Chapter 460: Gathering Together

Inside the city lord’s mansion, everyone was gathered together at this moment. Aside from members of a few families, all the powerful warriors from the Dark Source also arrived, bringing together nearly the best fighters from the Dark Source at present.

The atmosphere in the hall was relatively relaxed. The return of the troll clan had lifted everyone’s spirits. With such strong support, things would be much simpler from now on.

With Andrews’ explanation, everyone became even more relaxed. After the troll clan settled in the Ten Thousand Mountains, all their warriors at the Yin Huang realm would come here to join them—over a hundred in number, a truly terrifying figure.

At that moment, everyone also saw the elder known as the ancestor of the troll clan. He had white hair but a youthful face, his complexion rosy, appearing even younger than Andrews and the others. Who would have thought he was actually an ancient being who had lived for hundreds of years?

His strength was unfathomable; even Rod couldn’t gauge its depth, prompting everyone to look at him with awe once again.

Everyone present had seen much of the world—how could they fail to realize that this man was already a super-strong warrior at the Xuan Huang realm? Having such a person on their side was a huge advantage in every regard.

This could be considered a major meeting. Taking advantage of everyone’s presence, the Black Phoenix Clan and the Scorpion King Clan announced that they would return to their ancestral homes in the Ten Thousand Mountains. As for Wuyou City and Shuimu City, they temporarily left them in the hands of the opposition, sending only a few people to assist from outside without getting involved directly. Thus, the opposition could be said to be the clan that gained the most.

As for the dragon clan, they chose to ignore what was happening next and not get involved in the disputes. Instead, they focused all their efforts on fighting against the demon souls. On the spot, several clans reached a unified understanding and agreement.

As for Rod, to everyone’s surprise, he gained the recognition of all the clans and became a guest elder of several major families, with the authority to summon members from any clan at will—a tremendous privilege. Unfortunately, Rod wasn’t interested in any of this. He had more important matters to attend to. The division of the continent had to end as soon as possible, and he needed to gather the continent’s powerful warriors to discuss the war between gods and demons. The continent was now full of skilled warriors, but they were all in seclusion, making them hard to find.

For this reason, he specially sent Bianuo, Sognar, Heiyin, and others ahead to the continent to contact these powerful warriors from various aspects and arrange a meeting at the Dark Council.

On one hand, it was to discuss matters related to war, and on the other hand, to discuss those related to demonic souls. There could be no further delay. Naturally, there was an even more important reason: to find the man possessed by the demonic general and bring him to justice. The vampire and werewolf clans should return to the Source of Darkness and start anew. These two poor clans had suffered oppression since the disappearance of the troll clan and were now controlled by the war faction to attack the continent. Now that the war faction had perished, it was time to give them a place. Moreover, the return of these two clans could greatly stabilize the Source of Darkness. No one expected these not-so-powerful clans to play a significant role in the war between gods and demons, as their strength was indeed weak—likely with their strongest members only reaching the peak of the divine realm.

There was also the matter of obtaining divine essences. The Wolf King and Dragon King had already sensed the call of divine essences, and the troll clan had even shown astonishing numbers—nine of them had felt the Divine Essence of the Heavenly Way! Their sheer strength was once again astonishing.

This proved once again the strength of these ancient clans; even in their declining state, they remained unmatched by others.

Rod’s concerns were also alleviated by the words of the elder. With the gates between gods and demons open, demonic souls couldn’t escape so easily. The four that escaped this time were merely due to chance, and such an incident would not happen again, the elder assured them firmly, putting everyone at ease.

According to him, for at least a hundred years, the world would remain peaceful, providing time for various clans to recover and strengthen their powers. A hundred years later, the seals would begin to loosen, and then true battles would commence. So, as long as the current demonic souls were dealt with, everyone would still have a hundred years ahead. Reaching that level meant living for a hundred years wouldn’t be a problem, and with divine essences, things would be even different.

As for the escape of these demonic souls, according to him and the records of the troll clan, it was because during the final moments of the last war between gods and demons, when the gods were on the verge of defeat, the God King sealed these creatures inside the gates between gods and demons using his own body. That’s why they fled when the gates opened. As for the rest, they were sealed in another elemental space and couldn’t escape in a short time.

