Chapter 837 Enemies at the Gate
Most of the humans gathered there were natives of the Northguard Galaxy, and few had suffered more severely under the Shadow Race.
“I’ll testify!”
A human man stepped forward and pointed directly at Lucan.
“His clan seized our homeworld and slaughtered ninety percent of its human cultivators. They spared only the artificers, alchemists, Formation Masters, and talisman crafters who could continue producing treasures for them.”
“You heard him, Lucan.” Kael regarded him calmly. “What sentence do you think you deserve?”
“What does it matter what I think?” Lucan replied. “The Shadow Race is no longer what it once was. You can do whatever you please with us. I accept my fate.”
He slowly closed his eyes.
“Very well. Since you’ve accepted it...”
A beam of Myriad Spirit Light pierced Lucan’s head with ease.
“There are still many Shadow leaders here. Does anyone else wish to testify against them?”
“I do!”
Another human stepped forward.
Time passed.
One after another, every Shadow cultivator at or above the Great Ascension Realm was personally executed by Kael.
Unfortunately, with no Eternal Realm cultivators left among the Shadow Race, the executions contributed very little to his progress.
The members of the other races watching nearby stood rigid with terror. None dared raise their heads or meet Kael’s gaze, afraid the slaughter might awaken his bloodlust and cause him to turn on them as well.
Six hours later, every Shadow cultivator at or above the Great Ascension Realm had died by Kael’s hand.
[Eternal Points: 230.258]
Kael was deeply dissatisfied with how slowly his Eternal Points were accumulating.
His gaze shifted toward the cultivators who did not belong to the Shadow Race.
The powerful Patriarchs who had once wielded enormous influence throughout the Northguard Galaxy felt their stomachs drop.
“L-Lord Lin, I have valuable information for you.”
A Stellar Realm cultivator from the Black Crow Race stepped forward.
In truth, Kael had been preparing to make the Black Crows his next target.
“Speak. For your sake, I hope the information is useful.”
“I received a message from the Machine Race two years ago. They invited me to attend an assembly of the myriad races on the Machine homeworld. The purpose of the gathering is to discuss the extermination of every human in the Blood Jade Galaxy. I kept the letter and was preparing to give it to you.”
The Black Crow Patriarch sent the letter floating toward Kael.
In reality, he had intended to attend the assembly in secret. Unfortunately, he had arrived just in time to witness Kael’s slaughter. To save his own life, he had no choice but to betray the alliance before it had even been formed.
Kael drew the letter into his hand.
Its message was straightforward.
With a prodigy like Kael among them, humanity was on the verge of rising. The myriad races had suppressed humans for countless eras, and if humanity regained its former strength, its rise would spell disaster for every race that had once persecuted it.
The Machine Race therefore requested that every race send ten experts to the Machine homeworld, where they would discuss how to deal with Kael.
“So Hadrian truly has returned from the dead.”
The letter burst into flames in Kael’s hand.
“Indeed,” the Black Crow Patriarch agreed with an ingratiating smile. “Hadrian has been famous for nearly a million years. Completely killing someone like him was never going to be easy.”
“Then why didn’t you give me this letter as soon as you received it?” Kael asked. “Why wait until I began carrying out executions? Were you hoping to trade this information for the lives of the Black Crow Race’s elites?”
“I... Lord Lin, I...”
The Black Crow Patriarch’s lips trembled, but he could not form a complete sentence.
Kael studied him for another long moment before suddenly smiling.
“Forget it. Whatever your original intentions may have been, you have rendered a valuable service. The Machine Race intends to gather the elites of the myriad races in one place. That may be exactly what I need.”
The Black Crow Patriarch hesitated.
“Then... what about the Black Crow Race, Lord Lin?”
“Relax. You provided me with valuable intelligence, so I will not move against the Black Crows.” Kael then turned toward the other races. “But what about the rest of you? Over the years, I’m sure you’ve persecuted your share of humans and treated them as food.”
