Those near the two emperors felt an intense chill that caused frost to grow on their skin. Being struck by two Blizzard Heart Secret Arts is enough to bring down any Paramount Cultivators to their knees.

It is so powerful that not even the White Emperor who created the Secret Art could withstand it.

A red glint of light flashed across the Black Emperor’s eyes. They will be defeated soon, and most combat arts, high-grade artefacts, weapons, talismans are worthless in this battle. He had never felt so impotent in his life.

He made a decision quickly and turned his face towards the Crimson Emperor who is still engaged with Kairos and Tommy.

Despite being stronger, Rurik could not gain an advantage and could barely keep the fight at even odds.

Those who know about the Origin Cultivation Method can tell that the two boys were using Soul Perception to keep up with the vast combat experience the Crimson Emperor has, but the Black Emperor could not believe his eyes.

“Rurik Slavik, it’s time for me to devour you,” the Black Emperor said emotionlessly.

Almost magically, the Crimson Emperor who heard these frightening words dropped his hands in mid-battle.

He mechanically ran over moving like a mannequin while ignoring Kairos and Tommy but his expression was one of pure terror.

“Stop him,” Kairos yelled with great urgency, and everyone tried to impede Rurik’s movement with attacks or binding techniques but to stop a Paramount Cultivator is tough even for other Paramount Cultivators.

While he went towards the Black Emperor, Rurik screamed as if his tongue no longer worked properly.

“Whot’s hopponing to moooo!”

The Black Emperor lifted up a palm and an orb of pure darkness appeared with purple lightning snakes lingering around it. The Crimson Emperor felt an incredible suction force before his entire body was pulled over.

In the matter of moments, the Crimson Emperor were consumed by the black sphere and completely disappeared as though he had never existed.

There was a fearful hash in the place as everyone looked at the Black Emperor as if he was a monster.

“The Darkness Seed…,” the Thief King muttered in disbelief, “I had always thought this evil technique only a hearsay.”

Lord Yue’s expression turned grave, making him even more frightening if that was possible, “If the Darkness Seed is real, then this means, you are the Great Khan, Yesugei-in Temujin?”

The eyes of everyone turned sharp. This man here, the Black Emperor, is the supreme leader of the north. The one who conquered and subsequently holds control over all of Frosthral.

If they could take him down, this war could end.

However, the next moment, the Black Emperor laughed as though he didn’t mind that they found out his identity.

It wasn’t surprising either as his Ki rapidly climbed up, becoming 10 Paramount Units in seconds and continued increasing. In his eyes, his enemies are quickly becoming harmless… trivial.

Of course, no matter how much his Ki compresses and become denser, the Black Emperor wouldn’t be able to turn into an immortal. It isn’t the amount of energy one refined that mattered but the type. Just like, no matter how much normal food one eats, one could not turn into a cultivator, but it might be possible from just eating one spirit fruit. After all, it is a process to turn into a higher class of lifeform.

Even so, he had the right to look down at them.

The Black Emperor watched them like a calculative predator, “You are too optimistic. In mere minutes I will become an existence so great that you can only bow down before me.”

Even if he will lose a small portion of energy from the absorption process, he will still become a 15 Paramount Cultivator after devouring Rurik.

“And I must correct you on another point,” he added, “I am only a portion of the Great Khan. All the emperors of the north are a part of him!”

“No… No way that’s possible,” Reynold muttered with pure terror on his face, “I have been planted the Darkness Seed as well?”

The Black Emperor scoffed, “What made you believe you could attain such position, such respect, in MY kingdom, outsider? But fear not, I have use for you yet.”

“To what end? Won’t I eventually be consumed?”

“I will answer you. Till I, the Great Khan of the north becomes immortal, and on that day if you are still useful to me, I will set you and any other emperors free. Now enough of your ridiculous antics. You will force them to open the Walls of Jericho or I will take your life and do it myself.”

Reynold barely recovered from the shock and utter fear he felt. As a genius who despite not coming from any impressive background yet become a Paramount Cultivator, he could hardly believe that his own life will not be in his hands.

The seals that easily suppressed the Crimson Emperor’s Ki began shaking violently above the Black Emperor. Temujin lifted an arm and waved at the hovering stones, and they all turned into dust. There wasn’t any sound nor explosiveness, they simply atomised and were blown away by the wind.

Hairs stood on ends when they saw his power and the level of control he have over his Ki.

The most frightened here is actually the White Emperor.

The Darkness Seed, once planted, allows absolute control over the victim. No matter how many layers of lives Reynold has, he will definitely be killed if the Black Emperor so wished.

For someone who has that many lives, the White Emperor had long been far removed of the dangers a cultivator usually faces daily. Because he was assured that he would not die, he became most fearful of death.

In a way, having a safety net had weakened the Dao Heart of this Paramount Cultivator and unexpectedly crippled him.

The thing about fear is that once you let it in your heart, it takes root and refuse to be removed.

