All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 148: Order Is About to Collapse

“Sister, what should we do?” As a small fry who wasn’t even a Profound Being, Zhanyue was helpless in the face of such a major event.

“I told you, when the sky falls, there are tall people to prop it up. Though the Nightmares are strong, the Myriad Spirits Realm’s development over so many years hasn’t been without capable individuals emerging. Besides Thunder Lord and Sword Lord that you know of, I can sense hidden powerful auras in various parts of the world. The Nightmare Clan naturally knows this too, which is why they chose to plan before acting, waiting for the Corpse Emperor to break his seal. But now, because of the appearance of new-generation geniuses like you, they’ve become restless and decided to advance the war,” the Illumination Goddess explained.

“However, this also shows that the Nightmares fear us, and fear our future even more. Do you still think we have no fighting chance?” the Illumination Goddess asked in return, her face full of determination.

Zhanyue nodded. As the Illumination Goddess said, if the Nightmare Clan truly had an overwhelming advantage over the beings of the Myriad Spirits Realm, why would they need to scheme for so long? The Myriad Spirits Realm was far more complex than Zhanyue had imagined.

“Sister, earlier the Strategist said Wind Lord was no match for a Great Lord. If Lord-level Spirit God Realm experts can’t match Great Lords, does it take existences like Thunder Lord and Sword Lord to contend with them?” Zhanyue asked, puzzled.

The Illumination Goddess nodded, “Lord-level Nightmares require Spirit God Realm experts to contend with, while some powerful Lord-level Nightmares need Lord-level Spirit God Realm experts to counter. As for Great Lord-level, they require True Realm experts above the Spirit God Realm. But who says the human race only has Thunder Lord and Sword Lord as True Realm experts? In my era, the Four Symbol Lords were all in the True Realm, and all were in the True Self Realm within the True Realm, with extremely formidable strength. The mid-level forces below the Four Symbol Lords were indeed not as strong as today’s human race. After all, the current human population is 10 times that of my era, nurturing more geniuses.”

Zhanyue already knew that the Spirit God Realm was divided into ‘Entering Godhood’, ‘Comprehending Nature’, and ‘Exiting Godhood’, while above Spirit God Realm was the True Realm, divided into the ”, Transforming Nature Realm, Accumulating Dao Realm, and True Self Realm. Thunder Lord was at the ninth stage of the Transforming Nature Realm, while Sword Lord was at the seventh stage. They were the strongest known figures in the human race. However, in the Illumination Goddess’s era, besides her, the Four Symbol Lords had all reached the True Self Realm. Could it be that the Myriad Spirits Realm now concealed countless experts?

Seeming to read Zhanyue’s thoughts, the Illumination Goddess said, “You’re right in your thinking. Thunder Lord and Sword Lord are relatively weak compared to them. Don’t worry, with your talent, you’ve likely already caught their attention. You’ll meet them sooner or later. No, strictly speaking, you’ve already met some of them.”

“Who?” Zhanyue asked curiously. He had already met them?

“That ragged old monk and the Alchemist who taught you alchemy are both much stronger than ‘Thunder Lord’ and ‘Sword Lord’. They’re even close to the level of the Four Symbol Lords,” the Illumination Goddess said. She had sensed both of these individuals through Zhanyue but hadn’t told him, as these matters were still too distant for him.

“Them?” Zhanyue recalled those two and nodded, “I sensed they were extraordinary before, but I didn’t think they’d be more powerful than Thunder Lord.”

“The world has no shortage of capable people. So, don’t worry needlessly. We’re not without fighting power,” the Illumination Goddess comforted. “However, what concerns me most now is their method of isolating the Illumination Towers.”

“Indeed, it was already outrageous that the Strategist wasn’t afraid of the Illumination Towers, but they even have a way to render the towers ineffective?” Zhanyue remembered that all living beings in the Myriad Spirits Realm now relied on the Illumination Towers for protection. How many would die without them? Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but worry.

“I’m not sure why the Strategist doesn’t fear the Illumination Towers, but such existences are likely rare even among Nightmares. Otherwise, there would be no need to block the Illumination Towers, indicating that they are still effective against other Nightmares,” the Illumination Goddess analyzed.

This night was destined to be sleepless. Zhanyue walked towards the Holy Maiden’s courtyard to check on her. However, the Strategist didn’t seem to be lying; he said he hadn’t harmed the Holy Maiden, which was likely true.

In Wind Lord’s residence, countless secret messages were continuously arriving through the communication formation. He was already overwhelmed.

“The Illumination Towers really did fail earlier, it wasn’t my imagination, and the terrifying Nightmare aura outside the city was real too. But why did they suddenly retreat?” Wind Lord felt panicked and confused, a feeling he had never experienced before, a sense of powerlessness filling his limbs.

“Enough, this matter is likely beyond my ability to handle,” Wind Lord took out a purple stone and a small sword, first crushing the stone and then breaking the sword.

“Let Thunder Lord and Sword Lord handle it,” Wind Lord knew the situation was serious. The Illumination Towers, which had never failed before, suddenly became ineffective, along with those powerful Nightmare auras. The Academy Town was now in chaos, fear and unease gripping everyone’s hearts. Everyone worried that in the blink of an eye, the two Illumination Towers would go dark again, and then the Nightmare army would invade.

This night was destined to be sleepless. Everyone was waiting for the city lord and the academy principal to give a reasonable explanation to calm people’s hearts, not knowing that Wind Lord’s heart was already in turmoil.

“Are you all alright?” Zhanyue appeared outside the room of Holy Maiden Lixi and Nangong Weilai. The two girls, dressed, came out, looking at Zhanyue with puzzled expressions.

“It’s so late, is something wrong?” Nangong Weilai asked.

“Did you not notice anything earlier?” Zhanyue asked.

The two girls shook their heads. They had been meditating in their rooms earlier, naturally unaware that they had actually been on the brink of death.

Suddenly, a figure appeared beside Zhanyue. It was the old man Zhanyue had seen before with Nangong Weilai.

“Great-uncle?” Nangong Weilai looked at him, not knowing why he had suddenly appeared.

“Young man, did you sense what happened earlier?” the old man asked.

Zhanyue nodded. “Sir, what I want to say is, relying on you alone, the Holy Maiden’s safety is likely difficult to guarantee. Did you know Nightmares came earlier?”

The old man’s face instantly paled as he grabbed Zhanyue’s shoulders. “Is what you’re saying true?”

Zhanyue nodded. “It was a Great Lord-level Nightmare. Due to special reasons, it spared the Holy Maiden and me, but the Holy Maiden’s situation is clearly not safe. She needs protection from more powerful figures.” Zhanyue didn’t conceal anything. He wasn’t afraid of assassination by Great Lord-level Nightmares because he had the Goddess protecting him, but what about the Holy Maiden? All the protection Wind Lord had prepared for her was based on Nightmares fearing the Illumination Towers, mostly to guard against the Night Lord’s people. However, in reality, all these protections were fragile. More powerful figures must come forward to protect MuMu Lixi, which was why Zhanyue had come to find them.

“Come, let’s go see Wind Lord,” the old man led the three to Wind Lord’s residence. By now, many people had already gathered there.