There is Always War IX

~~~

Five teleportations later, somewhere in the Northern Primordial Mountain Range.

"Han Xuanyuan! Are you okay? And that's… you brought, MASTER!?!?"

Yu Nanyang shouted in exclamation upon seeing Han Xuanyuan's disheveled and pitiful appearance.

His hair was bloodied, and his face was almost completely disfigured. His body was in shambles as bits of bone could be seen sticking out of his flesh that had begun to rot and fall off.

But back to the important part.

Yu Nanyang was a handsome young man with pale blue hair tied back in a ponytail.

He also happened to be the person Han Wutian had arranged to contact back in Qinghe City if Han Xuanyuan could not make it.

Xuanyuan had succeeded in translating the Domination Sutra to the Spiritual Path and had just left his room when he was confronted by Yu Nanyang, who told him about the case after buying Xuanyuan a drink.

Han Wutian was an old member of the league that revolted against the Gods and suppressed the Three Religions, the Zhen-Ren-Lei League.

After the last revolutionary battle two years ago failed miserably, the entire league was disbanded as the majority of its high-ranking and powerful members perished during said battle.

In recent years, the Three Religions are hunting down the remnants of the Zhen-Ren-Lei League. The execution of Han Wutian was supposed to be a grandiose event dedicated to showing off the power and influence of the Three Religions and the universal authority of their 'Gods.'

"I'm alright, just take gramps inside and arrange a large cauldron for me…"

Han Xuanyuan instructed Yu Nanyang with a weak and faltering voice, stumbling closer to give Han Wutian, who had fallen unconscious, to him.

Nanyang rushed to receive Han Wutian as Xuanyuan fell on his bottom.

Breathing heavily, he took out a massive cauldron from his spatial ring and set it beside him.

Meanwhile, Nanyang had already settled Han Wutian down on a bed inside the mountain house and arrived before Xuanyuan, watching as he filled the cauldron with medicinal water.

"Fire," Xuanyuan spoke out with much difficulty, the flesh on his neck disintegrating as a disturbingly white skeletal spine showed itself.

Nanyang promptly lit a flame under the cauldron, it danced beautifully like a powder blue flower blowing in the wind.

With a snap of his fingers, the flame expanded as if the flower were blooming, its tendrils licking the cauldron and transferring not only the heat but also its unique magical properties.

For it was no normal flame, it was a spiritual one, ranked 35th among the 720 Divine Fires—the Hundred Moons Calendar Flame, it's defining characteristics being the tremendous vitality hidden away beneath the outer, corrosive layer.

As the heat made its way into the water, it began to boil and released a sweet medicinal fragrance.

Putting his arms into the water and dipping his head underneath as well, Xuanyuan used his divine senses to close the lid and Nanyang dragged the cauldron nearer to the house and away from the cliff.

~~~

Three months later, Yu Nanyang's hideout

"So I guess I owe you an explanation, Yuan'er?"

Han Wutian lightly asked Xuanyuan with a slight laugh.

Han Xuanyuan on the other hand had a grim expression and was convinced that Han Wutian had a mental disorder, how could the man still be so joyful after that disastrous experience just three months ago.

Regardless, he nodded his head and waved a hand to close the curtains in the room as Nanyang turned a chair backwards and sat on it, intending to listen along as well.

"Human civilization has existed for countless years, but so have alien civilizations."

"The innate nature of humans is to explore the unknown and take control of it."

"Paired with our ability to give birth to genius that know no bounds, we were deemed as the ultimate scourge upon the universe."

"This label was not baseless, however, humanity at its peak utterly suppressed the entire universe, making it so that none of the other races dared to even breathe if a human was walking by."

"Working under the leadership of the Twelve God Emperors, we gave birth to countless miracles, and our civilization flourished in a manner that was never before seen in the universe."

"Naturally, this sort of splendor gained the envy of the myriad races and invoked arrogance within us."

"It caused us to become blinded by success and ignore the darkness growing in the corner. Before we knew it, humanity had been besieged by all sides."

"The sky had lost all its light, an army that blocked the stars and enveloped our worlds in endless darkness had begun to bombard us with attacks."

"We were outnumbered to the point that each human master would have to fight dozens of alien creatures by themselves."

"Even the God Emperors themselves had been singled out and forced to face countless attacks head on to defend humanity."

"This memory jade" He continued, bringing a large jade, about the three times the size of his fist, out of his spatial ring and set it upon the table between them.

"Contains a scene from that war, it is among the few pieces of ancient history still left in our world."

The jade projected a colorful and detailed holographic scene straight into Han Xuanyuan's eyes, making it seem as though he was within the memory itself, experiencing the events from a first-person perspective.

First, he noticed the sky was enveloped in an impenetrable darkness.

But it did not affect his vision at all, as the countless powers exploding within the vast deep-space were more than enough to blind the sights of all mortals.

There were simply endless battles taking place at the same time. Yet even the weakest member of this battlefield possessed a cultivation far superior to anything Han Xuanyuan had ever felt.

