[V6C29 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]

Qianye’s heart was heavy. If the war truly escalated to a national level, not only would the conflict become protracted, but the Giant’s Repose—along with the world behind it—would also turn into a fierce battlefield where the dark races and the humans would fight to their deaths.

At this moment, Zhao Xuanji added, “This time, it’s not just Jundu entering the Giant’s Repose. The eldest, Junyi, has also been summoned. The second and third of the siblings are still recovering from the injuries sustained during the b.l.o.o.d.y battle, so they’ll remain to fight on the surface.”

Duke You listed several more names. Qianye knew not who they were, but they were probably outstanding descendants capable of standing alongside Zhao Jundu. In the end, Zhao Xuanji added, “Yuying’s injuries will be completely healed in ten days. She’ll also head in at that time.”

Unable to hold back any longer, Qianye finally asked, “I heard that the Giant’s Repose will suppress the powers of everyone entering it. Now that we’re going in with full force, what if something happens?”

Zhao Xuanji said proudly, “Firstly, a fortune like the ancient essence has come into being and the matter is also related to centuries of the empire’s fate. How can our Swallow Cloud Zhao Clan shrink back? Moreover, the journey is indeed perilous, but not a situation of certain death. Under the void colossus’ suppression, the gap between the strong and the weak will grow closer. If one doesn’t even dare take this risk, how can he forge ahead? How can such a person support the Zhao clan in the future?”

Qianye took a deep breath in solemn veneration. At this point, he had come to understand Zhao Yuying’s words about how Zhao clan scions had to fight their way to power.

Having stood for a thousand years, the Zhao clan indeed possessed certain original characteristics. Even geniuses with a background advantage like Zhao Jundu and Zhao Yuying had to join the battle, to speak nothing of the others. Even if they were to fall in Giant’s Repose, some others would emerge to distinguish themselves. With such a fierce war-like family tradition, those with talent would always have a way up. With all family members being seasoned veterans, there was no need to worry about the clan not thriving.

Zhao Xuanji gazed at Qianye and said in a serious tone, “I’m telling you all of these so that you can understand the overall situation and think it over clearly. I feel that I shouldn’t force you to join the battle especially because I know your life’s experiences. Experts like you with rank-surpa.s.sing combat strength hold the advantage under the void colossus’ will, but it still remains that those above the champion level can also enter. Their remaining power after suppression might still be above yours. Moreover, according to the information Jundu sent back, some special abilities and strengthening equipment were unaffected by the suppression. Such enemies will be fairly difficult to deal with when encountered.”

Qianye listened to everything in silence. He then said without any hesitation, “I’m going to battle.”

Zhao Xuanji didn’t agree immediately. “In addition to its treacherous nature, this fight is also fairly different from the b.l.o.o.d.y battle. Our present information is only limited to the outer rim of Giant’s Repose. No one currently knows what dangers lie at the center nor what the land of national fortune looks like. You have to be clear about all these things.”

Qianye replied, “I understand.”

Zhao Xunaji nodded. “Very well then, this duke will make arrangements to send you to Giant’s Repose. This duke will also head there when the main army arrives. At that time, we might even see some old enemies from the Evernight Council. Heh, heh.”

Qianye didn’t linger on. He left after saying his farewells and headed over to the military supplies depot to replenish his supplies. He went over to the airs.h.i.+p port and boarded the awaiting high-speed airs.h.i.+p.

Moments later, the airs.h.i.+p slowly took to the air and left in the blink of an eye.

Qianye sat within the cabin with his eyes closed and his mind deep in thought. The information provided by Duke You was extremely important. Past the champion level, many people would know one or more secret arts enabling them to erupt with combat strength for a short period. It was fine with viscount level experts because he wasn’t afraid of them no matter how they erupted, but if it were a count, marquis, or even a duke using such secret arts to restore their normal power, even a short moment of recovery wasn’t something Qianye could handle.

The airs.h.i.+p used only half a day’s time to arrive at the borders of Giant’s Repose, where the empire had already established a large base. There were also three other bases around it serving as protection.

Qianye’s eyes were momentarily frozen despite having seen special elite corps headquarters like that of Red Scorpion. He also sighed at the scene before him. The empire’s fully-mobilized troops were able to build a fully-functional base of such scale within three days. One had to know that this was Evernight Continent and not the empire’s native lands.

This went to show the empire’s determination and expenditure. Just the transport of construction materials alone would require the use of two regular airs.h.i.+p fleets.

Reportedly, the Evernight Council’s base on the other side of the valley was even greater in both scale and numbers. Large batches of dark race experts were hurrying over day and night from the upper continents, and the two factions had even fought several times in the void.

Before entering Giant’s Repose, Qianye was summoned to the war room along with a dozen other talents from the empire. He was the youngest among them and his level was also the lowest; this naturally raised eyebrows among the others. However, those capable of entering this place weren’t superficial people, and no one revealed expressions of discrimination.

The group didn’t have to wait very long before an imperial brigadier general walked into the war room. He scanned everyone with a sharp gaze and said with a powerful voice, “I’m sure everyone is already clear to how important this battle is. This campaign can even be considered a battle of resurgence for the empire. I’ll forego the superfluous words and only convey the empire’s promise to you: as long as you can seize a fragment of ancient essence, whether you leave it for yourself or offer up, the empire will fulfill one of your wishes. The rewards include amnesties and viscount-level n.o.ble t.i.tles. Naturally, if you’re willing to offer the fragment to the empire, the rewards will be even greater. You might even be able to obtain inherited n.o.ble t.i.tles! Everyone, rest a.s.sured, the empire’s rewards will be more generous than the value of the ancient essence!”

