Chapter 920 - Secret

Translated by: Berrrybunz

Edited by: TN and DeAndreR

Sorrow enveloped the entire camp.

The Mechanical Puppets rumbled on forward, according to their conclusive experiences, they should be hiding, they should be building defensive lines, they should be protecting their flanks and preparing for the assault. They were already able to face the surging bronze tide.

But no one moved, as though they did not hear anything.

The soldiers surrounded Mu Zhi Xia, some of them sobbing spasmodically while some of them wiped their tears. Their tears had mixed with the sand, and covered their faces. All of them had vacant looks in their eyes, as though their souls had been drawn out, they had lost their spirits, and were just walking corpses.

When the Commander and Old Tang arrived, they looked at each other.

They did not encounter any resistance, so much as a look. Commander and Old Tang became serious, they were unable to believe that the soldiers in front of them that looked like soldiers were the army of elites that fought intensely with them, that brought them injuries and pain.

~What's going on?~

The two of them became serious without any smiles. For many times, they had unknowingly praised Mu Zhi Xia for his tenacity and brains, and praised Mu Zhi Xia's army countless of times for being tenacious despite their predicament. From the start, they were able to easily strike the Mu Zhi Xia Army, but very quickly, Mu Zhi Xia's army became more and more difficult to fight, causing them more and more injuries.

They were an army with steel like determination, tight and powerful discipline, tenacious fighting spirit, were adept at war formation and tactics, the only army with a 100% synchronization, and worthy of being the number one army under the Heavens.

Mu Zhi Xia was a worthy and respectable opponent, and the soldiers were worthy and respectable soldiers.

And when they saw their worthy and respectable opponents on the ground, the two did not have any joy in it.

It was not the victory they wanted.

They carefully walked pass the grieving soldiers, and saw Mu Zhi Xia, laid out on the ground, with blood stained eyes that smeared all over his jade like body, and were shocked. They finally knew why the soldiers had lost all their resistance, Mu Zhi Xia was the spirit of the army, once something happened to him, the army was no longer the number one army.

Old Tang knelt down, and with a serious expression, he checked on Mu Zhi Xia.

Both parties had fought for so long, and appreciated one another. The reason why Mu Zhi Xia was completely suppressed by the Southern Cross Army was not because of his standard. On one hand, he was but one army in enemy's territory, not only did they have to face against the Southern Cross Army, they had to be cautious of the Savage Continent tribes. On the other hand, experience. Mu Zhi Xia had taken command over a few decades, but had not experienced a proper large scale war, to fight with the old Commander who had fought his entire life and was a monster that had gone through the baptism of large scale wars, how could he ever compete?

But Mu Zhi Xia tenaciously withstood their attacks and struggled and grew, even causing the Old Commander to feel pressure.

"Thank you." Mu Zhi Xia's voice was as weak as a mosquito, but his expression was calm: "Please do not waste anymore time on me."

Mu Zhi Xia's body looked extremely strange, his hair was snow white like silver, the originally hardened hands had turned jade white and smooth. A faint white light leaked out of his body, causing his skin and flesh to look refined. His entire body looked as though it was releasing a white light.

Old Tang revealed a look of shock, the life force within Mu Zhi Xia's body was not declining, but instead becoming even more vigorous, to the point that it resembled flames that could light up the night. What caused the devastating change in Mu Zhi Xia's body was this vigorous life force. It was constantly burning and corroding Mu Zhi Xia's body.

Even with Old Tang's well verse experiences, he had never seen such a bizarre thing.

"This, is Holy Flames." Mu Zhi Xia said weakly.

The soldiers around him were stunned, they raised their heads, their faces covered with shock and disbelief. Holy Flames, the most familiar thing to them, the technique they had to cultivate daily. How could such a terrifying scene be induced by the Holy Flames? In their hearts, the Holy Flames bestowed them power and courage, and could heal their injuries and strengthen them, and was the mark of their loyalty.

~How can it be the Holy Flames?~

Suddenly, the soldiers thought about the Pillars of Punishment in Temple, ~Could it be that Temple thinks that Master is not loyal? Or is it that they think Master has done something disadvantageous to them that they had punished him?~ The soldiers became worked up, they had followed the Master to the enemy's territory and fought with their lives on the line, ~Why is Temple punishing the Master so unfairly?~

Holy Flames? Old Tang and the Old Commander looked at each other, both of them able to see the shock in each other's eyes.

The blood stains had covered Mu Zhi Xia's eyes, but he could still sense the uproar from the soldiers around him, he sighed: "The Saint Continent is most probably Hell now. We surrender, I will tell you guys everything. Please do not hurt my soldiers, please!"

Everyone was stunned by Mu Zhi Xia's words, even the originally emotional soldiers were all stunned. They did not understand why the master suddenly spoke of the completely unrelated Saint Continent. Furthermore, the Saint Continent was a land that belonged to Temple, there were many armies there and it was the most heavily guarded place in the Honorable Martial Continent, how could it be Hell?

Old Tang and the Old Commander did not understand.

They knew of Holy Flames and the Saint Continent, but they had never placed the two together.

"Rest easy, we do not kill indiscriminately." Old Tang spoke up.

