Both Old Zhu and Tang Wu hearing Dai Lin’s declaration felt angry inside but still managed to reign in on their moods, Old Zhu nodded his head and turned around heading back to the meeting table leaving behind only his faint voice. “You better young brat!”
As for Tang Wu, he clicked his teeth and replied, “Chet! That’s more like it, that’s the Blue Thunder Dai Lin I remember. Hmph! However, whoever said that you'd be the only one to save her? I will use all my power to find a way also to bring her back, so Dai Lin, it seems that or journey from now on will be that of a rivalry!”
After Tang Wu said this, his tyrannically Aura Disciple cultivation realm exploded momentarily before he walked away with his Uncle Tang Lie who looked at him with a hint of surprise, leaving behind an awoken Dai Lin who smiled wearily as he looked at Tang Wu’s retreating figure.
“Heh! Bright Flame Listing’s Number 1 Genius, it seems that even if he were to go out in the wide world and compare against greater geniuses, he would still be capable of achieving great things. A rival you say… no-no! Only a whetstone!” Dai Lin muttered in a tone similar to his usual confident self-carrying a trace of otherworldly arrogance as streaks of purple lightning flickered in his eyes.
Chapter 148
Arrival of the Feng Clan!
The commotion caused by the geniuses who’ve successfully returned quickly faded as the alliance leaders continued their meetings for the coming battle, after a good round of strategic debates planning, they finally came to a unanimous agreement on which steps to take to approach the war.
After doing all of this, the leaders now stood at the central field with all of the practitioners and geniuses gathered together as they spoke to them of their plans.
“Today is the day we begin our war against these fiends from ancient times. It will not be an easy battle as our enemies are vastly more powerful than you could have ever imagined, the only chance of success for us to win this bout is to find a way to seize the palace from their formations…”
The practitioners hearing these words became quiet as they listened to leaders, the faces of the geniuses such Zang Xu, Dai Lin, and the others each carrying a dignified look as they could already feel the pressure building up due to their tension.
Xun Yanshan noting these, didn’t address their concerns but continued his statement, “We were originally going to wait until all parties arrived here, but time is limited, we must act now before the enemies gain even further advantages, as such, we have decided to attack in units rather than in large groups. These groups will be organized with a mixture of each type of practitioners from our various influences, that way we can use our differences to counter our enemies and overcome them with variety rather than quantity.”
The practitioners began to discuss amongst themselves as they heard his words with the majority of them carrying expressions of agreement with regards to the strategy.
Dai Lin hearing this nodded his head as he mused, “That’s a pretty good method, if every unit is made of unique individuals then it should be possible for that unit to counter almost any circumstances.”
Miren Fei who was by his side also shook her head in agreement as she spoke, “Yes, it could work but…” She was about to state a counter view, but before she could speak, she was interrupted.
“That’s a great plan, but did you stop to think about what would happen if the enemy’s forces were already prepared?” A powerful voice said as it weighted on the souls of each person gathered.
As they heard the voice and felt the pressure on their souls, Xun Yanshan, Nei Sinian, along with Ye Shuye and the rest couldn’t help but look towards the sky in shock while both Dai Lin and Miren Fei looked towards the sky with an expression of happiness.
Sou! Sou! Sou!
A large group of men wearing crimson masks numbering thousands swiftly descended from the sky as they rode flying disks, followed by a smaller group of mighty looking individuals who wore stylistic red robes with their bright red hair illuminated by the lights from the surroundings.
At the head of this group were five powerful looking individuals, three of which gave off an unusually oppressive aura with two who gave off the energies that though similar to the alliance leaders carried a strange kind of oppressive might.
“They’re finally here…” Xun Yanshan muttered as he saw the forms which had now fully descended to the ground, Nie Sinian also had a serious expression on his face as his eyes glowed strangely as if pondering the unknown.
