Nightfall

At day break, the morning sun was yet to rise from the East Sea, and the sky was merely lit up. It was gloomy as in the storm, and the peak seemed lonely.

There were three plateaus, four Divine Halls, thousands of divine priests and tens of thousands of deacons and cavalrymen in the peak. It was the place where Taoism had ruled over the human world for countless years, and regarded as the holy land by all the followers of Haotian.

Right now there were tens of thousands of people on the plateaus. They were the divine priests in red and brown robes, the deacons in black robes and the cavalrymen in dark metal armors. They formed a huge and silent mass.

There wasn’t even a sound of breathing. The huge mass of people was as silent as the deepest ocean. There might be roaring anger deep down in the ocean, but nothing could be seen on the surface. Even bubbles were blown in the morning breeze.

There were senior and pious red-robed divine priests and resolute, and ruthless cavalry leaders. All of them had stayed in these divine halls for many years. They were silent but looked complicated. People were angry, sad, disappointed, or even desperate. That was why they kept deadly quiet.

Taoism was the most influential religion ever since the awakening of human beings. The Divine Halls were the most sacred places. People here had been practicing Haotian’s will and ruled over the human world for countless years. They held incredibly high positions, great wealth and were widely respected. Were these all going to be ruined today?

The people on the plateaus looked at the equally silent black mass down the peak, among the fields and hills. But those black mass did not carry such a complex of emotions as grief or disappointment. Instead, there was vaguely some accumulating strength that seemed powerful and horrifying.

That was the the Black Armor Heavy Cavalry from the Tang. It could defeat anything in the world. Tens of thousands of Black Armor Heavy Cavalry encircled Peach Mountain. No one except for the really powerful cultivators could try breaking through the tight encirclement.

Some of them saw at the end of the mountain trail a sacred sedan covered by layers of gauze. A woman in the blood-colored Gown of Judgment sat inside with a sacred crown on her head. She was the Great Divine Priest of Judgment, Ye Hongyu. If it was in the past, the Great Divine Priest of Judgment would definitely be the mental support of the tens of thousands of divine priests and deacons from the West-Hill. They always believed that as long as she was present no one could pose the slightest threat to the Divine Halls of West-Hill. However, today she stood on the opposite side.

Some saw at the entrance of the Northern Mountain Road people carrying loads and kitchenware, an old cattle and a goose. They knew those were the people from the Academy. Most were staring at one person among them. That person was not a divine priest from the West-Hill. But he was wearing a divine gown and a sacred crown. His chubby figured seemed to be the most awe-inspiring in the human world. They knew he was Chen Pipi, the legendary young genius of Taoism, son of the Abbey Dean, and furthermore, the current leader of the New Stream.

Ye Hongyu and Chen Pipi were to some extent the two most epic traitors throughout the history of Taoism. There was also Cheng Lixue who led the people from the Divine Hall of Revelation returning to Peach Mountain. They knew Taoism and the West-Hill so well. If it was not because of them how could they have broken through the Array of Clear Light so easily in the dawn?

The people on Peach Mountain stared at them and felt a complex of emotions.

Yet they were not the focus. A fairy like slim figure standing at the end of the mountain trail right in front of Haotian’s Divine Hall attracted most people’s attention.

She used to be called Lin Wu, and now Yu Lian. She was also well-known as the Twenty-Three-Year Cicada, the current leader of the Devil’s Doctrine. She stood there right at the top of Peach Mountain, and maximized the humiliation for the Divine Halls of West-Hill.

Taoism and Devil’s Doctrine had always been at daggers drawn. Throughout a thousand years, she was the first and only leader of Devil’s Doctrine who came right in front of the Divine Halls of West-Hill.

They stared at the young girl and felt complicated. It was chilling, but Yu Lian felt nothing. She was not even looking at the Divine Halls. Instead, she looked toward somewhere else in the north.

Her disregard was also humiliation.

But after all … although the Tang cavalry had almost wiped out the West-Hill Divine Kingdom, Taoism did maintain their best forces and retreated in time into the peak of Peach Mountain. Right then there were thousands of divine priests and deacons standing on the plateau. The sun finally rose and shed light on them. They formed an ocean of red and black gowns. Beside them there were tens of thousands of cavalrymen. How could the few people from the Academy and a few others like Ye Hongyu and Cheng Lixue be able to defeat the crowd?

Furthermore, inside Haotian’s Divine Hall there were Zhao Nanhai at the zenith of Knowing Destiny, the unfathomable middle-aged priest, as well as the radiating Hierarch, Xiong Chumo!

…

…

The rising sun was blocked by the clouds above the sea. Some light scattered but immediately dimmed by the chilling wind around the Peach Mountain. The stately white Divine Hall seemed chilling all of a sudden.

A giant sedan proceeded gradually out of the Divine Hall. The middle-aged priest and Zhao Nanhai walked silently toward it. But no matter how radiating the sedan was, it could never brighten up the gloomy world on the peak.

Yu Lian turned to look at the giant sedan emotionlessly.

People on the plateaus also turned to the giant sedan. Whether it was the Hierarch inside the sedan, or Zhao Nanhai and the middle-aged priest standing in front of the sedan, they were all powerful enough to launch the battle against the Academy.

The middle-aged priest walked slowly toward Yu Lian under the gaze of countless people. The divine priests and deacons felt tense and their blood burning. They knew that a massive battle was about to be launched.

Yu Lian held her hands on the back and looked indifferently at the approaching person.

The middle-aged priests walked through the crowd of tens of thousands of divine priests and deacons and came to a few dozens of meters away in front of Yu Lian. He neatened his Taoist gown as well as his emotions and uttered a few words: “We would surrender.”

…

…

The Peach Mountain was silent. Nothing could be heard but the deadly quietness.

People from the Divine Halls of West-Hill were startled. Those who followed Ye Hongyu and Cheng Lixue were also stunned. After a pause, some screaming curses were heard from the plateaus: “Xiong Chumo, fuck you!”

The people on the plateaus knew clearly that the middle-aged priest was not acting on his own. He was representing the Hierarch, Zhao Nanhai, and other important figures from the Divine Halls.

The war between Taoism and the Academy had lasted for a thousand years. Countless people died in the countless brutal battles. They were expecting a decisive battle today. Although the Taoism was declining, they were after all the ruler of the world throughout the thousand years and should at least be able to take another battle. How could the leaders of Taoism … choose to surrender?!

The crowd was outraged. Curses roared. They were so enraged that they could no longer care about the position of the middle-aged priest or even the Hierarch. Some pious senior divine priests bursted into tears. People were throwing their shoes and rocks at the middle-aged priest.

Yet the middle-aged priest seemed insensitive to sensational crowd at all. He simply stared calmly at Yu Lian. On behalf of the Divine Halls of West-Hill, he made a difficult decision and believed that the Academy would react reasonably.

Yu Lian was never expecting such a proposal.

But without giving it a single thought she replied right away, “Surrender denied.”

…