Chapter 559: The Divine General
Chen Yan's body was broken, and amidst the silence, he walked toward Xia Hanzhou.
Above the earth, a wave of fervent sound instantly boiled over.
Sss—sss—sss!
The pitch-black malice eroded Chen Yan's physical body, gnawing away at his human aura like death energy.
Yet, it was suppressed firmly by an immortal will; in everyone's eyes, the malice upon Chen Yan's body was slowly disappearing, until one day, perhaps, it would dissipate entirely.
That was the residual malice of an Eighth-Order Malice Crystal, terrifying to behold, yet it was being extinguished in a way that defied common sense.
Xia Hanzhou raised his brows slightly and swept a faint gaze across the entire world.
Whether it was the Eighth-Order beings of the Five Clans, or their peerless Creation-Realm experts and Eighth-Order seeds, all were now too shocked to speak.
But they did not know.
Chen Yan was capable of far more than just resisting the residual malice of an Eighth-Order Malice Crystal.
Chen Yan could even cause Ke Qingxuan, who had already been parasitized by an Eighth-Order Malice Crystal, to be reborn.
"Did you see that?"
Xia Hanzhou's voice rang out like a great bell, sweeping toward the grim-faced Ji Yanqing, then looking toward the distant Imperial City of Ji Province:
"You couldn't even manage to plot against him; that is all you are capable of!"
He slapped his large hand down, and the sound of a sword hum spread rapidly, carrying his voice and mixed with terrifying killing intent, instantly washing over the entirety of Ji Province.
A profound stillness arrived.
Chen Yan arrived at Xia Hanzhou's side and sat down quietly in meditation.
In an instant, Chen Qi, Ji Yanqing, and that Yu Clan Eighth-Order being all looked at Chen Yan; within the brain of the Yu Clan Eighth-Order being, the sound of mechanical analysis even began to ring out.
At this moment, the Eighth-Order beings of every clan were sensing the state of Chen Yan's physical body.
But because the Xia Lord Sword was present, no one could fully understand Chen Yan's current state; they could only see that the malice upon Chen Yan's body was still burning.
After a while, Chen Qi gave up; he cast a complex look at Chen Yan, then immediately looked at Xia Hanzhou:
"The final contract."
"Agreed." Xia Hanzhou spoke, then took out an ancient scroll radiating multicolored light.
In an instant, everyone present fell completely silent.
Everyone's gaze was locked upon it.
That was the Soul of the Fate Chapter.
It was the opportunity to achieve the Ninth Order.
Even the auras of some Creation-Realm experts of the Five Clans became extremely unstable, their eyes staring fixedly at the Soul of the Fate Chapter.
Xia Hanzhou also became solemn at this moment, his eyes fixed firmly on the Soul of the Fate Chapter.
Once invested, the Great Xia would lose one path, but at the same time, another path would be opened.
If Chen Yan could rise, and within the struggle of the Five Clans, suppress the remaining Creation-Realm experts of the Five Clans.
Then the conspiracy of the Chen Lord could be laid bare, and the structure of the world would be completely altered.
Even for Xia Hanzhou, his mood was tense at this moment; although he did not show anything, his eyes remained locked on the Soul of the Fate Chapter.
Hum!!!
Sword shadows circled, descended, rotated, and enveloped Xia Hanzhou and Chen Yan.
Immediately, Xia Hanzhou looked beyond the Moshan Pass, his eyes seeming to pierce through the endless ocean and land upon the Great Xia.
Chen Yan closed his eyes; he, too, felt complex emotions in his heart.
He could sense the emotions from all around, those waves of tension, those powerful pressures, almost crushing him to death.
At the same time.
In Jin Province, within the State-Ruling Mansion.
Xia Qi was pushed to the center of the courtyard by a woman in a green dress.
The summer stone path was scorched hot by the sunlight, and grass swayed in the cracks.
The large tree cast green shade, and light spots flickered upon Xia Qi's body.
