Chapter 1278: Chapter 1276: Slaughter until No One is Left in East Victory
Che Renzhong was the first to speak up. "Little Junior Brother, things haven’t reached the worst point yet, have they?"
Shi Xiaole nodded his head, which moderately improved the mood of the other two, saying, "Actually, within the Ten Great Dangerous Places, there lie the Sky Origin Realm Supreme Lords from sixteen thousand years ago, many of whom are not dead."
The Great Battles Emperor and Spirit Ink Emperor exchanged glances, their eyes brimming with surprise, but seeing the grave expression on Shi Xiaole’s face, they immediately knew things were not that simple.
"When the Celestial Masters from Outer Heaven launch a large-scale invasion, the Supreme Lords from East Victory will also act collectively. However, sixteen thousand years ago, our East Victory suffered heavy losses, and the entire world weakened to an extreme point, not giving birth to even a single new Supreme Lord, but as for the lands beyond..."
Shi Xiaole left the rest unsaid, yet the three present had already understood.
In the past, the world of East Victory had fought to the brink of exhaustion, entire lands cracked from the fierce battles, barely managing to repel the Outer Heaven Demons.
Now, the fighting strength of East Victory’s Supreme Lords had hardly increased.
In contrast, the land beyond was teeming with outstanding individuals; with sixteen thousand years of accumulation, it was unknown how many new Supreme Lords they had, and with their full-force attack imminent, East Victory’s future was worrying!
In an instant, the joy from the Great Battles Emperor and Spirit Ink Emperor’s recent victory vanished, replaced by endless anxiety and fear.
As for Che Renzhong, during his short years studying martial arts under Shi Xuanzhong, he had occasionally learned some inner circle secrets and already knew what to expect.
"Is there really no solution?"
The Great Battles Emperor murmured.
He could imagine how desperate the world of East Victory would become if this news got out, almost like the sky was falling.
"Perhaps those slumbering Supreme Lords from East Victory have already found a solution, and our worry is useless. There’s not much time left, both of you, please make arrangements as soon as possible."
Hearing Shi Xiaole say this, the Great Battles Emperor and Spirit Ink Emperor felt even more suffocated, but they also knew that with their abilities, they truly couldn’t change anything.
Shaking their heads and after a bit more conversation, the two bid their farewells and flew back to the Hundred Battles Tower with gloomy faces.
"The world of East Victory’s past could not accommodate Supreme Lords; otherwise, with those two’s potential, they might have already stepped into the Sky Origin Realm."
Watching their retreating figures, Che Renzhong spoke thoughtfully.
Suddenly, Shi Xiaole asked, "Senior Brother, how many clones did my father cultivate?"
He had long known of Che Renzhong’s dual cultivation, and even after the last three-way battle, Che Renzhong had shared the method of dual cultivation with Shi Xiaole.
Linking the different appearances of Shi Xuanzhong at different times, some speculations were easily confirmed.
"I don’t know. The master I met back then must also have been one of the clones, with no complete memories, completely unaware of how far the original had progressed."
Che Renzhong’s face reflected admiration, wonder, and respect as he said, "I don’t consider myself devoid of talent, but in eight hundred years, I only cultivated a single clone, and that clone has only reached the level of the Forbidden Martial Emperor."
"The reason I merged the two bodies was not because I was eager to become the master of Fate but because I sensed a bottleneck. I feared it might take thousands of years to break through, yet the great war is impending, and I simply cannot afford to wait."
The Supreme Lords of old, in their quest to become stronger and prolong their lives, had conceived various outlandish methods, leaving one in awe, yet most remained theoretical and unachievable.
Dual cultivation with a single body was one of the most notable among these methods, but what set it apart was how the Holy Monarch, with his heaven-defying ability, actually made it feasible.
Che Renzhong was one such example.
But he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to truly follow this path. With his unparalleled talent, he could only be confident in cultivating both bodies to the level of a powerhouse within five thousand years.
To advance further, the difficulty would not just double or triple, but increase tenfold.
Even though merging would massively augment strength, to the point of maybe becoming an absolute powerhouse among Supreme Lords, how many could complete it?
Yet, Che Renzhong suspected that the Holy Monarch’s undertaking involved far more than just two bodies, perhaps many more than that number, but he dared not fathom the exact amount!
Even with the master’s potential, to complete this path within sixteen thousand years would still be incredibly arduous.
"How powerful was that clone?"
Shi Xiaole asked.
"At that time, over six hundred years ago, he should have been at the level of the Forbidden Martial Emperor,"
Che Renzhong recalled.
Shi Xiaole fell silent.
With the Holy Monarch’s strength and ambition, it was likely he wanted every clone to reach the level of the Sky Origin Realm before merging, but only being at the level of Forbidden Martial Emperor six hundred years ago, it was hard to believe he could become a Supreme Lord in the near future.
It’s worth noting that once one cultivates clones, the inherent talent gets distributed. The more clones there are, the more diluted each one’s talent becomes. And if any of the clones meets with an accident, it leads to a decline in the overall potential.
This was indeed the most dangerous and difficult aspect of the method.
How far had Shi Xuanzhong progressed?
Shi Xiaole shook his head. Before the true and ultimate calamity arrived, he felt so powerless, but at least for now, it was not yet the end times. He smiled and said, "Senior Brother, you’ll have a tough time in the coming period."
East Victory City must have a titan in command, and according to the rotation decided by the four, Che Renzhong was the first, responsible for two years’ time.
...
"A bunch of rubbish creatures."
