Nine Astra Skies

Ye Chen was in a deep sleep. He had not slept like this in a long time. In his deep sleep, he had dreamt of a sweet dream as he dreamt of Little Tanuki. Little Tanuki told him that she was hurt and that she needed time to recover and cultivate in the Illusory Pearl. After she had finished cultivating, she would come out and meet Ye Chen.

Little Tanuki in her human form was an awe-striking beauty. Just as Little Tanuki was about to leave, Ye Chen quickly grabbed her.

"Little Tanuki, don't leave," Ye Chen whispered.

Little Tanuki brushed Ye Chen's face gently with her slender fingers. She leaned her head against Ye Chen's shoulder and said gently, "Don't be silly Brother Ye Chen, it's not like I'm never coming back."

Ye Chen was afraid that Little Tanuki was truly never going to return and he embraced Little Tanuki tightly.

The delicate fragrance of the young lady seeped into Ye Chen's mind. He placed his hands on Little Tanuki's back, feeling the delicate and smooth touch. He could no longer tell if this was a dream or reality.

As if he was affected by the strange atmosphere, Ye Chen suddenly felt his hands reaching behind Little Tanuki's slender and delicate back. He loosened the ribbons of her dress. Little Tanuki's clothes gently slipped off her and fell onto the floor. Her bare full breasts finally slipped out from under her dress. She embarrassingly covered herself with her hands. Still, she was unable to fully cover all.

A flood of embarrassment swarmed Little Tanuki's face as her cheeks turned into a rosy red.

Ye Chen gently removed Little Tanuki's arms. He firmly touched the pair of breasts and gently massaged them. Little Tanuki made a faint sound in response. As if she had lost all the strength in her body, she weakly collapsed into Ye Chen. Her body was light as a feather.

The women of the tanuki clan were born with a natural charm and they were also extremely sensitive.

Ye Chen lightly kissed Little Tanuki's lips. The sweet scent took him by a surprise as a ball of flame welled up from within his stomach. A burning passion sparked between the two of them. Ye Chen placed his right hand on Little Tanuki's shoulders and slowly moved downward, following her back and her waist. His hand went further down and he touched her gently.

The longing he had for Little Tanuki poured out like a flash flood. Ye Chen began passionately kissing Little Tanuki and she returned them with an equal level of passion. Traces of sweat began dripping down her bare, delicate back.

With her beautiful and fair face paired with her innocent shy expressions, Little Tanuki's beauty was out of this world.

"Little Tanuki, you're so beautiful!" Ye Chen whispered. He suddenly heard something and was jolted awake from his dream. He got up and looked around him. Where was Little Tanuki?

It was all just a lovely dream. Ye Chen felt disappointed. He suddenly felt something was not right and immediately reached for his chest. The Illusory Pearl had disappeared. He hastily looked around for the pearl and ended up finding the Illusory Pearl sitting silently beside his pillow.

Ye Chen was certain that he had put the Illusory Pearl into the pocket space in his chest before he fell asleep. How did it appear at the head of the bed?

"Little Tanuki, was it really you?" Ye Chen recalled the dream. If it was just a dream, then why was there a faint smell of Little Tanuki which lingered between his nose? Why were his hands still warm with touch?

Ye Chen picked up the Illusory Pearl and carefully kept it on himself.

The tanuki clan must have had some sort of secret technique that allowed them to enter a person's dreams.

"Little Tanuki, I know it must've been you," Ye Chen said under his breath. Looking back at what he did, he felt a little guilty. He might have been too aggressive and he hoped he did not scare Little Tanuki. He could not help himself when he saw how beautiful Little Tanuki was. If not for the sudden interruption, he surely would have taken Little Tanuki to bed.

It was such a lovely and seductive dream. How nice would it be if the dream could last another twenty minutes.

Ye Chen faintly smiled. In his heart, he was growing even more certain that Little Tanuki must still be alive. Just like before, she was staying inside the Illusory Pearl. All the worries he had in his heart seemed to dissolve away. He felt his mind easing as well.