A trace of a smile appeared on the corner of Xia Qi's mouth, and his one remaining eye looked toward the firmament.
"The time has come, hasn't it?" Xia Qi asked; within the pitch-black scars on his face, individual black tentacles seemed to be on the verge of tearing his body apart completely.
"The Divine General's 'Fist Crushing Jade' style defeated the gate-guarding puppet, and now he is about to sign the final contract."
The woman in the green dress spoke.
"Good." Xia Qi smiled slightly:
"Do you not understand why I must take such a risk?"
The woman in the green dress shook her head slightly, looking at Xia Qi, tears shimmering in her eyes.
Xia Qi, the State Ruler who should have died long ago, had lived until now.
The path of Will had extended his life for half a year, and now it had reached its end.
After Chen Yan arrived in Jin Province, he had once sat and talked with Xia Qi late into the night by lamplight.
Yet for the entire night, Chen Yan did not offer a single word of evaluation regarding the Imperial Calamity upon Xia Qi.
Everything was already understood in the silence.
Since then, Xia Qi had set aside his work; his greatest interest every day was watching the sky, watching the clouds, and admiring the flowers.
He still had one final breath.
He still had one final look.
He had been waiting all this time.
"It is not that I want to take a risk." Xia Qi looked at the brilliant sunlight and revealed a smile:
"It is I who knows; I cannot block the path, the Great Xia cannot block the path.
I seem to have seen... the arrival of a great era..."
And it was at this very moment.
The black-robed Old Crone of Fate arrived, and in her hand, she held a little girl dressed in golden robes.
The little girl was about eight years old, her eyes flickering with curiosity as she gazed at Xia Qi.
"Greetings, State Master!"
The little girl spoke softly.
"Call me Uncle." Xia Qi revealed a gentle smile.
"Uncle." The little girl spoke obediently.
Xia Qi was startled, and a tear flowed from the corner of his eye:
"What a good child."
He opened his mouth.
He looked toward the sky once more.
Boom!
A vast, grand sound that traveled across hundreds of millions of miles resounded.
A purple ripple spread from afar, and the firmament rippled like a massive piece of cloth, extending rapidly in all directions.
The rules of the world changed quietly at this moment.
It was as if something was being born and evolving above the dome of the sky.
"It has been signed." The Little Fate Master looked toward the void and murmured.
"Good..."
Xia Qi whispered, a dazed look appearing within his single eye, and the next moment, he stood up with great difficulty.
As his body made faint sounds like tearing rags, the green-skirted woman beside him could no longer hold back her tears, covering her face and weeping.
"May I hope that the Great Xia remains worry-free!"
…………
Moshan Pass.
Xia Hanzhou looked at the Soul of the Fate Chapter slowly sinking into the clouds and sighed deeply in his heart.
"Are you nervous?" He transmitted his voice to Chen Yan.
"A little," Chen Yan transmitted back; when his avatar and his younger sister traveled through the Great Xia, his sister had already taught him the technique of voice transmission.
"Hahaha!!!"
Xia Hanzhou laughed wildly, then took Chen Yan and left toward Moshan Pass.
Chen Qi looked at Chen Yan's back and slowly shook his head.
Tomorrow, the Struggle of the Five Clans will officially begin.
By then, the Great Xia will be shocked to discover that when facing those of the Chen Clan, the combat power of those puppets will increase fortyfold.
Fortyfold—how will the current Chen Yan handle that?
The combat puppets that the other party could suppress with a single punch just now might perhaps drive Chen Yan to despair tomorrow.
And the only opportunity left for the Great Xia is to let the remaining Creation Realm experts enter the Struggle of the Five Clans to search for the Soul of the Fate Chapter.
But how can the Great Xia's Creation Realm experts deal with those of the Five Clans?
Even though Chen Prefecture and the Great Xia mutually detonated and were similarly restricted, no more than four will be able to enter the Struggle of the Five Clans.
But the other four prefectures can all enter with their full numbers.
The war has already begun from the very start.
