The Avalon Of Five Elements

"Another era has ended," mumbled the figure standing atop the blood eye to himself as he looked out into the distance.

The demonic god's words carried a sentimental tone as several old memories flashed in his mind. He had once hovered above a ravine and stared beyond the horizon, just like today. He had quietly watched lightning flash in the distance, observed glorious sword rays, and revered the cultivators' godlike prowess. He next witnessed their fall from glory, the end of an era, and he struggled to survive against all odds.

All of a sudden, his face contorted in pain. Keeling over, he hissed, "Scoundrel!"

Ai Hui was like a persistent cockroach that capitalized on every small window of opportunity. The overwhelming sense of nostalgia had momentarily weakened his will, giving Ai Hui a chance to attack. The demonic god was mentally and emotionally drained. He hated this feeling.

But he could not do anything about this annoying pest.

He unleashed his rage upon those in the ravine below.

　　.

With a wave of his hand, a stream of swords flew out from the blood eye beneath his feet. Like a humongous red python leaving its nest, the stream of swords slithered down into the ravine below. Hundreds of swords criss-crossed in their paths like a swarm of migratory birds flying south for the winter.

Countless sword chimes converged as the swords plunged towards the ravine.

Fu Sisi felt her scalp tingle and desperately cried out, "Watch out!"

The blood-red sword python slammed head on into the Heavenly Elemental Shield!

Brilliant sparks burst forth from the point of impact, lighting up the entire ravine.

Boom!

The impact was so great that those in the valley felt as if they had been knocked senseless by a sledgehammer taken to the face.

Being much stronger than the rest of them, Fu Sisi quickly snapped out of it. She shouted, "It worked!"

The other members gradually came back to their senses. Seeing the Heavenly Elemental Shield unwaveringly holding up sharply raised their morale.

Even those from the Assembly of Patriarchs showed a tinge of joy.

The paranormal phenomena that had occurred over the past few days signaled the birth of a new Grandmaster, the birth of another unbeatable force. Ai Hui seemed to have corroborated this point with his impressive entrance. His awe-inspiring power left those in the ravine feeling slightly defeated.

But such a terrifying attack could unexpectedly be blocked!

The mood in the ravine quickly shifted from one of despair to one of hope. Everyone's will to live had kicked in hard, bursting forth like a phoenix reborn amidst the ashes.

The middle-aged and grey-robed man's eyes lit up brightly. He suddenly declared, "He's not a Grandmaster!"

Fu Sisi was momentarily distracted, but quickly snapped out of it. She echoed, "That's right, he's not strong enough to be a Grandmaster!"

Her intention had been to raise the morale of her team members, but as the words left her mouth, Fu Sisi realised that something was amiss. Indeed, something did not feel right. Even though she had yet to see Ai Hui's swordplay, she knew there must be something extraordinary about it if he was known as the greatest swordsman of their time.

The torrent of blood swords was formidable, but the only thing worth noticing was the strange blood spiritual force-like energy that was driving them. Apart from that, there was nothing spectacular about the sword technique.

She had once trained under the Silverwheel Swordsman Chu Zhaoyang, and thus knew the true might of the swordsmen.

If he truly was a Grandmaster of swordplay, could the Heavenly Elemental Shield stop him like this?

Perhaps it could, but it would definitely not be this easy!

The densely packed marks on the Heavenly Elemental Shield where the swords had struck were a terrifying sight to behold. However, the shield was still holding up a lot better than expected.

Fu Sisi felt a lot lighter after thinking through the situation. Members of the Sky Leaf Division were not just regular masters. Armed with their five elemental rings, they were all on the precipice of becoming Grandmasters. If their opponent was not a Grandmaster, then they were not too far away in terms of strength. Additionally, the middle-aged man leading the Assembly of Patriarchs was most certainly a Patriarch himself. His abilities were at least equivalent to her own.

Following this line of thought, they might just have a chance of winning this fight!

The demonic god was shocked that his attack had failed to penetrate their defenses. He was unhappy that the shield was stronger than he thought.

He let out an annoyed grunt and sent thousands of blood swords flying out of the blood eye. The swords dived down once again with the sound of a thousand birds chirping.

It's all because of that annoying pest!

Even though Ai Hui's strength was not at the level of a Grandmaster, Fu Sisi was not about to belittle him. The countless lacerations on the Heavenly Elemental Shield was proof that his strength was still way beyond theirs. She had once tested the Heavenly Elemental Shield's capabilities, and knew just how much it took to leave a mark on it.

The Heavenly Elemental Shield was the Sky Leaf Division's most prized secret defensive technique since it had another well-hidden ability. Activating the shield required the use of fusion elemental energy, but repairing it only required the five elemental energies. As elemental energy poured into the shield, the vast number of blood-red marks began to disappear. The shield's surface was quickly restored to its original glory.

The second wave of blood swords swarmed in without any room for respite.

Clink, clink, clink!

Countless blood swords rushed directly towards them like torrential rain, slamming continuously against the Heavenly Elemental Shield.

Densely packed sparks illuminated the translucent shield, allowing Fu Sisi to see more clearly. She noticed that the lacerations were building up at an alarming rate. The criss-crossing, interweaving blood-red gashes were a terrifying sight.

Time seemed to both slow down and speed up at the same time.

All Fu Sisi could see were the blood-red lacerations all over the surface of the shield. It was as if she was looking through red tinted lenses.