Within the Overlapping Land, the Nine Heavens Ancestor, who was in retreat, only learned of the outcome of the battle three months later and immediately cursed out loud. The air around him grew cold, frightening the reporting Outer Heaven expert into trembling.
"The Wansheng Madman had an enormous reputation, yet he died, so why are you still alive?"
Bang!
The reporting expert from Outer Heaven was obliterated, not a bone remained.
"Nine Heavens, you really are despicable."
A mocking voice entered the ears of the Nine Heavens Ancestor.
"Mingguang, what do you mean by that?"
Mingguang Ancestor, one of the four Sky Origin Realm Supreme Lords who transcended boundaries.
"You clearly knew about this long ago, yet you deliberately used seclusion as an excuse. It took you three months to show up, if not to shirk responsibility, then what?"
Mingguang Ancestor said with a smile.
"Aren’t the three of you doing the same thing?"
The Nine Heavens Ancestor retorted.
The family of the Wansheng Madman was one of the giant families from the lands beyond, and its ancestor was a highly notorious Supreme Lord. Sixteen hundred thousand years ago, they had slain the Supreme Lord of East Victory; their strength was even above the four of us, including the Nine Heavens Ancestor.
Even so, they wouldn’t risk attacking Shi Xiaole just for the Wansheng Madman.
Previously, revealing their spirit bodies to go to the countryside of East Victory was to set up the Holy Monarch, a price worth paying, and there was plenty of time to recover fully.
But now, with at most two or three years until the full assault, they could not afford to act on a whim and reduce the rage of that great figure, for if they missed the great battle, regret would be late to come.
After all, with the Celestial Master providing cover, even if that great figure sought revenge, they did not dare to kill them.
"Although the death of the Wansheng Madman doesn’t affect us, if the people of East Victory continue to be so smug, it won’t be pleasant for me, and it will be difficult to explain to those above."
Mingguang Ancestor changed the subject.
"Easy, get those twenty-seven forces to take action. Cause a huge commotion in East Victory, kill and then run. After all, no one can track down their whereabouts."
The Nine Heavens Ancestor said indifferently.
"Good!"
The other three laughed heartily at the words.
...
On the way back, praises for Shi Xiaole could be heard everywhere, but fortunately, the group from Nine Heavens Mountain deliberately kept a low profile, avoiding much of the enthusiastic disturbance from people.
Shi Xiaole did not immerse himself in the immense vanity, he rarely showed his face, appearing only in front of his closest few. The rest of his time, he spent cultivating.
A piece of Fate Stone quietly hovered; it was Che Renzhong’s item, but after he finished refining it with his mental strength, it was useless for him, so he gave it to Shi Xiaole.
With two-tenths of the mental energy remaining inside, Shi Xiaole certainly would not give up. Absorbing it frantically, his degree of mental refinement rose from seventy-one percent, continually increasing until it reached eighty-five percent.
Flitter flutter.
The Fate Stone crumbled to dust.
"Now I should be able to unleash the Extreme Divine Tribulation ten times in succession."
The higher the degree of mental refinement, the greater the benefits each increase brought.
If Shi Xiaole were to face Wansheng Madman again, he believed that even without using ’Heart Thunder One Sword,’ he could defeat the opponent with mental tactics alone.
However, this was not enough to make Shi Xiaole happy.
Supreme Lords and giants, although their mental refinement was a hundred percent, at the level of Sky Origin Realm, mental strength was no longer separate, but fused with martial arts, all under the control of the spirit body.
In other words, Shi Xiaole had to use his mental tactics against the spirit tactics of a Supreme Lord. Therefore, even if his mental quality was on par with a Supreme Lord, he had no confidence in overcoming them.
Unless he could refine his mental strength to one hundred percent, then, perhaps, there might be hope!
This was Shi Xiaole’s plan for response, and at present, the only method he considered reliable.
But where in the world could one find a method for rapid mental refinement?
Ten Great Dangerous Places!
Almost immediately, these four words emerged in Shi Xiaole’s mind. Those slumbering Supreme Lords, each a scholar of ancient and modern times with heaven-reaching tactics, perhaps he could find the answer from them.
And judging from the attitudes of the Heavenly Demons and others, his identity as the son of a Holy Monarch seemed useful; it was unlikely anyone would dare harm him.
A few days later, the group returned to Nine Heavens Mountain, naturally treated like heroes. Under Zhu Ling’s arrangements, the ten great villas held banquets for three days and nights, finally alleviating the sorrow brought by the loss of companions and rejuvenating the spirit of everyone on Nine Heavens Mountain.
Shi Xiaole originally wanted to set out immediately for the Ten Great Dangerous Places, but the situation reported by Qu Wuyan made him frown.
"During the previous pit battle, those twenty-seven Outer Heaven Demons destroyed over sixty percent of the top forces in the world, leaving only those with powerful protective Array Systems. Our Nine Heavens Mountain was also attacked, but luckily the Nine Profound Array was exquisite enough not to be broken."
Qu Wuyan’s pretty face was icy as she said, "Just a month ago, these people seemed very dissatisfied and started committing crimes everywhere again. According to Divine Strategy Academy’s message, in just one month, they have already killed tens of millions of East Victory’s martial artists. They kill every day and are even bragging that they will continue until no one is left in East Victory!"
The population of East Victory world was numerous, but it couldn’t withstand the constant drain over the years.
Especially after a major battle, as the entire Martial World was recuperating, once the news spread widely, it would surely cause panic among East Victory’s people.
The most hateful part was that these twenty-seven Outer Heaven Demons, each powerful and slippery, with no one knowing where they hid. Without knowing where they would strike next, there was no way to defend against them.
