Chapter 100.5: Circumstances of Certain Factions
In the Whispering Expanse True World, things were still very chaotic. The ripple effects caused by Sunflowria's attack had been a disaster, causing rapidly spreading plagues to appear far beyond the initial areas where the attack was executed. Experts began referring to it as a Blood Curse. Not to mention the constant intrusions by those coming in from the Whispering Expanse.
Back in a certain palace, pacing back and forth was a man with an extremely angry expression as he recalled every bit of news he had received these past few days.
"Damn it!!! For things to end up this way..!! Tch! If only the Whispering Expanse wasn't a death trap for those at the Master Realm! Ugh.. But how is this possible?!?"
He gnashed his teeth in thought as certain people came to mind.
"Could there be an expert that found a way to travel into that place? No… Because there would have long since been a way to do so many years ago. Wait! Could it have something to do with a spirit body? But even then… Hmm, those elves certainly had experts like that… No, it's not just them, but if we are going by the more recent people…"
The more he thought, the more he couldn't fathom it, but he did recall people like Matriarch Sunflowria.
"That woman… That was certainly her who I clashed with. I've become certain of it now! She is extremely dangerous. Like me, she has entered the Aetherial Soul Tier, but she has yet to reach the Master Stage. Could she be aiming for Divine Spark?!? No… No matter how talented she is, she isn't at that level, even if she may be better than me. Hmph, no matter. I will get my hands on that key if it's the last thing I do. Daoist Blue Heavens Sword, was it? Or Laughing Blue Blade Reaper? Whichever it may be, I will find you and devour you!" he said with a cruel and sinister expression on his face as he began to formulate new plans in his mind.
Back in the Whispering Expanse, many factions began to regroup and formulate new plans of action due to the large number of shocking events that had recently transpired.
"Did you hear about what happened to the Fae Region?"
"Yeah, so much of the land there has disappeared!! I heard that all living beings within those areas disappeared without a trace!"
"They say that a huge disaster struck, caused by various chain reactions of magic. Many dead and dried up corpses were found littering all of the area."
"I heard that the place has truly become a forest of chaos and death now as red trees and crimson-eyed monsters and armies have been running rampant."
"But isn't it strange how all of those races disappeared? Where did all of the World Trees go?!"
"I heard that perhaps the Whispering Expanse True World retaliated and made a huge example out of them…"
"I mean, I guess, but how can that be when so many from all sides have been slaughtered and people are currently constantly invading the now opened Whispering Expanse True World?"
"That's… Who knows?"
All sorts of conversations and rumors similar to that were going around nonstop for the past five days since the disaster in the Fae Region initially struck. The lands all over the Fae Region disappearing two days ago just added much more fuel to the fear, causing widespread panic.
What's more, on all sides—whether they were from the sects and clans from the Red Star Continent, from all of the Upper Lands, the people that were initially locked up, or the true residents of the Whispering Expanse, or even those from the Whispering Expanse True World—they each suffered heavy casualties. That didn't mean that they were all totally put down, though.
In the Upper Lands where the Longbi clan lived, the six Tribes all came together for once after suffering heavily due to the wars on all sides. These six Tribes, after so many years of countless betrayals amongst each other, were truly a fractured race of people. It was only now, after suffering heavily on all sides, whether against each other or from other races, that they were finally forced into trying to find some sort of common ground. Or at least, that was supposed to be the sentiment.
"…As I thought, no matter how I look at things, I just can't see myself working with these dirty, betraying bastards..!!" shouted a man from the Echoing Tribe towards those of the Forest Tribe. Many of his fellow tribesmen had a similar sentiment.
"Haaaah?! Wasn't it also your people that attacked our Flowing River Tribe many years ago to steal some of our territory that we rightfully subjugated? I don't want to hear that from you people," said a person from the Flowing River Tribe with a sarcastic expression.
