Stranger Danger

Unfortunately for the headless demon god, it failed to grab the Heavens’ Eye even after it had dismantled its enemies’ moves. It was because a taichi symbol suddenly appeared out of nowhere and reversed yin and yang, earth and heaven. The headless demon god was obviously making a grab for the Heavens’ Eye, but for whatever reason, its movement somehow put it even further out of its reach.

“Looks like you’re not worthy either.”

The taichi symbol enveloped the Heavens’ Eye protectively and flew toward Chu once more.

The Heavens’ Eye was about to cross over Chu’s borders when suddenly, a lotus throne pierced through the void and appeared right on top of the Heavens’ Eye. At the same time, a dignified voice boomed, “Boundless mercy, this item is destined with my Western Paradise.”

The lotus throne boasted nine layers. As it rotated, countless golden lotuses descended, and Buddhist chants filled the air. They combined to lock down the surrounding space.

“Are you going to make an enemy out of Chu as well, Subhūti[1]?!” Emperor Jing Run asked wrathfully.

“All things in this world are predestined, and this item is destined with this poor monk. Boundless mercy…”

The nine-layered lotus throne rotated, and it was as if the surrounding space was rotating as well. The taichi symbol enveloping the Heavens’ Eye was easily ground into nothingness.

“Okay then. Let’s see if you are worthy of stealing our national relic!” Emperor Jing Run erupted, and the Heavens’ Eye released its light once more. It clashed against the nine-layered lotus throne and shook heaven and earth.

At the same time, the Great Emperor of Fengdu, Faceless King, headless demon god and many, many more Sages caught up with the Strange Artifact and unleashed their power.

For a time, the wind and clouds raged without end and heaven and earth were ripped asunder.

“W-Why are there so many Sages all of a sudden?”

Inside the Earthly Sovereign Bell, Ye Qing was quaking in fear.

Normally, these Sages seemed to exist in a different plane of existence and barely showed their faces in the mortal plane, if at all. One would be lucky to catch even a glimpse of one in years. Now? Now a dozen of them had appeared out of nowhere, and every single one of them was a champion on the Heavenly Champions Ranking. It was scary to say the least.

“To fight for the Heavens’ Eye, of course!”

Feng Qingyou seemed to have predicted this though. She explained calmly, “The Heavens’ Eye is the sixth Strange Artifact in the ‘Strange Artifact Register’. Who doesn’t want to claim it for themselves? Besides, the Heavens’ Eye is intricately bound to Chu’s Will of the Empire. That is more than enough reason for the other empires to covet it as well.”

“Normally, the Heavens’ Eye was stored in Chu’s capital city and heavily guarded. No one can lay a hand on it no matter how much they covet it. But now, the Heavens’ Eye had left the Chu border and used up much of its strength. Why would these thieves allow such an excellent opportunity to slip through their grasp?”

“It is easy to use the Heavens’ Eye, but it is much harder to retrieve it.”

“I see!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization.

While the two were chatting, a loud explosion caused the Heavens’ Eye and the nine-layered lotus throne to fly away from each other.

The nine-layered lotus throne was broken, and its Buddhist light was dim.

The Heavens’ Eye was also dim, and its aura was chaotic.

THANG…

It was at this moment nine rusty bone nails appeared out of nowhere and nailed the Heavens’ Eye. At the same time, an unholy wail resounded throughout the land, and the world grew lightless for a moment.

Not only did the nine bone nails pierce right through the Heavens’ Eye, they were leaking dirty, disgusting blood that immediately started eating away and corrupting the Strange Artifact.

“The Bone Nails of God Killing? White Bone Divine Sovereign, you deserve death!”

Emperor Jing Run raged when he saw that the Heavens’ Eye was damaged.

The next moment, the Strange Artifact shone brightly and unleashed its immense power. All nine nails instantly evaporated into nothing, and the mirror’s light followed the spiritual bond connected to the nine nails into somewhere.

Somewhere in the world, a mysterious entity sitting on a throne of bones abruptly let out a muffled groan. The throne he was sitting on soundlessly broke into pieces, and the world around him seemed to disappear in a blast of power.

Unfortunately, the strike seemed to have used up all of the Heavens’ Eye’s power. It began falling toward the ground.

The Sages immediately stopped fighting each other and pounced toward the Heavens’ Eye.

“You bastards dare to covet the Heavens’ Eye? Get lost!”

Right before the Sages could grab the Heavens’ Eye, a powerful voice boomed and filled the entire sky with righteous qi, purifying it by the second.

