Chapter 1379: “The Hunt Begins (1)”
At the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff, was blood soaked earth. Under the thick fog, the chill was bitingly cold and people who fell in pools of blood numbered more than anyone could count.
Having just fought a great battle, a team of people stood under the thick fog as they panted heavily, looking at each other under the light thrown out from the Spirit Fire Globes they held in their hands.
The team of people and horses numbered more than a hundred and upon the bodies of every single one of them, was a swirling purple glow from their spirit powers. The great battle earlier had drained their powers quite a bit and now that the battle had just ended, they finally had a chance to catch a breather.
“Damn them all. Soul Return Palace, Flame Demons Palace….. They must have all gone mad, sending group after group of their people down to the Lower Realm with all of them acting like no one knows where they are thinking in their minds.” The leader of the men said as he stared with a frown upon his face at the ground around them that was filled with dead bodies. His team had just descended down from the Heaven’s End Cliff not too long ago when they had suddenly encountered other teams from the other palaces. The teams from various sides had clashed against each other, their intentions clear in their minds without having to say a word.
“The Lower Realm in recent periods have become like a pot bubbling with chaos and turmoil. I heard that the pawns planted by several of the other palaces in the Lower Realm were rooted out by someone and the maps deposited here in Lower Realm had also gone missing without a trace. How could they possibly not become anxious?” Another man said as he panted.
If this had been under normal circumstances, if they encountered other people from another one of the Twelve Palaces, they would at most just made some snide remarks or throw a few insults at them before they would find an excuse for all parties to carry on with their missions separately on their own.
Though their objectives were the same, whether they would be able to find the Dark Emperor’s tomb would be based entirely on their own capabilities.
Afterall, the various palaces among the Twelve Palaces held rather similar levels of power and unless there was a pressing need, otherwise they would not engage each other.
But now, that status quo had changed.
“Heh, you remember how arrogant those seven palaces had been when they got those maps? Thinking that they have found a big clue, they thought they would be able to find the Dark Emperor’s tomb before the others. But so many years have passed and what have they found? The maps they have handed over to the Lower Realm have now gone missing and they are casting their suspicions on the rest of us. That’s just so ridiculous. When they themselves do not have the capabilities, they should not drag others into the water. They think they can now just point their finger at everyone else, do they really think they are invincible?” The leader of the team of men said as he spat out spittle specked with some blood. They had achieved victory through their superior numbers in the battle but the opponents had been people from other palaces afterall and their powers were not to be sniffed at. Although they had won, they were all well marked with quite a number of wounds and injuries as well.
“We were fortunate this time all due to the Elder’s foresight to ask us to bring enough more men. If we had come here like the last batch, we would have fallen prey to the enemy.” Another man said with a sneer.
They were from the Flamboyant Palace of the Twelve Palaces and among the Twelve Palaces, they were ranked in the middle range in terms of power, and were the type that were more low profile. All these years, they had not given up on their investigations into locating the Dark Emperor’s tomb and like many of the other palaces, they had found themselves some pawns in the Lower Realm to carry out the work for them here. But about half a year ago, the Lower Realm fell into messy war and the pawns they held were annihilated and they had no choice but to carry out the mission themselves now.
From three months ago, they had sent many teams of their men down here to the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff to search for the location of the Dark Emperor’s tomb but not a single one among them had returned.
They knew very clearly that the Heaven’s End Cliff was a place filled with treacherous dangers and they had always left one or two of their men back upon the top of the Heaven’s End Cliff to stand guard. If they still did not receive any news after half a month, the men standing guard at the top of the cliff were to bring the news back to them.
But for three consecutive months, the many teams the Flamboyant Palace had sent out one after another had not seen a single man among them return at all.