Chen Yan felt the emotions coming from all around—some of shock, some of confusion, and some of disdain.
His gaze swept across their faces; these people would be the enemies he had to face.
This was the task Xia Qi had entrusted to him.
And also, the final endgame.
He sensed a special emotion and looked over at once.
In the far distance, atop a golden lion.
A woman dressed in golden robes stood quietly.
The golden robes shone under the sunlight, the silk textures resembling a flowing river of light.
Her eyes were like silver, clear and profound; the moment she noticed Chen Yan's gaze, she shifted it away.
Chen Yan looked once more toward the white egret in the distance.
Chen Changyuan, who was embracing his sword, slowly stood up and looked calmly at Chen Yan, the killing intent in the depths of his eyes becoming even purer and more intense.
Boom!
A low, grand, and sorrow-filled bell toll resounded from within the Great Xia.
"The State Master has passed away, his soul returns to the Imperial Palace!"
A shrill, old woman's wail resounded, crossing mountains and seas, echoing just like that above Moshan Pass.
In an instant.
Chen Yan's body stiffened; he looked at the martial path veins and then closed his eyes.
Boom!
Xia Hanzhou's entire aura became unstable, and a spear soul erupted!
At this moment.
Throughout the Great Xia, whether it was merchants rushing on their way or farmers returning from labor in the fields.
They looked up in a daze, gazing toward the direction from which the weeping came, as mist gradually welled up in their eyes.
"Xiao Qi, ahhh!!!"
At Moshan Pass, the low, mournful wailing of the Longevity King erupted instantly, and he collapsed to the ground, utterly soul-shattered.
The million-strong army was dazed for an instant; they looked toward the sky with difficulty, as if they had lost all their strength in that moment.
"The Sovereign has passed away, his soul returns to the Imperial Palace!"
"The Sovereign has passed away, his soul returns to the Imperial Palace!"
"The Sovereign has passed away, his soul returns to the Imperial Palace!"
The sharp voice of the Little Fate Master rang out incessantly, proclaiming it to the world.
Dong!
Dong!
Dong!
A series of bell tolls, heavy with grief, rang out.
The entire world seemed to dim.
It was as if the colors of the world faded at this moment, leaving only endless gloom and sorrow spreading wantonly.
Chen Yan stood high above in the sky, his gaze complex.
The moment his avatar first saw Xia Qi, he had already determined that the Imperial Calamity was not something the current him could resolve.
That Xia Qi could hold on for so long was a miracle.
A miracle that the people of the world knew not how to describe.
The other party had been waiting for this moment all along.
Waiting for this moment when the contract was completely signed.
Subsequently, all of his missions dissipated.
A clear breeze blew, a few strands of hair obscuring his eyes; Chen Yan lifted his chin slightly, endless complexity surging through his heart and chest.
It was as if he saw once more that young Sovereign who had spoken grandly of the world and plotted the future with him in the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm.
Xia Hanzhou seemed to age many years in an instant, and at this moment, a twilight air that had never appeared before emerged from him.
All around.
The Five Clans, the Eighth Rankers, and the Creation Realm experts all remained silent.
On the earth, there were still cries and shouts ringing out, yet they dared not say anything at all.
They feared that Xia Hanzhou would strike down with his sword directly.
On the earth, the Director of the Heavenly Observatory closed his eyes, tears flowing from his turbid eyes.
He took a step forward, as if walking on divine stairs, and appeared before Chen Yan.
"The Sovereign's own handwriting..."
His hands trembled; at this moment, he was lonely to the extreme, and it took him a long time to take out a golden scroll.
"You are my closest confidant, yet I have no chance to see the day you wear the divine armor."
The Director of the Heavenly Observatory's voice trembled.
From all directions, gazes looked over, carrying wordless shock.
This was perhaps the final order of Xia Qi of the Great Xia before his death.
It was actually written for Chen Yan.
"Yet Chen Yan, you are the one I have seen who is most worthy of the name Divine General!"
Chen Yan's expression was somewhat disheveled; he could see the crooked handwriting on the scroll.