"Temple always had a plan." Mu Zhi Xia's voice was extremely weak, as though his voice could be covered by the wind, and with emotions, he continued: "This plan, stemmed from Temple's research on spirits."

Everyone held onto their breaths, they had a feeling that Mu Zhi Xia's words were going to be about a heaven shocking secret. It was no secret that Temple researched on spirits, even a ten year old child would know, and Temple represented Sacred Saint Galaxy's highest standard in terms of spirit research.

"This plan initially started out with the desire to create Spirit Generals. It did not go smoothly, but after overcoming the difficulties, they succeeded. They created the first powerful Spirit General, the Commander of Honorable Martial Banner of Knights, Sophie."

The soldiers were shocked, ~So the rumors of Commander Sophie were actually true!~

The Honorable Martial Banner of Knights and the Commander, Sophie were revered and held high positions in everybody's hearts. The feeling in their hearts grew stronger, it was a secret, it regarded someone so important, how could it be any ordinary secret?

"After Sophie was produced, she performed outstandingly. Her ability to learn, and her growth, everything was in order. Right at this time, another discovery was made. Temple discovered that the Holy Flame had a unique feature, and that is to be absorbed by Spirit Generals. This method, in a short time frame, could increase the strength of the Spirit General."

"The plan was flawless." Mu Zhi Xia continued: "In a short time, Sophie's strength exponentially increased by ten times, and with one step, became the strongest martial artist of Temple. But then, problems came. Sophie's growth reached a bottleneck, and absorbing the Holy Flames no longer became as effective. Temple researched further, and realized that Sophie's strength had already reached her peak, and to break through, the amount of Holy Flames she would have to absorb was an astronomical amount."

Everyone was completely absorbed into the story.

Mu Zhi Xia felt the Holy Flame flowing within his body, and said: "Thus, Temple started a large scale promotion of Holy Flame. All of you should remember that time, Temple started a series of plans."

The place fell into silence, the words struck them like lightning, and a terrifying guess surfaced in their minds, ~No way.....no way! How can Temple do that!~

As though he could hear their fears, Mu Zhi Xia shattered the last thread of hope in their minds: "That's right, it is as you have guessed."

"Impossible! Since when was Temple like that?"

"T-t-that's too inhumane...."

"Is Temple crazy?"

The silence erupted into an uproar.

Many soldiers hugged their heads, their faces filled with disbelief. Temple had always been their faith, and their god. If these words were not spoken by Mu Zhi Xia, the man they all believed in wholeheartedly, they would had destroyed the man who spoke such blasphemy.

They waited for the uproar to quiet down. Everyone's gaze turned back to Mu Zhi Xia. At that time, no one were emotional any longer, their entire bodies were cold, completely ice cold. The only one who could give them the answer was one man, their Master.

The Master's blood stricken face was filled with a bizarre holy aura, his face had become slightly translucent, and they could even see the flowing white Holy Flames beneath his skin.

Mu Zhi Xia suddenly recalled the first day he entered Temple, and guessed that he was not more than twelve years old, when the Great Clan Elder was not the current Great Clan Elder. Those were the days where the sun shone brightly, and the Clan Elder had a warm smile to his face.

The pain from his eyes forced him back to reality, the harsh and brutal darkness and the flowing Holy Flames in his body, even the familiar holy aura had pierced into his bones.

"Temple did not do it for Sophie."

Mu Zhi Xia sighed: "After a long time of persevering, and adding that news from Heaven's Road Temple kept coming in, Temple's research on spirits finally found a huge breakthrough. And one of the most important results was that they found the method of overcoming the energy corrosion. That meant that Spirit Generals could have a long life, almost as if they had an undying body."

When he heard to this point, the Old Commander already got the gist of it.

His gaze became complicated, ~That's right, Spirit Generals do have a long lifespan. But this long lifespan is a torment, there is no end, how many people can understand that pain? To watch your own friends grow old and die in front of you, the loneliness that lasts for so long, is even more painful that any energy corrosion. The long time that even makes you forget your loved ones, that destroys your best memories, and even your conviction and dreams rot and die, while you remain alone in this world, how sad and painful is that.~

~Eternal life, heh.....~

He laughed bitterly in his heart, that had brought the bitterness and loneliness of time.

"By transforming a human into a Spirit General, it is some sort of eternal life. Although Sophie was successful, but she did not have her memories. The new question was, how to transform a spirit general and preserve the memories. This question did not baffle Temple, who quickly completed it. But, as it goes against the natural order of the world, it possessed enormous risks. The success of transforming into a Spirit General is very low. The first who attempted it was a man who possessed great ambitions and willpower. He decisively gave his life to Temple. He firmly believed that given enough time, he could build a new Temple, a clean and flawless Temple. For this dream, he was willing to take on the risk, even if he have to sacrifice lives. Be it his or others."

"He is, our Great Clan Elder."

Silence ensued.

Chapter 921 - Revenge!

Translated by: Berrrybunz

Edited by: TN and DeAndreR

All of the soldiers and military generals were completely overwhelmed by the heaven shocking secret, and were dumbstruck with their mouths wide open. Yes, such content had completely surpassed all that they can ever imagine, even if they had been stunned by many other things.