Despair seeped into the White Emperor like the coldest winter night, making the controller of snow and frost shiver uncontrollably. He sought for hope like one would look desperately look for light when lost, and he found it by obeying the Black Emperor.

The White Emperor shouted, “Ymir, the first being, oh primordial one, I offer thee my life. Take it and curse this frozen land. Let none remain living on this day. Grand Illusion, Final Heartbeats of a frozen waste!”

When Reynold chanted, even the Great Khan was startled. This wasn’t just any technique that the White Emperor used. It is beyond even the limits of a Secret Art.

This is the next stage. A Noble Art, and one that is infinitely close to becoming a Sacred Art. When a technique becomes so high level that it alters the very surrounding in its casting, it is given the title, Secret Art. But when a combat art reaches a level where heaven and earth trembles while everything else turn silent, it has become a Noble Art.

The little animals living near the plateau looked at the skies and bemoaned. They felt that the world is ending so much so that many small critters died from fright.

But no one, human or beast, took a single fleeting step. There’s no point in running when they believed that everything and everyone will die.

Kairos had seen a Noble Art once. It was back when they were on a journey to rescue Jones in the Silent Lambs Empire. One of the guards of the undercities had used a move called ‘Thor’s Smite’ that covered the heavens with lightning and dark clouds, however, it was nothing like this and even weaker than Kairos’ Secret Art.

In the hands of a Paramount Cultivator, no one can be certain to survive.

Just as the Black Emperor was about to kill Reynold out of fear, the latter threw his grand technique outwards into the sky.

At this exact moment, a hand suddenly appeared out of thin air and made a grab towards the White Emperor’s hand. At first Reynold thought that it was the old thief who is targeting him again, but he quickly dismissed that possibility, knowing that Rielon is beyond his ability to discover.

It was then that he saw the most unbelievable sight in his life.

His Noble Art flickered and dimmed as if it was being pulled into the void.

However, just as Reynold feared his technique will also vanish like all the others before, the hand shrunk back as though it had touched something hot and then a loud scream.

All these happened in a second, and there was silence again.

A dark expression flashed across Kairos’ face but he remained quiet and waited for a chance to get to Vouno. Just now, his father had tried to take away the White Emperor’s Noble Art but the immense power of the technique couldn’t be contained and wounded him.

The Noble Art went up in a ball of frosty blue light that passed through the Walls of Jericho. When it reached a certain height, the ball scattered into fine dust and quickly transformed into a gigantic storm cloud and everything started freezing rapidly.

The soldiers in the camp, both Frosthral and Saint Empire, turned pale in the harsh coldness. They quickly stopped fighting and instead used their Ki to protect themselves.

Reynold frowned.

His technique had weakened considerably because of that mysterious cultivator. At this stage, it will take far longer to kill everyone. He had originally planned the duration an average soldier could survive to be half an hour to give the boys enough time to consider opening the isolation barrier and a hope that they could retreat with the surviving Saint Empire army.

Now, the temperature is dropping almost twice as slow and people will be dying after an hour. It might be far too much time for the other side to consider.

However, Temujin thinks otherwise. He need the extra time to convince their foes that it is for their best interest to lower the Walls of Jericho, using his fists.

He could feel the strength coursing through his body. A wonderful feeling that excites him for battle. A few more minutes and he will reach 15 Paramount units, and by then, the tables will turn.

The Black Emperor looked at the White Emperor, pleased. For now, the latter can keep his life.

No one knew that in fact, Reynold had not actually sent his Noble Art up and out of the isolation barrier. He had summoned the power of Ymir right above them, outside of the Walls of Jericho. When Vouno tried to usurp the Noble Art it was fortunate that it was a distance away, and still he was gravely wounded.

The reason Reynold did this was to test how willing is the Black Emperor about killing him.

As expected, the Great Khan did not hesitate at all.

He concluded that the Temujin, or more specifically the Frosthral Feudal State, cannot afford to lose the Paramount Cultivators right now but will kill him without batting an eyelid if he shows the slightest sign of rebelling.

Although he did not want to admit, but the situation is dire. The Darkness Seed is planted in one’s heart and impossible to remove without breaking the heartstring. Unless one becomes an immortal, it is almost deadly to become freed of the Black Emperor’s control.

Moreover, the most frightening aspect of this technique is its domineering ability for the caster to take over the mind of the victim. It is so potent that even if someone kills Temujin, he can take over the body of one of the seeded. That was why the Black Emperor said that he is only a portion of the Great Khan.

The Darkness Seed can also wipe away the mind of the seeded, allowing the caster to take control. Of course, for one person to be using two or more bodies require incredible mental fortitude. Even someone of the Great Khan’s calibre, it is possible that he can only be in control of two to three people at any given time.

This means that the rumour of the Black Emperor being many people is true, and the one present in this place may not be the main controller.

Since he originally only had 8 Paramount Unit, it is very likely he is only a secondary body, a marionette.

No one knows exactly how strong the main body is, and how much more powerful he will become once he absorbed all the seeded cultivators.