Chapter 474: A Once-in-Many-Millennia Spectacle

Chapter 474: A Once-in-Many-Millennia Spectacle

The canopy of heaven was pitch black. Thunder boomed and occasional bolts of lightning ripped through the darkness. Ice-cold rain fell, soaking Sea-Sealing County.

Xu Qing stared in the direction of the county capital, his heart pounding with astonishment.

“The governor perished...?”

Xu Qing had glimpsed the governor from afar on a few occasions in the Swordsage Palace, but had never interacted with him. That said, he had heard a lot about him. He knew that it was only because of the governor that Sea-Sealing County remained whole, and that the Holytides had never managed to devour it or rip it apart.

This governor had served in Sea-Sealing County for eight hundred years. Though he hadn’t done anything to expand his territory, he did maintain a balance. He was cautious and conscientious, and had kept Sea-Sealing County in human control the entire time. It had always had thirteen prefectures, which was a rare thing. Over the past thousand years, the other six counties controlled by humans had all lost prefectures.This substance is firmly embedded in n0v*lbin★

Today, the governor perished.

Xu Qing didn’t know the details of what happened, nor did he have any idea what was happening in the county capital. But as various emotions swept through him, he thought about Arch-Immortal Plumdark, Kong Xianglong, and the others he knew there.

He quickly took out his command sword and transmission jade slip. Before he could even send messages to inquire about what was happening, both devices started vibrating as messages poured in.

“Xu Qing, are you at the Corrections Division? Are you okay??”

“Xu Qing, the governor just died! There was no sign it was going to happen. He just died, out of nowhere!”

“Xu Qing, where are you? The Corrections Division collapsed!!”

“Countless prisoners have broken free! The county capital is in chaos!”

Messages were flooding in from Kong Xianglong, Sir Mountain-River, and many others Xu Qing considered to be friends, as well as from other swordsages he knew, and of course jailers from the Corrections Division.

A tremor passed through Xu Qing, starting in the depths of his heart, rapidly spreading to his extremities, and turning into a rumbling sound in his mind.

The Corrections Division collapsed? Xu Qing almost couldn’t believe it. Hefting his command sword, he sent an inquiry to Kong Xianglong.

The response came almost immediately. Kong Xianglong’s voice was tinged with grief and indignation as he said, “Xu Qing, the Corrections Division exploded! The prisoners are currently fleeing. They’re everywhere. Tons of them. Unit D. Unit C. Unit B. The palace lord, the deputy palace lord, and the honor guards are currently using the county capital’s taboo treasure to fight with the clone of a god that was imprisoned in the Corrections Division.”

Xu Qing was about to ask some follow-up questions when his transmission jade slip vibrated and a voice message came in from Arch-Immortal Plumdark.

“Xu Qing,” she asked, her voice quavering, “where... where are you? Are you well...? I’m at the Corrections Division and you’re not here....”

Given how shaken she sounded, Xu Qing immediately responded and let her know he was fine. Hearing that, she breathed a sigh of relief and seemed about to ask him some more details.

However, he was so flustered he ended the conversation and then sent a voice message to Kong Xianglong. “Kong Xianglong, you need to know that—”

Before he could even finish the message, Kong Xianglong sent his own urgent message.

“Xu Qing, if you’re not here in the county capital, then find a hiding spot and stay away. Don’t come back, at least for a few days. Prisoners are fleeing from the Corrections Division, and you’re a jailer. There are going to be villains on the roads, so be careful. By the way... something even bigger has happened! I just got news that a huge Holytide army just showed up on the border of Sea-Sealing County. This entire thing was premeditated! Xu Qing, war’s about to start!”

Kong Xianglong sounded anxious, but by the end of his message, his voice was decisive.

Xu Qing was still reeling. This turn of events was completely unexpected. All he could do was try to calm down. He took a deep breath, dropped to the ground, and found an underground area to hide. There, he took steps to conceal his aura.

Xu Qing quietly walked past them and went through the narrow passage. Once inside, he saw that the cell blocks were all in ruins.

Eyes turning colder and colder, he eventually found his way to D-132. The door was busted open, and the inside was full of rubble. The cells were all destroyed, and the prisoners were gone. The boy was also missing. Xu Qing inspected the area and eventually found a spot in the back corner where there was a pile of broken bamboo slips. Every single bamboo slip contained the same basic information.... Xu Qing collected the fragments, then continued down to Level 89.

There, he looked at the mural. The minor world... had been destroyed.

“You’re here,” a hoarse voice said from some nearby rubble.

Xu Qing spotted Ghost Hand sitting there, his body riddled with wounds. He was surrounded by empty alcohol jugs. He had one remaining jug in his hand as he looked at Xu Qing. He chuckled bitterly.

“They escaped. Every single one of them. Well, I killed a few. But not enough....”

Xu Qing approached and studied Ghost Hand’s injuries. They were serious. His cultivation base was even fractured. Sensing the strong aura of death on him, Xu Qing took out some medicinal pills and put them off to the side.

“I’m not dead yet, Xu Qing. Say, have any alcohol?” Ghost Hand tossed the empty alcohol jug to the side, where it clattered off into the darkness.

Xu Qing nodded. Taking out a jug from his bag of holding, he handed it over.

Ghost Hand accepted it with a trembling hand. Opening it, he took a long drink. Afterwards, he coughed hard, and his face flushed in an unhealthy way. Taking a few gasping breaths, he looked at the shattered mural.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to die this easily,” he said. “Remember, Xu Qing, I’ve been powering up my sword for hundreds of years now, and I still haven’t used it.... There were just too many of them escaping. My sword is meant take down a single enemy. So I wasn’t going to waste it on something like this.

“I’m saving it for the sake of Unit C. I’m going to use it on the cretin that destroyed the Corrections Division.... Until I do that, I’m not going to die.” His voice became increasingly filled with determination.

Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed. Then, feeling very conflicted, he left.

***

Far from Sea-Sealing County, in the depths of the Holytide Region, there was a very special plain that wasn’t part of any county. It was in the very middle of the Holytide Region, and was considered a holy land to the Holytide species.

It was pure white, not because there was snow there, but because there was sand. Each grain contained powerful spirit energy.

There were countless statues present, humanoid in shape, and pulsing with ancient auras. They were the personal guard of Grand Duke Holytide, who had betrayed humankind years in the past. In the years since that event, the cultivators of the guard legion had turned into statues that stood over that white plain. Ironically, the entire place seemed like sacred ground.

The source of that sacredness was a temple in the middle of the plain, which was also pure white. It was the Holytide’s ancestral temple, which was where their ancestral emperor slept.

There were currently four hulking figures outside the temple, prostrated and unmoving.

All four of them wore imperial robes and had imperial crowns on their heads. They were the four emperors of the Holytides’ four royal dynasties. Emperor Heavengale was one of them. [1]

“Your Ancestral Highness,” he said respectfully, “we’ve done everything according to plan.”

Next to Emperor Heavengale was Emperor Redspirit, who said, “Your Ancestral Highness, the Redspirit Army has entered Sea-Sealing County. Regarding the matter of the Nightshade godchild, we’ve uncovered as many clues as we can, and await your decision.”

After a long moment of silence from the temple, an ancient voice echoed out from inside.

“Shelve the godchild matter for the time being. Focus on important things!”

“Your decree shall be obeyed, Ancestral Emperor!” The four emperors ducked their heads and kowtowed.

1. Emperor Heavengale appeared “onscreen” in chapter 458. ☜