Even the Old Commander and Old Tang were stunned. Even by hearing Mu Zhi Xia's narration, they could hear the Great Clan Elder's mania and his passion for Temple. The Old Commander became a spirit general after he died, but he never thought that, for the sake of rebuilding Temple, the Great Clan Elder initiated to become a Spirit General himself.

He gave up his own life and took the risk for Temple.

He retracted his disdain, and the ridicule he had towards Great Clan Elder's desire for eternal life, because he had asked himself honestly, ~What about me?~

There was no need for him to lead the Southern Cross Army forever, as long as he was willing to win that war, he would not hesitate for anything. It was not only him, anyone in the army would have done the same.

Life is precious, being able to enjoy the warmth of the sun, feeling the heart beat faster in captivation of the other half, being bound to another. Time is emotionless, cold and fearful. But there are always a few things, a few dreams, that will make a person overcome the longing to live eternally, that will make a person overcome the fear of time, and the person will give everything to keep it close.

The Old Commander kept quiet.

The Great Clan Elder was cold blooded and saw human lives as grass, he was fanatical and unreasonable, but he was him. You could spurn him, but you're unable to look at him in disdain, you can dislike him, but you cannot despise him.

He was a terrifying opponent.

A maniac so crazy to the point that he did not care about his own life, a cold blooded man who saw human lives as mere numbers, had no fear in the battlefield, and could do anything to win.

"He succeeded." Mu Zhi Xia's voice sounded like it had been overlaid with Holy Flames, it was somewhat imposing, the voice that all the soldiers were familiar with, but at the same time, even Mu Zhi Xia himself hated it and loathed it. The Holy Flames that flowed beneath his skin became even more lively. Everyone was so absorbed into Mu Zhi Xia's words that they did not notice his fingerbones had already been enveloped by the Holy Flame and was melting silently.

Mu Zhi Xia looked as though he did not sense it: "It was only a 10% success rate, but he succeeded. He became the most powerful Clan Elder of Temple, and everyone before him were at his beck and call, his commands became the Temple's. For the sake of not letting anyone know that he became a Spirit General, he became reclusive and used the Holy Flames to shroud himself. Everyone merely thought that the Great Clan Elder was using a unique method to train the Holy Flame, and no one had guessed that it was a Spirit General inside the Holy Flames."

Everybody around had a mix of shock and enlightenment on their faces. Everyone knew that the Great Clan Elder's entire body was shrouded with the Holy Flame, but no one had thought that it would be part of the secret.

Old Tang looked at Mu Zhi Xia, the light aura of the Holy Flames were already spewing out from Mu Zhi Xia. He asked: "Then what is going on with you?"

"Me? This is a different problem." Mu Zhi Xia revealed a bitter smile, the light that criss-crossed across his entire face made him look strange: "The Great Clan Elder knew that even if he had an endless lifespan, he alone cannot realize his dreams. He needed even more people who saw the same goal as him. I am not born from a Prestigious Family, and was naturally sought out by him, but I rejected it. I did not want to become a Spirit General, this life of mine was destined to be given to Temple, but I hope that I can rest after death. For the longest time, I felt fear, the Great Clan Elder did not punish me, but to prevent the secret from being leaked, he left something inside of me. This thing is acting up now."

"Is there a cure?" The old Commander asked, Mu Zhi Xia was a respectable opponent, he did not wish for such a man to die in such a tragic way.

The Old Commander was one of the old generation, in his beliefs, a heroic man like Mu Zhi Xia, should die on the battlefield, and not to some secret and underhand plot.

"There is no cure." Mu Zhi Xia replied: "He will not make such a mistake."

The Old Commander knew that Mu Zhi Xia was talking about the Great Clan Elder.

"The Saint Continent, what happened to Saint Continent? Master, you said something about the Saint Continent just now?"

Suddenly, a soldier asked urgently. By his side, the other soldiers all had anxious looks. Their families were in the Saint Continent, and they could not help but have a bad premonition.

Mu Zhi Xia kept quiet, he opened his mouth, but he felt the pain stabbing in his heart, and could not say anything.

"Master! Please!" The soldier knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and started begging: "Master, this subordinate has followed you for so many years, please tell us."

"Master!" All the soldiers of the Mu Zhi Xia Army all knelt down, they implored.

Mu Zhi Xia laughed: "The Saint Continent, is no more. I know they have a plan, but I do not know the minute details. I only know about it roughly. Once Temple is forced to a corner, they will disregard everything and transform into Spirit Generals, after that...."

The air around seemed to congeal around them, and time seemed to have stopped. The Soldiers dared not breath, as they looked at Mu Zhi Xia with their pale white expressions.

"After that, they will use all of the Holy Flames in the Saint Continent, to evolve."

Mu Zhi Xia spoke out with a trembling voice, it was filled with sorrow, and he did not know how he still had the strength to say those words.

It was as if he could see his own family members transforming into sad white holy flames, being devoured by a Spirit General.

Blood continued to stream down his face and flowed to the ground.

"No....." The soldier was in shock, his mind had gone blank. He muttered: "No way. We fought for Temple, we are Temple's people, how can Temple do such a thing to our families...."

