Volume 1, Chapter 273 – Great Victory

The vast divine might of the Imperial Dao swept across the heavens. The phantom of the Heaven-Reaching Treasure Register covered the entire sky, illuminating a chaos-colored radiance, as if recreating the scene of the world’s first beginning.

Bzz…

For a time, heaven and earth trembled. An invisible Dao aura spread across a million li.

Within Chengtian Domain, aside from the area near Xianwu City, the human race had long since vanished everywhere else, and low-level demon beasts were everywhere.

In that brief instant, every low-level demon beast covered by the Dao aura had its bones and flesh crushed apart, turning into pools of gore and dying on the spot. Their number was no less than ten million!

Even demon beasts of somewhat higher cultivation lasted only a few breaths more before they too turned into dust and merged into the land of Chengtian Domain.

The Heaven-Reaching Treasure Register remained open for less than ten breaths before rolling back up once more, sweeping away all the baleful blood qi that had condensed in the air as well as the great masses of demon clouds.

Sunlight broke through the clouds, and the clear sky stretched for ten thousand li once more. All ten directions fell silent. Everything was calm and peaceful.

If not for that patch of starry sea hanging high in the sky, it would have seemed as though none of what had happened before had ever taken place.

Shi Lan’s Innate spiritual body was extremely sensitive to spiritual qi, and she quickly noticed that the heaven-and-earth spiritual qi around her had risen by more than thirty percent.

Shi Lan did not think deeply about this change, nor would she ever know that in those mere ten breaths, ninety percent of the demon beasts in Chengtian Domain had already died. The occasional survivors who slipped through the net were fleeing desperately toward the Boundless Demon Domain, not daring to hesitate in the slightest.

A demon calamity that had nearly overturned all of Chengtian Domain was suppressed by the Sovereign in the sky with a flick of a finger.

At this moment, all of Shi Lan’s attention was fixed on that lump of Demon Emperor blood within her body. Since stepping onto the martial path, it was almost the most precious treasure she had ever obtained, even though she still lacked the strength to make use of it.

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After heaven and earth fell silent for a brief moment, thunderous cheers erupted like mountains roaring and seas crashing, filled with the joy of surviving a great disaster.

Shi Lan came back to herself and looked up at the sky. It was completely empty. That Sovereign, along with the dozens of Human Emperors, had disappeared without a trace. Only the newly born Illusory Star Domain remained.

Without sparing another thought, Shi Lan swept her gaze around, found the direction home, and with astral qi beneath her feet, shot toward the Shi Residence like an arrow loosed from the string.

…

Everywhere along the way was ruin. The sight was one of utter devastation. Countless streams of qi cut through the sky as people rushed about Xianwu City, clearly searching for their relatives and loved ones.

Shi Lan did not pause for even a moment. In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, she crossed nearly a hundred li and returned to the Shi Residence on the western side of Xianwu City.

The gates of the Shi Residence were tightly shut. Scattered before them lay the corpses of a few demon beasts, along with broad patches of fallen feathers. Clearly, quite a few flying demon beasts had died here.

Sensing the presence of many living people within the residence, Shi Lan let out a slight breath of relief. She stepped forward in two strides and pushed the gate open.

The chain of changes just now had happened too quickly. Most people in the city still did not know what the situation outside was; they had only seen the demon beasts retreat for no apparent reason.

The people in the Shi Residence were still strung tight with tension. At the slightest disturbance, they attacked in an instant.

The moment Shi Lan stepped through the gate, several streams of astral qi shot toward her like lightning.

Her Heavenly Astral true qi moved of its own accord to protect her body, wrapping around her.

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Boom!

The force carried by that astral qi was unexpectedly tremendous. Even with Shi Lan’s current strength, she was forced back half a step.

After steadying herself, Shi Lan lifted her eyes and looked ahead. Once she saw the people in the courtyard, surprise could not help but rise in her eyes.

Aside from the members of the Shi Residence led by Su Lanyue, there were also many familiar faces. Besides Shen Tianlan, whom she had not seen in a long time, Lu Changfeng, Lu Yueqing, and the others from the Lu family were all present.

