Chapter 346: with translation of chapter title

It flew up, fell down, flew up, fell down, flew up again, fell down again.

The pitch-black huge coffin resembled a rabbit, constantly hopping in the pitch-black mountains; each time it leapt forward over a thousand zhang, then heavily landed on the ground, smashing a pit about a zhang deep into the earth.

Thud, thud, thud!

The dull impact sound reverberated among the mountains, traveling along the winding valleys far and far.

Wu Tie sat cross-legged uncomfortably on the coffin, jolted by this bizarre way of travel until his intestines felt a bit queasy, his whole body feeling as if tiny insects were crawling over him, an indescribable discomfort.

Although the coffin carried a living person, after all, it was his Wu family ancestor.

Wu Tie felt utterly uncomfortable, uncomfortable to the extreme.

But the ancestor had given an order, so Wu Tie could only sit.

In the distance, a small fleet of twelve tower ships noticed the commotion here; the twelve tower ships quickly approached, and masses of elite troops from the Demon-Suppressing Palace swarmed out of the tower ships, rushing here with great vigor.

The coffin suddenly hovered in midair, and the Wu family ancestor let out a soft, sinister chuckle: "What a plump, tender little brat!"

There were no magical fluctuations, no signs that heavenly laws had been triggered; as the Demon-Suppressing Palace elite charging forward drew within ten li, sudden "thud-thud-thud" muffled sounds rang out continuously.

These unlucky ones burst out clouds of smoke all over their bodies, then each turned into a fist-sized, unusually plump sparrow that chirped "cheep-cheep" in panic, its soul frightened out of its body as it flapped its short wings wildly, scrambling out of the smoke in a sorry state.

Sets of armor and weapons, along with many storage treasures, clattered down all over the ground.

The armor and weapons flew up one after another; the outer lid of the coffin burst open, revealing a narrow slit. All the equipment and treasures flew into the coffin, and the Wu family ancestor chuckled softly: "Our family's resources are meager; grabbing even a little is something."

Before his words faded, the tower ships tens of li away, which were hastily turning to flee, suddenly froze.

With continuous "thud-thud-thud" muffled sounds, the twelve tower ships collapsed and caved in; in just a few breaths, transparent cards the size of a palm and twelve zhang square floated gently toward the coffin, which swallowed them whole.

Wu Tie could see clearly that inside the transparent cards were the distinct silhouettes of the twelve tower ships.

The twelve tower ships, each over a hundred zhang in length, were forcibly sealed by this fearsome Wu family ancestor into two-dimensional images trapped within the cards!

"Don't waste it; the materials used for these tower ships are fine. Take them back, release them again, disassemble them, and we can make many tools." The Wu family ancestor laughed in good spirits: "Many of our farming tools come this way."

Wu Tie gave a dry laugh and said nothing.

The coffin continued hopping along, carrying Wu Tie and Lao Tie deep into the mountains.

They had already lingered long in Demon-Suppressing City; after hopping tens of thousands of li into the mountains, a round moon rose slowly from the eastern hilltops, and clear moonlight blanketed the land.

The next moment, the moonlight suddenly dimmed considerably.

Fist-sized stars appeared out of nowhere across the sky; visible silver starlight streamed down like flowing water, thread after thread, unceasing, from the high heavens.

The night of abundant starlight!

Starlight covered the heavens.

Wu Tie gazed into the distance and saw that in the surrounding mountains spanning hundreds of millions of li, great formations suddenly sprang up out of nowhere—at least tens of thousands of formations of various sizes appeared, and silver starlight above them turned into massive vortices, like tides, continuously pouring into the formations.

Under the Fuxi Divine Kingdom, countless great and small tribes each employed their methods; the myriad tribes simultaneously exerted themselves, gathering the essence of starlight to cleanse the fetuses in the wombs of pregnant women among their peoples.

Around each great formation, the elites of the various tribes appeared.

From the direction of the Great Rift Valley, cries of killing rose up everywhere, and more fodder clans howled as they surged onto the ground.

In the direction of the Iron-Blood Hundred and Eight Cities, bolts of frenzied lightning and fire shot up to the heavens; the earth trembled, mountains collapsed, and meteors fell from the sky, shaking the ground in all directions.

Further away, vast throngs of Fuxi Divine Kingdom soldiers riding various flying mounts became entangled with countless tower ships.

Tower ships were shattered one after another; Fuxi Divine Kingdom soldiers bled across the sky, while countless troops of the Demon-Suppressing Palace and the Demon-Dispelling Palace were blown to bits. The void turned into a gigantic flesh-and-blood grindstone, and at the very moment the heavens filled with starlight, tens of thousands of warriors fell instantly.

On the ground, countless giant beasts were in Mercedes-Benz.

