Martial World

Chapter 2014B – Black Dragon Roars to the Moon

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Song Yan was an average human of the Fire God Galaxy. He was already 200 years old and had just barely broken through to the Xiantian realm. Amongst the masses, he was considered standard for commoners.

When he was born, the war between the saints and humans within the wild universe had already begun.

And when he came of age, the flames of war had reached his home and the Fire God Galaxy fell to its enemies. Thus, from that day forth, he along with his 10 quadrillion plus human compatriots were all reduced to slaves.

When Song Yan was a child, he had read through a history book and learned about the history of his fellow humans from 6500 years past. Because the Divine Realm was conquered, humanity was in dire circumstances.

But this time of over 6000 years ago was simply too distant a period for Song Yan. As for him, he never thought that the destiny and life of slavery would arrive so quickly and descend upon him.

This was a horrifying nightmare!

Song Yan had always held his own dreams and desires. He wanted to become a warrior that fought for the human race. He never hoped to become the most dazzling talent in the world that was respected by all, but rather, becoming the most ordinary and common warrior in Fire God Heavenly Palace would have been more than enough.

However, the most basic qualification to become a warrior of Fire God Heavenly Palace was to step into the Divine Transformation realm before a thousand years of age.

To Song Yan, this was far too difficult.

He wasn’t born with much talent and destiny had never given him many lucky chances.

In the end, these dreams could only remain dreams.

He forced himself awake and soberly accepted the reality set in front of him. When he was at the peak Houtian realm, he married a woman. She was a homely woman with ordinary talent, but he loved her deeply with all his heart. In return, she gave him three cute little children, one son and two daughters.

However, these three children were born into a never-ending nightmare, one filled with cruel and avaricious demons that would swallow a person whole and even eat the bones.

Murder, robbery, rape, young women were captured and used as living furnaces and sold as slaves, and young boys were turned into blood sacrifices…

Song Yan didn’t know when these dreadful days would end. The war between humans and saints would continue for several thousand years, but, could he live on for several thousand years?

His children, grandchildren, and even his great grandchildren, would they even be able to live through those thousands of years?

The premise of all this was that… he could have children.

He was an ant, one that faced an ice age that would continue for an unknown period of years. He quietly stood in an empty field of ice, waiting for his inevitable death to take him.

“Wah – !”

A loud cry spread through the air.

His daughter was crying.

Song Yan’s heart ached. He turned to see his 12 year old son cradling his three year old daughter.

His daughter, she was hungry.

Song Yan had just entered the Xiantian realm. In this wild universe that was filled with chaotic origin energy, although he hadn’t managed to completely sever hunger and thirst, he still only required a minimal amount of rations every month. He only needed to drink water and absorb heaven and earth origin energy to sate his hunger pangs.  

But his son, his daughters, his wife, they were different.

They needed to eat. They needed meals.

In the past, in a world of martial artists, starving due to a lack of food was simply unimaginable because they were strong and they grasped the ability to conquer the land and nature around them.

This type of thing would only occur in purely mortal societies.

But now, the Fire God Galaxy was actually in such a state. Of the 10 quadrillion citizens, over 9 quadrillion weren’t able to achieve the state of completely severing their appetite; they needed to consume a massive amount of grain and other rations.

After the chaos of war, a massive number of common citizens lost the protection of the warriors. And without their protection they had no way of facing the vicious beasts that rampaged through the open country. They had no choice but to rush into the city and let their fertile farmlands turn into wasted fields…

As for the remaining food sources, this was all controlled by the saint race bandits. 50 violet sun stones couldn’t even buy a bag of grain, and this was already a price over a million times higher than it had been in the Divine Realm. If one wished to live they had no choice but to go to the tunnels and mine. But in the open country that was filled with vicious beasts, recklessly going out was the same as gambling with one’s own life. It was rare for anyone to survive past three years outside.

Because she had been starving for a long time, Song Yan’s originally chubby daughter had turned sickly thin.

Song Yang’s wife, Zhou Hui, was nursing an even younger daughter. As she heard her other child’s pained cries, she felt as if someone was twisting a knife in her heart.

She no longer had any breast milk. In truth, allowing her child to suckle upon her withered breast was only to psychologically comfort her.

