Chapter 379 - Meeting

Chapter 379: Chapter 134 Meeting"You’re not the guy who swore to never rest until Piao Miao was killed, right?" Nuoshan swallowed the last of his lunch, smiling at Lu Hong’s frustrated face.

Someone had actually tried to use a longsword to cut through the magic-sealing stone chains, something Nuoshan had already mocked him for.

Aren’t you a fool?

That was the conclusion Nuoshan had come to regarding Lu Hong.

"I still want to kill her," Lu Hong said. "I just feel that taking revenge in this way won’t satisfy me."

"Oh, you!" Nuoshan shook his head speechlessly. "Even if you’re unsatisfied today, you’re also missing your chance for revenge. After today, do you really think you’ll still have a chance?"

"What do you mean?" Lu Hong was startled. "Is she going to just disappear into thin air?"

"Nonsense." Nuoshan passed over a note, which shockingly contained a message from a spy to Duke Nuoshan: Three hours ago, Piao Miao left the Seventh Floating World under the protection of Xina, with an unknown destination.

Did she actually escape? Lu Hong cursed internally.

"Regretting it now?" Duke Nuoshan chuckled. "I told you to stop dithering, to drop the whole holier-than-thou act. You want revenge and yet want to keep your hands clean. Serves you right!"

"Hey, hey, old man, don’t talk about me like that. I’m not taking that lying down. Even knowing that Piao Miao was planning to flee, if I had to choose again, I still couldn’t do it."

Nuoshan shook his head. "Such foolish sense of justice; you’ll never accomplish anything big with that mindset!"

This made Lu Hong unhappy. "Wasn’t it me who stopped the chaos from the war between the Alliance and the Empire? Doesn’t that count as something big?"

Nuoshan laughed. "Yes, yes, you’re amazing. Happy now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone burst into the restaurant.

Before the person even reached him, a robust voice pierced through: "Brother Lu! My dear brother!"

Seeing a dark shadow lunging towards him, Lu Hong quickly pinned the figure to the ground: "I’ve told you, don’t get too close to me—it’s disgusting!"

The person was none other than Cheng Hai, the grandson of the Nuoshan family’s second elder.

Ever since the arena battle, where Lu Hong had broken the rules with a shockingly calm mindset, Cheng Hai’s admiration for him had been like an endless river, unceasing and flowing.

Since Lu Hong had been living in the Nuoshan residence for the past few months, Cheng Hai had been following him day and night, even standing guard by his door while he slept at night.

Then, after a few days, the second elder, hearing of this, knocked him out with a hammer and dragged him back.

The second time Lu Hong saw Cheng Hai, his actions were clearly more restrained, but the burning gaze he directed at Lu Hong had not changed one bit.

In the spirit of humanitarianism, Lu Hong also gave Cheng Hai some pointers, like transferring some classic horror film routines and scenes from his original world, teaching them to him.

Cheng Hai, guided by Lu Hong, had an epiphany and began studying diligently, reaping significant benefits. In his words, "If the one using the skills is scared by it, who wouldn’t be?"

"Is your granduncle doing well?" Duke Nuoshan, not minding Cheng Hai’s brusque behavior, asked with a smile. "Haven’t seen him for some days now, what has he been busy with?"

Lu Hong thought that seemed about right; ever since he had shown Cheng Hai "The Grudge" and "The Ring," it had been about a month since he had last seen him and consequently looked at Cheng Hai with curiosity.

"Oh!" Cheng Hai replied nonchalantly, grabbing a handful of food from the table and stuffing it into his mouth. After swallowing, he spoke, "Well, you see, my illusion technique has improved significantly, so I went to practice with my grandpa."

Duke Nuoshan knew Cheng Hai and his own brother too well, and sensing something funny had happened, he asked, "A whole month of practice?"

"I only practiced for a short while, but I ended up scaring my grandpa," Cheng Hai recalled his fearless granduncle’s terrified expression, struggling to hide his grin.

"That’s a bit much, isn’t it? Scaring an old man with that stuff?" Lu Hong couldn’t help but chide him.

"I just wanted to test it out, to show my grandpa the success of what I’ve learned from following you!" Cheng Hai clapped his hands together. "The result was that my granduncle beat me to a pulp. Both my legs were broken, I couldn’t get out of bed, and that’s why I couldn’t come to find you, Brother Lu."

"The interruption?" Lu Hong glanced at Cheng Hai’s intact legs, which showed no signs of ever having been broken.

"Yes, they were broken, but later my grandfather found someone to mend them back, no lingering effects," Cheng Hai waved his hand, indicating there was no need to worry too much: "This little injury is nothing. My elder brother even had an arm dismembered by our great-grandfather! And wasn’t it still reattached afterward?"

Lu Hong knew who he referred to as "great-grandfather" and turned to look at Duke Nuoshan.

Duke Nuoshan put down his fork and knife and said indifferently, "I’ve finished eating, take your time." Saying no more, he turned and left, clearly touched by Cheng Hai’s allusion to the shameful deeds Duke Nuoshan had once committed.

