Chapter 529
“Thank you, um... brother-in-law.”
Feng Zhi, this noble member of the Celestial Clan, picked up on human social niceties remarkably quickly.
“Have some peanuts.”
Ying Bing’s cold gaze flickered with a hint of pleasure.
Only then did Feng Zhi relax; the feeling of having a sword hanging over her head dissipated. Just a moment ago, any slight movement on her part would have summoned a storm of wrath.
All of this was because...
She turned to the figure cooking dumplings and asked, “Sister, are you... not planning to go back?”
Ying Bing shook her head. “I never belonged there, so what is there to return to?”
Feng Zhi’s expression grew urgent, but she lowered her voice. “But I heard from several elders that the world is changing. The natural disasters to come will be beyond anything we’ve faced before, escalating to a life-and-death crisis.”
“Shouldn’t you, as a chosen one, have at least some thought of protecting the world?”
It was precisely for this reason that the Celestial City supported Jiang Yu’s radical reforms.
This time, they couldn’t just coast through the calamity as they had in the past.
“I do.”
Ying Bing added a spoonful of chili to her small bowl, her gaze never straying from the figure at the stove.
“The world I wish to protect is right here.”
“...”
Feng Zhi found it hard to comprehend, but she opened her mouth and ultimately said nothing more.
The mortals of the human city.
Their lives were but a fleeting autumn, withering away in the blink of an eye.
No one could change the passage of time; Ying Bing could only change her thoughts, and there would be time for that later.
After a while, the small room felt like a family reunion filled with pleasantries.
Moments later, Feng Zhi emerged from the courtyard, dressed in a bright red floral cotton coat, carrying cured meat and rice wine.
The trio from the Earth City, curious about the silence inside, were left dumbfounded by the scene before them:
“What’s going on here...?”
“From now on, don’t touch Wang Village.”
“What about Emperor Jiang’s orders?”
“If he comes, he’ll have to wear a floral cotton coat too.”
“????”
The light and shadow on the map of the empire began to fade rapidly once again.
The Celestial Clan didn’t need resources, but the martial artists of Earth City did.
A vast expanse of territory from the human city had been incorporated into the domain of Earth City, and the influence of its people was growing larger, with towns springing up like mushrooms after rain.
At the same time, the frequency of demons crossing the city walls was increasing, and their numbers were swelling.
This caused the population of the human city to quickly gather in the city controlled by Earth City.
Because Jiang Yu had issued an edict stating that the Celestial Clan would only protect the subjects of Dayu.
In an instant, the vast majority of Celestial City was now under the rule of the new Dayu.
Except for a few places, like Wang Village.
Wang Village had now become Wang Town, with several nearby villages and displaced refugees merging into the town.
The protection of the Celestial Clan was something they lacked, and they didn’t need to learn the martial arts of Earth City. In this day and age, from Li Mo’s perspective, having ample food was of utmost importance.
While ensuring self-sufficiency, Li Mo had been working to expand this community to accommodate more and more people.
“The scale of Wang Town is now comparable to the cities extending from Earth City.”
“But it’s isolated on the edge of the human city, cut off from help. Can it really work?”
“As long as the gates of the human city are guarded by the Celestial Clan, it should be fine.”
“The flow of time has slowed down!”
On the map of the empire, the passage of time within the light and shadow no longer rushed by.
This meant the first fifty years had arrived.
---
Chapter 600: The Calamity Arrives, the Human City Falls
Outside Celestial City, the sky was as dark as blood, with no light from the sun or moon, and jagged rocks loomed ominously.
In the eternal night that even a thousand years of rain could not wash away, the chilling sounds of inhuman howls and whispers echoed, sending shivers down one’s spine.
A grand and wild Great Wall stood as the boundary between the human realm and hell.
The history shared among the three cities of heaven, earth, and man told that the outside world was a forbidden zone for humanity, while within Celestial City lay two worlds.
Of course, there were skeptics; after all, some would wonder why, if their ancestors intended to keep them inside, the human city had gates at all.
Those who dared to step outside the city would ultimately vanish without a trace, becoming bloody lessons for others.
Some wise men claimed that Celestial City originally had more than just the three cities of heaven, earth, and man; the outermost cities had fallen and were gradually forgotten in the long river of time.
But now, this boundary was on the verge of collapse.
