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START of ARC 2,

"THE HIDDEN WAR OF THE NINE TOWERS"

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Tian, esteemed Lord of the Nine Heavens.

Although he nowadays might call himself a ruler of the Nine Heavens with such pride, back in the day he had been the lowest of Heavenly Beasts. However, after he stole the Jade Emperor's cultivation and gained his unparalleled strength everything changed: the following morning, the sky above the True Earth had split into Nine Heavens, and a new Heavenly Lord sat on the throne.

At that time, no one had any reason to find faults with his claim to the position.

For starters, Tian had always been a close friend of the Jade Emperor, as well as a wise adviser to the ruler of Heaven. Leaving Tian a portion of his cultivation as well as the tall throne, were the Lord to ever abdicate, also appeared to be a rather logical arrangement.

How could they possibly know that Hundredth Xu hadn’t left the position willingly to wander the world, but rather had fallen at the hands of his most trustworthy subject!

Millions of years of peace under the harmonious Jade Emperor had clouded their judgment.

Before they knew it, Tian had already succeeded in his scheme. Most of those who had greater power had already been enticed to join him. The others were fooled into signing contracts that shackled them: so long as this seal existed, their battle strength would be maimed, and they’d never again be able to fight directly against the Nine Heavens.

Few in the Heavenly Realm had no grudges with Tian, but most who did had already pledged their submission to him and had no way of fighting back. This period of tyranny went on for thousands, millions of years, and it seemed like no revolution could ever happen.

But then, unlikely event after unlikely event took place at Worldlords Flying Island.

Mankind, who had once been deemed as unworthy to even stand on the same ground as the Heavenly, threw the first stone, declaring war to the Tyrant. One man in particular showed burning hate and raging fury towards the Heavenly Lord Tian. His name... Was Xu Ling!

…

It was common knowledge to cultivators that it was impossible to step off the edge of a world, as even if you walked forward, you’d just wind up back when you started, however long that might take. Similarly, it was found to be just as impossible to fly up endlessly into the night sky, as you would just leave the plane of existence and step into the network of planar ducts.

There seemed to be no “end” when it came to the Planary System of the Nine Heavens. Everything was connected as a single, gargantuan structure. Even the eldest Primordial Beasts, whose endless lifespans had them roaming the Planary System for millions of years, had never reached any end but the same beginning from whence they had set off. At that time, they could only pick another route…

Others, after eras spent exploring a single direction that showed no signs of stopping, could only eventually give up, and come back, however dejected they might be.

Lastly, there would be those who were just never seen or heard of again.

The map of the planar ducts was ever-increasing in complexity. The strangest element, however, had to be the lack of absolutes. Distance between planes would vary immensely depending on the routes one picked. So much so that while it might take ages to travel from one plane directly to another, the time required to get from one of those two planes to a third, and then from that third plane to the other, second plane, would be a mere couple of breaths.

When one left a plane and stepped into the planar ducts, he’d see in the distance how and where the ducts divided and connected into an unimaginable network. However, when it came to the situation just around oneself, everything grew that much foggier. What had been determined, however, was that it was just as impossible to leave the network of planar duct as it had been to reach the end of the world. Wherever one flew, he’d be going somewhere, akin to an ant walking atop a piano string.

Just like the countless planes of existence were connected through planar ducts that bridged their heavens together, in the Nine Heavens there were heavenly ducts. These were artificial passages left behind by Tian when he severed the True Heavens, and were the only link between each of those Heavens.

As such, planar ducts and heavenly ducts couldn’t be any more different, as the gaps left by Tian’s separation of the Heavens were tears into the fabrics of reality. To existences that thrived in that reality, they were just like erasers. If anything went beyond the gaping teeth of those horrid mouths of nothingness, it’d simply disappear. For those whose existence was more resilient, it would take more, yes, but just like the analogy of an eraser would imply, more and more of their finely embroidered Qi would be unraveled and worn, more and more of what made up their essence would be forgotten by the world. Even if they came back, they would never be the same, be that their prowess, or their very self. Cut, mutilated, erased. All that would be left behind would be a flawed being, an existence of imperfection, and gaps.

And the armies led by the Evil Saint had had the chance to experience the horror of those heavenly ducts first-hand.

