Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 487: How Long?

There were two Sages present in the room with unfamiliar faces.

One of them was a man of small height with long white hair tied behind his back. The other was a woman of tall stature. She appeared as old as the old man Jaka, but there was a visible difference between their aura.

Both of them wore plain black clothes, like everyone who the Lord of Shadows had sent.

"Salar and Remal are sent here by the Lord of Shadows," Ember introduced them.

In addition to them, there were 40 Transcendents as well. Ember had already put them to work in the past two days. And that was only counting the people who mattered the most.

There were around 150 Origin experts and nearly 500 Nascent Soul cultivators!

From their demeanor alone, one could recognize that they were all trained solely for war. Their dull-colored, loose clothes were the uniform everyone was required to wear.

A chain of command was already established, and Ember merely had to integrate her own people into its ranks.

Rai and everyone noticed that Ember had shifted from calling that man ’Demonic Emperor’ to ’Lord of Shadows’ as all of these people preferred.

"The Lord of Shadows is quite generous, given that we didn’t even know about him until recently, and now he has sent an army to our aid," Rai probed the two new Sages.

They, however, were bound to bore him. Salar merely nodded his head, a subtle hint of pride appeared in his posture. Remal, on the other hand, remained still like a statue. She neither denied nor accepted the claim.

The satisfied grin threatened to break on Ember’s face since she couldn’t have asked for anything better than this.

These people were disinterested in everything else but accepting orders. And after Qingyu handed over the authority to her, they listened to all of her orders without any question.

"In my absence, you are both to listen to Rai," Ember needed to make sure that they would listen to Rai even if he was weaker than them in terms of strength.

This time, both of them nodded solemnly. She could not find a hint of doubt in their actions at least.

One look at Rai and Ozul could tell he was lost in the fantasy of heading a war all by himself.

"Familiarize yourself with the surroundings. And then work with Rai to arrange everything," Ember allowed Salar and Remal to leave, who saluted her before making their way out.

With hundreds of new faces roaming the streets of Phoenix City, there needed to be not only restructuring but also new sources of food and weapons to accommodate everyone.

And she already had her hands busy with other things, so she would have to leave these details to Rai and others.

Turning to him, she said, "Counting everyone, we have 5 Sages."

While Rai was happy even with these numbers, she didn’t agree with his thoughts.

"These numbers aren’t enough to go against even the Sect alone in the past, much less now that they are in an alliance."

"They would never all attack together, those slimy bastards. The number of Transcendents and Origin experts we have now is enough to counter both their forces."

Ember fell into contemplation. His words made sense, and in such a case, they had just about enough people to keep struggling against them.

’But this is not what I want. I have to find a way to turn the tables.’

Rai grinned, guessing what was going on in his Lord’s head. He had been with her for enough time to know what she was thinking.

Suddenly, both of them noticed a raised hand in the room.

"What is it? You don’t have to raise your hand to say something..." Ember spoke with a twitching eye.

"How about you let me absorb one of your Sages?" Ozul asked politely since he didn’t see any other way now.

"No," She shook her head in annoyance, "And did you think being polite would get me to agree?!"

Ozul retracted his hand, sighing as he stepped back.

Rai felt a chill behind his back for the first time he was with him. He now needed to maintain a safe distance from this kid.

Soon Ember kicked everyone out of her room.

Except for Ozul, everyone was assigned tasks to perform. They quickly needed to provide accommodation for all the new soldiers even though cultivators seldom rested.

According to Qingyu, these people were now completely her responsibility. Although they would listen to her orders regardless, she needed to earn their trust and loyalty.

While Ozul went back to napping in her chair, Rai and the trio were made busy with running errands.

Blaze wished now that he hadn’t healed so fast from those injuries.

. . .

Far from Phoenix City, the Immortal Sect and the Wilderness were in a meeting.

Despite their alliance, the Beastkin and the Humans couldn’t bring themselves to get along with each other so easily.

Only the Elders from both organizations were called to make plans.

The recent news about hundreds of new faces appearing in Phoenix City was rattling all of the Elders.

