Chapter 393: The Empire of Ashes Begins

Current time: December 2028, 12.

Three days have passed since the end of the World War.

In the ancient city of Bianjing, just north of the old inner city, the secret realm of Yinlong Mountain is located.

On every full-moon night, the Si family’s astrologers would use the meaning of “sharing the bright moon thousands of miles away” to help the holders of special tokens descend from a distance. During the year, the Orthodox Clan would hold twelve ancient clan meetings, with the palace meeting at the end of the year being the most solemn and dignified.

The so-called secret realm refers to the few fragments left after the collapse of the border. Yinlong Mountain is an important place for orthodox ancestral temple worship and has always been mysterious and hidden.

However, with the advent of a new era, orthodoxy has had to adapt to the environment. The ancient rule of closing off the area for at least a hundred miles has long been abolished. Now Yinlong Mountain is a park on the surface and has been under maintenance. Walking out of the mountain gate and turning left a few hundred meters away is the vegetable market, and there is a community hospital and neighborhood committee not far away.

But inside Yinlong Mountain, there are magnificent buildings, exquisite and gorgeous pavilions and waterside terraces, spring flowers, summer trees, autumn clouds, winter snow, and a collection of four-season landscapes.

On the top of the mountain is the ancestral temple Yinlong Hall.

The Si Nan who was on duty this month lit the dragon’s breath incense. Thick smoke swirled in the hall, but in the end only two figures came down and took their seats.

This year, the Si family will be the head of the clan. The descendants are responsible for maintaining all aspects of the orthodox public domain. The ancestor of the Si family naturally sits at the head.

Even though all the participants had arrived, the hall was still dead silent, with only the sounds of tea lids being opened and pipes being lit.

Sinan cheered up, took out the law book and read it out in public.

“In the battle for the Embers, the Gate Plan drawn up three months ago failed. The main executor, Fairy Sword, died unexpectedly. Only three of the 81 silver players we sent survived. The survival rate is higher than the average level given by the Order Bureau.”

“The success rate of the 12 backup plans was less than 30%. The new tactical hall has been disbanded.”

“The highest contributor to this battle is the Silver Overlord Lifeform, Mo Ke. The Order Bureau headquarters does not have his file, and the confidentiality level in the South District Archives Department is top secret.”

“He has killed more than seven powerful and gold players, killed at least 1500 silver players, and survived for more than four hours while being hunted by gold elite creatures.”

“The newly promoted powerhouse Si Ning has promised to return to the family, but she will have to wait until she completes the gold promotion task alone. Among the seven orthodox heroes, I, Chu Fuqiang and Jian Chaoyang have publicly expressed our support the day before yesterday. The others have expressed their attitude of waiting and watching for the time being.”

“According to the authority and prophecy of the Supervisor, the highest contributor will own a large number of shares in the Embers World. After a one-time buyout, there is a high probability that they will obtain a permanent and non-transferable door.”

Si Nan paused and said, “The clan leaders have not yet reached a consensus on this. Clan Leader Liu suggests inviting all the ancestors to capture the overlord and breed excellent offspring for the orthodox clans.”

“Patriarch Si suggested a three-party cooperation with the Order Bureau and Overlord to develop the project. Rashly making enemies does not conform to the current orthodox strategy. Both parties have several votes in favor, and the final vote will be held within one month at the latest.”

The report is over.

Next to the quaint long table, the two legendary ancestors who were projected here did not comment, because they usually needed to resist erosion by sleeping, and these mundane matters were basically handled by the clan leaders. If this battle had not involved the death of the young leader, the two would not have woken up at all.

The Liu family patriarch said coldly: “Compensation, let Si Ning marry into the Liu family, and I will personally choose a weak and weak husband for her.”

At this point, the ancestor of the Liu family knew that there was no hope at all in starting a massacre. By giving birth to powerful countries and holding the door to eternity, the overlord had ample room to maneuver. As long as the opponent did not do anything stupid, the overlord could only fight but not break up no matter what the situation was.

The Si family patriarch shook his head and replied, “My old friends think the same as I do. It is a consensus that the best choice for Si Ning to marry is the overlord. If this matter hadn’t happened, I don’t think you would refuse.”

The ancestor of the Liu family picked up the teacup calmly. He knew that the other party would definitely give him an explanation. It’s not that the legends can’t fight, but they don’t want to fight. If they can negotiate, they will never resort to violence.

The Si family patriarch pondered for a moment and said, “The daughter of the Liu family will be married to Si Nan. If my family has another legitimate daughter, she will be given to the son of the Liu family as a concubine. Sixty percent of the secular property will be divided and given to him.”

The Liu family ancestor sneered: “Don’t you even want to show your dignity?”