The other soldiers hugged their heads, their eyes were all in a daze, while a few revealed fear and despair.

"The seed they planted in me has activated. I can feel that Saint Continent is no longer what it is, our families...." Mu Zhi Xia laughed. He felt that he had been too stupid, he had given his life to such an organization, and even his family members' lives were placed on the table.

His heart was filled with hatred, hatred for himself for joining Temple, for fighting for Temple, for implicating his family.

He had occasionally heard of a few pieces of news, but never placed them in mind. Because he felt that, as long as the Great Clan Elder was rational, he would never implement the plan. The Saint Continent was Temple's foundation, where their citizens lived in, even all their devout followers and Temple's families and kin. If Temple implemented the plan, weren't they digging up their own foundation? Who would dare to follow after Temple, who was even willing to harm their own flesh and blood. Who would still follow them?

~Although the Great Clan Elder is crazy, but he is an intellectual man, and would not do such a foolish thing.~

~I am the foolish one!~

~It was I who had harmed everyone!~

~But a pity, I can't take revenge....~

The surging Holy Flames spewed out from his body. In the blink of the eye, he had transformed into a burning person, the white Holy Flames blazed on intensely. Mu Zhi Xia could feel his own body becoming lighter and lighter, the pain from the burning of his soul caused his consciousness to fade out, and he gathered his last ounce of strength, and shouted out while trembling.

"Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!"

Bang!

The Holy Flame erupted and completely devoured Mu Zhi Xia, who became silent within the flames.

All of the soldiers were stunned, they pounced fanatically towards the Holy Flame, wanting to drag Mu Zhi Xia out.

Old Tang and Old Commander reacted quickly, they immediately blocked the soldiers who had lost control of their emotions. The berserk Mu Zhi Xia Army disregarded everything, they begged, bit on the mechanical puppets, kicked and punched, with tears streaming all over their faces.

"Don't harm them." Old Tang was not able to do it, and reminded his soldiers.

The Southern Cross Army were all quiet, no matter how many of the enemy soldiers crawled up their mechanical puppets and bit onto their armors, they simply held onto them, they too, were feeling extremely terrible in their hearts.

The Holy Flame surged, in the blink of the eye, Mu Zhi Xia's corpse was burnt completely, and nothing was left in the flames.

All the soldiers of the Mu Zhi Xia Army stopped, as though they were in a trance, they stared at the empty Holy Flame.

Heart wrenching screams and wails came out.

The soldiers who had climbed up the Mechanical Puppets were ragged and covered in smoke and dirt, got out from their frenzied states. They cried and screamed, they climbed down from the Mechanical Puppets and fell into the dirt.

Their faces were buried in the dirt, their palms grabbed onto the soil tightly, they screamed out their family member's names, they screamed for Mu Zhi Xia. They wanted to grab onto something, but did not grab onto anything, they struck their own heads, they curled up together, they felt useless and felt despair.

They could accept dying on the field with their corpses being thrown into the wilderness. That was their responsibility in which they could not hide from. But their families had became fertilizer for Temple, helplessness, grief, and despair overwhelmed their hearts.

All of their beliefs and thoughts were shattered, they knew that their families had died, and they watched as their highly respected master burned to ashes in front of them. These strong men who survived through countless of ordeals and were never defeated in battles before, completely crumbled at that moment.

Old Tang and the Old Commander revealed their sad emotions, it was a brutal reality, and the tragic scene was something that even their hardened hearts could not accept. Especially when they heard the soldiers screaming out the names of the females of their families, the heart wrenching screams and wails, it became so unbearable that they had to turn their heads.

~This is the most cruel affair in the world.~

~It is the most insane thing ever!~

All of the soldiers had went to the frontlines to fight, to fight for Temple, but Temple actually harmed their families!

An unprecedented rage surged in the hearts of every single generals and soldiers of the Southern Cross Army. Even if they were their enemies, at that moment, they all shared the same hatred towards one man, and all of them so badly wanted to cut the Great Clan Elder piece by piece.

They sympathized with them, they were all soldiers who had gone out to war, thus the feelings were especially deep.

The Old Commander watched the most elite soldiers with empty eyes, who cried endlessly, and felt terrible. ~It should not be like this, all of these strong men, should not be like this.~

He took a deep breath, then thunder boomed from his mouth: "All of you shut the hell up for me!"

All of the soldiers instantly raised their heads.

"Have all of you forgotten Mu Zhi Xia's wish before dying? Have all of you forgotten the ocean deep hatred on your backs? Have all of you forgotten who the main culprit is?"

Old Commander's voice thundered through the battlefield, and in the hollow eyes of the soldiers of Mu Zhi Xia army, light auras started to converge.

"Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!"

The Old Commander looked around, his killing intent soared to the sky.

Chapter 922 - Looking for a Breakthrough

Translated by: Berrrybunz

Edited by: TN and DeAndreR

Endless tents of the large army extended into the distance, the large Savage Army's tents were all made crudely, and forming over the distance, they looked like moss covering the snow plains.

Jia Ya glanced once, then retracted his gaze.

