Chapter 499: An Old Friend

　　The violet rain fell harder.

　　Half a year later, the lakes in the Western Desert North region all connected, transforming into a great, Violet Sea. The great sea exterminated all life and cut off all spiritual energy.

　　The North region… was now completely devoid of any neo-demons. There was nothing alive. Any Tribes which had chosen not to migrate were now buried at the bottom of the sea.

　　The entire Western Desert North region was covered with a surging, Violet Sea, beneath the surface of which, mountain peaks were just barely visible.

　　Now that the North region had become a sea, the Western Desert Apocalypse exploded out with its first true display of shocking power. Massive, powerful waves rolled across the sea, spreading out to smash into and collapse the mountains separating the Central region from the North region. As the mountains fell, the Violet Sea expanded out into the East, West and Central regions.

　　As the Violet Sea expanded, the lakes in the East, West, and Central regions began to combine. The seawaters gradually grew more majestic, and rose with increasing speed.

　　The shaping and expanding of the sea was like a whip, lashing at the backs of the migrating Tribes. They had to move faster, and plunder more.

　　The number of dead and wounded… was impossible to count.

　　The effect of the spiritual energy being cut off spread throughout the Central region, as well as into the East and West regions. With the exception of the South Region, spiritual energy everywhere grew rarer and rarer.

　　Because of the lack of spiritual energy, the Cultivation base of Cultivators fell and led to deaths. Such deaths caused the totemic Sacred Ancients of the various Tribes to begin to weaken.

　　The weakening of the Sacred Ancients in turn caused the Tribe members to weaken. As such, any deaths caused a vicious cycle that was impossible to break out of.

　　During the half-year period, the Crow Divinity rode its flying magical item through the Western Desert Central region. They experienced dozens of battles, during each of which, their opponents came at them with the full power of an entire Tribe.

　　A defeat in any of these battles represented the destruction of an entire Tribe. And yet, the battles could not be avoided.

　　That was because the Crow Divinity Tribe had a flying magical item, which other Tribes wanted. They also possessed a Demon Spirit. As soon as a Demon Spirit appeared, other Tribes would go mad with greed. Even Meng Hao was worried about this phenomenon.

　　During the half year, Meng Hao’s neo-demon horde shrank to 70,000, and that was even after bolstering them up along the way. That having been said, these 70,000 neo-demons were incredibly powerful.

　　As for Tribe members, there were 8,000. However, those 8,000 Tribe members were now veterans of countless battles!

　　Meng Hao ended up getting seriously injured twice during the half year period. However, with deliberate effort, he was able to cause his totemic power to grow more refined. Furthermore, his control of Demonic Qi reached a completely new realm.

　　It is only in that fine divide between life and death that battle prowess can be elevated. In addition, it was during this time that Meng Hao continued along on his path of enlightenment regarding the Violet Rain. Although his progress was slow, he was gradually getting more and more results.

　　Because the violet rain cut off the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, Meng Hao’s superiority grew even more obvious. That was why it was so easy for him to slaughter a late Nascent Soul stage Cultivator.

　　The thinning of the spiritual energy actually allowed Meng Hao to gradually increase his own power.

　　Meng Hao currently stood at the prow of the magical flying ship. His face was pale, and his body somewhat thin. The years of campaigning had truly changed him. He looked off into the distance and then sighed, “The day when there is no spiritual energy left at all in the Western Desert, is the day when I will truly make my rise.”

　　During the half-year period, three other momentous events occurred. Three Demon Spirits appeared in the great lands of the Western Desert. It instantly drew the attention of various tribes, and resulted in plundering and fighting.

　　Meng Hao was well aware of what happened when a Demon Spirit suddenly appeared; that was exactly what had led to his two serious injuries along the campaign trail.

　　However, these other Demon Spirits relieved some of the pressure placed on Meng Hao and the Crow Divinity Tribe. No longer were they being attacked from all sides. They only continued to grow stronger and stronger.

　　Meanwhile, about half a month’s journey up ahead of Meng Hao, three black flying machines that looked like swords were shooting through the air.

　　They were pitch black, and emanated pulsing, cold auras. Each of these sword-shaped magical ships were several thousands meters long, and were covered with black-robed Cultivators, all seated cross-legged.

　　Their faces were expressionless and their eyes closed as they sat in meditation. Occasionally, some of them would open their eyes, and a bright flashing could be seen.

　　Shockingly, these Cultivators’ totem tattoos were all swords!

　　Huge black flying swords and totem tattoos depicting weapons were not things frequently seen in the Western Desert. In fact, in all of the great lands of the Western Desert, there was only one tribe had had black sword totems…. This Tribe was obviously the great Cloud Sky Tribe.

　　They had a Spirit Severing Patriarch, and were the most powerful Tribe in the Western Desert Central region. The Five Poisons Tribe had acquired the opportunity to become an auxiliary branch of this Tribe, but before the emissary could even reach them, they had been wiped out by the Crow Divinity Tribe.

　　Of the three black sword magical items, one flew in the lead position. Sitting cross-legged at the very tip of the sword was an old man. Unlike the other Tribe members, his robe was white. He had the bearing of a transcendent being, and proud expression covered his face. Sitting on either side of him were two middle-aged men who wore cautious, obsequious smiles on their faces.

　　“How much longer?” asked the transcendent-looking, white-robed old man, his voice cool. In both his facial expression and temperament, this man manifested an aloof proudness. It was as if years of being in a position similar to royalty had ingrained itself onto his very personality.