Members of the Sky Leaf Division frantically poured their elemental energies into the Heavenly Elemental Shield. The red lacerations continually formed and disappeared. The entire situation felt extremely precarious, as though the shield could shatter at any moment.

High up above, the demonic god gasped in shock.

Having lived through the cultivation era, he looked upon the elemental era with contempt. However, the way things were looking now made him realise that elemental energy was not as weak as he thought. The Heavenly Elemental Shield's defensive capability was far better than he had imagined, even if he was at the weakest point of his long life.

Despite his arrogance, the demonic god was a cautious individual.

The speed at which the shield regenerated was way beyond his expectations.

He felt a tinge of unease.

The blood swords contained a corrosive demonic energy that was difficult to remove. However, the power of the five elemental energies seemed to be able to cleanse it from the shield with ease.

Had he been in hibernation for far too long…

Bei Shuisheng's voice reverberated throughout the vacuous Cold Palace.

"Your Majesty said that there's something odd about that bloody glow?"

　The Holy Emperor saw the shock on Bei Shuisheng's face and felt a sense of satisfaction, since it was rare to see him lose his composure. Remaining calm and collected, the Holy Emperor pretended to take a sip of tea. He then proceeded to slowly explain, "Who in this world has a better understanding of God's Blood than I do?"

His expression changed to one of solemness as he put the teacup down. Unhurriedly, he continued, "Blood of God was created from God's Blood, and nobody else has a better understanding of it than me. The first leader was the one who unearthed the origins of God's Blood, and this secret has been passed on from the leaders of one generation to the next."

Bei Shuisheng's eyes grew wide. He had been involved with Blood of God for such a long time, yet he'd never heard of this before.

　"While researching God's Blood, we discovered that it could create the blood eye illusion under certain conditions. The blood eye takes on many forms, and holds a wide range of powers. Delving into ancient records led us to a demonic god known as Chi Tong, the Scarlet-eyed Emperor."

Bei Shuisheng was an extremely knowledgeable man. He often browsed through the Cold Palace's ancient records in his free time, and had seen this name before. Surprised to hear it from the Holy Emperor, he faltered, "Scarlet-eyed Emperor? Scarlet-eyed Emperor of a thousand wilderness cities?"

He remembered the name because it belonged to a demonic god from the Wilderness. The Scarlet-eyed Emperor was said to have been born to a nameless tribe in the Wilderness. He was given life from avedha-vasa and experienced the end of the Cultivation Era. Nobody was sure when he had died. At the peak of his life he supposedly ruled over a thousand cities in the Wilderness.

Bei Shuisheng had his reservations about the existence of such a demonic god.

Every generation had its fair share of powerful individuals who ventured deep into the Wilderness. Personal journal records revealed that they had successfully penetrated the deep Wilderness. These explorers had found scattered ruins of cities in the wilderness, but there had been no evidence of any large clans. Bei Shuisheng had felt that the one thousand cities mentioned in the legend of the demonic god were a severe exaggeration.

HIs curiosity was piqued when he heard the Holy Emperor mention the Scarlet-eyed Emperor.

"Indeed," the Holy Emperor nodded. "We have conducted repeated tests which have confirmed that God's Blood is the blood of the Scarlet-eyed Emperor."

Bei Shuisheng listened intently. He knew that even more shocking information was coming.

The Holy Emperor solemnly recounted, "The leader of each generation is the key person in charge of researching God's Blood. Despite how cautiously we've work, something still went wrong. The second leader of Blood of God sank too deeply into his research on God's Blood. He became possessed by it, killing every last one of his close friends and relatives. In fact, almost half of the most powerful exponents we had were slaughtered by him. In his last moments, the Second regained a brief moment of consciousness. He capitalized on this to blow himself up."

Bei Shuisheng's voice trembled slightly, "The Night of Frozen Blood…"

He immediately recalled an event he had once come across in the archives. The Second had caused large-scale damage to Blood of God because of training issues. Because it had happened on a frigid, winter night, the event became known as "The Night of Frozen Blood". The records lacked a lot of details which he had now come to know.

"Right before he imploded, the Second revealed the secret of God's Blood."

Hearing His Majesty's voice falling to a whisper, Bei Shuisheng held his breath.

"Resurrection, the Scarlet-eyed Emperor's resurrection. God's Blood droplets were the seeds he had sown to ensure his eventual return."

Bei Shuisheng suddenly thought of the strange phenomena that happened a few days ago. Slightly dazed, he asked, "Could it be that… the Scarlet-eyed Emperor has resurrected within Ai Hui's body?"

"Perhaps." The Holy Emperor revealed an odd smile. "The Scarlet-eyed Emperor, hehe. I'm brimming with expectation. Back when we were looking into God's Blood, we were extremely cautious in avoiding it's influence. Our blood spiritual force can be said to have originated from God's Blood, but in actual fact, it's vastly different. In addition, we've been preparing a worthy opponent for the Scarlet-eyed Emperor ever since we realised he could be resurrected."

"A worthy opponent?"

"Yup, a group of tenacious individuals who are filled with hatred. Our beloved, old arch-enemy of a hundred years."

"Assembly of Patriarchs? How are they…"

"Yeah, they've always wanted to steal God's Blood. After much detailed plotting, they managed to "accidentally" steal one drop."

"The Assembly of Patriarchs has God's Blood in their possession too?"

"That severely damaged drop of God's Blood that the second leader left behind after exploding. Isn't this all so exciting?"