Alex refused to let himself be distracted by the remaining spectators who hadn’t jumped through his gates or fled as of yet, dozens falling to their knees and crying out for mercy or salvation as he made his way to the edge of the shattered arena, peering down at his target from atop the ruined remains of the former viewing apartments that had once boasted excellent views of the arena competitions and a magnificent view of where Baidushi had once been in the valley far below.

Alex forced himself to stare down at his doom from the lip of the plateau, hair whipping wildly in the wind as death howled in his hand while silver eyes gazed down upon the massive gate filling the now empty valley with countless swarms of Seanchen soldiers.

Even now, Alex could sense the dark laughter of the gods in the brooding thunder clouds above as he gazed upon the countless milling swarm of troops below.

Because even at distances of a thousand miles between cities, the gaping rift in the ether joining realms would allow the seemingly limitless Seanchen forces to flood the entire Province, and from there, all of JiangTu nation, before Dongfang Hong used the invasion as pretext to rally his troops, and perhaps the imperial legions as well, leading a campaign to purge the Golden Realms of Seanchen invaders, and every Kitsune enclave and Ruidian Clan he could find while doing so.

Alex took a deep breath, tasting that awful certainty in the ether, as alive with potential as the taste of ozone and lightning in the air.

As real as the artifact of oblivion howling in his hands, Alex forced to reveal it before so many weeping spectators and his shocked-looking friends as well, before he got any closer to the gate below emitting such pressure waves laden with Shalu’s malice that he already knew he would be denied any other opportunity save this one to reclaim the deadly prize in his hands at last.

An artifact which had insighted the absolute fury of multiple gods in the heavens above, not that Alex cared in the least, his gaze locked only on the massive flood of troops below, and the gate that would doom the entire nation, countless innocents, and catapult the Red Prince to the highest echelons of power within the Golden Realms.

Alex could feel it then, a desperate awful pressure, tasting Cui Jing’s warning hiss in the air.

“Choose well, Second Disciple. But remember, you have yet to grant me the heart of dragon or god. So the heart I will claim for eternity with your death can only be your own.”

“Alex, please!”

“Hao Chan, stop. You know he has to do this!”

“Yinzi, it’s madness! there’s no way he can take on an army. He’s just going to get himself killed!”

Alex’s heart pounded with exhilaration he refused to call terror as he took a deep breath, whispered heartfelt words to the women he adored, before taking a final step back and leaping free of the ledge, plummeting hundreds of feet to the ground below.

You have successfully infused Forest Flight with the power of the storm! You may now race across the heavens effortlessly, even within range of major population centers, so long as a single storm cloud graces the heavens. And with so many gods now eager for your death, the heavens have never been cloudier than they are right now!

Storm Flight is now Rank 6!

Alex howled with furious exultation as he soared through the air, laughing like the madman he was as countless bolts of lightning flashed and struck the haft of his fangtian ji, all of it consumed by the whirlwind lightning rod now anchored to the waters of oblivion.

Of course, the uncountable swarm of enemy troops below weren’t blind to the spectacle of flashing lightning emanating from the blindingly bright silver figure hurtling down like a meteor from the heavens. Countless Silver and Gold wujen immediately showcased their presence as the air lit up with etherial dragons of mist, massive bolts of ice large enough to blast open city walls, and clouds of razor sharp hail that could tear through steel.

All of it a storm of death once intended to wipe a city off the map, now sent hurtling Alex’s way.

Countless spells consumed by the howling storm all around him, as the whirlwind of spiritual energy now surrounding Alex became infused with the waters of oblivion.

Spell Deflection has been successfully enhanced by Divine Tier Artifact!

Spell Absorption has been successfully enhanced by Divine Tier Artifact!

You have successfully resisted Enemy Onslaught!

Nemesis enhanced Qi Perception Pierces the veil!

His instincts screamed with the desperate need to duck, pivot, and twist through the air as Deep Gold death froze the air solid, a madly laughing Alex loosing only strands of his Silvery hair as he regained altitude, imperiling himself utterly for just a few more seconds as the air filled with sheets of ice daggers and freezing flame as he desperately took in the massive gate that no foe could hope to cross, so easily able to visualize Shalu’s mocking smile. Just as his card-linked gates were now impervious to his enemies, Alex was equally stonewalled from preventing the flow of enemy units pouring through this massive portal, a flood of inevitable doom that would see an entire empire transformed by desperation and the most horrific of cleansings.

Just as his enemies had intended.

For the massive mile wide by mile high gate was so infused with Divine potency that no Gold could hope to counter was an echo of Shalu himself.

