Volcanic Age

The murim was shaken once again, and a wave of shock swept across the martial artists.

"The Seven Empyrean Overlords has been reduced to just Six Empyrean Overlords."

"The Melody Gate Master is dead."

Shao Leijin's death spread like wildfire. It couldn't be helped, as they were an Absolute Master of the Evil Faction. However, the murim had never been in such a turbulent time.

It had only been a few months since the last one, yet another Absolute Master had died.

The Evil Faction murim had been avidly observing the situation of the Righteous Faction murim; they were simply waiting for the day to rise and conquer the Righteous Faction, so the news was truly like a bolt from the blue for them.

Even though Shao Leijin had become an Absolute Master through their sound arts, they still stood at the pinnacle over countless martial artists. For the Evil Faction murim with few Masters and only lower-level warriors, this was a massive blow.

"Just what the hell happened?"

The martial artists focused on Nanchang, where the Pavilion of Prince Teng was located.

"The Phantom Bow Swordsman is back!"

"The Phantom Bow Swordsman killed the Sound God!"

The Hero of the Evil Faction, the Phantom Bow Swordsman. He had appeared in the Four Gates Rebellion, stood on the side of the Evil Valley Master, and led the warriors of the Evil Faction. He was a key figure in suppressing that rebellion.

While it wasn't clear whether his title was born because of his feats or because his appearance had served as a convenient opposition to the Hero of the Righteous Faction, he still earned the title "Hero of the Evil Faction."

The murim was finally brought up to speed about what had happened. The Phantom Bow Swordsman had appeared at the Pavilion of Prince Teng in Nanchang and had emerged victorious against the Sound God.

"Why did they even fight?"

"I'm only saying this because that bastard is finally dead, but they were known for having a shit personality."

"Well, that makes sense. How many heads had exploded at their hands?"

The entire murim gossiped about why the two had fought, and they all soon reached a consensus—the Sound God's personality was so warped, and they were so sensitive to sounds that they would kill anyone who made even the slightest noise.

They all just assumed that the two had fought each other because of that.

"But just how the hell did he kill the Sound God?"

"That's really impressive."

The sound arts faced discrimination, but there was a reason why Empyrean Overlords were called "Empyrean Overlords." They were all monsters with prowess that had transcended human limits. The fact that the Phantom Bow Swordsman had fought such a monster alone became a hot topic.

The martial artists and other onlookers who were at the scene excitedly blabbered on and on about what they had witnessed.

"Kekeke, as expected, he truly is the hero of the Evil Faction. After all, didn't the heavens come down to punish the Sound God for relying on their strength and making a big fuss about it?"

"Exactly. Hadn't he arrogantly descended using the Void Steps, too?"

They spoke about how the Phantom Bow Swordsman was sent flying into the ground.

"What? What happened next? Ahem. Well, I guess that I, the younger brother of the Phantom Bow Swordsman, Jin Ba, should continue. Oh, what happened again? Oh, when I brought out the precious bow that Eldest Hyungnim entrusted to me, he refused, saying, 'there's no need for me to use this.'"

"Really? Is that really true?"

"I thought the Phantom Bow Swordsman is the successor of the legendary Archery God? Isn't that what the rumors say?"

"Then you're saying that he killed that monster without using a bow?"

In the midst of it all, a certain rumor spread like wildfire—the Eclipse Divine Archery Art had appeared in the gangho murim once again.

"Whew! Everyone, listen carefully! I'm going to tell you a story that's going to make your jaw drop.

"When Shao Leijin saw Eldest Hyungnim after that first blow, they were completely shocked, shouting, 'To think that my Invincible Under the Heaven Most Revered and Respected Sound Wave Art[1] couldn't even leave a scratch on you?!'"

"Huh? Isn't the Melody Gate Master's foundational cultivation art called the 'Sound Wave Vibration Art'?"

"AHEM! Anyway, Eldest Hyungnim just turned to Fifth Brother and said, 'Wait a moment, I'll finish this quickly and return,' before walking over to the Sound God. Every time he took a step, the ground shook as if earthquakes were rocking the pavilion!"

The exaggerated rumors became even more exaggerated to the point that it was now starting to sound completely absurd.

"I still can't forget that scene. The Sound God plucked the strings of Literary Martial Strings Zither, and then the people around them screamed in creepy voices, saying 'Horororo!'!"

"Did they really say 'Horororo'?"

"A-anyway! That's not what's important right now! The people of Nanchang were in agony because the sound was so loud that their eardrums were about to burst. But, then! Eldest Hyungnim shouted…"

"What did he say?"