The vast army of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom, together with warriors of the various tribes, roared as they commanded countless fodder clans, surging like black tides across the land, they marched upon the frontier cities of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom one after another.

Besides the Iron-Blood Hundred and Eight Cities, besides Demon-Suppressing City, a little farther away there were many cities, farms, and towns of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom, and so on.

As the Fuxi Divine Kingdom's army surged forward, sharp alarm cries rang out simultaneously above those cities, farms, and villages.

In the high heavens, golden sun-shuttles poured down like a torrential rain.

The heavenly starlight churned violently; this was the night of abundant starlight, its power overly fierce, and the turbulence of stellar energy in the high heavens turned the void into a boiling pot of thick porridge—the golden sun-shuttles, after descending only a short distance, completely lost their aim.

The originally dense descending golden sun-shuttles scattered in all directions, chaotically and aimlessly falling haphazardly upon the mountains.

In every direction, each barren mountaintop bereft of grass was struck by a golden sun-shuttle; flames rose, heat spread everywhere, and even the few patches of moss on the summits were burned away to nothing.

What's more, the aimless golden sun-shuttles wildly strayed into the territory of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom far from this mountain region.

Several sizable cities were inexplicably hit by dozens of golden sun-shuttles each.

The sharp alarm cries grew ever more shrill.

The golden sun-shuttles in the high heavens ceased abruptly; then many more tower ships, like a frenzied swarm of bees, chaotically shot up from the heart of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom, their backsides ablaze, rushing toward this pitch-black mountain range.

"Lively, eh?" the Wu family ancestor in the coffin laughed: "Usually those little skirmishes amount to nothing. But the starlight bath that comes once every 108 years is a great occasion; it will give birth to some monstrous geniuses… so every family and clan is willing to fight to the death."

"However, our family's luck is good this time; thanks to you, this little thing, stirring up trouble, we've actually gained so much stellar essence—this time we won't suffer heavy casualties among our kin, and we can still have many genius babies born, which is excellent." The Wu family ancestor sincerely praised: "You've done well this time."

Wu Tie remained silent, smiling faintly.

The coffin kept hopping forward; after the heavens' starlight had bathed the mountains for a quarter hour, the coffin leapt into a deep valley and then suddenly stopped.

In the valley, on a pitch-black boulder sat a man clad in black robes, black hat, and black sash; his head of black hair nearly merged with the darkness, a three-foot-long black beard glossy and slick hung down to his abdomen, while only his face and palms were white as jade, faintly glowing.

The heavy coffin landed heavily before the stone.

The man smiled: "Wu Yu, you've come."

The Wu family ancestor, Wu Yu, snorted: "Xi Bai, Old Man has come… By the way, Xi Qi is dead, his bastard spawn is dead too, and all his lackeys under him are dead as well…"

Xi Bai's face twitched: "My natal star is Xi Hao…"

Wu Yu quickly cut him off: "Xi Ri Tian, or Xi Bai—you pick one yourself."

Xi Bai gave a dry laugh: "Fine, Bai it is… Anyway… this little thing is the baby you were talking about?"

Wu Tie rose to his feet and silently bowed his hands toward Xi Bai.

Regarding the affair in Demon-Suppressing City, Wu Tie personally slew Xi Qi, Luo Lin, and Mr. Mu, among others; afterward, Wu Yu brought him here.

This Xi Bai, whose body is clearly divided black and white, can converse with Wu Yu on such equal terms… Wu Tie secretly speculated that this fellow might also be a terrifying existence of the Divine Realm.

The Divine Realm!

"It's him." Wu Yu said in a soft voice: "Originally, there were other candidates. But this time we suddenly discovered that this child is more cunning... no, much smarter than the other children in the clan, his methods are quite ruthless, his disposition extremely tenacious, and most importantly, his luck is good enough."

Wu Yu praised: "Not mentioning other things, in so many punitive campaigns, the only one among these great families who managed to seize the star-force essence from the Great Jin is this child. So I and several brothers discussed and decided to replace him."

Wu Yu's tone suddenly became extremely profound: "Compared to other conditions, luck is very important."

Xi Bu Bai gazed deeply at Wu Tie for a while, then solemnly nodded: "This makes sense. Over these many years, we have sent out so many people... luck, indeed luck is the most important."

Wu Tie felt a shudder in his heart.

What are these two old fellows saying?

Moreover, what did Wu Yu say? That he and several brothers discussed it?

Those who can be called brothers with Wu Yu... hehe!

Just, listening, it seems the tone is a bit off.

After a cough, Wu Tie said softly: "Senior Xi, and Elder, what are you saying?"

Wu Yu remained silent, while Xi Bu Bai examined Wu Tie from head to toe with an extremely mysterious expression.

After a while, Xi Bu Bai suddenly spoke: "Wu Tie, have you heard of the Black Hall?"

