Chapter 1722 — The Sovereign Takes the Field

On that bleak field, if your heart softens for even an instant, if the fear inside your Dao heart shows its head, you will become a deserter and bring total defeat upon us! Can you shoulder that?

Can you bear that? Shen Wu, it is not too late to withdraw now! " The First Ancestor stood there as steadily as the center of the world. "I can," he said hoarsely.

"Words are empty proof! " The Southern Emperor's aura surged; suddenly her vital blood and Dao fire turned into the ferocious, twisted apparitions of the thirty-nine Army Lords of the Southern Heaven and shrieked down on the First Ancestor.

Those thirty-nine army lords were demigods of every form, and their leaders were still more hideous and vicious, misshapen and twisted in limb and monstrously cruel, bearing down on him like a sky-covering tide.

An ordinary man would have lost his Dao heart at such a vision; but the First Ancestor stood unmoved, hands moving, using himself as the center and weaving his vital blood into a formation that transformed into countless troops and horses, clashing head-on with the charge of the thirty-nine army lords and their numberless gods and demons. Limbs flew in all directions, a slaughter beyond description.

The Southern Emperor stared at his face, at his eyes, as if to see the terror in his heart. Then, suddenly, the visions over the sky vanished. The Southern Emperor swept her crimson robes open and shut and laughed. "Prince Shen Wu, I look forward to joining forces with you at the southern wilderness of Jingping!

" The First Ancestor clasped his fists and bowed.

"I await your arrival, Southern Emperor.

" The Southern Emperor returned the salute, made a slight bow to Shen Mu, Lang Wan, and the rest, and said, "The fighting in the Southern Sea is urgent. I am going back.

" With that, she turned into a streak of fire, flew into the distance, and vanished from the Carefree Land. Shen Mu rose and returned the courtesy. "First Ancestor, I entrust the interception of the Southern Heaven's routed army to you.

" The First Ancestor bowed. "I will not fail you. " Then he turned and left.

Shen Mu exhaled slowly and watched him recede.

Ling Yuxiu whispered anxiously, "The Southern Emperor struck so hard against the First Ancestor's Dao heart.

Will anything happen? " "No, it will only rouse his fighting spirit.

" Shen Mu smiled.

"This battle matters enormously, and the Southern Emperor cannot afford to be careless. But the First Ancestor is no longer the deserter from Jade Bright Palace in those years. He was already transformed when he led the many races on their long expedition at the end of the Kaihuang era.

If he looks melancholy, it is because he regrets that he could not save the people of Jade Bright Palace.

This campaign will be the best chance he will ever have to leave his remorse behind.

" The Hall of Human Sovereigns.

The Jade Bright Palace in the Jade Capital during the Kaihuang era.

The First Ancestor walked through the palace; it still preserved the scene from the day Jade Bright Palace was destroyed, unchanged.

It had been a place of teaching and learning in the Kaihuang era. At that celestial palace's height, countless earnest students came to study here; it had been the supreme academy and sacred ground of that age. When the catastrophe broke out, the Nether Heavenly Emperor cast his spell and, in an instant, took away the souls of nearly all the students, leaving nothing behind but their bodies. They still kept their living postures, as though they still dwelled here. The First Ancestor walked in silence through the crowd.

Before his eyes it was still the old Jade Bright Palace: students in their youth, countless bright lives leaping around him, voices of old classmates and teachers laughing in his ears.

He stopped, standing quietly.

When the Nether Heavenly Emperor had laid his curse, all those people died; only he escaped with his life. This place had become the ache of his lifetime. "Classmates, teachers, this time I will not run. " He prostrated himself in solemn reverence to those old friends.

When he rose again, his Dao heart was full, flawless, clear as jade. The First Ancestor turned and walked out of Jade Bright Palace, out of the Hall of Human Sovereigns.

Outside the Hall, the Human Sovereigns of every era were waiting in utter silence, each leading an army.

The First Ancestor's gaze moved across the faces of the Second Ancestor, the Third Ancestor, and the others, and finally came to rest on Village Warden Su Muzhe. He smiled and said in a low voice, "For twenty thousand years, the Hall of Human Sovereigns has been the guardian of this land. For twenty thousand years, generation upon generation of Human Sovereigns stood alone against heaven above, against the Heavenly Court, against oppression and injustice.

But today, after twenty thousand years, it is different. " He stepped forward through the ranks, his voice ringing: "We have many comrades on the Way now.

We have many companions who share our heart!

At our backs stands Jingping, risen from the ruins left by the gods of the Heavenly Court!

" His right hand pointed south.

"Human Sovereigns of the Hall, this life exists to shield this land!

Follow me, kill the enemy!

" The great army roared into motion. Human Sovereign Qikang raced to the front, snickering, "Little Su, can you still manage? You're old! " Village Warden Su Muzhe's face did not move. He glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

Suddenly his vital blood seethed; he turned from an old man into a youth, his body covered in magnificent muscle, a divine sword held in his arms. Another glance from him, and the sword intent in his eyes clipped Human Sovereign Qikang down by a head. Human Sovereign Qikang laughed loudly.

"You're a good hand at beating down master and ancestors, just as I taught! But my grand-disciple is even stronger!

" The Human Sovereigns all roared with laughter, and the sound shot into heaven and scattered the clouds.

In the Carefree Land, at the Realm of Supreme Clarity, a divine messenger hurried out of the teleportation gate with a letter from the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping.

Shen Mu unfolded the letter, which said that the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Heaven was too cautious, holding stubbornly to his defenses and refusing to fight. Jiang Baigui therefore wished to borrow a certain wedding gift that someone had given when Shen Mu married. Shen Mu's expression became strange.

"What would Junior Brother Jiang do with the scale of the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon? " Cloud Venerable's voice sounded: "The Azure Emperor of the Eastern Heaven and the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon share a great hatred.

For the Imperial Preceptor to break the Azure Emperor by starting with the Azure Dragon is indeed a brilliant move.

"