"Sire, please spare us. Give us some more time. The sales have been too low. But we'll be able to pay the taxes soon enough." An old shopkeeper begged an empyrean captain in the middle of a city market.
"Humph! No one is exempted from taxes." The captain said angrily. "There will be no additional time given to you. Soldiers! Confiscate everything inside this shop and load it on the cart."
Then the captain headed towards the other shop. He was tasked with collecting the taxes from those who hadn't paid it yet.
"Sire please! My family will starve to death if you take everything!" The old shopkeeper grabbed the captain's leg.
"You think Emperor's law is a joke?!" The captain snarled and unsheathed his sword, immediately slicing the shopkeeper's head off.
"Father!!!" A young boy screamed as he witnessed this. Shock and sorrow were clear on his face.
"You evil man! I will kill you!" The boy roared in a growing fit of rage and ran towards the captain.
"Haha! What a joke." The captain chuckled and swung his sword again.
Another head rolled on the floor; but it was of the captain himself. A fountain of blood spurted out from his neck as his corpse fell down.
"W-who dares attack empyrean army!" A soldier shouted as he turned and was immediately decapitated by the perpetrator who had green hair and bright green eyes. In his hand a greatsword was flickering with chi and was dyed with fresh blood. This person was Qiang.
Within the next moment, all the remaining soldiers were slain casually by Qiang. His expression was full of pity as he looked at the orphan boy who was staring at the scene dumbfoundedly.
"You're too young to fight." Qiang said to the boy once he was done killing the empyrean unit and approached the little boy.
"Give your father a proper funeral and take the helm of your family. By continuing the business your father set down, you'll have honored him. 'That' is your fight, boy." Qiang said and handed over a few gold coins to the boy before walking away. Behind him hundreds of rebels were walking with great enthusiasm.
"Behold! The revolution has begun!" One of the rebels announced loudly using a support technique and thus he was audible throughout the city.
"No one is slave to the Emperor's law now. Rejoice civilians! Revolutionary army has come to set you free!"
A loud commotion followed quickly. Civilians were mostly just afraid. Some were however were excite about the revolution. Some hot-blooded young men even attempted to join the revolutionary army.
Qiang led this small battalion towards the fort in the center of the city where the Empyrean army had set up a defensive formation for battle. On the top of the fort, a burly commander was looking down at the incoming rebels.
Qiang's gaze met with the commander's. Both disappeared from their spot immediately and loud explosions occurred half a mile away from the fort. The two had moved to battle it out there, not wanting to implicate their respective warriors. The fight between Sage realm cultivators wasn't something Advanced realm warriors could endure.
-------------
Meanwhile similar situations was occurring in several cities. Revolutionary army had begun the revolution and were easily taking down the cities on the outskirts of Ji empire. Only the cities where Empyrean commanders or generals were posted, were on a standoff. Revolutionary army lacked Sage realm warriors but they had many Master realm warriors. Although their army had thinned by half, they were still filled with confidence. The reason being…
"Lady Aerin, we're taking heavy losses on the west side!" A rebel captain informed Aerin.
"Persevere, my brave fellows." Aerin said in her sweet voice, immediately filling the captain's heart with passion, comfort and determination.
"I'm almost done setting up the strategy." As soon as Aerin finished her sentence, her chi exploded outwards, covering the entire battlefield and a strategy was activated under the ground. All the rebels felt a rush of chi in their bodies and their wounds healed rapidly! This brought a huge tactical and psychological boost to their strength and they fought on with vigor against the empyrean army, gaining ground easily.
"Humph! You are merely a strategy expert." The empyrean commander leading this battle from Jiao's side scoffed as he sliced through the revolutionary army's battle formation and quickly reached Aerin.
"Let me see how you heal your men after dying." The empyrean commander shouted.
Swoosh! He hurled a spear towards Aerin. It was brimming with chi and threatened to end her life.
Crackle! Lightning surged around Aerin as she smiled and disappeared from her spot, appearing behind the commander.
"Lightning claw!" Aerin shouted and clawed towards the commander, easily piercing through his back and grabbing his heart and pulling it out, killing him swiftly.
The commander's eyes were filled with shock as he died and collapsed on the ground. A loud uproar shook the battleground as filled with high morale; the revolutionary army obliterated the empyrean army within minutes!
Aerin smiled happily. She was no longer the weak woman from a year ago. During the last year, she not only had levelled up by dual cultivation, but she also got stronger! Wind taught her the Lightning Thunder technique which suited her perfectly due to her inherent lightning element constitution. She even developed her mastery of assault strategies and was now a powerful warrior!
