Chapter 65: Fighting Side by Side with Him in a Fierce Battle

The passionate voice echoed through the mountains, blending with the wailing wind and reverberating across the empty ruins.

This peacock was a close attendant specifically chosen by the Sovereign of Monsters for its eloquence. Having been stationed at the Extraordinary Research Institute for a long time, it had thoroughly studied the cadence of human speech, raising its commentary skills to an even higher level.

Because of this, every word was delivered with resounding force, much like an ancient professional storyteller, making the hearts of everyone from the Research Institute surge with emotion.

Thirteen hundred years had passed since that great battle. Nourished by the local spiritual veins, the Charnel Ground that had been burned back then was now replaced by newly grown vegetation, and every trace of the former mountains of corpses and seas of blood had been completely erased, leaving not a shred behind.

Yet, these mountains and rivers ultimately remembered the passage of time.

Simply by looking at the giant scars left upon the mountains and the earth, they could easily imagine the fierce battle that took place over thirteen hundred years ago: the figure that single-handedly suppressed three monsters, the flash of fire that split the sky, the irresistible and invincible mighty power... all of these were condensed into the landscape before them.

"So this is the sheer scale of a fight between a supreme master and the Sovereign of Monsters... Good thing this is inside a grotto-heaven; if this were the outside world, it probably would have leveled the entire Qishan region, wouldn't it?"

"Before coming here, I thought the legend of the Sovereign meeting an immortal was entirely fabricated, but I never expected..."

"Although I saw this during my previous trip to the Monster Kingdom, seeing it again is still deeply shocking..."

The members of the Research Institute murmured among themselves, their words filled with sighs of awe and wonder.

Treading among the ruins of this great battle, coupled with the peacock's impassioned commentary, it felt as though they had crossed a millennium to witness the fierce battle scene once more.

The immortal and the Sovereign of Monsters walked side by side through the three fiends, humans and monsters fighting in alliance, with the light of fire intertwining across the grotto-heaven. Such a magnificent sight was by no means inferior to any great war in the mortal realm.

Cheng Xiaomeng took a deep breath, suppressing her churning emotions, and instead raised the camera in her hand, aiming it at the wondrous scenery before her, slowly pressing the shutter.

Beside her, quite a few researchers were doing the exact same thing, the clicking sound of camera shutters ringing out endlessly.

Even putting aside the research value itself, simply as scenery to be appreciated, this sight was enough to deliver a full visual shock, thousands of times better than any tourist attraction photo-op.

Only...

Cheng Xiaomeng lowered her camera, gazing at the scene before her with a thoughtful expression.

According to the account in the Monster Kingdom's legends, it was the immortal and the Phoenix Monarch who jointly struck down these three fiends... But based on her previous archaeological experience, these marks clearly looked like the handiwork of human cultivators. Where, then, did the role of the Sovereign of Monsters lie?

She turned her head, listening to the discussions of her colleagues.

Everyone present was a professional archaeological researcher, and she was clearly not the only one who had noticed this. This could easily be heard from the content of their conversations.

However, since the peacock, who served as the close attendant to the Sovereign of Monsters, was present, asking about it directly would ultimately cause the host to lose face. Therefore, the researchers simply marveled at the scenery and refrained from asking further questions.

Although of a different race, these were powerful spiritual monsters after all, and their emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and delight were no different from those of humans. Coupled with the fact that this peacock had been stationed at the Research Institute for a long time and could be considered half a colleague, it ought to be treated with human etiquette.

"The Battle of Suppressing the Three Fiends brought peace to the Qishan region, and it was also through this that the immortal and Her Majesty forged their bond."

Waiting for the murmurs of the crowd to slightly subside, the peacock at the front resumed its commentary: "During the great battle, Her Majesty obtained great fortune from the immortal, and the immortal likewise witnessed Her Majesty's heroic demeanor. The saying 'meeting like old friends and cherishing mutual affinity' describes precisely this."

"The specific details are recorded within the Imperial Capital. Please everyone board the vehicles, and we shall proceed to the final stop of this trip."

Guided by the peacock, the group finished their photography and documentation work, walking back to the vehicles one by one. The off-road vehicles started up once more, making a circle on the ground and turning toward the direction of the Golden Wutong tree, driving forward smoothly.

In the back seat of the off-road vehicle, Cheng Xiaomeng flipped through the photos she had just taken, deep in thought.

After a moment of contemplation, she signaled a senior chief researcher sitting nearby, took out her phone, typed a sentence in her notes, and handed the phone over to him.

"Director Wang, why doesn't that battlefield ruin look much like the handiwork of the Sovereign of Monsters?"

The peacock was a powerful monster with exceptionally sharp hearing, and even if she lowered her voice, it would still be heard. Yet, unable to suppress the doubt in her heart, she could only communicate using this method.

The director glanced at her and similarly moved his fingers to type. When the phone was handed back to her, an extra line had appeared on it.

"During previous explorations of the Monster Kingdom, some people already raised this question. However, the Sovereign of Monsters holds a special status after all, and it is very difficult to verify such historical issues on the ground. Besides, it serves little purpose, so we might as well temporarily follow the narrative provided by the Monster Kingdom."

Cheng Xiaomeng looked at that line of text, feeling internally that a chief director was indeed a chief director—truly shrewd and seasoned.

Indeed, as the words implied, digging into such historical issues was thankless work. Over a thousand years had passed, and that "immortal" was hardly going to reappear in person to refute the legend. Considering the status of the Monster Kingdom, they naturally had no choice but to use this legend as their reference.

She tucked the phone back into her pocket and once again turned her gaze outside the car window.

After traveling a few miles, the off-road vehicles entered the core area of the Monster Capital's imperial city. With the Golden Wutong tree as its axis, a smooth, broad avenue ran through the entire imperial city, and rows of trees were planted on both sides of the avenue.

Unlike the blooming of a hundred flowers in the outer areas, the species of those rows of trees was completely uniform: they were all pagoda trees.

Under the shroud of the Golden Wutong's radiance, every single pagoda tree was in bloom. As a gentle breeze blew, white pagoda tree petals fell like rain, fluttering down onto the avenue ahead and adding an extra layer of beauty to the imperial city.

Cheng Xiaomeng pressed against the window, recalling the descriptions in the previous materials.

During previous explorations, some members of the Research Institute had proposed a conjecture that the imperial city of the Monster Capital should have been built by imitating the style of Chang'an City during the Tang Dynasty. Judging from the floor plan, both the layout and the arrangement bore a striking resemblance to Chang'an.

According to the records, the ancient city of Chang'an had the Vermilion Bird Avenue as its axis, and the sides of the avenue were likewise planted with pagoda trees—matching the scene before her to the letter.

Considering that Qishan and Chang'an were quite close geographically, and that the phoenix had also emerged during the Tang Dynasty to travel alongside the immortal, such a conjecture was quite tenable.

However, even setting all of that aside, the Sovereign of Monsters seemed to have a special fondness for pagoda trees. Not only were the avenues of the imperial city lined with them, but their traces could be found throughout the entire city, and the flower-viewing festival they had come to attend this time was centered around these very pagoda trees.

Looked at this way, this was truly a Sovereign of Monsters with a very distinctive personality.

Cheng Xiaomeng sighed inwardly, watching the car pass through the grand entrance avenue and head straight toward the inner section.

"Next is the final stop of this trip, and also the final chapter of the Monster Kingdom's legend."

The peacock's voice came from the front seat: "After the Battle of Qishan, Her Majesty and the immortal formed a bond, traveling together thereafter and initiating a millennium-long legend of humans and monsters working hand in hand!"