Chapter 99 The Lich War Begins: The Ninety-Nine Days of Game Development
Kuafu forcefully pulled a river from its bed, and most of the water droplets were baked into white vapor by the sun god fire brought by the little golden crow.
However, the fire-attribute Golden Crow was not having an easy time in the water either, and soon it started yelling and trying to fly away.
Seeing their disheveled state and their frantic escape, Kuafu finally felt relieved. He was just about to press his advantage, grab those little golden crows, and demand an explanation from that demon, Donghuang Taiyi, and maybe even get a pot of Xuanming True Water.
But at that moment, a golden arrow shot from afar, striking a small golden crow directly, and a small sun fell from the sky.
Then came the second, the third... Before Kuafu could react, the Jiu Zhi Sword seemed to shoot down from the same time, striking down the nine tiny suns.
These mischievous children fell down in front of Kuafu, and the once bright sun went out at this moment. The little eight that had been hiding in the pot and was dizzy from being shaken by him fell onto the grass once again.
This time, however, he did not take flight again as before. Instead, he closed his eyes forever, his former radiance replaced by a dull gray, with only the small stone around his neck still shimmering.
"No! Run!" Kuafu roared, using his body to block the last arrow that was shot at him, his body engulfed in flames.
Terrified by his brother's death, Xiao Shi flew off in another direction without thinking.
The Kunpeng, observing everything from afar, questioned, "What a pity! The Heavenly Emperor only granted you ten arrows to slay the rebellious demons, and now you've let one escape. Do you know your crime?"
Kunpeng didn't wait for the young man opposite him to answer. He adopted the high and mighty attitude of a Heavenly Court envoy and a demon master of the demon race, and swallowed this human great shaman, whom he had randomly chosen but who had received guidance from Zhurong, whole.
Following the "decree" of the Heavenly Court to eliminate demons and protect all living beings, the great shaman disappeared from this world, leaving only the cold gaze of the Kunpeng in the end.
As a demon master, Kunpeng couldn't directly attack the Heavenly Prince, so he had to find another way. Kunpeng had already experienced the stubbornness of the Wu Clan, so this time he could only look to other races with ties to the Wu Clan.
The naive and fragile human race, as long as they claim to be messengers of the Heavenly Court, utter empty words about saving all living beings, and weave an illusion of ten suns, will rush here one after another for a vague and illusory salvation of all living beings.
Kunpeng let out a satisfied burp: "Indeed, this tender flesh is the most delicious. It's a pity I can't taste the little princes; I can only satisfy my craving with this human."
After speaking, Kunpeng dispelled the illusion, and the disguised body will dissipate with the wind and return to the Heavenly Court.
When Kuafu chased the sun, all the princes of Heaven perished, and the murder weapon happened to be an arrow imbued with the fire of Zhurong. I wonder if His Majesty is satisfied with this grand gift that provided the Wu tribe with a legitimate reason for their attack.
As for the last little golden crow, it's too late to chase it now, but we can't let it ruin things at this point.
Kunpeng took out the essence blood he had obtained from these little golden crows under the pretext of teaching them, transformed it into little golden crows, and threw it into the mouth of the deceased Kuafu, thus temporarily concealing the secret of heaven.
Although it will only last for a short while, by then the matter will be settled and cannot be changed.
Before the Kunpeng clone dissipated, it heard Di Jun's furious roar, each word filled with blood.
"The Witch Clan, you have gone too far!"
The entire primordial world was stirred up by this voice. It was not only the roar of a father who had lost his child, but also the formal declaration of war by the monarch of the Heavenly Court against the Witch Clan.
Houtu, who was meditating on the chaos, suddenly looked up. Xuanming and Donghuang Taiyi's wine cups fell to the ground. Donghuang Taiyi shuddered and turned pale. Even Yuanyi was unable to sit still because of the renewed calamity energy in the world, and the taste of blood spread in his mouth.
Kong Xuan and Da Peng supported their master from both sides, and Yuan Yi let out a long breath: "It has finally come."
Although she had predicted it, when the moment actually arrived, Yuan Yi found that she was not as calm as she had imagined.
Kong Xuan and Da Peng stood by, and with their master's guidance, they saw everything clearly. Filled with righteous indignation, they exclaimed, "This is clearly Kunpeng's..."
