The bell rang, and the Nine Heavens resonated...
People everywhere raised their heads to look at the heavens, their expressions bewildered.
Clang!
The bell of National Fortune rang again. Everyone throughout the Ninth Realm shuddered, a trace of chill rising in their hearts.
Clang...
The bell of National Fortune did not stop, continuing to toll, peal after unbroken peal.
Someone held out all ten fingers and began counting the tolls...
"One, two, three..."
Every toll seemed to strike the hearts of the people, making their bodies stiffen involuntarily...
"Seven, eight, nine..."
The bell fell silent, and the world sank into silence.
"Nine... nine..." Someone raised their hands, staring blankly at their nine extended fingers as they spoke.
"This is..." someone murmured in a daze.
"A national... sacrifice..."
Nine tolls made the "Kingdom-Sacrificing Bell." National Fortune Power was announcing a "national sacrifice" to the world!
There were two kinds of national sacrifice. The first was the fall of a nation...
The second was the death of an emperor...
With its connection to Su Mo erased, National Fortune Power announced one thing to the world... the Human Emperor had passed away.
The world sank into silence. After the nine tolls of the Kingdom-Sacrificing Bell, everyone stood rooted to the spot in a daze.
The Demon Sect Mountain Gate stood amid the mountains.
Water flowed beneath a little bridge, and the wind swept east through the woods.
Cheng An'an was sitting cross-legged in the Side Hall, circulating and absorbing the power of her inheritance, when a bell's toll suddenly reached the Demon Sect Mountain Gate, making the entire Demon Sect Mountain Gate tremble.
Listening to the bell, Cheng An'an slowly opened her eyes and raised her head, a Radiant Mark on her forehead flickering in and out.
The nine tolls faded, lingering