"Black shop?" Wu Tie widened his eyes, his face looking a bit strange.

"Not a black shop, but the Black Hall." Xi Bu Bai stretched out his hand, writing a large "Hall" character in the air; faint light glowed at his fingertips, the large characters hovered in the air for a while before fading.

"The Black Hall, officially the Supervisory Divine Hall of the Fuxi Divine Nation, also called the Hall of Precepts, Hall of Punishment, etc.... Some people with guilty consciences privately also call it the Hall of Yama, or the Hall of Tendon‑pulling and Skin‑stripping, or the Hall of Extermination of Nine Clans..."

Smiling slightly, Xi Bu Bai said: "However, because the Supervisory Divine Hall uses black, all attire, armor, instruments, and decorations are entirely black. So we usually refer to ourselves as the 'Black Hall'."

Xi Bu Bai pointed at his nose and said softly: "I am the current Grand Master of the Black Hall, having overseen the Black Hall for..."

Xi Bu Bai began to blink his eyes, then stretched out his fingers to start calculating.

"Nine thousand four hundred eighty-two years, three months, twenty-four days, eleven shichen, one ke, three fen..." Wu Yu in the coffin slowly recited a number: "Xi Bu Bai, is this number correct?"

"Over nine thousand years." Xi Bu Bai smiled at Wu Tie: "Black Hall, not a black shop, thank you!"

Wu Tie's face looked a bit grim.

The Supervisory Divine Hall, as the name suggests, one knows what it is responsible for.

An old monster who has overseen the Supervisory Divine Hall for over nine thousand years—even if he were a pig, being able to sit on the throne of the Hall's Grand Master for so many years shows that the vast Supervisory Divine Hall must have been completely controlled by his will from top to bottom.

An individual whose age, strength, and power are all extremely terrifying, an old fellow.

Moreover, they are also called the "Black Hall"... hehe, Wu Tie glanced up and down at Xi Bu Bai; this nickname of the Black Hall is not merely from their attire color? Perhaps it is also related to the color of some organ inside their bodies?

"Grand Master summoned me, what is the matter?" Wu Tie asked Xi Bu Bai carefully.

"Eh, wrong, it's not me seeking you; it's your clan elder who recommended you. Hehe, this cause and effect must be made clear." Xi Bu Bai laughed brightly: "I need people; where can't I find a bunch of good seedlings?"

"Besides, I have a brother‑like relationship with several of your Wu clan elders; I even have one‑quarter Wu blood flowing in me... So when there is good fortune, I naturally want to look after my own brothers... Your clan elder has begged me many times..."

Before Xi Bu Bai could finish his speech, Wu Yu directly interrupted his grandiose nonsense: "Xi Bu Bai, you say, I begged you?"

Xi Bu Bai gave a dry laugh: "We are our own brothers, hehehe, hahaha, well, of course, some things cannot be done by one's own subordinates, so we can only ask brothers for help; after all, the methods of my Black Hall personnel are well known, sometimes we need to bring in others..."

Wu Tie looked at Xi Bu Bai without saying a word.

Xi Bu Bai laughed for a while, seeing Wu Tie's calm expression, he suddenly felt a bit bored and rubbed his nose.

"Old Wu, how did your Wu clan produce such a little monster? Earlier, those little brats of yours, after I coaxed them a few words, became hot‑blooded like black bears in spring rut... This kid is also too strange."

Wu Yu merely gave a cold snort.

Xi Bu Bai spread his hands, looked at Wu Tie, and sighed: "Alright, then I will speak plainly. Your father, your second brother, your third brother—I will make them reforge their flesh within ten years, and replace the blood of their newly reborn bodies with the Wu clan's most ancestral, most powerful bloodline."

Wu Tie's body twitched violently, his eyes blazing as he stared at Xi Bu Bai.

"You, enter my Black Hall, become my direct subordinate Black Hall spy... there is a mission that may get you killed; go accomplish it."

Xi Bu Bai pointed at Wu Tie and said with a chuckle: "Losing you one life in exchange for your father, second brother, and third brother's three lives—I think you can take the gamble."

This Xi Bu Bai truly deserves to run a black shop; his words are hard to hear.

Yet being so straightforward and blunt, Wu Tie felt no resistance at all.

"I think it's quite reasonable." Wu Tie gave Xi Bu Bai a clear reply without much thought.

"My little brat says it's reasonable, so this is settled." Wu Yu said calmly: "He will go out to risk his life for us old fellows, so we old fellows will not shortchange him."

Wu Yu chuckled softly: "Your Fuxi Divine Nation is very wealthy, and the Black Hall is even richer, overflowing with wealth; so you also need to shed some blood."

Xi Bu Bai laughed brightly: "Naturally so."