“Hmph! Why so showy? Do they think that they are above us now because of the strange methods they used to kill those Ghostfiends? They must be dreaming!” The elder from the Dark Sky Pavilion muttered in discontentment.
As the leaders and practitioners continued to murmur amongst themselves, the leading individual from the Feng Clan who previously spoke, walked forward along with the four who stood beside him.
Xun Yanshan seeing this promptly reacted as he spoke in a polite tone, “Welcome! Welcome! It’s great to see that you’ve all arrived on time!”
Feng Yunlong hearing his words smiled as he spoke, “If I didn’t hear wrongly, it would almost seem as if you were waiting for us?”
“Haha! Leader Feng is quite sharp; indeed, we were originally waiting on your clan's arrival, but as time was press, we had decided to begin our march.” Xun Yanshan said in a calm tone.
Feng Yunlong hearing this nodded with understanding, as this happened, Nei Sinian who had been quiet for a while seeing this finally spoke, “You said our plan might not work due to the enemy’s forces being prepared? What makes you think that?”
Feng Yunlong upon hearing his words looked towards him before he replied, “The main forces belonging of all fiendkin would have long since headed towards this zone the very moment we had entered this realm. Since this is the case, it is more than likely to assume that they have already surrounded the region of the Ancient Dragon Palace and have prepared numerous formations to tackle any situations that may occur.”
The leaders hearing Feng Yunlong’s argument couldn’t help but frown as their eyes showed traces of deep thought, after a short while a few of them even became serious as they realized that their previous thinking was indeed a bit too naïve.
Xun Yanshan, Nei Sinian, and Ye Shuye looked at each other with an embarrassed look on their faces as they realized that they had neglected that matter.
As the gathered practitioners saw their leaders’ expressions, they couldn’t help but grow nervous as a heaviness filled the atmosphere. Feng Yunlong seeing this scene couldn’t help but shake his head as he looked towards Feng Junling and Feng Xingyu for a bit, seeing that they each nodded their heads before looking towards the leaders as well as practitioners and speaking.
“While they are more than prepared our armies, there is no way for them to be aware of all our means. I have a few methods here that may prove suitable from your armies in this clash, seeing that your forces are weaker and won’t be able to handle a direct confrontation with the enemy's main force, you can leave the main battle to our clan.”
“What?!” A leader suddenly yelled as if heard the world’s most ridiculous thing, a few other leaders also made similar exclamations as they looked towards Feng Yunlong with surprise.
Soon, however, these looks became that of disdain even more so for the members of the Dark Sky Pavilion who spoke out in a loud voice. “Such nonsense! Do you really think that handling these fiend commanders will be the same as handling the Soul Eater Ghostfiends from the outside? It seems that by simply utilizing special methods your clan thinks it can shoulder heavens and support the earth!”
The members of the Feng Clan who heard his words became stunned, as even Feng Yunlong, Feng Junling, and Feng Xingyu looked towards this leader as if they were looking at a clown, they gazed at him for a very short while before removing their sights focusing back their attention to themselves and at the other leaders.
As he saw that the members of the Feng Clan ignored him,
a sharp light shone within the depths of the Dark Sky Pavilion elder’s eyes as he thought to himself, “Bastards! I will certainly get you all for this…”
Xun Yanshan, Nei Sinian, and Ye Shuye along with Old Zhu, Tang Wu, and the remaining large, influential leaders each began to discuss the details regarding the Feng Clan’s proposition.
After a moment of discussion, a decision was finally made as Xun Yanshan looked towards Feng Yunlong once again before speaking. “We will accept your terms as your clan’s combat strength is obviously stronger than ours. Therefore, due to the interest of time, we have decided to nominate your clan as the leading influence in this war.”
Feng Yunlong hearing this was momentarily surprised, but his surprise soon faded as he looked towards Xun Yanshan and Nei Sinian with interest, “It seems that there are quite a few capable individuals even within these small outer continental influences.”
