Chapter 720: Wrath of the Lich King

Chapter 720 The Wrath of the Lich King

The Holy Mountain descended into chaos.

While Sisi possessed powerful exotic beasts, it was not as if others had not made clandestine preparations. Sisi’s falcons and blood turtles clashed fiercely with the tigers and leopards of other factions, while the greater mass of soldiers fell into a chaotic, disorganized state.

Sisi’s greatest disadvantage lay in her inability to blindly trust the other elders and chieftains, nor could she place much faith in the Han army, unable to discern who harbored treacherous intents. Consequently, her tactical deployment relied almost entirely on her inner circle of treacherous handmaidens. These girls were double-agents in small matters, backstabbing their own Holy Maiden daily over trivialities, yet they proved genuinely reliable when momentous affairs arose. Should anything happen to the Holy Maiden, their own fates would turn utterly wretched, a fact substantiated by countless storybooks in the outside world.

Reliable though they were, their strength was somewhat lacking, and their experience insufficient. Despite being fully aware of the Holy Maiden’s arrangements, they still appeared somewhat flustered in their response, failing to immediately gather the ordinary clansmen who remained entirely oblivious to what was transpiring.

Otherwise, such a rebellion ought to have been easily resolved under the suppression of the exotic beasts Sisi had prepared in advance, especially with the principal conspirator inside the hall neutralized from the very beginning. After all, the mainstream clansmen outside still recognized Sisi’s authority. Yet with the sudden and abrupt change, and lacking a highly skilled assistant, the situation remained in a state of uncontrolled chaos for the moment, rendering them temporarily unable to reinforce the hall.

Countless assassins from the Listening Snow Pavilion launched surprise attacks from all directions. Sisi drew a venomous insect into her own body, her form weaving through the hall like a ghost or a phantom as she ran in circles, her heart filled with considerable astonishment.

At this critical juncture, why had Master not yet emerged from his coffin to settle the situation?

Could he really have died inside... No, that was incorrect. He had just invoked thunder to slay the axe-thief. Was he still lying in there playing dead because he believed there were more fish to catch?

Just as this thought crossed her mind, she felt the tremor of an earthquake approaching from afar. Immediately afterward, the shockwaves arrived with rapid velocity; the entire Holy Mountain quaked from top to bottom, boulders tumbling down and hall tiles shattering apart.

Boundless yin energy and dead aura suffused the firmament. Though it was mid-afternoon, the sky began to turn pitch black, and snow fluttered across the heavens.

Sisi tilted her head to avoid a glazed tile falling from above, bounding onto the roof of the hall in horror to look into the distance. What on earth had happened?

In truth, she could not see it with her own eyes. She hastily commanded a goshawk in the distance, and the eyes of the goshawk took in the unfolding events completely, transmitting them directly into her mind.

Thus, Sisi beheld a tide of death surging at the edge of the sky.

...

When Zhao Changhe arrived with swift speed at the tomb mountain where he had once lived in seclusion, the place had already become different from before.

The thatched cottage where he and Sisi had lived in seclusion and made love still stood, with a small number of servants dusting and cleaning it. However, strict guards had been established around the tomb mountain, with an elite force of at least three thousand stationed there. Among them were many powerful experts, and Zhao Changhe even sensed the aura of an extremely powerful exotic beast, at least of the Earth Ranking level.

It appeared that since the Spirit Clan recovered the beast-controlling methods that had been severed due to the disappearance of the Blood Wu, they had grown much stronger, and this kind of strength was terribly lethal. Because of the natural might of exotic beasts, they did not require long periods of training like humans did; once grown, they became utterly terrifying monsters. The current timeframe was still short; if given a certain amount of time to build their momentum, the Central Plains would possess almost no capital to contend with them.

Fortunately, the beast species on the Spirit Clan’s side were relatively ordinary. When he and Hongling had specially investigated the exotic beasts back then, they had not seen anything extraordinary. Most of their strength probably relied on the blood turtle eggs dug up from somewhere. This creature was the ancestral beast of the Spirit Clan and served as their absolute mainstay, while the others were quite ordinary. If they truly possessed some auspicious pairing of dragon and phoenix, they would likely unify the entire universe...

As things stood now, with the ancestral graves protected by a horde of exotic beasts and elite soldiers, it would not be easy for an ordinary person to stir up trouble here. Furthermore, these guardians devoutly protected their own ancestors and would not concern themselves with rebellions driven by power struggles; no one could possibly persuade them to relax or falter in their defense of this place.

If one wished to enter the tomb mountain openly to dig up graves and rob tombs, it would likely require a grand massacre, slaughtering the guards down to the last man. That would probably be very difficult to achieve. Even if a deity or demon of the Breakthrough Realm arrived, they could not instantly kill an elite force of this scale. Once the main force from Sisi’s side was drawn over, especially with the God of Thieves wielding the Divine Axe, any deity or demon would truly have to flee for their life.

One could only say that the God of Thieves coming here with the axe on his shoulder truly felt like the workings of a shadowy destiny.

Now, the enemy could only take advantage of the vast size of the tomb mountain, quietly infiltrating its shadows to cause trouble covertly. Since he was working in secret, his progress appeared slow; he could not dig open graves and unearth tombs, but could only seep his energy into the ground clandestinely. Moreover, to avoid the patrols, he most likely shifted locations frequently after every action. Consequently, the energy gradually permeated the ground from various angles, making widespread contact with countless ancient corpses, triggering a massive gathering of yin evil. The climate turned cold, condensing in the sky.

