An army in flight was like a landslide. The troops from the Proud Moon Empire were already disorganized. They could no longer gather together. Originally, under the encouragement of General Qina, they had seen some light. However, all of their hope had now changed into despair.
The morale of soldiers had already been shattered and their defense immediately became as weak as paper. A single charge collapsed their defensive line. The allied forces of the two empires poured in simultaneously as they attacked the Yatesianna defense line from the front and the back.
“General, this is bad, we should retreat!” The bodyguard captain which was supposed to protect General Qina persuaded him anxiously.
General Qina didn’t say a word. He stood in his spot as he watched the defense line fall to the enemy. The fall of the soldiers who were once under his leadership and the blazing flames which illuminated the sky stirred up complex emotions in him.
“General, general……” Seeing as General Qina was out of sorts, the bodyguard captain who was beside him called out to him.
General Qina came back to his sense and sighed, “Retreat? Where do we retreat to? The moment Yatesianna falls, out Proud Moon Empire will be unable to reverse the situation… Since we are all going to die anyway, let us all die on the battlefield instead.”
Hearing General Qina’s speech of defeat, every one of the bodyguards around him had a determined expression on their face.
When the grey dawn arrived, the sound of battle gradually died down. The infamous Yatesianna defense line which was known as an impregnable defense line had rows of corpses which were thousands of meters long. The ground was dyed dark red with blood and ashes drifted in the wind. In the campsite which belonged to the Proud Moon Empire, smoke was curling up to the skies. The existence of the Proud Moon Empire was about to come to an end.
Before long, a special kind of blood-red weed sprouted all over the Yatesianna defense line. During spring and summer, it covered the mountains and plains, and the plant emitted an indistinct smell of blood. Due to this special smell, this kind of weed was named Bixue [1] grass. Naturally, this was linked to a part of the story which had yet to come.
The Blood Cavalry Regiment of the Violent Dragon Legion had firmly surrounded General Qina and his bodyguards. This leader of this surprise attack was Nangong Nu. Currently, he had a gloomy look on his face as he stared at General Qina. Although there was no such thing as who was right or wrong in a war, Nangong Nu gnashed his teeth hatefully when he looked at General Qina. In war, it was a glory for soldiers to die for their country. However, in this campaign to take down the Yatesianna defense line, the allied forces of the two empires had lost nearly half of their soldiers in this foreign land. How could Nangong Nu not express his pain?
“Cavalry regiment! Hahaha, I, Qina, have no grievances against you even though I am defeated.” General Qina laughed sardonically with sorrow. He had believed that Beitang Yu had used all the forces available to her in a frontal attack. However, he forgot about the elite cavalry regiment. That was because in such a large scale siege battle, cavalry were unable to display their true power. The cavalry unit of the Proud Moon Empire had already dismounted and joined other units on the wall. Everything was due to a shortage in soldiers who were defending against the enemy. Had he known that there would be a sneak attack from the back, he would have never agreed to let the cavalry dismount and help the soldiers on the wall. However, no one could tell the future. General Qina greatly regretted his actions but there was nothing he could do about it.
At this time, the Blood Cavalry Regiment neatly moved to the sides, opening up a passage. Beitang Yu along with two guards, leisurely walked over. The expression and temperament she had were completely different those who took part in the battle. However, those who saw her would be able to feel that she was a person who would fit in naturally in the battlefield.
“Beitang Yu, I, Qina, am sincerely convinced. You were the only one who defeated me.” General Qina pulled out the ornamental sword from his waist and performed the Proud Moon Empire’s military salute towards Beitang Yu.
“General Qina, you allowed yourself to be seized with your hands tied. Since the Proud Moon Empire is about to be destroyed, why not serve my Violent Dragon Empire?” Beitang Yu held deep admiration for this long standing veteran, General Qina. If not for him commanding the troops, Yatesianna would have fallen long ago.
“Proud Moon Empire only has generals who die in battle. No general will ever submit to the enemy.” General Qina sadly smiled as he looked towards the northern direction. The ornamental sword in his hand flashed with a pallid light, then blood spurted everywhere as a famous General fell.
“General……” The several bodyguards beside General Qina wailed the moment he fell. In a single motion, they drew their own sword and blood mist sprayed into the air as they ended their own lives. This scene was a kind of desolate beauty just like a blood flower which had just bloomed.
Beitang Yu was visibly moved upon seeing this. She had already expected that General Qina would die for his country, however, she didn’t stop him as she knew that it was the only ending befitting for such a general. If she had such a day, she would also end her own life. She would have made the same choice General Qina made.
Nangong Nu and the soldiers of the Blood Cavalry Regiment immediately dismounted from their horses. Raising their cavalry spear, they gave General Qina a salute. Even though he was the enemy they hated, as a soldier, they admired him.
When the Yatesianna defense line was completely broken, Proud Moon Empire was completely exposed to the ferocious teeth and sharp claws of the allied army of the two empires. At that moment, the news of Nalan Ruyue ascending the throne also came through. The declining morale of the troops from the Nalan Empire started to rise and stabilize.
Along with the momentum of victory, Beitang Yu led the allied army of the two empires as they captured various cities belonging to the Proud Moon Empire. Cities both big and small fell to the allied army and they swept through the Proud Moon Empire like how the autumn wind swept away the fallen leaves. The soldiers marched towards Proud Moon Empire’s capital city, Ice Wind City. In addition to this, the bounty hunters also massacred the high-ranking officials of the Proud Moon Empire without any scruples. Proud Moon Empire which was already on the verge of collapse entered its days.
……………..
