chsdbacks Chapter 38 The Remnants of the Divine Realm
Chapter 38 The Remnants of the Divine Realm
The floating islands appear more dilapidated than they do from a distance.
Ruins stretched for dozens of miles along the island's edge, collapsed towers lay crumbling among the rubble, and rusted iron chain bridges swayed precariously between islands, buffeted by the turbulent currents of the void. The scale and design of this fortress were identical to the Netherworld Ship—ten thousand years ago, the demon race's expeditionary force used the same blueprints to build this outpost in the realm of gods.
Ling Chen and his group of seven ascended the broken stone steps. The stone slabs beneath their feet were engraved with ancient demonic runes, which rippled with faint golden light when stepped on. These runes had been powered by the island's spiritual veins for tens of thousands of years and were still struggling to maintain the basic defensive barrier. However, the spiritual veins were nearly exhausted, and most areas were plunged into eternal darkness, with only a few scattered windows emitting faint lights.
"Someone's there." Su Qingyuan lightly tapped the ground with the tip of her Frost Sword, and the frost spread silently, freezing a stone pillar that was about to collapse at the corner in front of her, preventing it from falling and alerting the guards on the island.
Before the words were even finished, dozens of dark figures emerged simultaneously from the ruins—crossbowmen of the demon race. They weren't wearing armor, but rusty patrol uniforms; the crossbows they carried were of ancient design, yet the demonic patterns on their arms still glowed. The leader was an old demon general, over fifty years old, his face withered, his left arm severed at the elbow, a gleaming demonic bone prosthetic embedded in the stump. He stared at the Demon Emperor's Token in Ling Chen's hand for a long time, so long that the fingers of the younger crossbowmen behind him tightened on their daggers.
Bai Ze slowly walked out from the back of the group, pulling back his hood to reveal a face with white hair and beard. The old demon general's demon bone prosthetic limb trembled violently, and he knelt on one knee, his movements as awkward as if he hadn't bowed in many years.
"Iron Bone, Vice Admiral of the Seventh Expeditionary Force of the Netherworld Ship, pays respects to Your Majesty the Demon Emperor."
Bai Ze reached out and helped him up. Tie Gu, the deputy commander of the vanguard battalion of the Netherworld Expeditionary Force ten thousand years ago, was among the last to land on this island before the divine realm passage closed. They had received orders to retreat, but the passage closed too quickly, leaving Tie Gu and several hundred demon warriors trapped in the divine realm. Ten thousand years have passed, and the descendants of the demon expeditionary force have multiplied in these ruins. Now, only about three hundred people remain on the island, mostly the elderly, women, and children; no more than sixty are elite fighters. Tie Gu is their chieftain, and the last veteran to remember that battle ten thousand years ago.
Iron Bone led the seven through the ruins of the city walls, the sights along the way even more heartbreaking than from the outside. The training ground, once capable of housing thousands, was now a yard for drying and mending fishing nets. Several demon women squatted among the collapsed pillars, using rubble to build stoves and boil water. A group of teenagers chased and played on the gravel beach; their pupils were uneven, their bloodlines so thin that only a few fine scales behind their ears revealed their demonic nature. In the distance, amidst the ruins of a tower, several skeletons could be vaguely seen leaning against a wall, wearing the same expeditionary armor as Iron Bone, the inscriptions on the armor long since faded.
"After the Demon Lord was sealed, the portal to the God Realm was personally closed by the Celestial Venerable. We were left behind to cover the retreat, thinking we could return in a few months. But the portal never reopened. Over the years, the number of young people on the island has dwindled, and I'm the only one left from the older generation." Iron Bone used his demon bone prosthetic leg to push open a rusty iron door. Behind the door was a stone chamber that could barely keep out the wind and rain. Several nearly depleted fluorescent stones were embedded in the stone walls, providing dim but sufficient light for visibility. "Let's not talk about that. You brought the Demon Emperor's decree to the God Realm, so you're probably not here for sightseeing."
Ling Chen unfolded the map of the divine realm and pointed to a dark gray area to the east—that was the approximate location of the Celestial Venerable's ruins, which he had copied from ancient mortal texts. The markings were extremely blurry, showing only an irregular ring-shaped mountain range and a blank area in the center of the range marked "Ruins." Tie Gu leaned closer to take a look, his brow furrowing.
