Nightfall

The Fall Of West-Hill

At day break, the morning sun was yet to rise from the East Sea, and the sky was merely lit up. It was gloomy as in the storm, and the peak seemed lonely.

There were three plateaus, four Divine Halls, thousands of divine priests and tens of thousands of deacons and cavalrymen in the peak. It was the place where Taoism had ruled over the human world for countless years, and regarded as the holy land by all the followers of Haotian.

Right now there were tens of thousands of people on the plateaus. They were the divine priests in red and brown robes, the deacons in black robes and the cavalrymen in dark metal armors. They formed a huge and silent mass.

There wasn’t even a sound of breathing. The huge mass of people was as silent as the deepest ocean. There might be roaring anger deep down in the ocean, but nothing could be seen on the surface. Even bubbles were blown in the morning breeze.

There were senior and pious red-robed divine priests and resolute, and ruthless cavalry leaders. All of them had stayed in these divine halls for many years. They were silent but looked complicated. People were angry, sad, disappointed, or even desperate. That was why they kept deadly quiet.

Taoism was the most influential religion ever since the awakening of human beings. The Divine Halls were the most sacred places. People here had been practicing Haotian’s will and ruled over the human world for countless years. They held incredibly high positions, great wealth and were widely respected. Were these all going to be ruined today?

The people on the plateaus looked at the equally silent black mass down the peak, among the fields and hills. But those black mass did not carry such a complex of emotions as grief or disappointment. Instead, there was vaguely some accumulating strength that seemed powerful and horrifying.

That was the the Black Armor Heavy Cavalry from the Tang. It could defeat anything in the world. Tens of thousands of Black Armor Heavy Cavalry encircled Peach Mountain. No one except for the really powerful cultivators could try breaking through the tight encirclement.

Some of them saw at the end of the mountain trail a sacred sedan covered by layers of gauze. A woman in the blood-colored Gown of Judgment sat inside with a sacred crown on her head. She was the Great Divine Priest of Judgment, Ye Hongyu. If it was in the past, the Great Divine Priest of Judgment would definitely be the mental support of the tens of thousands of divine priests and deacons from the West-Hill. They always believed that as long as she was present no one could pose the slightest threat to the Divine Halls of West-Hill. However, today she stood on the opposite side.

Some saw at the entrance of the Northern Mountain Road people carrying loads and kitchenware, an old cattle and a goose. They knew those were the people from the Academy. Most were staring at one person among them. That person was not a divine priest from the West-Hill. But he was wearing a divine gown and a sacred crown. His chubby figured seemed to be the most awe-inspiring in the human world. They knew he was Chen Pipi, the legendary young genius of Taoism, son of the Abbey Dean, and furthermore, the current leader of the New Stream.

Ye Hongyu and Chen Pipi were to some extent the two most epic traitors throughout the history of Taoism. There was also Cheng Lixue who led the people from the Divine Hall of Revelation returning to Peach Mountain. They knew Taoism and the West-Hill so well. If it was not because of them how could they have broken through the Array of Clear Light so easily in the dawn?

The people on Peach Mountain stared at them and felt a complex of emotions.

Yet they were not the focus. A fairy like slim figure standing at the end of the mountain trail right in front of Haotian’s Divine Hall attracted most people’s attention.