He seemed to be able to see the scene of Xia Qi lying prone on the table, writing with difficulty.
"I humbly hope that Divine General Chen Yan will forcefully support the state of our Great Xia, protect the common people, and exalt the might of our human race!"
The Director of the Heavenly Observatory slowly raised his hand, covered in bulging veins, and tremblingly handed the scroll to Chen Yan.
"Bestow the supreme title upon the greatest talent in the eternal history of our Great Xia: Heavenly Divine General!"
The Director of the Heavenly Observatory shouted loudly, his voice impassioned and surging, piercing through the clouds.
As his voice fell, Xia Hanzhou lifted his head and slowly closed his eyes.
Boom, boom, boom!!!
The roaring sounds of Qi, blood, and power surged forth.
On the earth, pairs of eyes watched Chen Yan, tears streaming wildly, carrying countless emotions, carrying immense trust and entrustment.
The distant Great Xia.
Red pillars rising from the earth flickered, dazzling to the extreme.
Xia Qi must have foreseen this moment and seen this scene.
He and Chen Yan were both youths.
In their lives, they had never truly met in person.
The first time was when he saw Chen Yan in the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm as a consciousness entity.
The other time was when Chen Yan saw Xia Qi with an avatar of his Immortal Will.
Chen Yan looked at the scroll in his hands, his hands trembling slightly.
This was an entrustment as heavy as a mountain.
He felt he could not lift it, his arms felt sore and numb, and he found it difficult to bear.
He was the Lord of Will, he was the Divine General, he was Chen Yan.
Back in Green Mountain, he had never imagined he would face these things.
He only wanted to pay back those one thousand pieces.
One thousand pieces.
One thousand pieces.
One thousand pieces.
But why did you have to trust me so much?
Back then, he had only just finished participating in the Heaven's Pride Trial, and Xia Qi had already sought a chance at immortality for him.
The subsequent General-Bestowal Lightning Tribulation even made Chen Yan the initiator of the Battle of Ji Province.
In this world, it is hard to find a Bo Le or a soulmate.
But Xia Qi had trusted Chen Yan from the very beginning.
In many respects, Chen Yan was absolutely fortunate.
Fortunate to meet Luo Puxin, Shen Yiwei, Old Man Chi, Xia Hanzhou, and...
Xia Qi.
It seemed he had never lacked for anything.
Chen Yan looked at the scroll in his hand, unable to speak for a long time.
The people of the Five Clans watched, no one making a sound.
Regardless of whether Chen Yan was a person of Great Xia, regardless of whether Chen Yan was their enemy.
A person, a poor youth who walked out of Green Mountain, could reach such a state step by step.
No one dared to look down on the other, no one dared to think the other was lowly and could be bullied.
Chen Changyuan watched intently, and a feeling called jealousy actually emerged in his heart.
He was jealous.
At this moment, he suddenly realized that even if he reached the pinnacle of the human race, he would never be able to obtain what Chen Yan had already obtained.
He and Chen Yan were natural enemies.
All the misfortunes Chen Yan had encountered since birth had their ultimate source in him, Chen Changyuan.
And everything, everything that he, Chen Changyuan, had lost, was because of Chen Yan.
They met time and time again, hiding murderous intent time and time again, time and time again...
Wanting to cut the weeds and dig up the roots of the other.
They were... destined enemies!
Yet, now Chen Changyuan was jealous of Chen Yan, an inexplicable jealousy.
Chen Changyuan raised his head, one hand stroking his cheek.
"Hahahaha!!!"
He laughed wildly; he understood, he had reached enlightenment.
"Chen Yan, you make me perfect!!!"
He roared in his heart, yet he was also dejected; he should have been perfect, but from the moment he walked toward Chen Province, he was no longer perfect.
It seemed he was no longer worthy of being Chen Yan's enemy.
He was incomplete!
His soul was incomplete!
A manic, twisted, crazy, and deadly attractive power was born at this moment, wanting to erode everything about him.