Originally, it would not have mattered much. If all of it could truly be detonated at a specific moment, the ancient corpses across the entire mountain would crawl out in vast numbers, presenting a literal tide of death featuring the resurrection of the ancestors, which would then sweep through the Spirit Clan without suspense.

However, the Divine Axe had drawn thunder, causing the snow to fall and triggering the vigilance of the God of Thieves... In truth, even with the vigilance of the God of Thieves, it would probably take them several days of investigation to uncover exactly what had happened, by which time the opportunity would have slipped away... The true tragedy was that it had drawn Zhao Changhe.

At this moment, the Holy Mountain was in chaos. With the rebellion, the theft of the axe, and the Black Miao King of Dali crawling out of his grave outside, this was naturally the optimal moment for a full-scale activation.

Thus, within the scene Sisi observed through the goshawk, the tomb mountain shuddered violently. Countless withered bones burst through the ground with a cracking sound, followed by the fracturing of the earth, the shattering of coffins, and the destruction of brick and stone. One after another, the corpses and bones of the ancient Spirit Clan rose from their tombs, roaring toward the heavens.

The sky turned completely dark, snow fluttered across the skies, and phosphor fire gleamed brilliantly within the eyes of countless skeletons. The dead aura, yin energy, and evil mist hissed from their mouths, sweeping across the entire mountain, actually forming a howling roar like a furious yin wind.

Even though Zhao Changhe felt incomparably tense in his heart, he could not help but think of the cinematic trailer for the Wrath of the Lich King... It looked too damn similar... And where was the Lich King?

Zhao Changhe projected his all-seeing eye, searching desperately for the demon god behind the scenes. The guards of the Holy Mountain stood dumbfounded, their jaws nearly dropping to the ground.

Skeletons covered the mountains and plains, advancing toward them step by step. Although they did not look particularly strong, how were they supposed to fight this?

Should they not just all kneel down and worship the Ancestral Gods?

But the Ancestral Gods were not like this! Who told you the Ancestral Gods were a horde of skeletons or desiccated corpses? The look in their eyes as they gazed upon us was filled with ferocious, murderous intent!

The guards could not bring themselves to kneel, nor did they dare to fight. The legs of each and every one of them turned soft, and they turned around, about to flee for their lives.

This was exactly what it meant to love dragons like Lord Ye, or to love ancestors like the Spirit Clan.

Fortunately, there was one thing that would not be scared away by these creatures: their sacred beast, the blood turtle.

"Roar!" The blood turtle stepped onto the foot of the mountain, its massive body crushing toward the skeletons that blanketed the area. With just one step, it smashed several of them to pieces.

The clan elder, who was preparing to turn and flee, glanced back, and the dread in his heart diminished slightly. He was, after all, a hidden realm expert, and he immediately felt something was amiss. This sacred beast had just been raised to adulthood and was close to the Spirit Clan... "So the ancestors want to kill us, while the sacred beast is protecting us?"

"I have never heard of such an absurd thing. If we are guilty, the Ancestral Gods should hand down a decree of judgment. How can there be any logic in the ancestors collectively leaving their graves and breaking out of their tombs!" The clan elder said harshly: "Do not panic, everyone! This is by no means a resurrection of the Ancestral Gods. It is highly likely the corpse puppet method recorded in the ancient texts; someone has disturbed the peaceful slumber of our ancestors!"

Before his voice could fade, a streak of yin energy rushed straight toward his spiritual platform. This clan elder rapidly sacrificed a rare venomous insect, and the insect died instantly.

Someone was launching a sneak attack to prevent him from organizing a resistance!

But this sneak attack was weak; was this all the opponent had?

The clan elder looked over in astonishment, only to behold a blood-colored blade glow rising from the mountainside and leaping to the summit, cutting through the firmament like a long rainbow. The incomparably wild and ferocious blood evil seemed intent on completely suppressing the endless yin evil energy of this place.

Deities and Buddhas scatter alike, Zhao Changhe!

Because of his attack, the opponent was forced to hastily withdraw his hand to defend, which could be considered saving the life of this Spirit Clan elder.

"Clang!" A figure clad in a black cloak was forcefully struck out of hiding by this single blade strike. Unable to escape, he could only hold a white banner horizontally to ward off Zhao Changhe’s wildly fierce blow.

"I have finally found you!" Zhao Changhe pressed his blade against the staff of the white banner, his eyes filled with matchless fury: "Are you still hoping to use the chaos to continue digging, searching for the corpses of the truly powerful masters of the ancient Spirit Clan? You will not have another chance!"

Far away on the Holy Mountain, Sisi gazed foolishly at this figure that haunted her soul, a smile unconsciously gracing the corners of her lips. Amidst the chaotic and murderous sanctuary of the temple, she looked breathtakingly beautiful.

"Swish!" A dagger was viciously stabbed backward into the throat of an assassin from the Listening Snow Pavilion behind her.

Sisi did not even bother to glance back, eagerly announcing to the frantic handmaidens outside: "Who told you that my yearning was meaningless?"

"..." If the handmaidens had ever visited the modern world, they would likely have sent her a sweating emoji.

The blind woman had already done so... Unable to restrain herself, she drew the very first emoji in two eras upon the Ranking of the Chaotic World.

Yet at this moment, the heart of the blind woman was also grave. Zhao Changhe’s opponent was by no means that simple.