Chapter 493 - Black Cloud
Ai Hui’s injury had a huge impact on Central Pine Faction.
All along, they were used to working under Ai Hui’s leadership. They were used to handing over any tricky affairs to Ai Hui. Time and time again Ai Hui displayed miraculous problem solving abilities, proving himself worthy of their trust.
Ai Hui had always been the strongest, the calmest and the person with the most ideas.
Yet, at such a crucial period in time, their most reliable pillar was severely injured. People felt insecure.
Luckily, Ai Hui was recovering, so now everyone was significantly more relieved. Even if they had zero combat power, Ai Hui’s intelligence gave them confidence.
Ai Hui was recovering well.
He’d progressed from being paralyzed to being able to move his fingers and finally being able to move on his own again, albeit forcefully. Every day was an improvement for him.
Everyone was feeling more cheerful because of this. They’d witnessed many miracles involving Ai Hui and had seen many impossible things happen, which was why they had complete faith in him.
No one noticed that the red glow in Lou Lan’s eyes had intensified.
Lou Lan’s elemental soup was of great help to Ai Hui.
Ai Hui was still fully wrapped in bandages. His flesh was recovering thanks to the excellent nourishment from the elemental soup. AI Hui was engrossed in self-exploration. He was already certain that the wisp of frail silver mist had been formed from the tempered sword embryo.
Ai Hui named it "sword cloud".
With just a bit of friction, sword cloud would produce small and fine lightning bolts. sword cloud could also change its shape marvelously along with the release of the sword aura, some of which were as thick and heavy as mountains, while others were cold and sharp. It was every mystical.
Ai Hui recalled the descriptions he’d previously read in some swordplay manuals. Some swordsmen lived to grow and temper a mouthful of sword breath. Such swordsmen were initially weak, but along with the purification and condensation of the sword breath, their abilities would advance by leaps and bounds. The manuals said that the human was the sword and so they tempered themselves.
It struck Ai Hui that he could use this as a reference.
Although there was only a small wisp of sword cloud, it was extremely pure.
The purer the force the more precious. This was common knowledge when it came to training. However, elementalists were careful not to let forces beyond their level, in terms of purity and grade, into their bodies.
Elemental energy that surpassed their level would definitely stimulate them more by providing a reference goal.
But such elemental energy was usually offensive in nature. Before they could be absorbed they were like indigestible food and could cause harm to elementalists.
From the look of it, the sword cloud would not harm Ai Hui’s body. Of course, it also might have already harmed his body.
Ai Hui felt that the pressing question was this: If he was unable to find a method to nourish and temper it quickly, would it gradually disappear? Sharp treasure swords would rust easily when placed in water for a long time.
He couldn’t find a solution at the moment, but gained something else – his body.
Other than the fact that his sword embryo had been cleansed and tempered by the lightning, his flesh had also been tempered, or rather, ruined. Fortunately, under the protection of his bandage, his practically burnt flesh retained a wisp of life force.
His ever growing flesh was like the tender shoots that sprouted from the ashes left by the lightning.
His flesh contained a faint lightning aura. Ai Hui guessed that his flesh would better be able to endure the lightning from now onward.
Of course, be it the sword cloud or his body, these were mostly speculations. He would have to recover and conduct continuous tests to arrive at a legitimate conclusion.
Nevertheless, Ai Hui was already feeling glad that he was able to find hope under such circumstances.
Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the encampment.
"Come and look, quick! Today’s mirage bean pod!"
"It’s about the front line. Sir Shi Beihai!"
"Division Leader’s father!"
"Come and look, quick!"
Ai Hui’s sense of hearing seemed to have sharpened as he’d managed to detect his subordinates’ faraway voices well. The strange thing was that it wasn’t a reflection of his elemental energy.
"Oh god!"
"How terrifying!"
Alarmed cries echoed continuously, but everyone quickly quietened down. Ai Hui could even hear that they were holding their breaths. He was very curious but slightly worried at the same time.
He only understood the reactions of those outside when Lou Lan sent the mirae bean pod over to him.
He looked at Iron Lady.
Her face was a little pale and she looked distracted.
It was his first time seeing such an absent-minded Shi Xueman. There was no focus in her ice-cold eyes.
She paced back and forth.
The commotion raised by that mirage bean pod spread to every city in the Wilderness. The bitter struggle had truthfully been recorded. The frenzied god elementalists, the cruel grappling and a mountain-high pile of corpses that could extinguish a raging flame.
Three days of battle seemed to have happened right before his eyes with an intensity that far exceeded anyone’s imagination. The magnificent Wall of North Sea had become a bloody Acheron that sent chills down people’s spines.
And ultimately, when assistant division leader Helian Fei’er pleaded for essence elemental beans with a face covered in soot, people finally snapped out of it with a quiver.
Even the boldest person wouldn’t be able to stop himself from shuddering.
Wall of North Sea was the final defensive line against Blood of God!
