Reaper of the Martial World

Book 9: Chapter 69: Conference (5)

Apollos swept his gaze over the crowd, seemingly finally satisfied with their response. historical

“The actions of the Dark Phoenixes were only a precursor to the matters of today. The path toward darkness, the rise of chaos, the inevitable downfall of our descendants, these are all things that could have been predicted long ago.

“No one is certain of the series of events that set it off, but one thing is for certain, the Heavens don’t feel that this is the way things ought to be.”

Hearing such words come from a child made them difficult to accept, not because they were wrong, but because of the way it sounded. Such an immature voice shouldn’t be able to speak of such things in such ways…

“The descent of the Ancient Battlefield isn’t a marker for the Heavens dissatisfaction, it’s rather a desperate plea for help. Such a course can only be reversed when the brightest beacons of our future come together to turn the tides of Fate.”

Apollos sighed. “I’ll get straight to the point. The descent of the Ancient Battlefield is divided into two parts – the entry of our geniuses and the true descent of the battlefield. There’s a reason for this.

“In reality, one might think that the impact of youths is meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but you’d be wrong. It’s the youths the decide the path toward the future and the trajectory of our collective Faith. It’s precisely because the Golden Era ended so prematurely that our Modern Era is so weak. Without a solid foundation, the future can only remain bland and meaningless.

“The entry of geniuses is the Heavens’ acknowledgement of this fact. Though the Ancient Battlefield is a prison, it is also a treasure trove. There are many Failed Clans who have been biding their time for several eras, waiting for the right moment to strike. Those very Failed Clans have sharpened their spears and honed their wills for countless epochs… and they smell blood.”

Apollos sighed once more. He felt like he was losing his train of thought, he tended to do this often, going off on tangents, that is. It was a necessary side effect of his abilities, it was what it was.

Before he went any further, he explained the basics of the battlefield. He had mentioned the Failed Clans before even ensuring those below understood just what it meant.

He explained how Clans of certain stature could exchange their accumulated Faith to enter the Ancient Battlefield and that many powerful empires of the path had chosen to do so. Of course, there were a few prideful factions who refused until it was too late, the elves, for example, but there was a good number of those who made the right, difficult decision.

After understanding these things, the grave expressions on those below worsened. Their Tower Quadrants?…. Did they even stand a chance?

If they knew that Dyon had had to face Pseudo-Dao level characters near the furthest outer edges of the battlefield and still hadn’t dared to begin conquering deeper within, they’d understand with even deeper certainty just how necessary this meeting was.

If their Clans and Sects didn’t band together… They didn’t stand a chance.

“I see you’ve all begun to understand.” Apollos nodded with satisfaction.

“The reason you’ve all been called here is because even Little Varun’s Star Clan has no real certainty in defending alone. He wants to form an unprecedented alliance, one that bands the whole of the Tower Quadrants together against a common enemy.”

It took the crowd far too long to realize that the ‘Little Varun’ this toddler was referring to was actually King Star!

“And I assume you mean for us to join the banner of your Star Clan and follow your orders?”

The voice was quite gentle, but it had a powerful, imposing aura behind it, one that made even King Star stiffen slightly.

When he sent a gaze over, he raised his awareness by several notches. The Dragons truly should never be forgotten. They had hardly any Faith of their own, but even the outer powers didn’t dare to touch them. Their so-called number second rank was nothing more than a farce.

The leader of the might Golden Dragon Clan, Dragon King Aurum, spoke with a slightly amused tone. He didn’t actually seem to be trying to antagonize either King Star or Apollos, it was just that his imposing aura naturally stifled the aura of others. His golden hair seemed to tremble upon his shoulders as though even it was afraid of him.

“Your help has been very much appreciated, Sir Apollos. I will take it from here.”

King Star returned to his seat and Apollos seemingly vanished from thin air. He had yet to reveal any substantial information about the Ancient Battlefield, but King Star wasn’t such a giving person that he’d hand everything away without receiving something in return. It was already enough that the weaker Clans felt they had learned a great deal. He didn’t expect to fully gain the loyalty of these top Clans and Sects.

“We of the Star Clan have already thought this far. Since we also need your help, we wouldn’t dream of taking advantage of you all like this.

“We’ve designed a leadership structure that will revolve around our youths. Although Sir Apollos has yet to explain in any real depth for reason you likely already understand, it is enough for you to know that the youths play a very important role in turning our Faith up from its current downward trend…”