Chapter 422 - 177: Ruling the World, the Ghost Tide Lands

Chapter 422: Chapter 177: Ruling the World, the Ghost Tide Lands

Chen Fan smiled.

After he thanked them one by one, Wang Kui stepped forward with the Mortal Realm Members. He began distributing Sound Transmission Talismans to the leaders of the various factions who had come to help, assigning them sections of the defense line based on their available manpower.

Elder Qi didn’t stay long either. After observing for a little while longer, he took the Mortal Realm High-speed Rail back to the No. 7 Defense Line. After all, the rainy season was about to begin, and there were many matters to attend to there.

...

Eternal Night Continent.

In a region shrouded in perennial darkness.

A man and two crocodiles stood in the center of the darkness.

"..."

The middle-aged man in the green robe had grown increasingly restless these past few days. He kept turning his head toward Jiangbei, and though he couldn’t see anything, he subconsciously continued to gaze in that direction.

He could feel it clearly.

The aura he had left behind in Jiangbei would be extinguished in a few days.

Jiangbei...

The vast Ghost Tide he had been suppressing at the bottom of the sea was about to make landfall.

Just then—

A somewhat old and weary voice echoed from within the darkness.

"The One."

"Are you still unwilling to speak?"

"If you leave now, you can return to Jiangbei and continue to guard it. Are you really willing to see the countless lives in Jiangbei perish because of you?"

"..."

The middle-aged man, who had been feeling agitated, lowered his head and fell into a long silence upon hearing this. After a long while, he spoke softly.

"The countless lives in Jiangbei will not die because of me."

"They will die because of you."

He had an attachment to Jiangbei.

Years ago, his first stop upon arriving on the Eternal Night Continent was Jiangbei. It was the people of Jiangbei who had pulled him from the sea and given him a bite to eat.

He never used to have such things as emotions.

But ever since he self-detonated last time, he had gradually started to develop them.

But...

Some things were matters of principle. If he let the Ghost Race learn the precise location of his former continent, and if they actually managed to cross the Thunderstorm Sea Realm, it would spell certain doom for the Eternal Night Continent.

That other continent was already on the verge of collapse.

The Ghost Race wanted to settle on a continent, so they needed to find one that was whole. The Eternal Night Continent was still their primary target. Furthermore, by consuming the vast number of Ghost Stones on that other continent, the Ghost Race would enhance their strength tremendously, making them even more unstoppable for the Eternal Night Continent.

The negotiations broke down once again, and for a moment, the space shrouded in darkness fell back into silence.

An unknown amount of time passed.

The hoarse voice from the darkness spoke again.

"You’re not the Celestial Dao of this continent. What are you even after?"

"Whether the Eternal Night Continent is defeated or not, you won’t die."

"We can’t kill you."

"No one can kill you."

"Do you really want to be imprisoned here forever?"

As the voice faded,

the middle-aged man, who had been staring blankly at the ground, suddenly laughed. He looked up into the darkness above, his gaze seeming to pierce through it and lock onto a specific point.

"None of your business."

"I do as I please."

Ever since he had gained a shred of emotion, he’d discovered that he didn’t actually need to think everything through so clearly. As long as it was what he wanted, that was enough.

Silence fell upon the darkness once more.

As for the two crocodiles, who usually spent their days roughhousing, they were no longer fighting. Instead, they lay on the ground, staring toward Jiangbei, both lost in a daze.

They...

They were wondering if Xiaohua had escaped Nameless Mountain. If she hadn’t, then the first day the Undersea Ghost Tide made landfall in Jiangbei would be the day she died.

What they feared most was... that Xiaohua would stay on Nameless Mountain, waiting for their return, refusing to retreat even after the Undersea Ghost Tide had landed. If that happened, they would likely never smile again for the rest of their lives.

"..."

The man in the green robe looked away from the darkness and was slightly taken aback when he saw the state Big Crocodile and Little Crocodile were in. After a brief pause, he spoke with a teasing curse.

"What are you two moping for? Isn’t today your designated mating day? Don’t mind me, I’ll turn my head."

"And Little Crocodile, you can go ahead and make those human sounds. I won’t bother you about it today."

The two crocodiles glanced back at the green-robed man before turning away again, lying on the ground and staring blankly toward Jiangbei.

"..."

The smile on the green-robed man’s face slowly froze. He looked up at the darkness, wanting to say something but holding back. He took a deep breath, sat down again, and began to cultivate cross-legged.

His cultivating didn’t increase his Cultivation.

He didn’t have any Cultivation to begin with.

It was a way to quiet his mind and make time pass a little faster.

...

The long night fell, right on schedule.

Tonight, the Yellow Springs Entrance Canyon was brightly lit. Along the Yellow Springs Entrance Defense Line, rows of turrets aimed at the darkness of the Guanxi Plain, and many people were rushing back and forth on the City Wall.

The person in charge of Yellow Springs Entrance stared grimly into the depths of the Guanxi Plain.

「Several days later.」

Countless Undersea Ghost Tides would make landfall from Jiangbei.

At that time—

the Four Areas Jiangbei and the two areas of Guanxi would be barren, not even a blade of grass left standing. All the landing Ghost Tides would surge toward the Yellow Springs Entrance Defense Line. Their defense line had been complete for over two years; the time had finally come for it to serve its purpose.

"Has Elder Qi still not retreated?"

He couldn’t help but turn to the woman beside him.

"No."

The woman shook her head. "Elder Qi’s last message to us was that the No. 7 Defense Line will defend the Guandong Plain to the death, and..."

"There was also a sentence I didn’t understand."

"What was it?"

"’Times of chaos produce heroes, and hardship gives birth to miracles. Jiangbei has a guardian. Jiangbei will not fall.’"

"Jiangbei has a guardian?"

The middle-aged man’s brows furrowed. ’What does she mean, Jiangbei has a guardian? The only one capable of guarding an entire region alone was The One. There are no other examples; I’ve never seen anyone else who could guard an entire region by themselves.’