Chapter 1221: Chapter 1219: Two Great Divine Artifacts (8/10 for ’poonlo’)
Before leaving, Shi Xiaole found Meng Chou and Shi Fu.
"Shi Xuanzhong?"
Meng Chou and Shi Fu exchanged glances, both shaking their heads.
Shi Fu said, "After the great war that lasted over a hundred thousand years, many of our clan’s bloodlines were scattered. Over the years, some have returned, but we don’t recognize your father, and his name isn’t in the family records."
How strange!
Shi Xiaole clearly remembered that the National Master was very familiar with Peach Blossom Village, not only aware of the Ancestral Altar beneath the Zrin Kingdom but also knew the method of guidance.
Moreover, it was Shi Xuanzhong himself who told Ling Jingsi that he came from Peach Blossom Village!
Of course, Shi Xuanzhong, who single-handedly established the Golden Abyss Alliance, was at least a figure from five thousand years ago, so it was normal for the people of Peach Blossom Village today to have not seen him, but shouldn’t there be a record in the family records?
Shi Xiaole didn’t think Shi Xuanzhong had changed his name, as there was no need.
So, had Shi Xuanzhong deceived Ling Jingsi, or?
He had planned to follow the vine to the melon, but now, Shi Xiaole found it difficult to speak of the Demon Bone, as it related to whether he was truly of the Shi clan’s bloodline.
Given the importance that both the Meng and Shi clans placed on lineage, Shi Xiaole was afraid they wouldn’t be able to handle the shock.
"Xiaole, do you have something you want to say? It’s all right, there’s no need for courtesy in front of us," Shi Fu, who was rough yet discerning, said with a chuckle upon seeing Shi Xiaole’s hesitancy.
Shi Xiaole said, "It’s nothing, I’m just preparing to leave Peach Blossom Village to adventure in some places and see if I can improve my cultivation."
Hearing this, Meng Chou and Shi Fu were unsettled but then thought that perhaps it was this relentless attitude that had led Shi Xiaole to his current achievements.
The two smiled wryly and didn’t stop him. With Shi Xiaole’s strength, they didn’t have the right to stop him, they could only repeatedly instruct him to be cautious.
Besides, in a few days, they were also planning to meet the chieftains of Affectionate Island and Yang Town to go to some places to prepare for the upcoming battle.
Without causing a stir among the Meng and Shi clan members, Shi Xiaole took Uncle Wang and Yan Zhenning and departed on the same day.
"You look very much like your father, but your personalities are different. He was kind and generous, full of passion, while you only show your smile to those you care about."
When passing the entrance of the village, the bald elder murmured.
"Old senior, did you know my father?"
Shi Xiaole was shaken and turned sharply to look at the bald elder.
The bald elder sat under an old tree, wearing a vintage wide robe, seemingly not noticing Shi Xiaole’s discomposure, only gazing in a certain direction, "Do you believe that I watched him grow up? Until he turned eighteen, he didn’t leave Peach Blossom Village."
"But there’s no record of him in the village’s family tree."
Shi Xiaole’s breathing hastened.
The bald elder laughed, his lonely and cold eyes showing a hint of warmth and reminiscence, "Of course not, because... have you ever wondered where the parents and ancestors of people like Meng Chou went? Some of them became pseudo Sky Origin masters, living tens of thousands of years is not difficult for them."
Shi Xiaole had thought about this question and had even asked Meng Xiaoliu, but he couldn’t say, seeming as if it was a taboo in Peach Blossom Village.
"One day, they will appear, and that day won’t be far off. Child, go. Although your father is not a Shi clan member and cannot be recorded in the family tree, his relationship with you is closer than that of the clan. That bone was planted inside you by him specifically to protect you."
These words were transmitted to Shi Xiaole’s ears through voice transmission. The sound was not loud, but it struck Shi Xiaole’s mind like a thunderbolt, leaving his brain blank and his thoughts in turmoil.
Shi Xuanzhong wasn’t really a Shi clansman, so he also wasn’t of the bloodline from beyond the heavens.