Song Yang grit his teeth. He pulled out a small pack of food from his sleeves. After thinking for some time, he broke off a piece and placed it in his wife’s hand to feed their second daughter.

The leftover piece was given to his son.

As the young boy looked at the food his father handed to him, he continued to cradle his little sister. Although he was 12 years old and his face was a bit pale and gray, his eyes maintained a stubborn light.

“Why won’t you take it?” Song Yan asked.

“Father, I am not hungry.”

The young boy stubbornly said, a strength and defiance in his eyes that no 12 year old should have.

Song Yan suddenly felt his eyes swell with tears.

He directly placed the black pack of food in his son’s arms. Then, he rose and said, “I will go and find something for us to eat.”

After speaking, Song Yan began walking towards the city gates.

“A’Yan, where are you going?”

Looking at her husband head outside the city, Zhou Hui was suddenly panicked. “Do you plan to go hunting? Are you tired of living?”

Outside the city, in the distant wild forests, there were plenty of beasts and prey. But the danger there was over a hundred times that of the mines!

Song Yan was but a Xiantian realm martial artist. If he entered the wild forests then even a variation mouse could eat him up!

Zhou Hui was anxious to the point of crying. The pillar of their family was her husband. Once her husband died, the fate of her and her three children would be unimaginable!

However, Song Yan seemed to have already made up his mind. “I will be fine. If I’m lucky then we won’t have to worry about food this month.”

Then, he continued to say, “If I don’t go then our children will only last for another ten days…”

These second words were said to Zhou Hui with a true essence sound transmission. The hand that reached out to stop him suddenly froze.

She knew that in these past years, because of a myriad of reasons, the population of Fire God Galaxy had already sharply fallen by two-thirds…

Death was something always waiting just outside their door…

Zhou Hui was at a loss for words. But at this time, Song Yang had pushed away her hand. Just as he was about to walk and leave the city, his complexion suddenly changed.

A blood red moon hung high in the dark night. He could hear faint humming sounds from all around, as if they came from afar and also from nearby.

Then, the ground beneath his feet began to gently shake.

This shaking was extremely weak but Song Yan wouldn’t have sensed it wrongly. He looked at a puddle of water on the ground. In the cold and calm night, small ripples began to appear on this puddle of water.

The humming became louder.

Song Yan’s complexion paled.

Could it be…?

As if he needed to confirm something, Song Yan lifted his head and looked into the skies. There, the bright red moon seemed as if it were dyed in blood…

“The blood moon rises… it’s all over…”

Song Yan trembled as he spoke, unable to stand steady.

“What is it?” Zhou Hui asked as she saw Song Yan’s expression.

“Beast tide…”

Song Yan humorlessly smiled. This was a beast tide, a gathering of 10 million or even a hundred million vicious beasts that would attack their city together.

This wild universe never lacked vicious beasts.

In the past, with human masters present, such a beast tide hadn’t occurred for a long, long time.

But now there were no human masters to deter and scare away these vicious beasts. Now, in the Fire God Galaxy, beneath the blood moon which aroused the bloodthirst of these vicious beasts the most and allowed them to easily gather, a beast tide had suddenly erupted!

This city likely wouldn’t be the first to be overrun by this beast tide.

It wouldn’t be the last one either.

“The heavens have abandoned us…”

Zhou Hui grasped her child. She knew that today, on this night, they would all perish here!

The city they lived in had its own guards, but these guards were only Divine Transformation realm martial artists. Because these Divine Transformation realm martial artists weren’t able to reach the Divine Transformation realm before a thousand years of age they weren’t able to enter the Heavenly Palace. With their combat strength, how could they hope to resist such a beast tide?

But at this moment, from the middle of the city, several spirit ships suddenly soared up into the skies, rapidly flying towards the Holy Palaces in space.

Song Yan could see that these were the spirit ships of the saint race pioneers.

Those saint race pioneers were originally thieves and bandits whose only desire was to plunder wealth and resources. Now, with danger approaching, they naturally had no duty or intention to guard the humans.

“That trash!”

Song Yan’s eyes turned blood red. He had never hated another race to such a degree!