-----------------
"Charge ahead!!" A young man shouted as he revolved his chi to the maximum.
"Knight steed! Knight jostling!" He moved speedily like a steed and pierced through the empyrean army's formation, killing soldiers left and right. This man was Ken Long of Ember state. He had already declared Ember state independent and was now attacking the nearby cities of Ji empire. He had his own army to aid him in this conquest.
"Meet your doom, lad!" A man roared in the sky as he flew towards Ken like a meteor.
"Level 2 Sage realm! It's a commander!" Ken exclaimed in his mind and quickly retreated. He was yet to break through to Sage realm. He was still at level 9 Master realm. It was a powerful cultivation base for someone with an ordinary constitution but war was unpredictable. Ken hadn't expected a commander to approach this city so quickly.
Blang! A crossbow bolt struck the incoming commander on his forehead directly, stopping his advent abruptly and rendering him disoriented.
"This technique…" Ken mumbled as the ground under his feet morphed and shifted, forming a straight tunnel where he fell and the ground above him closed up again.
"You puny coward! Come out!" The commander shouted from above and attacked the ground where Ken was standing earlier.
Boom! An explosion occurred, forming a deep crater. A hole could be seen in it. It was the vertical tunnel in which Ken had disappeared into. The commander immediately dived into it, raging to capture the opponent.
A minute later Ken emerged from the tunnel, holding the dead commander's head. There was a petite black girl beside him with a crossbow in her hands.
"Thank you for the help." Ken said softly to Lan and smiled. She was the one who had rescued him and killed the commander. But she let Ken take the glory as it'd boost his army's morale further.
"It's my pleasure." Lan said sweetly. "Master has commanded me to be by your side in this revolution. You can count on me for both war and…cultivation." She bit her lower lip seductively as she said the last part of the sentence.
Ken smiled wider and even blushed in a manly way. He had slightly liked Lan in the past and dual cultivated with her. But Wind didn't let him have her for long, fearing he might win her heart. But now Lan's loyalty was a proven. She had also turned into an experienced slut, having dual cultivated with several men under Wind's command. So, Wind no longer worried and he tasked her to help Ken Long. Ken had great potential and needed to be carefully protected from lethal dangers so he'd grow into an even powerful ally once he breaks through Sage realm. For the same reason also, Lan was sent to Ken. She was going to dual cultivate with him and help him break through.
"The empyrean commander is dead! Hurray!" Someone shouted loudly and Ember state's army was filled with confidence. The battle thenceforth was a cakewalk.
------------
"Is this all you've got?" Plant King asked as he looked at the defeated general in front of him. The entire fort had been devoured by trees and plants that grew everywhere and broke through the fort walls. The empyrean battalion stationed here had been annihilated by Plant King. He was currently at level 9 Sage realm! His opponent was an empyrean general at merely level 6 Sage realm. The battle was one sided.
"Ohok!" The general coughed out blood as he hung his head low. There was a thick tree growing out from his stomach, devouring his chi like a bottomless pit. He merely had a few seconds to live.
"Do not…forget." The general mumbled. "Emperor Jiao…will… come &…" He died before completing the sentence.
Plant King shook his head and smiled. "No, he won't come after me or anyone else. Your emperor is…busy elsewhere."
-----------
In a dense forest far-far away from Ji empire, emperor Jiao finally reached a dangerous spot. He looked all around him. He was surrounded by millions of demons! They were of all shapes and sizes. The weakest among them were at Master realm cultivation. The strongest of them were in Sage realm. They all had distinct features, resembling beasts to much extent. This was a powerful force. All these demons were completely under Wu Shang's control who stood on the top of a hillock in the middle of his demon army.
"You're the demon king I presume." Jiao spoke with a grave tone. "Where is my daughter Delilah?"
"She's right here." Wu Shang spoke from afar using Whispering Travelers technique and summoned Delilah from his spatial ring. Jiao's eyes shot open and burned with rage as he witnessed Delilah's state. She was bald, pregnant, amputated and currently getting raped by a demon forcefully. There was a stupid smile on her face. Obviously, her mind had been broken too.
"You…I'll kill you!!!" Jiao roared and his chi flared up.
"The one who dies today is you!" Wu Shang shouted and pointed his forefinger at Jiao. Immediately the demons all howled and lunged at Jiao.
Boom! Energy rippled out from Jiao creating a crater on the ground and literally ripped hundreds of demons apart who were the nearest in his attack range. Next, Jiao disappeared from his spot as he lunged towards Wu Shang speedily. However, he was obstructed by a batch of spider demons that weaved tricky webs to restrict Jiao while attacking him.
