The story of the black silk female knight

Zero first corrected Valensa's statement, then shrugged:

"Moreover... it was the Tianxuan Continent that actively abandoned the faith of Her Majesty the Goddess, but we have never given up on them! In the past 300 years, there have been 4 disasters from outside the heavens, and the direct disaster sites of 2 of them were the Tianxuan Continent... If we had not eliminated these disasters in advance, the population of the Tianxuan Continent would have been cut in half at least twice."

They abandoned their faith and drove us away, yet we still protect their skies... I think we've done more than enough.

As for some of the local disasters on the Tianxuan Continent… Hmph, actually I'd really like to see the Dragon Emperor overwhelmed by those disasters and begging us for help.”

"...Okay, I think I understand."

Valensa covered her forehead and didn't ask any more questions.

Zero's meaning is quite clear: the Holy Maidens are throwing a tantrum at the Tianxuan Continent... They deliberately ignore the Tianxuan Continent, hoping that one day the Dragon Emperor will mess things up and beg them to come back, clean up the mess, and spread the faith.

And since the Holy Maidens were almost all immortal beings, their sense of time was very different from that of ordinary people, so this little temper of theirs lasted for more than 300 years... As a result, no one knew what the Dragon Emperor and the Central Continent Empire had been doing during this time.

Valensa could only look again at Yi Qiuyue, whose little white-socked feet were still dangling, and resist the urge to grab those little white-socked feet and squeeze them hard, before asking another question:

"Speaking of which, why did your Star Altar help the Dragon Emperor to exterminate the Holy Gate? It is common knowledge that a three-way balance of power is the only way to maintain stability. If the Holy Gate still exists, the Star Altar may not necessarily perish."

"...How could our sages of the Star Altar not understand this principle? But the Holy Gate was the biggest obstacle to the unification of the Thirteen Provinces of Tianxuan. It had to be eliminated."

The doll-like girl sighed helplessly in response, while defiantly raising her small, white-stockinged foot sharply in front of Valensa's eyes, then quickly pulling it back:

"You should have heard the descendants of the Holy Gate who fled to the Western Continent talk about our three major sects, right? Didn't they also say that the situation in the thirteen states and fifteen kingdoms of the Tianxuan Continent was intentionally maintained by the three major sects?"

"Hmm...more or less."

Valensa thought about what she had heard from Himiko before and nodded slightly.

"Hmph, I knew they would say that!"

The doll-like girl, Yi Qiuyue, pouted, clearly dissatisfied with this statement:

"Actually, the only one who really wanted to maintain the situation was the Holy Gate at the time... The guys from the Sword Pavilion were too lazy to care about worldly affairs, and we from the Star Altar didn't want to clash with the Holy Gate and cause greater turmoil, so we acquiesced to the Holy Gate's actions... As a result, they used the Holy Gate's name to make a big fuss and said that maintaining the situation in 15 countries was a joint decision of the three major sects."

"Ah this..."

Valensa frowned, subtly moving closer to the doll-like girl while maintaining a safe distance that wouldn't alert the girl.

"It's understandable that your Star Altar doesn't want to cause conflict, but does the Sword Pavilion also not care? And why is the Holy Gate doing this? What benefit would war bring them?"

"The people in the Sword Pavilion are all very aloof. They never care about the suffering of the people and only pursue the highest level of swordsmanship and realm. Every day they either slay monsters to practice their swordsmanship or travel all over the country to collect rare materials to forge swords. Everything else is irrelevant to them."

The doll-like girl shrugged:

"As for the Holy Gate... Hmph, we prefer to call them the Demonic Gate... Of course, they have many advantages in maintaining the chaotic world."

First, the people of the Demonic Sect believe that a powerful and unified dynasty will inevitably threaten the transcendent status of the three major sects... This point is even agreed upon by some people in our Star Altar and Sword Pavilion. After all, even cultivators have their own desires for power and vanity, and they will stop at nothing to maintain their status.

Therefore, whenever a war broke out between the 15 nations, members of the Demonic Sect would join the battle under the guise of gaining worldly experience, helping the weaker party, and continuing the fight until both sides were severely injured and there was no victor.