In the two hundred years of history of the rebellion, the bloodiest of slaughters had been fought right over there: beyond the entrance to those ducts.

Powerful ageless weren’t easy to slay. Similarly, even the weakest of Immortals wouldn’t fall easily, even at the hands of ones far above them. However, at the heavenly ducts, any foot-soldier had the potential to turn the tides of a war, if he made use of the ducts well enough and managed to push a renowned legendary warrior off.

Furthermore, as only a couple thousand soldiers could pass side by side at the same time, whereas whole armies could be stationed at the exit to the corridor, they were also strategic points that were countless times easier to defend rather than to siege.

However, during the battle at the third heavenly duct, Xu Ling gave everyone on the rebel army quite the scare as they saw him fall into perhaps the most dangerous trap yet. To everyone’s shock, countless Divine Gardeners had secretly come together to create the perfect stratagem. All could be discarded, even the outcome of the battle… so long as the Evil Saint could be pushed off! Brave generals and countless powerhouses of the Nine Heavens fell, all so that even the Evil Saint, the Tamperer, couldn’t feel anything off as he was lured in…

And lastly, the most valuable spy the Heavens had ever hidden in the ranks of the rebels, the traitor that had been lowing low and playing along long before even Xiao Lan joined, pushed the blue-eyed youth off the heavenly duct. In the blink of an eye, the mighty Xu Ling, unkillable wraith of the battlefield, had disappeared into the void.

That easy.

The ease at which such a peak expert could fall made it so the heavenly ducts undoubtedly deserved their place as the second most horrid danger ground in the whole Planary System.

And then, the monster just threaded back and popped out from the void, completely unscathed. In fact, as if everything had been part of his plan to begin with, he’d plunge into the void and swim through it without a care, doing so over and over as crucial general after crucial general was assassinated.

Many fell to their knees right there and then, losing any will to fight. The plunging of morale and the subsequent failure of the chain of command was the Achilles’ heel of any mainstream general.

No amount of Divine Gardeners could make up for a battlefield in complete chaos, especially now that they, too, were in danger. Meanwhile, the lack of morale and orders meant it was a Tamperer’s time to shine, especially so if he could maneuver freely across the battlefield.

The battle at the third heavenly duct was won just like that. The knowledge that not even the void could slay the Evil Saint had Tian’s generals ripping their hair out: now, he could navigate the void too? Just how were they supposed to accomplish anything while that cockroach was around?

Naturally, Xu Ling had known of his immunity to the void’s jaws for a long time. However, he hadn’t planned to reveal it that soon. Or rather, he didn’t think the traitor would act as soon as the third duct. He’d hoped to keep it secret for even longer, to get rid of the more accomplished Divine Gardeners that inhabited the Upper Heavens, but he had underestimated the Heavenly Army’s eagerness to slit his throat. By then, he had to make do with what he had been given.

What he feared the most, however, was not that his enemies would prepare countermeasures against this method of his, to target him alone. In fact, if he could, he would encourage them to do just that! His immortality was no joke after all. Instead, what he was scared that would happen was…

“Indeed, it’s as I feared…” The breathtaking youth with blue eyes communicated to his companions, “They almost completely sealed off the duct. There’s no way an army could ever pass through a connection that small.”

Yes. The generals of the Mesial Heavens, plus what few Divine Gardeners of the Lower Heavens were left, had concluded that a head-on confrontation in the heavenly ducts with an opponent that had total agency over them had to be avoided henceforth. They found the problem to be a matter of variables: so long as there was a clash between two armies, and Xu Ling could freely navigate the void, then the Evil Saint could assassinate as he wished, as a chaotic battlefield would give him plenty of chances to do so.

What do to, what to do, the Tian’s generals pondered...

When it came to the heavenly ducts, the sights were all very much similar: an event horizon beyond which was nothingness, a curtain of void devoid of light and color. Right in the middle, poking a hole straight through the black, one would see a bridge of pristine marble continuing as far as the eye could see.

Today, there were ten such ends to the world.

On the other hand, all of those ends had yet to be conceived during the Endless Slaughter.

