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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 pa.s.sage. 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 a.s.sailed 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 ma.s.sive 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 pa.s.sage was still usable, albeit barely. On the other hand, they were hoping to defend against the empire’s retaliation and hold the pa.s.sage 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 G.o.d-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 pa.s.sage 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 a.s.sault.

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 wars.h.i.+ps 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.

...

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 ident.i.ty, 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?”

“Then, are you going to drink?” Li Kuanglan asked.

Noticing her reaction, Li Kuanglan suddenly edged closer and whispered in her ears, “This is how I survived the past two days…”

Despite trying her best to look calm, Ji Tianqing’s face flushed red after listening to the story. She already had a vague guess, but she was so embarra.s.sed after hearing the details that she couldn’t raise her head. However, Ji Tianqing quickly remembered that Qianye was nearby, and that it would be bad if he were to notice her demeanor. She immediately straightened her back and adopted the posture of an experienced elder sister.

Qianye didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. All he could do was pretend not to know while the two continued their discussion.

Li Kuanglan finished the narration and then asked, “Now pick. Will you be the one drinking?”

“The one drinking?” Qianye found it strange. Li Kuanglan glared at him and said unhappily, “Of course, one of us will drink until we’re full, while the other will remain sober! Do you think we’ll each drink half and then let you take advantage of both? Stop dreaming!”

Qianye finally understood what she meant. He immediately felt his face burning up—he wanted to explain that it wasn’t his intention but also knew that explaining would only make things worse.

“Wait, there might not be a need to drink. We can try getting through this night without the wine,” Qianye said.

Li Kuanglan shook her head. “It’s useless.”

All three of them were top geniuses, people qualified to challenge the older generation even. Naturally, they could tell that Qianye wasn’t strong enough to help two people. Getting Li Kuanglan through the frigid night was already a shocking accomplishment.

Ji Tianqing said, “I’ll drink.”

“Oh?” Li Kuanglan wasn’t expecting this decision at all. There was nothing going on between Ji Tianqing and Qianye, whereas Li Kuanglan had already shared extreme intimacy with him. Li Kuanglan was planning to let Ji Tianqing take her position from the previous two nights, thinking it would be acceptable for her as long as the final line wasn’t crossed. As for herself, she had already made up her mind. Who would’ve thought Ji Tianqing would opt to cross the line directly?

Greatly distressed, Qianye wanted to persuade them again. Under present circ.u.mstances, it was trouble for him no matter who drank the wine. He wished he could just knock himself out as well, but that would stop him from activating their vitality.

It was just as Li Kuanglan had said—he would run out of excuses one day.

Ji Tianqing produced a jar of wine. Shattering it with a palm strike, she opened her mouth and sucked the contents toward her. The wine converged into a single stream as it rapidly disappeared into her body. The movement was so fast that none of the other two could stop her.

Both Qianye and Li Kuanglan understood how tyrannical the liquor was. One jar of it could indeed suppress the power of the frigid night, but there was nothing left to suppress one’s urges.

An extremely complicated expression flickered across Li Kuanglan’s face. She simply didn’t know what to say. She was confused, surprised, and greatly disappointed, not unlike a young girl whose sweets have been s.n.a.t.c.hed away.

She felt a sudden urge to ask Qianye for a jar of wine as well.

So what if this idiot was allowed to take advantage?

Apart from being a bit dumb, it felt as though this idiot was quite nice in every other aspect.

All of a sudden, she remembered the words Eunuch Liu had brought her. From her understanding of her elder sister, the wording could be considered extremely serious. There was no telling what Empress Li would do if Li Kuanglan were to go against her wishes. As someone who was able to ascend to this position, the empress likely wouldn’t be lenient just because of familial love.

What was she to do?

Li Kuanglan bit her lip as she glanced between Ji Tianqing and Qianye. Her thoughts were so chaotic that she couldn’t think of a proper course of action. Her cultivation was of the ice attribute and the night was cold and calm. She should’ve been incomparably cool-headed under such circ.u.mstances, yet her heart was beating increasingly fast.

She didn’t know what to do. Was she to watch as Ji Tianqing s.n.a.t.c.hed Qianye from under her eyes?

Li Kuanglan hated herself for giving the other party a choice. Things had already reached this point, so why wasn’t she a bit more proactive? She had always been swift, decisive, and resolute—why had she faltered at the most critical moment?

Qianye was silent and helpless. It made no difference who the other party was. He stood up in frustration and walked off to gaze at the night sky. There was no moon in the depths of the night, nor were there any stars—but there was Nighteye in everything he saw.

Ji Tianqing let out a mischievous chuckle. “Do what you must, I’m drunk now.”

With that, she collapsed to the floor and fell asleep.

Li Kuanglan was shocked out of her wits. She pushed her messed up thoughts to the back of her mind and charged over. Sleep usually meant death in the frigid night.

Quite unexpectedly, Ji Tianqing raised her head at this point. “Stay close to me when you do your thing. Let me bask in the glow as well.” Then, she plopped down once more and fell asleep.

Li Kuanglan was filled with a sudden desire to strangle her to death.

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