Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 455: Lord of Shadows.

"There is war coming. The peace you now indulge in and cherish will soon be consumed by death. Realms beyond your understanding will writhe in the cinders of their prized empires."

And then, the Phoenix waited for Ozul’s reaction.

It couldn’t be discerned, but she was satisfied with his indifference.

Ozul could care less of realms beyond his reach burning in the embers of war. If anything, he was concerned only about fewer naps.

Instead of asking more important questions, he asked the one which mattered to him the most, "This war. How long until it starts and affects me?"

He could feel amusement in the Phoenix’s tone as she replied, "Quite selfish, aren’t you? But to answer your question," she paused, looking into the distance, "Wheels are already turning. It will only be a decade or two before the chaos erupts."

Ozul relaxed. He believed it to be enough time before the trio was strong enough to not only protect themselves but do his chores as well.

"Why tell me? Aren’t there others who should know about this?" He was thinking of the City Lord when he asked this question. The City Lord and the ruling force of this realm, the Immortal Sect, should be informed instead of him.

"Seeing as Mother is so attached to you, I have at least this much obligation to you. As for others, I am honestly as indifferent to their fate as you, my little friend. When the choice is presented to them, they will pick a side just like everyone else."

He didn’t understand what she meant by that but accepted it anyway. In the end, he decided to ask the unsaid as well, "And who is strong enough to cause this massive of a war?"

The Phoenix looked straight into his eyes, curious for his reaction again, as she answered, "God’s Son."

"..."

’Why not God himself?’ Ozul wanted to ask, but he refrained from speaking on the subject. "Against whom is he waging the war?"

"The only being who rebelled against God, the Demonic Emperor."

’Again, why is God not waging the war himself?’ Again, he restrained himself and exhaled deeply. Now he knew that the Phoenix wasn’t exaggerating when she claimed that all Realms would be caught in the crossfire.

Before he spoke up again, the Phoenix cut in, "Your next question might be your last. So choose wisely as I want to rest now." All beasts loved to slumber after eating.

Although Ozul had more questions about this war, he knew they would only satiate his curiosity and wouldn’t be of any help to him.

If he wanted to strengthen his abilities, there was something else that he had to ask.

"When you ate those people, why did their Spiritual Essence disappear so quickly?" Ozul said.

"I do not enjoy consuming flesh. The reason that I eat those who fail the trial is to increase my power. You see, living beings are a dense source of impure energy that I and my siblings can refine."

’I was right...’ Ozul fell into contemplation. The way that the Phoenix increased her power was the same as him!

’Do I also have to consume flesh in order to increase my power again?’ He thought with disgust. He didn’t want to take this route if possible.

But the Phoenix interrupted his thoughts, "Besides, I do not really eat them."

As she said this, the bodies of all those people she had apparently ’eaten’ were thrown up one by one.

"It is merely for display. The process of refining their life essence is more painful than the blessing and it would unsettle those Humans and Beastkin more if I did it in front of them."

Looking at their preserved bodies, Ozul heaved a sigh of relief. Not because of them, but because he saw a chance to strengthen his abilities without having to consume living beings.

There was one last thing he wanted to know, "Why not eat the Transcendents or Sages then?"

"They have cultivated for too long, and their life essence is too impure for me." The Phoenix answered in a relaxed manner.

Right after that, she flapped her wings, causing the black fire to surround Ozul before teleporting him outside her realm.

...

Ozul found himself outside, before the crimson pillar, and still in deep thought.

’So, it is not like mine.’ Initially, he assumed that the Phoenix had the same ability to purify a dense source of energy, but from that last answer, he knew they were different.

In his case, the Mind’s Eye boosted his abilities the most even though it was something cultivated by a peak Sage.

For the Phoenix, however, such a thing was more impure and thus harder to refine.

Thus, he concluded that their abilities were fundamentally different.

He sighed in his heart, ’I was excited for no reason...’