Swoosh! His sword glistened and cleaved through the spider demons and their webs as Jiao sprinted yet again only to face more and more demons.
Wu Shang had absolute control over his demon army and was using several combination attacks now to effectively restrict Jiao. However, the difference of power was visibly apparent. Jiao was at level 1 Emperor realm; while the demons were merely in Sage realm. Wu Shang himself was only at level 8 Sage realm. But even so, the quantity of the demons was too much for Jiao to get rid of in a short time. He was suppressed by waves and waves of demon horde.
----------------
Meanwhile Blyn state had launched attack on Ji empire as well. They had a robust army and a royal demeanor. Blyn knights and soldiers all had great pride and order among them. They were not like the revolutionary army which was comprised of riff-raffs. Hei himself was leading the army towards one victory after another.
"Any news of princess Alexia?" Hei asked via Whispering Travelers technique.
"Sigh, no. But I'm certain that she'd be going where Wind is." Queen Kyra spoke as she fought an empyrean commander on the other front.
"Hmm…in that case…" Hei mumbled before finishing off his opponent and rushing to help Kyra. "…She's heading towards the empyrean palace. We cannot make it there anytime sooner. We can only put faith in her ability and Wind's prowess."
"Sigh, this rebellious daughter of mine." Kyra shook her head. "I hope she remains safe."
---------------------
"This is the end for you!" Commander Hakon roared as he swung his huge axe and dealt a powerful blow with his brute force technique.
Clang! Diamond Shi parried it easily with his spear and snarled. "It is you who shall meet his end here." His body flared with chi, fully revealing his level 1 Sage realm cultivation. He was equally matched with Hakon and the two had been fighting for an entire day. However, the empyrean army was losing.
Diamond Shi had raised his subordinates well. All of Wind's concubines whom he had left behind in Shi's care had reached Master realm in cultivation while the Empyrean army under Hakon's command only had 2 Master realm cultivators. The battle was thus quickly nearing its end.
Hakon had previously been contacted by Wind and was offered a high place in the palace after success of the revolution but Hakon refused to join him and stayed loyal to Jiao. It was a pity but Wind didn't dwell on it. He asked Diamond Shi to lead his own force into the empire and confront Hakon.
"Raging axe!" Hakon shouted and swung his axe speedily several times, sending out large amount of chi in the form of axes towards Shi. At this close range, Diamond Shi couldn't dodge this attack and had to defend. His technique- Spear of the chieftain was an assault type technique and had no defensive moves apart from spear movements.
In face of the immediate danger, Shi used his trump card.
"Deflect!" His spear shone with light as he swirled it in the air. All the energy axes that struck the spear were deflected back at Hakon.
Swoosh! Swish! Clang! Hakon was stunned but reflexively swung his axe, chopping away his own deflected moves but suddenly Shi appeared in front of him and stabbed through Hakon's chest.
The battle paused for a few moments as Hakon's heart was pierced. He wouldn't survive this but Diamond Shi had a shocked expression instead of a joyful one.
Puchi! Shi's body split into two as he fell on the ground, dead. In the last moment, Hakon had used his trump card as well. He swung the axe so speedily that Shi couldn't even see it.
Hakon too fell down dead soon after.
"Master!"
"Mr. Shi!"
"Commander!"
Their followers shouted grievously and attempted to secure their leaders' corpses but the battle had turned messy with enraged warriors on both sides going berserk. The battle lasted another hour before the Diamond clan won and the Empyrean army was defeated. Many soldier however managed to flee and survive.
"Let's stop here. Without father's prowess we cannot advance further." A scrawny boy said as he covered Diamond Shi's corpse with a sheet. This boy was Yoro. He looked still scrawny but his voice was now feminine. He was even sporting a pair of breasts! Having used yin-yang swap technique too many a times, he had turned into a transgender. Although he hated his appearance for a year, he eventually got over it and accepted his body & gender. He was now capable of using both yin and yang chi proficiently and had even reached Master realm.
"No. We'll keep moving forward." A voice echoed as a beautiful girl with short black hair stepped forward. She was wearing a chainmail armor which gave her a fierce look. She was Xui.
"Young Master Wind is putting his life on the line in this revolution. He is up against an Emperor! We cannot sit down either." Xui said bravely.
"We'll continue fighting. We'll ask revolutionary army to send a Sage realm warrior to take helm of our forces or else we'll simply merge with one of their battalions. The revolution however will continue!"
