Chapter 1224: Fall of the Sky Empire (Part 4)
As the fifth day passed and the sun rose on the sixth day since the attack on the capital city of the Sky Empire, the last remaining cardinal from the Order of the Sky God could not help panicking as he became unable to fully defend against his opponents.
When is that senior going to show up!? If he doesn’t appear soon, I will really end up joining those two on their journey to the netherworld!
Although his opponents were taking things slower to avoid being caught off guard by a possible last-ditch effort to take them down with him, the cardinal understood full well that he was running out of time… And more importantly than this, the observing Soul Ascension Realm cultivators had started to grow restless after the news of the attack on the capital started spreading outside.
Though they didn’t explicitly say anything, it was obvious that they wanted to end things before more people could show up and complicate the situation…
“Oh? Looks like things aren’t over yet, the Sky Empire is far more tenacious than I expected.”
It was just at this moment that a loud voice resounded through the surroundings followed by an unfamiliar figure appearing at the edge of the edge of the encirclement formed by the different invading empires around the capital city.
“The third ancestor of the Yan Empire!? Why is someone like that here!?”
“The Yan Empire… To think someone from that place appeared so fast…”
“This is bad, we have to deal with that cardinal before more people appear!”
Seeing the person who had appeared, the stronger Soul Ascension realm cultivators surrounding the capital city all began panicking before focusing their attention on the cardinal struggling to hold on above the capital city.
The main difference compared to before being that there was a very clear killing intent present in their eyes this time around.
Though the third ancestor of the Yan Empire wasn’t among the strongest present, he was still someone at the Third Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm, but… More importantly than that, his appearance signaled that they were running out of time and had to finish things up before more people could show up and try to take the spoils of war that they had already finished dividing up among themselves.
Whoosh-!
With this in mind, one of the stronger people at the Fourth Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm decided to jump out and launch an attack towards the already exhausted cardinal-
“Wha-”
BOOOOOM-!
In the end, the cardinal was caught completely off guard by the sudden attack and ended up being launched directly into the ground a few hundred meters away from the capital city. Instantly creating a massive crater that destroyed part of capital city.
Whoosh-!
Whoosh-!
Whoosh-!
Boom-boom-boom!
Seeing an opportunity to hit someone when they were down, the rest of the Soul Ascension realm cultivators didn’t waste any time as they all launched attacks of their own towards the cardinal from the Order of the Sky God.
The earlier fear of a last-ditch struggle completely disappeared with the realization that dragging things on for any longer might end up resulting in them losing the spoils of war they had worked so hard for. This was especially so for the different empires who had ended up losing Soul Ascension Realm cultivators and wanted to use the resources stored in the capital city of the Sky Empire to nurture a new batch of powerful Domain Lord Realm cultivators who might replace their lost Soul Ascension Realm cultivators in the future.
Senior… Where are you…
Feeling the countless spells, mystical techniques, powerful sword arts and other kinds of powerful attacks tearing apart his body and soul, the cardinal from the Order of the Sky God could only helplessly wonder where the senior dispatched by the higher ups was at the moment and why he hadn’t appeared to save him at the last moment like he had expected to happen.
In the end, only regret was left as his body and soul were completely destroyed under the barrage of powerful attacks from the group of Soul Ascension Realm cultivators desperate to end things before other people could show up and start harboring thoughts about taking away the treasures, they had been working hard to get their hands on.
Even if the imperial family of the Sky Empire had already left, the treasures stored inside the capital city of the Sky Empire was nothing to scoff at, as it included not only the wealth of three major branches of religions from the core region of the continent, but also contained the wealth of the different noble families controlling large parts of the Sky Empire. All of this wealth accumulated over thousands of years.
“He’s dead…”
“Finally! Let’s divide things according to our earlier agreement.”
“Sure… And let’s keep things civil and finish up before more people show up…”
Following the death of the cardinal from the Order of the Sky God, the different Soul Ascension Realm cultivators from the invading empires all let out a breath of relief as they descended upon the now defenseless capital city to take anything of value and to erase the people of the different noble families and other major powers that had been in control of the Sky Empire in the past.
Though it was a bit ruthless to massacre the people left behind in the capital city, it was necessary to erase future problems.
Even if the escaping Soul Ascension Realm cultivators did pose more of a risk at the moment, they had all suffered permanent damage during their escape and wouldn’t be able to advance any further in the future and might not even live for much longer. Different from the people left behind in the capital city who might in the future grow up to become a renowned expert with the ability to seek revenge on them.
Considering this, the capital city soon turned into a bloody hellscape as the Soul Ascension Realm cultivators swept through it and eliminated anyone belonging to the major powers of the Sky Empire, the three religions or the different noble families.
The only people who managed to escape alive being the wandering cultivators who huddled together inside the Explorer Union and a few weaker cultivators at the Qi Condensation Realm who just happened to be normal civilians without any attachment to the Sky Empire outside of it being the place they lived. People who wouldn’t care much about the fall of the Sky Empire outside of worrying about whether or not they would be able to continue living peacefully under the new empire who took over the territory of the Sky Empire.
“Why don’t we kill those people in the Explorer Union?” Finding it quite odd that they left the wandering cultivators and people hiding in the Explorer Union alone, a weaker Domain Lord Realm cultivator could not help asking this as he turned towards a senior standing beside him. “I’m sure they have a lot of good stuff stored away considering how much they-”
“Don’t! Do not touch that place unless you have a death wish!” However, before he had a chance to carry out his desire to rob the Explorer Union, his senior violently yanked him back and scolded him.
“Wh-why not? Aren’t they similar to those religions?” Confused over the sudden rough treatment from his senior, the junior Domain Lord Realm cultivator could not help asking. Not understanding why, they robbed the three religions while leaving the Explorer Union untouched.
“Haaa… The power behind those religions might not respond if they lose a branch, but the Explorer Union is different! The last time an ancestor from a large empire dared to destroy one of the Explorer Union’s major branches in the capital of an empire around the same size as the Sky Empire that they had just destroyed. In the end, the empire that the ancestor belonged to ended up disappearing overnight! From rumors back then, someone above the Soul Ascension Realm belonging to the Explorer Union made a move to destroy that empire…”
“This…!” Hearing the explanation given by his senior, the young Domain Lord realm cultivator could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine as he looked towards the branch of the Explorer Union not too far away filled with fear.
“As long as you remember to not offend the Explorer Union in the future, everything is fine. Although they are everywhere on the continent, they remain neutral in any situation, be it struggles between large empires or the scrambles for power among noble families. Only if a branch breaks this neutrality does the Explorer Union not care if you destroy one of their branches…” Taking the chance to lecture his junior, the senior made sure to impart his junior about the importance of not offending the Explorer Union and the rare situation where it would be fine to attack them.
Conversations like this were not rare among the Domain Lord Realm cultivators tasked with cleaning up the capital city. Marking the end of the Sky Empire, as the last bastion of the Sky Empire officially fell to the invading empires.