Having said this, Kong Xuan found himself unable to utter another word, a heavy pressure weighing on his shoulders.
Yuan Yi stroked Kong Xuan, and the heavy force dissipated. She instructed, "This is destiny, it cannot be spoken of."
He then turned to look at Dapeng: "In the future, you two will also be subject to destiny. You must act cautiously and not be misled by destiny."
Yuan Yi spoke very carefully, attributing the great calamity and the resulting chaos to destiny, and this time he indeed escaped the notice of the Heavenly Dao.
The two brothers looked at each other, and finally Dapeng spoke up: "If fate has ordained it this way, then I will not accept fate." He and his brother would never have fallen to such a state.
Dapeng looked out the window and saw that the golden-red crow was completely terrified and was trying to fly up into the sky, with a tear in the corner of its eye.
But at this moment, he was like a headless fly, flying towards the sky but constantly flying to the east and west, unable to find his way back.
At that moment, the sun and the moon appeared in the sky simultaneously. The enormous golden crow that occupied the entire sun and the goddess Xihe with an icy expression had arrived here to search for their lost children.
But all they could find was the child's body, and the arrows on them were of the Wu tribe's standard type, carrying the aura of Zhu Rong's divine fire.
Emperor Junxi was furious and had completely lost his mind. He only wanted to avenge his dead children. Overwhelmed by grief, he could only hastily collect their bodies and had no energy left to investigate the whole story.
However, since the Heavenly Prince died in the territory of the Witch Clan, the Witch Clan could not sever ties with him.
Donghuang Taiyi, who was standing nearby, rushed over in a daze, only to be met with a punch from his brother in a fit of rage.
Kunpeng, the demon master, carefully apologized, explaining his fault for failing to properly discipline the crown prince.
Dapeng looked out the window as if watching a silent pantomime, where everyone had a script and everything was unfolding in an orderly fashion.
Only the little golden crow, not far away, was still struggling. Fearing the arrows shooting from afar, it fled in terror, wanting to return to the Heavenly Court and seek the protection of its father, mother, Donghuang uncle, and Xuanming uncle.
But he was trapped in this corner, unable to fly out or escape, completely unaware that the person he wanted to rely on was actually right behind him.
"I'm going out," Dapeng told his superior. "I'm going to pick him up."
He pointed to the little golden crow not far from the courtyard. It was just a short distance away, and if it flapped its wings, it would be gone in an instant.
“I summoned you out to show you the current state of affairs under the great calamity. If you go out, you may be pulled into the calamity.”
Dapeng remained resolute: "Master, I want to go out."
The little bird's wings were a color just like his brother's. Besides, he had been watching in his dream how "he" was trapped by the calamity's powerlessness to stop it from devouring people, and he didn't want to see this little golden crow suffer the same fate as him.
“Then go.” Yuan Yi’s voice was extremely gentle. She smiled and repeated, “Go do what you think is right.”
This small courtyard was meticulously arranged by Yuan Yi. Although it appears to be located here, it is not actually under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dao. Instead, it was created by using a game formation to make this small courtyard a part of the game.
The laws of Heaven can only govern the primordial world; they cannot directly control the virtual world within a game.
But once you push open that door, you'll return to the primordial world and to the center of this great calamity.
Yuan Yi's original intention was simply to show his disciples what a great calamity of heaven and earth was, so that they would be mindful if they saw or encountered it in the future.
However, once a disciple has his own ideas, even the master cannot say no.
At this moment, Di Jun and Xi He were no longer in their original positions. The Golden Crow, now in its original form, clashed with the enormous giant, while countless lesser demons fought against the powerful sorcerers, some several dozen feet tall.
It seemed like only a moment had passed before the two races began their battle, and this time it wasn't in a game, but in reality, a fight to the death.
Little Golden Crow could no longer fly. He was the youngest of the brothers, and his eldest and third brothers had pushed him to escape when they left. But he was truly useless; he couldn't even find his way home, and he didn't even have a chance to avenge his brothers.
At this moment, the roc broke through the boundary between the game and reality, revealing its true form as a roc bird soaring in the sky, and caught the dazed little golden crow in its beak.