“Good! Now that this is decided, we should immediately begin our preparation don’t resist now!” After Feng Yunlong said this, he pointed his finger towards the leaders where after a strange energy was released from his body sweeping over their forms.
Instantly, a series of plans of strategies became visible to each of the leaders and practitioners’ minds as if they were their own memories that had resurfaced after a long time.
The leaders were stunned as even the elder from the Dark Sky Pavilion had a look of shock on his face, his mouth opened wide as he stuttered, “This is a true soul method, how could this be? Is he a True Soul realm expert!”
The eyes of Xun Yanshan and Nei Sinan being coated with a thick layer of shock as they didn’t expect their strengths to such a scale in such a short time. After taking a moment to digest the shock in their hearts, they finally cleared their minds and responded.
“Great! If things are like this, we may just be able to turn this battle into our favor!” Xun Yanshan said as a sharp look shone in his eyes, his eyes looking towards the massive form of the palace in the faraway distances.
Feng Junling who had been focusing on the distant palace the very moment they arrived here finally spoke as he heard their words, “Yunlong it’s about time…”
“Um! Our battle starts now!” Feng Yunlong said in a commanding voice as the eyes of each of the Feng clan members glowed sharply as blazing energy filling the area which began to burn away the fog within the surrounding regions.
Feng Xingyu who was by their sides had a strange light in her eyes, as she gazed at the palace which rested at the edge of the horizon. As her eyes where dazed, she muttered in a soft voice, “I feel closer, so much closer to you now…”
Her voice fading into the rising winds that beckoned for the imminent war beyond the distant horizon…
Chapter 149
The Beginning of a Dreadful War!
Aheavy wind swept across the area as the pressures of this region was at an unusually high scale. If one looked carefully, they would see a massive floating landform which hovered above a clear lake. Around this lake was an arrangement of bridges connecting towards many other distant landmasses shrouded by a somewhat dark scene.
Cling-cling-cling! The sound of chains could be heard swaying about as they pushed and pulled against each other. If one followed the direction of their sound, one would see a massive palace being a few kilometers wide, it was surrounded by a well-fortified fortress made of unusual stones as it seemed to have recently been constructed.
This palace had numerous pillars positioned around its entire structure, each with a realistic dragon sculpture that wrapped around them as they ascended towards the sky.
Looking before this palace, one would also see a large gate, with its entrance shrouded by a bright light, making all sights behind it hidden to all eyes. Currently, a large group of fiends could be seen patrolling this area with precision. They wore the best kind of armors and were equipped with the best weapons as the auras from their bodies gave one a feeling of indescribable might.
"Che! Why do we have to keep watch here?" One fiend said with a hint of displeasure in his voice.
Another fiend who was nearby replied, "There's no helping it, we aren’t any good in the main combat and this gate is too dangerous, If the commanders had let any major leaders or generals attend the defensive command here, they would likely be destroyed by the gate's will."
"So, you're saying that us weaker fiends are expendable?" The fiend replied with a look of disappointment on his face.
"....." The other fiend didn’t reply as his silence spoke for him in turn, the fiend seeing this frowned, he was about to continue to his usual rounds of patrolling but suddenly he saw something.
One of the fiends who was walking towards the upper walls had accidentally entered into the domain of the gate which was about 100 meters distance, the instant this happened, the gate shrouded by white lights had a change.
Buzz! Instantly, these bright white lights expanded outwards till they eventually occupied the entrance region of 100 meters, before this fiend could react, he was blanketed by these energies and turned in a pile of dust leaving behind only the remnant echoes of his pitiful wail. “Noooooo!”
Soon, the cries faded, and the scene had once more returned to normal, the two fiends who were previously speaking to each other now looked at the gate before them with a certain kind of dread.
“Hmph! Useless…” A voice said, from the far eastern corner upper walls, there a large figure stood as he shifted his gaze from the scene at the gates and continued to observe the eastern outskirts before the fortress walls.