And at this time, a loud horn bellowed from within the city!

The armed forces of the city were beginning to gather.

Compared to a true army, this was nothing but a motley gathering of individuals. Most were at the Divine Transformation realm, Divine Sea realm, and even the Life Destruction realm. Moreover, they were all relatively weak amongst their own ranks.

They lifted weapons of varying length and inferior quality. They stood on the city walls, facing the dark army of vicious beasts in the distance!

In the city, Song Yan could only see their backs. Even in the dark pall of night he could see that many of them had backs bent with age and heads of scraggly white hair.

These warriors were all people who had been eliminated from entering the Heavenly Palace. Even so, they still silently and dutifully continued protecting the human citizens.

Song Yang’s eyes had already turned red.

In his eyes, these people were like a wall of steel that stood there tall and proud, bound by their faith and duty…

They were true warriors!

When the saints arrived, they didn’t have the qualifications to fight them. This was because in front of a boulder, an egg was nothing. Trying to rush it would mean nothing but dust and death.

Yet now, facing this annihilating beast tide, the time for them to battle had approached…

This… would likely be the last battle of their lives…

In the face of imminent death, these warriors were incredibly calm, as if at this moment what they faced wasn’t a beast tide that destroyed all life, but peaceful days where they were reunited with their families, where they were able to sit together and gaze upon the setting sun…

“Today, we fight!”

At the top of the city walls, the old commander of the guard grasped a long sword and shouted out his declaration of battle.

Although his declaration was only a mere three words, it was more than enough.

Yes, as a warrior, even a warrior that had been eliminated, they still had their own life mission and their own glory.

That was – to fight!

In the perilous moments when their race faced annihilation, the fate of a warrior should not be to die miserably beneath the suppression of their enemies, but to heroically die upon the sandy battlefield!

Behind them, the common citizens of Fire God Galaxy had already started walking towards the city walls. Some hugged their children and some people knelt down to kiss the earth.

This wilderness was a land they had nourished with their sweat, where they had planted the seeds of hope.

If they had to die here, then let their blood serve to water these lands!

Roar! Roar! Roar!

The demonic beasts that blotted out the skies had already rushed to the city walls. To these strong vicious beasts, the 200 feet high city walls were nothing more than a single leap away. In addition, the sky was filled with a massive number of killer beasts. Their speed was several times faster than the human masters present.

A slaughter was soon to begin.

Song Yang’s blood began to boil over with heat. He picked up his own crude and humble weapon and was about to fly upwards.

But at this time, his wife suddenly pulled him back.

“Hui’er, what are you doing?”

He thought that his wife wanted to stop him, but he saw her stretch out a hand and point into the skies.

“A’Yan… you… what do you think that is?”

In the deep night skies, the blood moon hung high in the air. And in front of that blood moon, a massive black shadow appeared. The shadow unfurled its wings, looking like a demon god of the night.

That… was a Black Dragon!

“Dr-dragon!?”

Song Yan was utterly shocked.

ROAR –

The Black Dragon raised its head, its single horn jutting out into the heavens. Then, it emitted a roar!

This majestic roar echoed through the world, carrying with it a horrifying pressure that impacted into the highest heavens and broke into the starry skies!

Within the city, everyone was dazed. Many of them looked up into the skies. This was the pressure of a Sovereign Beast. Every person could clearly feel that because of this Black Dragon’s roar, the originally manic beast tide just outside the city gates had suddenly frozen in its tracks.

Countless beasts tumbled to the grounds due to their momentum, and some of them crashed into the city walls.

Then, regardless of what injuries they suffered in the chaos and confusion, each beast pulled themselves up and then fell to the ground, prostrate. Beneath this pressure, they all trembled.

A Black Dragon roars to the moon, all beasts bow and submit!

The guards on the city walls were at a loss for what to do. What was this Black Dragon?

Then, they were all shocked to discover that the beast tide began to retreat.

Those blood red eyes of those vicious beasts seemed to be clouded now with fear and awe. Crawling on their bellies, they gradually and carefully returned to the forests, disappearing into the dark…

Everything returned to serenity. There was nothing left but wild winds of the wilderness whipping up the dirt, reminding everyone of what had just happened…