"This area is located in the far east of the God Realm, in the region with the most turbulent void currents. Years ago, our vanguard battalion was ordered to protect a group of Celestial Venerable guards as they entered that mountain range to carry out a secret mission. Even I, as the deputy general, didn't know the details of the mission. But I knew there was something in the mountains—the remnants of the demonic cultivators we had kept outside the barrier hadn't given up on entering that mountain range for 20,000 years. If the Celestial Venerable's remains are in the mountains, then these demonic cultivators are like hungry wolves that have been waiting for the scent for 20,000 years."
How many troops are there in the garrison?
"At least five hundred. There are no Demon Generals, but there are three Void Realm Demon Generals, two of whom are old guys who were sealed in the God Realm during the war between gods and demons ten thousand years ago. For twenty thousand years, they have been trying to invade the core area of the mountain range, but they have been blocked by the Celestial Venerable Sword Formation on the outer edge of the mountain range. The sword formation is still in operation, and its sword energy has flattened more than a dozen floating islands. Those fragmented islands that were cut off now float on the outer edge of the mountain range, and they are the scenery that the children on our island have seen since they were young."
Bai Ze picked up the rough pottery teacup that Tie Gu handed him, blowing away the foam: "Three Void Realm cultivators, a remnant Heavenly Venerable Sword Formation, and a ruin whose exact entrance is unknown. Tie Gu, has anyone on your island ventured into the outer reaches of the mountain range in the past ten thousand years?"
Tie Gu was silent for a while, as if he had made a great decision: "To be precise, it wasn't one of ours, but the previous patriarch. Two hundred years ago, the previous patriarch sneaked into the outer edge of the mountains alone, trying to find the entrance to the Heavenly Venerable Sword Formation to find a way back to the mortal realm for his people. He didn't find the entrance, but he brought back something. He found it in the ruins at the very edge of the sword formation. At the time, it was half-buried in the rubble, and the ground around it was littered with the remains of demonic cultivators shattered by sword intent."
He stood up and walked to the corner of the stone chamber, retrieving a rusty iron box from under a loose floor tile. Opening the lid, he found a sword tassel broken in two. The tassel's cord had faded beyond recognition, but the jade bead tied to its end remained intact, containing a wisp of lingering, eerie blue sword intent. Su Qingyuan's breath caught in her throat for a moment when she saw the tassel, her hand unconsciously pressing against the hilt of the Frost Condensation Sword. The Frost Condensation Sword emitted a very slight tremor in its sheath; it wasn't a fighting spirit, but a reaction Ling Chen had never seen in Frost Condensation Sword before—sorrow. The sword was weeping.
"This jade bead and the ice crystal pendant on the Frost Condensation Sword Tassel are of the same origin; both are talismans crafted from Profound Ice Soul. But they don't belong to the Ice Servant." Su Qingyuan swallowed, suppressing her surging emotions. "They belong to the Sword Servant. Back then, the Sword Servant crafted two identical talismans, one hung on her own sword, and the other on the Heavenly Venerable's natal sword. Hers broke, and the Heavenly Venerable's talisman also shattered. There's only one possibility that could cause the Heavenly Venerable's sword tassel to break in two in the ruins of the God Realm—when the Heavenly Venerable's natal sword intent shattered, its tassel was still trying to protect its master at the last moment."
The tassel in the iron box is the key to finding the Celestial Venerable's remains. The sword intent jade bead seals not just a wisp of sword intent, but also a fragment of spatial coordinates. Activating it will pinpoint the location where the Celestial Venerable's natal sword intent shattered—the core entrance to the Celestial Venerable's remains. However, activation requires the resonance of the three swords. Once this resonance is triggered, the remnants of the demonic cultivators on the outer edge of the mountain range will immediately sense the aura of the Three Attendants' Swords.
"Then let them come." Ling Chen tucked the remaining grains of rice into his robes, then looked up at the expeditionary force's defensive map hanging on the stone wall. "General Ironbone, how long can the island's defenses hold out?"
Iron Bone stood up, his demonic bone prosthetic leg thudding heavily on the stone floor. "These three hundred men have held out for tens of thousands of years; one more battle won't make a difference. If you truly wish to go to the Celestial Venerable's Ruins, I am willing to lead the remaining troops to hold back the demonic cultivators' outer camps from the front, striving to create an opening for you. However, authorization from the Demon Emperor is required—my rank is only that of a deputy general, and I have no authority to mobilize the expeditionary force's final reserves."
