Energy erupted. Winds howled. Everything became hazy around the cracking statues of various species.

No one could see exactly what was happening. However, it was possible to tell that there were a total of twenty-three statues!

All cultivators in the Bitter Life Mountains were shaken. The various energies being released mixed together to dramatic effect. It was the same to the cultivators in the Moonrebel Congregation. That was especially true of the old-timers, who were looking very closely to see what was happening. The cathedral cultivators were also moved, and for a moment, there was a lull in the fighting.

However, within that terrifying conglomeration of energies, there was one flow of Nascent Soul fluctuations…. It seemed unusual among the rest of the types of energy. In some respects, it stood out, but in others, it didn’t.

The first of the statues to fully awaken stepped out of the haze.

It was the Captain’s fleshly body. His appearance on the scene caused some surprise. Many people were very confused about why someone with a cultivation base like that would end up sealed…. Considering the terrifying energy of the other statues, this person seemed like the opposite of the center of attention.

As everyone looked on, the Captain stared around for a moment, then hurried over to Xu Qing’s side. There, he fused with his soul projection, then opened his eyes and stretched.

“That feels better!”

Xu Qing glanced at him but didn’t say anything. As for all the onlookers, they were even more surprised than before, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that there was a battle going on, people would have started whispering back and forth amongst themselves with various speculations.

The Captain’s eyebrows shot up, and he was about to say some deliberately mystifying things. But then, cracking sounds grew louder behind him, and a second statue walked out into the open.

It was a nonhuman with a body covered in scales and blue hair. Looking around, he said, “I’m… awake.”

As he spoke the words, fluctuations of the second stage of Void Returning erupted from him. The awakened nonhuman could already sense what time period he was in, and the reason why he had awoken. He looked at Xu Qing.

“I am willing to fight for Moonrebel!”

A third figure strode out from the haze. It was another nonhuman, and every step he took caused thunderous booms to echo out, as if his footfalls were made of heavenly thunder. He was tall and burly, with hair like snakes and a long tail made of bone. The moment he appeared, exclamations of shock could be heard.

“A Heavenghost!”

“I can’t believe that species still exists!”

Heavenghosts were a species that had long been exterminated in the Moonrite Region. Legend had it that the Heavenghosts had once produced generation after generation of godheralds. And they commanded the power of thunder and lightning. Yet for some unknown reasons, they had chosen to rebel against the Red Moon Cathedral. As a result, the cathedral wiped out their entire species.

“I’m finally awake,” the burly Heavenghost murmured, his voice rumbling like lightning. Once out in the open, he looked in the direction of the cathedral cultivators and the pontiff. Eyes shining with burning killing intent, he looked at Xu Qing and frowned. “You’re the Archbishop of Moonrebel? A frail, weak human? How could you have assumed this office?”

Xu Qing’s gaze remained tranquil as he looked at the Heavenghost. He was about to respond when, all of a sudden, a cold voice rang out from the haze.

“Why couldn’t a human serve as Archbishop of Moonrebel, huh Little Ghosty?”

The voice sounded like metal scraping against rock, and as soon as it could be heard, both the Heavenghost and the blue-haired nonhuman looked over with surprise on their faces. In the outside world, Fourth Vice-Bishop heard the voice and looked over anxiously.

A fourth figure strode out from the haze, accompanied by a sound like a huge weapon being dragged along the ground.

This fourth person was human! He was an old man in a tattered robe, with a massive scar that ran from his forehead down to his waist. He radiated a shocking ferocity, and dragged a huge, corroded saber behind him as he walked. That saber emanated a baleful aura, and seemed capable of shattering heaven and earth with a single blow. Everyone who saw him reacted with surprise.

The pontiff’s eyes narrowed. “So, you’re not dead after all, Li Xiaoshan!” 1

Fourth Vice-Bishop’s eyes went wide with shock. Voice trembling, he said, “Master!”

This old man was indeed Fourth Vice-Bishop’s Master. Heart pounding, Fourth Vice-Bishop thought back to when his Master passed away into meditation. Before his passing, he had entrusted him with command of the fourth temple.

The old man looked at Fourth Vice-Bishop and nodded. “Well done. You successfully inherited my fourth temple. In reality, I didn’t die. When I failed to break through to Smoldering God, the curse flared up in me. I had no choice but to ask the spirit automaton to seal me away to be awakened at a critical moment.”

With that, Li Xiaoshan looked at the two nonhumans, who quickly bowed their heads and stepped back respectfully.

Li Xiaoshan snorted coldly. Then he turned to Xu Qing, whereupon his expression softened and he nodded.

“The Moonrebel Congregation finally has an archbishop in this epoch.”

He clasped hands and bowed.

Xu Qing didn’t dare to be arrogant, so he quickly replied. “Well met, Senior.”

