Chapter 102: The Battle Is Imminent
Blooming Tower said to Elder Situ, “Elder Situ, go in. Whether you can invite the three ancestors to act will depend on you.”
“Holy Emperor, rest assured. This old minister will surely bring the three ancestors out of seclusion.”
Elder Situ nodded. Then his expression hardened, and he strode toward the inner reaches of the sacred mountain.
Blooming Tower remained outside, waiting.
Before long, Elder Situ had arrived at the heart of the sacred mountain.
The three ancestors of the Bydan Holy Kingdom were each cultivating in seclusion upon the jagged stone peaks surrounding the area.
“I am Situ Blood, an elder of the Bydan Holy Kingdom. Since my kingdom now stands on the brink of calamity, I have taken the liberty of requesting the three ancestors to emerge from seclusion and save the Bydan Holy Kingdom,” Situ Blood said loudly.
Yet there was no movement at all from the three stone peaks.
Situ Blood frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled. Biting his teeth, he raised his voice again. “Three ancestors, the Bydan Holy Kingdom is now in imminent danger. I beg the three ancestors to emerge and save our kingdom!”
“Wretch! Before entering seclusion, this ancestor expressly warned that once the three of us had gone into retreat, no one was to disturb us. Anyone who disobeyed would be killed without mercy!”
Suddenly, a furious roar burst forth from one of the stone peaks. The voice was ancient and deep, and the words carried an overwhelmingly mighty profound inner force, shaking the blood within Situ Blood’s body until it churned unbearably.
“Die!”
As the shout fell, a dazzling sword light, dozens of meters long, erupted abruptly from the stone peak, bearing boundless killing intent as it slashed fiercely toward Situ Blood.
“Ancestor!”
Terrified, Situ Blood hastily flickered aside, his body turning into a shadow as he dodged at high speed.
The heaven-shaking sword light brushed past his body and came down in a fierce strike, missing him by only the thinnest margin.
With a thunderous boom, the sword light slammed into the ground, directly carving a massive fissure into the earth. The violent surge of energy exploded outward, crashing into Situ Blood’s body.
He could not withstand it at all. His whole person was sent flying backward and fell heavily more than ten meters away.
“Ancestor, spare my life!”
Situ Blood scrambled back to his feet, covered in dust and dirt. He did not even have time to brush the dirt from his body before dropping to both knees with a heavy thud.
“Die!”
A cold voice came from the stone peak, frigid as a death sentence.
Immediately afterward, the summit of the stone peak blazed once more, and another heaven-shaking sword light appeared, slashing mercilessly down at Situ Blood.
“Ancestor, the Bydan Holy Kingdom’s state-protecting treasure has been destroyed!”
Sensing the vast sword intent surging down upon him, Situ Blood was terrified out of his wits and hurriedly shouted.
Whoosh...
The dozens-of-meters-long sword light, now less than a meter from Situ Blood’s head, suddenly stopped.
Then, just as abruptly, it shattered apart and vanished into nothingness.
“Hm?”
A cold voice rang out from the stone peak. “What did you say? The Tree of Annual Rings has been destroyed?”
“Situ Blood, what exactly happened?”
“The Tree of Annual Rings is tied to the fortune of my Bydan Holy Kingdom. Who was the one who destroyed it?”
From the other two stone peaks, two more ancient and muffled voices also rose in cold rebuke.
Situ Blood was already drenched in sweat, the terror of narrowly escaping death still lingering in him.
He let out a long breath, wiped the cold sweat from his face, and said, “Three ancestors, earlier the thirty-six holy kingdoms of the Eastern Region held the Banquet of Radiance in the Thousand Absolutions Holy Kingdom. In order to ensure that the crown prince could secure a place to enter the Holy Domain, the Holy Emperor had the crown prince take the Flower of Annual Rings to attend the banquet.”
“Wretch!”
From one of the stone peaks came an enraged shout. “The Flower of Annual Rings is the Bydan Holy Kingdom’s state-protecting treasure. How could it be taken to attend the Banquet of Radiance? Utterly preposterous!”