“Lord Lin, this is all a misunderstanding. The Shadow Race demanded that we help suppress humanity. If we had refused, they would have turned on us as well. Given the Shadow Race’s power at the time, how could we possibly have defied them?”
“Exactly. I may have appeared to persecute humans, but I always sympathized with them. In fact, I often helped humans in secret.”
“Lord Lin, thirty thousand years ago, a Shadow cultivator attacked a human woman. If I hadn’t intervened, she would have met a terrible fate.”
The Patriarchs had occasionally shown minor kindnesses to humans over the years. Now, they hurried to present every one of those deeds as proof of their innocence.
“That changes nothing. Blood debts must be repaid in blood.” Kael looked toward the humans below. “Do not be afraid. If any of these high-ranking cultivators has committed crimes against humanity, step forward and testify. I am here, and no one can harm you.”
“I wish to accuse the Black Crow Patriarch.”
“No. The Black Crow Patriarch has just performed a valuable service. For now, no accusations against him will be accepted.”
“Then I accuse that elder from the Bloodfly Clan.”
The tribunal continued in the same fashion.
Whenever a human stepped forward with an accusation, Kael annihilated the accused cultivator with the Myriad Spirit Light.
None of the gathered experts attempted to flee. They knew escaping Kael was impossible, and any resistance would only bring disaster upon the other members of their races and their descendants.
After an entire day and night, Kael had eliminated almost all the high-ranking cultivators from the Northguard Galaxy’s dominant races.
[Eternal Points: 289.568]
His progress was still far too slow.
Only killing Eternal Realm cultivators produced a truly substantial number of Eternal Points.
Kael crossed the distance to the teleportation array in several flashes.
This time, he intended to pursue far greater prey.
The risks would undoubtedly be immense, but no one who walked the path of cultivation could expect an easy journey.
...
On the human homeworld, Tanya’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
“Something’s wrong!”
“What is it?”
Marius turned toward his younger sister.
“Go warn Master Malcolm! Powerful enemies have come to our homeworld!”
“What enemies?”
Marius stared at her in confusion.
The next instant, his head jerked toward the sky.
An unusual vessel had appeared outside the Solar Apex Firmament Array.
After months of investigation, the Machine Race had reconstructed the route to the human homeworld by comparing ancient Sunlance Academy teleportation records with the recorded movements of Kael’s vessel.
The craft was translucent. If Tanya had not warned him in advance, Marius would never have noticed it.
Figures shot into the sky in rapid succession.
Malcolm, Caleb, Aria, and the other senior human cultivators on the homeworld quickly gathered beneath the barrier and looked up.
The translucent vessel trembled several times before three figures emerged and hovered in the void.
The first was half human and half machine. His cultivation had reached the terrifying Galactic Realm.
The second had a long, horse-like face and had also reached the Galactic Realm.
The final cultivator appeared almost entirely human. The only difference was the vertical eye embedded in the center of his forehead.
“Yuwen, this is the human homeworld,” the Machine cultivator said. “Kael’s wives, children, and the rest of his family should all be here.”
“Then we take them alive,” the Heavenlight cultivator replied. “Living hostages are the only way to force Kael to refine Immortal Spirit Liquid for us.”
“This is Kael’s homeworld. Do you really think he would leave it unprotected?
” the horse-faced man asked. “Do you see those faint formation fluctuations? I suspect that is the Solar Apex Firmament Array once used by Northguard City. Even an Eternal Realm cultivator could die inside it, let alone three Galactic Realm cultivators like us.”
He was clearly a Formation Master himself.
“Whatever happens, we still have to test it. I’ll go first.”
Yuwen closed both of his ordinary eyes.
At the same time, the tightly shut vertical eye in his forehead abruptly opened.
It possessed neither pupil nor iris. There was only a mass of swirling black mist.
Even the surrounding light seemed to bend beneath its influence before being forcibly drawn into the vertical eye.