Seeing the continuous chain of tents, the frantic, tide-like surge of malevolent god elementalists and the corpses all accumulated beneath Wall of North Sea, everybody was finally certain that once the wall broke and North Sea Division lost…
No one could withstand Ye Baiyi’s army!
Wall of North Sea had been constructed before the fall of Elders Guild. It was the final large-scale defensive structure of the whole of the Avalon of Five Elements!
How many cities had defensive structures on par with Wall of North Sea?
The cities would be razed to the ground and everyone would turn into god elementalists.
Madam Ye immediately called on the cities in the hope that everyone would unite and brave the crisis together. Six Masters would be engaged to travel and transport the first batch of essence elemental beans to North Sea Wall.
Newlight City also dispatched its Masters to ferry essence elemental beans.
Other cities responded one after another. With the mayor at the top and the citizens at the bottom, teams formed to assist North Sea Division with the preparation of essence elemental beans. In this life and death crisis, everyone casted whatever prejudices they had aside and came together as one.
Every single one of them was well aware that they were all finished once Ye Baiyi’s army broke through North Sea Wall.
Looking down from the sky, Wall of North Sea was like a long, snow-white dragon lying along the boundary line between Silver Mist Sea and Yellow Sand Corner, except that the dragon was utterly crushed. Its extended and undulating body had many wounds.
God elementalists were glaring at each wound like tigers watching their prey.
They were like warlike hornets, occasionally circling and swooping down. At times they were like petals blown by the wind, and at other times like drifting rocks that gathered together from a few brooks.
Under the light of the God-subduing Peaks, each breach of North Sea Wall sunk into a never ending struggle between god elementalists and North Sea Division. From day one the battle had been extremely cruel.
Each place was like the ferocious mouth of an avaricious beast, swallowing flesh and life. Be it god elementalists or elementalists, they were all its food.
Both sides were shocked by the other’s willpower and tenacity. They then racked their brains to come up with a more fatal blow to deal to their enemy.
With the nourishment of countless lives and flesh, each shockingly wide open, bloody mouth ripped apart noiselessly. It was as if there was a voice shouting for more flesh to fill its tummy.
The evening sunlight penetrated the cloud layer and dyed the sand dune behind the army a splendid golden color. People who’d been in Yellow Sand Corner knew that the breeze in the evenings was the most comfortable, unlike the blazing heat in the afternoons and unlike the icy wind in the nights. The temperature was just right and it felt as though pieces of gauze were brushing across the field.
The rich, bloody smell filled the air, as if it’d been blown over by the slow setting sun behind the horizon. Inevitably the bright red sunset made people think about the brutality that was ongoing.
A wisp of black cloud rose up from the sand dunes. The vast sand dunes emitted scorching heat waves that resulted from a full day of sunshine, which made the remaining sunlight and black cloud fuzzy and indistinct.
The black cloud struggled free of the heat waves and gradually it became bigger and came nearer.
No one noticed this quiet wisp of black cloud initially.
It was only when the black cloud continued to increase in size and obstruct the afterglow of the sunset that it managed to capture the attention of soldiers from both sides. They notified their teammates, doubt emerging on their faces. In the blink of an eye their faces changed.
The black cloud was approaching at a much faster speed than they’d imagined. It was rapidly expanding within the army’s field of vision. In actual fact, it was because its speed was simply too quick.
"Blood… blood fiends!"
Above North Sea Wall, the soldiers who’d just been trampling on their enemies’ corpses had their morales smashed to the valley floor as their faces turned pale.
The sky had become a sky of blood fiends. They hid the sky and covered the earth in a grandiose manner, making it impossible to catch a glimpse of the horizon.
An earth shattering cheer sounded from Ye Baiyi’s army camp as soldiers dashed out of their tents and waved their hands and arms in the sky. The continuous battle had them exhausted beyond imagination. The cruel combat was like an automated hacksaw, tormenting their mental state unceasingly.
How could they not get agitated upon seeing such a magnificent army of blood fiends arriving to provide reinforcement?
Inside the tent, Ye Baiyi was looking at the battle statistics over the past few days.
From the numbers it was apparent that their losses were severe but Ye Baiyi remained emotionless. Casualties were inevitable in all battles. It was only natural that the death toll was high since such a big scale defensive structure like North Sea Wall really was a tough nut to crack.
But these same numbers exposed North Sea Division’s weariness.
Shi Beihai was one of the most powerful figures around and North Sea consisted of top elites. Yet, they were but one team.
The Holy Emperor’s order flashed across his mind as he refocused on the battle report.
Since yesterday, North Sea Division’s offense had regained some vigor. Ye Baiyi was certain that the first batch of essence elemental beans had arrived.
Ye Baiyi appeared indifferent. Shi Beihai wouldn’t be Shi Beihai if he was easily defeatable.
Outside the tent, the sound of air torrents and the howls of blood fiends pervaded the sky.
Ye Baiyi raised his head. The big gift he’d prepared for Shi Beihai was here.