With this, there are now three things left for everyone to deal with. First, resolve the conflicts on the continent and win over the stronger forces. Second, rapidly enhance their strength to obtain divine statuses. Third, and most importantly, eliminate the remaining three demon souls.

In the end, it was decided that each major family would send representatives, led by Rod, to subdue the wolf clan and vampire clan, negotiate with the continent for a cease-fire, and bring about peace. The Wolf King and others also joined in to subdue the powerful forces on the continent. No team could fail given their combined strength, and since negotiations required them to use their power to intimidate, all the strongest fighters were involved. Even the ancestor of the troll clan stepped in—naturally, to subdue that demon general. Perhaps no one else but him could stand against that demon general now.

Subduing the wolf clan and vampire clan wasn’t difficult, as both clans were not strong enough to resist, lacked the will to fight, and were also controlled against their will by the war faction. So, it shouldn’t be a problem. The main issue was the return of the troll clan. Under their overwhelming presence, nothing should go wrong, and Rod was the representative of the troll clan.

As for the negotiations on the continent, though challenging, the group came up with a plan: gather the powerful figures on the continent for discussions. These people held significant influence there, and if they agreed, there would be no issues. Getting them to agree wasn’t hard either. Given the events of the Battle between Heaven and Earth when the Gate of Gods and Demons opened, they must have realized they had to consider their own interests and those of the entire world. With their persuasion, the problem should be easily resolved.

As for the demon souls, Andrews and the others would lead the search within the Source of Darkness. With over a dozen warriors possessing divine statuses, finding them wouldn’t be hard, let alone eliminating them. Outside the continent, with the ancestor, Rod, the Wolf King, and others around, there should also be no problems.

It seemed that many of the previous worries and concerns were resolved almost instantly with the arrival of the troll clan, easing everyone’s minds greatly as they let out a long sigh of relief.

Finally, there was Rod’s personal matter, or rather, Nightingale’s. Out of their four-person group, only Nightingale survived. After years of investigation, Rod had somewhat figured out what happened. All that remained was to find the killer and seek revenge. Once this was done, Rod would be completely free to focus entirely on preparing for the war between gods and demons.

The subsequent discussions on the details went much more smoothly. In a harmonious atmosphere, everyone talked and laughed, feeling much more comfortable than before—such an atmosphere was truly enjoyable.
Finally, at the suggestion of the Ancestor, everyone agreed to the plan of obtaining divine essences: the Wolf Emperor and Dragon Emperor would accompany the Ancestor to the Ten Thousand Mountains to receive the divine essences. Along with nine members of the Troll tribe, a total of eleven people would go through this process. They would take turns, while the rest could observe and learn from them, which would be of great help. As for the warriors who hadn’t been called by the divine essences, those interested could also follow to learn from them—a truly excellent news for many.
Such a ritual would bring unimaginable benefits to these warriors, especially in terms of their understanding of the laws of heaven. Even Rod was tempted and decided to go and watch.
Before that, of course, they had to deal with the matter of the Demon General. He was currently trapped in Water Screen City, and his own divine essence was there as well; he couldn’t leave for too long, so they needed to rush over to handle it as soon as possible.
…
An entire afternoon passed in the blink of an eye, and night fell once again over the land.
These past few days, Ice City had been especially lively, especially today, which reached its peak. Those who came to watch the return of the Troll tribe didn’t leave but chose to stay in Ice City.
Pedestrians on the streets were almost all talking excitedly about the return of the Troll tribe, creating a lively atmosphere. It was remarkable—the impact of such a large family returning was indeed significant.
After settling everything, Rod went outside Nightingale’s room. The girls wisely made enough space for the two of them, as they indeed needed a quiet environment to talk properly—they hadn’t been together in so long.
Seeing Nightingale’s pale face, Rod felt a pang of pain. Looking at the tired Rod, Nightingale showed some compassion. Their gazes met, and time seemed to stand still, as if the entire universe consisted only of them two.
Finally, Nightingale spoke up, “I know about the Demon Soul!”
Rod forced a smile. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go for a walk!” With that, he led Nightingale outside. How long had it been since they last spent time together? Both were filled with emotion—they realized that cherishing the present was what truly mattered.