novelraw Chapter 1158 - 1157 - Building Storm
Chapter 1158 - 1157 - Building Storm
King Risselle felt a lot of headaches lately. The Corruption had one upshot to it, just one, and it was that most powers could no longer waste resources bothering him with political headaches!
Neighbors and rogue powers like bandits were constant, but he enjoyed most of his time as king even with the Corruption. Battles for supremacy and overcoming near impossible odds was what he lived for!
Still, even he knew his limits and one of them was heading his way in a big force!
"How much longer before they are here?" He looked up from his throne to see his daughter looking back at him grimly.
"Father, due to the number of them traveling, they have been slowed down a bit but they are still going to be here in a month at most. Their scouting force will arrive any day now." Princess Fyre was dead serious. Her crimson eyes were full of worry as even a minor force from the Fionan Empire would have more Immortals than their entire Kingdom!
Supreme powers had Immortals to spare, it was why they were supreme!
Shard and Crystal Tiers were far more numerous for them!
A small detachment was on its way, small being relative! It was a contingent of 1000 Shard Tiers! They were being led by 50 Crystal Tiers! It was not a joke to say half that force could flatten their entire kingdom without even trying.
What had the Emerald Immortal been thinking?! Attempts to reach him had failed but if it was only the Fionan Empire, then things would be manageable but it was only 1 of the powers coming!
The information brokers had actually leaked to the royal family that 7 powers were coming!
The Heavenly Maiden Sect, Divine Sword Sect, Bloodmoon Sect, Fionan Empire, Dawn Imperium, Stonelight Guild HQ, and then the leaders of the Golden Vermillion Inn! They were all heavy weights even at the peak of the Rubyfire Kingdom!
On top of all that, several of them were on VERY bad terms! The Bloodmoon Sect was a demonic battle crazed sect that even King Risselle wanted nothing to do with. The Dawn Empire was technically in hostilities with them since time immemorial!
The Stonelight Guild had a branch in his kingdom but the main headquarters had been firmly re-established after the Corruption swept the land. They generally left the branches alone at present but still poached the best Masters and Maesters from time to time!
They were extremely at odds with the Golden Vermillion Inn!
He was unsure why but the guild refused to offer services to members of the inn!
There were other production guilds but in the former floating lands, the Stonelight Guild had been the largest.
Such a group was a war in the making! Why were they all coming at once?!
The Fionan Empire was easily understood but the rest were suddenly rushing too!
"Father, may I speak?" The 5th Prince suddenly spoke up but King Risselle noticed the Piercer of the Veil Immortal looking at his back. She seemed uncomfortable for some reason.
"Feel free, my son. We are not exactly discouraging ideas at this point." The dark red haired head bowed but then his face became grim.
"Lord Emerald Immortal has laid out bait. I do not need to hide it as it is obvious. He wanted a reaction and the Fionan Empire gave him an excuse." King Risselle screwed up his face before it went pale.
"He is looking for more information on that blasted location?!" The 5th Prince nodded. Still, why not wait? Why suddenly announce his location for all to find?
His eyes narrowed as he realized why.
"The Fiends will come back soon, won't they?" He mumbled but looked at his daughter and son. Their eyes were locked on his and understanding flowed mentally to each other.
The enemy knew exactly where he was but their forces were as hindered as all others. Further, the enemy had areas to protect.
Lord Emerald Immortal was free to move but was working on a project. Now, the perfect opportunity to bring allies and enemies in equal measure had come. It was bold but very dangerous.
It was, however, taking a proactive step rather than waiting for the next attack. Further, Lord Emerald Immortal's seclusion was the most dangerous time. The man, himself, was safe but his loved ones and friends were wide open!
"What led you to this theory?" It was one thing to consider it as true but another to confirm it. The 5th Prince glanced behind him but then looked more confident as he looked into his eyes.
"Since he went into seclusion, his party has never left their quarters at all. They have postponed any training or other meetings they had once planned to have. Further, Junior Mills has moved to their quarters as a guard." The last move was news to him!