Although the large army outside looked threatening, the Savagers revealed their astonishing physiques, they were unafraid of the cold and the wind and snow did not affect them. But Jia Ya did not care about them, regardless of how many Savagers there were, as long as the Wei Ye Guan Continent was in his hands, he had the absolute confidence of repelling them away.

He was only worried about the situation at the Saint Continent. He had a calm personality and did not like power struggles, although he came from a Prestigious Family, it was a small one. The Jia Family had a similar temperament to his, they were reserved and kept low key, preferring to live quietly without causing trouble for others.

He knew of the long friction between Temple and the Prestigious Families. But he felt that the Honorable Martial Continent was big enough, and both parties were able to share it. If they could not, they could expand outwards like what they were doing with the Southern Expedition. Compared to internal strife, he felt that fighting a war was much simpler. He also knew that he was naive on this, thus he never liked to participate in such matters. Furthermore, he knew that regardless of which side won, they would still want him. His standard and qualifications might not be noble, but he would still be able to live well.

But he felt that the Families had gone overboard.

The Families move at such a critical juncture had greatly affected the Southern Expedition, so much that it could lead to the utter defeat of the Southern Expedition. ~All for their self interests~, Jia Ya could not resist but sigh. To the majority, the Families' move showed that they completely ignored the big picture. But even Jia Ya could tell that they had no other choice, as if the Southern Expedition became a success, the Great Clan Elder would use the momentum of victory and make the first move to cleanse the Families.

Jia Ya did not understand when Temple and the Prestigious Families reached such a stage of no return.

But to Jia Ya, the Families had done the most foolish thing, and that was the assassination of Sacred Son Charles. Like how there was the rumor of Sophie being created by the Great Clan Elder, there was another widely spread rumor regarding Sacred Son Charles being the Great Clan Elder's illegitimate son.

Jia Ya knew the inside story.

Sacred Son Charles was not the Great Clan Elder's illegitimate son, but was the Great Clan Elder's nephew, and was the only kin and successor to the Great Clan Elder. Very few people knew of the matter, even Jia Ya had accidentally stumbled upon the knowledge, but had never spoken about it.

When the Families had assassinated Sacred Son Charles, what they did not know was that from that point on, the Great Clan Elder would never cooperate with them.

Jia Ya's greatest worry was that the Great Clan Elder would react irrationally. Jia Ya was a man of few words, where even in the most crowded of banquets, he enjoyed sitting in the corner with a cup of wine in hand.

The quiet people always discovered fine details that others would not notice.

In everybody's eyes, The Great Clan Elder was mysterious, authoritative, farsighted and omnipotent. But Jia Ya had sensed the Great Clan Elder's deeply concealed fanaticism.

Upon thinking about the matter that Mu Zhi Xia had once told him before, he became even more worried. ~To have his only kin in the world killed, even the Great Clan Elder he....~

Jia Ya firmly believed that everyone in the world had some sort of restraints, anyone who had no restraints would easily be able to do incomprehensible and fanatical things. And if such a person was a powerful martial artist, or held unmatched authority, it would certainly be a disaster. Upon thinking about the Great Clan Elder, Jia Ya revealed a bitter smile.

The only thing that made him feel more reassured was the Great Clan Elder's emotions and loyalty to Temple, that was the most genuine thing.

Suddenly, a subordinate rushed over to him in panic. Jia Ya suddenly had a bad premonition surface in his heart, the subordinate was one that he had specially sent to the Saint Continent to receive reports, he did not wish to interfere with the Saint Continent, but he had to know about the matters in there.

The subordinate walked over to his side and spoke softly: "Master, the Saint Continent was suddenly sealed."

"Sealed?" Jia Ya's heart jumped, it was a serious matter. He replied softly: "Which fleet sealed Saint Continent?"

There were many estuaries to Saint Continent, and for someone to be able to seal Saint Continent, they had to rely on a large fleet.

"It is unknown." The subordinate had obviously rushed over without taking a rest, his voice was extremely coarse: "It's Holy Flames, golden Holy Flames. All of the Estuaries have been blocked by the Holy Flames. Someone tried to barge through, but was burnt to ashes."

When he said that last sentence, he thought back about the horrifying scene, his voice could not help but contain nervousness.

~Holy Flames?~ Jia Ya was startled, he never thought that the one to seal Saint Continent would be Holy Flames. ~If it's Holy Flames, then it must be Temple, who else could use Holy Flames to seal the estuaries?~

~W-wait! Golden Holy Flames!~ Jia Ya immediately thought of the Great Clan Elder, in the entire Temple, the only one with Golden Flames was the Great Clan Elder.

Jia Ya immediately recalled Mu Zhi Xia's words, and the blood in his face instantly receded.

***************

The current Saint Continent was already in chaos.

The countless golden Holy Flames floating in the sky was extremely majestic and beautiful. On any ordinary day, the aura of the Holy Flames was extremely calming, but on this day, the Holy Flames released an extremely divine and suppressive aura, which was as cold as the winter wind, causing everybody to feel chills creeping into their bones.

Every Holy Flame represented a dead person.

The Families were already in a mess. They trained in their family inheritances and techniques, and never touched the Holy Flames. But, regardless of who it was, all of them felt insignificant in the face of the sea of Holy Flames, they felt as though their lives were not in their control, and felt immense fear.

