The Final Trial! Chapter Forty-Five: The Army of Blood Ants

As Luo Chen and his companions pressed deeper into their exploration, he gradually understood the true purpose behind the existence of the Ancient Sword Grave. Perhaps, to mortals, this place appeared to be a tomb of ten thousand swords, but in reality, it was nothing of the sort. Its true face was that of an ancient battlefield, more precisely, the remnants left after the War of the Gods.

He learned from Ten Spirits that in ancient times, the Northern Sea Burial Emperor had been chosen by the will of heaven and earth to become the first Master of Spirit Beasts across all realms, ruling over myriad spirit beasts. Yet, after tens of thousands of years, the three races—the Human, Holy Feather, and Sea Demon clans—rose up in carnage.

Their ultimate aim was to harness the souls and bodies of spirit beasts to forge the Heaven-Sealing Array, thus sealing off the will of heaven and seizing dominion over all realms. Yet, this was merely the prelude to the War of the Gods.

Northern Sea Burial Emperor initially believed this was an independent plot by the three races. However, after a millennium-long battle between the races and the spirit beasts, he realized that the true instigator was none other than the first All-Realm Lord, Emperor Boundless Sky.

After the crisis of creation, the will of heaven was all but extinguished; the highest will that once governed the universe chose to scatter itself into countless paths, allowing those fated within the realms to inherit its will, granting true freedom to all beings.

But Emperor Boundless Sky, the reigning All-Realm Lord, opposed this notion. He had always been the devoted supporter of the last vestiges of heaven’s will, and it was precisely this loyalty that allowed him to rule the Sacred Mountain and become the All-Realm Lord.

Yet, the will of heaven’s choice was, in effect, diminishing the authority and power of the All-Realm Lord. Thus, Emperor Boundless Sky secretly instructed the three races to initiate the massacre of the spirit beasts.

When all living beings felt the approach of annihilation and death, it was on that day that the Northern Sea Burial Emperor’s wrath was ignited. With his fury, the war that had begun among mortals escalated, for with the Emperor’s involvement, it became a war of gods against gods.

The War of the Gods raged for tens of thousands of years, devastating all living beings across the realms. In the end, the Northern Sea Burial Emperor single-handedly stormed the Sacred Mountain and battled Emperor Boundless Sky for nineteen days. Ultimately, the Spirit Beast Master, Northern Sea Burial Emperor, fell, and so concluded the first War of the Gods.

Yet peace lasted only three years before the Lord of the Laws of Life launched a so-called Holy War against the Sacred Mountain.

The Laws of Life—what are they? All things have a beginning and an end; birth is inevitably followed by death, even for gods. But after death, where do they go? That is the Nether Reincarnation Sea, and the Laws of Life are, in essence, the laws of reincarnation.

This Holy War was directly connected to the fall of the Spirit Beast Master, Northern Sea Burial Emperor.

Legend holds that the God of Creation birthed all beings of the realms, and even the God of Creation was born from the Supreme Universal God, also known as the God of Chaos, which later generations regarded as the Will of Heaven itself.

The Supreme Universal God created two gods of creation, one male and one female, one governing light, the other darkness. Through millennia, their love gave birth to four ancient deities. Emperor Boundless Sky, the All-Realm Lord; Northern Sea Burial Emperor, the Spirit Beast Master; Lady Azure Song, the Lord of the Laws of Life; and Emperor Donghuang Taiyi, ruler of the First Firmament—all were children of the primordial gods of creation.

Thus, apart from the Creator God, the earliest gods of the world were these four siblings who once ruled the realms.

Lady Azure Song, the Lord of the Laws of Life, was enraged at Emperor Boundless Sky for slaying her sister, Northern Sea Burial Emperor. In her fury, she sealed the Nether Reincarnation Sea, destroyed the gates of reincarnation for gods and mortals alike, and led a million-strong army from the Underworld to assault the Sacred Mountain.

It was said that the Nether Reincarnation Sea lay beneath the Sacred Mountain, and some claimed the Mountain existed solely to suppress Lady Azure Song. As for the true reason, Ten Spirits did not reveal it to Luo Chen.

During that Holy War, the Sacred Mountain was destroyed, the gates of reincarnation utterly sealed. Both Emperor Boundless Sky and Lady Azure Song perished.

From then on, the souls of the dead had nowhere to return to, and the Laws of Life faded from the world. After that epochal Holy War, the whereabouts of Emperor Donghuang Taiyi, Lord of the First Firmament, became unknown. The Ancient Sword Grave where Luo Chen and his companions now stood was a fragment of the once Sacred Mountain.

Afterward, millions of years of the Wild Era ensued, during which demonic weapons and countless races rose amidst chaos. Tens of thousands of bloody wars unfolded, until divine punishment descended upon the world, the Demon God appeared, and Ragnarok was once more enacted.

The so-called Demon God was none other than the Spirit Beast Master, Northern Sea Burial Emperor, later known as the Emperor of the Abyss. As for why the once-fallen Northern Sea Burial Emperor returned as a demon, only faint records remained from Ten Spirits’ era.

