Days passed. The fighting got more intense, and the casualties mounted. As the battalions got new orders and left, the camp remained busy. Corpses continued to pile up.

Xu Qing walked silently through the camp. Twenty-three days had passed since he arrived at the front lines. He had seen a lot of death during those twenty-three days. He had witnessed unspeakable misery. He had observed a true hell on earth. At this point, he hardly noticed the constant rumbling boom of combat.

There was another lull in combat right now, and Xu Qing was planning on taking advantage of the moment to recruit a few more people into his Secretariat Division. The Secretariat Division played an integral role in the fighting, and as a result, over a hundred members had already lost their lives. There weren’t enough left behind.

When he thought about how many people he saw die on a daily basis, Xu Qing’s feet felt heavy as he walked. At the same time, he thought about Palace Lord Kong. There was definitely something wrong with the palace lord. It wasn’t possible for the flame of his life force to burn so brightly. In fact, that fire seemed to overshadow the baleful aura on him.

Grief flickered in Xu Qing’s eyes. As a cultivator, he knew what it indicated. Though he hadn’t realized it at first, after enough time passed, it became obvious. Palace Lord Kong was burning his life force. And he was burning it with abandon. Doing so gave a terrifying boost to strength, which the palace lord was pooling into a powerful reserve he could unleash later.

Are the relief troops from the imperial capital really not going to show up?

All of the Sea-Sealing County cultivators were wondering the same thing.

As the secretary-general, Xu Qing knew more about the war situation than just about anyone, but… he didn’t know the answer to that question. As he sighed, he walked past piles of corpses. Suddenly he stopped walking and turned his head.

Off in the distance were two corpses embraced in death. They were covered with wounds and full of mutagen. But despite having sacrificed their lives, they wouldn’t let go of each other. That was the case even though the lower halves of their bodies were missing.

Xu Qing walked over and stood by the two corpses. A very long time passed.

“Elder Brother Chen….”

The two embracing corpses were Chen Tinghao and Sun Liying. Xu Qing had seen them when he first arrived. Back then, Chen Tinghao had been injured, and Sun Liying had been tending his wounds. He remembered how they smiled at him when they spotted him. Now they were gone forever. 1

Xu Qing took the cape off of his swordsage uniform and put it over the two corpses. After ten breaths of time passed, he softly said, “Rest in peace.”

He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and left. Around then, horns blared on the battlefield as fighting began again. Things were intensifying.

Palace Lord Kong stood outside of his command tent in his suit of armor. He didn’t need the Secretariat Division, as he was projecting these orders directly to the army using divine will.

“Activate all taboo treasures, and unleash them at seventy percent capacity!

“Notify all war puppets to use discarded weapons as projectiles on the battlefield!

“Notify all swordsages to use their Emperor’s Swords!

“Have the dharma thorns utilize stage three power. Unleash five barrages onto the battlefield.

“Tell all battalions to prepare to retreat to the fifth line of defense!”

Though the palace lord had an overall view of the situation, there was no way he could be aware of all the minute details. Therefore, he needed Xu Qing’s Secretariat Division swordsages to go to the battlefield to collect detailed reports for him, which he could use to make judgment calls. Before long, the fighting was back at full intensity. This time, thanks to the fact that Xu Qing was personally filtering all of the reports, he got the sense that the entire western front was about to collapse.

“Palace Lord,” he said, “there’s something wrong with the exhaustion levels of the Holytide cultivators! Something’s also wrong with the black lightning! It’s only about fifty percent as strong as before! Based on casualty statistics, and also based on the differences between the magical device and spell formation operation numbers… the Secretariat Division has come to the conclusion that the Holytide’s have secret reinforcements on the way!”

At almost the exact same moment that Xu Qing said that, a wild tempest sprang into being in the north. It was like a tornado that connected heaven and earth. The rain within the wind spread out over the battlefield. It was a rain, not of water but of blood. And it was coming from the north.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s command sword started vibrating as reports started pouring in from the north.

As Xu Qing scanned the reports, his mind started spinning. It took all the willpower he was capable of to maintain calm. The hand that gripped his command sword tightened.

Also outside the command tent was one of the deputy palace lords, two honor guards, and the Swordsage Court grand elders associated with the Second and Third Battalions. All of them could sense something strange going on, and they looked at Xu Qing and the palace lord.

Palace Lord Kong shivered slightly. Given his authority over the magical treasures from the capital city, he was already aware of the information contained in Xu Qing’s reports. For the first time, Palace Lord Kong, who had always been like an unmovable bastion, boulder-like stabilizing force for Sea-Sealing County, betrayed a look of sadness. With that look in his eyes, he gazed northward. The trembling and the grief only lasted for a short moment, though. Then he purged the weakness. He stood tall and straight, his expression grim, his eyes as determined as ever.

“Palace Lord…?”

The grand elders from the Second and Third Battalions stood there hesitantly.

“Read the report, Xu Qing!” Palace Lord Kong said. He was back to being that unmovable bastion.

Xu Qing ducked his head in acknowledgement, then took a deep breath.