"The Phantom Bow Swordsman said, 'Everyone shut it!' Amazingly, it felt like my ears were going numb…"

The martial artists laughed it off as a rumor, but the people of Nanchang were different. At that time, what they had experienced was even more terrifying than what could be described.

The martial artists who knew more about the Melody Gate's techniques or the Sound God's cultivation were shocked when they heard what had happened.

It had to be known that everyone was aware of the fact that the Sound God could freely manipulate sound. Thus, it was surprising that the Phantom Bow Swordsman had not only endured the sound but had erased it as well.

The rumors within the murim were often exaggerated, but the martial artists couldn't ignore them completely. After all, if something at least somewhat similar hadn't happened, the Phantom Bow Swordsman couldn't have defeated the Sound God on his own.

"Well, now that I think about it, is it really necessary to reduce the number of Empyrean Overlords to six?"

"What do you mean?"

"If the Phantom Bow Swordsman were truly alone, then he must be an Empyrean Overlord as well."

"Ah! You're right!"

Since there hadn't been any cases of Absolute Masters on the level of the Ten Empyrean Overlords fighting one versus one in the past few decades, their reaction was a bit too slow.[2]

Since the Phantom Bow Swordsman had taken away the Sound God's empty position, his title needed to be changed, and it caused quite a headache.

It was rumored that he was a master of the bow, but he often refrained from using his bow. He hadn't even carried it with him during his battle against the Sound God.

He seemed to be good at using a sword, but for some reason, he hadn't used it against the Sound God. Well, unlike the bow, he had it with him, but it was destroyed in the middle of the fight.

Regardless, the sword's standing was a bit ambiguous, as he had never truly used it against a Master.

The martial artists who liked to give names to things stayed up for three days and nights for the best title, and finally, they came up with one by using the Phantom Bow Swordsman's battle against the Sound God as a reference.

"Domination God Monarch."

According to the tales, he faced the Sound God's full force head-on without backing down, and instead of just advancing forward, he smashed the Sound God's head in as well.

The scene was so shocking that it was burned in the minds of many people.

Just like that, the Phantom Bow Swordsman received the title "Domination God Monarch."

Zhou Xuchuan, who loved the Mount Hua Sect to his very core, was shocked to hear such a violent title, even though the title was for his fake persona.

***

Qinghai Lake, Northwest Watchtower. Originally, there was no watchtower on Qinghai Lake. However, the Martial Alliance had temporarily built one for the Great War of Good and Demonic.

Two guard warriors were sitting inside the watchtower with their mouths wide open as they yawned. The senior warrior had been bothering the junior warrior who had just arrived before eventually growing tired of teasing the young man.

He finally sat down in his seat and closed his eyes.

"Argh!"

"Ah! What is it?!"

The senior warrior was just about to fall asleep when he was startled awake by the junior warrior's scream. He looked beyond the horizon, wondering if the Demon Cult had appeared, but he couldn't see anything at all.

"What is it?"

The senior warrior strained his eyes and opened them. He saw the junior warrior craning his head like a giraffe and pointing upward with his hand.

The senior warrior's gaze followed the junior warrior's finger and realized that it was daytime, but it was dark above them.

"Oh."

A dark shadow was looming over their heads. It wasn't a cloud. It was a flock of birds, at least tens of thousands of them.

"A flock of migratory birds."

Migratory birds were birds that traveled between their breeding grounds and wintering grounds every season. When tens of thousands of them moved at once, those ignorant of such birds often trembled in anxiety, saying that the heavens were furious.

Once the senior warrior had confirmed that the flock of migratory birds had passed, he snickered and smacked the back of the junior warrior's head. "Hey, you country bumpkin. Was that your first time seeing migratory birds? You scared me."

The junior warrior scratched his head in embarrassment. The senior warrior closed his eyes and said that he wanted to sleep, so the junior warrior ought to avoid waking him up.

"Ah!"

"Oh, what is it now?!" the senior warrior exclaimed. This time, he didn't get up and simply pondered about how to kill the junior warrior as revenge for disturbing his sleep.

The junior warrior didn't respond to the senior warrior's shouts and instead pulled hard on the rope connected to the bell in the ceiling.

Ding, ding, ding!

The bell shook madly, and its tolling echoed throughout Qinghai Lake.

Soon, the same tolling was heard from the other watchtowers. The senior warrior finally realized that something was wrong. He jumped up from his seat and looked at the horizon again.

"It's the Demon Cult! The Demon Cult's army!"

***

"Domination God Monarch?" Blessed Existence's voice boiled with anger. "Don't make me laugh!"

This wasn't even a joke at this point. He couldn't even laugh anymore. He had finally killed that eyesore, Zhou Xuchuan. He could have let him live, but Blessed Existence had deliberately taken the loss and killed him.

