Scourge Messenger

Chapter 461 Known to All

In the Three Kings Valley of Southern Vietnam, dozens of Zoroastrian masters are on guard. Before them lies a chaotic rift.

The crack was filled with fierce winds and torrential rain, thunder and fire. No one could see the scene inside the crack clearly, but the aftershocks that splashed out from the gap were enough to make the valley clearing barren within a hundred paces.

The Zoroastrian master turned his head and saw a rustling sound in the bushes. A sika deer jumped out from there and fled in a panic to a clearing in the valley. Behind it was a large tiger with glaring eyes and a white forehead.

The tiger was nearly ten feet long, its breath thundering, likely the king of beasts in Three Forks Mountain; even a simple messenger might not be able to subdue it. The tiger glanced at the crack in the clearing, its tail snapped straight, it meowed, and turned to run away. The deer stopped and turned back, seemingly still not quite reacting, when at that moment, an intensely bright light burst forth from the crack, illuminating the entire valley.

When the light went out, the sika deer had turned into a pillar of salt, which was scattered by the wind.

The Zoroastrian masters were horrified. If they were in the deer's position, they couldn't guarantee they would survive. And this was merely the aftershock of the rift; it was unimaginable what kind of cataclysmic disaster was unfolding within it!

After an unknown amount of time, the commotion within the crack gradually subsided. Suddenly, the surroundings shifted and distorted, and a graceful figure stepped out from the void. The crack instantly transformed into a veil draped over her body. She had short, light purple hair and appeared to be no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, but her brows and eyes were filled with an inescapable weariness. It was none other than Tong Moli, the leader of the Fire Worshiping Cult.

"Congratulations to the Master on transcending the forty-ninth tribulation!"

"Congratulations to the Zoroastrian Church! Congratulations to the Great Sun Cleansing Immortal Lord!"

High Priest Li Xi of the Zoroastrian Church stepped forward and grabbed Tong Moli's arms, asking worriedly, "How are you?"

"Most of the blessed land was destroyed," Tong Moli gently pulled open his collar, revealing a burn scar on his collarbone. "Fortunately, we came to Three Forks Mountain. Most of the calamities were [Earth] level calamities, but there are still three relatively serious injuries. It will probably take several years to heal, but it won't affect my combat strength. Finally... I've survived the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation."

Li Xi glanced at Tong Moli's collarbone, her throat bobbing slightly, before a ruthless smile appeared on her face: "Very well, Tong Moli, you continue to hide. Once all the treacherous traitors have surfaced, you can deal with them again, and things will become much easier. And the inherently evil merchants—once the news of your failed tribulation is released, they will definitely—"

“After I get back, I will announce that I have successfully overcome the tribulation,” Tong Moli shook his head and pressed Li Xi’s hand down: “Don’t do anything rash.”

Li Xi panicked: "You're the one who shouldn't act recklessly. This is such a good opportunity. If you just wait a little longer, you can have a legitimate reason to get rid of all those opportunists!"

"The sacred flame burns brightly, illuminating the world, warming people, and burning away worries." Tong Moli said softly, "Judging by actions, not intentions, there are no saints in the world when it comes to intentions. Since they haven't made any mistakes, why deliberately test their loyalty? No matter how hot the flame, if you pour water on it a few times, it will still go out. There is no such thing as an eternally burning flame in this world."

"You'll regret this woman's kindness!"

"I am a woman after all," Tong Moli laughed. "Hurry back. You're not far from the Tribulation of the Three Nine Heavens. Why bother coming out of the Golden Wing Secret Realm?"

The Zoroastrian Church doesn't possess a celestial lord's mount like the Flying Boat, but it does have a similarly effective mount: the Golden-Winged Roc. The Golden-Winged Roc is a mythical beast from the [Heavenly Pool] region, possessing combat power equivalent to a seventh-level Extreme Realm Demon King. However, it doesn't attack others unprovoked, and when it spreads its wings, entrances to secret realms appear within them, changing daily. Originally a mobile secret realm for traveling between various parts of Southern Yue, it became the exclusive mount for celestial lords after being tamed by the Zoroastrian Church.