Infused with the withered god’s essence and hate over an area so vast that there was no way any mortal or god could hope to pierce the infinite permutations and possibilities represented in that singular portal field.

But still he dared to look, refusing to dart to ground level until it was almost too late, wasting only a second to blink away from the Gold tier bolt of black ice that had come so close to ending him, ripping right through his defenses and death’s own waters to sheer off his left ear and cheek, Prismatic Tier bones alone keeping it from rupturing his skull as he was sent cartwheeling through the air, the very unpredictability of his careening collapse to the ground all that prevented him from being lanced by a second and third barrage of black ice as Seanchen Deep Golds finally took the field.

With a snarl he broke his focus from the deadly hypnotic patterns from the mile-high Sauron-like gate, turning his glare to the trio of Gold tier wujen wearing matching armaments of what he somehow just knew were frost dragon scales, covered in multiple layers of Gold tier ice wards, gazing upon his tumbling form with the contemptuous smiles of lords of their realm, eager to claim the head of the champion who would dare to challenge an entire army.

“To think that one of their number would dare to challenge us, brothers!” The nearest said in flawless Imperial. “It appears that the empire’s pets are not complete cowards, even if their madness knows no bounds.”

The blue-tinged cultivators floating upon a shared bed of frozen mist smiled in eerie unison, speaking as one.

“Fear not, little champion. You’ll be permitted to live, for now. For our general is exceedingly curious to question the fool who actually thinks he can—“

Bullrush! Bullrush!

Blackswan!

Alex wasted no time on words, holding absolutely nothing back save his darkest arts as he blinked through the air and lashed out with his fangtian ji at terrifying speeds mirroring what only a Rank 1 Gold specialist cultivator might surpass with a carefully balanced jian. Yet Tier 2 Gold strength and Rank 5 Silver Quickness gave his polearm an absolutely devastating degree of momentum that would have shattered most Silvers, without using any artifacts or Qi techniques at all. As it was, his death-linked prize that had earned him the enmity of countless deities above, infused as it was with the Eternal River’s waters, tore through even a Deep Gold’s defenses in the blink of an eye, any retributive strikes or similar talismans being consumed just as quickly as the countless priceless weapons, armaments, and warding talismans the trio of Deep Golds had collected over their lifetimes, all of it dissolving to nothing like the flimsiest of spider webs under a pounding winter rain.

Though one of the three Deep Golds managed to jerk back a handful of inches, his eyes widening in horrified disbelief, his skull still exploded in a shower of bone shards and crimson mist before his fingers could so much as twitch, let alone raise any defensive wards.

Yet by the time the three ruptured sacks of flesh crashed to the ground, bodies already slipping into the River of Souls as panicked soldiers below struggled desperately to avoid those terrible waters, Alex was already gone. Long before a furious Jade roaring challenge could do more than glance down at his three fallen champions and the double handful of Basic cultivators that were already melting into the mercury puddle by their feet with horrified dismay.

A distant commotion Alex paid no head to, all his focus once more on the gate that promised to doom this realm and countless millions of unusual heritage like himself, if he didn’t do what needed to be done.

THERE!

Yet even as he howled with the agony of a face half frozen, a cheek and ear sheered right off, his cry of dismay became a howl of triumph as he finally sighted his objective, now less than twenty paces from the edge of yet another regiment of his enemy’s countless soldiers, countless thousands of tightly packed legions roaring as they sighted him at last, all of them kitted just like ancient Roman legionnaires of his own world had once been. A massive wall of rectangular shields that Qi Perception made clear was being enhanced by a Gold Tier wujen using arts utterly beyond the elemental paradigms of his school, each of them wielding either pilum or a wicked looking gladius edged in pristine ice that Alex had no doubt could effortlessly cut through bronze or steel.

Yet his exultation was the equal of whatever terror he knew he should feel, with an entire army now roaring in concert as they charged for his position.

Because Alex’s desperate search had actually born fruit.

Nemises Card successfully counters Divine Tier Obfuscation!

You spot the locus point of Shalu’s connection to this realm!

The instant he sensed where he had to be he dove under the storm of freezing death still being sent his way by wujen far more cautious than the trio he had near instantly destroyed, touching the ground once more, was when he heard a guttural roar that seemed to freeze the air, as sibilant consonants and elongated vowels snapped into sudden comprehension.

Congratulations! You have successfully learned the Military Seanchen Dialect! Now you can understand with exquisite clarity just how much your enemies wish to kill you!

“There he is! The only champion the emperor dares to field against us! Take him down, eternal legions of the North! Bring me his heart, bring me his head!”