Boom—
A towering, fearsome figure was relentlessly battering against the city wall, causing the barrier infused with the power of heaven and earth to tremble.
Blood splattered, and the natural patterns on the barrier visibly weakened.
Under the black sun, a fierce aura spread and fermented, with martial artists from Earth City and demons from the outer city dying by the minute.
On the city tower, two members of the Celestial Clan watched the hellscape outside, their faces grave and drenched in sweat.
“If this continues, the defending forces of Earth City will be exhausted. Are we really going to let the mortals of the human city take their place?”
A tall, silver-haired Celestial Clan member slammed the table. “We are stationed here, clearly not in the most critical area of the disaster!”
The human city had three gates, and this one was relatively remote, historically bearing the lightest burden and the least defensive pressure.
The demons were simple-minded; they only knew to swarm to where the people were.
“It’s different... this time it’s different.”
The other Celestial Clan member, whose bronze skin bore divine patterns, murmured, “I’ve realized what the problem is. This time, the demons seem to be organized. They appear chaotic, but their movements are calculated! They know the south gate is weak, which is why they’re launching a massive assault!”
“There’s someone behind them pulling the strings!”
Eliminating all impossible scenarios, the remaining one, no matter how unlikely, must be the truth.
The tall Celestial Clan member still found it hard to believe.
Those demons, whose intelligence was lower than that of beasts and who often turned on each other, could actually unite and coordinate like an army?
“Preposterous, how could that be...”
Before he could finish his sentence.
Whoosh—
A fierce wind blew, and a snake’s head covered in thorns rose from the city wall.
How big was it?
When its two eyes opened, it was as if two blood-red suns had risen on the horizon, and atop the snake’s head stood a figure, his form resembling an iron tower, coldly gazing down at the city tower below.
Indeed, the tower standing atop the massive city was shorter than it.
The tall Celestial Clan member’s throat went dry. “Damn it, this is bad.”
The outer wall of the human city was breached in a single day.
When the other Celestial Clan members sensed that their kin guarding the south gate had fallen, it was already too late.
---
The city had fallen, and the demons surged in like a tide. Even a thousand-mile dam could be breached by an ant hole, let alone an entire city gate.
The atmosphere inside and outside the imperial capital had sunk to rock bottom, with everyone wearing different expressions.
“I remember the last time during the Celestial Trials, the first round of disasters passed easily, it was hardly more than a formality. What’s going on this time?”
“The people from the Demon Summoning Sect have entered, and there’s a strange presence. Can it really be the same as last time?”
“Right, those demons are clearly being driven by the secret methods of the Hundred Beasts Hall from the Demon Summoning Sect!”
“No wonder they’re stronger and know how to act in unison now.”
“The Celestial Clan has retreated entirely, back to defend Earth City!”
“What does Jiang Yu mean? Is he abandoning the human city!?”
---
Inside Celestial City, Jiang Yu sat on the dragon throne, the divine sword embedded in the red beam above him.
“The walls of the human city have already been breached. We have no choice but to make a painful decision and retreat to the new city walls extending from Earth City.”
“What about the villages and towns that haven’t yet come under Earth City’s rule?”
Feng Zhi’s face was ashen, her breath weaker than usual, and she furrowed her brows as she asked.
“I’ve repeatedly ordered them to submit to Dayu. This is an unavoidable situation.”
Jiang Yu spoke with little emotional fluctuation, indifferently stating, “I’m still some distance from fully mastering the Celestial Divine Sword. How can we manage such a vast area? If we lose more manpower because of this, it would be counterproductive. We need to build our strength and wait for the right moment to strike.”
Feng Zhi fell silent.
The other Celestial Clan members exchanged glances, also feeling that Jiang Yu’s words made sense.
An elder of the Celestial Clan, who had experienced long years, sighed, “In that case, we can only make things difficult for those outside the law.”
A stir of unrest spread throughout the imperial capital, from the heavens to the earth.
Under the royal canopy, an awkward silence ensued.
The Fourth Prince looked as if he had been slapped in the face.
He had just praised the Crown Prince’s wisdom and valor, claiming that his elder brother, who valued mercy, would surely navigate this disaster with humanity.
Now, he could only backtrack, saying, “Well, sometimes sacrifices are necessary to achieve great things.”
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