The super strong gravitational forces and the prolonged period of battle at light speed and superluminal speed inside the Sun might have been a short moment to Ulpian and Fang Xingjian, but to the people on Earth, five months had already passed.
Five months were enough for too many things to happen. This was especially so when Ulpian had disappeared for this five months, completely without a trace.
The Central City, the capital that Ulpian had created, was now filled with wars.
Countless black figures flew about in the sky, unleashing black deathly light. They tore the ground apart, shattered buildings, and killed everyone who resisted.
The densely-packed black figures were like locusts, destroying the city crazily.
These silhouettes were all black human figures, covered completely in black. They were like the departed spirits from folklore.
From time to time, there would be streams of black deathly light shooting out from these departed spirits, destroying the streets and buildings.
Then occasionally, there would be a few departed spirits charging downward. They grabbed human warriors who were amidst the densely-packed gunfight and tossed them into the sky. The warriors would then instantly be engulfed alive by the departed spirits in the sky.
At the spot in the sky where the greatest number of departed spirits were gathered, a huge black whale floated in midair. Streams of black auras encompassed the entire whale. This whale's length exceeded 200 meters. Its size was gigantic.
On the whale's back, Grade was seated at the throne, smiling as he looked down toward the ground at the city that was gradually being covered by the flames of war.
"I can sense it. My cuties are over there." Grade licked his lips, and the expression of greed in his eyes grew even more intense.
The past five months had been the happiest days of his life.
If it could be said that he had been worried about Ulpian coming back anytime during the first month... Then after he engulfed over ten warriors from the various armies, he threw all caution to the wind.
Without Ulpian's oppression, the initial One-Three Agreement, and the balance between the original 13 armies... He no longer held back at all.
Moreover, it did not make any difference whether he ate one person or 100 people. Anyway, he had already started to make his move. So how could he possibly still care if Ulpian would return?
Five months passed by. His battle prowess leaped tremendously as he continued to engulf the warriors from the various armies and even the Green Army's Commander, Ming Wang. At present, he had become the strongest expert on Earth.
The engulfing souls that he was unable to control previously were now at his command with great ease after he engulfed the warriors from the various armies. Right now, he could now turn any life he engulfed into engulfing souls. Once these souls obtained a Black Army's ring, they would fight for him forever until their deaths.
With such an ability, he could almost limitlessly increase the number of the Black Army's warriors.
Therefore, by relying on his great strength and the great army of engulfing souls, Grade wiped out the various armies, countries, and influences. He was unstoppable.
By now, almost the entire land had been conquered by him. The remaining leaders of the various armies formed a resistance army, guarding the Central City.
A departed spirit that was covered in rotting flesh and looked just like a frankenstein came up to Grade, half-knelt down, and said, "Master, should we activate a general attack? They are already low on ammunition."
This engulfing soul was clearly the Abomination Sovereign who served under the King of Trepidation in the Yellow Army previously. At present, he had already been engulfed by Grade and had become a member of his great army of dead souls.
Hearing the Abomination Sovereign's question, Grade smiled. "There's no hurry. Wait till we've depleted the Commanders' energies."
His eyes were fixed on the city under his feet. There was the Gold Army's Edward, Red Army's Akaryuu Juushirou, Orange Army's Reverend Fahui, White Army's Priest Longmai, and the Gray Army's Hui He.
The last five Commanders were all in this city. Grade believed that after engulfing them, his powers would increase once again and that they might even surpass Grade's.
"Once I've eaten them, so what if Ulpian comes back? I'll be the master of the entire world. Everything will be mine!"
Just then, a stream of orange light soared into the sky. Reverend Fahui had dashed up.
Grade frowned. "Again?"
Out of the remaining Commanders, the one Grade held the most reservations for was the Gold Army's Commander, Edward. The one he found the most troublesome to deal with was Fahui.
This Orange Army's Commander grasped the power of self-sacrifice. It allowed him to not only gain strong prowess with each suicidal attack but also to be reborn.
Grade let out a cold snort and tapped out with a finger. Black deathly light cut across the sky and crashed against Fahui's orange light.
It was as if several tens of nuclear missiles had been set off in the sky. Seething air currents exploded, but they were all pressed down toward the ground by Grade's powers. Not only were the Black Army's attacks not stopped but the human army on the ground suffered a great casualty.
Edward, who was standing on the rooftop, frowned deeply. "This guy's powers seem to have grown stronger again."
Beside him, Hui He, Priest Longmai, and the others also appeared worried. They had been pushed back repeatedly under Grade's attacks, and now, even Fahui's suicidal attacks had become useless. How much longer could the Central City's defense hold up for?
Seeing that everyone was worried, Edward said calmly, "Hang on for a little more. Ulpian will definitely return. They've gone into outer space to battle. With their strength and speed, as well as the taking into consideration of the battlefield, it's likely that there could be a time dilation effect. A few minutes for them could be a few years for us. This is why they haven't come back.
"As long as Ulpian comes back, everything will be resolved. We'll just need to hang on for a little bit longer."
Just as Edward was encouraging everyone, Grade's expression suddenly stiffened. For a moment, his gaze gleamed like he was at a loss. However, he recovered at the next moment and looked at the surroundings strangely, feeling as if something had happened.
In the depths of his heart which he did not know and at the ends of his consciousness, the sword seed that had been rooted into his greedy heart trembled slightly. A slight hint of consciousness gradually woke up.
"Has it ended? I didn't expect that even my main body's powers would be depleted." Fang Xingjian opened his eyes slowly. A part of his martial will, which he had hidden in the depths of Grade's heart, had just received news from his main body.
This was the escape route Fang Xingjian had left behind. With this, even if his main body's powers were wiped out, he would still have a portion of his clone and consciousness left behind, allowing him to live on.
The worst situation would be that both his attempt to fight Ulpian head-on and his beliefs had failed. That meant he could only stay on in this universe forever.
However, after sensing the final information that came from the battlefield, Fang Xingjian revealed a hint of a smile. 'As expected, it seems his foundation isn't stable?
'The ring's energy comes from the demonic gods after all and is a bestowment from the demonic gods.
'Therefore, no matter how far things develop, it's all just an illusion.
'Let me take a look at how this body is and see if I can use it to help me recover my powers.'
Fang Xingjian's gaze moved, and he saw the surrounding scenes through Grade's eyes.