White Tiger was extremely savage. The ship’s crew was scared to the brink of death, and the demigods from the Assad Temple were so shaken that they abandoned the ship and ran off. "Where are you running off to, scum?"White Tiger leaped off of the ship and slaughtered the fleeing demigods. The wind had stopped howling, and the rain came to an end. Everything on the ships went back to normal, swaying with the ocean waves. "Lord Nox, the ships are settled. As ordered, we have killed off everyone from Assad Temple while leaving the crew unharmed."Still, if you didn't send me over to keep an eye on things, White Tiger would have been crazy enough to slaughter the crew as well," Vermillion Bird said to Nox in a message. "Very well. Your Highness, it's time for the transfer."Nox led Elizabeth and the survivors to the ships. As James and the other team members rowed toward the ships, Nox flew across the sea with Elizabeth in his arms. Nox was not just the Nine-State Lord. I
Brundela's so-called fleet only consisted of three tiny ships. In comparison, the Faeastian fleet consisted of nearly a hundred ships, over thirty of which were large-scale battleships. It even included a recently commissioned aircraft carrier.The sight made the commander of the Brundela ships sigh in envy. Centuries ago, Brundela was the ruler of the seas with a navy no one could defeat. However, things had changed. Brundela's navy had fallen from grace, replaced by Faeast, the nation everyone once picked on.Just the might of this one portion of the fleet could overwhelm all of Brundela's navy.Moreover, according to Vermillion Bird, these were just the ships from the Southern Sea fleet that could be deployed in an emergency and just one of Faeast's five fleets.Brundela's commander was left gaping the entire time.With both fleets united, Nox led Elizabeth onto the Southern Sea fleet's flagship. With state-of-the-art technology, it was a top-tier capital ship. It would not be
A moment of musing later, Nox quickly introduced Elizabeth to Fergus. "Fergus, this is Her Highness, Princess Elizabeth Snowden."However, to Nox's surprise, Fergus knew Elizabeth."It's been a while, General Parrish.""You were so young when we last met, Your Highness, but now you're all grown up," said Fergus affectionately.They explained their history to Nox. A few years ago, Brundela's ruler invited Faeast's navy to visit their new port. Elizabeth was also on the welcoming committee as she was part of the royal family.That meeting was part of the plan to smoothen the transition to Elizabeth's rulership. Elizabeth was just a child without a care in the world back then. Years went by, and Elizabeth had gone through a lot. She was an adult now, but she'd lost her innocence.Then, Fergus got solemn and all businesslike. "Time to talk business, milord.""No. Take the warriors to the infirmary. James, you get that patched up as well. The princess and I will be having a bite. See
"Your Highness, Lord Nox has never shown this much affection to anyone before." The representative shook his head. "Brundela has invaded Faeast in the past, and you did great damage to our land and its people. Your nation made us give up our land and wealth in exchange for peace. None of this would've happened if we had even an ounce of help." He only said so much because Nox was here. He wouldn't even waste his breath if it were any other time."I understand. I am amenable to negotiation and will do my best to get a better deal for my people. As long as you can drive away the tyrant and his evil patron, that is." Elizabeth nodded after due consideration."Good. Dig in, Your Highness. They're your favorites." The representative told the waitstaff to serve them food.James had been waiting for three whole hours before Elizabeth came in, escorted by Faeast's military and political representatives. "Shit!" James slammed the table. "This is unfair! You made our princess sign a contr
It felt as though James was in the face of a god, and he felt his heart race in fear. He shut his mouth and prayed to God to bless Brundela.There wasn't much to talk about in the meeting. Their goal was to destroy the evil gods. Dickson was an agent of the evil gods, so he was on the list as well. No one knew about the contents of the contract Elizabeth signed. When the meeting came to an end, James found an opening to talk to Elizabeth alone, and he asked her about the contract."It was no contract, really. There's only one term. We must obey the Nine-State Lord's orders until the destruction of the evil gods," said Elizabeth."That's all? That can't be. They're just going to ignore the humiliation they've suffered? If it were us, we'd never have let it go so easily." James frowned. He knew what Brundela did to Faeast a long time ago. A lot of their museum artifacts came from Faeast, after all. It was impossible they'd let a perfect chance at vengeance go."I don't know. Faea
The helicopter set off for Brundela. Elizabeth remained in a corner, her hands tucked under her clothes. Black Tortoise noticed that, and he knew she was hiding a dagger underneath. Elizabeth was prepared to fight should she be taken hostage.That cautiousness was useless to Black Tortoise, but he didn't say it out loud. He'd just let her do it if that was what it took to make Elizabeth feel safe and in control. Fortunately, the helicopter arrived at the duke's land and landed on the castle grounds three hours later.The castle was five hundred years old. When the modern era hit, this castle became a place where the duke kept his wine collection. It wasn't open to the public. The castle was under tight security, and a whole company of special forces units was stationed around the castle.Elizabeth noticed a lot of soldiers in blue armor. They weren't wearing any modern attire, and it made her more nervous than before. She came out of the helicopter shivering and cautious. She would