The Sect Leader and the Wilderness Leader were also present as they quietly watched the Elders discuss and trade information.

"No matter how many people there are, they only have Two Sages," grunted one of the Sect Elders.

"They convinced the Monk Sage to their side-"

"One more Sage is not going to change anything!"

"There are rumors that a few Sages were also sent to them."

"So what, you idiot beast?! Be it 2 Sages or 8, we are still double that amount! If we attack them all together, how long will they last?"

"Watch your tongue before this beast gouges that tongue out, you filthy Human!"

And so the meeting devolved once again into a verbal brawl that was restrained only because of the presence of the two Empyreans.

"Silence!" Kai shouted, feeling an ache reaching his head.

Hakuja too glared at his people.

Under their cold gaze, the Elders who had lived for countless years, quietened down like fearful children.

"Whatever the case, this is not a war decided merely by us," Kai stated the truth these Elders were not willing to accept, "A single decision by those above us will decide the fate of this Realm!"

"While they have not yet made a decision, we need to be prepared from our side," Hakuja replied.

Completely leaving things up to God’s Son and the Virtues did not leave a good taste in his mouth either. And he understood that Kai shared the same feeling as him.

"Weed out the surrounding allies of Phoenix City. The less help they have, the better."

Hakuja agreed as well.

"I suggest getting as many Dragon Hatchlings as possible. If the war stretches out, there needs to be a continuous flow of fresh blood."

Despite having an upper hand, both of them understood that a war was not so simple as a simple fight between two beings.

. . .

In the Realm shrouded by darkness.

"That brat Kami failed in all of his attacks. With his personality, he must be seething in rage," Qingyu laughed, imagining his face.

"This is no time to celebrate," Baoshi sighed.

"Have you settled everything in the Realm of Abzen?" she asked.

"The Phoenix trusts that new Empyrean, so I left everything in her hands as well. She seemed quite capable."

Baoshi did not like the nonchalant attitude he had over the matter.

"You need to understand her moment of weakness could mean one less Celestial Beast."

"Yare Yare~" Qingyu waved his hand, "Do you want me to remain there and overlook everything myself?

Besides, what do you know about cats?"

"Cats?"

"A black cat, heterochromatic eyes, and appears ordinary, but hides a power unknown to even me inside her." Qingyu described Jinx, as he couldn’t keep her and the strange kid out of his mind even now.

The thought wouldn’t have stuck around with him for so long if not for the fact that even Old Gu had some connection with that kid.

"This is not time for jokes, and changing your appearance to maintain a youthful appearance does not make you young, you old coot!" Baoshi started reprimanding him, but it all fell on deaf ears.

Just then, the doors creaked open, and a cold chill permeated the room.

There were no footsteps, no sound, nor any smell.

Yet, after a blink of an eye, there he was: Lord of Shadows sitting amidst them.

"For all his impetuousness, the child will think twice before retaliating now," he began,

"We cannot remain defensive forever, and this war is still a bit dull, don’t you think?"

Qingyu and Baoshi understood what he was implying.

"How do you plan to make this war interesting then?" Qingyu was interested.

"Take over the Realms completely. The Celestial Beasts must be thirsty for blood. Let them drink."

Nodding his head, Qingyu couldn’t help but think of the strange black cat again. The charcoal hair of the man sitting in front of him matched those of the cat’s.

"Do not take any drastic measures. Stretch the war as long as possible. Keep shedding blood. The more the better.

Let us see how long a God can watch his people suffer."

The Lord of Shadows rose slowly, his form casting an elongated shadow that swallowed the dim light in the room. He said in a low, commanding voice, "This is not merely about victory. It is about reshaping everything."

Without another word, he vanished as silently as he had come, leaving the chill lingering in the room.

For a moment, silence hung between Baoshi and Qingyu.

"Seems we’re in for quite the spectacle," Qingyu finally said, his mind drifting once again to that mysterious black cat and her unusual power.

Baoshi, more somber, muttered, "We’re in for far more than that."