Chapter 458: Resistance and Surrender
Translator: Yukidaruma Translations Editor: Yukidaruma Translations
As the three people in the air were recognized in succession, gasp after gasp could be heard from the crowd.
The abilities and reputations of the Darkness Demon Lord, one-eyed old man, and The School of Sword Arts' Supreme Chief were truly far too astonishing.
In particular, the Supreme Chief from The School of Sword Arts was a leading character in the Empire's sword arts domain. It was said that amongst those under the Divine level, there was no one who could surpass him in terms of sword arts.
Simultaneously, Ye Huang and the Illumination Society's Chief, who had been knocked unconscious earlier, were now awake. They were, after all, second transition level 29 experts who were masters of body regeneration and had powerful vitality.
Although they had taken a toll in their battle prowess, it was no problem for them to regain consciousness.
The two of them looked at the scene in the air with grim countenances. This situation was too unfavorable for them. Although they did not know what the trio wanted to do, just thinking of how they had set up traps like that made it clear they were up to no good.
Furthermore, both Ye Huang and Illumination Society's Chief had taken a huge toll in their battle prowess after fighting with Fang Xingjian. This made them feel even more insecure.
The one-eyed old man looked at the many factions and sent information currents sweeping out through his martial will. Then his voice rang out in everyone's brain directly.
He said, "We're subordinates of the First Prince. We're not only here today to subdue Fang Xingjian but also the many factions of the Great Western Region.
"Today, all of you only have a single option, which is to submit to the First Prince and serve the Empire.
"Those who are unwilling can only die."
Hearing what the one-eyed old man said, everyone's countenances changed. The countenances of Ye Huang and Illumination Society's Chief turned increasingly bad as well.
Even in their best condition, it would be impossible for them to win against a Demigod like the Supreme Chief, let alone now that they were suffering from serious injuries.
The people from the other factions seemed to have lost all hope too. With The School of Sword Arts' Supreme Chief taking the lead, along with an ex-Governor and the Darkness Demon Lord... Moreover, not forgetting that they were backed by the First Prince who would attain Divine level anytime soon… Who would dare to act presumptuously?
Where the members of the Black Wings stood, the Black Wings Demon was at the front, watching with great interest the way everyone's expressions were changing.
From the beginning to the end, everything was within the First Prince's plan. As someone who knew of the entire plan, when he looked at this scene, he had a feeling of exhilaration as one of the people plotting behind the scenes.
Conforming to the general trends of events, supporting the strongest, and becoming a part of the strongest faction... These were the things which he had always enjoyed doing the most.
Therefore, at this moment, he was the first to stand out and say, "It's god's will for the First Prince to be the future ruler of the world with an unprecedentedly great splendor. We, the Black Wings, are of course, all willing to come under the First Prince's rule."
Although everyone had expected this to happen when they saw the Darkness Demon Lord appear in the air, everyone's countenances turned increasingly grim when they personally witnessed that the Black Wings had truly become subordinates of the First Prince.
Soon after, five to six small factions consecutively swore their allegiance to the First Prince, and the situation seemed to become increasingly disadvantageous.
Ye Huang let out a cold snort and spoke while looking in the Black Wings Demon's direction, "Lackeys, the First Prince exhausted all his resources to build up military power and levied exorbitant taxes. If you join them, you won't have a good ending. In the end, all of you will just become cannon fodder.
"Furthermore, by joining the Empire, all your Killing technique secret manuals will be taken, and all of your disciples and Elders will be split up to various departments. It will just be a matter of time before your sect dies out. Are you guys really so willing to see the legacies of your sects to end in your hands?"
The Illumination Society's Chief also said, "Isn't today’s situation clear to you? The First Prince continuously created disagreements between us and Fang Xingjian, watching from the distance while we exhaust ourselves. Despite this, you guys are still going to join him?"
The Black Wings Demon smiled and said, "To think that you guys have been out in the world for so many years! Don't you think that what you're saying is very childish? Today, everyone who doesn't swear his allegiance to the First Prince will have to die.
"Ye Huang, Illumination Society's Chief, do the two of you want to drag down your sects and perish together?"
Ye Huang and the Illumination Society's Chief both fell silent. The greatest problem right now was the difference between their powers, along with the terror of being caught between life and death.
However, a short moment later, Ye Huang stood up and laughed. "Eternal night shall descend upon the mortal world. Everything in the world will eventually wither away and die in darkness.
"We, the Eternal Night Society, have never been afraid of death."
As Ye Huang spoke, black aura exuded from his entire body. Compared to how the Illumination Society's Chief had detonated his specialty seeds and activated his secret arts, Ye Huang had only suffered serious physical injuries and lost all of his Divine Weapons. After regaining consciousness, he still had about 50% of his battle prowess.
Ye Huang’s entire body was encompassed by black aura. It avoided being perceived by all senses, as if his physical body had entered an alternate dimension. With a dash, he charged head-on toward The School of Sword Arts' Supreme Chief, who was up in the air.
Under everyone's gazes, Ye Huang suddenly disappeared. Accompanied by a hint of sword light, he then reappeared before the Supreme Chief.