He glanced over to Gilgamesh but the old advisor only nodded in confirmation. He had known but not mentioned it?!
"Father, we should prepare for another battle. It will be better to assume one is coming whether it is between the powers known to be rivals or the enemy of us all." Princess Fyre supported the view that it was a trap of some kind.
He nodded and orders flew to ministers while Gilgamesh went off to get the soldiers ready. It was not going to devolve like the last attack! King Risselle swore that!
The nobles were also in line with that point of view after the devastating attack they had suffered less than a year and a half ago!
The King was about to dismiss the audience when all the Immortals froze. They felt a disturbance above briefly but then it was gone.
What had that been? Why had the Heavens seemed to gather strength but then disperse it?
Just what was all going on?!
⬧⬧⬧⬧
Lind was bleeding and breathing heavily in the Emerald Haven. His first real attempt to test his body's limits had backfired spectacularly. Half his blood vessels had burst as well as his organs being damaged.
The major issue was the solution he had come up with was not as straightforward as he had hoped.
He had decided to try and cultivate his body as the issue was his body was lagging behind more than anything. The issue was, like always, that he was a 6 elemental.
The techniques to cultivate the body suffered the same flaws as pure dantian cultivation! He had been unprepared for that.
Further, he had nearly triggered a tribulation before he failed.
It was likely he would have to face a massive tribulation when he succeeded. As a Divine Realm, the Heavens would celebrate, but his progenitor status would bring a harsh tribulation to test him.
He assumed a dragon tribulation for body cultivation would come to crush him once he succeeded.
He downed several elixirs to recover before examining the most recent reason for his failure. The tempering of his body was extremely difficult but when using Celestial Qi, he made stunning progress.
He could push his body to extremes with the Celestial Qi but when he felt like he was about to breakthrough was followed by the backlash.
The Qi in his flesh ran wild and wrecked him inside and out.
"Let's review the steps again." He was balancing his 18 elements but it seemed making them equal was not the right path. It was what led to his severe backlash.
He had to account for the tribulation to come as well so he changed tracks to make a tribulation platform to protect the city if he accidently broke through. A tribulation in the middle of the city would be extraordinarily bad.
Still, it told him he was on the right path!
He then addressed the previous issue, the elemental balance. He had first thought it had to be perfectly split between all 3 sets of elements but the truth seemed far different from his experiences.
When using the Qi, he had to balance all the elements to use his Arts and create his products.
He had thought his body was the same but that was not the case. Body cultivators techniques were varied depending on the goal but balanced Qi was quite normal between them all.
If the elements rampaged in the body, after all, it would result in Qi deviation and death.
He had to prepare for the tribulation before he tried again as he knew once he found the right tempering balance, he would have very little time before it began!
He was about to continue when the entrance shimmered once more. Lind quickly guessed the reason.
His guests were arriving, whoever they were. Some might be allies but he also knew his enemies would come.
He had proven not only a threat but had directly scorned the Great One. The arrogance of that being would not allow that to stand.
The fact his own schemes impaired his response was ironic. Lind was giving him a good cover to send agents but it also gave him what Lind needed. Information.
Any agent sent to kill him had to come from a fairly powerful facility at the moment as they would have to be an Immortal at the Crystal Tier to threaten him.
Would they be wearing the face of a friend or be a clear enemy? He did not know but as he was about to leave a thought occurred to him.
He looked above and a smile crossed his face. There was another method to instigate his body cultivation but it was risky. Still, with that risk came an opportunity he would rarely have.
His emerald eyes flared with amusement as he opened the space and found Haro looking at him with Chu at his side.
"Master, they are here." He nodded as he left the space and sealed it shut. The key flared until the opening vanished and he let Haro return to his ring. Chu looked at him expectantly but he only smiled back.
"Let's go greet the chaos I unleashed!" She smiled wide as they moved to leave their courtyard. The storm was coming but was it a storm of battle or of tribulation? Only time would tell.