Stranger Danger

Chapter 944: Profound Lights of Five Colors Illuminates Heaven and Earth

“Frigid North Abyss, Starry Hazard Island, Shipwreck Gulf...”

Chu Wangsun, Su Bancheng, Chen Wuji and Chu Mingfeng all gasped when they heard this. These three locations were forbidden zones of death just like the Nether End Sea. Why on earth did their ancestors choose to leave the four armies at such a location, and how on earth did they even survive?

“Are you wondering why they would garrison the armies in such dangerous locations?”

Guo Ximian seemingly guessed their thoughts and said heavily, “Because these four locations are remote and difficult to navigate, because they need to remain hidden from the Strangers, and because... they are the burial place of the heroes of humanity.”

“Burial place?” The four young men looked confused.

“Nine hundred years ago, our ancestors were able to emerge victorious in the Four Seas War, suppress the Dragon Sovereign, and quelled the aquatic threat, but it came at a terrible price. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and heroes had died in the sea, so much so that the sea was blood red in color and covered in corpses. It was like hell on earth.”

Guo Ximian said gravely, “Far too many people had died in this war, and the large majority of them weren’t intact enough to be identified and brought back to their families. So, a titan of humanity gathered all their bodies with his immense power and put them to rest in four separate locations in the Four Seas. They are the Nether End Sea, Frigid North Abyss, Starry Hazard Island, and Shipwreck Gulf.”

“While these heroes were still alive, they had sacrificed themselves in defense of humanity. That was why the living could not bear to see their remains disturbed by Strangers or human scum. To ensure their eternal rest, the titans set up various restrictions and transformed the four locations into forbidden zones of death that few Strangers and even fewer living beings could enter, much less survive. Only the Nether End Army, Heaven Slaying Army, Earth Destroying Army, and Sea Pacifying Army were bestowed a duty and secret art that allowed them to pass through these forbidden zones unhindered.”

“From the moment the Nether End Army, Heaven Slaying Army, Earth Destroying Army, and Sea Pacifying Army were founded, our human ancestors dictated that these four armies existed outside of the four nations’ military and political system. They would never be resolved or reduced, and they weren’t to be mobilized without good reason. Specifically, they could only be mobilized to spy and tackle the Strangers of the four seas, and to defend the people from any threat coming from the four seas. Otherwise, the four armies were never to leave their posts. Their duty is to guard the four seas for eternity.”

“The existence of the four armies were labeled as top secret in all four nations. On top of that, no threat has ever risen from the four seas in the past nine hundred years. That is why the number of people who knew of their existence had dwindled to almost nothing.”

“No wonder,” The young men exclaimed in realization.

Chen Wuji asked another question, “How do they usually train? How are they all so powerful in terms of cultivation?”

Back then, besides setting up the restrictions encompassing the Nether End Sea, Frigid North Abyss, Starry Hazard Island, and Shipwreck Gulf, our ancestors also used their immense power to capture fragments of time of the war between humanity and the Dragon Sovereign and create pocket worlds where they could train at. Day in and day out, the four armies would battle against the Strangers of the four seas to hone their combat skills and cultivation. Naturally, they are strong and skilled.”

Guo Ximian explained, “They might look like they are rusty, but I assure you that their true strength matches that of any elite army of the four nations. In fact, one might say that they are stronger[1].”

“But Duke, why are their vitality so weak? Is it because they stayed in the forbidden zone for too long?” Chu Wangsun asked.

“That’s right.” Guo Ximian explained, “The Nether End Sea, Frigid North Abyss, Starry Hazard Island, and Shipwreck Gulf are dangerous places even before they were transformed into forbidden zones, and hundreds of thousands of bodies were buried in these places. Combined with the effects of the restrictions, they are far more anomalous than your conventional sea region. It’s only natural that those residing within would be affected as well.”

