“Duskspirit… is dead.” Kong Xianglong’s voice thrummed with grief and bitterness, and his eyes no longer sparkled.

Xu Qing’s heart thumped when he thought about Duskspirit, who had clearly been in love with Kong Xianglong.

“Before she died, she told me she loved me….” Kong Xianglong shivered. Reaching out, he gripped Xu Qing’s shoulder. His eyes were bloodshot and his hand trembled. “I don’t know how to deal with this, Xu Qing!”

He closed his eyes.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. He just let Kong Xianglong hold on to his shoulder. Xu Qing had been forced to part with loved ones in death. More than once. So he could imagine what Kong Xianglong was feeling. It was a sensation that defied reality, and was something you could never get used to.

The only thing Xu Qing could think to do was take out a flagon of alcohol and hand it to the trembling Kong Xianglong.

Kong Xianglong took it and drank deeply. Then he murmured, “I never imagined there would be a time when alcohol tastes like nothing.”

Kong Xianglong released his grip, patted Xu Qing on the shoulder, and then walked away. Despite feeling so heavy at heart, he had come here just to see Xu Qing.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. He suddenly thought back to the first time he saw Duskspirit, back when he first arrived at the Swordsage Palace. She was a young woman who liked eating melon seeds of flesh and blood. She was the one who suggested he go to the Supreme Void Demonization Sect to learn the Demonization Art. Even back then, he’d known that she only cared about Kong Xianglong. 1

A long moment passed, and Xu Qing sighed. This world really eats people up.

Eventually, the Void Returning experts started filtering out of the tent to handle their various assignments. That included Sir Bloodsmelter and the two Swordsage Court grand elders.

Finally, Palace Lord Kong called out, “Come in, Xu Qing.”

Steeling himself, Xu Qing stepped into the tent. He immediately caught sight of the palace lord sitting there in front of a huge sandbox formed by means of a magical technique. The sandbox was a map depicting the entire western front, including the ravine and much of the Holytides’ front line. It even stretched all the way to include the northern front. Obviously, the western front was only one part of a much larger war. Though the command tent had a direct view of only one small part of that conflict, the fact that Palace Lord Kong had set up the Command Department here went to show that he thought of this place as the most important part of the front lines.

Xu Qing took a deep breath as he looked at the sandbox and then Palace Lord Kong. The palace lord looked even more haggard than before. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was clearly injured. He still wore the very same suit of armor that Xu Qing had helped him don. The baleful aura that surrounded him was stronger than before. To Xu Qing, he seemed like a wild beast, as if all of the ferocity of the army was focused on him.

“Greetings, Palace Lord,” Xu Qing said somberly, clasping hands and bowing.

“Xu Qing, I received the supplies you sent.” As the palace lord looked up at Xu Qing, he seemed to reign in his baleful aura. However, the destiny aura of the army made it impossible for him to completely dispel the aura of blood on him. That said, he managed to force a gentle look onto his face, and his eyes glittered with praise. “I’m also aware of what went into gathering the armies of the two prefectures. You’ve performed an amazing service!”

Xu Qing bowed his head. “Your humble servant only did what was necessary. By the way, about Mount Daybreak, I—”

Before he could finish speaking, the sky outside changed colors dramatically, as if it were being dilated and stretched out at the same time. Killing intent surged from the earth, which quaked as though being attacked by subterranean dragons and snakes.

The howls of Holytide cultivators echoed in the air. The temporary lull in the fighting had ended! Killing intent swept forth like storm winds from the Heaventide Mountains, slamming into the taboo treasure net protecting Sea-Sealing County. The huge net trembled and emitted dazzling flashes of light. The wild wind swept across the ravine, hitting countless tents among the forces of Sea-Sealing County, and causing many of them to ripple wildly.

When the wind hit Palace Lord Kong’s command tent, the fabric whipped back and forth loudly. The tent flaps opened, revealing that the dark clouds outside were filled with countless lightning bolts.

RUMBLE!

Both land and sky filled with the loud sound.

Xu Qing’s long hair stirred, and his heart started to pound.

A roar echoed out like that of countless wild beasts, quickly surpassing the heavenly thunder as it spread far and wide.

Face completely expressionless, the palace lord stood. His baleful aura flared, and he handed a jade slip to Xu Qing. Then he walked toward the tent flaps.

“That jade slip contains all the details about the Holytides and the battleground. I want you to take the time to study it thoroughly, Xu Qing. I’ll give you a day. What’s happening now is just combat as usual. Things haven’t really reached the point of being a big war. How to make use of all the details in that information will be up to you. Starting tomorrow, I want you back at my side as my secretary-general!”

