Chapter 751: Ongoing Conference |
Right at this moment, the ground beneath Yin Xu's feet rumbled violently, then split open entirely amid a burst of earth-shattering tremors.
Black karmic flames erupted out of the cracks as rocks came tumbling down from above, destroying entire sections of the surrounding palace.
Before long, an even more massive underground crater had emerged, and all that remained was a giant stone pillar standing at its center. As the ground fell away, the remnants of Baili Yan's body also tumbled into the earth.
Han Li and the others flew out of the karmic fire, then didn't stop even for a second before flying toward the edge of the underground space.
Meanwhile, Yin Xu and Gui Mu exchanged a look of despair, and they also began rushing back the same way they had come from.
All of a sudden, a violent roar of fury rang out from underground, and it was accompanied by an incredibly fearsome primordial aura that felt as if it belonged to an ancient deity and was filled with intense fury, resentment, and killing intent.
The giant black hand that had pierced into the ceiling of the hall reached upward once again before pulling up with tremendous power, and the black flames within the massive crater instantly began to churn violently as a gargantuan figure slowly rose up.
As the flames subsided, the indistinct figure finally gradually became clear.
It was an enormous head that was close to twenty thousand feet in size and was entirely black in color, looking as if it had been chiseled out of black rock. It was riddled with sharp edges and fangs, and its features only just barely resembled those of a human.
Whenever the creature exhaled, two bursts of black flames would erupt out of its nostrils, giving off an unprecedentedly fearsome baleful aura that struck everyone with a sense of insignificance.
"What on earth have we let out..." Shi Chuankong murmured to himself as he looked back at the gargantuan head from a corner of the underground space.
"We've finally managed to release the Kun Hou, but it looks like Fellow Daoist Baili may have fallen," Han Li said with a wistful expression after examining the surrounding area with both his eyes and his spiritual sense.
"Hold on a second, it doesn't look like that thing has been completely freed yet. It seems like only its head and one of its arms have been freed," Fox 3 suddenly said.
Sure enough, there were still countless intertwining chains wrapped around the creature's body, the majority of which was still deep in the underground crater.
"This should be enough to keep the Infernal Tribe busy for a while. Thank heavens we didn't fully release it. Otherwise, I don't think we would've been able to get out of there alive," Han Li said as he took a glance at the horrified Yin Xu and Gui Mu.
"Where's Fellow Daoist Chi Rong?" Fox 3 asked.
"Right before the ground collapsed, he seemed to have discovered something within the karmic fire, and he flew straight into it instead of retreating," Shi Chuankong replied with a shake of his head.
"Leave him. You two find a way out, I'll go save Weeping Soul," Han Li said.
Right at this moment, the Kun Hou suddenly threw its head back and let loose a furious roar. Scorching karmic flames surged out of its mouth, forming a giant pillar of flames that struck the ceiling of the hall up above.
The ceiling consisted of rock that was thousands of feet thick, yet it was melted away in an instant, creating a giant hole through which a ray of dim light shone down from above.
......
At the Fallen Lake Area conference venue.
The elevated stone platform was glowing radiantly while releasing bursts of white light in all directions, presenting a majestic sight to behold.
All of the regional monarchs of the Gray Realm were seated behind the round table on the platform, and all of them wore different expressions.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the venue was rather tense. There weren't many people speaking, but the tension in the air was palpable.
Yin Chengquan, Huang Fuyu, and Xiao Buye were seated at the head of the table in a triangular formation.
The entire conference was set to last twenty days, the first seven of which was the initial discussion stage, during which the representatives of three regions were going to discuss the purpose of the conference, as well as the different stances at play, and independent small-scale discussions could also take place during this stage.
The three days after that were when the decision was going to be made through a vote.
As for the final ten days, those were reserved for discussing the possible problems that could arise from the outcome of the conference, as well as how the decided outcome was going to be achieved.
On the surface, this conference was quite a straightforward one. Everyone simply had to express their stance toward the True Immortal Realm, but what made things very complicated were the complex nuances between all of the regions, including their allegiances to the three major regions, territorial disputes, trade problems, and personal vendettas.
Even though each regional monarch was only required to express their stance on this matter, there were far too many factors involved.
Over the past few days, many of the regions had been constantly at each other's throats, while the three major regions were doing everything in their power to win over the smaller regions, and many smaller sub-conferences had been set up, plunging the entire situation into a state of chaos.