　　This was especially true of his transcendent aura. Each and every one of the members of the great Cloud Sky Tribe had looks of awe on their faces when they looked at him.

　　One of the middle-aged men sitting next to him replied, “Grandmaster Zhou, I’m happy to report that in approximately five days, we will reach that despicable Crow Divinity Tribe. Grandmaster Zhou, it is truly an honor for the Main Tribe to send you to direct the military operations of the Battle Branch.”

　　The Cloud Sky Tribe was a great Tribe, and commanded thirteen auxiliary Tribes. The Cultivators on these three black swords belonged to one of those thirteen Tribes, a Battle Tribe. As for this transcendent-looking old man, if Meng Hao were here, he would definitely have a strange expression on his face. He would instantly recognize the man to be Zhou Dekun.

　　Zhou Dekun, Furnace Lord of the Violet Fate Sect’s East Pill Division. Zhou Dekun… had lived quite an odd life. He had drifted from place to place, and had experienced things that other Furnace Lords would find hair-raising.

　　He had been captured and taken to the Black Lands, where he eventually ended up being taken in by the Frigid Snow Clan as an esteemed guest. He became Frigid Snow City’s Grandmaster of the Dao of Alchemy, surrounded by a host of concubines. His reputation grew until he became known as the greatest alchemist in all the Black Lands.

　　After that… he was taken prisoner again. He passed through many hands in the Western Desert. After all these years, it was impossible to know what exactly he had experienced. However, as of this moment, it was obvious that he was a member of the great Cloud Sky Tribe. Clearly, he occupied an extremely high position.

　　Obviously, it didn’t matter where you went in the wide world, possessing pill-concocting skills could lead you into miracles….

　　A haughty expression filled Zhou Dekun’s face as he nodded in response. Actually, it was of his own accord that he requested to lead this expedition. In recent years, life in the Tribe had become somewhat tedious. He wanted to get out and stretch his legs. Thankfully, the great Cloud Sky Tribe had arranged a mission for the Battle Tribe to go exterminate the Crow Divinity Tribe. One reason was because of the fact that the great Cloud Sky Tribe had made an agreement with the Five Poisons Tribe, only to learn that they were exterminated on the way by the Crow Divinity Tribe. In order to preserve their ability to intimidate others militarily, they had to wipe out the Crow Divinity Tribe. Another aspect, of course, had to do with the Demon Spirit.

　　Therefore, Zhou Dekun took on the mission. He would represent the Main Tribe to direct the military operations. That was why he was here. Because of his position, and the might of the great Cloud Sky, he was actually quite safe within the current Apocalpyse.

　　He was well aware of that fact, as were the Greatfather and the High Priest of the Battle Tribe, who sat on either side of him. They knew that their mission here was actually secondary. The main purpose of the outing was to please Zhou Dekun, who occupied such a high position within the Tribe.

　　As for the Demon Spirits, even Meng Hao knew about the other three that had appeared in the past half years. However, the great Tribes with Spirit Severing Patriarchs actually had even more accurate information. They knew that it was not just three that had appeared in the last half year, but rather, five!

　　The Heavenly Court Alliance in the Black Lands did nothing about the five Demon Spirits. Instead, vast amounts of Tribes fought and plundered over them. In the end, three of them were actually acquired by Tribes with Spirit Severing Patriarchs, after which, those Tribes entered into negotiations with the Heavenly Court Alliance.

　　The great Cloud Sky Tribe was one of the Tribes who had acquired a Demon Spirit. The other two were acquired by other great Tribes which did not have Spirit Severing Patriarchs. Other Tribes sent spies to get information about them, but because they were great Tribes and incredibly powerful, no one dared to try to do anything.

　　For Tribes with Spirit Severing Patriarchs, acquiring a Demon Spirit wasn’t incredibly important. Such Tribes would be able to get into the Black Lands whether they had one or not. Therefore, it wasn’t worth paying a heavy price to get one.

　　In the end, this was how two great Tribes with no Spirit Severing Patriarchs were able to keep ahold of the Spirit Demons they had acquired, and earn the right to enter the Black Lands.

　　“Grandmaster Zhou,” said one of the middle-aged men next to him, speaking very cautiously, “if there is anything you require during the journey, please don’t hesitate to speak up. We will spare no effort in meeting your needs.”

　　“That’s right, Grandmaster Zhou. The battles in the Apocalypse have been chaotic. With so many Tribes migrating, many treasures are out in the open. If you see anything you like, we can get it for you.”

　　Zhou Dekun laughed heartily, his expression one of complacency. In recent years, he had often sighed emotionally when he thought about his journey of life and how miraculous it had been.

　　“If there’s something I really need, then I won’t hold back from telling the two of you. Very well, let’s push forward with as much speed as we can muster. I’m very interested in that Demon Spirit that the Crow Divinity Tribe has.” With that, Zhou Dekun closed his eyes.

　　The two men next to him said nothing more. The three black swords shot forward at incredible speed, growing ever closer to Meng Hao and the Crow Divinity Tribe.

　　Time passed, and soon five days had gone by. On this day, the violet rain poured down the same as ever. Down below, rivers and lakes could be seen. The spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth was thin. It was around dusk when the Crow Divinity Tribe and the great Cloud Sky Tribe… finally caught sight of each other in the air above the Western Desert Central region!

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　　This chapter was sponsored by James Timmermans