Everyone’s shoulders were shaking after hearing these words. Many were besides themselves with joy.

After the briefing, Qianye set out toward the Giant’s Repose with those people.

Even though Qianye had personally witnessed the battle against Sky Demon, he was still overwhelmed by the grandeur of the heaven and earth as he stood at the border of Giant’s Repose. He was barely able to make out the other side despite his superior vision. There, he saw a continuous stretch of dark-race style buildings that made up their base.

The valley was so deep that the bottom wasn’t visible at all. The “prismatic turbulence” had already grown quite thin and was revolving around an area of several hundred kilometers like the mountaintop clouds. It gave one the illusion of standing on the edge of the continent.

Qianye didn’t have much time for emotions. Before the brigadier general could even finish introducing the information gained from the previous groups, Qianye vaulted a hundred meters out with a single leap and vanished into the cloudy mists below.

The imperial brigadier general leading the group was flabbergasted. Moments later, he turned toward the group and said, “Everyone, you… shouldn’t do that. Climb down along the cliff-side. That’s the safer way.”

Qianye seemed to be falling straight down within the prismatic turbulence. In truth, he had activated his True Sight and found a gap in the raging vortex he could push through. He made small, constant adjustments to his posture as he descended without any mishap. He noticed the cloudy mists grow thinner and almost transparent toward the end of his traversal. He was just about to finish his journey safely when his vision grew dark all of a sudden. It was as though a tremendous will was gradually awakening, and its perception had landed on Qianye’s body.

Qianye only felt his body grow heavy as though he were carrying a thousand-ton rock on his back, and even his origin power circulation was no longer smooth. His rate of descent increased as he fell straight down like a stone.

This terrifyingly large will gave Qianye a feeling of great familiarity. He suddenly recalled what it was! That was the vast will he had come into contact with during the battle involving Sky Demon. It turned out to be the remnant will of the void colossus, Chaos. Fortunately, it only brushed over Qianye like before and simply didn’t take notice of him at all.

But Qianye had to exert his full power just to handle this short pause. The Profound Combatant Formula in his body gradually swirled up with daybreak origin power tides of extreme purity as it arduously resisted the heavy pressure. Only when the void colossus’ will completely turned away did Qianye manage to breathe a sigh of relief. His body erupted with blood energy and the auric flame blood rushed out to resist the all-encompa.s.sing pressure together with the daybreak origin power. The weight on his body was thus reduced significantly.

A pair of luminous wings unfurled behind Qianye’s back after a moment of further descent. The weight on his body further decreased with less than a third remaining.

At this moment, Qianye was able to start perceiving his surroundings, albeit barely. Above him was the revolving, vortex-like prismatic turbulence, but the rippling black mist was growing farther and farther away from him. It was as though he had fallen into a vast land of fog—everything around him was hazy, and he could barely see anything. His eyes quickly turned blue, but the Eye of Truth could only probe a dozen or so meters away. Moreover, there was nothing but empty s.p.a.ce within its range.

Qianye was stunned for a moment. However, he decided that he might as well increase his speed of descent since he could control it. He hugged himself, fully spread out his wings, and shot head-first into the depths like a cannonball.

Before long, Qianye felt something wasn’t quite right. His speed of descent was extremely fast, and he had already descended ten thousand meters. However, he simply couldn’t see any signs of an approaching valley floor.

Qianye wasn’t fl.u.s.tered. He stopped and waited in place for a moment. He would surely be able to sense if anyone else from his side had jumped down. Qianye counted his own breath in silence but still couldn’t sense any origin power fluctuation after half an hour.

His heart sank slightly. He pondered for a moment then started to fly in a circle with his previous position as the center, expanding outward gradually. But it was still a vast hazy world even after expanding to a thousand meters in radius; there was nothing at all.

Qianye, at this moment, seemed to have landed in another world filled with nothing but a boundless field of haziness. Fortunately, he could still feel the weight. The constant feeling of pressure upon him confirmed that he was still within the range of the void colossus’ will.

As such, he continued rus.h.i.+ng toward the bottom of the valley. This time, he didn’t waste much time before seemingly shooting through an invisible membrane. All of a sudden, his perception was no longer limited to a small area and could be extended outward again. Once again, there was air, earth, and sky.

Earth?!

Qianye suddenly realized that the ground was actually less than ten meters away from him!

At such a short distance, Qianye simply couldn’t respond in time no matter how swift his reactions were. He shot headfirst into the ground and smashed out a huge pit.

This crash wasn’t light at all. Qianye lay on the ground for quite a while before slowly clambering up. Fortunately, he had a vampire const.i.tution and his body was fairly strong. Even if he were to crash into a boulder, the one shattering would be the latter. After cras.h.i.+ng into that soft, gra.s.sy hillock, he was only dizzy for a while. The soil and gra.s.s, however, were completely uprooted and flew off in all directions.

Qianye withdrew his Wings of Inception, patted the soil off of his body, and climbed out of the big pit. He then stood on solid ground as he glanced at the surroundings.

His landing site was a small, gently-sloping hillock covered in a layer of lush, green gra.s.s. The scenery from the top was quite spectacular, allowing one to survey all of the surrounding lands.

The two sides of the hillock were connected to a boundless gra.s.sy plain, whereas on one side was a dense woods, and the other, a forest of tall stone pillars.

Qianye’s gaze was captivated by this stone forest. He activated his supernatural eyes once again and discovered a strange mountain faintly discernible in the far distance. Ten precipitous peaks stood like writing brushes—tall, straight, and tidy. It could be said that the scene was impressive.

But Qianye’s heart was soon shaken because, upon closer inspection, it was not a mountain peak at all. It was clearly the spine of an unknown colossal beast.