Only then Ye Chen had realized that everything that had happened had troubled him so much and gave him such an emotional burden.

Ye Chen touched the Illusory Pearl at his chest. He felt Little Tanuki was right beside him and a relaxed smile greeted his face.

"Little Tanuki, you got me good this time," Ye Chen muttered as he lifted his head to look out of the window. Outside the window, the scenery glowed with a faint glimpse of flames. Several thousand meters away, raging flames ripped their way through several pavilions.

Is the Imperial Palace burning? Ye Chen was confused. The pavilions in the distance were wooden structures. It would not be too bizarre if it merely caught on fire by accident.

Just as Ye Chen was about to get up and help put out the fire, he heard a distant sharp clanging of swords and the piercing sound of arrowheads. Ye Chen suddenly jolted up. All the drowsiness in him left him that instant.

This was not an accident. This was an attack!

Could the people of the Nanman Kingdom have reached the Imperial Palace?

Ye Chen quickly got up and bolted out of the room. He looked toward the room beside his room and saw Little Wingsy already walking out, holding Little Squido in one hand. Little Wingsy rubbed his eyes like he was trying to rub his drowsiness away. He looked up and asked, "Big Brother Ye Chen, what's going on? Why is it so noisy?"

"Little Wingsy, it might be the people of the Nanman Kingdom invading the Imperial Palace. Let's go!" After Ye Chen had finished his sentence, he immediately flew toward the direction of the blazing flames.

Ye Chen had just flown several hundred meters when the idea that something was not right suddenly struck him. This must be a diversion tactic. If the people of the Nanman Kingdom had invaded the Imperial Palace, their primary target would undoubtedly be Great Emperor Mingwu. Great Emperor Mingwu resided in the study room but this fire was started in the opposite direction. When he thought of this, he immediately turned back the other way and charged full speed toward the study room.

The study room was already in chaos. The ringing of steel biting into each other echoed all over the place.

The ground was covered with corpses. There were several thousand casualties. Several well-built men of the Nanman Kingdom carved a path by slaughtering their way through. Several figures wore a long robe with the symbol of a flame etched on it. They were inching closer toward Great Emperor Mingwu and the others.

"So, this is the emperor of the Xiwu Empire? The Emperor of a small country is just a mere Heavenly Venerable Rank. This bores me. I thought I would meet some other strong fighters!" a large middle-aged man said. His hair was blood red and he had thick, strong brows. His eyes were blue-green. This man was a mutant. His appearance was almost demonic and he wielded a gigantic executioner's sword.

"It doesn't look like the Xiwu Empire has any strong fighters. After we kill him, we can return to the sect and finish up the task," said another giant figure who also looked to be around the same age. His appearance was completely identical to the man who wielded the executioner's sword. Their resemblance was uncanny down to every single strand of hair. He wielded a greatsword instead.

They were members of the Daemon Fire Sect. The one who wielded the executioner's sword went by the name Xie Dao while the other one wielding a greatsword went by the name Xie Jian. They practiced the Daemon Fire arts of the Daemon Fire Sect. The two of them were stationed in a branch of their sect in the Nanman Kingdom. Under the invitation of Tuoba Hongye, they came to help in the efforts of taking down the Xiwu Empire.

"Seniors, the old one with the long white beard is Xuanyi. He's a Master Apothecary. Our master wants him alive. You can kill the rest of them," an Earthly Venerable Rank fighter clad in Nanman Kingdom armor came to Xie Dao and Xie Jian and informed them respectfully.

Xie Dao frowned a little as he swung the executioner's sword. With a loud "thump", the Earthly Venerable Rank fighter of the Nanman Kingdom was sliced and sent flying away. "What does what I have to do have anything to do with you? My mission here is to help you kill Mingwu. I will not bother with the other details," Xie Dao's blue-green eyes swept across the crowd of the Nanman Kingdom people.

The Nanman Kingdom fighters immediately froze. To think that the pair of Xie Dao and Xie Jian would even kill one of their own, it was best to not trifle with them!