Within the great hall of the castle stood a few people who radiated an air even colder than those outside. Their armor was more resplendent than the guards', and they were covered in bizarre runes. A dozen trinkets, old and ancient, hung from the armor.Elizabeth had no idea how the cultivators ranked themselves, nor had she ever had contact with supernatural things. She thought these were the leaders of the temple, and the trinkets on the armor were like medals in the West.She didn't know anyone in the great hall save for an old man in the corner making tea. She thought he looked familiar.Black Tortoise announced, "The Nine-State Lord has arrived!" His voice was thunderous, and the gods within shook. They had weird looks on their faces, and some rolled their eyes.Nox mocked, "They're not blind, Black Tortoise. Of course, they know I'm here. We've left them hanging for so long that they must be impatient."The gods gulped. It almost sounded like Nox wanted to kill them. They wo
Nox expected Elizabeth's response. This was why she'd been so nervous all the way. "Ice Temple guys, get up and take your seats. Have a taste of Faeast's quality tea. You, old man, you kneel until she tells you to get up," said Nox.The gods stood up and took their seats. Then, they looked at the old man mockingly. It felt great seeing someone else suffer the burn. The old man groveled in terror, scraping the skin of his forehead. Soon, the ground was covered in blood."Nox, he's…""I know. Duke Coleman. He's the nemesis of Brundelan royalty and has been trying to set up his own fiefdom within the empire. He's just like your uncle now: a villain who stops at nothing to get what he wants," said Nox.Elizabeth nodded. Coleman was a traitor. He carved out his own fiefdom in Brundela blatantly, while his company monopolized the nation's markets. Then, he even set up his own military in his land.The duke tried to assassinate Elizabeth a few years ago. Fortunately, the intelligence age
Kirin happily flew toward the path of the sword's grounds. Fiery Ignis, however, was worried about Nox. "Be careful, boy. The path of the martial didn't send anyone after you. That can only mean one thing: almost all of their forces are attacking the path of the sword. If you go there, they will attack you as well.""Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," said Nox.Fiery Ignis led his temple's cultivators and the Ice Temple guys toward the path of the sword as well. After the group was gone, Nox kept sending messages everywhere. If any of his mentors were coming his way, they would be redirected to the path of the sword.Then, Nox and the ladies went to the path of the sword. At the same time, the path of the sword had set up defensive formations at every entrance, but they had all fallen. The path of the martial's people was in a melee with the swordsmen.The swordsmen were stretched thin, and it was a matter of time before they were annihilated. Some of them were defending the entr
Jonah came closer and told Nox everything. Nox nodded. "Saints of the Five Elements. They responded to my call first."Fiery Ignis said, "And they're very fickle people. You can't trust them.""Don't worry. They like me, and I know exactly what they want. Only I can help them with their path. No one else can. They must be hitting their bottlenecks, so they're in a hurry to help me out. Only when I grow in power can they use the Sacred Beast Seal to devour sacred beast bones and go further."Back then, he taught the five of them the Sacred Beast Seal, and they taught him the secret arts of the five elements. Back then, Nox was not as powerful. They were already at a bottleneck, and the seal's level wasn't up there yet.Nox had become more powerful, and once he taught them the leveled-up version of the seal, they could continue their training."I see. That's a relief." Fiery Ignis felt better. He looked at Jonah. The guy might be craven and servile, but his luck was great.Nox's me
"With the phoenix's bloodline, she can live for ten thousand years, at least. That's more than enough time to become a Great Saint," said Fiery Ignis. Technically speaking, talent didn't matter as long as a cultivator had enough time and resources. Those alone could make anyone a Great Saint.However, reality was often… different. Cultivators would run into a lot of things beyond their control. Even if they didn't, lifespan was a problem. They would usually die of old age if they couldn't get to the next level.With the phoenix bloodline, Queenie didn't have to worry about her lifespan. With Nox's power, he could easily get her a place to train until she became a Great Saint. After Queenie came out, it was Nox's turn.Fiery Ignis couldn't sense his aura. His divine sense didn't even sense his presence at all. "What is this… Oh, right, if the gap between us is too big, divine sense can't sense them. I wonder how powerful he is now."They came back to the surface, and Fiery Ignis ask
