Chapter 377: Goddess of Dawn

"Reign of Nine Heavens" (novel name) - Check for the latest chapter!

"Can't go back for now. Although Wang Feng is not in mortal danger, the chance of winning is zero..." Lucky Heaven shook her head.

Musical Note blinked, her eyes showing a hint of stubbornness—she believed her senior brother must have a way.

Lucky Heaven didn’t say anything either. Winning against them was absolutely impossible. What concerned her was the future.

See, prophecies are like stones at the bottom of a river. Most of the time, the stones stay in a fixed place, but when the current grows turbulent, they can be swept away to unknown distances. Of course, one could also actively move the stones from their original resting place.

Meanwhile...

At the Royal Martial Academy of the Datura Empire.

A duel was underway between Hei Wu Kai and Mo Tong, except...

Mo Tong was unusually miserable! Though he had always been outmatched before, he could at least counter with some strength—still holding a one percent chance of victory. But now... he was still being tossed around, only this time like a sandbag!

*Boom!*

Once again, Mo Tong faceplanted into the ground, sliding several meters away.

"No more, no more!"

Mo Tong couldn’t be bothered to get up. Fuming, he stayed sprawled out on the ground, refusing to move.

Hei Wu Kai cracked his knuckles with a grin. "Fine, I’ll hold back my strength to mid-Tiger level."

*Whoosh!*

Mo Tong eagerly scrambled to his feet. "Really? Old Hei, don’t you dare pull a Wang Feng and cheat!"

Hei Wu Kai raised an amused eyebrow.

"Old Hei, take this—Mahoraga Spiral Slash! Fall for me!"

With full confidence, Mo Tong unleashed his full Tiger Peak strength against Hei Wu Kai, who had held back his power to mid-Tiger level.

Hei Wu Kai frowned—Mo Tong’s strength...

*Boom!*

Yet again, Mo Tong was sent flying several meters away!

"Old Hei! You used your sword! Cheating, huh?!"

"Hmm... reflex. This time, I’ll hold back my strength to early-Tiger level. I promise not to use my sword..."

"Really?"

...*Thud*...

Mo Tong lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky. This time, no matter what crap Old Hei said, he wasn’t getting up.

This sucks. Totally sucks!

Comparing yourself to others is the worst. Though he had made some progress in Dragon City, when stacked up against Hei Wu Kai... Sigh... Old Hei was just a monster.

As he brooded, Mo Tong actually found himself missing Wang Feng. With that bastard around, at least he always looked like the competent one by comparison...

"Old Hei, do you think Wang Feng has gone mad by challenging the Eight Holy Sanctuaries?"

"No."

"Of course he has! With that bunch of deadweights? Ugh... I wonder how Kela and the others are doing. If only I were still back at Rose, how great that would be..." Mo Tong couldn't help but fantasize about saving the Rose Holy Sanctuary. Too bad!

Hei Wu Kai glanced at Mo Tong and walked away. Wang Feng once said that stupidity is contagious... Better to spend time honing his swordsmanship than indulging in nonsense.

Reaching the ghost level was actually a double-edged sword for Hei Wu Kai. The power boost from the Night Yaksha's true form was too immense, overwhelming his usual precision in controlling strength.

A gap between skill and power level could easily lead to losing oneself in the surge of soul power. Blood Demon Manku was the prime example of what not to do.

Hei Wu Kai swung his arm through the air, imagining something... then turned back and said, "Mo Tong, another round. This time, I'll suppress my strength below tiger level..."

"Really?!" Mo Tong's eyes lit up.

Hei Wu Kai nodded. "Really."

Fools never learn. The same trap, just reworded, and they’ll fall for it again...

The Mangalam Holy Temple was located inland in the southern region of the League of Blades. Though not too far from Aurora City, the Magic Rail Train still took a full two days to reach it.

Early the next morning, a large crowd gathered at the station to see them off.