Then what did he mean by being closer than the clan?
And the Demon Bone, why did he say it was planted inside his body by Shi Xuanzhong to protect him?
Shi Xiaole wanted to ask more, but the bald elder no longer paid him any attention, only staring blankly into the distance, murmuring as if calculating some date.
"Thank you, senior."
After standing in a daze for quite a while, Shi Xiaole suppressed the surging emotions, gave the elder a deep bow, and then set out from Peach Blossom Village with Uncle Wang and Yan Zhenning.
There were some truths that he was determined to uncover by himself. And Shi Xiaole had a feeling that day would not be very far off.
...
What Shi Xiaole didn’t know was that, months ago, just as he had returned to the East Victory continent and made his way to Peach Blossom Village, an unprecedented event took place in the Martial World.
Ship after ship arrived from the distant East Sea and docked at the ports of a certain city within the Flying Horse Dynasty. The ships’ flags fluttered in the wind, with a bizarre blade embroidered on them.
On the same day.
Within the city, officials and martial sects all bowed their heads, swearing allegiance to the master of the ships.
In just a short seven days, this force spread like plague with astonishing speed, twenty-seven cities and twelve first-rate forces pledged loyalty, willing to serve the master of the ships.
Another month passed.
Two of the twenty-nine capitals of the Flying Horse Dynasty had successively fallen, switching allegiances, becoming part of the territory of the master of the ships!
One must know that a capital governs hundreds of states, and each state has jurisdiction over dozens or hundreds of territories; no one could imagine how that mysterious force managed to do all this within a little over a month.
Some said, the warriors from Japan, one and all like demons.
Those subdued by them saw rapid increases in strength in a short period and then were sent out in groups to tame more people, going round and round like a snowball growing larger as it rolled.
Others said, the master from Japan had a mysterious Demon Blade capable of controlling people’s wills, hence wherever it went, all bowed down, and no one could resist.
For a time, the people of the Martial World spoke of blades with a change of color, and all kinds of discussions emerged, with the event’s influence growing ever more extensive. Just as people were wondering why the royal family of the Flying Horse Dynasty had not taken action, a major incident occurred in Sky City.
His Royal Highness King Jin, the fourth son of the current Emperor, astonishingly, during a time of national calamity, joined forces with two of the major royal guards to launch the earth-shattering "Coup of Sky City"!
The imperial city was drenched in blood, with corpses strewn across the fields. Only on this day did the common people of Sky City realize that the always gentle and smiling King Jin hid such thunderous means.
Quietly, he had managed to win over many peerless masters in Sky City and controlled two of the three major royal guards.
Zhou Ting, who was known as the staunch confidante of the Crown Prince and the head of the Jixia Martial Academy, led a significant number of the academy’s elite to be the first to side with King Jin, becoming his vanguard commander.
Under the executioner’s blade, countless heads of great value fell to the ground, including those of national dignitaries and royal relatives, with three princes losing their lives!
Under the Array System of Sky City, individual valor was weakened to the extreme. King Jin, holding two guards and one guard battalion, almost seized the throne.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Mu Yuanhao, who had made a name for himself in the Fate battle, stood out alone to face many masters. By narrowly escaping death, he killed many peerless experts, including Zhou Ting.
Later, under Mu Yuanhao’s strategical commands, after three days and nights of bloody battle, all the rebels were executed or captured.
That night, people found the corpse of Fujiki Okubo, the guard of King Jin, with King Jin’s whereabouts unknown.
The next day, having made major contributions to the Emperor’s protection, Mu Yuanhao was promoted to be the commander of the imperial guards, in charge of the three major royal guards and all military forces of Sky City.
The world was in an uproar!
The power that came with such authority almost allowed one to control everything in Sky City, meaning even the Emperor was within his range of control, not to mention the Crown Prince Mu Yuanchen who was almost invisible in this event.
What shocked people the most was that the appointment was personally drafted by the Crown Prince acting as regent.
