Chapter 316 - 161: A King Descends from the Sky, Furious and Ferocious

Chapter 316: Chapter 161: A King Descends from the Sky, Furious and Ferocious

The Ghost Objects’ main force wasn’t here.

They were on a secondary defense line.

"..."

The young Architect who had once complained now stood on the City Wall, his expression grim as he gazed toward the coast, preparing for the rainy season’s arrival tomorrow.

’No. 7 Defense Line must not fall.’

...

Humanity was preparing.

And so, naturally, were the Ghost Objects.

The arrival of the rainy season fanned the flames of their conflict. Both sides had reasons they could not afford to lose.

In the depths of an unknown darkness.

A great hall.

A shadow sat on the throne, its scarlet pupils flashing incessantly. ’A year has passed. The rainy season is finally here again.’

「One year ago.」

He had used a Fake Human Ghost, disguised in the form of Ancient Texts, to deliver a message to the Mortal Realm: the Undersea Ghost Tide would make landfall in three years.

He had intended to force the Mortal Realm to retreat with this news.

But...

He never imagined they would have no intention of leaving. In fact, they were thriving in Jiangbei, even developing a structure the likes of which he had never seen before: something called a "High-speed Rail."

Throughout the past year, they had continuously dispatched Fake Human Ghosts to gather intelligence on the Mortal Realm. Their goal was to amass enough information to annihilate the humans with overwhelming force once the rainy season arrived.

「In three years.」

The Ghost Tide will make landfall. Once the Jiangbei Node shatters, the way will be open. The first wave of Ghost Objects to invade and completely conquer Jiangbei will receive a massive Celestial Dao Blessing.

Conversely,

the humans defending Jiangbei will also receive a substantial Celestial Dao Blessing—if they can hold their ground.

The Ghost Emperor, Three Thousand Emperors, who now leads countless legions on the Eternal Night Frontline, was just an insignificant lackey thousands of years ago.

He was nothing more than cannon fodder in the Ghost Tide.

He hadn’t even awakened to consciousness.

His rise to such heights was entirely because, on the battlefield of Jiangbei thousands of years ago during the Ancient Times, he became the first Ghost Object to breach the Jiangbei Defense Line. For this "first-to-breach" achievement, he received a massive Celestial Dao Blessing.

While the Celestial Dao Blessing he received wasn’t as great as that of the Ghost Object generals of the day,

it was an incredible boon for a mindless little Ghost Object.

Only after that did he slowly grow into the Ghost Emperor, Three Thousand Emperors, that he is today.

He felt nothing but scorn for this. And... jealousy. Burning envy.

He had also participated in that battle for Jiangbei during the Ancient Era.

At that time, he was still just a Little Ghost King.

He had numerous Ghost Objects under his command. He contributed both his forces and his own strength to the war effort, yet his subordinates were nearly wiped out, and he himself was so grievously wounded that he spent years on the brink of death just trying to recover.

And what was the result? The Celestial Dao Blessing he received was far less than what that mindless Ghost Object earned for its "first-to-breach" achievement. The insult was sharpened, especially after his recovery, when he saw that the other party had already become a Ghost Emperor, even a Commander of an army.

His fury only grew.

’I was clearly the one who contributed more.’

’Why was my reward less than his?’

And so—

when Eternal Night descended this time, while the other Great Ghosts rushed to the Eternal Night Frontline to earn Celestial Dao Blessings, he went nowhere. He remained in the Land of Origin, gathering his strength and preparing to attack Jiangbei at a moment’s notice.

There is only one requirement to conquer Jiangbei.

Slaughter every living being in Jiangbei.

As long as that is achieved,

he will be considered to have completely conquered Jiangbei.

"My King."

Just then, a voice in the great hall could not hold back. "My King, we’ve recruited a vast number of Ghost Objects over the years. Our forces are more than sufficient. Must we let those others act as the vanguard? We can attack Jiangbei ourselves right now."

"You fool."

The shadow on the throne snapped, a flash of contempt in its eyes. "The Jiangbei Node may be shattered, but like a centipede, it doesn’t collapse even in death."

"We must first destroy Jiangbei’s remaining Nodes before we can conquer it."

"Many will die in that process."

"Why should it be our people who die?"

"Let the mindless hordes from the Undersea Ghost Tide go. Let them shatter the remaining Nodes. The very instant Jiangbei becomes vulnerable, we will descend upon it, slaughter every living being, seize it before anyone else, and claim the Celestial Dao Blessing for ourselves."

Over the years, he had reflected countless times on why he had received so little reward for his immense efforts in the last war for Jiangbei. He had come to understand one thing.

’You can’t just use brute force.’

’You have to use your head.’

And so,

he devised this plan.

The moment Eternal Night descended, almost all the other Great Ghosts led their armies to the Eternal Night Frontline to compete for military honors. Only he remained in the Land of Origin, where he had waited for several hundred years.

Extremely patient.

Utterly still.

Even when news of victories occasionally reached him from the Eternal Night Frontline—some Great Ghost or other leading an army to breach the defenses—he remained unmoved. His entire stratagem was focused on Jiangbei.

’First, conquer Jiangbei and claim the glory of conquest.’

’Then, retreat immediately.’

’Don’t go south.’

’Although marching south to occupy Jiangnan, or even the Guanxi Plain, would yield more Celestial Dao Blessings, by that point the Eternal Night Hall on the Eternal Night Continent would have reacted and sent reinforcements.’

’The Eternal Night Hall would never tolerate an invasion of its heartland.’

’They would hunt me down and kill me at any cost.’

’That would be extremely dangerous.’

’The plan is to take Jiangbei and immediately fall back, absorb the Celestial Dao Blessing I’ve acquired, and then join the main battlefield on the Eternal Night Frontline. I won’t act as a main force. I’ll just feign attacks on the flanks, scraping up some Celestial Dao Blessing here and there. I’ll preserve my strength and develop slowly, bit by bit, until I’m powerful enough to influence the main battlefield.’

This was his plan.

It was almost perfect.

He could find no flaws in it.

All he had to do was wait patiently.

He just had to wait patiently for the lingering aura on Nameless Mountain to dissipate. Then, when the Undersea Ghost Tide shattered the Jiangbei Nodes, he would descend upon Jiangbei and... achieve ultimate victory!

All his years of plotting would finally come to fruition.