Chapter 1138 Blinded by Personal Interest
At the same time, on the turbulent Forbidden Sea, Xu Qing, who was returning to Fenghai County with the captain, suddenly paused. A hint of confusion appeared on his face as he turned to look into the distance.
Vaguely, some voices seemed to be echoing in his mind, and he saw some blurry scenes flashing in front of him.
However, the scene wasn't clear and was a mess like ink had dropped into water.
Xu Qing's pause and the expression on his face surprised the captain. He followed Xu Qing's gaze and looked at the distant world, but saw nothing.
Hence, he asked curiously.
"Little Qing, what's wrong? What are you looking at?"
Xu Qing didn't reply, his expression becoming increasingly blank. It was only after a long time when the captain asked again that Xu Qing's expression recovered. He looked in the direction of the Black Spirit Region and spoke hesitantly.
"It felt like someone was summoning me."
"They summoned something I originally thought didn't exist."
Xu Qing mumbled.
At the same time, on the Black Heaven Race's battlefield, the purple star descended from the sky, emitting purple light that covered the sky, causing the originally bright sky to instantly dim.
At this moment, the land and all living beings were covered in purple light.
A terrifying aura emitted from this Purple Moon Star.
Most of the visible sky was enveloped by this purple star. As it arrived, the cultivators from both sides could clearly see the craters on it.
On this Purple Moon Star, there was a huge stele that shone with a resplendent light.
A divine aura erupted into the sky, distorting the world and blurring the world. The anomalous substances turned into fog, rising from everywhere. There were also countless purple worms in the fog.
They were sometimes corporeal and sometimes illusory. Wherever they passed, the sky and earth would change color.
On the battlefield, the hearts of King Tian Lan's subordinates rumbled. All of them were panting and their bodies were trembling under this pressure.
As for the Black Heaven Race's side, those priests in purple robes had extremely pious expressions and their prayers became increasingly impassioned.
The other members of the Black Heaven Race were all excited and knelt down toward the Purple Moon in the sky.
Clearly, to them, the descent of the Purple Moon meant that their god hadn't given up on them. The god… was still around!
All of this was like a shocking thunderbolt to King Tian Lan in the air.
As a Soul Accumulation cultivator, he naturally knew how terrifying a god was. He also understood that with his combat strength, he had no chance of counterattacking against a god.
"What the hell is going on!!"
"Did Crimson Goddess awaken? No, their prayers didn't say Crimson Goddess but Lord Purple!"
"I've never heard of this Lord Purple. Could He be transformed from Crimson Goddess? Or an ancient god that no one knows about?"
King Tian Lan's heart trembled. He could sense that the Purple Moon Star was real. The pressure, aura, and the purple worm fog that appeared in the surroundings were all genuine.
This was completely a god's descent!
All the emotions transformed into a storm that rumbled in his heart like monstrous waves.
He didn't hesitate at all and couldn't care less about the life and death of his subordinates. The only thought that appeared in his mind was to escape!
Before that Purple Lord appeared, he would do his best to escape.
Only then would he have a chance of survival.
King Tian Lan gritted his teeth and let out a shout.
"Retreat!"
With that, he instantly turned around and flew straight for the distance with his fastest speed.
As a Soul Accumulation expert and one of the 18 Heavenly Kings who participated in the battle of the Black Heaven Race this time, he didn't want to die.
He was well aware that this battle between the human race and the Black Heaven Race was jointly launched from more than ten directions against the two large regions of the Black Heaven Race, with each Heavenly King responsible for one direction.
So, even if he failed here, the impact on the overall situation wouldn't be fatal. However, it would pose an obstacle to the Seventh Prince's takeover of the Holy Wave and he wouldn't fulfill his promise to the Human Emperor.
However, compared to his life, these… were naturally nothing.
In that instant, King Tian Lan's figure disappeared under the Purple Moon Star and continued to warp into the distance. His departure caused the subordinates on the ground to feel bitter. All of their eyes revealed despair as they started to retreat in all directions.
However, they knew that in front of a god, the possibility of their retreat succeeding was extremely slim.
As for the Black Heaven Race's side, they didn't take the opportunity to attack. After the prayer ended, they quickly retreated. With the help of the Purple Moon's pressure, the Black Heaven Race's army broke free from their fatal situation and retreated.
Just like that, time slowly passed. The Black Heaven Race's side had already left. The retreating subordinates of King Tian Lan gradually had doubts because… they didn't see the god appear.
In fact, the Purple Moon in the sky began to fade. The distortions and blurriness in the surroundings also slowly dissipated. The anomalous substances seemed to be mainly illusory. Their true lethality was far inferior to what the pressure and aura showed.
It was as though… this was just an illusion.
At the next moment, the Purple Moon Star in the sky completely dissipated. Everything between heaven and earth recovered.
On the ground, the subordinates of King Tian Lan all had blank expressions. Very soon, someone reacted. They… had been tricked!
This wasn't a god's descent. This was more like an illusion spell.
This realization caused everyone's hearts to stir. Soon, a rainbow rushed over in the sky and King Tian Lan returned.
