Supreme Emptiness

Chapter 2057: Chapter 2101: Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis

The sages present all had similar feelings.

Jiang Fan had contributed far too much to Central Earth, and the dangers he experienced were countless.

Even though the Ancient Saint helped him break through to the Wise Man Realm on the spot, they did not envy him at all.

Jiang Fan rightfully deserved such commendation.

The Ancient Zen Buddha Venerate pressed his hands together and said: "The second merit ceremony is about to convene, Master Jiang, you received the merit of Entering Sage status last time."

"In this ceremony, I wonder what the Ancient Saint Divine Stele will grant you as a reward."

Upon hearing this, the sages all showed expressions of curiosity.

Indeed.

Two consecutive merit wars are unparalleled in the long history of Central Earth spanning thousands of years.

Jiang Fan had already received a complete merit before even entering sagehood, so will he continue to be awarded merit in the second ceremony?

Oh?

Jiang Fan showed a hint of peculiarity; he hadn’t truly considered this question before.

But if not rewarded with merit, then what will be the reward?

He began to feel a bit expectant.

Looking at the sages of Central Earth mostly returning, Jiang Fan couldn’t help but ask, "Everyone, may I ask where the Great Wine Sacrifice is?"

Since the Nine-Day Giant Emperor had expelled the Great Wine Sacrifice and four Outer Heaven Sages beyond the boundary at the cost of sacrificing a Curse Sun Wheel, the Great Wine Sacrifice had disappeared without a trace.

The subsequent battles have never seen it’s reappearance.

Even when Tian Ge and others escaped, it was never to be seen taking action.

Now that the merit ceremony was imminent, why has it not appeared?

The Ancient Zen Buddha Venerate pressed his palms together and said, "Amitabha, Master Jiang, have you not noticed anything unusual about yourself?"

Unusual?

Jiang Fan carefully searched his body and found nothing abnormal.

Suddenly, he instinctively touched his forehead and his heart tightened with unease.

"Has the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis arrived?"

The blood word on his forehead was brushed with mysterious spiritual liquid by Qiqi, so it no longer was locked onto by the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis unless in extremely close proximity.

The Ancient Zen Buddha Venerate nodded: "During the great battle, he arrived near the Southern Heavenly Realm, spear in hand, glaring at the battlefield."

"To prevent you from being destroyed across realms by him, the Great Wine Sacrifice fought with him into the void, yet to return, their fate unknown..."

What?

Jiang Fan’s expression changed slightly.

It hasn’t been long, yet the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis already re-tempered the polluted Blood Spear?

Fortunately, Qiqi intervened to block the blood word so that the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis is unable to accurately locate his position across realms.

Otherwise, if he appeared at a critical time, the consequences would be unimaginable.

His life or death is minor, but the great battles of Central Earth would surely change again.

As for the Great Wine Sacrifice...

Jiang Fan’s heart also hung heavy; in a clash between masters, it’s often determined in a flash, yet the duel between the Great Wine Sacrifice and the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis lasting so long with no news, it’s likely quite unfavorable.

"Green Pearl, Book of Life and Death!"

Green Pearl nodded, promptly taking out the Book of Life and Death, attempting to sketch the words "Great Wine Sacrifice" on it.

However, bizarrely, though she was in the Virtuous Realm, Green Pearl’s Asura power-formed brush seemed to encounter an inexplicable strange power blockade.

She couldn’t write a single one of these three words.

This scene was just like before when writing "Heavenly Court King."

Seeing cold sweat beginning to form on Green Pearl’s forehead, Jiang Fan quickly closed the Book of Life and Death, saying: "Enough!"

He was secretly surprised.

The Great Wine Sacrifice turned out to also be an uninvestigable forbidden existence?

Recalling the scene of nine Great Wine Sacrifices coming together, able to form a mysterious phantom, made him even more curious about the origins of the Great Wine Sacrifice.

"When I enter the void, I’ll search for its whereabouts."

Jiang Fan felt heavy at heart, hoping the Great Wine Sacrifice was unharmed.

Soon after.

Once more, unusual movement came from the Connecting Sky Black Pillar, as a massive black cloud flew down.

It was Red Sleeves leading ten Asura Emperors back.

