Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 135 part 1! Hope you'll enjoy it!
What's new: I've been almost completely overwhelmed these last two weeks. So my writing speed has been much slower than I would have liked... Oh well, that's the end of the year holidays for you. But, I still managed to write the last chapter for book 2 (chapter 147). Book 2 was a challenge but I'm glad about how it turned out. I've learned many things and got much better at weaving story than when I was writing book 1. With all that accumulated experience, Book 3 is sure to be even better, with many more interesting events, characters and cultivation parts. In any case, I'll still persevere and we'll see how it will turn out in the end.
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Omniscient P.O.V.
As those two gigantic Beasts showed themselves in front of him, two names immediately came to his mind.
"Minister Misty Serpent and King Bone Sword. What foul wind brought you two here?"
For Tier 5 Powers like the Federation and the Frost Beast Palace, anyone reaching Tier 5 was well-known by each party.
After all, Tier 5 was a major watershed, separating the high-level combatants from the Top-level ones.
Thus, the number of Tier 5 Beings that each Force could nurture was ultimately limited and easily identifiable.
There were two reasons behind such difficulty, the demand for high talent not included.
The first came down to a lack of resources, from Pills to Cultivation Technique, while the second was due to an insufficient Energy Concentration, greatly increasing the difficulty for those at the peak Void Seed to break through to the next Rank.
That was why each party only had around a dozen Void Sapling/Emperor-Grade Beings, while the number of Void Seed/King-Grade beings numbered in the hundreds.
The consequence was that, unless one of those Tier 5 beings refrained from intervening completely, they would not be able to hide from the other side's eyes.
It was especially the case with the Demon Beasts since their 'normal' size was so enormous that trying to hide their existence was pretty much futile, unless they hid themselves away, but with their rampant arrogance, was that even possible?
Not a chance!
As for that massive dark-blue-scaled snake whose length was approaching 20km, its entire body being surrounded by an eerie fog?
Well, his identity was even more well-known than the other Emperor-Grade Demon Fish, his strength placing him among the top experts from the other side, with a cultivation having reached the Low Emperor-Grade limit.
Converted in the Human system, it was equivalent to a Peak Third Level Void Sapling, a cultivation stage that only the Federation's Supreme Elder possessed.
Of course, the cultivation might be the same, but the fighting prowess clearly differed.
When it came to the federation's Supreme Elder, he could single-handedly suppress a few of those so-called ministers, and only the Supreme Frost Whale Emperor could match him in strength.
Speaking of that mad Frost Whale, a grim thought suddenly came to Pietr's mind.
'Wait! Since the Supreme Elder reached his current cultivation level, those Demon Beasts have never attacked any of the eight Inner Islands. Could it be that he has already taken that step...?'
Before he could contemplate further, the gigantic snake started hissing, stopping the Bone Sword Fish from rushing toward Pietr in fury.
"Lightning Flood Anrepov. Your tongue is still as sharp as ever, truly a master at riling others' emotions. However, you should realize that disrespecting others without the strength to match will only result in great suffering."
When he heard the snake's words, the human cultivator rolled his eyes, wondering how a Demon Beast could stay so calm and composed, favoring brain over brawn. Look at that stupid Bone Sword Fish standing by the Serpent's side, boiling with fury from Pietr's insulting words.
That was what a true Demon Beast should be: Physically strong, but mentally lacking, and ridiculously easy to enrage.
That sort of Demon Beast, as long as one's cultivation was strong enough, was relatively simple to deal with.
A bit of prodding and you can force him to dance to your tunes.
Unless the difference in strength was too large, having strong power without the wisdom to use it was useless and may even be detrimental to oneself and those on your side.
That was why those so-called 'Kings' at the Emperor-Grade were not taken too seriously by the Federation's Core Elders, despite their high cultivation.
Instead, it was those 'Ministers' like that Misty Serpent, which, even if their own powerful strength was not taken into account, were as cunning as foxes, though they might not appreciate the comparison.
Water Beasts and Land Beasts had some sort of rivalry, after all.
