THE MARTIAL KING, VOLUME 8 - Season 20 Episode 22

Peculiar, mysterious birds hovered tirelessly in the air above.

When these birds unfolded their wings, the wingspan was at least millions of miles. Every time one of the birds fluttered its wings hard enough, a destructive wind storm was generated. Occasionally, the strange birds wailed like ghosts or howled like wolves.

These strange birds were called Archaeopteryx.

The fledgling birds flew in the sky without ever stopping, not even to rest. Landing on the ground after hovering the skies for millions of years only meant one thing: Death. Thus, they only landed once in their lifetime.

The Archaeopteryx was so enormous that plenty of different creatures were in fact born on its very back. So much so in fact, that a great world formed itself here. The great world would vanish as the bird landed.

Below these unimaginably colossal birds, an even vaster mountain existed.

Despite how grandiose this bird was, in comparison to the mountain, the Archaeopteryx actually appeared extremely insignificant in size.

At the mountain’s peak, a young woman sat on a rock, pensively looking up at the sky. It looked like she was observing something above. She stood up suddenly.

“It’s landing!”

she said, as she watched a bird falling down to the ground below it.

“Uncle Lean once told me that the Archaeopteryx never landed. If ever they were to fall to the ground, it would mean they were about to die.” The bird’s figure grew bigger and bigger as it got closer and closer. The woman kept her eyes fixed on the weird bird who appeared to slip in the air.

A single Archaeopteryx could fly for millions of years in the air. Falling down did not only signify the bird’s death, but the death of an entire hovering world.

From the moment she’d reached the mountain top, she had had a clear view of these birds, tirelessly hovering in the air above. Lean Qi had told her that these birds were of an enormous size, something completely beyond her imagination. Seeing them from afar though, they were rather hard to distinguish from a large eagle.

However, as the bird before her continued to approach the ground, she realized how right Lean had truly been. This bird was absolutely monstrous. It was literally as big as an entire world. The woman couldn’t completely see the bird’s true size.

As the bird continued its descent, its grey figure became bigger and bigger. It slowly blocked the woman’s sight completely, like an eclipse, or as if a mountain had fallen right before her eyes. What she watched now was simply a giant grey mass. Instead of a bird, an entire world had crept down upon the woman.

From where she was standing, the woman could already spot several creatures upon the Archaeopteryx’s back.

Due to its expansive body, the process of reaching the ground was extremely long. That said though, this woman displayed no panic. If she was frightened, she was hiding it well.

On her face though, she wore an expression of concentration as she glared out at the creatures living on the Archaeopteryx.

“On that bird’s back lives an entire world. Someone is standing there, worried about their next meal. A warrior has perhaps recently overthrown a dynasty and made himself king. A young lady has maybe fallen in love for the first time and is looking forward to the coming days… Unfortunately though, what they all don’t know is that the things they have struggled for their entire lives will crumble to dust in the coming hours, everything they stand for will be gone, even their beliefs,” the young woman mumbled to herself.

“Try not to make too much of it. These are the levels of their lives,” said a young man who had suddenly appeared at the woman’s side. “These creatures, these lives are born on the Archaeopteryx’s back. And to them, the Archaeopteryx is a higher level of life form. For anyone on a lower level, they will automatically place every hope on a high level of life form, leaving no room for resistance or choices. That’s because their levels have decided their sights and destinies.”

Still though, the woman simply shook her head and said, “This is just unfair…”

Like all warriors of the universes and all creatures in the inner worlds of Soul Sea Realm, Spirit Supreme Realm, and Spirit Transformation Realm warriors, they had no idea which level they belonged to. At the moment of their births, their destinies were already planned and in most cases, were doomed.

And as their masters fell, they too, would fall. Only naturally, this was a story of life’s grief.

The young man smiled faintly and stated simply, “But you forgot about the different time scales. An ant’s life is short. The average ant’s life is half a month long. And yet, half a month is whole for an ant.”

“Still though. This is unfair.” The young lady turned to face the young man now, insisting upon her opinion.

“You know, all warriors in universes have the capacity of surpassing their limits through their efforts. They can always improve their life levels and become ordinary creatures after comprehending the Godly Way,” explained the young man.