Unlike the bloody land of the Yatesianna defense line, the summer night in Blue Moon City was extremely beautiful. Everything was nice other than the weather. With stars all over the sky, bright moonlight, sea breeze on the sandy beach coupled with the sea waves crashing on the shore, the night was very beautiful. Many people from the capital had brought their beddings and they set up camp on the sandy beach. They wanted to enjoy the cool breeze to the fullest. This was truly a big scene in Blue Moon City. This was inconceivable a few weeks before this due to the unrest in the capital.
In the center of the empty Light Church, several milky white magic lamps were emitting a soft radiance. However, Long Yi was feeling miserable and strange as he stood in the Light Church.
“Charles, in the dead of the night, why on earth did you call me here? To be honest, I am very unaccustomed to spending time alone in a room with another man. Moreover, that man is looking at me with hunger and thirst in his eyes.” Long Yi could no longer endure this. This old man played the role of a profound thinker which kept silent. However, the weird gaze made Long Yi shudder.
Charles coughed. This was his true expression because he knew that there was nothing to hide from Long Yi. Long Yi had already guessed everything.
“Ximen Yu, I’ve already fulfilled all of your conditions. When can you give me the method?” Charles said and fanatical radiance flashed in his eyes.
“Don’t you want to activate the light spirit tablet? Pass it here for me to take a look first.” Long Yi smiled and said.
Light Pope hesitated. The spirit tablet was something he had to rack his brains for in order to snatch it away from Long Yi. How was it possible for him to hand it over so easily?
“What? Don’t believe me? That’s fine… I tried to fulfill my promise, but you were the one who didn’t allow me to. Now, neither of us owe each other anymore.” Long Yi shrugged his shoulders before turning to leave.
“Wait a minute, how can I not believe you?” Charles awkwardly smiled and took out the light spirit tablet. With a light toss, he threw it towards Long Yi. He wasn’t afraid that Long Yi would run away with the spirit tablet as he had already instructed for people to seal the entire Light Church. Currently, the Light Church was surrounded by a strong barrier.
Long Yi caught the light spirit tablet in his hand and the rotation of the light vortex within his sea of consciousness instantly intensified. The light spirit table started to shine brightly in his hand.
Charles became excited, thinking that Long Yi knew the method to activate the table. One should know that he had fiddled around with this light spirit tablet for many months. However, the tablet didn’t show signs of activating at all.
“How are things? Ximen Yu, you know how to use a spirit table to obtain the inheritance, don’t you?” Charles grabbed Long Yi’s hands as excitement filled his voice. Currently, the look on his face was full of greed and excitement. He had already completely discarded his former appearance which was shown to the public in the day.
“Hey hey, don’t touch me, I am not a homo.” Long Yi threw back the light spirit tablet towards Charles. When he saw Charles’ current appearance, Long Yi couldn’t help but sigh. This Light Pope who was respected and admired by everyone actually behaved so inappropriately…
“I have no idea why the spirit tablet was shining in my hand neither do I know how to get the inheritance from the spirit tablet itself. However, I do know how to get the inheritance. You need the God Seal to be able to activate the inheritance. Although I was not very clear about how I obtained the inheritance of the Lightning God, I would have failed the inheritance if the Lightning God refused to give it to me.” Long Yi retreated two steps and explained.
Charles was startled and he quickly followed up with a question, “Did you see the Lightning God himself?”
“Stop with your nonsense. Since you were able to snatch this light spirit tablet using my cousin, you should also know that there was a Lightning God statue in the Lightning Shrine. The soul of the Lightning God was attached to it.” Long Yi shrugged his shoulders and said. Everything Long Yi said was the truth.
“Where should I go to look for the Light God?” Charles muttered to himself. He claimed to be the emissary of the Light God in front of everyone. However, he had no idea where to actually find the Light God.
“According to my experience, the Light God might be concealed among the Light God statues.” Long Yi seriously said.
Charles subconsciously turned around and stared at the huge statue of the Light God which was in the hall. Bowing to pay his respects, he muttered something under his breath.
“This is everything I know about the inheritance. If there is nothing else, I’ll be leaving. If I let this night pass without doing anything fun, that will really be boring…” Long Yi said with a smile and turned away from Charles.
However, the moment Long Yi turned away, the light spirit tablet in Charles’ hand started shining. Soon after that, it left his hand and started to float towards the Light God statue. It rotated in the air in front of the statue, right above Charles.
“Oh, mighty Light God, your devout believer sincerely prays. Please pass the inheritance of this spirit tablet on to me……” Charles was wild with joy and he prostrated himself to the ground.
Feeling as though something was wrong, Long Yi turned around and stared at the statue of the Light God. Could it be that the soul of the Light God was located in the huge statue in the hall?
Suddenly, the light spirit tablet flew out of the hall. Long Yi and Charles soared into the skies and chased after it. The last thing they saw was that the light spirit tablet changed into a strand of white light as it charged towards the Light God statue at the top of the Light Church.
“Eh…… This is bad…” Long Yi sweated profusely. Could it be that this Light God statue really possessed the soul of the Light God? If this was true… Long Yi was the one who made Nalan Rumeng pee on this statue…
At this point, Long Yi didn’t think about it anymore. Regardless of whether the Light God was about to appear or not, according to the Thirty-Six stratagems, fleeing was the best tactic. Long Yi turned around and he wanted to leave before the Light God appeared.
However, Long Yi merely took a single step before his body started shaking. The center of his left palm flashed with white light and tiger cub Little Three came out. The moment it appeared, it released a long and loud roar. Moreover, its white eyes were dazzling with violent white light as it stared at the statue.
[1] Bixue: blood shed due to a just cause