Above the Golden Lion.
Lu Jianxia watched from afar, biting her lower lip; that spot had already turned white, her pearly teeth sinking deep into her red lips.
A wave of unhideable complexity and sadness emerged in her heart.
Between her and Chen Yan, they had forever headed toward two opposite ends.
At this very moment, in that very instant just now, there was no longer any room for reversal.
"Xia Qi is gone..."
Xia Hanzhou spoke with difficulty:
"Old Lu, Xia Qi is gone..."
He was somewhat dejected, looking at Chen Yan behind him, wanting to reach out and pat the other's shoulder, but found it difficult to lift his hand.
On that earth, one after another, sad and respectful gazes were locked onto Chen Yan.
"Heavenly God General!"
A youth wearing a military uniform walked out, face flushed red, looking at Chen Yan and shouting.
Long hair hung down, covering Chen Yan's eyes; he looked at the youth who was two years younger than himself.
The other should only be sixteen years old.
Sixteen years old, why come to Mo Mountain Pass?
The next moment, Chen Yan realized that the other was a Will Warrior, awakened just a few months ago.
"Speak." Chen Yan looked at the youth, feeling that sharp and trembling will of the other.
The youth looked up at Chen Yan, but at this moment shouted loudly:
"Please support our Great Xia!"
He bowed deeply, his eyes red, his whole body trembling.
"Please support our Great Xia!"
Old soldiers walked out, as if they would not die, only wither, standing on the wall and bowing to Chen Yan.
Luo Puxin walked out, looking at the Heavenly God General he had excavated; his beard was unkempt, yet at this moment he bowed deeply:
"Please support our Great Xia!"
Shen Yiwei flew out, looking incredibly earnest at this moment:
"Please support our Great Xia!"
Extreme Dao Martial, Xi Congyun, Mu Zigui, Li Muyun, and other Second-Rank General Stars stood in the clouds and sky, bowing deeply.
"Please support our Great Xia!"
Jiang Yuan was somewhat dazed; Xia Qi was dead, that State Holder had actually died.
That Xia Qi who, for the sake of Chen Yan and San Jin, had personally gone to Qinzhou to find him...
Was dead.
That's right.
The other party should have died long ago.
Jiang Yuan had heard long ago that someone had prophesied he wouldn't live past three months, then five years, and then prophesied he wouldn't live past ten, fifteen, seventeen years old...
Finally dead.
Finally no longer needing to endure the erosion of the Imperial Calamity.
Relieved.
No.
Not relieved.
Xia Qi is satisfied, but you, Xia Qi, actually didn't give him a First-Rank General Star; he, Jiang Yuan, had waited so long.
So long.
In the end, Chen Yan took advantage of the loophole.
You died, so where is my First-Rank General Star?
Oh, right.
Xia Qi, still has to become a Continent Bright.
He will never, for all eternity, be able to escape being eroded by malice...
How miserable!
A person, as a State Holder, how could he be so miserable?
Jiang Yuan's body began to tremble; he looked at Chen Yan, this young man he had always been jealous of and refused to submit to.
"Please support our Great Xia!"
He roared out, using every ounce of his strength.
"Please support our Great Xia!"
"Please support our Great Xia!"
"Please support our Great Xia!"
Voice after voice rang out just like this within the entire Moshan Pass, twisting together, binding together, carrying terrifyingly extreme power.
Like the surging of a great sea!
Across the infinitely distant sea, this sound seemed to want to travel all the way to Tiezhou, Qinzhou, Lianzhou, Yunzhou...
Jinzhou!
To be transmitted to the entire Great Xia, within the eighteen continents.
To be transmitted to Ten Thousand Phases Island.
To be transmitted to the entire Five Clans.
To be transmitted to the Ancient God Forbidden Land!
Boom!
Red pillars of light brewing divine armor erupted with blinding light, as if gazing at Chen Yan from afar!
The entire Five Clans, Great Xia, seemed to have heard these sounds of shouting.
At the center of the multitudes.