The instinct to live caused them to struggle. They tried various methods, wanting to find a way to live. But anyone who were infected by the Holy Flames would burn to ashes. As long as they were touched by even an inch of flames, it was impossible for them to remove the flame no matter how they tried, the Holy Flame would burn until their souls disappeared, before disappearing.

Luckily, the energy barriers still had some use, the golden holy flames emitted an immense pressure, every flame would exhaust a great amount of energy. The endless sea of Holy Flames caused everybody's expression to be ugly as despair filled their hearts. The only thing that they could rejoice in was that the Holy Flames were not manipulated by anyone, and floated in the sky. The Energy barriers could sustain for a period of time, which was a silver lining to them.

The former bustling Snow City had turned silent, there were no howls of anguish or sounds, as though it was a dead city.

Only the area around Mace Field Tradings had signs of life.

Tang Tian and the rest were working hard and conducting tests, but they were different from the other survivors, what they tested were Spirit Generals. Although they had grasped Temple's intent, that did not mean they had escaped. The atmosphere as extremely tense as everyone knew that if they did not find a way before the enemy became stronger, they would be in true danger.

No one was completely sure of Temple's attention on Spirit Generals, but no one doubted it. Tang Tian had showcased his resolve, as he threw in everything onto spirit generals without hesitation.

Xiao Ran and Ah Xin were carefully experiencing the Holy Flames.

Temple had spent a great deal on the formation, and sacrificed countless of lives, thus the Holy Flames had to be an indispensable use in the plan.

Holy Flames could strengthen Spirit Generals, that was the easiest connection conjecture.

Xiao Ran's spirit generals all had low intelligence, although they could listen to orders, but to get them to try gaining enlightenment was simply playing the lute to a cow. Only Xiao Ran and Ah Xin could unravel the secret of the Holy Flames.

The God Armor Army was sustaining the protective barrier, completely reduced to manual labor. But it was a helpless matter, without the protection of the energy barrier, everyone would be in danger.

Luckily, although Ji Ze and the rest were not adept with energy barriers, they had started to show signs of improvements under the high energy concentration on mobilizing Law Threads.

They easily controlled the energy barrier. But not long later, they started to feel slight difficulty.

"The energy concentration is dropping!" Ji Ze shouted out: "Wait, No! The Holy Flame is transforming all the other energy attributes to Radiant Energy!"

Everyone's expressions became even more serious, Temple was truly merciless, they completely gave no opportunities for anyone. The Holy Flame transformed all energy in the air to Radiant Energy, not only would this weaken their enemies, but it would strengthen themselves, it was truly killing two birds with one stone.

Even for Ji Ze and the rest, it was too taxing to purely use Laws to defend without energy.

The atmosphere became even more tense, everyone felt the immense pressure.

Sima Xiao gritted his teeth and summoned Magatama, and joined in the ranks of unravelling the Holy Flames. Magatama's aura was gentle and reserved, which was completely opposite of Holy Flame's light aura, causing Magatama to have an instinctive fear towards the Holy Flame.

But at that moment, every ounce of additional strength had become important.

Sima Xiao hardened his emotions and gave Magatama the order. Magatama looked at him, her charming eyes clear was water. She did not say anything, and floated towards a small regiment of Holy Flame.

Magatama's glance was like a blade piercing into Sima Xiao's heart, he felt extremely terrible, he bit on his lips, and forced himself to not tear up.

When they were in Scorpio Constellation, Magatama had helped him take the place of the Scorpio King, but Magatama was simply a tool in his eyes, an extremely useful tool. But after going to Sin Domain, Magatama became more alive, and his emotions towards Magatama had since changed.

But at that time, even her strength was required.

Tang Tian could not help with the Holy Flames, thus he placed his attention on another crux, he started to study the Pillars of Punishment. Not only could the Pillars of Punishment seal the entire Saint Continent, it had locked down the sky, prevented people from flying. In battles, the ability to fly was extremely crucial. Being unable to fly meant that the person would instantly hold a disadvantage at the start of the battle, an extremely large disadvantage. The enemy could completely occupy the high ground and launch attacks indiscriminately.

If they were able to destroy the lock from the Pillars of Punishment, they would be able to fly, and that would greatly impact the results of a battle.

Tang Tian carefully dodged the Holy Flames around him and arrived to the side of a Pillar of Punishment.

The large and thick fiery pillar shot into the sky, and when he got close to it, he was able to sense its loftiness.

Tang Tian quickly had a discovery.

When he was near the fiery pillar, the sovereign and imposing aura that the Holy Flame possessed was lessened, and what replaced it was a unique undulation.

Tang Tian was surprised, he felt a sense of familiarity with the unique undulation, as though he had seen it before. Tang Tian racked his brains, as he tried to search his memories, attempting to look for where he had seen the undulations before.

He had a premonition that it could potentially be a breakthrough!

Chapter 923 - Predicament

Translated by: Berrrybunz

Edited by: TN and DeAndreR

Tang Tian finally realized where the unique familiarity came from, the Forbidden Hoop!