“The bridge… It’s too narrow,” said the woman, distantly.

‘Truly how many creatures in a single universe could cross that limit in heavens and enter the divine land?

Only a few among the trillions of creatures could, ‘ she thought to herself.

Ultimately, the young man felt lost for words and didn’t say anything further. Instead, he revealed an understanding smile, somewhat admitting to the woman’s point of view. “The world is unfair. As much as there are extraordinary creatures, there are also the weak, the insignificant and the miserable. How many people can leave the divine land in order to explore the chaos?”

The young lady pressed her lips tightly together, forming a thin line, and nodded.

“Let’s go. Plenty of noises will begin to arise as the bird hits the ground,” said the young man, grasping the woman’s arm in an intent to leave.

He didn’t expect the young woman to shake her head. In negation, she said, “Uncle Lean, let’s shift the bird’s landing spot and have it fall at the mountain’s base.”

The height of the mountain was indescribable. If one were to fall from its peak to the bottom, it would literally take an entire life-time.

So if they managed to change the bird’s landing spot, then the creatures living on its back would survive for another tens of years at least. Lean simply shook his head, agreeing with her request.

With a single wave of his hand, an invisible power pierced the sky. This power was so fierce and mighty that he shifted the enormous bird with ease, despite it being the size of an entire great world.

In fact, doing so didn’t require much energy from him at all. It was rather a piece of cake, one could say.

Above their heads, they watched as the gigantic bird shifted directions thanks to the invisible power. It continued falling, but elsewhere now. Together, the woman and the man had ensured that the Archaeopteryx wouldn’t fall on the mountain’s peak.

A relieved smile appeared on the woman’s face as she looked out at the Archaeopteryx. In the least, she had helped the creatures of that world by giving them another tens of years to live. Although they were still doomed to die here, she felt a little better.

Noticing the smile on her face, Lean revealed a hesitant expression.

Their group had welcomed this angel-like woman with open arms and they truly loved her.

And although he was aware of her melancholy and worry, she was usually good at hiding her emotions from them.

After careful consideration, Lean said, “The Murphy Universe is starting to attack the Evolutionary Universe.”

Hearing these words made the woman shiver slightly, she stared at Lean and asked, “Where’s my brother?”

“He has entered Divine Refinement Forbidden Land,” Lean replied.

The lady opened her mouth as if to say something, but chose to shut it again and keep her silence.

What she had wanted to ask was why Lean hadn’t brought Zen to the mountain, to the divine land. In a split second though, her father’s situation came to her mind.

If Murphy Universe completely corroded Evolutionary Universe, her father would die.

Only her brother could save her father, and that meant her brother couldn’t leave the universe.

From start to finish, Yan felt like a spectator on the sidelines, completely incapable of helping her brother. She knew her brother was constantly struggling and striving though. After bringing her to the mountain, Lean had explained the entire story.

What Lean didn’t know though, was that she actually preferred knowing nothing about this at all.

Whirr!

The enormous Archaeopteryx had just skimmed over the mountain summit. A mighty current of air was generated as it fell down. The air flew toward them!

Under the blow of this air current, a strong wind storm was generated, together with countless wind blades.

“It’s a bit cold,” Yan said rather indifferently, as a gust of wind came straight at her.

The wind blades looked like pale gold. The Wind Law in the wind blades was the seventh layer. And this was the divine land, not the universe. In other words, the law here was perfect and there was enough of it to attack a warrior who was at the Soul Sea Realm, Spirit Supreme Realm, and Spirit Transformation Realm.

She stretched out her hand and fiddled with the wind. Purple lights twinkled and the wind blades stopped at her fingertips. From there, she transformed them into a slight breeze. The Wind Law contained within it continued to collapse slowly, becoming life vitality and dissipating from there.

Lean pulled out an emerald cloak and draped it over her shoulders.

Yan walked briskly toward the other side of the summit. Although her demeanor came off frigid and the melancholy in her eyes had dissipated, a vigorous and resolute look appeared on her face.

She had made great progress in terms of her capabilities in such a strange environment over the years. So had her disposition.