“Besides that, the martial arts they cultivate are different from others. Our ancestors specifically invented a martial art for them called the ‘Longevity Scripture’. Cultivating it for a prolonged period and being exposed to the anomalous energies of the Nether End Sea, Frigid North Abyss, Starry Hazard Island, or Shipwreck Gulf for long would greatly slow down the aging process and increase their lifespan. Generally speaking, their lifespan is three or four times longer than ours. In some cases, it could be longer.”

“But of course, the increased lifespan did not come without a cost. Over time, they become inhumanly silent and exude little to no vitality. In a couple more years, they might not even sport a hint of vitality and act like walking corpses.”

Guo Ximian’s tone turned solemn then. “But no matter how much they change, no matter what they may become in the future, they are, and will always be, humans. They are the eternal heroes of humanity, and you must never forget them, much less slight them or belittle them.”

“We will remember this, Duke,” Chu Wangsun, Chen Wuji and the others replied solemnly.

“Halt!”

About an incense stick later, Chu Xunxian suddenly raised his hand and yelled a command. The warships immediately slowed to a stop.

The next moment, five flags flew out of his sleeves.

The flags were all triangular in shape and looked rather profound. They were cyan, red, white, black and yellow in color.

The next moment, a cyan flag flew to the east and fired a column of light into the sky, dyeing heaven and earth cyan.

The red flag flew toward the south, reversing yin, yang and the five phases and dyeing heaven and earth red.

A white flag flew toward the west and created a clump of strange illusions and smoke, dyeing heaven and earth white.

A black flag flew toward the north and blurred out the sun and moon, heaven and earth.

And finally, when all four flags were in position, the yellow flag finally landed at the center of the formation. It bloomed a whole garden of golden lotuses and dyed heaven and earth yellow.

Slowly, the five colors mingled with each other and filled heaven and earth with their profound light, causing a quake that startled all creation to wakefulness.

When the profound light of five colors illuminated the world, an ancient old man dozing off inside a crystalline, exquisitely beautiful palace deep within the ocean suddenly opened his eyes.

The old man was wearing a cyan mianfu. He had rainbow-colored horns on his head, fish eyes, horse nose, big mouth, and a long, purple beard. Despite his strange countenance, he looked regal and dignified.

The old man looked exceedingly old and lethargic, but the moment he opened his eyes, his pupils flashed dark purple, and the crystalline palace shuddered as if thunder was coursing through the earth.

“What’s that?”

The old man looked up and seemingly peered through tens of thousands of meters of sea water like nothing. When he saw the five flags in the sky, an indescribable sense of unease pooled inside his heart.

The problem was that the five profound lights of differing colors were blurring out the entire world and making it impossible to sense anything be it via divination or perception. He could not see or feel anything.

All he could see were the five profound and unusual flags that, in a sense, blotted out heaven and earth.

The old man was of course the Eastern Sea Dragon King.

Right now, he did not yet know that their conspiracy had already been exposed.

“Your Majesty!”

It as at this moment a few odd-shaped aquatic people rushed into the crystalline palace and reported urgently, “Your Majesty, the sea within several hundreds kilometers is suddenly covered by a five-colored profound light. We are not sure what to do about it. We—”

Before they could finish, the Eastern Sea Dragon King silenced them with a handwave. “I am aware. Send the word to muster our elite troops now!”

“Dragon King, what on earth is—” A confused aquatic man tried to ask, but he was harshly cut off by the Eastern Sea Dragon King. “Just do as I say, and be careful.”

“I’ll head outside and check what’s going on. Be quick!”

The Eastern Sea Dragon King was just about to leave his crystalline palace when suddenly, a grand, seemingly omnipresent voice resounded,

“The Five Phases spin, and heaven and earth fall into chaos. Annihilate.”

1. This is one area where the author’s imagination fails. These people are nine hundred years outdated and are repeating fights from nine hundred years ago. No bloody way the world hasn’t progressed one lick in nine hundred years, and they can outdo an elite army. ☜