“Yes, sir!” Xu Qing said immediately.

Palace Lord Kong nodded and walked out of the tent. The swordsages from the Secretariat Division had already returned and were waiting for new orders.

Xu Qing stood behind the palace lord looking out at the battlefield. In addition to the dramatic things happening in the dome of heaven, he saw countless Holytide cultivators racing forward like a wave on the ocean. Some flew in the air, others raced on the ground. All wore suits of armor and radiated killing intent. Their troop formations resembled enormous severed hands that covered the sky and spread out over the earth.

The palace lord began issuing orders, and Sea-Sealing County’s army stirred like a beast that had been napping and was now ready to fight back.

After taking it in for a moment, Xu Qing clasped hands and left. He knew that, having just arrived at the battlefield, he didn’t have any idea of the wartime operations, much less the ups and downs of the situation. The post of secretary-general wasn’t something to be viewed casually. It didn’t just involve passing along orders, but rather, required keen observational and analytical skills. In the current situation, it would require a general understanding of all the details related to the battlefield.

In reality, a single day wouldn’t be enough for Xu Qing to catch up properly.

Nor could one jade slip possibly contain all of the information necessary to understand the Holytides and the battlefield.

In order to more quickly familiarize himself with everything, he wanted to find a spot that overlooked the battlefield, and station himself there to observe the fighting. At the same time, it would be easy for him to actually go onto the battlefield to personally experience the details of the fighting between humans and Holytides.

He could do the former by staying with Palace Lord Kong, but not the latter. Being near the palace lord, who was the core of the entire army, would make it difficult to actually go onto the battlefield.

As rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth, and everything shook, Xu Qing looked around for a suitable spot. Eventually, he noticed an area where a host of scrap puppets had been piled up on a mountain. The war puppets of Sea-Sealing County were usually operated by large numbers of cultivators, and would be stationed on a spell formation to be kept in a peak state of readiness. But already, many of them had been rendered nonoperational due to damage taken. They were being temporarily stored on that mountain, where they could be scavenged for spare parts. Or, they could be tossed out at key moments in the battle and detonated.

After spotting the pile of scrap puppets, Xu Qing flew over.

Given the state of the fighting, there was only one person on guard. It was an old cripple who sat there looking out woodenly at the battlefield. He noticed Xu Qing’s approach, and he looked over with a blank expression.

Xu Qing didn’t speak to him. He leaped up onto the scrap puppets and climbed to the top of the pile. Standing there, he took out the jade slip and reviewed the contents while simultaneously looking out at the battlefield.

The high vantage point offered a good view. Just beyond the golden net, the battle raged.

High in the sky, the Holytides had their diamond-shaped magical devices. Occasionally, they would release ear-piercing sounds that rippled through the air, along with lightning bolts that would smash into the ground. The blood-colored eyes in the middle of the diamond-shaped devices would emit crushing pressure that hindered the human forces but bolstered the Holytides.

The jade slip had some basic information about the diamond-shaped magical devices, such as the fact that the gruish things were a gift from the Nightshades.

That said, the humans had their own advantages. For instance, Xu Qing could see the Void Returning experts seated in the golden net sending out cultivation base power into the net. As a result, numerous golden mouths appeared, which emitted noiseless howls as they launched attacks at the diamond-shaped magical devices.

Though the mouths interfered with the diamond-shaped devices, and even drew their attention, the black snow was pervasive and difficult to contain.

Sometimes the snowflakes transformed into magical attacks that hit the human cultivators, or converged to form both humanoid and beastly shapes. Some landed near Holytide cultivators, where they formed into dangerous weapons. Sometimes the black snow would land on the humans, no matter how they tried to avoid it. There was simply too much of it. When that happened, the cultivator would shiver as the snow turned into a dangerous poison. If the mutagen within those cultivators reached a certain point, they would scream as they experienced mutation and started blindly attacking anyone around them. It was a brutal scene. 𝙡𝙞𝒃𝒆𝓪.𝓬𝒐𝒎

But there was still more the humans could do.

Even as Xu Qing felt shaken, he saw the shocking magical thorns emit deafening sound wave attacks. Wherever the sound passed, the snow would melt, turning into black water that splashed onto the ground and eventually turned into a black mist.

When that happened, some humans on the battlefield would just take the time to catch their breath, maybe even by falling back from the fighting. Then, after recovering, they would charge back into the battle.

1. Duskspirit was introduced in chapter 397. She introduced the Demonization Art to Xu Qing in chapter 421. ?

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