Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 266: History

Chapter 266: History

Kazi ultimately learned the Imperial Sect alongside the Great Noble Families defeated the eight-headed dragon. The merchant-historian discussed the team-up between the Kangxi Emperor and the Eternal Emperor. Both families suffered the most, to the point that the Imperial Sect lost its place among the Big Four.

Indeed, the Big Three was once the Big Four. The Imperial Sovereign Sect had already been established by the Kangxi Emperor’s mother and, upon his prophesized appearance and the birth of his children, became truly great. Great enough that, during the Second Heavenly War, the Imperial Sect grew to rival the Big Three.

However, upon losing thirty of his children to several tragedies, the greatest of which was the attack of Yamata-no-Orochi, the level of influence and raw power of the sect sharply declined. See, one son in particular was a prodigy said to be greater than the Kangxi Emperor and was killed during the battle against Yamata-no-Orochi.

"To the point that no Crown Prince has been instituted since," Kazi murmured. "Even Yunti, a son born on Earth and their current greatest warrior, hasn’t been acknowledged as Crown Prince."

That was how much of a shock those losses were. It changed everything. The Kangxi Emperor, behaviour-wise, went from jovial to cold and distant; moreso than ever.

No matter how Kazi, the merchant-historian, or anyone else rationalized it, it didn’t make sense. How did Yamata-no-Orochi escape into the White Abyss? Kazi had Riku grab him another book, this time focusing on the timeline of the Second Heavenly War from the perspective of a Chinese scholar. He wondered if there were signs of the hydra’s awakening.

’Once the war really ramped up, gates were consistently open-world. In other words, perfect for colonizing and using the people there to farm. Other than that, Yamata-no-Orochi’s appearance seemed to come out of the blue.’

He read for an additional half hour. He didn’t glean much.

"Too many conspiracy and religious theories...Yamato-no-Orochi was Iblis in the form of a snake. It was Nagaraja that used a human form to slip through. The Eternal Emperor was secretly behind it. The Great Fire of Heaven led to the snake breaking out."

Some of these authors were the same ones that Kazi thought were pretty smart. It was like the attack had broken them.

How about numbers then?

"The deaths of important figures are written but other than that, there’s little for overall impact to the population." He flipped through one book, then another. "Yep, modern scholars cannot begin to guess the number of deaths. More than a million, less than two million. The only people who can guess are the big guilds themselves. They keep track of their people, after all. "

Kazi did not need them. He could venture the numbers and the consequences. From all the stories, it was clear that the primordial creature appeared right on top of the Imperial Sect’s base: the Forbidden City. That whole area was close to the Justice Sect and Orthodox Sect, hence why the Cultivators there sprung into action too.

What about the Muslims then? During the Second Heavenly War, the Caliph’s power had not been centralized at this point, so the Muslims did not participate. The Alhambra Guardians instead acted as weapons suppliers.

The Allied Powers consisted of the Christian Templars, the Imperial Sovereign Sect, the Joseon’s, and the Soviets. The Axis Powers, on the other end, were the Holy Dynasty, the Japanese Empire, and Jambudvīpa.

"At this point, the Allied Powers were already winning," Kazi murmured. He wasn’t reading a book, he was reflecting on everything he learning. "The Jambudvīpa were gone at this point. The Japanese Empire suffered their own losses against Yamata-no-orochi. Whoever summoned it, if it was summoned, it was not to help either side."

So....was there a third-party involved? Or was this a divine ill omen?

’I’m starting to get a better picture of how the White Abyss functions as a whole.’

Noble families, guilds, Architects, players, angels, and the institutions that each rule over. Going from era to era, there were changes and adjustments. The hierarchy was always in flux as new players and technology emerged. Innovative magic circles and magical devices and tragedies and events that forced discovery. The taxes that the noble families and guilds imposed in order to keep pace with the coming times and their growing forces.

’For example, the Sapphire Order. Rather than a guild led by one person, it’s better to describe them as an alliance. Each Spectre is its own guild and has its own influence, properties, and sets of taxes. This merchant mentions that Spectre 4 Perdana, Queen Suhita of Indonesia, is surprisingly lax on property tax and focuses on her fashion and textile business. She also doesn’t seem to like being apart of the Spectre. It’s why she has a small cult of her own who have written down way too much about her.’

Kazi ended his thoughts as he sensed Riku’s eagerness and sudden curiosity. Smiling quietly, he turned to him kindly. "Yes?"

"Ah, sorry. Can I know your full name?"

"Oh, right." Kazi closed the journal. "It’s Kazi Hossain."

"Kazi Hossain..." Riku tasted out the name. "I’ll be sure to tell my friends I saw you!"

Kazi stared at him and his smile. He saw too much joy and tension in his feet. Relief at meeting him and sadness from something else. It wasn’t difficult for his genius brain to figure out what. "Hey, could you hold out your hand."

Riku did as he was told. One by one, his hand whipped from his back and he dropped several gold coins.

"H-huh?" Riku was taken aback and looked up at him. "What is...I don’t...?"

"I told you, I remember you and your friends. One of them lost their leg, right? It’s not going to be easy to recover." Kazi closed his hand to hold the coins. "It’s not much but I hope it helps."

Riku was bewildered. As much as he wanted to reject it, he couldn’t. He was desperate. "T-thank you!" Riku bowed again. "Thank you very much!"

Kazi’s smile thinned. "No need. Exchange it for points as fast as possible. Don’t let people see it."

"Thank you! I won’t!"

After all, the one that caused his friend to lose their leg was William. His student. His friend. His responsibility.