Bai Ze placed the teacup on the table, its bottom striking the stone with a crisp sound. The Demon Emperor rose from beside the iron box, the cracks in his armor gleaming like lava once more under the golden light of the demon shark scales. "Bai Ze, in the name of the Demon Emperor, authorizes Tie Gu to activate the expeditionary reserve force. From this moment forward, Tie Gu resumes his position as deputy commander of the vanguard battalion, with full command over the island's defenses. All those still capable of wielding crossbows, regardless of age, shall be incorporated into the militia. Any shortage of fighting force will be personally addressed by this Emperor."
He turned to Ling Chen, his golden vertical pupils gleaming in the dim stone chamber. "The Netherworld Ship is not in the God Realm, but the backup energy core of the Demon Eye Totem is on me. Connect it to the core of the demon array of the fortress, and this island can temporarily transform back into the Netherworld Fortress of 20,000 years ago. Three Void Realm demon generals cannot break in. As for the interior of the mountain range—I cannot enter. The Heavenly Venerable Sword Array still recognizes me as an ally, but the core of the ruins will only open its doors to the reincarnated Heavenly Venerable himself."
Xiao Lie and Han Tie exchanged a glance. Xiao Lie drew his Crimson Flame Sword, the sword mark from the Conferred God Platform still gleaming in the dim stone chamber. "Three Void Realm cultivators. General Iron Bone will hold one back, Lord Bai Ze will deal with one, and we'll take care of the last one." Han Tie nodded silently, the golden sword pattern on his right arm beginning to emit a faint resonant glow.
Liu Yuan stood up from the corner of the stone chamber and put the jade slip containing the record into his sleeve. If the Shadow Demon still had any remaining spies from his old forces in the God Realm, they would most likely take advantage of the chaos when the main force of the demon army launched its attack to infiltrate the battlefield. He was familiar with the demonic energy characteristics of the Shadow Demon Technique and would automatically stay at the fortress to assist Iron Bone in checking for infiltrators, eliminating them one by one as they were discovered.
Su Qingyuan's fingers tightened slowly on the hilt of the Frost Condensation Sword, drawing it from its sheath. The sword tip drew an icy blue arc in the air, pointing towards the distant outline of a mountain range shrouded in void turbulence. "The weakest section of the void turbulence on the east side is passable; reaching the outer edge of the mountain range will only take two cups of tea. It's hard to say how long it will take to pass through the sword formation and enter the core of the ruins, but if we don't emerge before dawn—you all retreat first."
"And you?"
She did not answer. But Ning Shuang's sword cry suddenly rose, resonating faintly yet clearly with the remaining sword intent on the broken sword tassel in Ling Chen's arms.
Ironbone slammed the demon bone prosthetic limb into the ground, and all the still-lit demon inscriptions in the stone chamber simultaneously erupted with golden light. Without using an amplification array, he roared towards the door in his hoarse voice, "All members of the Netherworld Expeditionary Force Vanguard Battalion—Assemble!"
Outside the gate, on the pebbly beach, the half-demon children who had been chasing and playing stopped. A woman drying fishing nets put down her work. In the ruins of the tower, several hunched-over old demon soldiers slowly straightened up and picked up rusty expeditionary force standard-issue longswords from the corner. The fishing nets drying in the drill ground were lifted, revealing the tattered yet still gleaming expeditionary force battle flag beneath.
Three hundred people. The elderly, women, and children combined numbered only three hundred. But these three hundred people had held out in the ruins of the divine realm for ten thousand years. Their ancestors had fought alongside the Heavenly Venerable. Now that the Demon Emperor's decree had been rekindled, the remnants of the old expeditionary force were no longer just remnants.
Bai Ze walked to the edge of the city wall and placed his hand on the tattered expeditionary battle flag. The golden light of the ghost shark scales poured into the flag from his palm, and for the first time in ten thousand years, the demon totem on the flag lit up completely. The golden light pierced through the void turbulence, enveloping the entire floating island in a solemn golden halo.
The Seventh Expeditionary Force of the Netherworld Ship has regrouped.