Rose Holy Sanctuary, of course, was out in full force—from leaders like Principal Hawkland to the most ordinary disciples from every branch, numbering over a thousand. It was all hands on deck. The Judgment Holy Sanctuary also sent quite a few people. After all, Mapeier had once been one of theirs and had achieved great feats in Dragon City, bringing pride to Judgment.

Additionally, many Aurora City civilians who had been following the matter closely came, and even the city lord made an appearance.

The place was packed—easily ten times larger than when Old Wang and the others had departed for Dragon City. This was about Aurora City’s pride. Though no one believed Rose could win all eight matches, they still needed cheering on. As long as they fought with spirit and showed the whole alliance Aurora City’s got guts, they wouldn’t lose face.

The new lord, Anbolin, stood with Hawkland, shaking hands with each member of Old Wang’s team and offering words of encouragement. Nearby, reporters from Holy Sanctuary's Light recorded the scene, but the surrounding noise and chaos drowned out the moment.

Voices in the crowd kept shouting: "Let’s go, Rose! Eight straight wins—bring glory to Aurora City!"

"Come on, be realistic. Just one win is enough!"

"Exactly! Don’t pile pressure on them. Anyone brave enough to step up is already a hero!"

"Pah! Bad luck charms! Are you two here just to ruin the mood?"

"Hey, no need to curse! We mean well!"

"Well, your 'well-meaning' is crap! Beat it! Rose will win!"

The deafening clamor buzzed endlessly. Andy was among the crowd, feeling like this was all a dream.

Everything that had happened recently tested his nerves and baffled him daily.

Wang Feng was actually the one who had pretended to be Hei Wukai to save him... His goddess had switched to Rose to be with Wang Feng, and now she was accompanying him to challenge the Eight Holy Sanctuaries... His uncle Anbolin had suddenly become the city lord, and he—Andy—had abruptly become Aurora City’s top nepo baby?

Life had been a rollercoaster ride. Andy’s mind was still reeling. Even after all this time, he hadn’t fully processed everything.

And all of this... was because of Wang Feng. It all revolved around him!

Honestly, Andy didn’t understand. It was mind-boggling but impressive. No matter how much Uncle Anbolin spoiled him, some things were need-to-know. Was this Wang Feng’s luck?

Whether it was or not, everything seemed to culminate here. The real challenge was here. It all came down to raw skill!

Boom...

Andy was preoccupied, his mind in a daze the entire time, only snapping out of it slightly when the Magic Rail Train had already started moving. He saw Wang Feng at the window, waving solemnly at the crowd outside. Unfortunately, there was no sign of his goddess—after all, Mapeier wasn’t the type to enjoy such lively gatherings.

Meanwhile, Mapeier remained unaware that someone was thinking of her. As the Magic Rail Train started and the noise outside faded, she sat with her arms crossed, eyes closed in meditation beside Old Wang.

Back in Dragon City, the Soul Refining Array had already granted her immense benefits. The continued soul refinement at Rose had further perfected her soul’s transformation.

Red Spider? That was a thing of the past. Even with her eyes closed and without actively extending her soul power webs, no subtle movement escaped her perception within the entire carriage.

Wu Di and Kela were asleep—they must have trained extra hard last night, arriving exhausted and dozing off as soon as they boarded. Ah Xi was also slumped in his seat, yawning, but unlike the weary Kela and Wu Di, he wore a silly grin in his half-asleep state. After training yesterday, he had gone out with Famier—though no one knew where, it certainly wasn’t for more practice like the others.

The Li family's ninth daughter, Winnie, was full of energy. She seemed born with boundless vitality, now proudly showing off her freshly painted nails to Wang Feng. Senior Brother Wang, however, humored her half-heartedly, looking lazily unconcerned.

Truth be told, Mapeier couldn't care less about winning or losing against the Eight Holy Sanctuaries—she hadn’t even thought about it. She simply wanted to stay by her senior brother’s side, and now, it seemed like this would be an enjoyable trip… Hmm?

Mapeier’s soul power stirred as a hair strand stealthily stabbed toward Old Wang before retracting.

