The werewolves’ situation inevitably became the focus of the entire Evernight faction. As one of the four major races, their strength was still far above the other minor races.

Although they did not have a supreme on the Sacred Mountain, the Wolf Sovereign of the Summit of Peaks and the Wolf Ancestor of the ancestral school were regarded as superior to the great dark monarchs. They were fairly close to the supremes in power. As the wielder of the Tempest—the fastest and most ferocious of all grand magnums—even a supreme would find the Wolf Sovereign an extremely difficult opponent.

The werewolves were highly populous and boasted a great number of experts across their three continents.

Despite all that, the werewolves were mercilessly left out during the pioneering of the new world. The reason behind this was definitely a topic worth pondering on. Some people believed that the werewolves had offended a certain supreme, while others felt that the great prophets had foreseen the fall of their race.

None of the various explanations was enough to convince anyone, but one thing gradually became certain.

There was something of great benefit hidden in the new world, something so big that even the supremes were willing to lower themselves to fight for it. It was so important that they weren’t willing to share, and that was why the supreme-less werewolf race was mercilessly left out. It was all so that they wouldn’t have to split another quota.

The werewolves’ state of affairs deserved sympathy, but the vampires’ sudden change in attitude was also quite surprising. It would seem that the dark races were starting to push for superiority in their contest for the number one Evernight race. The demonkin were as arrogant as they were powerful, oftentimes surpassing the vampires in the distribution of benefits.

In the most recent decade, there was a stark contrast between the two races’ active great dark monarch. The Eternal Flame with his Sable Blessing was widely accepted as superior to the Lightless Monarch Medanzo. The gap in strength never changed even with the rise of Prince Habsburg.

The Queen of the Night Lilith was undoubtedly the number one expert, but she remained in deep slumber most of the time and would only appear on the Sacred Mountain in the form of a projection. This was the first time the queen had made repeated demands and forced the other races to make concessions.

The Demon King and Spider Queen compromised at every step, going so far as to pay a steep price for the vampire race to take the field as per the agreed policy. Didn’t this mean that the entire Evernight faction was helpless, that only the vampires could deal with Song Zining and Zhao Jundu?

When did the vampire race produce such a genius?

The topic of vampire geniuses led the Evernight council members to a certain name: Qianye.

Qianye’s renunciation of the Empire and escape to the neutral lands was a big incident that shook the entire nation—a general had fallen to his blade after all. On one hand, the matter involved the fall of a high-ranking officer, while on the other, it proved Qianye’s peerless talents. Pushing such a person out of the Empire was simply inexcusable.

Then again, there were a lot of complicated leads behind these things. The Empire placed a gag order, and surprisingly, the news didn’t spread to Evernight, either. Without further information about his progress, Qianye eventually faded away from everyone’s memories. He was now being mentioned again because people remembered that he was a bona fide vampire—he had even revealed his blood core back then.

This theory was also refuted because Qianye’s Venus Dawn was extremely famous, and many dark race members had suffered in his hands before. Compared to Song Zining’s Worldly Prosperity, Qianye’s energy was purer, fiercer, and much more destructive. How could someone with Venus Dawn be a vampire?

The entire Evernight faction was discussing this matter, but they were destined to never get an answer.

When they dug up Qianye’s achievements in detail, people discovered that the young genius had already broken through the divine champion realm and was now an important character. Not only had he taken down a large territory on Fort Continent, but he had also killed the Whitebone Duke.

Although Whitebone wasn’t a qualified duke—and Qianye hadn’t claimed victory on his own—being able to kill the target still spoke volumes of his ability.

There were rumors that even Sousa had lost out in the new world.

The more discussions took place, the more Qianye became a puzzling mystery.

…

In a secluded land unaffected by the storm outside, Nighteye was sitting at a cliffside and gazing at the boundless sea of clouds. This place was extremely high up and the sky was clear, making it easy for one to forget about all secular worries.

An elegant man in his middle ages walked over from behind. It only took him a few steps from over the horizon to Nighteye’s side.

He gazed out for a moment before sighing. “Since I was a kid, I’ve always wondered what exactly lies beneath this sea of clouds. Why would this Genesis Continent become a second holy land of our vampire race, a place even more important than the Twilight Continent at certain times? Even now, I still wonder if the end of the River of Blood is indeed here or on one of the seven higher continents. Unfortunately, we can never reach the higher continents, and we cannot go down this sea of clouds.”

Nighteye said, “A place even the great Azure King can’t go, I naturally cannot, either. I’m just here to take a look, I’m not going down there.”