Back then, the dead could still wander in the world as faint spirits, while a macabre King of Hell with inverted triangle pupils would thread the lands himself, collecting those wandering souls into the yellow springs he dragged behind him. Then, Hundredth Xu’s separation came. A chasm that could only be walked by the dead appeared, separating the land of the living from the Underworld. From then on, Yama would seldom have to take souls himself, as they’d mindlessly wander into his domain themselves.

Then, a second chasm. Between the True Heaven and its Earth, with a single doorway still connecting the two. From then on, that doorway became the sole entrance to the True Heavens.

Finally, Tian severed the True Heavens into Nine, and eight ends were carved into the world.

Before the rebel army was precisely one of those eight; the third, to be exact. They had barged through the Jade Emperor’s door, and then slaughtered through the first and second ducts, conquering the Lower Heavens. And what’s more, fighting Xu Ling within the Heavenly Ducts would be like giving facing a ferocious tiger that had grown wings.

The solution they came up with?

Unlike the first few corridors that would be thousands of miles wide, the width of this first Mesial duct was barely enough for a single person to pass thorugh!

As such, even after having slaughtered their way up to the entrance, the grand army could only come to a stop.

"They actually shrunk the entrance to the corridor?" A spirit beast with the body of a lion and the head of a python narrowed his eyes, "Those Divine Gardeners, are they daring you to barge in alone like this? hHw vicious…!"

Xu Ling nodded, his ethereal blue eyes fixated on the pristine marble amidst the blackness. "Indeed, brother Lazka. This might seem like a challenge to me, to charge through the entrance on my own. However, as neither side is foolish, we are both aware that such a thing will never come to happen. We have thus fallen into a deadlock, one, however, that greatly favors their side.

“I’ve never seen such space being bent to such a degree,” remarked Xiao Lan, eyeing the curvature of distance with admiration. “Any chance we can breakthrough?”

The Evil Saint sighed, “For it to be by this much, a name comes to mind. And if I’m right, then it’s very bad news that she is here. Sure, we might eventually break her method, but it would take too long. Months, years, perhaps. By then, the reinforcements from the Upper Heavens would have come. This battle at the third duct just got much harder, and breaking through here that much more important…”

He grimaced, “This is exactly why I didn’t want to showcase my advantage in the heavenly ducts so soon. Now that they know I can't be killed that way either, they have given up the idea of confronting us in there. Instead, the entire army of the Mesial Heavens, and even divisions from the upper ones will have gathered right outside the exit, ready to pounce on us by taking advantage of their advantage in numbers.”

“In front of us is probably the biggest obstacle that separates us from Tian. Yet, as of now, I can't think of any way to get around it, so we can only face it head on; whatever it takes.”

Xiao Lan noted sharply, “If an even bloodier massacre than those before awaits anyways, then we can only brace ourselves and head into battle in our top condition.”

“Mmm. Tell everyone to rest for the time being and prepare for the greatest battle of their lives.” Xu Ling voiced his agreement. Then, with a sigh, he added, “I only fear that, by then, our momentum will have reduced to a mere fragment of the unstoppable force from before… Our losses in the first clash will most likely be severe, so we can’t even count on obtaining an advantage in morale then. In a battlefield where the number of variables has been reduced to such an extent, it will be that much harder to break through the stratagems of the other’s Gardeners.”

“Alas, we don’t really have much of a choice,” an aide of the blue-eyed Saint remarked. “I’ll relay the instructions to the others. This far away should be safe enough of a distance to set up camp. Should we?”

“Yes. Send a couple of sentinels to watch over the entrance. Everyone else, rest until the other side makes a move. Before then, no one bother wrestling with the space-bender,” reminded Xu Ling, his pensive eyes narrowing as he recalled a certain event from the records. “You’ll be wasting much more of your own energy than he would were we to attack all at once: it’s that big of a disparity. Just recuperate. Or meditate. Anything productive in the face of the upcoming clash. Oh, knowing the young ones though, do make sure someone capable is watching over the entrance. At least, that way they will be safe when they sneak over there to try their hand, irregardless of my instructions."

“Mm... Will do, Boss. You also get some rest of your own. A tough battle awaits, and we need the Evil Saint in top form to lead us through this hell.”

"Ahah, will do, will do..."