The Desolate Era

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.

“Eh?” The Xia Emperor raised his head, frowning. As the master of the Grand Xia and a man of tremendous power, he could vaguely sense that karma and luck were changing.

“When the hearts of the citizens are with us, luck shall gather here. When their hearts are quaking, luck shall disperse,” the Xia Emperor said softly. The hearts of the citizens could, to a certain extent, have an impact on karmic luck. But of course, this wasn’t absolute; there were many factors which could impact karmic luck; for example, if the Grand Xia suddenly gave birth to ten Empyrean Gods or True Immortals, its karmic luck would immediately increase by an explosive amount.

In the end...what really mattered the most was personal strength.

As for the hearts of the citizens? That was secondary.

In an ordinary world of mortals, it might be important, but this was a world of Immortals and Fiends; power was what truly mattered. But of course, the hearts of the citizens couldn’t be completely neglected; the more karmic luck one had, the better. Karmic luck was simply far too important! It impacted the amount of natural energy one could use and the chances one had of acquiring precious treasures. For example, acquiring Protocosmic spirit-treasures, or perhaps even the legendary Chaos treasures that were born from the primordial chaos itself, required tremendous amounts of luck!

But of course, if your power was on the level of Nuwa, things would be different.

Nuwa was the most powerful figure of the entire Three Realms, and her luck was indisputably the best as well. She was so powerful that she could destroy Heaven and Earth; even if others found treasures, she could take them away by force. Simply put, she was far too powerful...and power made up an enormous component of ‘karmic luck’. When there wasn’t such an enormous different in power, however, other aspects would be more important.

At present, it was clear that neither the Seamless Gate nor the Nuwa Alliance had enough power to wipe their enemies out, and so they naturally would fight over karmic luck.

“I’ll make a short trip,” the Xia Emperor said softly.

Whoosh.

A white-robed Xia Emperor appeared out of nowhere, then immediately left the side hall.

Moments later.

A similarly sonorous, booming voice rang out, seeming to have descended from the very heights of the Nine Heavens, filling every inch of the Grand Xia.

“Whitepole, child, years ago you were nothing more than a hound for a defeated clan; you supinely knelt before me, quivering in abject terror. Now that you have joined with a few other contemptible figures, you dare speak of ‘a million Immortals’ and dare rebel against me? These are my heavens, and this is MY world. No one should even think about taking it away. Whitepole, little boy, can it be that you have forgotten what happened to all of the other marquises who rebelled against me? Every single one who rebelled had their souls shattered. There have never been any exceptions, and there never will.” The Xia Emperor’s dominating voice was filled with a natural, exalted aura that radiated power.

First True Immortal Whitepole’s voice, then the Xia Emperor’s voice; they came one after the other, both shaking the world.

True Immortal Whitepole’s voice was more callous and grim, while the Xia Emperor’s voice carried a natural aura of command that came from his countless years of domination over the Grand Xia, making it even more persuasive.

“That’s the voice of the Xia Emperor?”

“The voice of the master of our Grand Xia?”

“I heard that ever since the Fiendgod Era, there’s only been a single Emperor of the Grand Xia...him, the Xia Emperor.”

The countless citizens of the Grand Xia went wild.

The Xia Emperor was a legend! Even tribes of ordinary humans knew that their land was the land of the Grand Xia Dynasty. Now, upon hearing someone say that ‘these are my heavens, and this is MY world’, they all understood that it had to be the master of the Grand Xia Dynasty who was saying these words.

“So there had been marquises who rebelled in the past?”

“It makes sense. Even our clan has had traitors and rebellions in our history; it’s normal for the Grand Xia to have had rebellions as well.”

The countless mortals of the ordinary tribes all took this to mean that this was nothing more than yet another ‘ordinary’ rebellion.

Their tribes were fairly new, after all; they didn’t really understand what the difference was between this rebellion and past ones. The Xia Emperor had intentionally muddied the waters, and there was no way for True Immortal Whitepole to explain the difference at all. The Xia Emperor’s influence within the Grand Xia was simply too great; he had ruled it for countless ages, and the subjugation his subjects felt towards him was bone-deep.

......

The Xia Emperor could sense the karmic luck of the world once more gathering and stabilizing. This was how swaying the hearts of the citizens worked; you relied on power, and you relied on your mouth. A single mouth could cause the hearts of the citizens to either gather behind you or to leave you behind.

“Let’s go.” The black-robed Xia Emperor gave the order. “It is time for us to battle against the Seamless Gate.”

Whoosh.

The five True Immortals/Empyrean Gods, Ji Ning, and the other eight commanders all followed the Xia Emperor in leaving the side hall, flying out into the air.

The imperial plaza. The eleven thousand Celestial Immortals and million Loose Immortals had already been divided into ten brigades. Ning and the other eight commanders would lead nine of them,, while the Xia Emperor would control the remaining one.

“The Seamless Gate has already declared war.” The black-robed Xia Emperor looked downwards, his voice booming forth. Trying to deceive these Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals was pointless, and so he said straightforwardly, “Only one side can win in this battle. What we need to do...is head out and completely crush them.”

“Fight!”

Instantly, people began to call out from below him.

“Fight.”

“Fight.”

“Fight!”

A million Immortals all called out the word ‘fight’ in unison, each of them filled with powerful will and determination. Their voices rang out together as they called for battle, and it seemed as though the heavens themselves were about to collapse. It was a joint howl that seemed to carry the power to break apart the world, filling each of the Immortals with ardor and eagerness. Who said that Immortals were always calm and had no emotions? In truth, it was that things would rarely excite them to this degree!

“This is a Protocosmic spirit-treasure, the Eight Dragons Cloudcity.” The black-robed Xia Emperor waved his hand, and a palm-sized citadel appeared within his palm. It flew into the skies, then quickly began to expand in size.

This was a completely golden citadel, and it was surrounded by an enormous base of clouds. Eight azure dragons were swimming around it, filled with awe-inspiring power.

“Eight dragons swimming around a city in the clouds?” Ning and the others stared at the eight azure dragons, feeling rather stunned.

“Nine generals!” The black-robed Xia Emperor called out.

“Present!” Ning and the other eight responded.

“Command your Immortals and enter the Eight Dragons Cloudcity,” the black-robed Xia Emperor said.

“Yes!”

Ning and the other eight immediately flew forward, and behind them flew an awe-inspiring horde of Immortals. A thousand Celestial Immortals and a hundred thousand Loose Immortals were behind each of them!

“All the other Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals, follow me. I will be our field marshal in our campaign against the Seamless Gate!” The black-robed Xia Emperor was filled with an awe-inspiring aura of power as he led the five True Immortals/Empyrean Gods and the many remaining Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals into the city.

Now, the Eight Dragons Cloudcity had become a true military headquarters for an Immortal army.