“The northern front reports that the taboo treasure net collapsed and can’t be restored. The army of allied species was defeated. Casualties are impossible to track. The Holytide’s Heavengale Dynasty and Earthsoil Dynasty have surged into Tranquility Prefecture! The palace lord of the Justice Palace died in battle! The palace lord of the Administration Palace died in battle! The Yao Clan forces on the northern front… were wiped out. Marquis Yao went missing on the battlefield. It’s not yet known if he’s alive or dead.”

Xu Qing’s words hit the deputy palace lord like a bolt of lightning. Everyone gasped and looked at Palace Lord Kong. He smiled.

“It’s only now that I understand everything…” he said. “Fear not. There’s no need for any of you to be afraid.” He looked out at the battlefield. “The final battle is coming.”

The moment the words left his mouth, something dramatic happened on the battlefield. All of the Holytide forces simultaneously started cheering, and at the same time, falling back. They retreated to the Heaventide Mountains. So did the diamond-shaped magical devices.

The retreat of the devices cleared the sky of much of the cloud cover and revealed that there was a huge vortex spinning there. Black snow poured down from it. At the same time, the countless severed arms pulled the chains violently, whereupon a powerful aura of death emerged from the vortex. Even just the small bit of that aura that came out was enough to turn everything as dark as a winter night. Green mist gathered on the ground. The chains stretching out of the vortex frosted over, as if they were being frozen.

Two huge figures rose up from behind the Holytide army, standing tall on the mountains.

On the left was Emperor Redspirit. On the right was another figure in an imperial robe and crown. It was the emperor from the fourth of the Holytide’s royal dynasties. As they towered up into the sky, they looked down at the palace lord by his command tent.

“Kong Liangxiu, the northern front has collapsed. Our army is inside Sea-Sealing County. The Nightshades’ domain treasure is coming. Things will end soon. You know what a domain treasure is. If you want to try to stop it, go ahead. We won’t interfere. But as you know… you can’t stop it.”

The swordsages around the command tent stood there with decisive looks on their faces. Palace Lord Kong looked up at the two emperors standing atop the Heaventide Mountains.

“You’re right, things will end soon.” The palace lord looked back at Sea-Sealing County, then continued, “Notify the Second and Third Battalions to retreat 5,000 kilometers. They’re not to continue fighting.

“Notify all Sea-Sealing County cultivators present to cease fighting.

“Notify all other battalions to hold their ground. They will cease fighting.

“Notify all swordsages… to retreat 2,500 kilometers. They will cease fighting!”

Everyone present looked at the palace lord with surprise. Xu Qing also turned to face him. 𝑖𝘳𝘢.𝒸ℴ𝑚

The deputy palace lord took a step forward, his face somewhat ashen. “All of our forces are to cease fighting. That just leaves you…. Palace Lord, given your age, let me stand with you.”

Honor Guard Sima’s eyes revealed that he was ready to die, yet he still smiled as he took a step forward. “Palace lord, I, Sima Nan, might not have an amazing cultivation base. But my blood runs hot in my veins, and I don’t want to waste that. That domain treasure is emanating a frigid coldness. I’d love nothing more than to go use it to cool down.” 2

The other honor guard present was Honor Guard Sun, the very one who had played a lead role the day Xu Qing and the other new swordsages swore their oaths. Smiling, he stepped forward. “Of the four honor guards, Ol’ Zhou and Ol’ Song are no longer with us. Only myself and Ol’ Sima are left behind. Palace lord, you can’t show favoritism to Ol’ Sima. I’ll be coming along too.”

As the honor guards stepped forward, the frigid power coming from the vortex grew stronger. The sky looked even darker than before. The vortex rotated, and shocking coldness emerged, spreading out to cover everything. Where it passed, it froze the clouds. It also turned the green mist into a forest of irregularly shaped columns. It was horrendous in appearance.

Looking at the honor guards, Palace Lord Kong said, “Am I still the palace lord, or not?”

Everyone stood there silently.

“Are you tired of the Swordsage Palace?” the palace lord continued. “When humans go to war, do we fear death? All of you. Follow orders!”

Looking in the direction of the battlefield, he waved his hand. Instantly, a majestic tempest sprang up that took all of the countless cultivators on the front lines and physically moved them back 30,000 meters.

Now there was a lone figure standing on the fourth line of defense. It was a man who, up to now, had not removed his armor.

Sand flew in the wind. Frost lifted from the ground. Everything became hazy.

He strode forward, growing more distant, but at the same time, stronger. He waved his hand, and the Dao Bell tolled. Flying out from amidst the coffins, it shot toward the vortex, exuding crushing pressure.

Then, Palace Lord Kong’s hoarse voice echoed out.

“Redspirit. Moonmist. Do the two of you dare to fight me?”

1. RIP Chen Tinghao and Sun Liying. Chen Tinghao first appeared in chapter 283. They appeared as a couple in chapter 388. ?

2. Quick reminder that Honor Guard Sima is Zhang Siyun’s Sect Grandfather. He was mentioned a few times in passing, but played a key role in the event in chapter 425. ?

This cont𝙘nt is taken from 𝑙𝘳𝑎𝒹.𝗇𝓔t