Fortunately, with tens of millennia of development and the right policies in place, the Federation had birthed enough Void Sapling Core Elders to not only match but even slightly overcome those on the other side, helping the Supreme Elder and the first few Void Saplings from that time to share some burdens.
The only weakness left was the fact that the average cultivation level of the Federation's Void Sapling cultivators was still slightly lower than the opposition's, forcing them to be more on the defensive than they would have liked.
However, with the current trend, it should not take more than a few thousand years for the situation to reverse completely, with the Federation's side dominating the other party completely.
That being said, it was doubtful that the Frost Beast Palace would give them that much time, most likely turning the previously low-intensity war into a full-blown one.
Speaking of the cultivation disparity between the two Forces, it all came down to time and had little to do with talent, unlike what those Demon Beasts would like to claim.
The Federation had only been founded around 40,000 years, while the Frost Beast Palace was close to a million years old, which meant that the difference between the two Powers' foundation was colossal.
After all, no matter how many resources one possessed, cultivation took time, especially as one reached higher Levels and Ranks.
In the Federation's case, if it were not because the Supreme Elder was a Peak Heaven-Grade genius who reached his current cultivation level relatively quickly, the entire Force would have been destroyed long ago by those bloodthirsty Demon Beasts.
Being of the Elementary Human Race himself, his cultivation speed took the enemy by surprise.
After all, it was well-known that Beast's Bloodline refining system was much slower than the Human's one.
However, the difference in lifespan was also colossal, with Beasts living multiple times longer than Humans at the same level.
Whether it was the Heavens compensating for a slow cultivation speed was unknown, but that did not change the fact that those top-experts from the Frost Beast Palace, such as the Supreme Whale Emperor or his Ministers, had all been alive for at least 100,000 years, 200,000 years, or even 300,000 years for one of them. As for the Federation's Supreme Elder?
He was 'only' around 40,000 years old. With such a difference between the two sides, the current 'stalemate' was actually an almost unbelievable situation.
While many thoughts traversed his mind, Pietr's face turned extremely cold, his words no longer playful.
"Let's not waste each other's time with meaningless threats, Serpent. Why did you come all the way to my Bright Star Island? Do you intend to declare war?"
The term 'War' in his mouth meant something completely different from the current 'skirmishes'.
Millions died every year, sure, but the extent of each battle was kept to the Core Formation and below, with no Tier 4 or 5 from either side allowed to intervene. Otherwise, the death toll would not be counted in the millions every year, but in billions or even higher.
That was something unsustainable for either side of the conflict.
Actually, keeping it under Tier 4 was even to the advantage of the Demon Beasts.
After all, it was well-known that low-tier Beasts reproduced frighteningly quickly, and with the Northern Outer Sea Area being so large, the number of low-tier Demon Beasts that the Federation had to face was colossal.
Fortunately, with Battle Formations, City Formations, Energy Cannons, etc., they could somewhat cope with the threat, especially since Demon Beasts' bodies were full of treasures, whether one used them to improve one's cultivation or craft powerful Items.
Thus, it was truly a case of sustaining war with war, and many cultivators coming from all over the Federation volunteered to participate in the conflict to gain wealth, increase their cultivation, or both.
Hearing the question, the colossal snake had a cold smile on his 'face' before he replied, his tone extremely sarcastic.
"Why would my Frost Beast Palace wish for war? Can't we just come here to visit this wonderful Island of yours and meet some of your Federation's promising youths?"
As if something suddenly came to his mind, he added.
"Speaking of geniuses. I recently heard that those two Peak Core Formation geniuses from your Island—Anrepov and Feng, if I'm not mistaken—found two Peak Heaven Grade geniuses the last time they visited the Origin islands and even brought them here. I've even heard that the young man's Heart Cultivation was in the process of breaking through to the Refining Seed Rank with a Peak Chi Gathering cultivation. Truly, your Federation's overflowing Heavenly Luck is really a cause for jealousy. Such a shame that he's not a Demon Beast. But no matter, the path of cultivation is extremely dangerous, and who knows if that young man can walk it until the end..."
Hearing the snake's eerie laughter following his barely veiled threat, Pietr exclaimed inwardly.