The carriage had too many mosquitoes, and they seemed particularly fond of biting senior brother!

She didn’t speak or move, but as her hair swayed, a mosquito with a pierced head dropped to the floor—joining three others forming a neat collection.

On the table lay a stack of cards. As the so-called brain trust of the team, Old Wang, Winnie, and Ah Xi now sat solemnly on three sides.

"Three twos with a pair of fives!" Ah Xi rode high with confidence. This game, called "Dou Dizhu," was invented by Wang Feng. Though he still didn’t understand why they were fighting this "landlord" or what it even was, the gameplay was fun, and the cards were simple to make. After two days of practice, Ah Xi was sure he had mastered it. With only four cards left in Wang Feng’s hand, there was no way he could counter this!

But to his surprise, Wang Feng lazily yawned and tossed out all four of his remaining cards: "A pair of kings and a pair of threes. Ante up!"

*Slap!*

Winnie angrily threw down her cards. "Ah Xi, you absolute moron? If you had three twos, why didn’t you split them earlier to counter his ones? He obviously still had two kings!"

"Back then, he still had a lot of cards left—who splits that early?" Ah Xi replied cautiously. In the face of the evolved Jiao Baba and the ninth young lady, even the Fierce Tiger was outmatched. "Besides, I thought you had the big king."

"Bullshit! What gave you that idea?"

"You winked at me earlier…"

"I was telling you to suppress him!" Winnie fumed. Why was it so hard to communicate? "You're dumber than a bag of rocks. All that weight and you still can’t even pin down Wang Feng!"

Ah Xi chuckled sheepishly—this had nothing to do with weight. Besides, "Who can pin down Feng? Maybe you should try?"

"Pah! You think I can’t?" Winnie growled. Losing money didn’t matter—she had an allowance now and could afford it. But always getting schooled by Wang Feng in cards was infuriating. With her fiery temper, she had to come out on top every time!

Her anger flared further as she flipped her soul card, ready to summon Jiao Baba. With that jumbo-sized backside, she refused to believe Wang Feng could still turn the tables! Come to think of it, Wang Feng had been missing a lot lately. Since Jiao Baba’s evolution, they hadn’t squared off—now was the perfect time to test whether "Blue Card Jiao Baba" still feared him!

Old Wang rushed to stop her, hastily insisting she could pin him down without testing it.

This was a train carriage, and the Magic Rail Train was still moving. Never mind fitting inside—if Jiao Baba appeared, its sheer weight might derail them. Wang Feng wasn’t keen on causing an accident.

Kela glanced over from the other side, shook her head, and refocused on the documents in her hands.

They were profiles of the Managaram team. With Winnie around, such things were never in short supply. Normally, analyzing opponent intel would fall to Captain Wang Feng or Winnie, but this time, neither had mentioned it. After skimming the documents, Wang Feng had casually tossed them aside, seemingly unconcerned. But after reading them, Kela couldn’t help but worry.

Old Wang’s team was indeed stronger than outsiders guessed. Mapeier was a true expert, and with Winnie, they had top-tier combat power. But Wu Li, who had transferred to target Winnie, was clearly a counter. Kela, now accustomed to thinking like Old Wang, considered the worst-case scenario: under Wu Li’s suppression, their two strongest fighters might only secure one win. The rest would have to carry the burden.

Managaram’s captain, Sacred Sword Chris, and vice-captain, Demon Fist Burst, were veterans of previous Hero Summits—perhaps on par with Rose’s former star, Luo Lan. Even excluding them, the other two seemingly peripheral main members were reportedly close in strength. Their overall lineup was balanced, with no obvious weaknesses.

As for Rose, the only ones who might be able to match up are herself and Fanci. But if luck isn’t on their side and they end up facing the opposing captain or vice-captain, then... Well, never mind overthinking it. The captain is acting so relaxed—he must have his reasons. Maybe he’s already arranged everything, and I just don’t know about it yet.