Besides maintaining their transcendent status, many of the methods of cultivation in the Demonic Sect are also quite evil... For example, the Yin Sect is good at cursing and manipulating corpses, the Wood Sect likes to feed plants with human flesh and blood, the Fire Sect likes to perform fire sacrifices on people, and the men of the Yang Sect are all ruthless scoundrels and womanizers.

Of course, the Demonic Sect doesn't necessarily need to use these methods to cultivate, but using them would make it faster... At that time, the Thirteen Provinces of Tianxuan had the Church of the Sun, and the Demonic Sect didn't dare to directly attack ordinary people for the sake of cultivation, as that would result in divine punishment and even annihilation of the sect.

Thus, the Demonic Sect supports war... Many acts that are unforgivable in peacetime are less controversial when used against the enemy in war, and even the Church of the Sun can't say much about them... This is also an important reason why the Demonic Sect tries its best to maintain the chaotic situation.

When the Dragon Emperor began to rise, the Demonic Sect was naturally unwilling to see a powerful Central Continent Empire conquering the south and north and unifying the continent... So they launched countless assassination attempts against the Dragon Emperor, forcing him to unite the forces of the Sword Pavilion and the Star Altar to first wipe out the Demonic Sect.

At that time, our Star Alliance had completely placed all its bets on the Dragon Emperor... Even though some people realized that after the Demonic Sect was destroyed, the next one might be our Star Alliance, it was difficult to stop the trend of the times.

Unfortunately, we in the Star Alliance misjudged him… We only saw the brief period of peace and prosperity brought about by the Dragon Emperor's unification of the Tianxuan Continent, but we failed to foresee how his subsequent actions would lead the world to destruction… Alas.”

The doll-like girl became increasingly frustrated as she spoke, unaware that Valensa had secretly poked the soles of her feet, which were dangling by the table, with her finger.

Zero glared at Valensa, clearly annoyed, before she quickly sat up straight, maintaining her distance from the doll-like girl at the table, and said seriously:

"Everyone makes mistakes, and it's never too late to mend your ways... Since your father went to great lengths to protect you, you should have a way to guide us in defeating the Dragon Emperor, right? And shouldn't I be the key figure in this battle? Otherwise, why would the box containing you open when you encountered me?"

"you?"

The doll-like girl raised her small face and looked Valensa up and down, pouting as if she wanted to express disdain, but ultimately nodded:

"If the box containing me was indeed opened because of you, then you are indeed the key player... My father told me that only the person who opened this box could truly kill the Dragon Emperor. No other method will work, not even your powerful artifacts."

"...Only I can truly kill the Dragon Emperor? Why?"

Valensa asked, puzzled:

"Could it be that the Dragon Emperor has some special bloodline? I saw him once before through a divine artifact, and his eyes were clearly not human, right? And his prime minister, imperial concubine, and grand marshal, they all don't look human... But the guards and palace maids in the palace are all human."

"Those are actually all demonic beast bloodlines... Just like your Western continent has demons, our Tianxuan Continent also has all kinds of demonic beasts, including some that like human culture and even marry humans and have offspring."

The doll-like girl shrugged and then pointed to Zero's tail:

"Just like Her Highness the Holy Maiden is a succubus but her lifestyle is basically the same as that of humans, there have been demon beasts living among humans in our region since very early times. The royal family of the Central Continent Empire claims to have the bloodline of true dragons, and some of their descendants are born with vertical pupils or dragon scales. The Dragon Emperor is one of them... This is also the main reason why he was often assassinated when he was young. The prince with vertical pupils is a strong contender for the throne."

"The bloodline of a demonic beast..."

Valensa nodded in realization, then asked curiously:

"What about Xiao Yu? Is she like that because of her demon beast bloodline? What kind of demon beast would look so strange? And her brother should have tiger demon bloodline, right?"

"Yes, Xiao Hu is indeed of tiger demon blood. He was born to the previous Sword Pavilion Master and a Snowwing Saber-toothed Tiger who had achieved great success in cultivation. That tigress later became the Sword Pavilion Master's contracted spirit beast."