The Azure King said, “That’s good then. This sea of clouds has always been an irresistible attraction for our race, but all of those who have gone down never returned. Even Black-Wing, with his Spatial Flash and fearless nature, regretted his decision halfway after jumping in. He actually teleported out, but his divine wings had turned black ever since. He might’ve reached the Sacred Mountain if he didn’t have to go through that.”

“There wouldn’t even be a Black-Winged Monarch if he didn’t dare to jump.”

“True. I looked everywhere before realizing you were here. What, interested in the River of Blood now?”

Nighteye shook her head. “No, I just felt that it’s quieter here.”

The Azure King glanced back at the distant castle, saying, “It is indeed. There are too many rumors swirling about in the outside world, things that might make you unhappy. Those rumors probably won’t reach this place.”

“Oh, they did.”

“Then you…”

“It’s fine, I’ve tossed those who drivel in there.”

The Azure King shook his head helplessly. “You, sigh…”

Nighteye replied indifferently, “I know those who can actually come here are descendants and geniuses of certain races. But, they’re courting death if they think they can rely on that to offend me. If any of those powerhouses are dissatisfied, they can come to seek me out. I don’t think they have the guts, though.”

The Azure King said gently, “There’s really no need to go that far.”

“This body is too young, so young that people forget to maintain the basic level of respect. I don’t have any tangible accomplishments, either, so this is the only way to make a deeper impression. See? This place is now a lot quieter after tossing those people down.”

“You still have a lot of resentments.”

“Of course not.”

“We’ve been friends for over a thousand years, how can I not understand you?”

Nighteye replied, “I don’t have such an old friend! I only just awakened my spirit, I’ve forgotten the past.”

The Azure King said helplessly, “You just said this body is too young… Fine, whatever you say.”

“What business did you have with me?”

The Azure King heaved a sigh of relief. “You’re finally willing to listen.”

“You’ve been speaking all this time, haven’t you? Did I stop you?”

“You would have driven me away if I had gotten straight to business.” The Azure King seemed helpless. “Our current situation doesn’t look good. The humans have arrived in Blacksun Valley and destroyed our base there.”

Nighteye sounded surprised. “What should I say? That it’s not because we’re useless, the enemy is simply too crafty?”

The Azure King coughed. “Erm… that is more or less the meaning.”

“So, they still want me to take the field?”

“It has to be you?”

“Why should I?”

“The demonkin and arachne have agreed to shoulder half of our sacrificial offerings. That’s the lives of tens of thousands of our people we’re talking about.”

“The Blacksun Valley, humph, that place should never have been excavated.”

“We’ve already paid such a steep price, we can’t turn back now.”

Nighteye said, “I don’t want to fight the humans, it’ll affect my control of this identity. This girl’s willpower is very strong and very troublesome. Find a way to deal with it yourselves.”

The Azure King said after a moment of silence, “This body’s consciousness is still there?”

“Of course!”

The Azure King sighed. “If that’s the case, how about we have someone else come and persuade you?”

“It’ll be the same whoever comes.”

“That person might be different.”

“Who?”

“Edward of the Perth Clan.”

Surprised, Nighteye said coldly, “You should know what will happen if you send him to me.”

“I know, Her Majesty knows, he knows as well.”

“Fine then. Let him come and I’ll listen to what he has to say before his death.”

The Azure King nodded. “I’ll be leaving then.”

“I won’t see you off.”

The Azure King sighed softly. “You were just as cold a thousand years ago.”

“How should I know what I was like a thousand years ago?”

Seeing that Nighteye had no intention of continuing the topic, the Azure King left while shaking his head. After taking the first step, he looked back and asked hesitantly, “Are you really…”

“What?”

“You just said?”

“What did I just say?” Nighteye looked puzzled.

The Azure King said, “Nevermind, I’ll ask you after we finish up in Blacksun Valley.”

Nighteye glanced at him with a frown. “That’ll take some time. Your time is limited, you should go back to sleep in the blood pond.”

The Azure King laughed wryly. “How can I rest now? You saw the mess Medanzo has gotten the race into while Lilith and I weren’t around. Blacksun Valley is really important, it’s worth it even if I have to lose some lifespan. At least Her Majesty won’t have to worry that much.”

“You worry about too many things.”

“Can’t help it.”

Seeing that she couldn’t convince him, Nighteye asked, “What did you want to ask just now?”

“It’s nothing important, it’s fine even if I don’t know.”

“Fine, as you wish.”

The Azure King shook his head and drifted away. Gazing at his receding silhouette, Nighteye did feel somewhat curious as to what exactly he wanted to ask.