Chapter 1308: Chapter 1306: The Peak Grand Era
The Outer Heaven Demons were indeed unwilling to settle for the current war results. Just half a month after the blind woman made her move, led by the Blood Sea Old Demon and the Mirror Ancestor, they brought a large army to attack.
The masters of East Victory went forth to battle one after another.
At the passage where the Array System was located, the progenitor of the Fire Stiffs, the leader of the Blade Slaves Sect, the Sorcerer Lord, the Immortal Scholar, and the Saintly Love Young Master — these five people came together to guard it, while Fairy Xinluo and the Red Jade Saint operated the Array System and assisted from the side.
Because the passage was exceedingly narrow, only the Blood Sea Old Demon and the Mirror Ancestor managed to rush in. However, since both had been injured by Shi Xuanzhong and had not yet fully recovered, under the desperate defense of the five Supreme Lords, they were barely held off.
As for the Supreme Lord battle outside the Array System and even the armies clashing, both sides had victories and losses, making it difficult to distinguish superiority for the moment.
Such battles happened almost once a month, sometimes with the Outer Heaven camp attacking, sometimes with the East Victory camp taking the initiative to strike.
Later on, perhaps realizing the futility, both sides tacitly changed from battling once a month to once every half a year.
Two years later.
A heaven-shaking Sword Qi vibrated the earth, heralding the angry return of the Limitless Sword Sovereign.
Although also gravely wounded, his strength was far greater than that of the Blood Sea Old Demon and the Mirror Ancestor. This time, the five Supreme Lords nearly couldn’t hold out.
The progenitor of the Fire Stiffs had half his body cleaved open, the Blade Slave Sect leader’s Demon Blade split in two, and his organs were nearly ground into pulp. The Sorcerer Lord, the Immortal Scholar, and others were a bloody mess, almost unable to persist any longer.
However, the Limitless Sword Sovereign and the other two were also in bad shape, teetering on the brink of collapse.
"The Demon Ruler is dead. Sooner or later, I will personally attack East Victory and slaughter every single person!"
The Heavenly Sword had been shattered by Shi Xuanzhong long ago. Using his arm as a sword and gathering his full power, the Limitless Sword Sovereigns let out a huge shout that spread throughout the South Sea and the majority of East Victory Continent, causing countless people to raise their heads and look up, feeling uneasy.
Perhaps knowing the futility of a violent assault, subsequent attacks only saw the Limitless Sword Sovereign and the Blood Sea Old Demon enter the passage, with the Mirror Ancestor and other Outer Heaven Supreme Lords attacking the Supreme Lords of East Victory, clearly intending to wage a war of attrition.
The East Victory camp immediately felt the pressure, showing signs of faltering after a few encounters.
Even during the most recent one, the five remaining members of the twelve holy envoys were nearly killed together, frightening many with a cold sweat.
At the critical moment, it was that blind woman again. She had collected countless precious resources and arranged another kind of attacking array within the Seal Heaven Array, which restrained the Mirror Ancestor and brought balance to the battle situation once again.
"The young lady is truly a remarkable person."
Fairy Xinluo looked shockingly at the woman before her who was not even a hundred years old and, apart from being blind, was almost flawless.
Shui Lingping said, "Compared to the Holy Empress’s handiwork, it is merely a minor skill."
After a pause, she added, "This Array System consumes a great deal of resources. Every three months, it must be replaced."
"Don’t worry, miss. The collection of resources is not a problem when it comes to the safety of East Victory," said the Immortal Scholar, who was nearby.
Shui Lingping might appear to be ignorant of martial arts, but no Supreme Lord dared to underestimate her and treat her as ordinary. Her array alone was as effective as a powerful Supreme Lord.
Looking at Shui Lingping’s eyes, the Immortal Scholar said, "Forgive my boldness, miss, but your eye condition does not seem to be incurable. With your abilities, why haven’t you..."
Shui Lingping smiled.
The Immortal Scholar seemed to understand, his expression becoming exceptionally complex.
"The methods of this array have been taught to you. The frontline situation of East Victory will most likely not change for at least the next hundred years. There’s no more need for my martial contribution here; it’s time for me to take my leave," Shui Lingping said.
Everyone was startled. Fairy Xinluo said, "Miss Shui, your skill in arrays surpasses even me and my fellow senior sisters, how can there be no use for your martial abilities?"
