549 The Armillary Sphere (1/2)
”Did someone break into Star Hall?”
”It was probably a higher being, a Martial True Divine or a True Elemental Spiritual knight!”
The island had descended into chaos as the all the dream masters in the Realm Alliance were activated.
In the past, a True Divine or True Elemental spiritual knight would not be too hard to for the dream masters to deal with.
For example, the Elder Smelter dared to challenge the Venerable Longhu all those years ago because of his latent power.
However, times had changed!
”Bang!”
In the midst of all the commotion, a deafening sound rang out from the bronze hall.
A gaping hole had been torn into the rear wall of the bronze hall. A dark shadowy figure had sped out at a blistering speed and there was no way anyone else could keep up.
Of course, it was not like they wanted to or dared to chase after the shadowy figure either.
”Given that he had broken through the Realm Alliance array, could this True Divine be targeting a sage?”
The few remaining elders streamed into Star Hall and saw that the armillary sphere in the middle of the chamber had disappeared. A large hole lay in the place where it had once stood.
Beside the hole lay a dried up corpse. It was that of an old man and the elders could see from the clothes it was wearing that it was the Ancient One!
”The Ancient One...is dead?”
A dream master fell to the floor in a daze.
The dream masters being swept off from their altar was already a huge blow. Now that their foremost sage had fallen, the implications were unthinkable.
”Pass down orders from the elders' council. This hall is to be sealed up! No news is to be leaked out!”
”Not even a word!”
An elder who had recently been promoted sucked in a breath of cold air. He turned around with a stern look.
”What we're looking at right now is the shell that the great sage left behind. The great sage has gone to dream-traverse through the three thousand worlds!”
”Yes! That's right!”
The other elders looked at each other furtively. They knew that if news of this matter got out, the Realm Alliance would fall apart.
”Also...who's the murderer?”
The elder bent down to examine the Ancient One's corpse suspiciously.
”Not many people in the world could make it past the array placed on or perimeters. There are only a few left after eliminating those who have retreated…”
He then thought to himself:
'Unfortunately...whoever it is, the Realm Alliance is not in the position to offend him.”
”Elder Song, what do you suggest we do? We are all behind you!”
The core leaders among the dream masters exchanged a look with each other and agreed unanimously.
”Excellent. The most important thing we should do right now is to stay united!”
Elder Song's eyes gleamed.
”We shall spend this time on consolidation and keeping to ourselves. If this piece of news were to leak out, Baize Mountain and the Evil Divine Sect would take the chance to wipe us out!”
Being on different parts of the hierarchy would beget different perspectives.
To others, halting the Realm Alliance's expansion of influence might be a bad move but Elder Song saw this as an opportunity.
As long as he could reinforce his personal authority and gather all the forces of the Realm Alliance to his side, he would become a hegemon in his own right!
Even if he could not do that, wielding some degree of power in the Realm Alliance would ensure that he was well-regarded no matter whom he chose to ally with in the future!
If necessary, he would use the entire Realm Alliance as his bargaining chip.
He had learnt a great many things from having clawed his way up from the bottom!
...
”No one actually bothered to chase after me. The Realm Alliance has reached a new low…”
Fang Yuan had reached the shores of the island and boarded the little canoe unhurriedly. He did not know what to feel as the lights of the island faded into the distance.
The Realm Alliance was loosely organised and relied on the Ancient One together with his team of 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters to maintain order.
The Ancient One had held on to his power despite everything by virtue of his coolheadedness and his status as a True Divine spiritual knight. He was a wily man indeed.
With their stabilising figure gone, it was inevitable that the Realm Alliance was going to fall into disarray.
”My failure to kill the Ancient One will lead to many more problems in the future!”
Fang Yuan decided to stop over at one of the deserted islands, where he found a cave to settle down in. He then took out a few crystals to illuminate his dark surroundings.
Immediately after, he produced the Mountain River Pearl and tilted it gently.
”Kaboom!”
The world around Fang Yuan began to tremble as a simple looking armillary sphere fell to the ground with a dull thud.