'Such accurate intel means that the moles' positions are much higher than we previously anticipated. After this situation is resolved, I'll have to seriously investigate those King-Grade and Emperor-Grade Forces.'
Indeed, below that level, there was no way to know about those two bringing back the four Mikhailov younglings from the Origin Islands.
After he made his decision, something else came to his mind.
'If those two want to harm Demian, merely relying on themselves would be insufficient. If it were that dumb Sword Fish, doing just that wouldn't be too surprising, but that Misty Serpent is too cunning to hatch that sort of stupid plan. After all, with the City's Formation empowering me, my strength should be roughly equal to someone at the Peak Low Void Sapling Rank, and with my Lightning Spells, I'm a natural nemesis for any Water Demon Beast, so they can forget about passing me. But if they aren't planning on breaking through directly, what are they pl...'
Before the powerful man could come up with an answer, his senses suddenly caught a part of the City's Teleportation Station exploding, creating sufficient damage to the Teleportation Network to effectively render it unusable without some thorough repairs.
Fortunately, the Island's authorities were expecting some sort of attack and thus made the appropriate preparations.
Thus, before the damage could spread too much, it was suddenly halted by the Peak Void cultivator posted close by.
However, while the man in question, Protector General Mikhail Anrepov, was furiously denouncing the Peak King-Grade General Demon Beast who suddenly appeared in his beast from above the Teleportation Station, a great number of previously average-looking humans suddenly turned into King-Grade Demon Beasts, with the strongest team focused on the Protector General's group of cultivator, while the relatively weaker team targeted the Fairy Dust shop where Demian was in the process of his breakthrough.
At that moment, Pietr understood everything.
'Damn Beasts used some Tier 5 Aura Concealment Talismans. No wonder I couldn't detect their Demonic Aura even with my cultivation.'
Before he could think further, he suddenly heard that irritating hissing voice again.
"It's been a few hundred years since the last time we sparred with each other, so why don't we practice a little today. After all, it's not every day that we meet each other."
As soon as those words reached Pietr's ears, the two Demon Beasts launched a simultaneous attack on him, prompting the man to curse at those two Fish's shamelessness, with both clearly trying to kill him while calling it a 'spar'.
Shoving his annoyance aside, the Human Elder immediately channeled a great part of the City Formation's Energy into his body, temporarily boosting his cultivation to the Peak Low Void Sapling level.
As soon as his power increased, Pietr started retaliating against the snake-fish duo, knowing full well that they were not trying to defeat him but simply to hinder him from helping the young Mikhailov and his group.
It was actually a good plan, since with that amount of Energy siphoned from the Formation, there was no way for the latter to suppress those King-Grade Demon Beasts below, leaving that responsibility to the team of Void Seed cultivators from the Federation's side.
With the Demon Beasts being slightly more numerous and having an overall stronger cultivation level, Pietr should have been extremely worried for the young man's life.
Instead, a feeling of relief surged in his Heart when he recalled the previous conversation he had with the Supreme Elder.
'And here I thought that he was being too cautious, but instead I was the careless one. Anyway, it's all up to you now, Empress.'
Shoving all those thoughts on one side of his mind, Pietr then focused his whole attention on fending off those two ferocious Demon Beasts, choosing to trust the 'trump card' they had kept in reserve, something the enemy could never predict.
While the First and Second Void Layers shook from the Elemental Spells and Physical Techniques used by both parties, the Void Energy filling those two Layers surged unpredictably, increasing the pressure on those weaker Tier 4 beings on each side.
The Void Seed Rank represented the transformation of one's Inner Core, the latter gaining some Void Characteristics.
Though still a Seed, and barely counted as entering the door to the Void 'Element', it still marked a colossal Life Transformation, allowing cultivators to start comprehending the Void and brush against this World's deeper structure.
If one could rely on resources to reach Peak Core Formation, to do the same to break through the Entry First Level Void Seed Rank would demand thousands or more times in terms of amount and rarity of resources.
Thus, Core Formation could only be considered an Upper Mid-Level cultivator, and thus were called 'Lords', while those at the Void Seed Rank cultivators were considered true Upper Level cultivators, albeit barely, their designation being King/Queen.