Chapter 996: The Next Frigid Nigh (1/2)

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Events unfolded as most people had expected. In the face of Evernight’s overwhelming advantage, the previously victorious empire stayed low and allowed the enemy to control the Great Maelstrom passage. The Eternal Flame’s arrival shook all experts in the neutral lands. Most of the arrogant experts suddenly discovered that they never possessed the courage to appear before this Great Dark Monarch without the Throne of Blood’s support.

Zhang Buzhou remained in secluded cultivation as he assailed the heavenly monarch realm. However, this isolation of his had more or less become a joke.

Fortunately, the Eternal Flame only stayed for a short while. He even left a bit earlier than the three-day agreement he had made with the Throne of Blood.

With the Eternal Flame gone, the demonkin left together with him. Those who were watching could easily trace the massive fleet as it flew across the neutral lands.

After the departure of this great dark monarch—one who commanded great respect even in the Evernight Council—countless experts felt as though a large rock had been lifted off of their chests. They were finally able to heave a sigh of relief.

Half of the vampire and arachne forces also left, but a fair number of them remained at Tidehark. On one hand, it was because some of their people hadn’t entered yet—the passage was still usable, albeit barely. On the other hand, they were hoping to defend against the empire’s retaliation and hold the passage until its next opening. Everyone knew that wasn’t easy, but some people held onto the elusive dream.

The great powers of the neutral lands were waiting to see who would win in the imminent clash between the two factions. Currently, there was no big difference in military power. The Evernight side held a slight advantage, but most people felt the empire had a greater chance. They were looking forward to the miracles the future god-strategist would bring.

Most people were also puzzled as to why the vampires and arachne had called back over half of their fleet. The Great Maelstrom passage would restabilize in half a month’s time at most. Couldn’t they wait? What they didn’t know was that the war on the void continent had taken a drastic turn. The forces of Evernight were collapsing on all fronts under the Empire’s relentless assault.

Everyone guessed one thing correctly: Song Zining’s retaliation would arrive surely and swiftly. What they guessed wrong was the method.

The Eternal Flame had just departed when most of the experts in the neutral lands began to feel their hearts pounding. Then, an extremely wretched scream echoed throughout the land.

The pounding was fairly familiar. Those who had lived long in the neutral lands had felt this sensation more than just once. That was the rumble of the Shattered Moment, fired personally and at full force by that powerhouse.

The scream, on the other hand, was unfamiliar. Yet, it had spread throughout the entire neutral lands and even echoed on the spiritual plane. One couldn’t begin to imagine how terrifying the owner of this howl was.

Everyone began making all kinds of guesses. It was at this moment that the vampire troops stationed in Tidehark began to move. A group of warships left the Eastern Sea and flew into the void. This led many people to believe that a great battle had ensued between the Throne of Blood and the Lightless Monarch Medanzo.

No matter how many guesses they ventured, these people would never know the truth.

While idle people were doing their best to spread the news, countless Imperial Fleets had appeared over the horizon and were swarming toward Tidehark.

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While the flames of war flickered in the neutral lands, Qianye was facing yet another cruel problem—how to get through the night.

Even if he were to use the most primitive method, it would be too difficult for him to drive the vitality of both Li Kuanglan and Ji Tianqing—unless they were to imbibe a large amount of the four-armed people’s white-fruit wine. But that would make the situation even worse than before. Although Qianye still wasn’t clear about Ji Tianqing’s identity, he was quite certain that it wouldn’t be inferior to Li Kuanglan’s. Besides, her character was even more difficult to deal with than Li Kuanglan.

Qianye couldn’t just watch them fade away in the frigid night, either, especially when there was something he could do.

Qianye’s heart grew heavier as he gazed at the setting sun.

Li Kuanglan was, at first, channeling her arts quietly. At this point, she opened her eyes all of a sudden and said to Ji Tianqing, “What are you still using that disguise for?”

Ji Tianqing opened her eyes. “What disguise?”

She was apparently pretending to be dumb, but Li Kuanglan wasn’t about to let her succeed. “There are no outsiders here, it’s fine to reveal your true appearance.”

Ji Tianqing trembled somewhat but quickly fell silent. Her aura was fluctuating wildly, a clear indication of her conflict.

Qianye was puzzled. Revealing one’s true appearance wasn’t a big deal, but why was Ji Tianqing so insistent? Was she really ugly? It made no difference to Qianye whether she was ugly or pretty, but even someone as tactless as Qianye knew he couldn’t say that out loud.

Li Kuanglan sighed. “It’s almost midnight.”

She stretched her hand toward Qianye. “Give me a jar of wine.”

Qianye was shaken. “What are you planning to do?”

Li Kuanglan was calm. “You can help one but not both. If we can’t hold out past midnight, you’ll put your life on the line to activate our vitality, won’t you? Even though you know it’s impossible. So, we’ll all die here if we don’t drink a good amount of wine. The only downside of drinking too much is that. I don’t want to die, I don’t want you to die, either. Whatever happens, we’ll forget it once we leave this place.”

Qianye felt a complicated wave of emotions, something he couldn’t quite explain.

Seeing Qianye in a daze, Li Kuanglan turned to Ji Tianqing instead. “Wine.”

Ji Tianqing was startled. “Why should I give you?”