The Forbidden Hoop was the first technique that aroused Tang Tian's interest after he entered the Honorable Martial Continent. The Forbidden Hoop was Claudia's bodyguard, Hank's, own creation. In the entire Sacred Saint Galaxy, although Hank was not very well known, but his own creation, the Forbidden Hoop, was a marvel, which made Tang Tian interested.

It was able to change the density of the space, which created the imprisonment. The low energy level resulted in a marsh like result. With the two effects added together, it became extremely effective in handling the martial artists of the Sacred Saint Galaxy.

Tang Tian became even more brazen in creativity when he studied it, thus making it even more advantageous for himself, he was able to form a Forbidden Hoop like area around his entire body, and prevent his own undulations. He used his enlightenment from the Forbidden Hoops to move through the battlefield like a ghost.

With Tang Tian's current strength, there were very few opponents that required him to use the technique. Even the number of people in Temple that had strength surpassing his was countable. His research on the Forbidden Hoop was more on his interest in its creativity, but he had hardly used it. Thus when he studied the Pillars of Punishment, he never placed his thoughts on the Forbidden Hoop.

Furthermore, the power of both parties were of completely different levels, when Tang Tian was sealed inside the Forbidden Hoop, it was rather easy for him.

After he probed the power of the Pillars of Punishment, the terrifying pressure that was released from the sky, made him feel fear. There were already very few powers that could cause Tang Tian to feel fear, and in comparison to it, the Forbidden Hoop might had been a creative technique, but in terms of its quality, it was not much to mention.

It could be said that both were completely different levels of power. But when Tang Tian connected the two, he immediately realized their similarities.

Of course, the Pillars of Punishment were much more complicated that the Forbidden Hoop. In some sense, both had common principles. After "Disassembling" the Forbidden Hoop, Tang Tian had some rewards. For example at the start, he had thought that the seal of the Pillars of Punishment and the sky were formed by the Holy Flames, but from the experience of the Forbidden Hoop, he did not stick to this conclusion.

The seal system formed by Temple had three parts, the Pillars of Punishment, the Holy Flames flowing in the sky and the Holy Flame floating in the air.

The five hundred odd Pillars of Punishment formed the skeleton of the setup, the foundation. Its most important feature was not the supply of Holy Flame, but the resonance.

Resonance between the Holy Flames.

The five hundred off fiery of pillars that released Holy Flames, produced the same resonance undulation that covered the entire Saint Continent, that was how it was able to form the entire fiery barrier in the sky of Saint Continent.

Tang Tian felt admiration towards the Great Clan Elder, the Saint Continent was an extremely large area, and to completely seal the Saint Continent, the locations of the fiery Pillars were extremely crucial.

Every position of the fiery pillar was chosen after meticulous planning and selection, which meant that Temple had long planned for it.

Such a large scale and cold blooded plan was not initiated on the impulse, but through deep and careful deliberations, and everything that the Great Clan Elder did was linked to it. The Great Clan Elder's cold bloodedness and craftiness was extremely terrifying.

That was also why, since the Great Clan Elder started moving, he held onto the upper hand on the battle.

Due to the undulation formed by the resonance of the fiery pillars, the holy flames that spewed into the sky never dissipated, but flowed along the sky and formed a screen of flames. Forming such a screen was not difficult, in which any considerably strong army could actually achieve it. But to form one that could cover an entire continent, and for it to cover the Saint Continent, an immensely large sized continent, was something Tang Tian had never heard of before.

Even the Holy Flames that filled the air was an important factor of the seal of the continent, and was a killing technique that the Great Clan Elder had placed.

At the start, Tang Tian thought that they were just for the Spirit Generals. After that, he realized that he was still underestimating the Great Clan Elder. All of the Holy Flame were continuously transforming the energy into Radiant Energy, and to the disciples that had trained in their families' martial techniques and inheritances, the amount of energy that they were compatible with would get lesser, which was similar to the Forbidden Hoop's low energy activity.

But he had to admit that the design was invulnerable and completely tight.

No one had to fear a lunatic, but everyone had to fear a cautious lunatic.

In truth, the Families no longer had the opportunity to turn the tables, they never thought that even before they had strategized well, their enemy would had already implemented his long drawn out plan to wipe them out. The immense number of Holy Flames continued to transform the energy in the air into radiant energy. As the amount of energy that they could use got less after time, Sadra and their armies would lose their fighting strength. They would feel like fish that had jumped out of water, feeling choked, and even the ordinary energy barriers that they could usually execute easily would become tedious and difficult.

Inside the Sacred Saint Galaxy where energy was extremely dense, 90% of the people had never experienced an atmosphere with thin energy. The Great Clan Elder's drastic measure had struck at their weakness, causing them to be unable to have a counterreaction.

The less brave people had already started crying, the scene of the Holy Flames burning all over the place had struck their morale.

What the Great Clan Elder had overlooked and would had never expected was Tang Tian and his group.

Tang Tian and his group had brought variables into his complete and cautious plan.

Tang Tian and the rest were equally feeling immense pressure, the longer they dragged, the more disadvantaged they became. If they were not able to successfully "unravel" the secrets of the Holy Flame before the Great Clan Elder produced the Spirit Generals, they would be dead.