"I've received message from the nearby rebel troops." Another girl chimed in. She was sporting a pair of big breasts and was tall and even slightly muscular. She was Rima. "Let' merge with revolutionary army and keep going further."
"I agree."
"I agree as well."
One by one all the former concubines and now the captains of Diamond clan force agreed to this idea. Yoro sighed and helplessly agreed too.
-----------------
On the eastern frontier, Kol Kingdom was barging into Ji Empire's territory like a landslide. They built up a huge momentum due to their small but robustly powerful army. Koldorus had no lack of talented warriors under his rule. There were hardly any challenges to them as they stormed through everything to the interior of the empire, conquering city after city. Koldorus was rather venting his frustration as he didn't have Xiao by his side. According to the cursed contract with Wind, Koldorus had gotten Xiao for a while. He dual cultivated with her for several days and so did his elders. Even though he treated Xiao like a slut he still wanted to keep her by her side. His obsession with Xiao was decades long after all. But when Wind's group separated to launch the revolution, Xiao was taken away by Wind and Koldorus was ordered to wage war from the east. Koldorus couldn't refute but he was still upset. He poured out his anger in the battle as he charged ahead fearlessly and fought head-to-head with an empyrean commander, quickly killing him and continuing forward. He seemed unstoppable.
----------------------
In this manner, the revolution raged on for days. Numerous battles were fought in several cities. Revolutionary army had the upper hand despite their lesser numbers. But they too took several losses. Empyrean army was losing due to the absence of their emperor. Jiao had not appeared since the beginning of the revolution. Princess Delilah had disappeared as well. A rumor had started to spread that Jiao had abandoned the empire! This brought down the morale of empyrean army. But they still continued to fight under leadership of their powerful commanders and generals.
Meanwhile in a dark valley, a group of people was fighting a hoard of beasts. This group was led by a young man draped in white clothes, sporting a white clown mask.
Kreee!! A tusker beast as large as a hillock stampeded in the valley.
"This beast is not only at Sage realm, but it also inherently strong." Wind muttered.
"Stand back. I'll handle it." Xiao said and summoned a shield in her left hand while pointing her long sword towards the beast.
"Blood fountain!" She yelled and a powerful stream of water, rich with yin chi was shot towards the beast like a blade. It cut through the beast's body as Xiao moved her hand, tilting the sword and cutting a large chunk off the beast. The tusker beast screeched loudly as a fountain of blood spurted from its severe wound & it quickly died.
Xiao was sweating now as she had spent a lot of chi in this attack.
Kree! Kree!!! Suddenly louder sounds echoed as an entire pack of Sage realm tusker beasts appeared from inside a wide crevice in the valley.
"Don't go fighting them too now." Wind warned Xiao. "This is just the external defense. The empyrean treasury has several more traps and defenses up ahead." Then Wind looked at Saiyu who felt his gaze and nodded her head in understanding.
Immediately chi rippled out from Saiyu's body, forming a mist-like phenomenon. The beasts evaded Wind's group and stampeded away into the valley.
"I showed them an illusion that there are female tuskers a mile away from here while we are sharp rocks." Saiyu explained casually. She had learnt Illusion technique from the formation spirit Hyun Jung. She could even entrap Sage realm warriors and beasts. It was a very useful technique.
"Good job." Wind commended her and then sprinted ahead, leading the two. They entered the crevice where the beasts earlier had come from. It was dark and spacious. Xiao used Tracker technique and two beams of white light were shot out from her eyes, enabling her to see 500 meters area in front of her very clearly. Saiyu too was able to walk easily due to these light beams that illuminated the path. In Wind's vision, everything was crystal clear. His 10000 li sight had been perfected. Nothing could hide from his gaze.
"Careful. There's batch of bat beasts ahead." Wind said cautiously.
Flap! Flap! Flap! Almost immediately loud flapping sounds echoed in the crevice as the bat beasts awakened from their slumber. These bats were big like horses & had the ability to pick up the slightest sound around them and hence could pin-point Wind's group's location. They immediately surrounded the three humans and attacked with their talons and shockwaves that they emitted from their throats.
Chaos quickly ensued as the crevice shook heavily from the shockwaves and large rocks began to fall off the walls. Wind's group had already moved ahead though. The beasts were actually attacking illusions.
Further ahead, the crevice opened up into a large cave filled with a misty lake.