The money from secular industries is of almost no significance, but the jobs, population, and social relations controlled in this area are quite important. Orthodox industries involve all aspects and are the basis for the livelihood and clothing of countless people. A slight instigation can cause huge chaos.

The effect of negotiating with the Order Bureau in this way is even better than that of a single legend. The Supervisor can kill creatures of his time, but he will also have a headache when facing the collapse and reconstruction of order in various parts of Daxia.

But worldly property is secondary. Taking a daughter of a legitimate wife as a concubine is like swallowing one’s pride, because a concubine can be used to entertain guests.

In the corner of the hall, several blue veins appeared on Si Nan’s neck and his face looked extremely uncomfortable. He felt suffocated by the conditions of his ancestors, and his family members had completely become commodities.

Now it seems that there was a reason why Si Ning’s family chose to leave. Marriage is just a microcosm. The real cruelty is the trampling on the individual self, but they had to succumb because of factors such as upbringing, gratitude, habits, environment, and concepts.

The ancestor of the Si family certainly noticed the change in the younger generation’s expression, but he was dismissive. As a legend, he allowed these people to enjoy wealth and glory. If they didn’t give back in any way, wouldn’t they be made suckers? After his great-great-grandson, he had no feelings for his bloodline descendants, and only cared about the family as a whole.

This family is the result of the blood and sweat of one’s ancestors, fathers, siblings, wives, daughters, legitimate sons, and even grandchildren, and it carries countless emotions and efforts.

The Si family’s ancestor doesn’t care whether these descendants, who are only named, are willing or not, as they are not sent to die.

After a long while, the Liu family ancestor said calmly: “That’s it, I have the face, as for the substance, I want half of the Si family’s fundamental inheritance.”

“Okay.” The ancestor of the Si family said, if you don’t agree, you have to fight, half of the inheritance is stuck at the bottom line of psychological expectations.

The two figures disappeared.

The dragon’s breath incense in the hall broke and stopped burning. This extremely precious, disposable, immortal prop could only support the legendary projection for a few quarters of an hour.

Si Nan stood there for a long time, unable to come back to his senses. He felt that his fate was like willow catkins, beyond his control.

……

Night falls, Anping Island.

Five thousand silver guards entered the dark forest at the border and hunted for three consecutive days, and the blood and flesh of alien species piled up like a mountain.

[Tip: You received a payment from a player named Twilight, totaling 19000 game coins]
After settling the dividend payment from the Gourmet Guild, Jiang He invested all of it in Zhichui.

[Hint: Excellent straight kick LV8 → Perfect straight kick LV3]
Jiang He sat on the top of Yuwang City, holding in his hand a top-level invitation to a targeted world, a reward for victory in the battle④. The holder could use it to apply for a world that suits him to carry out his mission.

He put away the invitation letter and cleared out the scarlet cards that had accumulated on him. Due to the distance factor when guarding the coordinates, some cards could not be recovered. The total number currently stood at 290.

All opened, there are four perfect-level items, eighteen excellent-level items, and five rare-level items.

Jiang He used all the perfect and excellent props to remake the red robe. At that time, he pretended to be hit by the blood resonance and the robe was blown into ashes. A top-notch perfect piece of clothing was certainly not worth wasting energy to collect during a battle. If it was really so easy, it would be a dream to deceive that Sais.

“I’m a little tired of snacks.”

Jiang He thought about it seriously, then casually opened the repaired Black Sun Domain. The five rare items were crushed into the most primitive extraordinary factors, which were then melted into a barrel of dragon blood wine.

The raw materials for this kind of wine have been cultivated on a large scale, with gardens on Anping Island, Yuwangcheng and the Saint Lilith. [Name: Dragon Blood Wine]
[Category: Functional]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Effect: None]
[Note: It tastes a bit good]
Jiang He took a sip, and the mellow aroma filled his taste buds, a perfect blend of spicy flavor and a slight aftertaste of sweetness. The alcohol content was very high, just like the boiling blood flowing in the body of a giant dragon.

“Big snake, thirsty.”

“It is recommended to try it out first.”

A small white snake poked its head out from around her collar. Facing the large barrel of wine brought over by someone, she spit out her tongue and swallowed up half of it. Considering her huge body, this was indeed just a small taste, but it only lasted for a moment. The small white snake turned over its belly and fell from her neck into her arms, and she died of drunkenness.

Jiang He seemed to be thinking deeply about this. Dragon Blood Wine is just named after a dragon, it is not real dragon blood. However, Aya showed a very high absorption efficiency for it, which was a bit like the blood hunter of the same clan.

Regarding the dragon clan, there are long dragons with concentrated characteristics of walking beasts, and there are also four-legged dragons that look like mutant lizards. In the myths recorded in Daxia, creatures with strange shapes such as the one-legged Ji Meng also belong to the dragon clan, and are divided into different categories such as demon dragons and yellow dragons.