Shui Lingping said, "To be honest, this array is the pinnacle of my work and the only thing that made the two seniors take notice of me. For the rest, I believe they will not trouble you."
"Where does the young lady plan to go?" the Heavenly Demon inquired.
With the keen eyesight of those present, they knew that Shui Lingping seemed weak but was in fact very strong-willed. Such a person, once resolved, was very difficult to sway.
"I have to go to a friend’s house to help him protect his home for a hundred years," said Shui Lingping indifferently.
Everyone couldn’t help feeling that she was a case of underutilized talent, but since things had come to this point, it wasn’t possible to forcibly make her stay.
Even the progenitor of the Fire Stiffs might not have fussed over it. After all, they only saw her as a weak woman who knew nothing but arrays. They knew she couldn’t contribute anything else, and it was normal for her to propose leaving, so they didn’t bother to exert effort to retain her.
Thus, after staying in East Victory City for two years, Shui Lingping began her journey to depart.
"Immortal Scholar, what do you think?" Fairy Xinluo quietly asked.
After pondering for a moment, the Immortal Scholar said, "Frankly, this woman... she somewhat baffles me, giving the impression that she is hiding something. But regardless, she was willing to come to our aid during a crisis. I suppose she must have done her best."
Fairy Xinluo remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "I, too, want to leave this place. My master, my grandmaster, and the Holy Young Master have all... I wonder how the little Holy Young Master is doing. I’m worried something unexpected may happen."
The Immortal Scholar also fell silent, eventually saying, "Given the prestige of the Holy Monarch’s family in the world of East Victory, for the time being, no one dares to commit such an egregious act! Once the situation stabilizes completely, you and Red Jade can go and check."
Year after year.
The fighting in East Victory City remained relentless, but the frequency had been fixed to twice a year.
After all, in the long run, the lands beyond the Martial World could not withstand the attrition.
Since the disappearance of the three Semi-Broken Level powerhouses, internal strife had erupted in the Outer Heaven Demons’ territory. Coupled with the fall of over three hundred Supreme Lords on the East Victory battlefield, the balance of power in the other three worlds had also become highly unstable.
Gradually, a tug-of-war developed on all four major battlefields.
The Outer Heaven Demons couldn’t possibly divert all their forces to take down one world first, for if they did, the other worlds were very likely to come through the Void Channels and launch counterattacks.
Destroying the channels was not an option either. With the disappearance of three Celestial Masters, it was virtually impossible to rebuild them.
Gradually, the deep pits became the best place for warriors of East Victory to train. Although the death rate was extremely high, those who survived could reap great rewards.
Even the imperial court changed its policies. Death-row prisoners were no longer executed but sent in batches to the deep pits to join the East Victory army. Those who survived and performed meritorious deeds were considered for amnesty.
It could be said that the looming threat of the Outer Heaven Demons, like a sword hanging over everyone’s head, had caused the whole world of East Victory to cherish martial valor. The dedication to cultivation was now far greater than in the past.
Furthermore, with the slow but steady increase in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, in the ensuing years, a torrent of elite talents and top masters emerged, not only filling the loss of masters after the decisive battle but even showing a trend of surpassing the most prosperous times!
The ten years following the decisive battle.
The Martial Emperors of the Void Origin Realm developed explosively. Every year saw the birth of dozens of new ones, with the list of the top fifty sovereigns being replaced over and over again.
Among the group from the past, only the Heavenly Martial Emperor, Thousand Swords Emperor, Golden Silkworm Emperor, and the Undying Ancestor—veteran sovereigns—still held their ground, with the rest being new faces.
The Heaven King list also saw a major turnover of faces, excluding the Flying Horse National Master Mo Jichen. Zhang Xiangfeng and Liu Ruofei, as well as four meteorically rising thousand-year-old Martial Emperors, were new additions.
As for the Scorpion Lady and Black Abyss Elder, since the two never showed themselves from the beginning to the end, and they had feuds with Shi Xiaole, they were kicked off the list.
Among the giant figures of the past, only a few remained alive, but after ten years of development, several new faces emerged, including Xuanyuan Di, Qi Muchu, and a woman from Miaojiang named Wang Xi.
