Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 488: Turning Gears.

Following the orders of the Lord of Shadows, Qingyu and Baoshi sent their trusted subordinates to the four Realms where each Celestial Beast resided.

Complying with his orders, they were going to launch an attack this time.

Yet, the Lord of Shadows did not want any drastic measures that could tip the scales of the battle in any direction.

Unlike Kami, the son of God, he had ulterior goals for this war and plans beyond just winning and losing.

The four Realms home to the Celestial Beasts had the most concentrated forces of the Lord of Shadows leave for the Realm he had occupied himself.

Out of the total 8 Realms closest to the Land Above Realms, only 3 of them had dominance of the son of God.

Two of these Realms were completely in support of Kami, while one of them still had 2 Empyreans resisting. Kami seemed almost disinterested in these Realms as he focused on conquering the homes of the Celestial Beasts first.

Meanwhile, the Lord of Shadows only had his own Realm with complete subjugation. One could not find a man who was not in his reverence there.

. . .

In the Realm of Abezan, things did not remain quiet.

Ember actively gave orders to expand Phoenix City. It could not remain a small city now that things had turned out this way.

She started expanding the territory and planned to usurp all the neighboring kingdoms and cities.

Thus there were clashes every day! Not only with the forces occupying these territories, but even with the people from Wilderness and the Immortal Sect.

Fights between Transcendents had started to become a common sight.

Despite the upper hand of the Alliance, they could not contain the expansion of Phoenix City from all fronts. Quickly, the city expanded, surrounded forests thinned and the hundreds of cultivators were all stationed in the occupied neighboring territories.

Neither the Sect nor the Wilderness sent a Sage as a single mistake could cause them to lose a valuable asset.

Just like with Qingyu, the messenger Sage was deigned too annoying by the Celestial Phoenix.

Ember had sensed the messenger’s presence in the city and allowed him to contact the Phoenix regardless.

But as she had expected, the messenger Sage came directly for her next as she felt his aura closing in on her with passing moments.

"Allow entry to that Sage," she spoke to the air, but something seemed to shift in the surroundings.

A Transcendent cultivator always stationed around her did not respond, and instead, she made her way directly to the gates of the estate where old man Jaka could be seen confronting another Sage of unknown origins.

Old man Jaka continued to glare coldly at the messenger Sage who was then brought by the Transcendent directly to Ember’s room.

"Is it Lord of Shadows you follow or one of the Virtues?" Ember did not look up from the report in her hand as she asked.

The messenger Sage remained unperturbed by her overbearing presence.

"It does not matter who I follow. The Celestial Beast is to be informed that they should take their revenge for the atrocity of stepping on their pride. The Phoenix immediately kicked me out and asked me to deal with her retainer only," the old woman narrated everything in one breath. Her expressions did not falter even while calling Ember a retainer.

"With this bland personality, no wonder the Phoenix kicked you out of her nest. Did she at least listen to you or were you kicked out immediately after your introduction?" Ember wanted to confirm something, she was not otherwise interested in the details of humiliation that this messenger had suffered.

"... I was not even allowed an introduction."

Ember sighed in relief mentally. On the outside, however, she merely nodded her head as if the answer to her question was inconsequential either way.

If this old woman had told the Phoenix that she ’could’ take her revenge, then that lazy beast would have never left her nest unless provoked otherwise.

She needed to be told that she could not choose to come out of her sleep and do any work. Centuries of sleeping had grown on her so much that she was not willing to do anything else unless absolutely necessary.

’Just like that idiot. Is that why they are so chummy together?’ Ember thought with an irk rising up her throat.

"Are there any specific instructions?" she asked the old woman, who had clearly seen things more scary than an Empyrean to show any respect to her.

Shaking her head, the messenger Sage replied, "Not much. The Celestial Beast is to attack the resisting forces. There is no specific goal to achieve, but for the Beast to draw vengeance."

"Hmm," Ember made a thoughtful face, before asking, "Anything else?"

"No."

"Why are you still here then?"

And so, the messenger Sage left the estate and disappeared from the Realm of Abezan.