“Still no signs of the enemy… sigh,” The voice said as he then moved his eyes from his section of the fortress walls, towards the distant western, southern, and finally northern walls.
Like his own wall, there were a myriad of fiend’s leaders that stood at guard as they watched their distant horizons for any unexpected change, ready to give the command for battle at a moment’s notice.
However, the northern wall which was the most important wall of the fortress was a slightly different scene, as other than a large group of powerful looking fiends, there stood three mighty fiends seated around a tablet with a sinister look on their faces as they discussed their current circumstances.
“It’sssss been a week sssssince we’ve arrived at the ancient palace groundssss and these small weak humansssss should be arriving at any moment. Still, I find it rather ssssstrange that regardless of how much of my ghossssstly sense I use to observe the environment, I cannot seem to find even a trace of their whereaboutssss…” Gui Shenin said in a deep tone of voice.
Reinz, and Falcoy both made pondering expression as they thought about the reason for this odd occurrence as they each knew full well how difficult it is to hide one’s presences from Gui Shenin.
After a bit of pondering Reinz responded, “That shouldn’t be right, the ‘Great Excellency’ said that there is only one force among these weak humanities that we should be cautious of, there should be no reason for other humans being able to avoid our detection, not unless…”
As he spoke to himself, Falcoy who had been seated with his head lifted upwards finally opened his eyes gazing towards the distant skies with a sharp sinister light in his eyes as he spoke.
“Not unless that ‘so—called’ dangerous influence used their means to hide the rest from our searches, it seems that the Great Excellency’s words hold true as I can now see a force approaching us from the distant skies.”
“Hmm?” Reinz murmured in surprise as he cast his fiendish sense towards the sky, soon he saw a large mansion which seemed like a fortress soaring through the clouds at high speeds. However, what he found to be even more odd was that even after his senses swept over the mansion, he could not detect either its presence or the signs of any lifeforms within it.
“Such a ssssstrange artifact, it sssseems that the ‘vestiges’ from their outside world does sssstil have quite a few mystical treasuressss lying around…” Gui Shenin said in an interested tone, hi
s eyes glowing in a greedy, sinister light.
“Huhuhu! Indeed so, once we’ve destroyed these humans and left this realm, we should make it a priority to return to their ‘vestige realm.’ We may just find a few artifacts from those times… “Reinz also said in a sinister manner.
Falcoy remained silent as his usually arrogant eyes glowed with excitement upon hearing those words, but after while it faded as he glanced at both Reinz and Gui Shenin with a cruel look in his eyes while pondering.
“Humph! Those treasures will definitely be mine…” As he thought this, the look in both Reinz and Gui Shenin’s eyes also changed to that of a cunning one as they each thought the same thing.
Ting-ti-ting! Ting-ti-ting! Ting-ti-ting!
Soon, the sounds of the war bells quickly began to echo across the fortress as it was only now that the patrolling fiends had managed to discover the approaching mansion; they acted swiftly as if they had been drilled with the procedures numerous times.
Instantly, they clustered together creating four different types of formations which surrounded each of the different fortress section walls. Reinz, Falcoy, and Gui Shenin who stood at the top of this wall now carried a terrifying presence as they looked at the scene before them. Suddenly, the wind shifted as a few figures instantly appeared by their sides.
Sou! Sou! Sou! A group of powerful looking elder class fiends belonging to each of the fiend races who served directly under the Zone Commanders as their sharpest unit leaders and major generals appeared.
“Lord Zone Commanders! The enemies have arrived, and we are ready to face them in battle!” The said in unison as their voices resounded throughout the area.
Reinz, Falcoy, and Gui Shenin swept their eyes over these individuals for a short moment before they looked at each other and nodded their heads. After this happened, they each lifted their heads and gazed at the rapidly descending mansion and yelled, “All Troops! Prepare for war!”
The Conqueror of Zones Page 22