"Heh, funny you'd say something like that when you bastards did the same thing to our Burning Serpent Tribe… Hahaha, I also recall that both you and the Forest Tribe have constantly gathered together to try to push us out even more," snarled a furious man of the Burning Serpent Tribe as he pointed his fingers.
"You self-righteous pieces of trash! I won't forget how you also partnered with the Echoing Tribe and the Snowing Tribe to constantly attack us while also bringing in outsiders! Shameless!" shouted another Forest Tribe member as his eyes sharply stared at the Snowing Tribe.
"What? Well, if it isn't the pot calling the kettle black. We just copied what you all did. Oh wait, and I also recall you fools working with us against the other tribes with the same tactics. I've read the historic archives, and I'm sure most others have as well."
They continued to yell at each other, going back and forth, before a leader from the final tribe, the Thunder Scaled Tribe, decided to step in with a sigh.
"You all… Really, what has become of our once united Longbi clan? It's always my Thunder Scaled Tribe trying to de-escalate things for so many centuries now, and yet for some reason, these long-standing feuds once again crop up. And what's worse is that this time we've suffered immensely!! This cannot continue!"
Everyone grew silent for a long period of time with lowered heads. Truth be told, while the Forest Tribe were running around acting like rulers after suppressing the Echoing Tribe and partially the Burning Serpent Tribe with the aid of the Flowing River Tribe, normally they would have more time to try and settle their disputes in times of emergency. But things were simply too terrible this time, and the Echoing Tribe had only just recently found liberation once more.
Not to mention that recently they'd gained quite the momentum with certain outsiders who are followers of a person who aided them. The then Laughing Blue Blade Reaper, Daoist Blue Heavens Sword.
As more discussions were being held, a tired elderly man from the Echoing Tribe looked up and scanned all of the various people from the five other tribes. Besides the always pleasant Thunder Scale Tribe, the other four could never truly be trusted. Especially the Forest Tribe and the Flowing River Tribe.
Once upon a time long ago in the past, the Thunder Scale Tribe was actually more tyrannical with their actions, though not necessarily towards people of the Longbi clan. It was the Echoing Tribe back then that was considered the most peaceful faction, but then something changed… Betrayals on all ends, gaining power and getting revenge, back and forth struggles… So much has happened.
The Longbi clan are a people that document and record all of their history with short but precise details without lies, but that doesn't mean that all clan members will care to read back that far…
When the old man saw the still lingering battle intent from many warriors on all sides, and even the lumps of murderous intent mixed together, he made a decision in his heart.
He looked at the Grand Tribe Leader of the Echoing Tribe, who had been chained in the Whispering Expanse with injury and only recently regained his cultivation as a Middle Stage Mortal Lord. He knew that they both felt the exact same way and had long since made preparations for this after they met a certain man with scars and tangled hair. Then Grand Tribe Leader also looked over to him and began to speak up as the voice of their tribe.
"I've been thinking about this for a while now. Elder Midolot is correct in that we've truly been fighting against each other for far too long. So much death and destruction. Truthfully, if it weren't for our Longbi clan's major internal strife, perhaps we could have been strong enough to face those incredibly powerful forces…"
Before he could finish, an Elder from the Thunder Scale Tribe exclaimed.
"Yes, Grand Tribe Leader Fentone. You are certainly correct on this point, which is why I say—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Fentone cut him off and continued what he was saying,
"No. I said all of what I said just to sum everything up. No matter how I look at it, our six Tribes can never really get along the same way our ancestors did, so from this point on, I and the Elders as well as the current Tribe Leader have all come to an agreement that there will no longer be an Echoing Tribe of the Longbi clan in this place. From this point on, there will only be five tribes, and our Echoing Tribe will depart from here and set off on our own."
Hearing such a declaration completely stunned every single Longbi of the other five tribes, as they never thought they would hear such a thing. The silence was heavy, and the shock was immense.
"Y-you don't mean that, right? Haha, Our six Longbi clan has always stuck together, even throughout our treacherous histories," said the Grand Tribe Leader of the Thunder Scale Tribe with an unnatural smile on his face.
