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Nine days after the war, the floating city of Saint Spirit Mountain, having journeyed southward, finally crossed the great desert and landed in the western part of the southern continent. The long-awaited Alliance of Sixteen Southern Nations and the Mages' Guild welcomed the exiled Radiant Church, and the three parties formed an alliance, creating a force to oppose the elves.

The news of Pope Paul VIII's death was announced to the world three days after the floating city landed. In truth, long before this, various factions had already learned of the fate of this most powerful pope. However, what surprised them was another piece of news announced simultaneously—the announcement of the new pope's successor.

The new pope was named: Xi Luo I.

At just eighteen years old, the bearer of the Hero's Blade, Xi Luo, became the youngest pope in the history of the Holy Temple, and the only one to assume the papacy as a knight.

Humans refused to accept defeat. They were willing to break tradition to forge greater strength for revenge and counterattack.

On the same day Saint Spirit Mountain landed in the south, another human plan quietly unfolded.

Beyond the continent, in the western sea.

On a high seaside cliff, a gaunt and solitary figure, draped in a hooded black robe, stood quietly.

His entire body was concealed within the black robe, including his face and hands. Outside the robe, only an oddly shaped longsword hung at his waist.

It was a slender sword the color of bleached bone, devoid of any decoration save for a bone-white lily-shaped emblem on the hilt—ancient, plain, and desolate, like an antique on the verge of crumbling.

Suddenly, the sea before him split apart as if sliced by a blade, and a staircase of water extended from the ocean floor, rising step by step to connect with the cliff where he stood.

Upon the staircase of water, an exceptionally graceful young man and woman swiftly approached the robed figure.

Then, they both knelt before him.

Had anyone on the continent known the identities of these two youths, they would have been astounded.

For they were two of the strongest young sword saints among humans: the "Heavenly Maiden Knight" Tan Yueer and the "Reaper Knight" Hades. Given their status, they wouldn't be expected to kneel even before the emperor of the Yellow Dragon Empire or the Supreme Dragon Saint of Sacred Dragon Mountain. Yet here, they knelt willingly.

Tan Yueer did not speak but instead drew a jade-colored dagger from her back and presented it to the robed figure.

The robed figure did not take it but merely nodded. Tan Yueer exhaled in relief, reverently placed the dagger at his feet, and knelt again in silence.

After a long silence, the robed figure finally spoke—a voice hollow and rasping, with a hissing undertone, yet carrying an inexplicable depth and resonance.

"I already know of Saint Spirit Mountain's fate. You bring this 'Sword Seal' here... do you intend to use that thing to reverse your fortunes?"

"Yes..." Tan Yueer replied softly, bowing her head.

"Today... is not like four hundred years ago. Your enemies are many, and sacrifices... are inevitable. No matter, it's your concern. I shall not pry further. Take the thing. But remember, even with my power imbued within, it can only unleash one perfect strike. Do not waste it."

As he spoke, the robed figure slowly extended his skeletal hand—a more skeletal hand than even the "King of the Undead" residing in Fontainebleau.

Stranger still, though the hand appeared empty, the robed figure seemed to hold something as he offered it to Tan Yueer. She hastily cupped her hands as if receiving a treasure, carefully receiving the invisible object before securing it. Then, she and Hades withdrew respectfully.

"Sigh... that thing may not change anything..."

Only the robed figure's sigh lingered over the desolate shore.

*Italicized*: Alas, the campaign for Saint Spirit Mountain has essentially concluded here. *Guancanghai* knows the update speed during this period has been sinful, but there's no helping it—the workload in the second year of my Ph.D. is simply overwhelming. *Guancanghai* is just an amateur writer, not seeking votes, not monetizing, not signing contracts, not even contacting Qidian's editors, precisely because I can't guarantee any update frequency. I dare not make any demands of readers. When updates come, enjoy them; when they don't, I'll withdraw completely, not even daring to read the comments. Heh, shameful indeed.

Heroic Werewolf Scroll, Chapter 83: Imperial Machinations for a New Reign

Time flowed on, and over a month passed since the great battle at Saint Spirit Mountain.

The eagle tribe warriors dispatched by the Beast King to track the floating city had long since returned, confirming that the floating city could no longer fly and that the human forces of the southern continent had united against the elves.

Normally, such a situation should have drawn a response from the newly formed elven kingdom. Yet even after uniting the three major tribes, the elves remained too few in number to eradicate the hundreds of millions-strong southern humans. Thus, both sides settled into a stalemate. Whether war or peace would follow depended on future developments.

At the ruins of Saint Spirit Mountain, after investigations by the Shaman of the War God Temple, they finally discovered the existence of the seventh layer of the underground palace—what humans called the "Sevenfold Locked Prison." In truth, it was no human-made structure but an ancient seal from primordial times, said to contain the core of an "artificial god" created by the ancient gnome kingdom. The massive external seal was the work of the gods themselves. Even the elven mages who once sealed the great demon king and the Twelve Sages who built Saint Spirit Mountain's underground palace couldn't penetrate its inner workings, merely layering new seals and structures atop the divine aura emanating from the gods' seal. Later, when the Holy Church constructed the floating city, though they painstakingly transferred the great demon king's soul into its depths, they lacked the power to interfere with the gods' seal. Thus, the seventh layer remained buried deep underground.