With those words the nearest lines of Seanchen soldiers charged Alex in perfect formation, linked shields radiating icy invulnerability, ice tip pilum hurled a heartbeat before wicked short swords were unsheathed and positioned to plunge into their target the moment they crashed into them with shields.

Alex couldn’t help but flash a chilly smile of his own, bringing his own fangtian ji to bear, sensing the last of WiFu’s subtle cloak of obfuscation melting away as the air shrieked with the howls of oblivion, the frigid hoarfrost by Alex’s feet melting into the growing puddle of mercury water that could only be the River of Souls.

And though a few soldiers eyes widened with terror, few truly understood what they were seeing, and the press of literally thousands of troops behind the front line made it clear that there would be no turning back.

For any of them.

So Alex saluted the doomed soldiers with his weapon before charging at speeds that left his opponents flatfooted and stunned.

You have successfully made contact with enemy legion!

All mortals within range FAIL to save versus oblivion!

You have obliterated all Seanchen attempting to strike you or pin you down!

Strength Check made!

Swarming opponents fail to slow your momentum!

You have elected to fully embrace the River of Souls!

Alex howled and struck, roaring with primal fury as he prepared for the greatest and most terrible feat of his life as his dread artifact whistled through the air.

Having forgotten for just an instant the nature of his artifact and the strength of his opponents.

Accepting that this bitter tale could have only one ending, he had been prepared for anything. Had halfway expected to find Jade tier death waiting for him even here, praying he could make it to his destination with his dying breath.

What he had not expected was a single cleaving blow in a tightly controlled arc to absolutely obliterate nearly a dozen men with no more effort than slicing through mist, fine steel armaments corroding to liquid sludge before his weapon even touched screaming flesh that instantly liquefied and exploded on contact in a spray of liquid doom that itself proved caustic when the deadly effluvia sent ever more legionnaires crumpling to their knees in horror as their flesh began to dissolve before their eyes. Before they too collapsed into water and twinkling souls fleeing for all they were worth from Death’s avatar as the deadly cold river began to truly flow beneath Alex’s feet.

He couldn’t quite hold back his terrible grin as he made full use of Gold tier Strength and blinding reflexes to cleave through endless swathes of enemy soldiers just as fast as he could sprint. A fearsome speed quickly propelled him ever deeper into his enemies’ flanks, exactly where he wanted to be, surrounded by countless thousands of enemy troopers who collapsed in death as much from their newfound proximity to the River of Souls as from the fangtian ji blasting through all defenses in the blink of an eye.

Which meant that any Deep Gold wujen would themselves have to fly above the massive confusion of increasingly panicked troopers to even pick him out, let alone hope to match his speed, racing through troops exploding in crimson showers that quickly rotted to nothing faster than most wujen could fly. And after what happened for the first three Golds that dared get too close, all of them limited themselves to sniping through their own men at considerable range.

High on the furious exhilaration of battle and peril, Alex laughed like a madman embracing his last hour as he zigzagged through the crowd, sensing frigid cyclones of icy death forming in his wake, freezing countless milling soldiers that had escaped first contact with him as he continued drilling deeper and deeper through the increasingly packed masses of infantry, forcing himself to ignore countless desperate facets, a continuous sea of horrified countenances who had time only to raise a single hand in supplication, to cry out a single desperate syllable before death kissed their skulls as half-moon axe-heads sent them hurtling right into the River of Souls… now conveniently right under his feet.

“The emperor’s champion has penetrated First Frost. Bring him down!”

Roars and cries of desperation crashed against Alex in eerie discordance, as if heard from deep underwater, so deep was the flood of spiritual energy now swirling about him.

A storm of deadly potential as he continued to crash into countless bodies of desperate resistance, glimpsing countless faces twisted between fury and despair as he tore through them all as inexorably as the tides washing away delicate structures of silt and sand.

“Second Frost has been breached! He dares to approach General Oudom’s sanctuary!”

The air rung with the mournful cries of bugles and trumpets over what was now a massive encampment as wide as the vanished Baidushi itself as Alex weaved past countless furious lunges and slashes before delivering death in turn. More then ever, surrounded by endless foes on all sides, did he appreciate the incredible advantage inhuman Quickness and Finesse gave when battling an entire army’s worth of Basic and Bronze. Because no matter how many there were, only a handful could strike at once, assuming you weren’t flying overhead. Which meant that when crashing through enemy lines with a Divine tier instrument of destruction, he was every bit as fearsome as the bringer of death so many panicked screams now declared him to be… before being silenced for all time.