"Brother, that old man over there should be the legendary Master Apothecary Xuanyi. To think that he'd willingly stay in this feeble empire. His skills in alchemy are unparalleled. If we capture him and take him back to the sect, it'll be noted as a great achievement." Xie Jian smiled cunningly. What an unexpected treasure! He did not expect to stumble into one of the top ten apothecaries of the Great Eastern Continent. He looked at Master Apothecary Xuanyi like he was in the presence of an astounding beauty.

The Xie Dao and Xie Jian duo spoke without respect and treated him like he was some sort of collectible item. Master Apothecary Xuanyi was so upset with them that even his mustache shook in anger. With his reputation as a Master Apothecary, he had come to know many powerful fighters over the years, some were even Mystique Venerable Rank. If he contacted any one of them, he would not have to fear Xie Dao and Xie Jian. However, since most of them were situated in the Central Empire, there was not much he could do about these two at the present.

Great Emperor Mingwu had set up several traps in the palace in anticipation of the Nanman Kingdom fighters. The traps would have taken out several Heavenly Venerable Rank fighters. Only he did not expect that Tuoba Hongye would recruit two Mystique Venerable Rank fighters. The sprung traps had managed to kill a few Early Venerable Rank fighters of the Nanman Kingdom but most of the traps were destroyed.

Both Xie Dao and Xie Jian were beginner Mystique Venerable Rank. Based on the symbol on their shirts, they should be members of the Daemon Fire Sect. To think that Tuoba Hongye was able to recruit fighters of the Daemon Fire Sect!

'So, this was the end of my Xiwu Empire!' Deep down, Great Emperor Mingwu was filled with sorrow and he had prepared for the worst scenario. He only hoped that the descendants he sent out would be able to fulfill their duty in rebuilding the Yin Clan of the Royal Tribe.

Great Emperor Mingwu heaved a brazen breath as he was prepared to die. At that moment, he suddenly felt like he had some new enlightenments on his Absolute Martial Truth.

The most grievous thing in the world was to have your long-treasured item be trampled over by other people. He had been guarding the Xiwu Empire for the better part of the last few decades. He only wanted the name and legacy of the Xiwu Empire to be passed down for centuries to come. If it meant the prosperity of the kingdom and its people, he did not mind carrying the name of a brutal and ruthless ruler.

Great Emperor Mingwu's thoughts wandered back to Uncle Yin Mengtian. Even in his death, his eyes were still wide open looking toward the Capital City. This was the pure guts and spirit of the Yin Clan of the Royal Tribe.

'May my soul return to this land in my death, just as Uncle Yin's did.'

'If I perish, will the common people mourn for me the same way they mourned after Uncle Yin? Even if not even one of the common folks shows me their love, I, Mingwu have no regrets!'

Great Emperor Mingwu's eyes flashed with a sliver of stoic resolution. The aura and energy in his body suddenly rose by a tremendous amount. In this moment of crisis, he had managed to break through the barrier that he had been having trouble surpassing all this time and had entered the rank of Mystique Venerable Rank.

Waves of powerful Celestial Chi surged over Great Emperor Mingwu's body.

"Hm?" Xie Dao felt that something was not right. His gaze landed on Great Emperor Mingwu clad in a full suit of gold armor.

"To think that someone would advance their level at this moment. A beginner Mystique Venerable Rank fighter? Now, this is getting interesting!" Xie Dao raised the executioner's sword. "Bang!" He stomped on the ground with one foot which caused a large explosion. A deep pit was blasted open by the force of his stomp. He raised his heavy executioner's sword and ferociously swung it toward Great Emperor Mingwu.

"Royal Sword Technique – Army-shattering Strike!"

Longsword in hand, Great Emperor Mingwu roared as he slashed at Xie Dao.

The executioner's sword burned bright with black fire. On the other side, bolts of golden ray created by Celestial Chi hummed like a thousand galloping horses. The force of the two dueling Mystique Venerable Rank fighters made everyone in the vicinity take a step back. Everyone in the area, from Earth Venerable Rank fighters to Nie Qingyun and the others, cautiously stepped back in fear of being caught in the clash of their Celestial Chi.