The Supreme Chief did not move. However, endless streams of sword light slashed against Ye Huang's body. Not only did the slashing force Ye Huang out of the Eternal Night Barrier, it also covered him with wounds, drenching him in blood. Ye Huang was unable to take another step closer to the Supreme Chief.
As Ye Huang let out a furious bellow, the black aura on his body grew increasingly denser. With the extremely tragic and profound aura, he disregarded the incoming sword light and pressed on. He charged toward the Supreme Chief, ignoring any forms of defense. The boundless black aura went smashing over in a state in which was it seemed like it was going to engulf the world and the sun.
This was the Great Sun Engulfment, the highest of achievement within the Eternal Night Society. It was a fist technique which harbored the state of engulfing all sunlight, leaving the world in eternal darkness. When a fist punched out, darkness would engulf all of the opponent's sensing abilities and Waves attacks. It could even seal up the ether particles in the opponent's body and turn an expert, who was as powerful as a god or demon, into a mere mortal.
Earlier, Fang Xingjian's attacks had been too sudden, so Ye Huang had not been able to unleash his full powers in time. As such, Ye Huang unleashed his full potential at this moment instead. The Great Sun Engulfment could be said to be incorporated with the profoundness of his lifetime’s worth of martial arts.
However, faced with the Eternal Night Society's strongest punch, the Supreme Chief still did not move. Streams of sworld light slithered around like silver snakes, and as the blood spurted into the air, Ye Huang's body was disintegrated bit by bit. In the end, only a pitch black fist arrived three meters in front of the Supreme Chief. However, it was still turned into dust by the myriad sword lights.
With endless tragic feelings and silence, a level 29 expert of a generation disappeared from the world forever.
"Master!"
"Lord!"
"Lord Ye Huang!"
In that instant, the entire Eternal Night Society broke out howling in grief. Some people dropped to their knees, crying. Others cried out as they charged toward the Supreme Chief, displaying various attacks.
This time around, the Darkness Demon Lord let out a cold laugh and shouted, "What impudence!"
With a wave of his hand, a great aura which was filled with lava, sulfur, and endless grievances appeared behind him.
At the next moment, streams of gray fog lunged out like vengeful spirits toward the resisting members of the Eternal Night Society. The ordinary apprentices were easily turned into dry corpses The first transition experts could hold off for a while longer, but they would also turn into dry corpses soon after.
The second transition experts could hold on for the longest. However, as more and more vengeful spirits lunged out toward them, their movements became increasingly stiff. At the end, they stopped moving and their bodies started to wither.
All those who were killed would have gray fog coming out from their corpses as well, and they would join the army of vengeful spirits in the air.
The Darkness Demon Lord laughed and said, "The Ten Directional Hell's Flag is a level 29 Superior Divine Weapon which was refined after killing over 500,000 people through the many decades of battle expeditions.
"Once the Ten Directional Hell's Flag is used to set up the Death Dominion, it will cause the vengeful spirits (the remnant information from the consciousness of the deceased) to attack.
"These attacks are incorporeal, and one can only resist through willpower. However, the moment one's willpower is insufficient, he will become a member of the vengeful spirits."
Unknowingly, over 500,000 vengeful spirits had filled up the skies above the entire Dark Shadow Mountain. The overwhelming amount of spirits let out voiceless cries. Just by standing below them, one would be incessantly subjected to willpower impacts.
All the wild Knights who were at second transition or lower fell without any power to resist.
Even a second transition expert would feel as if boundless terror had plunged from the sky. They would feel as if their limbs had turned cold and their bodies had gone numb.
Within the Death Dominion area set up by the Ten Directional Hell's Flag, everyone who were below the second transition would lose their battle prowess while second transition experts would be weakened by at least 20%. This was as expected from the First Prince's decades of hard work.
Everyone could only watch on as all the members of the Eternal Night Society were killed off, one after another. Seeing the increasing number of dead souls in the sky, a deep sense of desperation filled their hearts.
The Black Wings Demon looked toward the Illumination Society's Chief and asked, "What is it going to be? Is the Illumination Society going to resist till the end as well?"
The Illumination Society's Chief looked at all the fallen members of the Eternal Night Society and closed his eyes. Then he let out a long breath and said, "The Illumination Society surrenders."
"Chief!"
"Chief, we mustn't surrender!"
Looking at the outrage amongst the members of the Illumination Society, the Black Wings Demon laughed out loud. "You're cleverer, unlike the bunch of fools from the Eternal Night Society who just died for nothing.
"You should know how difficult it is for cultivators to reach the second transition. To die in vain in such a situation, wasting several decades of hard work... That is truly foolish."
With the eradication of the Eternal Night Society and the surrender of the Illumination Society, many of the sects present revealed desperate expressions.
Looking at this scene in satisfaction, the Black Wings Demon looked at Fang Xingjian and asked, "Fang Xingjian, we know you're making use of this time to recover. But what can you do even if you’re given time to recover?
"We'll ask you one more time. Will you surrender?"