Jiang He pondered secretly and said, “Thousands of creatures have upgraded their life levels, and some of them have evolved towards the direction of true dragons. Because of the different starting points, they have different appearances, and thus the saying of dragon lust came into being. The definition of the dragon race is not bloodline and appearance, but symbolism.”

“The true dragon has no form.”

Without practice, ideas are not theories, but merely guesses.

However, after Jiang He drank the wine, he did feel that his thinking became a little sharper. Perhaps it was really as the alchemist’s predecessor said, that wine was the alchemist’s blood.

“Martial arts also have no form.”

With his divine thinking activated, Jiang He stood up and took the Zhen Step. The essence of the Zhen Step is to step on the ground repeatedly at the same time. As he adjusted the way he stepped on the ground each time, combined with the advantages of countless martial arts steps, they coordinated, overlapped, and changed qualitatively, and his body moved faster and faster.

The figure walked in the air as if it were flat ground.

The figure hit the wall and passed through it.

With one straight kick, thousands of boot shadows merge into one.

When Jiang He stopped, the top-level immortal light skill – Zhenlong Wuxiangbu was born, and it was immediately perfected.

“With top-notch footwork, combined with the Divine Hunter that controls all of his speed abilities, and the Night Hunter boost from the Eternal Hunter Set, his speed should be faster than most gold elites, but he’s still a long way from the gold state of that vampire marquis.”

Jiang He’s breath was like a sword, and he clasped his hands together. Suddenly, a message appeared in the player’s friend list.

[Lemon King: Sinan said that Zhengtong intends to work with the Order Bureau to jointly develop a permanent door (something) with you]
Jiang He frowned. He had no intention of jointly developing with others. There were legends behind the Orthodoxy and the Order Bureau. If their lives were threatened, his fate would not be good. Even if he had non-transferable authority, slavery methods like blood servants were enough to make people complain.

In the case of unequal strength, so-called cooperation is nothing more than a beautification of unilateral exploitation.

[Zhenren: Do you have time recently?]
The orthodox palace meeting ended and the Order Bureau also took action.

In view of the huge benefits contained in the Overlord and the Eternal Gate, whirlpools of energy are coming one after another.

Jiang He didn’t mind being in the vortex, provided there were sufficient rewards. In this regard, Origin’s credibility was perfect, and he had no reason to take advantage of the situation with the Orthodoxy and the Order Bureau.

“very messy.”

“You guys take your time playing, I’m leaving first.”

Jiang He issued the highest order directly through Shuguang.

“From now on, all members of Yuwang City will enter the border and destroy all buildings, facilities and traces of life on Anping Island.”

“All members are prohibited from leaving the border and returning without orders, including core members.”

In the small vegetable garden, Lao Hei looked up in surprise, and the lid of the kettle he was using to water the flowers fell to the ground.

On top of the villa, the group that was giving a speech to 100,000 jet pterosaurs stopped immediately and began to direct the dispatch.

In just a quarter of an hour, all living beings were moved to the border, and Anping Island seemed to have become an uninhabited island in the ocean.

Jiang He used the authority at his disposal to close the current environment and border barriers at the canyon entrance. When entering for the first time, the Yuwang Monument was able to block the fierce attack of the legendary birds, and the defense was guaranteed.

He sent a message to Si Ning.

[Mo Ke: You are allowed to seek refuge, but only one person is allowed. This is as a return gift for your advance warning. But when the time comes, I will not come to pick you up. It depends on your ability to escape.]
[Lemon King: (Sweating profusely) Running so decisively?]
[Mo Ke: Seeing the big picture from the small details (Smiling soybean)]
Jiang He temporarily blocked the Deputy Minister of Operations, turned around and looked at the endless dark forest. Compared with fighting openly and secretly with the Order Bureau and the Orthodox, he was more inclined to become the lord of the border.

at the same time.

At the southern port of the South China Sea Island, a cruise ship had just left the port. An old man standing on the deck was holding a dry cigarette in his mouth, his brows were furrowed, and the dry skin on his face was piled up like old tree bark. Wisps of light smoke fell from the clouds and lingered around him.

“No need to talk, let’s turn around and go back.” The old man flicked the ash off his cigarette, “The kid ran away, either to the secret realm or the border.”

The Deputy Chief of Operations was somewhat bewildered and said sincerely, “I can swear to God that I have no intention of harming him. His reaction was too great.”

The old man smiled and said calmly: “Putting your safety on others, no matter what the reason is, I’m afraid it’s not wise enough.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you have the intention to harm him or not. He probably just feels that he is not strong enough. Go back and ask the analysis room to work overtime. The evaluation of this overlord being too strong and easily broken can be removed.”

“As for the secret realm or border, it’s probably around Anping Island. The former is not worth it, and the latter is inaccessible.”

