All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 555 - 157: Three Parties Spying

Chapter 555: Chapter 157: Three Parties Spying

"This is truly bad luck, to actually be ambushed!"

Before being swallowed by the shadows, An Jing had already noticed the disturbance in the Earth Vein. His eyesight and technique had always far exceeded his own level, even with the newly advanced ’Spirit Sword Pupil’, An Jing had seen those shadows overflowing from the Netherworld and gathering into a dense fog hurtling towards him.

But seeing does not mean there is a way to solve it, not to mention that all of An Jing’s countermeasures were still cooling down: ’Subdue Evil’s Great Void Shuttle’ would require another day’s wait, the Divine Skill token in his hand also needed the power to be activated to control, and his body was now incredibly depleted due to unleashing nine sword strikes.

Of course, the most important thing was, An Jing had just resolved the issue with the Heavenly Demon, and it was really unexpected that there would be a ’friendly’ surprise attack afterward.

"Is it Da Chen or Tianyi Demon Sect?"

While being dragged by the shadows, An Jing still had the mind to ponder this question: "Attacking from the Earth Vein Netherworld so covertly and masterfully, and they must have been lurking there already, neither I nor the Heavenly Demon had noticed before, it could only be Da Chen."

"But Tianyi Demon Sect also has their own power within Da Chen’s inner circle, perhaps..."

—Are both sides working together?

The dragging came to an end, and An Jing felt himself falling, a sensation similar to the Great Void Shuttle ending as he plummeted from mid-air.

An Jing adjusted his posture, his knees slightly contracting as his body crashed to the ground, stirring up a billow of dust, and with a swift roll upon landing, he stood up to survey his surroundings.

The light-grey sky, like dusty rain scattering, spanned above a desolate and gray-black city ruin imbued with an aura of ancient decay. The style of this city was starkly different from that of Da Chen, with traces of ages inscribed on each towering column stretching into the sky—a clear representation of a much older time, the heyday of the Dust Li inhabitants, even back to the era of the Divine Court.

The former prosperity had faded, leaving water-stained ruins and buildings, with turbid water streams converging into the uneven potholes and cracks of the streets.

The water surged, and several figures ascended from different directions, their shadows elongated, vaguely encircling An Jing in the middle.

This is the Netherworld.

Subdue Evil said, "And a very ancient one at that, a fragment of the Netherworld lost in time—it is a silhouette of a bygone era, which, typically, would dissipate with the passage of time, forgotten by people."

"But now, it has become the most secretive and unknown sanctuary."

"Be careful, An Jing, this is a cage specifically meant for you. Can you feel it, the surrounding Spirit Qi is very stagnant and scarce, but the Demonic Qi, on the other hand, is abundant and dense."

"Indeed."

An Jing squinted, he could indeed sense that there was something not quite right about this place, and these shadows faintly surrounding him did indeed give him a familiar feeling.

"Don’t waste words, and don’t delay."

The young man said aloud, "Are you here to chat or to fight? If it’s a fight, make it quick, otherwise, I’m almost recovered."

"Don’t be too anxious, Soldier Master."

In the hazy water light, several more solid shadows appeared, their tone imbued with a hint of amusement: "You don’t have to pretend to be so confident. This place is among the many fragments of the Netherworld of the past, suspended in history and time, there’s no Spirit Fiend available for ordinary people here, only Demonic Qi."

"Moreover, this place seals off the Great Void Magical Instruments and the Great Void Passage, that mysterious Great Void Divine Skill of yours, perhaps from Subdue Evil, is likely unusable here. You won’t be able to bring in resources from elsewhere, food, and Spiritual Objects that may come from other kingdoms or even continents, or those powerful Heavenly Mechanism Artifacts."

These figures approached, coalescing into several faces An Jing didn’t recognize, but the auras were very familiar.

"Da Chen. Tianyi Demon Sect. And, Taiming Sect?"

An Jing gazed at the faces before him, slowly releasing the identity of the others: "It’s rare. Three parties who should be fighting each other have allied for the sake of a mere Martial Artist like me, who doesn’t even possess Martial Meridians?"

At this moment, his condition was indeed poor. Although the Spiritual Fiend in his body was recovering due to swallowing several pieces of Jade Cutting Steel, his fatigue was not fake, and attempting to use the Great Void Magical Instrument had indeed been sealed, which was fortunate since he had acted quickly at the start by activating the Life-Healing Talisman and swallowing the Jade Cutting Steel, or else there wouldn’t be any recovery supplies.

Moreover, though the Spiritual Fiend was sparse and dilute, the Demonic Qi was very abundant. It was desolate here, without any demons; otherwise, who knows what kind of creature it would give rise to.

"Please do not underestimate yourself."

Responding to An Jing’s words, an envoy from Da Chen laughed: "You are the first Divine Mandate of this era, not just the first, but perhaps the strongest."

"The Divine Mandates vary in rank, the common Immortal Gods, Heavenly Generals, Emperor Heavenly Venerates... But you have the most powerful mandate of the Soldier Master Emperor, born to Subdue Evil and overcome the Frost Calamity. In our estimation, your potential at the very least equals a peak Pure Yang Heavenly Lord, and you may well be the opportunity that promotes the Bright Mirror Sect from the Middle Gate to the Upper Gate—the first Nine Heavens Lingxiao of the Bright Mirror Sect!"

So, that’s how it is.

Hearing this, An Jing understood in his heart.

It seemed that his recent actions had all been watched by the official eyes of Da Chen—whether it was the spiritual objects used as food brought from the Tianyuan Realm, or those rocket launchers and missiles, Da Chen had observed and remembered everything, indeed guessing that this was the ’Subdue Evil’ Divine Skill brought by the Great Void.

They never overlooked his Divine Mandate, but due to their long heritage, they knew that if the conditions weren’t right, acting against a Divine Mandate would only become nutrition for his growth, so they had been waiting, gathering information, until they were certain they knew all his cards and struck during his weakest moment, intending to capture him.

This was the thinking of the Da Chen side, while the Taiming Sect’s was even simpler: if An Jing truly became a peak Pure Yang Heavenly Lord, succeeding Cheng Guang Ancient Ancestor, then unless Taiming Sect produced a Lingxiao, their position as the leader of the Dust Li Five Sects would be very uncomfortable.

Although relying on the foundation of Lingxiao, they would certainly still be the leader, but being the second extreme and being the sole dominant one are clearly entirely different concepts.

Not to mention, if An Jing truly became Nine Heavens Lingxiao, leading Bright Mirror Sect to the Upper Gate... then the days for Taiming Sect would be tough indeed.

The opponent’s goal, it’s likely not just to capture him, but also possibly, if they could, to kill him, right?

As for the last, the Tianyi Demon Sect...

An Jing stared at this aura he had never seen or felt before, with Netherworld Energy swirling around it. He pondered: "You Patrol Envoy? I don’t recall having any contact with you. Are you like the Western Patrol Envoy, wanting to come over and devour me?"

"Or rather, do you want to, like the Northern Patrol Envoy, recruit me into your ranks?"

"No."

In response to An Jing’s query, the You Patrol Envoy spoke with a calm and gender-neutral voice that sounded young but had an unusually ancient tone: "Alone or with a group, unity or order, I have no interest in either..."

The You Patrol Envoy lifted their gaze, he or she looked towards An Jing, their eyes flowing with silver-green light that An Jing found familiar but was somewhat extraordinary: "I am merely curious about you as an individual, wishing to research the essence of your Divine Mandate... and inviting you to join my research."

"You should understand, a disciple of Mingguang Dust, a reservist of the Endless Heavens..."

"Our ’successor’."