Starting from the left, where he saw two incredibly large and colorful seven-clawed dragons were flowing directly parallel to each other.

Their bodies twisted and turned at impressive angles, thrashing into hordes of other monstrous beasts, crushing them into puddles of blood and flesh.

A little below there was a giant pit of fire with a blazing towers set in the middle where creatures of all races, even humans, fought to the death.

Corpses were constantly tossed into the all-consuming flames as they grew larger and larger.

Then with an eye-catching explosion in the rightmost corner, a beacon of red, blue, and silver light blasted a massive nine-headed wolf right in its heart.

It plummeted into the world above which they were fighting, directly smashing entire continents with its colossal body.

But just as he thought that humans were doing well, a high-pitched scream that sent shivers down his very soul rang out in the distance.

He saw a giant horned skeletal monster in the shape of a human, except where should have been flesh and blood remained only cold white bones.

The monster had no eyes, and instead its empty sockets were filled in a thick dark mist that swirled around.

In its hands was a large scepter decorated with shining black pearls and a crescent shaped spearhead, within which floated a spinning red orb arcing with black and red lightning.

With a wave of the scepter, countless creatures from around it screamed in horror as their very own skeletons ripped straight off their flesh, piercing through and leaving them to fight against themselves.

This caused the pressure on the human experts to nearly triple while their own strengths halved, having to face not only the alien creatures, their own skeletons, but also the alien skeletons as well.

Turning his head to look behind him, he saw Han Wutian and Yu Nanyang.

He was about to open his mouth in question when Han Wutian explained to him.

"That skeleton is a vassal of the Lord of Death, a supreme powerhouse and one of the primary enemies of the Twelve God Emperors. That ability is their signature technique, Bone Language. It grants sentience to the bones of all living creatures and controls them to do the Lord of Death's bidding."

That was not the answer to the question he was about to ask, but it was an answer nonetheless, so he kept quiet.

Now that he had turned around, what he saw directly in front of him completely befuddled him.

Human experts were standing still in the void, having closed their eyes, blocked their ears, and their weapons drawn.

Surrounding them from all sides were countless palm sized orb-like creatures with a single circular indent on their surfaces.

"Those are creatures from the Path Civilization, they became extinct soon after this war as the rest of the myriad races became too afraid of their unstoppable power."

Han Wutian explained upon seeing Xuanyuan's confused expression.

"Well, what made them so frightening?" He asked uneasily.

"Their racial talent allowed them to send attacks through every possible channel, whether it be any of the senses, spiritual or mystic energy, movement, and even the expansion of domains or battle force."

"Simply put, if anything existed, it could be attacked by these creatures and nobody could defend against them."

"These people here, their only hope of survival is to maintain that gap of void between the two parties. The moment anybody falters, the deep space will recover, and their lives will not belong to them anymore."

And just as Han Wutian finished saying this, a flicker of spatial restoration appeared in the void and instantly countless attacks bombarded the human experts.

When the dust settled, not even a hair belonging to humans could be seen, as they had all been utterly vaporized.

At this moment, another loud explosion drew Xuanyuan's attention to the back.

The pit of flames he had previously seen was now bursting into the sky like a titanic pillar of fire.

Above it, he noticed that the twin dragons had now been thrown apart and a figure emerged. It was a man with long hair and wearing robes that were completely stained red by all the blood.

He had been pulling the dragons around, using them as weapons to dominate his section of the battlefield.

But in the next moment, the pillar of fire extended to envelop the man, spinning rapidly as it consumed him.

Then, the pillar became thinner and thinner, but becoming increasingly bright until it dissipated entirely, leaving behind only a charred corpse.

But the battlefield had too much going on, before he could even take a breath and mourn for the man, his vision was forcibly turned around to look at a scene that made his blood boil.

It was another human world, with a gigantic tree in the middle and civilization built around it, the world displayed a glorious human utopia.

But in just a moment, from the sky fell countless balls of chaotic energy, as if intending to sweep the entire world into the void.

Millions of human experts flew out of the world and into the deep-space, where the chaotic energies were dropping from.

Using their bodies as shields, they barely managed to stop the energies before it could ravage their homeland and reap the lives of their loved ones.

As sphere after sphere of chaotic energies fell down, the human experts kept flying into them, sacrificing their own lives to protect the inheritance of their civilization.

And then finally, as the last ball of destruction was dissipated by the self-destruction of a young woman, everybody seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, thankful at the end of the continuous onslaught.

But they were mistaken, as in the next moment, even more spheres of chaotic energy were shot at the world.

The moment the first ball made contact, it disintegrated the land, and as the others crashed into the ground, the very world was shaken. Light came out from within as the surface cracked and soon, it all exploded in a fiery blast of instability.

"It is okay to be sad, Yuan'er, for only after you express your sorrow can you express your heartfelt gratitude to your ancestors for their sacrifices."