Of course he knew the peril of his daring, using his Gold tier martial art and the incredible power of Oblivion’s waters to Spell Cleave through countless scores of attacks, his increasingly desperate foes now thinking nothing of launching strategic spells in the midst of their own troops in their desperate desire to catch him in the icy blast radius as well, to the point that as many people had fallen to so-called friendly fire as he himself had sent crashing into the River of Souls.

You have successfully dodged Black Ice barrage!

You have partially countered Freezing Rapture!

You have suffered 2 Serious Wounds.

Your limbs have resisted frostbite.

All enemy soldiers around you have been frozen to ice!

“Third Frost has been breached! Protect the general at all costs!”

It was thoughts of the countless lives he had touched, everyone he had ever loved or cherished, that compelled him forward, knowing damn well that the furious moments of battle stretching endlessly before him would probably be his last.

Yet even so, he refused to die a complete fool, no matter how glorious an end it might be.

He could already sense his foes closing in.

Not the milling mass of a countless footsoldiers, perfect for countering their equivalent and passifying entire provinces, but the full platoon of Golds he could sense honing in on him right now. The true elites whose primary job wasn’t breaking walls or pacifying territory, but taking out high powered assets like himself. Eliminating opponents that by themselves could cleave through entire swaths of men lacking even a Bronze Speed Cultivator’s quickness.

And for wildcards such as himself, the only rebuttal cold be Jade… or a full dozen Gold.

Gold who were more than reactionary brutes, but soldiers trained in the killing fields of war. Men and women who could think tactically.

Men and women savvy enough to set up defensive guards and traps, after carefully analyzing their prey to better understand just how deadly a threat he posed to their operations.

As if the trio of Gold to fall to him in a handful of seconds hadn’t already made that exquisitely clear.

It had been all he could do to keep a steady pace when he felt their icy regard carefully measuring his every assault and counter. His near unassailable defenses… his unstoppable advance. And most of all, his steady, inevitable progress to the true titan of this battlefield, the Jade that Alex could sense even from here, no doubt the nexus of the invasion entire.

If Alex could take that monster out, he was more than certain that their entire operation would at least be in temporary shambles.

Alex knew it, and knew that they knew it, and wasn’t at all surprised to sense a ritual flag formation slowly taking shape that made every formation he had sensed before this point utterly pale in comparison.

He could all but taste the barely suppressed glee of the still distant Jade, overflowing essences of Earth conveying so much emotions and potency a monster that powerful had no need to hide… just knowing that the wildcard who thought he had somehow mastered death was going right where his foes wanted him.

And no one was more shocked than Alex, as his unerring rout through hapless enemy enlisted lined him parallel to the massive portal humming with a god’s malice, to actually catch sight of that Jade monster waiting for him.

The monster waited in a perfect hundred by hundred yard clearing surrounded by evenly spaced Golds, an arena all but designed to offer and accept challenge. But what chilled Alex to the quick was finding that he actually recognized the monster waiting for him.

As did the Jade in question, eyes lighting up with surprised disbelief, instantly replaced by killing rage.

“You! The Ruidian Rat that dared to ascend steps forbidden to your kind!”

Alex had the gall to wink, hearing every word exquisitely clearly, no matter how all pervading the hum of the portal now just a few hundred yards away. “And I see before me the Jade asshole who was so eager to crush me into a pulp. How many steps did you actually manage before you fell through or ported out with your master’s toys like the powerless coward you are?”

The brutish-looking Jade’s smirk twisted into a snarl of furious rage and killing intent so fierce that the legionnaires between Alex and his assumed target collapsed in lifeless heaps.

“You will pay for your insults, Ruidian Monkey!”

To Alex’s bemused surprise, the Jade monster actually held up a talisman. “I challenge you to a fight to the death, here and now!”

Alex felt the tug, of course, as he clenched the haft of his fangtian ji. “Sorry, Brutus, Headmaster's prerogative and all that. You know normally I’d love to dance, but I would hate to ruin the pretty flag formations that you and a dozen backstabbing Gold went to so much trouble to set up.” He snapped his fingers, as if in sudden thought. “I know! How about you wait for some other sucker to be compelled into your pathetic excuse for a trap, while I lock in a million kills with a quark bomb!”

The Jade snarled. “You may call me General Oudom, and I already know what you are, favored disciple of my enemy’s pantheon! Now I have issued challenge as a Jade! You cannot resist, you must fight me!” He flashed a truly malevolent smile. “No matter how much I’ve stacked the odds to assure your demise.”

But Alex was no longer listening, having led his opponents exactly where he wanted them.

Within range of the gate without blocking the gate, having absolutely no idea of his true intentions, or what he was truly capable of, until it was far too late.

Bullrush chained 17 times!

You have slain 1520 soldiers in your wake!

You are before Divine Tier gate!