"Heh, of course they can't mean that. No matter what, even if we hate each other, we have always persevered against our enemies," said the Grand Tribe Leader from the Snowing Tribe. The others also commented in agreement.
"No, we have already set up preparations to go our own way. In the first place, our homes have long since been destroyed, and you all have never needed us when so many of us were locked away in the Whispering Expanse as criminals," Fentone said with a grim expression on his face.
"You can't do this!! Think about what you're saying, Fentone!!" shouted the Grand Tribe Leader from the Burning Serpent Tribe.
"Hahaha, I think he's bluffing! You need us, Fentone, no matter what you say," arrogantly laughed the Grand Tribe Leader of the Forest Tribe.
"Let us depart now. Grand Tribe Leader, I will let you finish handling things here with the Great Elders," said the current Tribe Leader of the Echoing Tribe.
Just like that, a large number of almost 900 people began to depart.
"Stop!!" shouted a Great Elder of the Thunder Scale Tribe, and sparks glittered around him.
"They will not stop!" shouted a Great Elder of the Echoing Tribe fiercely.
Seeing the situation, the people from the other tribes were once again very stunned in disbelief.
"Fentone… You—" Before the Grand Tribe Leader of the Thunder Scale Tribe could continue, he was cut off in his thoughts.
"What? You're the strongest one here and the only Late Stage Longbi. Are you going to bully me and my tribe into staying here, Lord Cromlette? I'm not naive enough to believe that you couldn't aid us in our time of need at any point. Only in times of so-called emergency does your tribe ever care to make some sort of move. We may belong to the Longbi race, but in the end, we are barely even allies, much less anything like a family unit. From this point on, we are the White Star Radiance Echoing Division! Farewell!!"
And with that, he and the remaining great elders and the Echoing Guardian all walked off to catch up with their clan and the direction they were headed towards.
Another long period of silence pervaded the scene as no one could believe what had just happened. Even amongst the various tribes, it's not like none of them didn't have any sort of friendly relations with those from other tribes. Many faces scrunched up in fear about the unknown.
"I say we hunt down those traitors," yelled the current Forest Tribe Leader, with many of their ranks in agreement. The Flowing River Tribe, while not so giddy about such actions, also went along with it.
"You fools!! Did you not hear what he just said?! There is no way we can touch those people so carelessly like that," shouted an irritated Burning Serpent Tribe Elder.
Mixed arguments among four of the tribes ensued while the Thunder Scale Tribe stayed silent with all sorts of uncertainties going through their minds.
A Grand Elder from the Thunder Scale Tribe looked over at the people from the Burning Serpent Tribe and then he looked at the Snowing Tribe, who were the most aloof yet dirty with their actions.
Faster than most of their fellow Longbi, he started to realize that something like this could truly set a precedent.
Their Thunder Scale Tribe was no doubt the strongest, with the Forest Tribe following after. The other three tribes were powerful in their own rights, but they were somewhat lacking compared to the Forest Tribe.
As for the Echoing Tribe… Due to them either being imprisoned, hidden away, or secretly integrated into other organizations for a time, their overall strength wasn't completely known, but he could guess that they might be just below the Forest Tribe, who also had forces placed in areas.
The Echoing Tribe leaving truly put a huge dent into their battle power, but he knew that there was nothing they could do.
They could have seriously attempted to stop them from leaving after hearing all that was said… Until Fentone made that declaration of being a part of the White Star Radiance.
It's even rumored that there was a peak Late Stage Mortal Lord who was moving around in their signature mask during the Whispering Expanse True World invasion.
It's supposedly led by Daoist Blue Heavens Sword, and yet so many experts are flocking behind him? Whether it was Blue Heavens or a Blue Reaper, it didn't matter. Those people were dangerous.
And so, in the end, they were forced to let the Echoing Tribe Leave.
Days later, when asked about their whereabouts, it seemed that they mysteriously disappeared.