Time always flies, and when Cheng Hai was dragged away again by his second uncle, the long-awaited grand assembly of the Eagle Alliance nobility was finally convening.

The purpose of this assembly was clear, to integrate the full strength of the Alliance to counter the ancient evil, Bai Ling, who would be free from his confinement in less than a month.

Jenaxi of the Holy Court, along with Jema, also attended this meeting.

All the nobles within the Alliance’s territory, from the four great Dukes to the myriad Barons, were present without exception.

And beneath the Seven Layers of Piao Miao, all military forces were assembled, including the private armies of the major families.

In the grand assembly hall, which could accommodate seventy thousand people, Lu Hong, arriving fashionably late, accompanied Duke Nuoshan. The rest of the Dukes turned their gaze onto Lu Hong. To be able to show his face in front of all the noble seats of the Alliance and to lead the meeting, such an honor was like ascending to heaven.

Duke Nuoshan sat down and said to Lu Hong, "You chair the meeting, begin."

Lu Hong nodded. In these days, he and the Holy King had discussed many times the strategies to cope with Bai Ling; none particularly good. Injuring the enemy would inevitably cause us great harm as well.

"Noble lords," Lu Hong’s voice, bolstered by Pure Steel Battle Energy and amplification Skills, reverberated throughout the grand assembly hall.

The nobles were dignified and soon paused their private discussions, their gaze unanimously turning towards the Champion Marquis standing amidst the four Dukes.

"The threat of Bai Ling is imminent; we have little time left," Lu Hong said slowly, "This old demon has been alive for ten thousand years, his strength comparable to a Demigod. I believe you are all aware that defeating a Demigod-level adversary is not something that can be achieved through sheer numbers alone."

Duke Nuoshan interjected from the side, "Given the circumstances, I propose using the Axis of the World."

At this statement, the room erupted into turmoil. What was the Axis of the World? It was the soul pillar supporting the Seven Layers of Piao Miao. Once the Axis of the World was removed, the seven planes would no longer maintain their overlaid fixed form, and the six planes floating above the first realm would crash down.

To engage the Axis of the World meant abandoning the Seven Layers of Piao Miao.

"Are there no ... other options?" Duke Chen Hui frowned. The Seven Layers of Piao Miao were the emblematic architectural feature of the Alliance and a symbol of the Eagle Alliance’s prosperity. The artificially constructed plane shapes demonstrated the conquest of the Star Sea by the Eagle Alliance, a faith, a symbol.

"I agree," Baroness Xin Lei expressed her support: "If the old demon is not vanquished, the Alliance will surely perish, and by then, the Seven Layers of Piao Miao will also turn to ruins. Without the Alliance, what is the point of Piao Miao’s existence?"

Duke Chen Hui nodded; he was not necessarily opposed. His family’s top warriors had been killed by Bai Ling, whose strength took everyone by surprise. Millions of troops perished silently at his hand, and the two failures proved that whether it was one-on-one combat or a group fight, Bai Ling was an invincible force.

Seeing Duke Lei Shan not even bothering to speak, Lu Hong continued the previous topic: "Duke Nuoshan and I have discussed it. Using the power of the Axis of the World, we will suppress Bai Ling. Of course, to engage the true power of the Axis of the World, I’m afraid it will require the joint effort of everyone present."

Indeed, the Axis of the World was no ordinary Magic artifact but a top-tier Divine Artifact excavated by the Alliance early on. Compared to the Heavenly God relics that Lu Hong had seen before, and even the Heavenly God treasures, this item was several levels higher. A single person’s power was insufficient to activate it, and furthermore, the power required to use this artifact was not Magic Power but the Power of Life. Fortunately, after years of research by the Alliance, they managed to barely activate it using the Power of Life as an energy source.

Herein lay the problem: using the Power of Life to activate the Axis of the World meant that any attack Bai Ling launched against it would be reflected up to the artifact, drawing more Power of Life to resist. How many lives would need to be sacrificed to replenish it at that time was anyone’s guess.

Moreover, the Axis of the World had eight hub wheels, and each wheel would consume a significant amount of life force as fuel for activation.

With eight hub wheels sealing the eight directions, Lu Hong would be the one to duel Bai Ling alone in the suppressed world, the closer he was to a particular area, the greater the consumption of life in that region. This was Baroness Xin Lei’s concern—if the Xin Lei family were charged with a section and Lu Hong deliberately lured Bai Ling into it, battling there could deplete countless Xin Lei family lives.

"My Nuoshan family is willing to take on the east hub wheel, responsible for the activation of the wheel."

"The Chen Hui family will take the west hub wheel, bearing the burden of its normal operation."

"I’ll take the north position then," Duke Lei Shan, who seemed to be in a bad mood lately, casually added.

Duchess Xin Lei nodded: "Then the Xin Lei family will assume the southern hub wheel and shoulder the responsibility of activation."

Lu Hong surveyed the tens of thousands of seated nobles and said, "The remaining four peripheral hub wheels, please discuss how to allocate them and take on the responsibility of their activation."