The Strange Artifacts, secret arts, spiritual projections, all of it were shattered or outright destroyed by the wave of righteous qi.

“The Chief Libationist!”

There was no one who did not recognize the owner’s voice.

“What are you looking at? Fuck off! If you don’t, then I’ll fuck you all up!”

Sensing that someone was still spying on him, the Chief Libationist cursed and summoned a ruler. Then, he swung it at someone.

The ruler seemed to ignore the laws of spacetime altogether and smacked a noble, enigmatic entity wearing an emperor’s robe right in the head. The silhouette did not manage to put up even a sliver of resistance before it was destroyed.

Inside Fengdu, the Great Emperor of Fengdu was sitting on his throne when suddenly, an uncontrollable tremor overtook him, and countless yin dragons rushed out of his body. The entire palace was immediately filled with ghastly qi and howling ghosts.

At the same time, the Chief Libationist’s voice resounded throughout the city of the dead. “Fengdu, I dare you to covet humanity one more time. Just one more time! And I promise I will kill you instead of your body double.”

His voice was forceful and overflowing with yang energy. For a time, the entire Fengdu shook as if a high magnitude earthquake had impacted the city. The shockwaves were such that the weaker ghosts outright died from the unexpected disaster.

Inside his palace, the Great Emperor of Fengdu growled darkly, “Chief Libationist… I will remember this.”

Back at the sky of the One Hundred Thousand Mountains, the Chief Libationist’s voice boomed once more after he annihilated the Great Emperor of Fengdu’s body double in one strike, “How many more warnings do you need? Fuck off now, or I’ll smash open your heads like a watermelon, you curs!”

No one dared to test the Chief Libationist’s wrath after seeing what happened to the Great Emperor of Fengdu’s body double. They hurriedly left the area.

“Thank you for your help, Chief Libationist!”

Emperor Jing Run thanked the Chief Libationist after everyone was gone.

To be honest, he had underestimated the wannabe thieves’ madness. It might be because the other empires were behind them, or it might be just plain old greed. In any case, the consequences would have been unimaginable if the Chief Libationist had not shown up in a timely fashion.

“You’re welcome, Your Imperial Majesty. I’m just protecting the people of Chu.”

The Chief Libationist replied, “Sigh. If someone hadn’t tried to steal the Will of the Empire of Chu while the Heavens’ Eye was missing, and I was forced to repel them for a moment, these petty thieves wouldn’t even have the chance to lay a finger on the Heavens’ Eye.”

“Someone tried to steal our Will of the Empire? Who was it?” Emperor Jing Run exclaimed in shock.

“Who else? The mice that had survived since the ancient times, of course.”

The Chief Libationist assured him. “Worry not, I have already chased them away. That said, there is no changing the fact that Chu will lose a portion of its Will of the Empire since the Heavens’ Eye is damaged. The age of chaos is nigh, and I hope you will make the necessary preparations soon. Do not harm the people over personal ambition, Your Imperial Majesty.”

Emperor Jing Run replied, “Thank you for your guidance. I know.”

“I really hope you do.” The Chief Libationist sighed quietly. “This is as far as I can help you, Your Imperial Majesty. Take care.”

The old man’s voice and aura disappeared the next moment. It was clear he had taken his leave.

After the Chief Libationist was gone, a hand reached out of the void and pulled the Heavens’ Eye into it.

With that, calm and tranquility finally returned to the One Hundred Thousand Mountains of Nanjiang.

About a teatime later, a weak chime resounded somewhere in the mountains. Then, a hill cracked open to reveal Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou.

“They’re already gone… I hope!”

Upon emerging, Ye Qing immediately extended his mind and scanned his surroundings using his demonic thought.

Unfortunately, the area he was at had been washed by the Heavens’ Eye’s attack, and its energies hadn’t completely dissipated yet. Later, over a dozen Sages had sprung out of nowhere and fought a battle against each other, stirring the river of fate until it was positively unrecognizable. As a result, his demonic thought could only stretch about ten kilometers in every direction.

This was also why he and Feng Qingyou hadn’t jumped out immediately after the war was over. What if an old fox had been hiding around the corner? They would’ve run face first into a Sage, wouldn’t they? That would have been bad.

Sure, there was a high chance that the Sage wouldn’t do anything to them. After all, few Sages could lower themselves into attacking a junior, much less one that had nothing to do with them. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

1. Subhūti was one of the ten principal disciples of the Buddha. In Theravada Buddhism he is considered the disciple who was foremost in being "worthy of gifts" and "living remote and in peace". In Mahayana Buddhism, he is considered foremost in understanding emptiness. ☜