Some people belatedly realized that among the entire bloody event, King Jin was the biggest loser, not only exposing his strength but also facing an uncertain fate. The biggest beneficiary, undoubtedly, was Mu Yuanhao who had long been lurking behind the scenes.
Considering his performance in the battle of Fate, could it be that he was the one...
Japan’s Demon Blade clan was still expanding. In the second month, they increased their control from two capital cities to five.
The Flying Horse Dynasty sent tens of millions of troops to confront them, but they were defeated by the original Flying Horse Dynasty forces that now obeyed the Demon Blade clan. Confirmed reports stated that those who submitted to the master of the Demon Blades saw unprecedented surges in their strength.
The third month.
Countless people saw a wickedly brilliant blade light rise from Shuntian Capital, cross rivers from north to south, span the gap between heaven and earth, and directly strike at the imperial city in the center of Sky City!
The celebrated Array System of Sky City was instantly torn asunder by the blade light.
The world was silenced.
Clang...
A vast image of a Divination Trigram appeared above the imperial city, blocking this world-shaking blade.
White South Mountain brows, an elegant and profound facial expression; the legendary National Master, who had never shown his face, appeared before the world for the first time, looking incredibly majestic.
"You are indeed a distinguished disciple of the Vast Air Mysterious Gate, possessing some of the flair of the past Hidden Dragon," the voice, ethereal yet imbued with a kind of magic, said, emanating from the wicked blade light as the second blade came slashing down, plunging the whole world into despair.
"But you don’t have the strength of the original Blade Slave, and can only rely on this divine weapon to deceive the perception of the heavens and the earth, briefly wielding the Sky Origin Power, at the cost of significant backlash," the National Master said with a faint smile, bringing his hands together. The trigram split into eight parts, arranged in a specific order like an alternate world, pulling the blade radiance into it.
"Aren’t you also flaunting your power thanks to this flawed divine artifact, the Divination Trigrams?" the master of the Demon Blade retorted disdainfully.
"My dear Senior Brother, I never imagined that not only did you obtain the precious treasure of our sect but you’ve also cultivated the Heaven and Earth Divination Skill to a state of perfection," Zhou Ziheng said with a hint of admiration as he watched the scene from afar in a manor. Beside him, Fu Shuijing was spellbound, unable to conceive the magnificence of such power.
On a distant and silent mountain peak where clouds drifted aimlessly, there lived a woman who was a marvel of Fate envied by the heavens, and so they blinded her. Sensing the vibrations of the trigram, the woman ran a hand through her temple hair with a helpless sigh escaping her lips.
"Mr. Liu, is that your Senior Brother?" Wen Yuxing asked with wide eyes outside a cottage at the foot of a mountain. A beautiful woman was clutching his arm, gazing at him with affectionate eyes.
Liu Niansheng replied with a somber tone, "Yes, that’s him. I thought he entered the imperial city to repay the Flying Horse Emperor for his past kindness. It seems I was wrong; we were all wrong. He truly intends to aid Mu Yuanhao in claiming the pinnacle of the nine extremities of the world!"
The Heaven and Earth Divination Skill, as powerful as it was, still couldn’t withstand the heavenly demonic blade light, and after the third strike, it finally split in two.
"Japan has prepared for years, and Lord Demon Blade is unparalleled in the world. Who can stop him? This world is destined to be dominated by Japan," the fugitive King Jin declared from a hillside, his clothes torn and tattered as he laughed maniacally.
As the blade light was about to split the imperial city, a huge hand emitting purple energy suddenly rose against it, shielding against the blade light. Only a few saw that within the palm of the hand hid a seed of purple energy.
"Five Extreme nurtured purple qi, I thought you were dead," the master of the Demon Blade said, a bit surprised.
"The fate of this world is not yet sealed. How could I possibly die?" A venerable old man with white hair and a commanding presence, clothed in an imperial robe with nine dragons, slowly stepped out from the depths of the palace.
The Flying Horse Emperor, long rumored to be gravely ill and close to death, had not only survived but cultivated a martial art that shook the heavens and the earth! (Chapter 909)
Countless people were left speechless by the revelation.
