shine even more brightly. “That would also give them hope. And if they have hope, they can endure. That’s what we need to do!”
“Hope….” Bai Xiaochun murmured. As he looked at the Giant Ghost King, his eyes finally began to come to life.
“That’s right. Hope!” Eyes glittering, the Giant Ghost King began to pace back and forth in the temple. “Xiaochun, we need… to seek asylum with the Saint-Emperor!
“The Vile-Emperor wants slaves. Working out a deal with him doesn’t seem possible. Supposedly the Saint-Emperor is a bit sanctimonious, but at least his dynasty openly proclaims themselves to be kind. That gives us a basis to try to work out a deal!
“However, if we seek asylum, we can’t go empty-handed. Just showing up and asking for help isn’t impressive at all. We need to bring the Saint-Emperor… a blood tribute!
“Yes! The head of an enemy!” The more the Giant Ghost King thought about his idea, the clearer it became.
“Xiaochun, if we want to prepare a blood tribute, then we need to accomplish something major in the Vile-Emperor Dynasty. We need to get famous! We need to do something… that will shake, not just the Vile-Emperor Dynasty, but all of the Eternal Lands!
“If we can’t find all of our people, we can at least let them know we’re here! Let them know where we are! In the darkness of night that these Eternal Lands are for the people of the Heavenspan Realm, the two of us… can be blazing torches!
“The brighter and more dazzling we are, the easier it will be for them to find us. And at the same time… we can gain stronger positions. Shake the other two imperial dynasties, and buy some breathing room for the people of Heavenspan!
“When someone is powerful, no one will dare to bully him or his people!”
Bai Xiaochun was panting, clearly deeply shaken by what the Giant Ghost King was saying. At long last, his eyes were no longer blank, but rather, filled with hope!
Hope for the Heavenspan Realm, and hope for himself!
“If we offer a blood tribute to the Saint-Emperor, he’ll have no other option than to give us official positions in the government! And then we can use the power of the Saint-Emperor Dynasty to forge a new place in the Eternal Lands for the people of Heavenspan!”
The Giant Ghost King’s booming voice resonated back and forth inside of the temple. Outside, the rain and snow continued to fall harder and harder. The tattered temple walls and ceiling did nothing to conceal the weeping of the wind. Water and snow continued to build up inside of the temple, to the point where the scattered leaves were covered.
Bai Xiaochun stared at the leaves for a long moment, then looked up. All of a sudden, his aura changed, and his eyes began to glitter brightly.
“What kind of blood tribute should we prepare?!”
When the Giant Ghost King saw the anticipation in Bai Xiaochun’s eyes, his own heart began to pound.
“How about the heads of a few of the Vile-Emperor’s demigods?”
Please go to
install our App to read the latest chapters for free
Chapter
1038: A Sword To Shake Seventeen Prefectures
“The third immortal domain has seventeen demigod experts,” the Giant Ghost King said. “The locals call them preceptors.
“But before we make our move, we should make sure we have an escape route planned. I saw a map of the third immortal domain within the memories of that deva cultivator. Some distance to the northwest, about halfway across the prefecture, is a majestic sea!” With that, he pulled out a jade slip, branded it with some information via divine sense, and then tossed it over to Bai Xiaochun.
Bai Xiaochun grabbed it out of the air and looked at it. Not only did it have a general map of the third immortal domain, it also had information about the demigods who oversaw the various prefectures. Although the information wasn’t extremely detailed, it was at least fairly comprehensive.
Almost immediately, Bai Xiaochun noticed the details that the Giant Ghost King had just mentioned.
Eyes flickering with killing intent, the Giant Ghost King said, “What if each of us go to a different prefecture, take out a demigod, and then meet back up?
“Master Dust-Origin of Crosspeak Prefecture is only in the early Demigod Realm. I’m a hundred percent certain that I can handle him. Next to Crosspeak Prefecture is Cloudsea Prefecture, ruled by a preceptor named Li Luohai. He’s in the mid Demigod Realm. Xiaochun, how about you handle him?”
Bai Xiaochun didn’t give a specific answer; the killing intent in his eyes said everything that needed to be said. The Giant Ghost King nodded and prepared to continue with some more information when Bai Xiaochun said, “Ghostmother runs this entire area, and she's definitely going to notice. We need to act fast. And we need to pick a good location to meet back up. If either of us are late, we don’t stick around waiting. We leave the third immortal domain and head directly toward the Saint-Emperor Dynasty!”
The fact that Bai Xiaochun had begun to participate in the planning caused the Giant Ghost King’s expression to brighten visibly. After all, he had always been impressed by how Bai Xiaochun handled everything in the Wildlands. Over the next few minutes, the two of them continued to discuss and refine the plan further. Finally, the Giant Ghost King took a deep breath and looked at Bai Xiaochun.
“Safety first!” he said. Then he turned and vanished.
With that, Bai Xiaochun looked around at the dilapidated temple in which he had spent the better part of a year. He looked at the snow and rain, and at the broken jug of alcohol.
Finally, he sent his divine sense out, covering the entire town. His eyes shone brightly now, as if the flame of his life force had finally been reignited!
“The time has come to leave…. My old pal Giant Ghost was right. I get it now…. Hope…. Hope for the people of Heavenspan. Hope for myself. Hope for Hao’er!”