Back in her room, Ember pondered over the intentions of the Lord of Shadows.

Admitting that there was no specific goal to achieve was no shorter than admitting that he was only provoking the opposite forces.

"Surely, there would be some scheme to this outwardly shallow attack," she muttered to herself before she sent her attending Transcendent to call a meeting again.

The usual meetings consisted mostly of the available Sages, some peak Transcendents, and the trio. The three of them were not only trusted by Ember, but were also one of the most promising Dragon Hatchlings, so others didn’t have much problem.

This time, Ozul was also called and dragged from his sleep.

Inside the room, Ember eyed everyone seriously, establishing the seriousness of the situation.

"We are to launch an attack on the Alliance," she began.

"Is it necessary? We have only now started expanding. The new soldiers haven’t even adjusted yet," Raven spoke out her concerns. It was usually only her and Rai voicing out their thoughts in the meeting.

Salar and Remal had so much discipline ingrained into their bones that they didn’t dare question any orders. On the other hand, Jaka was still finding a place for himself, so he seldom voiced his thoughts. And the Transcendents were too afraid to say anything wrong.

"We have no say in it. The Phoenix and the Lord of Shadows both have decided on this," Ember didn’t even blink before lying. She had yet to even tell the Phoenix.

The reason she did not think too much about the orders was because she also wanted the same thing. Now that she had found a reason to, there was no stopping her.

’Staying idle and waiting for the enemies to attack is stupid,’ she had reasoned. There was also a need to establish loyalty and trust among the new cultivators, and a war like this would make it happen quickly.

"There is no getting out of this then..." Zier muttered with a little worry as he warily watched the bright glint in both Rai and Blaze’s eyes. The former was even salivating if he had seen correctly.

"But we barely have enough people to defend ourselves, much less attack them?" Raven could not make sense of how they could even consider this.

"If the Phoenix attacks the Sect and we focus all of our forces on the Wilderness, there will be significant losses on their side," Jaka added, stroking his white beard.

Ember scanned the room twice, finding no objections.

"That is the plan," she continued, "But only 3 Sages will lead the cultivators and I will only step in if the Leader decides to intervene."

And then, a hand was slowly raised.

Everyone ignored it.

"We have 5 Sages, why are we using only 3?" Rai asked, anxious that he might not be selected in those three.

"Someone needs to stay here. There is no guarantee that the Sect will concentrate all of their people in stopping the carnage of the Phoenix. If they send a group of cultivators here, then there will be no Phoenix City," Ember replied with an annoyed tone.

"Do not worry, You will lead the battles against the Wilderness," she finally added, realizing what his actual concern was.

The hand that was raised in the air remained there all this while.

Finally, Ember could not continue ignoring it, "What is it?!"

"Why am I here?" Ozul asked, pointing at his chest.

"Because you need to come with me to the Phoenix," Ember replied with a smirk. At least she could pay him back by annoying him just as much as he annoys her.

Ozul then went quiet, waiting for them to go over all the details before he would be dragged off to the Phoenix’s nest.

Ember also wanted him to remain up to date with everything that was happening, she did not know if they could make him stay after telling him that.

"When is it happening?" Rai questioned.

"All of you will have 2 Days to prepare," she settled and the meeting ended.

Soon, Ozul found himself being dragged off to the obelisk of the Phoenix.

"Why did you lie to them?" He asked her on the way.

Shrugging her shoulders, she told him, "It was easier this way." She knew he would find out anyway.

"They wouldn’t object to you either way." Ozul was still confused.

"Both Remal and Salar still hold doubts about me. I want them fighting in the battle without any hesitation," Ember sighed, explaining herself.

She did not have the time nor the patience to play any other games with them.

"Again, why is my presence required there?" When he thought about it, this didn’t make any sense either.

"So, both of you can convince her on the off chance she catches my lie," Ember smirked before shrugging her shoulders again.

Ozul eyed the black cat trudging behind him. If anyone had the ability to convince the Celestial Phoenix, it would be Jinx.

But who could convince Jinx?