534 Galactic Turmoil
"FEND IT OFF!" shouted one of generals as an incoming explosion of flames and power was threatening to eradicate the entire planet.
Hundreds of thousands of cultivators all bonded together, fusing their Qi then raised their hands, manifesting a protective Qi barrier that was powered by an ungodly amount of Qi.
The incoming blast struck against the barrier, killing tens of thousands of the cultivators fueling it in an instant, and then the blast killed several more.
But the planet survived the first blast, only for the cultivators to realize even more blasts were coming their way.
"Shit… this planet is done for…" the general said as the incoming blasts instantly vaporized the lives of anyone that was on the planet.
This happened throughout the Vast Expanse.
In less than a week, more than a dozen planets were destroyed along with anyone that was living within them. Mortals, cultivators, and even the animals, all lost.
Ten thousand of the Fire Lord's armada. Ships of mass destruction.
Nine of them were led by the Fire Lord's Spears, and the main one had the General commandeering over it along with the Fire Lord sitting at the front of the ship, on top of a thrown, drinking blood wine as he watched the whole of the vast expanse turn up in flame.
"Burn all those who defy, and enslave all those who submit. I stayed still long enough, and now it's time to take the world by storm!" the fire lord said as he downed the entirety of the wine, dripping a chunk of it on himself, not even staining his clothes as the heat form his body was enough to burn the liquid instantly.
The Armada moved with one objective in mind, complete and total subjugation and domination.
The Fire Lord couldn't have chosen a better time if he wanted to. Since most of the big clans were too scared to even move, and most of those who would be a challenge to the Armada have been taken out.
The Water Realm immediately declared subservience and alliance to the Fire Lord, which came as a surprise to everyone.
The powers of the Water Realm facilitated the access to the Fire Lord toward the Earth Realm, and with two fronts fighting against the Earth Realm's defenses, the result was more than obvious.
In ten Days, the losses that the Fire Lord had incurred were not even worth mentioning. At most a hundred ship had been destroyed, while he took down billions of lives.
His ships were all harnessing the power and energy of death into the incense burners and consumed them all. Fueling himself and his army with the power of the souls that were captured.
The death energy in the Vast Expanse seemed to blow out of proportions. As it further corrupted space itself the more deaths happened.
The army of the Fire Lord proved to be greatly destructive, as more and more powerful cultivators on his side emerged to make names for themselves heading down to planets and taking out their leaders and masters.
And as for the two neutral forces of the Vast Expanse… things weren't looking too good.
Atop a gigantic floating meteorite lays the main base of the Black Tower.
The Black Tower which is considered the center of trade, which wouldn't mind trading with the devil himself were currently in a great predicament.
The leader of the Black Tower, madam Qin Zha was biting on her nails.
Of all the Emperor ranks she is probably the weakest, but in terms of influence and the power she possessed she couldn't be someone to trifle with. Yet right now, she looked as if her worst nightmares were becoming a reality.
"Fucking psychopathic mass murdering blasted fucking maniac!" those were pretty tame words compared to what she usually says.
And the reason she wasn't using even fouler language was because of the people in front of her, sitting on a table, all with grim and even grimmer looks on their faces as they were trying to find a way out of this blasted mess.
"Who the fuck does he think he is! To tell me TO SURRENDER OR DIE! Do I look like a joke to him! I'll fuckin**** **** ****"
"Madam Zha, please, not now," one of the people around the table tried to calm her down, but the more she looked at the letter in front of her the more enraged she became.
Her face started cracking up revealing the old decrypted original look she had. No matter how much wealth she had, she still couldn't defy the law of heavens, and age was creeping up on her like a mortal reminder.
Realizing that her skin started to crack she calmed down and applied some sort of liquid on it, and if Shen Bao was here, he'll realize what liquid it was.
She was using the Stone Aged Milk, a solution that would cause wars to happen for a drop of it, on her face to fix her wrinkles. A waste some may say, but one with so much wealth as he can do what they want.
