Chapter 1665: Five Years

Li Luo's seclusion lasted for a full five years.

In those five years, the world changed beyond recognition.

In the second month after Li Luo entered seclusion, at the far end of the sky over the ten great Outer Shenzhou, black meteors fell in an endless stream, and the terrifying, vast miasma of malevolent intent filled the heavens.

Each and every one of those black meteors was a transformed Ghostly Domain.

From this moment on, the Convergence War of this era officially began.

Fortunately, however, in the face of the Dark World's invasion, the ten great Outer Shenzhou had already made preliminary preparations over these past few months. Led by the Academies Alliance, they united the top forces from each great Outer Shenzhou to form a massive alliance.

The alliance was led by top-tier Li Li Tianwang-level forces such as the Academies Alliance, Golden Dragon Mountain, and the Dragon Clan, and its name was: the Shenzhou Assembly.

And because of that Li Li Tianwang Abdication Decree—"Outer Shenzhou Has No Li Li Tianwang"—the Li Tianwangs of the ten great Outer Shenzhou withdrew one after another, entering the Wang Hou battlefield to resist the erosion of the Dark World's Great Demon Kings.

Therefore, the rotating chairperson of the Shenzhou Assembly was filled by some peak Three-Crown Wang-level experts, who oversaw the overall situation.

Among them, the most famous were the Light King Qi Huang, and the Dean of Tianyuan Ancient Academy, Wang Xuanjin, among others.

World-shaking battles erupted in succession.

However, even though the ten great Outer Shenzhou had prepared several months in advance, when those Ghostly Domains descended one after another, the entire world still plunged into tremendous chaos and turmoil.

Countless Wang Chao and empires were transformed into dead zones overnight, corpses strewn across the land, all manner of horrors and monstrosities playing out unceasingly, turning the world into a scene of purgatory.

Not every force had a Wang-level expert stationed within it, and without a Wang-level expert, it was naturally impossible to withstand the invasion of Ghostly Domains led by Aberration Kings.

And such tragedies were especially common in the Outer Shenzhou.

After all, the Outer Shenzhou's overall strength and foundation were already inferior to the Inner Shenzhou. In these relatively barren lands, Wang-level experts were even scarcer. Even though the Academies Alliance had dispatched some Wang-level experts in advance, it was impossible for them to protect every Wang Chao, empire, and other force.

At the same time, although the Inner Shenzhou had a stronger foundation, precisely because of this, it was also within the Dark World's key strike range—the number of Ghostly Domains descending and the strength of the Demon Kings were both greater and fiercer.

The fires of war and chaos ignited every corner of the ten great Outer Shenzhou; there was no peaceful land left in the world.

A dirge of death hung over the skies of the ten great Outer Shenzhou, and no one knew what year or day it would finally end.

In the second year of Li Luo's seclusion, the chaos and turmoil across the ten great Outer Shenzhou intensified further. In the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou, where Great Xia was located, one after another, once-renowned Wang Chaos and empires collapsed, and countless living beings fled in terror.

Everyone was frantically rushing toward regions that had Wang-level experts stationed within them.

Among them, Great Xia became one of the few remaining pure lands.

Because while other Wang Chaos, empires, and forces were being destroyed by the descending Ghostly Domains, Great Xia was blessed with numerous Wang-level experts, its strength deep and formidable. Some smaller Ghostly Domains had not even fully descended before they were already cut down by the many Kings of Great Xia.

Even when some powerful Ghostly Domains descended, if their strength was below that of a Dual-Crown Aberration King, they would be surrounded and annihilated by the Kings at the first moment.

For a time, while order collapsed in other regions of the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou, Great Xia still maintained a certain stability.

Thus, Great Xia naturally became the place everyone in the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou flocked to, and countless people poured in, seeking shelter.

Faced with this situation, Great Xia did not refuse. On the contrary, after deliberation among the many Kings led by Jiang Jiang Qinge and Pang Pang Qianyuan, they realized that as the Ghostly Domains encroaching on Great Xia were defeated, it would inevitably draw more attention from the Dark World. Therefore, with the support of the Shenzhou Assembly, they began to take in and integrate nearby Wang Chaos, empires, and other forces.

In the end, as Great Xia's territory and scale continued to expand, a brand-new colossal force was born in radiant splendor.

The Great Xia Alliance!

This alliance sheltered dozens of Wang Chaos and empires including Great Xia itself, with the number of living beings within it exceeding a hundred billion. Through the efforts of Jiang Jiang Qinge, Pang Pang Qianyuan, and others, they repelled the erosion of the Ghostly Domains time and again, suppressing and slaying one ferocious Aberration King after another.

With such battle records, other Wang-level experts in the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou also led their forces to join the alliance. Because after two years of bitter fighting, everyone understood that the great trend of the future could not be faced alone—only by huddling together for warmth could one find a measure of peace in these chaotic times.

Thus, the Great Xia Alliance grew ever more prosperous.

At the same time, it allowed other forces in the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou to see a glimmer of hope, so countless forces, large and small, all formed alliances to weather the calamity together.