Fiery Ignis would not leave anything to chance. If he made the wrong choice, the effects would be disastrous.Jonah had no choice but to wait outside the temple. If the path of the martial assaulted them, the Ice Temple people would be cannon fodder.Days went by. Nox had been in isolation for more than a week. The altar, after a long silence, finally reacted. Fiery Ignis' divine sense had been keeping an eye on it."Finally!" He was excited. After more than a month, Nox was finally coming out.Everyone was waiting with bated breath, and then Nineve came out. Fiery Ignis sensed her power level immediately. She was Pinnacle Legend Realm and nearly a faux Saint. "Not much difference. She was about the same level before going in. Her talent is limited. Though she has a Sovereign bloodline, her own talent is lacking."Fiery Ignis guessed that she'd finished training a while ago and had been waiting for everyone else. As he guessed, Nineve had finished training a while ago. Though the
'He's improving fast.'"Temple Lord, you told me that Mr. Nox has taken the Ice Temple for himself. Do you think they've turned their backs on him?" a cultivator from the Temple of Fire asked."Not sure, but a Three-ring can't impact anything," said Fiery Ignis.Though the Ice Temple had a lot of people, if they thought they could stop Nox, they would be underestimating the Temple of Fire's power.Jonah noticed the fighting spirit rising in Fiery Ignis, and he quickly said telepathically, "We're here to help you. Nox is my lord. I have sworn my loyalty to him. I would never turn my back on him."Fiery Ignis was one of the oldest people in Mystia. He didn't believe Jonah at all. "Give me a reason. Why should I trust you? Who sent you here?" Fiery Ignis asked back telepathically. He refused to let these Ice Temple people go further.The scout could sense something was wrong, and he turned on the Ice Temple guys. Jonah finally told Fiery Ignis who sent him. "Saints of the Five Eleme
Katherine was being docile here because Nox possessed the Nine-State Crucible. Only people from her faction knew how powerful that item was. They only managed to rise to power because the crucible went missing.Nox said nothing more. He infused his Saint power into the altar, and it woke up. The moment it did, a small space opened up, isolated from the world. Through the altar's entrance, everyone saw the ancient energy within. It was huge. Enough for Nox's use.Then, the energy started to leak. Not even Nox could stop that. "This thing is connected to the island. The whole place is radiating energy. Pick up the pace, people," Nox said.Everyone went into the altar's chamber and quickly took in the energy.Fiery Ignis was on the island, taking the Altar back. He sensed the spilling energy, and he knew Nox had begun. "Get ready, people. If Nox breaks through smoothly, we'll fight with the path of the sword. If he fails… be prepared to fight to the death," he said to the survivors te
If the altar was not unsealed, Nox wouldn't have enough power to handle the path of the martial and the path of the ancient divine. Even if he was only facing the leader of the path of the martial, he only had a sixty-forty chance of winning, and that wasn't enough to turn things around."We need to do this. At this point, we have no choice. We'll do everything we can and leave everything to fate. We must unseal the altar. Even if someone tries to disturb us, any powerup is good news for us," said Aphrodite."Fine, then we'll unseal the altar. You stay here as well. I think there's going to be a lot of this energy. I'll reach my limit very fast. You can use the energy to train as well. Queenie, you're a phoenix. If someone tries to disturb us, devour all the energy," said Nox."But I'm at my bottleneck. Devouring it won't do me any good. It's a waste." Queenie frowned."Better than letting the enemy take it. At worst, you can use them as energy bombs." Nineve curled her lips.Quee
"Will you shut up already? There's plenty of energy here. The Sea of the Fire God has a whole reserve for you." Nox sent Kirin flying away with a kick. The guy just wanted to take advantage of the situation.Replenishing spiritual energy and devouring it were different things. No matter the quality, replenishment would eventually fill up the user's tanks. Power level, however, was different. Lower-level spiritual energy couldn't be absorbed and refined, but higher-level energy was limited. There was no place to house a large amount of it.The fact that Fiery Ignis knew a place like that was a great help for Nox."Come with me." Fiery Ignis led everyone through the Altar and down to the underground. At the deepest depths was a cavern, where water and fire fused like they were perfect for each other. Weaker ones would die here if they stayed long enough, let alone pass through it.Nox used his Saint power to protect everyone as he went down as per Fiery Ignis' orders. After going thr
"The path of the martial would never destroy the Temple of Fire, but Nox forced their hand. Even though you think this is bad enough, something worse is coming," said Aphrodite.Nox first thought of Faeast, after which he remembered the path of the sword. His guesses were correct. Aphrodite explained, "They will attack Faeast, but we can't get distracted now. People will die, but they can't kill everyone. A few deaths for a long-lasting peace is worth it. What we need to do now is raze Mystia to the ground."For that, we need the path of the sword," said Aphrodite. What came next was simple. Their destination was the path of the sword's grounds."Path of the sword? We can do that, but give me some time. I need to take the Altar off the formation and bring it with me," said Fiery Ignis."Of course, but make it quick. They won't hesitate to attack the path of the sword," said Nox solemnly.Fiery Ignis laughed. "They're not as simple as they look, Nox. The path of the martial might o