Chapter Ninety-Four: The Kunlun Long Staff! (Please recommend and bookmark!)

June 1, 2019.

The front line of the relics had already fallen completely silent.

At last, the great war in the Dark Realm, fought across the whole line, had come to a halt once the dark sky curtain was withdrawn.

On the walls of Northern Defense City, Yang Fan, Li Xianyi, and the others watched the dark curtain, which had once stretched from heaven to earth some thirty miles away, slowly contract until it vanished.

They, too, let out a long breath.

For Northern Defense City, this war had actually amounted to only two battles, but word was that the situation in the other cities was far from encouraging.

Leaving aside the forces overseas, just among the three cities on the Chinese front, Dragon City had been slaughtered half to death at the outbreak of the war, and although it was later retaken, the garrison there had remained too weak and had long been at a disadvantage.

If not for reinforcements from the rear and the arrival of experts transferred from Northern Defense City, Dragon City would have been difficult to say the least.

In the rear defensive city, Dongfang Kui had been gravely wounded.

This eleventh-rank powerhouse had first severely injured two enemies of the same level in Dragon City, then, dragging his battered body, rushed to Northern Defense City and joined forces with Li Tian to leave the eleventh-rank powerhouse Cuili dead there.

Cuili's fall was also a decisive factor in the Dark Realm's decision to withdraw its troops.

Of the thirty-nine eleventh-rank experts in the Dark Realm, each harbored different thoughts. Some, like the Grand Elder, sincerely hoped for the Dark God's return; others, like Yu Tian, wavered indecisively; and still others simply slacked off, unwilling in the least to see the Dark God awaken one day.

For all these reasons, the Divine Council Hall had been noisy and chaotic, and after Cuili's death it became even more disorderly. No one wanted to become the next Cuili.

No one could trust the comrades beside them, those with whom they shared no true heart.

"At last, they've pulled back," Yang Fan said, looking at the vanished dark curtain.

"Yes. These past days have really been awful," Li Xianyi echoed from beside him.

While Yang Fan and Li Xianyi were sighing on the city wall, in the command center of Northern Defense City, Li Tian and a host of tenth-rank and ninth-rank experts were discussing matters.

"Now that the Dark Realm has withdrawn, it's time to look into that bronze statue," Li Tian said slowly from the seat of honor. His expression was serene; no trace remained of the role this refined old man, white-haired and white-bearded, had played on the day he had stood in Northern Defense City alone against three foes and laughed at the heavens with blade in hand.

Zhang Dao nodded, then said, "Yes, someone should go and take a look. The surface has been in an uproar for half a month already. Now that the Dark Realm has retreated, it shouldn't attack again in the short term."

He took a sip of water and went on, "A few days ago, Li Wu went to Kunlun to investigate. He said things there are in complete disorder. Foreign nations are all stirring as well. A great deal of spiritual energy is surging from Kunlun, and earthquakes occur from time to time. There are even occasional bursts of auras similar to the pressure of a powerful expert."

Everyone present listened as Zhang Dao spoke.

Since that bronze giant ape had emerged from the earth, no one had been able to enter Kunlun.

Avalanches happened now and then, earthquakes happened now and then, and ordinary people simply could not approach it. Even cultivators had to be at least seventh-rank sky-riding experts to draw near, but once they came too close, pressure would burst forth, and even seventh-rank experts could not press in too far. They could only take a rough look from afar.

In the earlier frontline war, eleventh-rank and tenth-rank experts could not be moved lightly, and even now, the eleventh-rank experts absolutely could not leave the relics.

Li Tian thought for a moment, then said, "Principal Zhang, you make the trip. See exactly what is going on with that bronze giant ape of Kunlun."

...

Kunlun Mountain.

The ancestral mountain of China, the first divine mountain since ancient times.

From olden days to now, legends of Kunlun had never ceased.

The Four Spirits of Kunlun, the World-Tree of Kunlun, the five cities and twelve towers of Kunlun... and so on, and so on...

But all of that now seemed nothing more than myth. The present-day Kunlun was truly giving rise to inexplicable happenings.

After leaving the relics, Zhang Dao set his course straight for Kunlun.

A rainbow light with a trailing blaze, carrying a streak of afterimage, cut across the sky above the land of China.

When he was still a hundred miles from Kunlun, Zhang Dao could already feel the spiritual energy in the air growing far too active, the concentration becoming strangely abnormal.

By the time he officially arrived at the territory of Kunlun Mountain, Zhang Dao frowned.

The entire range now gave him the feeling of a sleeping beast, as though at any moment this strange creature might suddenly rise and bring ruin to heaven and earth.

Zhang Dao slowed his speed and began to approach in earnest.

When he was still three hundred miles from the site where the bronze giant ape had emerged, sweat had begun to bead above the brow of this tenth-rank Martial Emperor.

Pressure. The pressure of a powerful expert.

Li Wu had indeed not been mistaken. As one drew near Kunlun, this pressure began to rage, impeding all who tried to approach.

Zhang Dao took a breath in the vault of heaven, then shot forward again in a rainbow flash like lightning, pressing on under the force of the pressure.

The farther he advanced, the greater the strain became; and the greater the strain, the more uneasy Zhang Dao felt.

When he was less than twenty miles from the site of the giant ape's emergence, Zhang Dao's expression suddenly changed.

A golden point of light in the void began to swell rapidly. In an instant, a thick golden staff appeared before Zhang Dao's eyes.

A spear suddenly manifested in Zhang Dao's hand, and he thrust toward the staff ahead.

The moment they met, Zhang Dao cried out and was sent flying backward.

Only after steadying himself in midair did Zhang Dao look ahead. The staff had already vanished.

"Damn it, what in the world is that thing?" Zhang Dao muttered, rubbing his trembling hand. Then he pushed forward again. This time, prepared for danger, he kept a firm grip on his spear at all times, his aura flowing ceaselessly through his body.

When he once more reached the place where the staff had appeared, Zhang Dao focused every shred of his attention.

Sure enough, the staff appeared again. Zhang Dao, who had long been ready, shouted and thrust his spear forward like a dragon, as though splitting the void.

This time, he was not sent flying. Spear and staff hung in a deadlock in midair.

Only then did Zhang Dao see it clearly: a golden staff of impossible length, extending from some unknown place, carved with dragons and flowers and covered in ornate patterns.

The stalemate lasted only a moment before Zhang Dao suddenly withdrew his spear and lunged forward. Then, in midair, he thrust again; the instant he did, the staff, which had originally been avoided, contracted and reappeared exactly where Zhang Dao's spear was aimed.

Thus Zhang Dao continued to contend with the staff, advancing little by little, inch by inch, ever forward.

...

Within the relics, Northern Defense City had already begun a small-scale celebration.

The war was over, at least for the time being. Northern Defense City had suffered only limited losses, and once the dark sky curtain withdrew, a cautious, self-driven celebration began among the soldiers and cultivators below.

Then one spread to ten, ten to a hundred, and it continued to grow. In the command center, Li Tian and the others did not restrain the people.

The eruption of war had caught everyone utterly off guard. Now that the Dark Realm had withdrawn, both Northern Defense City and the world as a whole needed some way to let out their pent-up breath.

The people of the Metropolis Cultivation Academy gathered around Yang Fan, asking him to recount the circumstances within the relics, as well as the great battle they had not managed to witness in time.

Laughter and cheer filled this great city.