“You can just tell me what to do. I’m an old geezer, but I can still fight.” With that, Li Xiaoshun turned to look at the pontiff, his eyes filling with coldness.

Xu Qing was actually feeling a bit excited. He’d had no idea that there would be people like this sealed in the ice sculptures.

Next, more figures emerged from the haze, all of them pulsing with powerful energy and a feeling of ancient time. Though none were as impressive as those who had come before them, they were all terrifying. These were the cream of the crop from the Moonrebel Congregation in this epoch. They had been sealed, but they were also a form of protection. They were all nonhumans. As soon as they looked around, they realized the situation they were in. They saw the fighting outside, and they saw Li Xiaoshan. All of them exercised restraint.

That said, these figures instantly caused immense pressure to weigh down onto the hearts of the cathedral cultivators. The blood sea whipped into a frenzy, and the sky rippled.

Eventually, there was only one ice sculpture left in the haze.

The cracks spread out across the surface of this sculpture more slowly than the others. Eventually, it burst open, and a most ancient of auras spread out, like a wind from antiquity.

For the second time, the pontiff’s face flickered, and with even more intensity than when he laid eyes on Li Xiaoshan. From the sharpness of his gaze, it seemed as if he had suddenly spotted an archenemy.

It was a nonhuman woman. She had a third eye on her forehead, which was bright red, as if fire burned within it. As she emerged, the fire flared, becoming a sea of flames. In midair above her, a giant face manifested, which seemed to contain an entire world. Surrounded by fire as she was, she seemed like a lord of flames. Her fluctuations bordered on the Smoldering God level, as if all she needed to do was exercise a thought to form a major world and become a Smoldering God. After emerging, she stood there for a moment, her eyes wide and blank.

Everyone was shaken by her arrival, yet no one seemed to know who she was, not even the old-timers from the Moonrebel Congregation. Apparently, all traces of her existence had been erased from this epoch. She seemed extremely old, as if just looking at her would allow you to see the passage of time. Even the other unsealed ice sculptures were unfamiliar with this woman.

Only Li Xiaoshan knew who she was. Bowing his head, he softly said, “Well met, former Archbishop of Moonrebel.”

The words smashed into the hearts and minds of everyone present, with the exception of Xu Qing and the Captain. The moment the two of them became the Archbishops of Moonrebel, they knew about her.

In this epoch, Xu Qing was one of the Archbishops of Moonrebel. But this wasn’t the first time in all history that a position had been filled. And though not every epoch had an Archbishop of Moonrebel, over the countless years that had passed, there have been multiple instances of archbishops showing up. Unfortunately, the resistance movements they led ultimately failed.

The final ice sculpture was one of the Archbishops of Moonrebel from the past. It wasn’t her true form, but rather, a clone. She had secretly used a special magic of the Moonrebel Congregation to avoid being devoured by Crimson Mother. And she had left behind this clone as a gift for the next Archbishop of Moonrebel.

Expression very grave, the pontiff slowly said, “The Archbishop of Moonrebel from the previous epoch. Madam Godfinch!”

The blank look in Madam Godfinch’s eyes vanished, to be replaced by coldness. She looked at the pontiff.

“A patchwork body with a mishmash of a world,” she said calmly. “And two eyes that aren’t from this time period. All to tap into the might of a Smoldering God. Do you even remember who you are?”

“I’m the pontiff of the Red Moon Cathedral!” he replied instinctively, his eyes going wide.

“In my epoch, the Red Moon Cathedral didn’t have a pontiff.” Shaking her head, Madam Godfinch sighed and looked at the Captain. “They’re your eyes.”

The Captain’s expression flickered as he looked closely at the woman. He didn’t say anything.

Madam Godfinch’s gaze shifted to Xu Qing, and her eyes shone. A cold energy erupted from her. The sea of flames still burned around her, except the flames had changed color. They were now black.

“How very strange you are….” Madam Godfinch looked at him closely for a long moment, but didn’t say anything further. She turned to look outside. “The final battle of this epoch is already starting, huh? Seems a lot more interesting than my epoch. I’m just a clone, and I’m not as strong as my true form was back in the day. I can’t help much. But I’ll do my best. Gods are by no means eternal; hope exists from time immemorial and into forever.”

Taking a step forward, she left the Moonrebel Congregation and appeared over the blood sea. With the wave of her hand, she sent boundless flames down toward the sea. Instantly, the entire sea was engulfed in flames.

The pontiff’s expression flickered as he extended his right hand and pushed out. The major world behind him stirred.

But then Li Xiaoshan took nine steps forward with his rusty saber. As he slid through the gap between reality and illusion, nothing could stop him. When he took the ninth step, he arrived in front of the pontiff. Raising his saber high, he chopped down! Heaven and earth went dim. The pontiff tumbled backward. Li Xiaoshan also tumbled backward. The latter coughed up blood, and his aura declined. However, he recovered only a moment later. Looking up with calm eyes, he started dragging his saber forward again.