His expression was ugly and extremely gloomy. His eyes were filled with anger and the murderous aura in his heart had already become extremely dense and was rapidly spreading.
Previously, he had instinctively fled. After fleeing for a distance, he reacted and had an inkling.
Hence, he returned after probing and witnessed the scene of Purple Moon disappearing.
All of this made him understand that he had… been duped!
At that moment, his anger rumbled and his eyes turned red as he stared fixedly into the distance.
That was the direction the Black Heaven Race's army and the 17 priests had fled in.
If it wasn't for his wrong judgment, these Black Heaven Race troops would probably have been destroyed by him at this moment. Especially the 17 priests inside who were his strategic goal.
They would also be killed by him.
His side of the war would end.
He would have completed his promise to the Human Emperor and let the Seventh Prince truly obtain the Holy Wave Large Region as a fief.
And he would return victorious.
But now, an accident had happened.
Under the gazes of everyone, he was actually frightened away by the Black Heaven Race.
This was humiliation, extreme humiliation.
At the thought of this, his anger overflowed into the sky. On one hand, this anger came from his fear earlier, and on the other hand, it came from his prestige being stepped upon.
Hence, King Tian Lan immediately issued a decree to his army.
"Listen up, chase after the remnants of the Black Heaven Race. Kill all the cultivators of the Black Heaven Race!"
His voice echoed through the battlefield, but his subordinates weren't as fanatical as before. They had seen the scene of King Tian Lan escaping earlier and sensed mixed emotions.
The dignity from the Soul Accumulation caused them to only listen to orders.
However, a deputy general in charge of setting up the immortal art couldn't help but rise into the air and arrive in front of King Tian Lan.
"Heavenly King, the immortal art hasn't spread further. It will take some time for it to spread. If we rashly pursue…"
King Tian Lan's expression was cold as he turned to look at the deputy general in front of him.
"You are disobeying?"
"I wouldn't dare." The deputy general lowered his head.
"Army, move out immediately!" King Tian Lan's expression was gloomy and his voice echoed like heavenly lightning. The army quickly rushed out and chased in the direction the Black Heaven Race had fled in.
King Tian Lan stood at the front with an imposing aura.
However, the pursuit wasn't smooth. The Black Heaven Race's evacuation method was mainly teleportation, so they needed to constantly lock onto the traces of teleportation.
Just like that, under the pursuit of the army, three days later, King Tian Lan's army entered the depths of the Black Spirit Region. Black fog filled the air and enveloped the surroundings.
According to the clues on the way, the last trace of the Black Heaven Race's army showed that they had entered this place. The 17 priests were also among them.
King Tian Lan fell silent. However, as he sensed the teleportation fluctuations in his perception, determination emerged in his eyes and he immediately sent the order.
Soon, his figure and the army under him stirred up a storm on the ground and stepped into the fog.
The fog churned and drowned everything.
Seven days later, the fog in the Black Spirit Region suddenly rumbled violently. There was also a deafening sound accompanied by a huge mushroom cloud that spread in all directions.
At the edge of the fog, disheveled figures rushed out one after another. The person in the lead was none other than King Tian Lan.
However, right now, he no longer had the dignity he had when he stepped in earlier. His armor had shattered. His face was pale and his injuries were serious, with blood flowing out of his entire body.
As for his subordinates who rushed out from behind him, they were all in a similar state. All of them were heavily injured and their auras were weak.
As for the number of people… it was only one-tenth of what it used to be.
90% of the army had failed to return.
Looking at his subordinates in the surroundings, King Tian Lan was filled with grief and indignation. When he thought of what he had encountered after entering this fog, he couldn't help but feel burning anger in his heart and he spat out a large mouthful of blood.
'The Black Heaven Race first used an illusory god's descent to intimidate me, causing me to lose all face and miss a good opportunity. My anger surpassed reason, so I chased them here before the immortal art spread.'
'The effect of the immortal art is to prevent the self- destruction of highly destructive items in the Black Heaven Race.'
'But they set up a regional treasure fragment here and detonated it.'
When he thought of this, King Tian Lan sensed regret. However, at this moment, his injuries were too serious and he was worried that the Black Heaven Race had other arrangements. Hence, he gritted his teeth and could only leave.
Even after he returned to the edge of the Holy Wave Large Region and met up with the garrisoned army, the unwillingness, hatred, and regret in his emotions were still incomparably intense. More importantly, he didn't know how to explain this to the Human Emperor.
It was also at this moment that he received the few information jade slips that the Seventh Prince had sent to the garrisoned army.
The first was to tell him that the ten thousand people along with the military governor had disappeared in Fenghai County. Moreover, Fenghai County refused to provide troops.
The second one was to inform him that Fenghai County had Suns of Dawn. The Seventh Prince's residence had been wiped out and he had suffered heavy losses.
Looking at the two jade slips, the killing intent in King Tian Lan's eyes was intense. He found a reason to explain his defeat to the Human Emperor.
That was, Fenghai County didn't send reinforcements, causing the power of the immortal art to be insufficient. It couldn't spread to the depths of the large region at the specified time, causing him to be in a completely passive situation.
Hence, they suffered a huge defeat.