He was incredibly fast, faster than the first ray of sunlight in the world. In the blink of an eye, the little golden crow arrived at an unfamiliar courtyard.
Yuan Yi smiled, but his lips were pale, and the Heavenly Dao's warning, "This is the only time; do not repeat this mistake," still echoed in his ears.
We've always been an anomaly of the natural order, and we've managed to get by all these years, so what's wrong with having one more option to defy fate?
The little golden crow had been terrified all day, circling around that desolate wilderness. Now, suddenly arriving in this warm and comfortable courtyard, although it didn't know where it was, looking at the two large birds with their wings uncovered and the gentle-faced woman in front of it, it suddenly felt at peace for some reason.
With tears in his eyes, Little Golden Crow said, "Thank you so much for saving me, seniors. I... I am the Crown Prince of Heaven. Now that a villain has harmed me, I beg you seniors to escort me to Heaven to pay my respects to my father and mother. Heaven will surely repay you handsomely in the future."
"No need to see me off, your loved ones are all there." The big bird pointed out the window, where the forest where the barbecue was held to the east last night was now a mess.
And the people he knew—his father and mother, his uncle Donghuang, Minister Bai Ze, the demon master Kunpeng, his uncle Xuanming, his uncle Zhurong, the goddess Houtu—were all here.
But this was a far cry from the gentle and kind demeanor he had previously encountered, or the way she would laugh and tease him when she secretly descended to the mortal realm.
At this moment, everyone wore a cold expression, their killing intent directed at the person opposite them, as if the other side were their mortal enemy.
These elders were so unfamiliar that when he was young he almost thought they were all different people. But he soon realized that these were indeed the elders who had cared for him all along. However, after only one day apart, these elders changed from their harmonious and playful relationship of the day before. Instead, they met on the battlefield and showed no mercy in their attacks.
Just now, he saw his uncle Donghuang take out the Chaos Bell and strike Zhu Rong hard, making the fire on Zhu Rong's body unstable. It was only because Houtu quickly replaced Zhu Rong's uncle that Zhu Rong was saved.
"Why?" The little golden crow was completely baffled.
"Yesterday, Zhu Rong of the Wu tribe ordered the great shaman Kuafu to chase the sun. In one day, Kuafu killed ten sons of the Heavenly Emperor and died from exhaustion. Thus, the Wu and Yao tribes became enemies and will fight to the death."
"No, no!" the little golden crow shrieked. "It wasn't Uncle Zhurong, and Kuafu didn't harm us either. In fact, he saved me. They weren't the murderers who killed me and my brother!"
"No, we can't keep fighting like this." Little Golden Crow thought of Kuafu's body collapsing as he urged it to leave, and tears streamed down its face.
But he was the Crown Prince of Heaven; he couldn't cry. There were more important things waiting for him to do.
Just now, he had seen that his mother and Uncle Xuanming had suffered a lot of injuries. Even Houtu Niangniang, who had been smiling and preparing fruit for them, no longer had a smile on her face, and her face only showed fatigue.
That's wrong!
The enemy who murdered their brothers has not yet been found, while their relatives have turned against their benefactors because of the enemy's plot.
"This can't be." This was the only thought in Little Golden Crow's eyes. Filled with anger and sorrow, he rushed out of the window without a second thought.
If it doesn't work the first time, try again. Even if they get hit by the formation and their heads are covered in stars, they will still fly towards the battlefield.
Dapeng looked reluctant and was about to step forward to tell Xiao Jinwu the truth that this was just a projection of an array, but Yuan Yi stopped him.
She shook her head: "Someone's coming."
As soon as he finished speaking, the little golden crow actually rushed out of the window, but before its tail could even fly out of the formation, it crashed into a warm chest, which still carried the faint fragrance of bamboo.
"Teacher Fuxi!" The little golden crow was overjoyed.
But Fuxi simply held the little golden crow gently, tucked it into his sleeve, and asked Yuan Yi, "Back in the Zixiao Palace, I heard that you once used a game to change the fate of the Western land. Now the Wu and Yao races are caught in a calamity and neither can come to a good end. I wonder if you have any good solutions?"
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Author's Note: The little golden crows will all have a happy ending, and the Kunpeng will receive its due punishment, so don't be sad. The war between the Lich King and the Demon King will soon come to an end. [pat on the head]
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