Since their abilities were different, he couldn’t exactly count on being able to absorb the life force of living beings.

’Something to experiment later...’

Something blurry suddenly appeared in front of his face.

"Oi! Do you not see me?" Rai was exaggeratedly waving his hands.

Ozul finally looked around and realized that he was in the middle of the City Lord’s estate.

Excluding the patrolling guards of the City Lord’s Hall, there was only a single person around him and it was Rai.

"Everyone already left, but Lord Ember had me wait for you here. Let’s go now, I am a busy man you know."

Ozul nodded, following behind him without question.

. . .

In a Realm quite distant from Ozul’s, there existed another Realm spiraling around the Realm Above Lands.

What made this Realm stand out from the other 7 which were the closest to the Land Above Realms was the fact that it was shrouded in darkness.

The Star of this Realm was at such a distance from it, that it barely received any light even during daytime.

Ozul would have loved this place if not for the fact that this Realm also housed the most feared being across all Realms after God, the Demonic Emperor.

Unlike what anyone would imagine, the people of this Realm revered the Demonic Emperor with all their heart. They had a different name for him here; Lord of Shadows

The people of this Realm were composed almost entirely of cultivators practicing elements of Darkness.

In this regard, the Lord of Shadows was an absolute authority akin to the ’God’ of the Land Above Realms, yet, his complete opposite.

In the most grandiose castle on this Realm, the man in question sat with grace a few in existence could match.

His long hair was tied behind his back and was raven black. In contrast to the Heavenly Emperor whose presence alone commanded light, the Lord of Shadows was surrounded by a darkness of his own making.

The only window of this stone-cold room allowed entry to a small ray of the meager starlight blessed upon this Realm.

The Lord of Shadows stayed quiet, staring at the two people across him with utter indifference.

"I must admit, you might be the only one who can imitate ’His’ indifference," started the attractive young man seated across from him. His appearance was almost a piece of art that ladies across the realms would drool over.

The only reason this man could talk so freely in the presence of the Lord of Shadows was his title as one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues. His name was Qingyu, representing the virtue of chastity.

On his side sat a plump old lady, who could pass off as a frail and dying woman with her ashen white hair and saggy skin.

She too, however, was one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues. Baoshi represented the virtue of temperance. She was much more behaved in the presence of the Lord of Shadows than Qingyu.

"Speak," the Lord of Shadows uttered in an unhurried manner, glancing at Baoshi.

Nodding, Baoshi replied, "Jidu, Zihao, Tanlan, and Lan Duo will all join the son of the Heavenly Emperor. Lan Duo has yet to state her intentions, but it is no secret where her priorities lie."

From her right, Qingyu added, "That old man Gu is the only one who didn’t budge under the pressure. As good as it is for us, he won’t join our side either." In the end, he shook his head as if disappointed with the inaction of his old friend.

But Baoshi had a different opinion, "Old Gu has the virtue of patience, but that brat forgot the Virtues and the Sins are two faces of the same coin. If he kept poking Gu’s patience, it would only be a matter of time before the brat would have to face his sin of wrath.

"That brat is too arrogant," Qingyu’s anger was palpable when the son of the Heavenly Emperor paid him a visit and demanded his loyalty so audaciously.

"What do you expect from the son of ’God?’" Baoshi was indifferent, waiting for the Lord of Shadows to speak.

There was silence in the room for a few seconds before he finally opened his mouth,

"It changes nothing. The False God will fall." Looking out of the window, he left his thoughts unsaid, ’Either he falls or his cherished kingdom.’

His statement left an ambiguous feeling in the hearts of Baoshi and Qingyu since the Heavenly Emperor was their master previously.

"You will pay Gu a visit," he addressed Baoshi since she knew what she was doing. Even if getting the Virtue of Patience on their side was unlikely, it didn’t hurt to try.

. . .

Back in the Realm of Abezan, Ozul had reached Ember’s estate.

’Now how do I tell her that gods are starting a war...’