Chen Yan watched all of this quietly, something gripping his heart.
His spine seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, bending at an extremely slow and restrained arc, bowing deeply toward the direction of Great Xia:
"Chen Yan of Green Mountain will certainly not let you all down!"
At this moment, he seemed to no longer be that First Heaven's Pride who had just traversed the heavens and earth, nor the Heavenly God General above the masses.
He was Chen Yan.
Chen Yan from Green Mountain.
He was Chen Yan first, only then could he become a Heavenly God General, only then could he become a Master of Will.
This was the moment the Ring of Destiny was completely fulfilled.
A month and a half of the Great Xia journey, a month and a half of day and night bitter cultivation.
The half-year-long General-Bestowing Lightning Tribulation...
All seemed to have reached a settled conclusion.
Chen Yan slowly walked down toward Moshan Pass, strange sensations emerging in his heart.
He seemed to sense those thirteen Continent Brights, seemed to sense the other six great continents.
At this moment, he seemed to have completely obtained the recognition of the eighteen, no, nineteen Continent Brights.
There are some things that even a Master of Will does not know.
Even a God General does not know.
But Chen Yan, who knew what it meant to be born human, knew.
What held Chen Yan back from becoming a Divine General was no longer strength.
A pity.
Xia Qi would not be able to see it.
Xia Qi had formed this link.
Chen Yan slowly turned around, his gaze falling upon the people of the Five Clans from the Four Directions of Heaven and Earth.
They looked at him with envy, with solemnity, or with complex emotions.
But above these emotions, there was always another, more intense emotion swaying those people.
Hostility!
Hostility that had reached the extreme.
They would exhaust everything to annihilate Chen Yan, and would exhaust everything to obstruct all of Chen Yan's thoughts and actions.
The most terrifying thing was that no one had ever underestimated Chen Yan.
Especially now, even less so.
Including these Creation Realms, Eighth Ranks, and even the masters of the Five Clans.
No one would ever again give Chen Yan a moment to catch his breath.
They viewed Chen Yan as a flood or a ferocious beast.
Under the gaze of those eyes, Chen Yan arrived on the ground, standing before his little sister, whom he had been staring at all along.
"Brother..."
Chen Yu's eyes were brimming with tears as she looked at her older brother.
In her eyes, her brother's figure had merged into the distant high heavens.
This was a Heavenly Divine General, and also her own brother.
Chen Yan rubbed Chen Yu's head, then immediately walked toward the direction of the cultivation room.
The Four Directions of Heaven and Earth.
Everyone's mood fluctuated violently, like churning lake water.
"This is Chen Yan, the number one genius of all time; even if his strength is currently inferior to mine, I do not allow any of you to underestimate him."
Red-haired Chen Mi looked at the people of Chen Province behind him and spoke in a deep voice.
Everyone's expression tightened; no one refuted him.
After all, the Chen Master had, right before their eyes, directly slaughtered a Creation Realm expert who had shown signs of underestimating Chen Yan.
"You all are the same."
Atop a golden lion, the golden-haired youth named Lu Wuyi looked at the Lu Province geniuses behind him and spoke with a serious expression.
Lu Mingyuan, Lu Fukun, and the others nodded silently.
"At today's assembly, all late-stage Creation Realms are to hold a meeting."
Chen Qi suddenly stood up and said to everyone.
The "all" he spoke of naturally included the entire Five Clans.
Lu Jianxia lowered her head; she glanced from afar at the direction where Chen Yan had disappeared, the bitterness in her eyes growing ever thicker.
As for Chen Yan.
He just sat like this inside the cultivation room.
He was not cultivating; he had even stopped the habit of using breathing techniques and blood-Qi cultivation methods, which he had practiced every moment since he first entered the Martial Dao.
He no longer paid attention to the Saint-Breaking Tree, nor did he pay attention to the Martial Dao meridians.
True tranquility arrived just like this.
It was as if something was quietly walking toward him.
PS: Just one chapter.
End of Chapter