"Poison mist, acid water." Wind pointed out and immediately summoned a silvery knight armor that clung onto his entire body, leaving no space for the mist to enter. Xiao and Saiyu did the same. They had obtained these knight armors from Hei. Knight armors of this quality could endure immense pressure, heat and cold and were also very tough. They couldn't easily be cut or pierced through. Each armor had the ability to adjust itself snuggly according to the wearer's body shape. Currently Xiao looked the most stunning! Her large breasts, perky long nipples & big hips were sticking out perfectly, clad in skin-tight metallic armor. At once Wind's focus dwindled and his penis stirred up. Ironically his armor adjusted itself to allow him a full erection. Now there was a metallic dong poking outwards from his crotch, aimed towards Xiao's metallic mountainous hips.
"Pffft!" Saiyu barely managed to stop herself from laughing as she saw the recent development.
Splash! Splash! Suddenly the acid water splashed everywhere burning everything it fell upon & Wind's group was alerted. Acid waves were already upon them but they didn't evade. It could not burn their full body knight armors. They gazed carefully at the lake as it was undergoing a huge commotion. Soon enough a strange beast emerged from under the lake. It had a frog-like body & was as large as an elephant. There were yellow boils all over its skin. It had no eyes but several tentacles for limbs. Every few seconds the boils on its skin would explode and shower acid upon the things nearby. The beast had no mouth either. It quickly attacked the trio, whipping its long tentacles at them.
"What kind of a beast is this?" Wind frowned as he muttered. He had never read of such a beast.
"Looks like a poison frog beast." Xiao said while dodging the tentacles and slashed her sword at one.
Puchi! The tentacle was cut off cleanly and a fountain of acidic blood flowed out of it, targeting Xiao and was splashed all over her. But due to the knight armor, she remained unharmed. However, the outer surface of the armor was now emitting hissing sounds. Although quite slow, the acid was seemingly capable of damaging the armor in the long run.
"Maybe it's a mutated poison frog beast?" Saiyu suggested while chopping off a few tentacles but she was still caught by one and all the half chopped tentacles aimed towards her, bathing her in acidic blood.
Chhissss…!! Smoke obscured Saiyu's figure as the acid poured over her.
Swoosh! A green jade blade was shot towards the smoke and cut through the tentacle, freeing Saiyu. The blade returned to Wind's hand. This was the 'extended hand' move of Sword Dance technique.
"Careful. The armors won't hold for too long." Wind warned others. "I presume your illusion isn't working on it Saiyu?"
"This beast has no eyes." Saiyu said sighing. Her Illusion technique required the target to have functional eyes.
"We cannot waste time here." Wind said while dodging the tentacles and the acid water. "Xiao, bring out some sacrifices." Wind commanded.
Xiao immediately summoned a hundred few goblins from her ring. They were the sacrifice or rather cannon fodder Wind wanted to use in order to distract the beast.
Sure enough, the beast got distracted. Loud goblin screeches echoed in the cave as the goblins were attacked and killed by dozens by the acidic attacks of the blind beast. Using this commotion, the trio managed to sneak past the beast and continued forward.
Wind and Xiao had many methods up their sleeves which they could have used to probe the beast and bring it down somehow, but it'd waste much time. Just moving past it when entering & exiting, would be enough. Plus, if anyone came after them, the beast would hold them off, which would benefit the trio.
Wind had used 10000 li sight to already find a secret pathway in the cave and easily entered it, followed by the others. They found themselves in a narrow dark tunnel. Sprinting through it for a minute, they reached another large cave, but this one was glowing bright.
"Oh my…" Saiyu uttered as she and others looked around the cave and found it full of treasure!!
There was tons of gold in the form of gold coins, ornaments and jewels piled up here and there. Rare gems and cultivation resources could be seen everywhere.
"Fuck me, we're rich!!" Saiyu shouted aloud excitedly.
Wind and Xiao shook their heads. They were nobles and had seen their fair share of treasures before. Hell, Wind was even Prince Lu in his past life. He had been to this treasury several times. This treasure basically once belonged to him.
"Intruder! Be ready to meet your doom!" Suddenly a hoarse voice echoed in the cave and chi rippled everywhere dangerously.
"This magnitude of chi…" Xiao muttered and frowned. "Level 9 Sage realm!"
Soon a person emerged from behind the piles of treasures and floated towards them. This person was a scrawny old woman. Her hairs were white and several meters long; unkempt and dirty. She was wearing noble attire but it too was in tatters. There were no shoes on her feet and her nails were long and twisted. She looked like a ghostly witch!
"Long time no see, granny Misa." Wind said, stowing away his knight armor and revealed a happy smile.