She casually tossed a space storage device and a small pouch to Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan caught it; the space storage device was weighty.

Looking down, what lay within was the Bronze Hall, and the Execution Pen that suppressed it.

Inside the pouch was a stuffed Fixed Seed.

Jiang Fan chuckled, cupping his hands: "Thank you, Qing Jiu Asura Emperor, for tidying this up for me."

Red Sleeves waved her hand slightly, saying nonchalantly: "I’m hardly qualified to tidy things up for you."

"It was your new lady in the Heavenly Realm who did."

New lady?

Jiang Fan instantly understood; it was Empress Beixue.

This woman was quite thoughtful.

I should send her some surplus Asura Holy Blood in the future.

Jiang Fan looked towards Qing Jiu and asked: "Now that the battle’s over, what are your plans?"

He wasn’t planning to keep a group of Asura Emperors stationed in Central Earth.

Having used them, it was time to ask them to leave.

Red Sleeves was not surprised, saying:

"I’ll rest for a bit, then head for the Sumeru Divine Prison you mentioned."

"As for the ten Asura Emperors, matters involving the Yellow Springs Realm Master, you’ll need to sort them with him."

Jiang Fan nodded; Qing Jiu was indeed perceptive, understanding things without needing many words.

He glanced at the ten Asura Emperors, casually setting up a barrier, releasing the Space Mirror, saying: "Hua Xin, talk to them yourself."

The two sides communicated through the Space Mirror, the ten Asura Emperors scrutinized Jiang Fan with suspicion before opening a void rift, thereby returning to the Hell Realm.

Before long.

As the crowd gathered, the land and skies over Taicang State began to shimmer with faint multicolored rays.

Above the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, there appeared an even grander, five-colored auspicious cloud.

Nine whirlpools appeared in succession, each descending a Merit Divine Stele containing supreme majesty.

Everyone in Central Earth bowed respectfully towards the Divine Steles.

Jiang Fan’s expression was also solemn.

Even though it was the second time witnessing the appearance of nine Merit Divine Steles, it was still breathtaking.

On the nine steles, as before, the rankings for everyone began.

And once again, they only listed the top five ranks.

For the fifth rank, each of the nine Merit Divine Steles presented different names.

Golden Scale Venerate, Ice Heart Venerate, Lianjing Venerate, Mount Qunxing Master, Ten Thousand Soldiers Great Venerable, Moon Venerate, and Red Demon Venerable all made the list!

As leaders at the Divinity Transformation level, their contributions were substantial.

Each of them received a merit feather the size of a palm leaf from the Merit Divine Steles!

This scene caused a stir in the audience.

"Such large merit feathers? Even larger than the fourth place ones from the last merit ceremony!"

"The rewards for this merit ceremony are even more bountiful!"

"We’ve established an indelible merit, vanquishing the Southern Heavenly Realm, rewards being multiplied several times is reasonable!"

Several of the Great Venerates beamed with joy.

The elder venerates among them had gained some merit in the previous Ancient Giant war, now supplemented by the lavish additional rewards this time.

Several of them had a chance to gather enough merit to Enter Sage!

Leng Yue Sage observed, sighing deeply: "Ah, had Silver Moon adhered to the battles, the merit gained would have sufficed to enter sagehood."

"Yet she sought to cling to the Phoenix Dynasty Great Sage’s legs, wasting opportunity in vain."

"Phoenix Dynasty, you meddlesome old woman insufficient for success!"

Next, were the rankings for fourth, third, and second places.

These mainly involved the sages in this battle.

They were the key to achieving the decisive victory.

The other rankings posed no issue.

However, Dongfang Canyue surprisingly ranked third, likely due to assisting Jiang Fan in first slaying the enemy sage.

But what Jiang Fan found most absurd was that Qing Jiu actually made the list!

Not only Jiang Fan but also the sages of Central Earth were bewildered.

Qing Jiu looked stunned, staring blankly at the words "Qing Jiu" ranked fourth on the stone tablet:

"I am not someone of Central Earth, why credit me with merits?"

"Hold on!"

She recalled that inexplicable First-Grade Imperial Decree Lady conferment, glaring at Jiang Fan with slight irritation.

The Ancient Saint Divine Stele, could it have deemed her a bride of Central Earth?