At the end of the Holy War, Lady Azure Song used an unknown secret art to collect a fragment of Northern Sea Burial Emperor’s soul at the Sacred Mountain, brought it back to the Nether Reincarnation Sea, and, after hundreds of years, sacrificed the breath of myriad souls accumulated there for tens of thousands of years.

In the end, the god became a demon. As for Lady Azure Song’s motives, perhaps Ten Spirits believed she merely wished to leave herself a backup for the uncertain outcome of the Holy War. Since the world was unjust, in pursuit of true freedom and survival, even if the path must be paved with blood and corpses, then let death become its foundation.

Yet perhaps Lady Azure Song, as the Lord of the Laws of Life, did not foresee that her actions would inadvertently create a new race—the Nether Clan.

With the Emperor of the Abyss’s ambition to rule the Wild Era, as the weaker races, such as humans, neared extinction, a man emerged from the void. He called himself Xuanyuan Liang, Lord of the Demon Clan, who—by his own power—suppressed the Nether Clan and, together with a hundred races, ushered in an era of peace.

But peace did not last. The human race’s rapid growth exceeded Xuanyuan Liang’s expectations, and their ambition led to the opening of the third War of the Gods.

Led by humanity, the hundred races claimed light and justice, but the ruler of the Wild Era was the Lord of the Demon Clan—a state intolerable to the world. Thus, under the banner of freedom and justice, the humans launched an assault against the Firmament Realm, where Emperor Xuanyuan Liang ruled.

The war lasted centuries, the aura of death draping every corner of the Wild Era, the starry sky stained with blood. Within the Firmament Realm, the corpses of the hundred races, led by humans, formed walls thousands of meters high.

In the end, Emperor Firmament, unable to bear the carnage, destroyed the Divine Oracle Monument that embodied authority and sent the nine Lords of the Divine Thrones fleeing into the void, returning to the Demon Realm.

Emperor Firmament, together with the three remaining Lords of the Divine Thrones, sealed the gate of the Demon Clan, the Mark of Darkness. Finally, he sealed the Firmament Realm once more, then abandoned his divine power and bestowed it upon humanity.

Thus the war between gods and demons ended. The hundred races survived amidst chaos, and tens of thousands of years later, their combined might forged the broken Wild Era into the current Four Realms: Mortal, Spirit, Divine, and Sacred.

But ever since the war of gods and demons, no true gods have appeared—the Wild Era was the end of divinity. The gods before its demise are now known as the Ancient Gods.

Today, the Four Realms are populated by countless cultivators, all striving to seek the path of divinity. Yet after millions of years, not one has achieved true godhood.

“Ten Spirits, according to your story, how did Sword Zhongli and you survive until now?”

Luo Chen gazed at Ten Spirits’ form in his mental space and posed the question that puzzled him. Indeed, Sword Zhongli claimed to be a survivor of the ancient era, residing in the Thunder Abyss for millions of years. Luo Chen always felt that when he first encountered Sword Zhongli, his presence had a purpose, as though guarding something. As to what, Luo Chen could not yet discern.

“Master, Elder Sword’s existence is only beneficial to you, never harmful. Perhaps, when your strength reaches a certain level, you will discover the reason behind it.”

Hearing Ten Spirits’ reply, Luo Chen smiled faintly and nodded. Ten Spirits was right; perhaps much knowledge would only bring disaster at this stage. Sometimes ignorance is preferable. Ten Spirits continued,

“As for my own existence, to be honest, I am not entirely sure. My memories are clear regarding most things, but when it comes to myself, there is not a single clue. It’s as though someone sealed it, including your identity, Master.”

Luo Chen did not speak, but fell into deep contemplation. What was his true identity? What secrets lay hidden? Why did he always feel that someone awaited the day he unraveled the mystery, while others wished him never to seek it?

“Brother Chen!”

With Qing Xuanyu’s panicked cry, Luo Chen instantly opened his eyes, seeing Qing Xuanyu and the others with faces full of terror. Luo Chen frowned slightly, but his attention was drawn by a tremendous rumbling sound. He looked toward the direction where everyone’s gaze converged.

On the distant horizon, a rolling sandstorm surged forth. Within the haze, countless black shadows raced toward Luo Chen and his companions. Alongside came the thick aura of blood and death.

Luo Chen immediately extended his divine sense, and the scene he witnessed made him involuntarily choke in alarm. Within the billowing sand, all those black shadows were Dragon-Devouring Blood Ants, numbering in the thousands.

“This is bad! We must leave, now!”

With that, Luo Chen scooped up Qing Xuanyu, glanced at the group, and swiftly fled toward several barren mountains in the distance. He glanced back repeatedly at the rapidly approaching army of blood ants, biting his lip in fury.

“Those bastards in the Heavenly Sword Hall!”

The others were bewildered by Luo Chen’s curse, but he knew the truth. He had believed, as Qing Xingyue claimed from information obtained in the Heavenly Sword Hall, that the Dragon-Devouring Blood Ants’ cultivation would not exceed the Earth Spirit Realm. Now he realized it was all false.

Just moments ago, his divine sense revealed that not a single one of the thousands of blood ants was below the Earth Spirit Realm. With such an army, even if every participant in the team contest were gathered, they would stand no chance against the vanguard.