The doll-like girl first nodded, then gently shook her head:

“Xiao Yu is different. She and Xiao Hu are only half-siblings. Her mother was the Sword Pavilion Master’s lawfully wedded wife, and she died after giving birth to her. She was born with unusual features.”

"She was born looking like that... Such a freak, who also caused her mother's death right after birth, didn't Xiao Yu face any discrimination?" Valensa asked again.

"What do you mean, no? I heard that the Sword Pavilion Master wanted to kill that freak on the spot."

The doll-like girl revealed a complex expression:

"In fact, the Sword Pavilion Master had already made a move, but since the opponent was just an infant, he didn't take it too seriously and just casually shot out a sword aura."

And guess what? Xiao Yu actually deflected that sword energy back on the spot... She was only born then! And she was already able to completely control sword energy with her talent... She was a true sword genius, the kind that was unprecedented and unparalleled... And her appearance was most likely the price she paid for her talent.

And that's true. It's said that Xiao Yu learned to fly on a sword when she was 8 years old, advanced to the Celestial Realm at 13, and was able to defeat her father before she was 20... Later, she followed the Dragon Emperor and personally earned the title of the strongest in the Thirteen Provinces of Tianxuan, a title that no one could shake.

When I was a child practicing cultivation, many elders in the sect taught those so-called geniuses this way: "Strive to cultivate diligently and aim to become the second best in the world."

"Achieving the Celestial Realm at the age of 13... hiss."

Valensa gasped.

If I remember correctly, the so-called Celestial Realm in the Tianxuan Continent corresponds to the Radiant Rank... To be able to break through to the Radiant Rank on your own at the age of 13 is absolutely cheating.

"Forget it, let's not talk about that cheater anymore, it'll make me jealous... Let's continue talking about the Dragon Emperor."

Valensa shook her head, crossed her legs, which had been spread apart and were now turned outwards in a V-shape, back together, and repeatedly pulled at the stockings with her hands, making a slapping sound.

"How exactly do we defeat the Dragon Emperor?"

"...I don't know the specific details, but I do know a few key points that can help you steer your destiny onto the only hopeful path."

After the doll girl finished speaking, she closed her eyes and fell silent, but her body made sounds like a computer running a demanding game, similar to a CPU working at high load.

A moment later, the doll-like girl opened her eyes again and looked intently at Valensa:

"The Western Continent should already know about the threat from the Central Continent Empire from the descendants of the Demonic Sect, and is planning to hold a summit of leaders from various forces to discuss a united front against the enemy, right?"

"That's right... Because Xiao Yulai stole the Jade Ruyi from the Holy Water Sect, the main fleet of the Central Continent Empire can now pass through the Endless Sea."

Valensa nodded and briefly recounted what she had seen and heard during her previous trip to the Four Islands Alliance.

"That's good... Getting to this point means that fate has found a way out."

The doll-like girl seemed to breathe a slight sigh of relief, then tightened her face again and said seriously:

"The main fleet of the Central Continent Empire will indeed take several years to arrive... but their vanguard fleet has already set sail, and it will just happen to disrupt your summit in the Western Continent."

"Will we face an attack from the Central Plains Empire during the summit?"

Valensa thought for a moment, then asked, somewhat puzzled:

"Isn't this a good thing? It's a perfect opportunity to make people realize the threat posed by the Central Continent Empire, saving a lot of trouble... There are quite a few top experts among those attending the summit. Could it be that they can't even defeat the vanguard fleet of the Central Continent Empire?"

"No... The many top experts of the Western Continent are naturally not afraid of the vanguard fleet, but the vanguard fleet's damage to the summit is not in terms of casualties, but in terms of destroying trust."

The doll-like girl shook her head and said seriously:

"The assassins of the vanguard fleet will all disguise themselves as members of the Demonic Sect to launch attacks... Although none of them can be killed on the spot, they will still cause a crisis of trust among the descendants of the Demonic Sect. Those people should be the initiators of this summit, right?"

"This……"

Valensa imagined it for a moment.

When the leaders or representatives of various forces on the continent of Frenoia gathered on Jade Island, they were attacked by people who used Wood Spirit Techniques and Yin Sect Secret Techniques... Himiko's situation is indeed difficult to explain.

