The three black swords moved with incredible speed, using a method that was beyond the comprehension of the Crow Divinity Tribe. They pierced through the air, appearing directly in the path of the Crow Divinity Tribe’s magical airs.h.i.+p.

The Crow Divinity Tribe’s ma.s.sive airs.h.i.+p suddenly stopped in place. Thousands of sharp gazes came to fall upon the three black swords. The two sides faced off against each other, not moving a muscle.

The violet rain fell around them, and a wind blew that carried with it the power of extermination. A bitter cold pressed down on everyone; however, this coldness paled in comparison to the killing intent of both of these Tribes.

The eyes of the Crow Divinity Tribe members had gone wide when they saw the three black swords. Nearly ten thousand people had all risen to their feet simultaneously. They had experienced many, many battles, so death was something they had become accustomed to. Killing intent exploded out, along with countless ice-cold gazes.

No one spoke. There was no calling out. There was only a deathly silence and killing intent that seemed capable of affecting even the clouds and wind!

For such a shocking scene to arise, it was clear that neither of these two Tribes had any kind intentions!

The instant the killing intent of the Crow Divinity Tribe members rose up, bright glows appeared in the eyes the eight thousand Cultivators of the Cloud Sky Tribe on the three black swords. These people looked like sharp, unsheathed swords, their desire to kill rising up to the Heavens.

The wind and clouds seethed and the air rippled as the killing intent of these eight thousand sharp, unsheathed swords exploded out. It was in this moment that, shockingly, on the forehead of each and every person a black sword appeared. The black swords flickered brightly; obviously they possessed some unique totemic power.

In terms of their bearing, these two Tribes seemed to be evenly matched.

One was a famous Battle Tribe from a great Western Desert Tribe with a Spirit Severing Patriarch. It was only an auxiliary Tribe of the great Cloud Sky Tribe. However, in terms of battle prowess, even the Main Tribe completely respected them.

The other Tribe had fought countless battles, and had experienced life and death. They had undergone constant transformation, existing in a state of perpetual war that had turned their blood into iron!

In this moment, the two Tribes could sense each other’s valiance and power. The eight thousand members of the Cloud Sky’s auxiliary Battle Tribe comprised about eighty percent of their entire Tribe. Right now, they could clearly see a will to fight emanating from the bodies of the Crow Divinity Tribe members. It was something they didn’t see often.

When the two middle-aged men sitting by Zhou Dekun saw the Crow Divinity Tribe and sensed their valiance, intense looks appeared on their faces.

“The entire Crow Divinity Tribe has the same will! It’s a killing intent that has been distilled into pure essence!”

“You usually only see something like this in the elite members of great Tribes! Who could ever have imagined that the Crow Divinity Tribe would have an aura like this!”

It wasn’t just them. The rest of the Tribe members all had a similar reaction.

Both the Crow Divinity Tribe and the Battle Tribe could be described with the same words. Taciturn! Cold-blooded! Ruthless!

At the same time, when the Battle Tribe appeared in front of the Crow Divinity Tribe, they could instantly see that they were vastly different from any other enemies faced up against in the past. The pressure that emanated out from them caused an intense desire for battle to gleam in the eyes of the Crow Divinity Tribe members.

There were now thirteen Nascent Soul Cultivators in the Crow Divinity Tribe. In addition to Ou Yunzi and the other of the five from the Eight Branch Alliance, during the past year of war, the Crow Divinity had picked up a few more.

Of the thirteen Nascent Soul Cultivators, two were of the late Nascent Soul stage, five were of the mid Nascent Soul stage and six were of the early Nascent Soul stage. A force such as this put the Crow Divinity Tribe on the border between a mid-sized Tribe and a great Tribe that lacked a Spirit Severing Patriarch.

The Battle Tribe saw all of this. The power of the Crow Divinity Tribe far exceeded what they had antic.i.p.ated. They knew that this battle… would be extremely violent and bitter.

A deathly silence filled the air as the two parties faced off against each other. The killing intent from both sides slammed together, causing the aura in the entire area to be thrown into chaos. In this moment of imminent crisis between the two parties… a strange expression suddenly appeared on Meng Hao’s face as he caught sight of Zhou Dekun sitting there right in the middle of everything on the black sword.

Zhou Dekun’s eyes went wide when he saw Meng Hao.

The two of them were separated by several hundred meters, but their gazes instantly locked. It only took a moment for wry smiles to appear on their faces.

The Battle Tribe High Priest had of course not noticed that Zhou Dekun and Meng Hao were looking at each other. The oppressive atmosphere had reached a peak. He suddenly opened his mouth and broke the deathly silence: “KILL THEM!”

However, even as the Battle Tribe members behind him, as well as the Crow Divinity Tribe members, were about to roar and charge into battle, Zhou Dekun suddenly leaped up and slapped the Battle Tribe High Priest across the top of his head.

“Shut up!” cried Zhou Dekun, flying into a rage. “Did I tell you to start fighting?! Everybody, stay your hand! Dammit! The orders from the Main Tribe were to do everything possible to induce them to surrender! I haven’t said a single word and you’re already trying to kill them!?” The Battle Tribe members all stared over at him with cold eyes. In this critical moment in which their killing intent was exploding out violently, their gazes seemed sharp enough to rip everything to pieces. Instantly, Zhou Dekun felt his mind trembling. However, it only took a moment for his eyes to widen.