The pontiff’s face fell as the fire started evaporating the blood sea. It didn’t take long for the entire sea to disappear. But the flames weren’t done yet. Next… they shot up toward the pontiff.

At the same time, inside the Moonrebel Congregation, Xu Qing’s eyes glowed with cold light. Taking control of the mirror, he sent dazzling light out to bless all Moonrebel cultivators. The nonhuman cultivators who had been unsealed all shot out and unleashed the power of their cultivation bases as they joined the other Moonrebel cultivators.

The fighting resumed.

The unsealed nonhumans all unleashed astonishing attacks. The blue-haired nonhuman left behind puddles of water wherever he went. And those puddles sucked in any nearby cathedral cultivators, where they would enter the reflection of the water and experience pain and suffering.

The burly Heavenghost was surrounded by an area of thunder and lightning. And the countless bolts of lightning became vicious ghosts who ripped to shreds anything nearby. The more killing he did, the more vicious ghosts appeared.

One of the unsealed cultivators was more gruish than the others. When the cathedral cultivators tried to kill him, he didn’t fight back at all. He let them land deadly blows on him. However, each time that he died, the attacking cultivators would suddenly die. Then the nonhuman would possess the corpse and continue his slaughter….

Meanwhile, the statues of the Moonrebel Congregation were amazing. Not only did they bolster battle prowess, but they made the cultivators unafraid of dying. If they did die, then another statue would appear inside the mountain temples, and they would reemerge and start fighting again. That was the might of the Moonrebel Congregation as a domain treasure!

In a very short period of time, everything turned around.

Though the cathedral cultivators weren’t weak, they just couldn’t gain the upper hand in a situation like this. It was to be expected. After all… they were facing the strongest group of people from the Moonrebel Congregation in this epoch.

***

Far away in the middle of the Moonrite Region was a lake. And in the middle of that lake was an island. Atop the island was a massive, kneeling statue. From a distance it looked like it was holding up the sky. As you got closer, you could see that there was a temple complex beneath the statue. The temples were so small they were like ants.

That statue was none other than the Imperial Sovereign Li Zihua!

On the statue’s head was a church temple that emitted constant pressure onto the statue. It was the Red Moon Cathedral’s Godchild Temple, and it also served as their headquarters.

Inside of Godchild Temple was a huge throne, atop which sat a person. He appeared to be a young man, and though he seemed apathetic, his facial features were clearly similar to those of the statue outside. His aura went back and forth between strong and weak. He was clearly injured. And those injuries were obviously the work of the Heir Apparent and Princess Brightblossom. It was obvious who this person was.

In front of him was an illusory projected image that depicted the battlefield in the Bitter Life Mountains. Eventually, the young man stood and walked deeper into the temple. His steps seemed to propel him through the void and into another world.

In that other world, the sky was dusky, and the lands were covered with a lake of blood. Seated cross-legged atop the still water were twelve corpses. Each one resembled the young man. If you looked closely, you would see that the corpses actually didn’t have any flesh or blood. They only had an outer layer of skin. They were created in a circle on the surface of the lake, as if they were participating in some gruish ceremony. The circle, however, was incomplete.

The young man walked out onto the lake to the empty spot, then sat down cross-legged as the thirteenth corpse. The circle was now complete.

A golden eye appeared in the air, which scattered golden light onto the lake, causing the reflections of the corpses to appear in the water. What was very gruish was that the reflections actually didn’t match the corpses. The reflections revealed eight men and five women. From their facial features, it was obvious they were all children of the Imperial Sovereign.

They included the Heir Apparent and Princess Brightblossom. However… all of them looked younger, as if they were versions of themselves from the past. All of the brothers and sisters were there except for the fourth.

Then, a crafty and bizarre voice echoed out in this world.

“There was once a big dolly; with a bunch of little dollys; ten little dollys one two three; bloodshot eyes with hair gray and dusty; one day they didn’t say a word to me; the big kids looked around and yelled for mommy; the little kids shouldn’t think it’s that scary….

“Then suddenly something happened when; big dolly got sick and second dolly tended him; third dolly bought meds and fifth dolly prepped them; sixth dolly died and seventh dolly grinned; eighth dolly dug a pit and ninth dolly jumped in; tenth dolly asked why they were cryin’…

“Fourth dolly’s lost and won’t come back again!”

The lake surface churned, as if something in its depths was about to break the surface. A terrifying aura was coming.

1. Li Xiaoshan: Li is listed #2 on the top 100 surnames. Xiao means “firmament, heaven.” Shan means “mountain.” Madam Deathblade says it’s an impressive name that parents would give a child they have high hopes for. He’ll ‘climb high mountains and fly through the sky.’ ☜

Deathblade’s Thoughts

Yes, this chapter was significantly longer than an average chapter

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