Not far away stood a black-robed man with a complicated expression, isolated from the rest of the crowd and looking somewhat out of place. It was Shi Feng.

Whatever Shi Lan might be, the Shi Residence had ultimately shown Shi Feng kindness. When the demon beasts breached the city, he naturally could not just stand by and do nothing.

When they saw Shi Lan, the expressions of those in the courtyard varied.

Lu Changfeng narrowed his eyes slightly, and a trace of delight flashed through them. He had been responsible for part of those streams of astral qi just now. Though he had held back somewhat, it was still not something an ordinary Heavenly Astral Realm martial artist could have blocked.

Shi Lan had not entered the Heavenly Astral Realm long ago. Not long before, she had even suffered grave injuries, her life hanging by a thread, with eight or nine tenths of her life essence lost and little time left to her.

He had originally thought that after suffering such a blow, Shi Lan might well collapse completely and die young. Now it seemed it was still too early to draw conclusions.

“A Lan!”

“Big Sister!”

Su Lanyue rushed forward and pulled Shi Lan into a tight embrace. After looking her over from side to side and seeing that she had not suffered any new wounds, she quietly let out a sigh of relief.

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Once they saw Shi Lan return safely, the taut atmosphere throughout the Shi Residence suddenly eased. To the Shi Residence now, Shi Lan was no different from a second main pillar holding it up.

Shi Lan stepped out from the Shi Residence crowd and thanked everyone who had come to help, one by one.

The Lu family did not stay long. After exchanging a few words and learning from Shi Lan what had happened outside, they left. When Lu Yueqing departed, she looked as though she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

“Brother Shen, it has been a long time. Thank you for this.”

When Shi Lan reached Shen Tianlan, she greeted him warmly. She had always had a favorable impression of Shen Tianlan. There was a very upright, gentlemanly air about him, and he was someone worth befriending.

“You are too courteous, Miss Shi Lan. It was only a small effort.”

Shen Tianlan shook his head, then directly said his farewell.

“The situation in the city is still chaotic. The disciples of my Sky Thunder Hall still need looking after, so I won’t stay any longer. Until we meet again.”

Shi Lan nodded and saw Shen Tianlan out through the gate. When she turned back, she discovered that Shi Feng, who had been standing in the corner earlier, had disappeared at some unknown point.

…

Central Heaven Domain, Imperial Palace.

The domain gate, sealed away for several years, burst open with a thunderous roar. As the gate opened, the seal locking down the Imperial Palace disintegrated like ice and snow melting away.

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Dozens of figures stepped out from within the domain gate, and in an instant they all entered a great hall at the center of the Imperial Palace.

Atop the ancient tower of the Imperial Palace, Liu Yunzhen slowly lifted his head. Listening to Taishi’s voice transmission at his ear and looking at the Human Race Annals that had returned, he drew a silver-tipped jade brush out of the void.

An incomparably ancient aura coiled around the jade brush, as though it had existed since the primordial wilderness.

The Human Race Annals slowly unfolded and turned to a brand-new blank page.

The silver-tipped jade brush slowly descended, adding a new entry to the Human Race Annals.

[Year 48925 of the Taishi Era. The Sovereign led forty-three Human Emperors beyond the realm, battling demons and devils beneath the vault of the starry sky. Nine Demon Emperors and five Devil Lords were slain. Our race suffered losses…]

At this point, Liu Yunzhen’s brush paused slightly. He let out a soft sigh, then continued writing.

[Our race lost seven Human Emperors. Great victory…]

The billions of wronged souls within Chengtian Domain were covered over by those lightly written words, Great Victory. Since ancient times, it had always been so.

Though a certain indignation stirred within him, Liu Yunzhen lacked the power to change anything. In the eyes of those who had attained emperorship, there was only ever the greater situation of the human race.

This time, in the chaos brought by the demon race, the human race had indeed been the side that benefited most overall, reaping no small gains.

Those stretches of life-bearing stars might, in the near future, become a sacred land for cultivation.