A motley group smelling heavily of blood slowly made its way into the kingdom of stars. All the sura present wore steel masks, and their hands and feet were shackled together. They were chained around a carriage in the center bearing the insignia of a small tower of six human heads.
The sura from the kingdom of stars watched on curiously as the procession made its way forward.
"Who are these? They look so funny!"
"Are you really a sura from the empire of stars? Don't you know who he is? Those strange people are the famed troop of crazies from Shouta, and the person in the carriage is the godson of the monarch of stars!
The kingdom of Shouta is somewhat like a subsidiary of the empire of stars, but also somewhat not. The monarch doesn't have any children, so it's very likely that the next monarch of stars will be one of his nine godsons."
"Sorry, I'm not from around here, so I don't know as much about all this as you do." The other sura apologized and continued asking, somewhat embarrassedly, "Does that mean that the sura in the carriage is the crown prince?"
"Yes, you can understand it that way. As you know, the stronger you become, the harder it is to produce offspring. Given the monarch of stars' strength, it's very likely that the empire will pass down to his godsons."
Another group of sura walked in through the city gates, their faces veiled. As they entered, their surroundings turned cold. The sura that were around them found their breaths turning into white puffs of air.
Leading the carriage were two skeletal horses. The black carriage itself was completely sealed, as though it were a coffin, and bore the insignia of a god of death. The skeletal horses burned with icy blue flame.
"This is the monarch of stars' second son, the sura king Shicang."
The third group entered the city—with no sura attendants, but rather a group of frightening lifeforms that left the sura spectators rather nauseated.
Even the carriage itself was being dragged along by a lifeform with seven arms and eight legs. The insignia was of a spliced head, the left half of which was a sura and the right half of which was a beast.
"This is the monarch of stars' third son, the sura king Fenghe."
After glancing again at the first two sura kings' processions, the sura asked timidly, "Are the godsons of the monarch of stars all so... extraordinary?"
"That I can't say, but there are rather normal-looking carriages, aren't there? Keep on looking."
The fourth group was the most normal. After it had passed through the city gates, the sura couldn't help wondering, "Is he really a godson of the monarch of stars too?"
The disparity between the processions was simply too large.
"Indeed. Make sure you don't offend any of them—apparently, they all like very different things, but having those things done on you is uniformly a fate worse than death." contemporary romance
The knowledgeable sura sighed. "It looks like the nine sons are convening again."
"What's this?"
"Whenever the monarch of stars assembles his nine godsons, repercussions are felt all throughout the sura realm. I wonder what will come of this meeting?"
The fifth group of sura was led by a group of gigantic ox-headed sura and pulled by a few oxen, which breathed flame out of their nostrils as they snorted. All of them looked to be at least peak-grade lifeforms.
The sura frowned. "Something's wrong. Where's the sura king Xueju? Niutou shouldn't have entered fifth..."
Some of the other sura also noticed something amiss.
Those newcomers to the capital asked, "Why does this sura king not have any sura in his procession?"
"This sura king is of mixed blood between the sura and the minotaurs. There are quite a lot of minotaurs in his kingdom, and his most trusted advisors are also minotaurs themselves."
The sixth group was of a group of elderly sura. Even the horses pulling the carriage looked as though they were steps away from death. The carriage bore the insignia of a grandfather clock.
"Is this the weakest of the nine godsons? Why are his retainers all so... old?"
"No, something's wrong!" What the second sura was paying attention to wasn't the procession, but rather the unusual ordering of the princes. "No Xueju, and now no Xuechi either? Just what happened?"
The last sura king to enter was Gaoyuan. His carriage and guards were rather ordinary; all his guards were strong, muscular men. However, none of the residents of the capital focused on him. They were more astounded by the fact that the sura kings Xueju and Xuechi were missing.
Some suggested that the two kings had decided to break away from the empire of stars, and others that they had quarreled with the monarch of stars and refused to attend the meeting as a result.
No one guessed that the two kings were already dead. After all, the monarch of stars and his godsons were so strong that no sura thought anyone foolish enough to challenge them.
While the capital was embroiled in furious discussion, the meeting began.
Zhang Lie arrived at the valley marked in the map in Xuechi's study. From the outside, the valley looked to be perfectly normal, filled with natural beauty—fresh air, green grass stretching toward the horizon, and clear, running water.
According to the diary of the late Xuechi, Zhang Lie entered the valley through a secret tunnel, one whose entrance was covered by vines. Without the diary, Zhang Lie would surely not have discovered this entrance.
All he had heard in his past life were information and rumors, but none of the fine details.
Upon entering the valley, he found himself deep within a glade of trees.
"Is this really the valley I've heard so much about in my past life?"
A superior-grade lifeform swooped down and extended its sharp claws at Zhang Lie, thinking to kill this foreign intruder. Zhang Lie snorted, jumped up, and charged up a blow with his fist.
All he knew about the valley in front of him was that, through some special technique or another, he could summon a peak-grade lifeform that would drop a very special soulshard when killed.
"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Quake]!"
Before the fist even struck the lifeform, it exploded from the waves of power that radiated from the fist. Blood and feathers filled the sky.
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