A faintly discernible flame appeared in the air, drifting toward Qianye in a shade of ashen grey.

Qianye simply gazed at that pale flame, which began to shrink and finally transformed into a black plume of fire. The blaze wasn’t burning in the air but actually flickering in a mirror that had suddenly appeared.

Several more flames drifted through the air but were duly captured by the mirrors.

Under the continual licking of the black fire, cracks began to form all over the mirror.

Only a bit of black fire remained as the mirrors shattered. The remnants gathered together and continued drifting toward Qianye, only to be grabbed and extinguished.

A pale flame gradually materialized in the air. The Eternal Flame gazed at Qianye, saying, “You’ve grown this strong?”

Qianye sighed. “Still lacking a little bit.”

“You should be proud that you managed to tie against my Sable Blessing.”

The Eternal Flame wasn’t blowing his own trumpet. Widely recognized as the most powerful expert below the sovereigns, he did have the right to say these words. The showdown just now had ended in Qianye’s slight disadvantage.

“Is your hand fine, though?” the Eternal Flame asked.

“Perfectly fine.” Qianye stretched his fingers. His palm was flawless jade, without the slightest blemish.

The Eternal Flame’s blaze flickered momentarily. “No ordinary vampire can grab the Sable Blessing’s attack with his bare hand.”

“I was just fortunate.”

The Eternal Flame was startled as he observed Qianye. “You’re not a great dark monarch yet?!”

“Still lacking that last bit. I might make it if you guys give me a bit more time.”

The Eternal Flame let out a low-pitched laugh. “You’re already so powerful, there’s no way we would dare.”

“Why worry? Perhaps my bloodline will just stop at the great dark monarch realm.”

“From what we see now, even the grand duke rank is too much.”

Qianye stretched his palm out, revealing a brilliant glow in it. “Why are you all intent on ascending the mountain? If it’s for this, I’ll save you the trouble. I’ve used all the resources up there. Only an empty s.p.a.ce remains.”

The pale flame flickered violently as the demonkin monarch gazed at the radiance. Countless eyes in the darkness fell upon Qianye’s palm.

Qianye closed his fingers and promptly extinguished the light.

“No…!” A b.e.s.t.i.a.l roar echoed in the emptiness, but there was no further message.

“Since you’re all here, why not just come out? What’s with all the sneaking about?” Qianye said.

Moments later, several figures appeared at the same time. All of them looked very different in appearance, but their auras were all profound and boundless.

Qianye glanced over them one after another. “Progia, Sousa, and… are you the Wolf Ancestor or the Wolf Sovereign?”

The tall figure to the farthest right said in a jaded voice, “You can call me Wolf Ancestor, that fellow from the Summit of Peaks has abandoned the ancestral ways and will be punished.”

Qianye was enlightened. “Is this the final battle? You guys really do think highly of me. But… I can’t be the only reason, right?”

The Eternal Flame said honestly, “We did consider the two heavenly monarchs from the human race, but who would’ve thought you would grow so fast? Of course, it’s even more unexpected that they would remain silent for so long.”

Qianye smiled. “I’m no longer a human, so it’s only normal that they don’t come.”

“I feel sorry for you.”

Qianye said, “I don’t think of it that way. We all have to live with our choices. What I don’t understand is why you guys are going to such lengths for an empty place.”

The great dark monarchs’ aura wavered, but they quickly regained their composure. They naturally understood that Qianye was standing on equal footing with them. The man had taken not one but seven consecutive shots from the Eternal Flame’s Sable Blessing!

Someone of this caliber had no need to lie.

The Eternal Flame pointed toward the holy mountain with his flame, saying, “The trajectory of fate has pointed out the weakest point in the new world, and it’s the summit of the holy mountain. That’s why we have to get there whether or not the Lord of Evernight’s origin power is still there.”

Qianye rose into the sky. He glanced at the Attawa below and then at the four great dark monarchs. “Since that’s the case, I’ll be taking my leave.”

“I don’t think so.”

A cold intent flickered in Qianye’s eyes. “Numbers won’t be able to hold me back. Besides, you know the outcome if you fail to intercept me, so think hard about it. I don’t think the lot of you can stick together forever.”

The Eternal Flame said, “That is indeed something to think about. How about this? We can’t just let you go without a fight. If you don’t use the Red Spider Lily, we won’t use the Sable Blessing. The Wolf Ancestor here will spar with you to test your heavenly monarch powers. What say you?”

“Fine by me.” Qianye nodded. He knew that a battle would happen sooner or later.

The Wolf Ancestor laughed as he stretched his body. “I’ve almost forgotten when it was that I last fought. It must’ve been a hundred years, right?”

He slowly stepped forward and came to a stop a hundred meters away from Qianye.

The Wolf Ancestor was almost three meters tall and oddly lanky, almost like a skeleton when glanced from afar. His eyes and face were so sunken that his fangs seemed excessively prominent.

The Wolf Ancestor stared at Qianye as he removed a giant sword from his back. The blade was several meters long, but the werewolf swung it effortlessly, kicking up a gust of whistling wind. The movement left a hundred-meter gap in the ground.

The sword scar shot through the holy land, cutting down several stone buildings and bisecting numerous Attawa in the process. Everything was st.u.r.dy in the inner world, and the living origin power was impossible to draw upon. The Wolf Ancestor’s slash would’ve stretched a thousand meters if it was in the Evernight World.

“Sorry, I’m a bit old, so I couldn’t control my power very well. I didn’t startle you, did I?” The Wolf Ancestor sneered.

The Attawa soldiers broke out into a commotion, which died down as quickly as it had begun. The men carried their tribesmen’s remains into the plaza and gazed up at the sky.

They were solemn, pious, and the gleam in their eyes was unwavering.

This was their home, their devotion, their totem that represented their spiritual world. Even though they knew that it was a vain effort to go against four great dark monarchs, the Attawa neither fled nor hid; no one cried, either. Everyone simply gathered around to stare at death in the face.

Qianye drew his azure green sword, his bones ringing like a piece of jade that had fallen on a silver platter. This was the Pointer Monarch’s Excavator, something all the great dark monarchs here had seen before. However, Qianye’s utilization of the technique did not produce the thunderous sound they were used to hearing. Instead, it was a clear, crisp sound that spread far and wide without stopping.

The sound waves pa.s.sed by one after another until the four monarchs felt their bones starting to resonate with the sound!

Qianye glanced at the Wolf Ancestor. “You’re definitely getting old.”