"Why do the assassins of the Central Continent Empire's vanguard fleet know Holy Gate magic?"

Valensa thought of this question again:

"Didn't the Holy Gate flee the Thirteen Provinces of Tianxuan more than 700 years ago? Could it be that some members of the Holy Gate surrendered to the Dragon Emperor back then?"

"No, that's not true... Back then, all the members of the Demonic Sect except those who escaped were killed."

The doll girl replied:

"But those who escaped didn't take much with them... At that time, many of the Demonic Sect's outposts were looted by the Sword Pavilion and the Star Altar. They might not have found the core secret techniques, but they found a lot of common Demonic Sect spells. I even practiced a few spells from the Water Spirit Sect... The Dragon Emperor even promoted some spells suitable for killing in the Central Continent Empire's army."

"Understood……"

Valensa rubbed her chin with her hand:

"So the first key to defeating the Dragon Emperor is to thwart the vanguard fleet's plot to disrupt the summit and ensure its smooth running?"

"Yes, this is the first crucial juncture of the only path to survival in destiny. The Western Continent's correct understanding of the threat posed by the Central Continent Empire is the foundation for everything that follows."

The doll-like girl nodded and said:

"The second event occurred very close together because the vanguard fleet split up... Only one fleet went to sabotage the summit; the other one went..."

hum!

Just as the doll girl was recounting the second crucial moment of their destiny, Valensa, Zero, Velenkasa, and Ilana's bodies suddenly trembled, and golden liquid holy light flowed out of their mouths, noses, ears, and other parts of their bodies as if they were bleeding.

What's happening here?

This was the first time Valensa had encountered something like this, and she was a little dazed.

She didn't feel any discomfort, but her faith circuits suddenly began to vibrate violently, as if someone had thrown a Tsar Bomba at her. The higher the rank of the priest, the more uncontrollable the outflow of divine power became.

But Zero and Valenkasa clearly knew what had happened; their faces were grave, and disregarding the fact that their dresses were almost completely soaked with liquid holy light, they grabbed Valenkasa and ran towards the door.

"Let's go! To the temple! We'll talk about the Dragon Emperor later... If the incident that triggered this alarm can't be resolved smoothly, your entire Frenoia continent will be doomed even without the Dragon Emperor's intervention!"

"……what?"

Valensa was still completely bewildered.

But it was too late now, so she could only signal with her eyes to Chiba to look after the doll girl, and then she followed Zero and Velenkasa towards the temple:

"Sister Zero, please explain more clearly... Is the current state of the Faith Circuit some kind of warning?"

"Yes, the highest level of doomsday alert... In the hundreds of years I've been a saintess, this is only the second time I've experienced such an alert. The first time, I was quite startled, just like you are now."

Zero, while using his tail to wrap around Valensa's wrist and pull her along, turned back to look at Valensa with a complicated expression:

"The last time the faith circuit triggered this alarm was 23 years ago, when your mother had just been brought home by your father and her true identity was discovered."

"Ah this..."

Valensa was completely stunned. It wasn't until she was dragged into the temple by Zero's tail that she came to her senses and hurriedly asked:

"Sister Zero, do you mean that another evil god has descended?"

"It is the complete evil god descending."

Zero didn't answer; it was Velenkasa who answered from the side:

"If it's just a projection, clone, or a part of the consciousness of an evil god, we can still destroy it or drive it back with our artifacts. But if a complete evil god descends... be prepared, you might have to live on a different planet from now on."

"what?"

Valenza wanted to ask more, but Velenkasa and Zero had already entered the depths of the temple together. There were many other priests around them, who were also unable to control the chaotic flow of holy light, and they were all busy.

She could only quicken her pace to catch up and enter a small room inside the temple that resembled a conference room.

The core members of the church who had been seen at the inauguration ceremony were all in this small room... They had been having a rather heated discussion, but they all fell silent after Valensa entered, casting strange and complicated glances at her.

"Uh... what's wrong, everyone?"

Valencia felt her legs go weak under that gaze.

"...Accurate intelligence."