Kela put down the documents, patted her face, and suppressed the restless emotions inside her, taking a deep breath.

Over there, Winnie was still throwing a tantrum, while Mapeier remained as usual, meditating quietly beside Wang Feng. Nearby, Wu Di was deep in meditation—he had just taken the Soul Elixir. While the others had been relaxing these past two days, Wu Di had been pushing himself to the limit, hoping for a breakthrough before arriving at Mangalam.

Frankly, Kela knew it was impossible. The captain always said, "Haste makes waste," and she agreed wholeheartedly. In Wu Di’s current state, not only was a breakthrough unlikely, but his emotional turmoil probably meant he couldn’t even fully refine the Soul Elixir. All he was doing was just grinding himself down, subjecting himself to unnecessary suffering. But neither Kela nor Wang Feng tried to stop him. It was clear that beneath Wu Di’s seemingly diligent training lay a heart so tense it might explode at any moment. Forcing him to stop now would only send him into anxiety spirals.

"Holy crap, that saintess statue is massive!"

Kela was still lost in thought when she suddenly heard Fanci’s exclamation.

The cards had already been put away, and Fanci was leaning out the window, his eyes fixed on the enormous statue standing at the city’s center. It was massive—easily forty or fifty meters tall, towering over the outer city walls. Even from over ten miles away, it was clearly visible, taller than the legendary hero Wu Di had once seen in the port of the Croatia Islands.

This was a statue of the Mangalam Saintess. Throughout the Holy Sanctuary’s centuries-long history, many heroic figures had emerged, but only the most iconic and representative among them were posthumously honored as saints or saintesses, with statues erected in their memory. It was the ultimate honor for any Holy Sanctuary Disciple, and such saints were rare—the Blade Temple might not see one in twenty or thirty years.

The Magic Rail Train began to slow as it entered the city, and the others also turned their gazes toward the saintess statue through the windows.

The enormous statue was clad in a gray-white exorcist robe, intricately carved—even the runic patterns on the robe were clearly visible. A pure white scarf was wrapped around her head, and she held aloft a massive round-headed staff. During the day, it was already striking, but at night, the crystal atop the staff would blaze with soulfire, bright enough to illuminate the entire city and even the surrounding villages for dozens of miles, casting light over the entire Mangalam region like a beacon in the dark.

This was the legendary exorcist Edelith, a figure from two hundred years ago—the famous Mangalam Saintess, also known as the Dawn Goddess.

Legend had it that a supremely powerful dark necromancer once cursed Mangalam, plunging the land into darkness and summoning endless hordes of dark creatures in an attempt to slaughter its people. Using this as a foothold, he sought to threaten the entire Blade Temple. In that desperate hour, it was this legendary exorcist who burned herself to cast a forbidden spell, igniting a lighthouse that dispelled the darkness from the sky, purified all the dark invaders, and struck down the necromancer with holy light. She saved Mangalam from destruction and spared the Blade Temple greater losses—but in doing so, she was burned out by her own power.

Unlike ordinary myths, this was a real historical event, recorded in most history books of the Nine Skies Continent. It was Mangalam’s greatest pride and faith.

And it was precisely because of the Mangalam Saintess’s glory—and the holy light from her staff, which purified the city every night—that the people here were devout followers of the Holy Light. While believers of the Holy Light were common throughout the Blade Temple, few places practiced its teachings as rigorously as Mangalam. This made it a pilgrimage site for Holy Light devotees, revered even more than the actual Holy City in some respects...

There was a "welcoming party" on the platform—though, to be honest, calling it a "welcoming party" was giving Team Old Wang too much credit.

A man around thirty years old stood there, his head wrapped in thick white cloth like the statue of Edelith, dressed in a white robe—likely a mentor from the Mangalam Holy Temple.

He immediately recognized the Rose insignia on their uniforms and approached them. "Team Rose?"

"We’re Team Old Wang, from Rose Holy Sanctuary," Old Wang corrected, offering a mild correction at the receptionist’s ignorance.