Chapter 398 - 288: Shangjing
The Three Calamities Bird sent the message, and the other side fell into a long silence.
About a quarter hour passed before another call came. If the previous call had been a single thread, this one was a vortex, threatening to devour his consciousness and pull it into another space.
He answered the call. His consciousness was instantly wrenched away, pulled into a space shrouded in hazy fog.
Countless eyes hid within the fog. Among them, only four figures, including himself, had distinct silhouettes. His own outline, however, was extremely faint, almost ethereal, as if it might dissipate at any moment.
"What in the world happened?"
The Bloodline Species looked at the Three Calamities Bird, who had just appeared in the dreamscape, and asked in a somber tone.
"During the inauguration ceremony, Zhao Xuanqi suddenly appeared, revealing immense strength. Ba Wu and I joined forces, but he easily defeated us in a short amount of time. I was gravely wounded and had to force a beast transformation to gain the ability to fly. That’s the only reason I escaped with my life. It seems Ba Wu wasn’t so lucky. The connection between our Holy Seeds has been severed. He’s almost certainly dead."
"Based on our exchange, I can tell his current strength has far surpassed that of an ordinary Divine General. He has reached a higher plane and condensed True Essence. He’s on the same level as Li Zhenyuan was—perhaps even... stronger. The properties of his True Essence are unique; it’s almost unbreakable, incredibly resilient, like a descended Celestial God, truly Vajra Indestructible. Furthermore, his physical ability has reached an unimaginable level. In terms of pure, explosive brute strength, he’s even stronger than Ba Wu."
The Three Calamities Bird spoke slowly, his voice trembling as he seemed to recall the recent battle.
Having experienced it firsthand, he understood the terror of it. That invincible, domineering power had filled him with despair.
Hearing the Three Calamities Bird’s words, the other three figures fell silent.
’The True Essence Realm...’
’Even stronger than Li Zhenyuan was back then?’
"How is that possible? It’s only been two short years. Even Li Zhenyuan back then couldn’t have progressed so quickly. What’s more, when he broke through to Divine General, he was struck by the Unquenchable Fire. Even with the Undying trait, he should have been crippled. How could he have overcome that tribulation and actually broken through to the next realm?"
The centipede-like Black Earth Dragon spoke, his voice filled with utter disbelief.
"I told you long ago not to let your guard down. I told you to pinpoint his location as soon as possible. But you all feigned compliance. Don’t think I wasn’t aware."
"Reincarnators all have their peculiarities, but this one has indeed exceeded my expectations."
the Bloodline Species said coolly.
"Right. As I was leaving, he used his Primordial Qi to send me a message for you. He said if you have the courage, he’ll be waiting for you a week from now atop the ruins of the Forbidden City in Shangjing."
The Three Calamities Bird said.
At these words, the Bloodline Species’s eyes narrowed, a vicious crimson gleam flashing within them.
"Quite confident, isn’t he? Does he really think breaking through to the next realm means he has nothing to fear?"
The Bloodline Species sneered.
"Source, what do we do now?" the toad-like figure asked. "With his current power, he’s practically a descended deity in this world, an immortal walking the earth. If we don’t stop him, he could turn the tide of this war all by himself."
He wasn’t exaggerating. A being of that caliber had transcended all reason.
Divine enlightenment, subsisting on Qi, never dying.
This meant he didn’t even need food or supplies, able to draw power directly from the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. He could roam the world alone.
His physical ability was immense. He moved like a phantom, crossing mountains as if they were flat ground and covering incredible distances in a single day. No vehicle in this world could keep up with him, and no weapon could harm him. The fact that he defeated two of the Four Fiends at once proved that almost no master could pose a threat to him.
He could be considered utterly invincible, free to roam the world unchallenged. He could crush any stronghold, no matter how dangerous.
The only thing that could possibly limit his movements was intelligence—or a lack thereof.
"A week from now? How ridiculous. As if I’d play by his rules. Mobilize all our forces. I want his exact location."
The Bloodline Species said with a faint smile,
"He may have broken through to a new realm, but he has no idea. After completely seizing control of Li Zhenyuan’s body and fusing it with my own essential power, my strength is far beyond what it once was."
"I was just worrying about how to find him. Since he’s revealed himself, I’ll take this chance to eliminate this world’s final lingering threat for good!"
...
...
The Qilin Divine General has returned to the world!
The battle in Jinling shook the world!
One of the Four Marshals was killed on the spot! All the leaders of the Pseudo-Government were beheaded, their heads hung from the summit of the main government building!
Great chaos erupted within the Six Nations. Resistance groups across the Divine Land mobilized, scoring major victories on numerous fronts and reversing the desperate tide that had pushed them to the brink of collapse!
The news spread throughout the Divine Land in less than half a day. For two years, its oppressed people had suffered, and never before had they felt so vindicated.
The Divine General had returned to pacify the world, single-handedly turning the tide. The entire nation, from top to bottom, was jubilant.
After being suppressed for so long, the people could finally see a glimmer of dawn through the darkness.
But Zhao Xuanqi did not stop to rest.
「Half a day later, at night, on a highland outside Shangjing.」
Two figures stood upon the high ground, their sharp eyes overlooking the distant city.
’The grand tide of the world...’