One alliance after another rose across the vast, boundless lands of the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou.

At the same time, because Jiang Li Tianwang borrowed the power of the Primeval Covenant to intercept the future fortune of this realm and amplify it here, in just three short years, prodigies emerged in endless numbers across the world. Their strength advanced at a speed unimaginable in the past, and their fame spread in all directions.

But even so, as the number of descending Ghostly Domains grew ever greater, many smaller alliances gradually collapsed, then shattered and scattered, only to be absorbed by other alliances.

In the end, by the third year of Li Luo's seclusion, only two large alliances and several medium-sized alliances remained in the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou. As for small alliances with only one or two Wang-level experts stationed within them, they had all dispersed.

The Great Xia Alliance.

The Bright King Alliance.

The current Great Xia Alliance, after continuously absorbing other Wang Chaos and empires from the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou, now boasted fifteen Wang-level experts. Among these many Kings, Jiang Jiang Qinge, a seventh-grade Unparalleled Marquis, stood at the forefront, and all the Kings were convinced by her.

All of this was because, during an offensive pushed by the Dark World, even the Great Xia Alliance's strength encountered an extremely severe crisis. And at that moment when countless living beings were gripped by terror, Jiang Jiang Qinge displayed transcendent power, publicly slaying the Dual-Crown Aberration King who had launched this offensive.

On that day, everyone could see sacred light pouring down from the horizon, spreading to every corner of the Great Xia Alliance. In the reverent and admiring gazes of countless people, an incomparably beautiful and holy figure was reflected.

That figure had twelve wings of light growing from her back.

From this moment on, Jiang Jiang Qinge's illustrious fame resounded throughout the entire Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou.

Those who revered her respectfully called her: the Twelve-Winged Goddess of Light.

In the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou, countless experts and prodigies were enamored by her holy visage and bearing, and there were even no lack of Wang-level experts who were drawn to her and wished to join the Great Xia Alliance.

As for the other alliance, the Bright King Alliance, its core leader was the Dean of the Holy Bright King Academy, Zhao Bright King.

He was a veteran Wang-level expert who, now borrowing the fortune of heaven and earth, had seized the opportunity to advance to the peak of Dual-Crown Wang. Coupled with some aid from the Academies Alliance and the submission of various forces, he established the Bright King Alliance and also blocked wave after wave of Ghostly Domain erosion.

Therefore, in the current Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou, the Great Xia Alliance and the Bright King Alliance were the two most dazzling banners, bringing a measure of hope to countless living beings amidst these chaotic times.

However, even these top alliances, in this chaotic era overrun by Ghostly Domains, possessed only the strength to barely protect themselves. As for eradicating the Ghostly Domains and restoring peace to the world, that was somewhat beyond their power.

All the great Outer Shenzhou had fallen into chaos and turmoil.

The world was like a furnace, tempering the hearts of men.

And if the Outer Shenzhou was like this, the Inner Shenzhou could not avoid it either.

The Ghostly Domain wars that erupted there, whether in number or scale, far surpassed those of the Outer Shenzhou, and many Li Li Tianwang-level forces were forced to form alliances.

The Shenzhou Assembly, as the largest such body in the world today, also played an enormous role within this, coordinating all sides, watching and aiding one another, and continuously extinguishing the Dark World's attacks time and again.

No one knew how long this chaos would last.

But everyone knew that this war left no room for retreat whatsoever.

Only by fighting until the very last drop of blood might the world finally see a glimmer of dawn.

Time was passing.

One bloody great battle after another erupted across the ten great Outer Shenzhou. Some Wang-level experts fell, while Marquis-level experts rose to bear the mandate, breaking through shackles once thought unbreakable, and achieving new Kings.

There were even Heavenly King veins that had their foundations wiped clean in this calamity, and from then on fell into decline.

And the Ghost Domains of the Dark World descended in endless waves, as if they could never be fully killed, without a moment's pause.

Upon the heavens, black meteors symbolizing chaos and despair seemed to fall forever.

The fires of war never ceased.

Yet within the despair, light always surged forth, leaving a sliver of hope in the heart.

In the fourth year of Li Luo's closed-door cultivation, a piece of earth-shaking news spread across Outer Shenzhou.

In a super offensive launched by the Dark World against Outer Shenzhou, the Dantai Lan, the vein-chief of the Dragon Fang vein of Li Li Tianwang's lineage, advanced to the Ninth Grade Unparalleled and, by her own strength, slew three Three-Crowned King-tier Demon Kings at the Ancient Abyss Mountain Range.

The ten great Outer Shenzhou and every alliance were in an uproar.

Not long after, in the Great Xia Alliance of the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou, holy light shone across the sky, sweeping away clouds for ten thousand miles; eight rounds of holy blazing suns stood side by side in radiant majesty, and an aura of utmost sanctity filled every corner of this land.

Countless powerful beings across the Eastern Region Outer Shenzhou were moved by it, their gazes snapping toward the Great Xia Alliance.

On that day, Jiang Jiang Qinge advanced to the Eighth Grade Unparalleled!