“Disobeying orders?” he asked, his voice as cold as ice.

The Battle Tribe High Priest looked up, seemingly on the verge of being shamed into rage. Although the slap just now had not contained any force, it had happened in front of all the members of the Tribe, and was a huge humiliation. However, when he thought about Zhou Dekun’s status, he did nothing. The Battle Tribe Greatfather took a step forward and glared out at the other Tribe members. He gave a cold snort, causing them all to fall back silently.

Although the Battle Tribe Greatfather was secretly infuriated, he didn’t let it show on his face. At least not too much. His expression somewhat unsightly, he said, “Grandmaster Zhou, please, what are your orders?”

At the same time that the Battle Tribe had been on the verge of charging into the battle, many members of the Crow Divinity Tribe were also on the verge of exploding out with the power they had built up. However, unlike the Battle Tribe, as soon as Meng Hao gave the word, they instantly backed down.

This caught the attention of the Greatfather and High Priest of the Battle Tribe, and instantly shook them. They exchanged glances and could see the thoughtful look in each other’s eyes.

They knew that a Battle Tribe like the Crow Divinity Tribe had reached a shocking level of power.

Meng Hao stood, and then his body flickered as he moved out. This instantly caused the Battle Tribe to be filled with vigilance. Zhou Dekun gave a cold harrumph. His expression one of haughtiness, he moved off of the huge black sword to head toward Meng Hao.

The two of them flew up into the air, quickly becoming two tiny dots up above.

The two Tribes down below stared at each other with killing intent, but made no moves.

Up above, Meng Hao and Zhou Dekun were tiny specks in the air, and it was impossible for the Tribe members below to hear anything they were saying. Meng Hao gave a wry smile as he looked at Zhou Dekun. He clasped hands and bowed.

“Elder Brother Zhou,” he said teasingly, “it’s been many years, but you look as graceful as ever,”

Zhou Dekun cleared his throat, looking a bit embarra.s.sed, and even more emotional, as he gazed back at Meng Hao. “I never imagined that we two fellow disciples would meet here after parting ways all those years ago in the Southern Domain.” He sighed, his expression one of reminiscence.

Meng Hao sighed softly. He couldn’t help but recall past events. He thought about the return trip from the Black Sieve Sect, when he and Zhou Dekun ran into the Black Lands Cultivators and been forced to separate. He had never imagined that after that separation, they would meet again in the Black Lands and then again in the Western Desert.

“So, that alchemist in the Black Lands really was you?” asked Zhou Dekun with a wry smile. After the event had occurred, he had realized that the only person who could possibly have been so powerful in pill concocting was of course the person in front of him right now.

When Zhou Dekun thought back to how Meng Hao had consistently backed down in Holy Snow city in the Black Lands, allowing him to maintain his reputation, it actually caused him to be filled with grat.i.tude. Over the years, that grat.i.tude had fused with his previous feelings of friends.h.i.+p to form a warmth that had endured for years and years.

You could say that in all the Western Desert, Meng Hao was actually Zhou Dekun’s only family.

When Meng Hao looked at Zhou Dekun, he thought about the Southern Domain. He thought about his Master, Chu Yuyan, and all the people back in the Violet Fate Sect. He thought about all his other close friends in the Southern Domain, about Fatty and Chen Fan.

And… Xu Qing.

Their faces floated in his mind, clear and not blurry at all. As he saw their faces in his mind's eye, he realized that he… missed home.

Except, his home was in the State of Zhao, which had long since disappeared from the Southern Domain.

Meng Hao and Zhou Dekun sighed and began to chat. Sometimes they smiled and laughed, sometimes they got excited and pa.s.sionate. As they recalled past years, Meng Hao felt was awash with feelings that he rarely experienced. It was the same with Zhou Dekun.

When Meng Hao recounted some of the bitter difficulties he had faced, Zhou Dekun was shocked. To Zhou Dekun, Meng Hao’s life was like an exhilarating adventure. As for Meng Hao, when he heard about Zhou Dekun’s experiences, they seemed almost as miraculous as his own.

After hearing Zhou Dekun’s story, Meng Hao smiled and said, “So, you are the Cloud Sky Main Tribe Elder of the Dao of Alchemy… a position comparable to High Priest. In the great Cloud Sky Tribe, you definitely wield much power and influence…. Elder Brother Zhou, I can’t help but admire you, truly.”

Zhou Dekun laughed, sounding quite pleased with himself.

Without even realized it, they had allowed four hours to pa.s.sed. While the two reminisced about past times, the two Tribes down below simply had to wait.

The Crow Divinity Tribe seemed to take the situation in stride. Meng Hao was their totemic Sacred Ancient, and they were fanatically loyal to him. Even if they had to wait longer, they wouldn’t mind.

The Battle Tribe was a bit different. They stood there, taciturn. The Greatfather and the Grand Priest exchanged suspicious glances. They looked up at the black dots up in the air that were Zhou Dekun and Meng Hao. They couldn’t understand why Zhou Dekun had already taken four hours trying to convince the enemy to surrender. By now, the sky was growing dark….

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Note from Deathblade: I'm sure there will be "haters" of this chapter because there was no insane fight or plot revelation. I personally really like the chapter and may or may not have shed a tear when reading it. I hope you enjoyed it too!