But Han Xuanyuan could not afford to be sad as the war was only getting started, as in the next moment, he finally saw the highlight of this jade memory.

He saw a God Emperor of Mankind.

The man had flowy dark red hair that fell to his feet, wearing black robes stained red at the hems, he rushed to the top of the battlefield and struck his palm out at an invisible substance.

The moment his attack landed, ripples were sent out across the entire sky as cracks appeared in the darkness, shedding rays of light upon the accursed battlefield.

After several more strikes, the darkness finally shattered, revealing a brilliant starry sky.

But it also revealed an even more depressing scene.

As far as the eye could see, there was only devastation and chaos.

Countless explosions and attacks of unprecedented magnitude were setting off every moment without any signs of stopping, this place they were standing on was merely a corner of the vast, true battlefield.

As the God Emperor broke the barrier formation suppressing the light of the universe, nearly three dozen monsters rushed towards him and threw all kinds of exotic attacks at him.

Most prominent among these creatures were three that Han Xuanyuan had already seen in person, creatures of the Blazing Titan, Tidal Nexus, and Umbral Elf clans.

They were all simultaneously attacking the God Emperor, who had expanded a dark and bloody domain to encompass all these monsters. A dark, purplish-red energy covered his body, and fifteen thick bright red lines rapidly swam around him.

A black sword encrusted with crimson crystals appeared in his hand as he slashed down at the monsters, nullifying several attacks but missing most.

His domain dissolved many, but his battle force was forced to absorb the rest, sending him flying away due to the sheer force.

But he quickly made his way back, this time in greater proportions, as a crimson avatar manifested itself around him, smashing the monsters with its giant fist and sweeping them away with its giant palm.

And just when it seemed that things were going well, another horde of monsters swarmed the God Emperor from all sides.

Hundreds of beams of energy landed on the avatar, causing it to flicker. Countless punches and kicks landed on its skin, causing it to crack. Finally, thousands of explosions blew up right upon its face and the God Emperor crashed down to the ground, his avatar dissipating directly.

But before he could hit the ground, a massive Upanishad Formation appeared beneath his feet, the wide and expansive layers numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

The discs spun rapidly as a bright light illuminated the dark void that had been torn open during the clash. The God Emperor flew back into the sky and from within his robes were released a majestic sea of sequence particles.

But almost immediately, he was once again consumed in wave after wave of countless attacks from all directions.

Suddenly, his body appeared outside the chaotic storm of energies, and he turned his head to stare straight at Han Xuanyuan, the surrounding scenery paused as it was converted to grayscale.

His cold, crimson pupilled almond shaped eyes softened as they met Han Xuanyuan's, and he opened his mouth to speak in a warm and almost fatherly voice.

"Consider this an opportunity presented to you by fate itself, child."

"I am Satannicus Aurelius Maximus, the Martial Asura Emperor."

"By the time you are seeing this, I am probably long dead, or at least banished, never to set foot in this universe again."

"Now I will impart to you a technique that can single-handedly allow a civilization to stand tall in the universe."

"This is my inheritance, you may think of it as a demonic technique, but that is because this is precisely what it is."

"Derived from my Innate Talent, the Purgatory of Champions, this technique allows you to absorb and refine the blood, vitality, and cultivation of your enemies after you kill them."

"Whether it be from the lives of the myriad alien races, or that of traitors that defect to the aliens, all is permissible as long as this power is used to defend human civilization."

"Listen carefully as I instruct you as there will not be a second time, this is my legacy, and you can witness the extent of its power once I have finished reciting…"

The Martial Asura Emperor sat down in a lotus position and closed his eyes, Xuanyuan did the same. Then the recital began, and they sat there for an unknown duration of time, one person speaking unendingly and the other circulating his energy accordingly.

"… And that is the truth behind my Asura God Art. Farewell child, may we meet again, outside this cage."

The Martial Asura Emperor's form disappeared into a cloud of smoke as the world regained its colors and figures began to move once more.

The storm of power that had originally trapped the Martial Asura Emperor was now shaking violently, threatening to break free in an earth-shaking explosion.

The horde of monsters backed away but the Martial Asura Emperor did indeed break through the seal, his body bloodied and covered in countless wounds.

A wild, demonic aura surged from within his body and swept across the entire area, engulfing all the alien creatures in a virulent dark red mist.

The weaker ones exploded immediately into puddles of blood while the stronger ones barely managed to hold on.

But once again, just as things were starting to get better, more and more monsters came to surround the Martial Asura Emperor, who had just finished absorbing the essence of the slain creatures, enhancing his own power.

He manifested his avatar once more and this time with the Upanishad Formation still running under his feet. He released all his sequence particles and expanded his domain to the limit, his battle force extending to cover his avatar as well.

From all directions around him, attacks of all shapes and sizes came pouring in, covering his avatar completely.

But as the monsters breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that there was nothing remaining when the dust settled, they uttered shrieks of terror as the Transformative Divine Senses faded away.

The colossal avatar reappeared in the void, brandishing its huge dark blade.