"You're undergoing your tribulation, how could I possibly stay inside?" Li Xi said. "It's truly remarkable how you came up with this idea. The Demon Lord Wuxia must have thought you'd cultivate a new Immortal Lord before undergoing your tribulation. Who could have predicted that while you were sending people to attack the Senluo Forbidden Realm, you secretly came out to undergo the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation yourself? I didn't expect you to be so adept at strategic maneuvering." "It was only out of necessity," Tong Moli said, blushing slightly. "Cultivating a new Immortal Lord cannot completely reverse the decline of the Fire Worship Sect; only my tribulation can achieve this. Next, we—"

"Jiang Shi has summoned you to conquer the fourth-tier limit secret realm, [Palace of Bliss]. Do you accept? Note that your strength will be adjusted to the fourth-tier level."

A line of text appeared in Tong Moli's line of sight.

Tong Moli was startled, almost subconsciously activating her divine communication artifact to cleanse herself, wondering if she hadn't yet completed her Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. However, when she saw Li Xi and the other Fire Worship Cult members also looking like they'd seen a ghost, she immediately realized this wasn't a hallucination. "You saw it too?...No, Shuiyou, Shuimu, Huojian, didn't you see it?"

Among the many Zoroastrian True Persons, only three newly promoted True Persons who had just reached the Foundation Establishment stage looked completely bewildered, a stark contrast to the others, clearly indicating that they hadn't understood Tong Moli's question.

"The Blissful Immortal Palace...is that the den of iniquity in the East Sea?" Li Xi was utterly shocked. "Jiang Shi...who is Jiang Shi? Why can she summon us? Hai Ling, you—"

Before Li Xi could send someone to accept the invitation, the text materialized again:
"Recruitment is over."

……

...

The Western Xia Dynasty, the Yunhuang Ancient Road.

There are three secret realms along the Yunhuang Ancient Road, all of which are important resource points. The Dragon Sparrow Summer Palace, led by Deng Guanjian, and the Qingyun Prefecture, led by Gai Qingyun, have been locked in a standoff around the Yunhuang Ancient Road for several years. Every inch of sand along the Yunhuang Ancient Road is stained with the blood of the Dragon Poetry Clan.

Even though Longque Summer Palace and Qingyun Prefecture seem to be coexisting peacefully recently, the competition for the Yunhuang Ancient Road will not subside. This is not something that politics can decide. Longque Summer Palace has nearly two thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators, and Qingyun Prefecture has more than a thousand. It is too easy for the members of the twelve clans of Longshi to achieve Foundation Establishment, resulting in an overabundance of Foundation Establishment messengers. As a result, even with the Xixia Secret Realm producing them day and night, it is still unable to meet the demand for Foundation Establishment messengers. Therefore, they can only compete and fight, either seizing the secret realm to obtain enough resources or dying on the battlefield to reduce the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

While other realms flourished peacefully, Western Xia remained perpetually shrouded in the shadow of war. This was because the production capacity of the secret realms could not meet the needs of the twelve Dragon Poetry clans. This conflict could not be resolved through naive means such as morality, agreements, or love. The only solution was to shed enough blood, so much that this land could no longer bear it.

"Baichuanliu, step back." The sixth-level Golden Immortal, Fei Chengying, crossed her arms and stood on a cloud of flames: "I don't want to kill you yet."

“I am exactly the opposite of you,” Bai Chuanliu said. “I am tired of the endless war.”

Both sides initiated the foundation-building ritual with divine communication items, creating a tense atmosphere. This was not a war game; everyone was filled with murderous intent. The more enemy soldiers died, the more resource points their side could seize, the more members of their clan could build foundations, and the more unstoppable advantages they could accumulate like a snowball.

There will always be someone who sheds blood, and someone who becomes a stepping stone. All members of the Dragon Poetry Clan know from birth that there is only one law in Western Xia: the survival of the fittest. If they want to survive, they can only step on the corpses of others to move forward!
At the very moment when the conflict was about to erupt, a message simultaneously popped up in the eyes of both Foundation Establishment cultivators:
"Jiang Shi has summoned you to conquer the fourth-tier limit secret realm, [Palace of Bliss]. Do you accept? Note that your strength will be adjusted to the fourth-tier level."

(End of this chapter)