Situ Blood hastily replied with deference, “But, Ancestor, back then no one knew the Flower of Annual Rings would be destroyed. The problem now is that our kingdom’s state-protecting treasure has been ruined, our fortune has fallen sharply, and in the end our Bydan Holy Kingdom will decline.”
“Situ Blood, tell us properly now: how was the Flower of Annual Rings destroyed?”
One ancestor gave a cold shout.
“Replying to Ancestor, it was a man called Young Master Chen... no, whether it was truly destroyed by that Young Master Chen, I am not certain.”
“How so?”
“Back then, Crown Prince Flower Without Trace, holding the Flower of Annual Rings, tried to kill that Young Master Chen. Yet Young Master Chen never seemed to make a move, and Crown Prince Flower Without Trace suddenly coughed blood from all seven apertures, while the Flower of Annual Rings in his hand also shattered without warning.”
“Hmph.”
That ancestor gave a cold snort and said, “In that case, it was most likely destroyed by that Young Master Chen. Perhaps his methods were too subtle for those present to discern. There is no possibility whatsoever that the Flower of Annual Rings destroyed itself.”
“What Ancestor says is entirely true.”
Situ Blood nodded. After a pause, he continued, “Three ancestors, it is obvious that our most urgent task now is to gather all our strength and swiftly conquer the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom, seize their state-protecting treasure, and only then can we prevent the Bydan Holy Kingdom from declining.
“And that Young Master Chen is a native of the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom. Crown Prince Flower Without Trace also died at the hands of the princess of the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom.”
“To conquer the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom and seize their state-protecting treasure...”
The three ancestors of the Bydan Holy Kingdom all fell into thought. One of them said, “It seems this truly is the only way for our Bydan Holy Kingdom.”
“Very well, then it is decided. You go and make preparations first. In half a month, the three of us will emerge from seclusion. When that time comes, we will do everything in our power to take down the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom.”
It worked!
Situ Blood was overjoyed at once.
The three ancestors were ancient relics who had lived through endless ages. So long as the three of them emerged from seclusion, the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom could surely be taken.
“Then I shall not disturb the three ancestors further. Farewell!”
Situ Blood bowed respectfully toward each of the three stone peaks in turn, then left in high spirits.
Blooming Tower was still anxiously waiting where he stood. From afar, he saw Situ Blood withdraw from the sacred mountain’s core, and the stone in his heart finally dropped at once. He hurried forward and asked, “Elder Situ, you emerged unharmed. Does that mean it succeeded?”
“Replying to the Holy Emperor, it succeeded. The three ancestors have already agreed that in half a month they will leave seclusion. By then, our Bydan Holy Kingdom will use all its strength to take down the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom.”
Situ Blood said excitedly, “The three ancestors told us to prepare everything now and await their emergence from seclusion.”
“Good, good, good!”
Blooming Tower was overjoyed. “Go, we’ll prepare at once. Gather every expert we can summon into the imperial capital.”
...
After East Palace Snow and the others returned to the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom, they immediately began taking action, rallying the strongest experts of the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom on one front while traveling to the various holy kingdoms of the Eastern Region on the other, asking them to assist the Spring and Autumn Holy Kingdom in destroying the Bydan Holy Kingdom.
At the Banquet of Radiance earlier, East Palace Snow had given them an enormous favor. Those holy kingdoms could not possibly refuse.
Moreover, East Palace Snow could now be considered half a person of the Holy Domain, and behind her stood Chen Longsheng and his daughter. By now, all the holy kingdoms of the Eastern Region knew that the father and daughter were extraordinary recluses of unfathomable power.
Earlier at the Banquet of Radiance, East Palace Snow had not announced on the spot that they would attack the Bydan Holy Kingdom, undoubtedly because she did not want to cause too great a commotion. If she had done so, the Bydan Holy Kingdom would soon receive the news.
By visiting each holy kingdom one by one now, the uproar could be kept to a minimum.
She intended to join forces with the holy kingdoms and launch a surprise attack on the Bydan Holy Kingdom, wiping it out in one stroke.