He thought that things would go well now that he was going to be able to carry out his remaining plans, but then another problem arose. Of all the things he could have expected, another of the Seven Stars had ended up dying.

Thus far, four executives had died, including both the Seven Stars Division and the Archive. The Association had yet to show itself, but half of them had already been killed.

When he received the urgent report that the Phantom Bow Swordsman had appeared in the Pavilion of Prince Teng, he felt uneasy, but he assumed nothing would happen.

After all, Shao Leijin was one of the Seven Empyrean Overlords.

They were the Sound God.

However, it turned out that he had made a mistake; the fact that he felt so relaxed was his own undoing. He ought to have spread the news and mobilized the Seven Stars Division soldiers to surround the Pavilion of Prince Teng.

He had never expected to hear about the Sound God's death, and the news made his hair turn white. To make matters worse, the Sound God had perished at the hands of the bastard who had murdered Twisted Melody during the Four Gates Rebellion.

Blessed Existence truly wanted to bite off his tongue upon hearing that. He had just killed the Hero of the Righteous Faction, but the Hero of the Evil Faction was now interfering in his plans.

"No!" Blessed Existence slammed the table so hard that it almost shattered. "Why did that bastard appear there out of all places?! Why?!"

Every division of the Seven Stars Division—an organization under the Dark Heavens Association—was important. Every single individual in the Division was necessary, and their leaders went without saying.

Pure Faith was in charge of surveillance and assassination, both internally and externally. Someone like them could easily assassinate a high-ranking official like the Regional Military Commissioner.

In addition, Shao Leijin's sound art was useful in many ways, and the courtesans of the Pavilion of Prince Teng were especially suitable for entertaining key figures.

However, the Melody Gate Master was dead, so that avenue was considered to be dead as well, and it was all because of the Evil Valley Master.

The Evil Valley Master was an old man obsessed with his ambitions. He couldn't leave a place capable of laying incredible golden eggs like the Pavilion of Prince Teng alone.

the Sound God had been keeping an eye on him, but they were dead, so the Evil Valley Master would soon intervene in its operations.

The Sound God had disciples, but there were no notable talents among them, and they would quickly fall for the Evil Valley Master's deceit.

More than anything, the Sound God had offended many figures here and there, so the Evil Valley's protection was necessary to protect the gate.

The Dark Heavens Association had lost a ton with the Sound God's death.

***

Meanwhile, the Evil Valley Master was confused. Domination God Monarch?

Rulers like him disliked heroes, and heroes whose titles had the word "Monarch" were even more abhorrent in their eyes. After all, the presence of such a hero could lead to the loss of their power.

From the Evil Valley Master's perspective, the Phantom Bow Swordsman was a dangerous person capable of causing him trouble at any time.

What an irritating situation.

The Melody Gate faced ridicule in public, so he and the Sound God, Shao Leijin, weren't really on good terms. However, he was still unhappy to hear about the Sound God's death.

Regardless of the relationship between them, as fellow members of the Four Gates of the Evil Dao, they were still allies. The Evil Valley's power was essentially halved by that incident, so they needed the Sound God's strength.

However, the situation had changed drastically, all thanks to the Domination God Monarch. It hadn't just changed; things were turned upside down.

Since ancient times, the strong, especially the Absolute Masters of the Evil Faction, all had immense pride, and they disliked receiving orders. If the Domination God Monarch refused to cooperate, things would become even more annoying than he could ever imagine.

"Whew. I guess I'll have to meet him first."

The Evil Valley Master decided to send an invitation to the Domination God Monarch under the pretext of an exchange between the Empyrean Overlords from the Evil Faction.

In the meantime, the Evil Faction members slowly gathered in Jiangnan after hearing about the Domination God Monarch's reputation.

Clearly, a brand-new force was about to be born.

The Domination God Monarch, Zhou Xuchuan, didn't drive away the Evil Faction members gathering around him. Instead, he brought them with him to the Evil Valley.

On the same day, a certain piece of news spread throughout the Central Plains—the Martial Alliance and the Demon Cult had clashed in Qinghai, signaling the beginning of the Great War of Good and Demoni.

1. Somehow, the Sound God's technique turned into…. Well, this. ☜

2. The prior war clashes don't count as those are mid-war and not a true 1v1. ☜

Cyncoco's Thoughts

In case you thought I overdid it earlier, here is the raw

천하무적지존음파공

天下無敵至(尊)存(在)音波功

OR

Invincible Under the Heavens the Most Supreme Existence Sound Wave Art.

The man really is a poet.

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