68 DEADLOCK AT THE FIRST MESIAL DUC (1/2)

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START of ARC 2,

”THE HIDDEN WAR OF THE NINE TOWERS”

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Tian, Lord of the Nine Heavens.

Although he nowadays might call himself a ruler of the Nine Heavens with such pride, back in the day he had been the lowest of Heavenly Beasts. However, after he stole the Jade Emperor's cultivation and gained his unparalleled strength everything changed: the following morning, the sky above the True Earth had split into Nine Heavens, and a new Heavenly Lord sat on the throne.

At that time, no one had any reason to find faults with his claim to the position.

For starters, Tian had always been a close friend of the Jade Emperor, as well as a wise adviser to the ruler of Heaven. Leaving Tian a portion of his cultivation as well as the tall throne, were the Lord to ever abdicate, also appeared to be a rather logical arrangement.

How could they possibly know that Hundredth Xu hadn't left the position willingly to wander the world, but rather had fallen at the hands of his most trustworthy subject!

Millions of years of peace under the harmonious Jade Emperor had clouded their judgment.

Before they knew it, Tian had already succeeded in his scheme. Most of those who had greater power had already been enticed to join him. The others were fooled into signing contracts that shackled them: so long as this seal existed, their battle strength would be maimed, and they'd never again be able to fight directly against the Nine Heavens.

But then, unlikely event after unlikely event took place at Worldlords Flying Island.

Mankind, who had once been deemed as unworthy to even stand on the same ground as the Heavenly, threw the first stone, declaring war to the Tyrant. One man in particular showed burning hate and raging fury towards the Heavenly Lord Tian. His name... Was Xu Ling!

…

It was common knowledge to cultivators that it was impossible to step off the edge of a world, as even if you walked forward, you'd just wind up back when you started, however long that might take. Similarly, it was found to be just as impossible to fly up endlessly into the night sky, as you would just leave the plane of existence and step into the network of planar ducts.

There seemed to be no ”end” when it came to the Planary System of the Nine Heavens. Everything was connected as a single, gargantuan structure. Even the eldest Primordial Beasts, whose endless lifespans had them roaming the Planary System for millions of years, had never reached any end but the same beginning from whence they had set off. At that time, they could only pick another route…

Others, after eras spent exploring a single direction that showed no signs of stopping, could only eventually give up, and come back, however dejected they might be.

Lastly, there would be those who were just never seen or heard of again.

The map of the planar ducts was ever-increasing in complexity. The strangest element, however, had to be the lack of absolutes. Distance between planes would vary immensely depending on the routes one picked. So much so that while it might take ages to travel from one plane directly to another, the time required to get from one of those two planes to a third, and then from that third plane to the other, second plane, would be a mere couple of breaths.

When one left a plane and stepped into the planar ducts, he'd see in the distance how and where the ducts divided and connected into an unimaginable network. However, when it came to the situation just around oneself, everything grew that much foggier. What had been determined, however, was that it was just as impossible to leave the network of planar duct as it had been to reach the end of the world. Wherever one flew, he'd be going somewhere, akin to an ant walking atop a piano string.

Just like the countless planes of existence were connected through planar ducts that bridged their heavens together, in the Nine Heavens there were heavenly ducts. These were artificial passages left behind by Tian when he severed the True Heavens, and were the only link between each of those Heavens.

As such, planar ducts and heavenly ducts couldn't be any more different, as the gaps left by Tian's separation of the Heavens were tears into the fabrics of reality. To existences that thrived in that reality, they were just like erasers. If anything went beyond the gaping teeth of those horrid mouths of nothingness, it'd simply disappear. For those whose existence was more resilient, it would take more, yes, but just like the analogy of an eraser would imply, more and more of their finely embroidered Qi would be unraveled and worn, more and more of what made up their essence would be forgotten by the world. Even if they came back, they would never be the same, be that their prowess, or their very self. Cut, mutilated, erased. All that would be left behind would be a flawed being, an existence of imperfection, and gaps.

And the armies led by the Evil Saint had had the chance to experience the horror of those heavenly ducts first-hand.

In the two hundred years of history of the rebellion, the bloodiest of slaughters had been fought right over there: beyond the entrance to those ducts.

Powerful ageless weren't easy to slay. Similarly, even the weakest of Immortals wouldn't fall easily, even at the hands of ones far above them. However, at the heavenly ducts, any foot-soldier had the potential to turn the tides of a war, if he made use of the ducts well enough and managed to push a renowned legendary warrior off.

Furthermore, as only a couple thousand soldiers could pass side by side at the same time, whereas whole armies could be stationed at the exit to the corridor, they were also strategic points that were countless times easier to defend rather than to siege.

However, during the battle at the third heavenly duct, Xu Ling gave everyone on the rebel army quite the scare as they saw him fall into perhaps the most dangerous trap yet. To everyone's shock, countless Divine Gardeners had secretly come together to create the perfect stratagem. All could be discarded, even the outcome of the battle… so long as the Evil Saint could be pushed off! Brave generals and countless powerhouses of the Nine Heavens fell, all so that even the Evil Saint, the Tamperer, couldn't feel anything off as he was lured in…

And lastly, the most valuable spy the Heavens had ever hidden in the ranks of the rebels, the traitor that had been lowing low and playing along long before even Xiao Lan joined, pushed the blue-eyed youth off the heavenly duct. In the blink of an eye, the mighty Xu Ling, unkillable wraith of the battlefield, had disappeared into the void.

That easy.