Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

……

The world-notifying formation was set up. True Immortal Whitepole stood there in its center, staring coldly towards the vast, infinite Void. He immediately said in a sonorous voice, “The Xia Emperor is tyrannical and brutal, without the Dao. In the face of the storm…I, True Immortal Whitepole, now command an army of a million Immortals to follow the will of the Dao of the Heavens in campaigning against the Xia!”

True Immortal Whitepole’s voice reverberated throughout the 3600 commanderies and four seas of the Grand Xia.

Mortals, beasts, Diremonsters, cultivators…

They all could hear this voice.

This was a voice that echoed throughout every inch of the vast Grand Xia!

It represented…that the curtains had been lifted upon a massive war between Immortals within the Grand Xia!





* * *





Book 18, Chapter 8 - Eight Dragons Cloudcity


Within a side hall of the Skylight Palace.

The Xia Emperor, the five True Immortals/Empyrean Gods, and Ji Ning and the rest of the nine commanders were all present here. The nine had already learned the critical components to the Heaven Punisher Formation, and had immediately understood the secrets to the entire formation.

“So to unleash the full power of the Heaven Punisher Formation, one actually needs 810,000 Loose Immortals and 9000 Celestial Immortals led by one powerful expert. Only then does it reach maximum power, and will the Heaven Punisher reach its full, perfect power.” Celestial Immortal Allbeasts stroked his thick beard, sighing in amazement. “Nine represents a limit. Nine by nine, eighty one…this truly is a perfect formation.”

“Right.”

“If 810,000 Loose Immortals and 9000 Celestial Immortals were under my command, then the power of this formation would definitely rise dramatically.” Celestial Immortal Whacko revealed an eager look on his face as well.

The Xia Emperor, seated on his throne, just laughed. “Indeed, a perfect Heaven Punisher Formation does involve 810,000 Loose Immortals and 9000 Celestial Immortals under a single commander. A perfect formation would allow your Heaven Punishers to increase in power by one or two levels. However…forget about the perfect Heaven Punisher Formation, even the simplified one that only involves 100,000 Loose Immortals and 1000 Celestial Immortals summons more natural energy than you can handle. In addition, there’s a limit to the number of Loose Immortals and Celestial Immortals available to us; our Grand Xia would only be able to produce a single perfect Heaven Punisher, but we can make more than ten of the simple ones!”

Ji Ning and the others all nodded.

Right.

Actually, the difference in power between the simplified and the perfect Heaven Punishers wasn’t that great; at most, the simplified ones would be at a disadvantage in a head-on battle. In a battle where one side was perfectly countered by the other, such as when a Ki Refiner was forced into close combat by a Fiendgod, the result would be a slaughter…but when two Fiendgods fought in close combat, and there was just a minor difference in power between the two, at most one would be able to suppress the other.

A slightly stronger Fiendgod, or ten slightly weaker Fiendgods? In a time of war…the Xia Emperor naturally knew which one to pick.

Suddenly…

A sonorous voice rang out, shaking the world and transmitting straight into the Skylight Palace. Or perhaps it could be said that this voice shook every single inch of this major world.

“The Xia Emperor is tyrannical and brutal, without the Dao. In the face of the storm…I, True Immortal Whitepole, now command an army of a million Immortals to follow the will of the Dao of the Heavens in campaigning against the Xia!”

“Campaigning against the Xia!” “Campaigning against the Xia!” “Campaigning against the Xia!” …

The voice echoed nonstop within the world.

……

The citizens of the imperial capital of the Grand Xia were incredibly proud figures, but during the past half month, they had been consumed with awed discussions regarding the countless Immortals who had entered the imperial palace, as well as the three hundred-plus shocking explosions that they had heard over the course of the past day and night. They had questions…they had suspicions…

But now, everything had been clearly and publicly laid out this day!

“The Xia Emperor is tyrannical and brutal, without the Dao. In the face of the storm…I, True Immortal Whitepole, now command an army of a million Immortals to follow the will of the Dao of the Heavens in campaigning against the Xia!”

A voice rang out from the ends of the world, instantly causing all of the countless denizens of the imperial capital to become stunned. And then…they went berserk.

“Campaign against the Grand Xia?”

“True Immortal Whitepole? Can it be that he is a Pure Yang True Immortal?”

“An army of a million Immortals? Is this real?”

The citizens of the imperial capital were all extraordinary figures; they knew that Pure Yang True Immortals sat above Celestial Immortals in power.

“No wonder countless Immortals gathered at the imperial palace. No wonder! It seems that they are there to deal with the revolt of this True Immortal Whitepole.”

“True Immortal Whitepole is incredible; he’s actually able to command an army of over a million Immortals. Immortals! And more than a million of them? This is just…”

“Can this ‘True Immortal Whitepole’ be the ancestor of the Whitepole clan?”

All sorts of conversations.

The local citizens were shocked and uneasy. However, over the course of countless years, the imperial capital had always been safe. In addition, there had been several marquis-led revolutions in the past, none of which had reached the imperial capital. Thus, the local dwellers were still filled with confident towards the Xia Emperor.

……

“Campaign against the Grand Xia?”

“An army of a million Immortals?”

“Good heavens…”

……

“This voice seems to be ringing out everywhere at the same time.”

“True Immortal Whitepole? What’s a True Immortal? Can it be that there is actually something more powerful than a Celestial Immortal? A million Immortals…our entire sect has only a single Immortal!”

“No wonder our Flamedoor Commandery has been in such a state of chaos. It seems the world is about to change…”

……

Every place in the vast land of the Grand Xia, including the four seas that surrounded it…every human, beast, Diremonster, cultivator…they all heard these words, and they all had their own thoughts. The reference to an ‘army of a million Immortals’ caused particular astonishment and terror. Given that the entire Grand Xia was in a state of chaos to begin with, many mortals with limited experience thought to themselves, “The Grand Xia is probably finished! More than a million legendary Immortals…good heavens!”

Even the more experienced individuals were terror-stricken. “Does the entire Grand Xia even have a million Immortals in it? Hard to say. It is going to be hard for the Grand Xia to win this battle. We might lose.”

Everyone felt restless and uneasy. These simple words had already thrown everyone into a state of confusion and chaos.

The imperial capital of the Grand Xia. A side hall in the Skylight Palace.

Upon hearing these words, the Xia Emperor’s face changed, as did the faces of the others with him.

“It’s finally begun,” Ning murmured silently to himself.