After calming down, or seemingly looking calmed down, she asked.
"Tower Masters, what do you think we should do?" she asked.
The looks on their faces told her all, no one liked the current situation.
War brings more wealth, that's for sure, and merchants of death easily become richer and richer in times of war. But the problem is, it only happens when a fight happen, between equal or slightly imbalance forces.
However, the Fire Lord broke every law of war and is taking on the entirety of the Vast Expanse. Not caring to the lives of any he crossed. Destroying planets which are the source of so much wealth as if they were toys.
He was killing his opposition without ever giving them hope to retaliate, nor even give them the chance to 'buy' tools to fight back, causing more loss to the Black Tower.
And that wasn't all, the blasted son of a firefly dared to threaten the Black Tower.
And unlike anyone else, with the might of his Armada he was someone who could threaten the black tower.
Though she can buy an army, no army is willing to die for gold.
And challenging the Fire Lord is nothing short of suicide.
What a mockery.
What is the Vast Expanse doing, allowing such a monster to draw breath still.
But what can she do? She's too weak to fend off against his assault by herself, if the Fire Lord decided to take on the Tower, she won't have the chance to even ask for help before he obliterates it entirely.
Though it seems that he was giving them a way out, it was basically slavery, the moment the Black Tower surrenders, it's no longer neutral and will fall to the Fire Lord's hands.
"I say we surrender," one of the Masters Said.
The rest looked at him as if he was a traitor, they were all waiting for the first one to speak, and then take a stance against it.
And just as the room began becoming rowdier as more tower masters were disagreeing with his statement, the man said, "Then who of you is willing to fight the Fire Lord? Do you think we have time to build an army to fight against him? Or even survive his onslaught if he decides to come here?"
"Then we can request help from the Galactic Society! They've been taxing us and it's time for them to pay up for all that bullshit of protecting the peace of the Vast Expanse!"
"You really think those bunch of cowards will even move? How many planets under their rule had they gave up to the Fire Lord. Those are nothing but leeches, strong against the weak and weak against the strong, the moment the Fire Lord passes by them they'll open their gates wide and welcome him in, and I wouldn't be surprised if they crown him lord of the Societies…"
"Then least we can request help from the Wind Realm, they're mighty indeed and have a powerful Queen! And also have a bad history with the Fire Lord,"
"You must have been living under a rock for the past years, the Queen had already lost to the Fire Lord!"
"Wait? When the hell did that happen?"
The conversation continued on and on and no one seemed to have any valid argument to give on what to do, causing the meeting that would decide the future of the Black Tower to extend even longer…
On the other side of the vast expanse was the second neutral force.
One old man was looking at a piece of paper in his hands that read, "Surrender or Die,"
The old man was wearing a set of full black robs with golden embroidery on it. He looked old as time itself, and had a barely readable expression on his face.
Around him were several other cultivators wearing similar black robes, only theirs didn't have the golden embroidery.
"Grand Elder, what's in that letter that had us all gather here?" asked one elder.
The old man looked at the letter and at the people around him, no one here was stupid enough not to realize the content of the letter, since it was from the Fire Lord.
"Nothing but the tantrum of a kid," the old man said and set the letter ablaze.
"Anyway, how goes the curriculum for the kids?" asked the Grand Elder.
Seeing how nonchalant the Grand Elder was about the threat of the Fire Lord, the elders around him couldn't help but grin and laugh.
The Heavenly Academy wasn't something driven by personal wealth, and everyone knew it. It was a heritage of power and might, knowledge and understanding, and if it was easily swayed by power and threats, it wouldn't be what it is today.
Thus, the meeting continued, where they discussed the future of the Heavenly Academy to an almost nonchalant extent, and gave no second thoughts to the threats of the Fire Lord.
Arrogance some may think, but only the strong are allowed to be arrogant.
And for a society that had lived tens of thousands of years teaching generation after generation, their arrogance was justified.
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