At this point, the initial discussion stage had already concluded, and this was the first day of the decision stage.
Even though it hadn't yet begun, the state of affairs was already quite clear.
Prior to the conference, the Reincarnation Region had sent out a great deal of manpower to win over the regional monarchs that had previously adopted neutral stances. In doing so, it had invested a tremendous amount of resources. The Infernal Region had the most subsidiary regions, but it hadn't done much work when it came to winning over neutral regions.
As for the Black Rope Region, it had always been a fence-sitter anyway, so it naturally hadn't made any big moves.
On top of that, most of the Gray Realm's regions harbored a great deal of enmity toward the True Immortal Region, but they were also envious of the True Immortal Region for its vast abundance of cultivation resources.
The Reincarnation Region was able to use this to its advantage to win over most of the previously neutral regional monarchs, including the Black Rope Regional Monarch.
Even though there were still some regional monarchs that still hadn't made their stances known, the overall state of affairs was already quite clear.
At this point, the conference was no more than an hour away from recommencing, but Yin Chengquan didn't seem to be agitated at all as he sat calmly in silence.
An elderly man beside Yin Chengquan leaned over slightly as he said in a quiet yet urgent voice, "Regional Monarch Yin, the current situation is not looking good for us at all. More and more regions are being won over by the Reincarnation Region."
The elderly man's name was Tian Ku, and he was the Valley Pond Regional Monarch. He had always been very close with the Infernal Region and was one of the Infernal Region's chief supporters.
"There's no need to be concerned, Regional Monarch Tian Ku. We still have plenty of time," Yin Chengquan replied with a faint smile, and it seemed like he had everything under control.
A skeptical look appeared on Tian Ku's face upon seeing this, but he didn't say anything further.
Yin Chengquan leaned back in his chair as he lifted the teacup in front of him, yet right as his lips were about to make contact with the rim of the teacup, he communicated through voice transmission, "Proceed according to the original plan."
There were two people currently standing behind Yin Chengquan, one of whom was a young man with a pair of large eyes and bushy brows. Overall, his features were quite handsome, and there was a curved gray horn on his forehead.
The other person was a gray-robed man with a set of unremarkable facial features with the exception of his eyebrows which resembles a pair of sharp swords.
Both of them were giving off Great Encompassment Stage auras, and at this moment, a faint glimmer of gray light flashed within the sleeve of the horned young man.
In the crowd below the elevated platform was a tall and thin black-robed figure, and upon spotting the faint glimmer of gray light, he immediately turned and departed, quickly fading nito the crowd.
Yin Chengquan took a subtle glance at the black-robed figure out of his peripheral vision, then set down the teacup in his hand.
Right at this moment, Xiao Buye smiled and said, "I must say, it's very impressive that you're still so calm and collected even with the current state of affairs, Regional Monarch Yin."
"Likewise, Deputy Regional Monarch Xiao. You seem to be just as composed as I am, if not more so," Yin Chengquan replied.
"I don't think that's a fair comparison, Regional Monarch Yin. All our Black Rope Region wants is for all of the regions to coexist in harmony, and we're satisfied as long as no further major internal conflicts take place. The only reason why I'm here is to ensure that this conference can have a peaceful conclusion," Xiao Buye said, making sure to emphasize the word "peaceful", as if he were issuing a subtle warning.
"I see. The Gray Realm is truly fortunate to have a peace-keeping force like yourself. You have my utmost admiration," Yin Chengquan said with a faint smile.
Huang Fuyu was listening to the conversation between the two, and he took a glance at the two of them before looking away again as a mocking sneer appeared on his face.
Meanwhile.
A burst of low chanting suddenly rang out from within a passageway inside the tall city wall on the border of the Fallen Lake Area.
There were gray stone pillars that were each over a hundred feet tall standing at set intervals along the dark passageway, and the pillars were riddled with complex patterns that extended out of the pillars and into the surrounding city wall.
Atop each pillar sat an Infernal being, all of whom were currently chanting incantations while casting incantation seals into the gray pillars.
The patterns on the stone pillars quickly began to flash with gray light that was interspersed with specks of silver light, which were particularly eye-catching in the dark passageway.
The bursts of gray light grew brighter and brighter as they quickly connected together, and it was clear that this city wall was constructed from some type of special material, as evidenced by the fact that none of the flashing lights seeped outside.
The restrictions around the Fallen Lake Area slowly began to change as specks of silver light emerged within them.