Even for Tang Tian, who was not afraid of anything, upon thinking about a group of Spirit Generals being able to absorb all the countless Holy Flame in the air, his scalp turned numb in fear.

~What kind of monster will be born from the millions of lives of Saint Continent?~ Tang Tian was unable to even imagine that!

Tang Tian threw all of these thoughts away, he had encountered a problem. He had roughly clarified about the system used to seal Saint Continent, but he realized that he could not do anything. The Great Clan Elder's system was even more brilliant than the Forbidden Hoop, and the use of the high quantity of Holy Flame was truly too terrifying.

Attainment of a qualitative change through a quantitative change. Anything, upon reaching a number that hits a critical value, would go through a change, furthermore, it was a dangerous and high level technique such as the Holy Flame.

There were many imperfections between the fiery pillars and the fiery screen in the sky, but the sea of Holy Flames was completely perfect.

Tang Tian suddenly realized that all the problems returned to one thing, the Holy Flame!

If they were not trapped within it, Tang Tian would had ran away at the first sign of the Holy Flame. The Golden Holy Flames were not ordinary, and if it was a one against one battle, no matter how powerful the Holy Flames were, Tang Tian would have no worries while fighting. But the Holy Flames in front were Holy Flames produced by the lives of all that lived in Saint Continent, causing the number of Holy Flames to be as vast as the ocean. No one could fight against so many Holy Flames, it was like a sea, and with just one wave, Tang Tian would be destroyed. And if the Holy Flames were to suddenly explode, the entire Saint Continent would burn to ashes. Its might was something that not even the Sea of Energy could contain, which if that happened, the Sea of Energy would combust, and the uncontrollable explosions would form an unprecedentedly huge energy explosion which could sweep through the entire Honorable Martial Continent. No one would know how many continents would be able to hide from such a massive scale explosion.

Just thinking of that scene would cause everyone to tremble in fear.

Tang Tian took a deep breath, he had started to feel anxious. ~When was the last time that I've gotten so anxious?~ He had long forgotten. But on this day, he was truly feeling the sense of urgency, although he knew that the Great Clan Elder would not incite the explosions of the Holy Flame, but he knew that the sea of Holy Flames was something that even the Great Clan Elder might not be able to control.

~Alright, why am I worrying about all of this, I'm actually worrying for the Great Clan Elder?~

Tang Tian laughed in self ridicule. But the anxiousness in his heart lessened slightly. He began to focus once more, and threw out all the complicated thoughts. ~Holy Flames are just Holy Flames, I've seen many mystical and strange things as well, much more than just Holy Flames.~

After fighting with the Honorable Martial Banner of Knights, Tang Tian had specially studied on the Holy Flame. Holy Flames were flames produced by pure radiant energy, and in Temple, learning the Holy Flame became a strict requirement. They were in the Saint Continent, the land of Temple, and the heart of Honorable Martial Continent, where majority of the citizens related to Temple used the Holy Flame. In any other continents, it was impossible for the Holy Flame to be spread to extensively.

The Holy Flame was the symbol for being loyal, and was viewed as the power of the most pure and divine, and thus what revolved around the Holy Flame became tactics, killing techniques, and a whole large system for combat.

~Since Holy Flames are produced from energy, is it still an energy? Or is it a type of Law?~

Tang Tian was in deep thoughts as he sat by the side of the fiery pillar.

The atmosphere in Mace Field Tradings was extremely intense.

The God Armor Army were bitterly holding on to controlling the energy barrier, the pressure on them became bigger and bigger, causing the members to feel fatigue. Seeing that the situation was not going well, Ji Ze gritted his teeth and spoke up: "This is not the way to continue."

"What do you have in mind?" Fu Zheng Zhi was already gasping. His talent was far lacking as compared to JI Ze, and he was much older. At that moment, he felt as if he was already on his last breath. The power of the laws consumed too much from them, causing the blood in his body to stir, and he was on the verge of losing control.

Ji Ze was in a much better condition than Fu Zheng Zhi, he was able to think: "The other energy is getting lesser, but the radiant energy is increasing, are we able to use the radiant energy instead?"

Fu Zheng Zhi was startled, he was stunned by Ji Ze's wild idea.

Upon hearing his words, Qian Hui's eyes lit up: "What do you have in mind?"

Ji Ze threw off all mannerisms and spoke up: "I don't know anything about the Honorable Martial Techniques and their Laws, but it is definitely some kind of Law, will it be related to Light Laws? Xiao Yao, don't you train in Light Laws?"

The member who was called Xiao Yao laughed bitterly: "Boss, I train in Light Laws, but it has no relation to them."

"If you don't try it out, how would you know?" Ji Ze replied without hesitation, at such a time, they could only try things out in desperation and not care too much, they had to do things beyond their ability.

Xiao Yao also knew that they were in a critical juncture, the energy barrier

Without caring for much, Xiao Yao shouted: "Then let me try, but I can't do it alone, get a few more people to help me."

Ji Ze immediately called out: "Bring five men with you!"

Five other members that still had strength walked to Xiao Yao, the fewer head count caused the energy barrier to tremble, and the other members who were supporting the energy barriers felt their entire bodies become heavier as the pressure increased on them.

Everyone's eyes all fixed towards Xiao Yao and his gang.