The old man was not interested at all, and sneered, “Just think of it as you accompanying me for a walk.”

The Deputy Minister of Operations was speechless.

Less than half an hour after the cruise ship left the port, it turned around and returned.

……

Under the cover of night, midnight arrives.

In the central tower of Yuwang City, all three companions were present. Jiang He was lying on the stargazing lounge chair on the top of the tower and heard a familiar prompt tone.

[Reminder: Recruitment Mission·World Invasion War is now open]
[Tip: The target world this time is a special second-level world, which is shared by all living beings and the end. It is essentially a training base for silver players.]
A scene appeared in front of Jiang He’s eyes. A heavy rain fell in the originally peaceful world. The gray rain covered the entire globe. In cities after cities, the pervasive water vapor alienated countless humans and turned them into mindless monsters.

[In 2099 AD, after ten consecutive years of rainy days, unable to bear the growing negative emotions of humanity, the world consciousness degenerated into a collection of human hatred. Gray rain containing hatred covered the entire world, and all those who were drenched by the gray rain lost their healthy souls. Only a few survivors gradually adapted to the harsh environment and became new humans.]
[Two years later, due to human hatred for the Gray Rain, the first Abyss Ghost in history was born. As the Gray Rain Abyss Ghost, it has the ability to cause the new humans to continue to degenerate. The new humans who began to reproduce once again suffered a devastating blow.]
[What is even more despairing is that due to the hatred of death, hunger, disease, conflict and other intangible concepts, more and more Abyss Ghosts are born. Since the root of their hatred comes from humans, Abyss Ghosts are inherently full of malice towards humans.]
[The new humans once reached the brink of extinction]
[In 2115 AD, a young man named Adam Mist had just finished an investigation adventure with two friends. He returned home to reunite with his wife and daughter. Soon after, he was attacked by a deep ghost, and it was the extremely famous Gray Rain Deep Ghost.]
[In order to protect his wife and daughter, he ate the Gray Rain Abyss Ghost and survived. Before that, humans generally recognized that modern weapons could not cause significant damage to the Abyss Ghost.]
[Thus, the first sin magician in human history was born]
[At the same time, it marks the official start of the Ashes Calendar]
[Unfortunately, Adam Mist’s wife and daughter did not survive. He began to walk along the west coast of old North America on his own journey of atonement. Along the way, he would become a sinner and teach his fellow sufferers the methods of the sinner.]
[Finally, when crossing the border, the followers who voluntarily followed him suggested that they should form an organization to help more people redeem their sins, and Adams agreed]
[Year 1 of the Ashes Calendar, the Church of Atonement is established]
[One year into the Ashes calendar, the Ashes Empire is established]
[In the same year, the End Society was established]
……

[Abyss Ghost: A life form born from human hatred, with life levels ranging from the Silver Age to ordinary gold. Only those who control the power of the Abyss Ghost can kill it.]
[Sin Master: The Parasite of the Abyss Ghost]
[Bloodline level: Life strength of the parasitic abyss ghost]
[Bloodline concentration: Compatibility with the parasitic abyss ghost]
[Mind Image Armor: Awakens naturally when the Abyss Ghost compatibility exceeds 50%. The level depends on the Abyss Ghost’s life strength.]
[Rain of Ashes: As hatred continues to intensify, the concentration of ash rain increases year by year, and it falls irregularly, causing humans and sin magicians to lose control]
[Ashes Empire: covers the core cities of fifty states. The ruler of each city is named the Ash Noble. The center of the empire is located in San Francisco (formerly San Francisco). Everything is led by the thirteen members of the Obsidian Council, six of which are occupied by Ash Nobles. The president of the council is one of the strongest in the empire and an elite being of the Golden Age.]
[Ashes Academy: A training base for sinners established in the 20th year of the Ashes calendar, occupying three seats on the Obsidian Council]
[The Burning Iron Legion: Originally a direct unit of the Obsidian Council, it later gained independent action rights. Fifty Burning Iron Legions are stationed in the core cities of each state. The leader of the legion, Elijah, is one of the strongest in the empire and occupies three seats in the Obsidian Council]
……

[Tip: Due to the secrecy of this infiltration operation, only the basic initial identity is provided]
[Professional Advancement Mission: The Ender]
[Task content: Cause damage to this second-level special world. The results will be reflected in the form of a progress bar. The progress of the destruction determines the quality of the hunter’s advanced profession.]
[Main Mission: Live Broadcast (Serial)]
[Task time limit: 360 natural days]
[Hunting Mission: Execute Violators (Defection)——Player No. 12009, one of the thirteen angels of the End Society at the time]
[Hunting mission reward: Unbreakable gem*1]
[Temporary language translation module loaded]
[Original identity: Civilian Amber Ashes]
World, begin!
(End of this chapter)