This woman was once rated the top prodigy in the Martial World (Chapter 1224), and it was unexpected that in just a few decades, she had become one of the giant figures of her generation.
Even leading some to speculate that she was the incarnation of a former Supreme Lord who chose a different path to bypass the Ten Great Dangerous Places, risking another way of cultivation and had yet to recover.
For a time, Wang Xi’s name shocked the world, even overshadowing Xuanyuan Di and Qi Muchu.
However, there was another who was even more dazzling, more famous. If Wang Xi’s name moved the world, then he could only be described as born with a divine halo.
He was the Young Master of Nine Heavens Mountain, Shi Wuyou.
Sometimes you have to believe that fate particularly favors certain individuals, and in this world, who could be luckier than Shi Wuyou?
His grandfather was a Holy Monarch, his grandmother a Holy Empress, his father a peerless sword genius that history had yet to surpass, his mother the most beautiful woman in the world, and his uncle the Sorcerer Lord who personally taught him to cultivate from the age of three.
Not to mention the nine major villa owners of Nine Heavens Mountain, such as Zhang Xiangfeng, Gui Zhihang, Mu Ling, Duanmu Keren, and others—each a peerlessly gifted master seldom found in the world.
And there was also his aunt, the omnipotent and omniscient Demon Immortal Aunt Shui Lingping, who had a deep affection for him.
Such an individual was bound to receive more resources and attention while also bearing pressures unimaginable to ordinary people, becoming the center of attention for everyone in the world.
However, Shi Wuyou did not disappoint. In fact, he performed even better than anyone could have imagined.
At the age of fifteen, Shi Xiaole was just a disciple of the Huajian Sect of Mountain Luyan, barely at the second level of Hidden Qi.
Yet at the age of fifteen, Shi Wuyou was already a real Earth Immortal of the Divine Barrier Realm, advancing his father’s youngest record of Earth Immortal by a full twelve years!
When the news spread, the entire world was in an uproar, and even the more than thirty Supreme Lords in East Victory City were alerted.
Even more terrifying was the rumor that on the same day Shi Wuyou made his breakthrough, he crossed swords with a third-level Elder of the Divine Border Realm from the Divine Sword Villa and defeated him with a single strike.
The Elder exclaimed, "The Young Master’s bearing surpasses even the Villa leader at his age!"
That afternoon, Shi Wuyou descended the mountain with his sword. Everyone knew he was emulating his own father by entering the Martial World at the same age, set to stir up immense waves.
In the years that followed, Shi Wuyou swept through the Martial World.
With his unrivaled talent and unparalleled swordsmanship, he defeated one venerable swordsman after another, continually reshaping the world’s recognition of him.
Because he inherited the best of his father’s and mother’s appearance and temperament, he was recognized as the most handsome man in the world. Wherever he went, daughters of noble families and extraordinary women in the Martial World secretly fell for him.
Some disdained this, believing that Shi Wuyou merely benefited from the legacy of his elders, and that, unlike ordinary people, he didn’t dare to go to the front lines in East Victory to truly battle the Outer Heaven Demons.
Shi Wuyou did not retort and continued as he pleased.
It wasn’t until years later that an Elder from a major sect stepped forward.
"The Young Villa Master has long been to the battlefield; he fought more fiercely than anyone. This life of mine was saved by him. The Young Master doesn’t clarify because he doesn’t care about reputation, but I cannot be ungrateful. You can all quiet down now."
After that, more respectable and well-known masters spoke up in support of Shi Wuyou.
Savvy individuals noticed that the times these people went to the battlefield, the earliest could be traced back three years. In other words, Shi Wuyou had gone to East Victory City for his first mission at the age of fifteen?
In fact, the people saved by Shi Wuyou were not limited to these few. Unfortunately, only these individuals had the fortune to meet the Young Master at Nine Heavens Mountain and therefore recognized him.
At the age of twenty-six, Shi Wuyou achieved the level of Void Origin Sword Emperor, advancing his father’s youngest record of Sword Emperor by thirteen years!
The world was astounded!
That year, Shi Wuyou returned to Nine Heavens Mountain and officially took over the leadership of Divine Sword Villa.
From then on, Nine Heavens Mountain entered a brand-new era.
The world was also replete with prodigies standing side by side, heroes vying for prominence. A peak era more exciting, more dazzling, and more prosperous than the past was gradually unfolding!
