80 Years Of Signing-In At The Cold Palace, I Am Unrivalled - Chapter 341
Chapter 341: Death Realm
Lin Jiufeng owed Bai Mao’er a wedding.
Now, he was dead, and only a remnant of his soul remained under the protection of the Light of the Homes. Lin Jiufeng felt that he had to complete this matter now.
He wanted to give Bai Mao’er the title of being his wife.
…
[Do you want to Sign-In in the Primal Chaos Array Formation?]
These words appeared in front of Lin Jiufeng’s eyes.
He smiled bitterly. He was already dead and only had a remnant soul left. Could he still sign in?
He agreed.
[Sign-In successful. Received a set of Immortal King Weapon, Phoenix Crown and Robe!]
Lin Jiufeng smiled and asked, “Did you know that I’m about to get married and gave me this set?”
The sign-in system didn’t answer Lin Jiufeng.
But after a short while, the words in front of his eyes changed.
[Happy Wedding!]
Lin Jiufeng smiled happily. “Congratulations too!”
…
Surrounded by primal chaos, the array formation was magnificent looking. It covered the land for thousands of miles. Other than the Cold Palace, all other things were reduced to ashes and devoured by the primal chaos.
In the Cold Palace, everything looked so festive with the huge red lanterns and stickers.
But placed in the Primal Chaos Array Formation, it was a little desolate.
Bai Mao’er put on the phoenix crown and robe that Lin Jiufeng obtained from the sign-in.
A colorful light flowed on them.
This red wedding dress had peacock feathers on it. It was exquisite as if it was exquisitely painted by the most outstanding artist. Each of them was bright in color. The light that was refracted on them shone differently on them as if they were draped in a dress made of gemstones. It made one unable to move their eyes away.
After Bai Mao’er wore it, she looked indescribably beautiful.
However, she looked at Lin Jiufeng sadly.
“It’s a happy day. Be happier.” Lin Jiufeng looked at Bai Mao’er gently. He wanted to reach out and stroke her, but after lifting up his hand, he put it down again.
He was just a wisp of a remnant soul that could only be stable under the protection of the Light of the Homes.
He was unable to touch Bai Mao’er now.
Hence, he couldn’t wear wedding attire and was still dressed as usual.
Bai Mao’er wiped the tears in her eyes. She looked at Lin Jiufeng with infinite gentleness and said, “I’m very happy. I’ve waited very long for this day. Come, today, there are 100 Immortal Kings of the Seven Races of the Ancient Age congratulating us on our marriage with their deaths. With the heavens as our mother and the earth as our father, let us worship heaven and earth.”
A pair of newlyweds, one virtual and one real.
Dressed up in the phoenix crown and robe, her face delicate, Bai Mao’er bowed to Lin Jiufeng.
No one bore witness for them.
No one knew that in the Primal Chaos Array Formation, a loving couple got married just like that.
But heaven and earth testified for them.
The deaths of a hundred Immortal Kings added a touch of red to this wedding.
Could there be a wedding more luxurious than this in the world?
Killing a hundred Immortal Kings as a sacrifice, this was an unprecedented wedding.
According to etiquette, Lin Jiufeng and Bai Mao’er kowtowed to the heaven and earth. The couple then kowtowed to each other. From now on, they would be one.
Bai Mao’er’s sadness disappeared and she looked at Lin Jiufeng in a daze, carrying a happy smile on her face.
She married Lin Jiufeng. The only man in her life.
She had accompanied Lin Jiufeng for more than a hundred years. When she opened her eyes again in the underground palace, the one she saw was Lin Jiufeng.
Then, she worked hard to transform for this day.
She was very happy. She was so happy that she cried.
The only witness of this wedding was the Light of the Homes.
It emitted a gentle light that illuminated the big red ‘Happy’ word that was pasted on the wall.
It sincerely blessed Lin Jiufeng and Bai Mao’er.
After completing the wedding ceremony, after the joy passed, Bai Mao’er looked at Lin Jiufeng and asked gently, “What’s your plan for me next?”
“The Light of the Homes will send you away. This Primal Chaos Array Formation is not your home. Go out and live well and cultivate. Don’t be sad. Wait for my return,” Lin Jiufeng said gently.
“What if I refuse?” Bai Mao’er’s eyes turned red again.
“Be good. You’ve always been very obedient.” Lin Jiufeng comforted her extremely gently.
“You will come back, right?” Bai Mao’er began to ask Lin Jiufeng with tearful eyes.
“I definitely will, don’t worry. This phoenix crown and robe are a set of Immortal King Weapons. They can protect you. I will be more at ease this way,” Lin Jiufeng comforted.
“If you lie to me, I will hate you forever,” Bai Mao’er bit her red lips and said plaintively.
“Don’t worry, I won’t lie to you.” Lin Jiufeng guaranteed.
Bai Mao’er looked at Lin Jiufeng reluctantly.
They had just gotten married and were about to part ways.
Moreover, Lin Jiufeng’s body was already dead, there was only a remnant soul left. She was really afraid.
But since Lin Jiufeng asked her to leave, she didn’t dare not to.
What if Lin Jiufeng’s revival was delayed if she refused to leave?
The Light of the Homes shone, flickering with beauty and brilliance, opening a passageway.
From the primal chaos, it connected to the outside world.
This was the energy of the Light of the Homes. It had been silent for more than a hundred years and had been absorbing the energy of the mortal realm. It was really powerful now.
“I’ll wait for you in the mortal realm!” Bai Mao’er looked at Lin Jiufeng reluctantly.
“Okay.” Lin Jiufeng nodded slightly.
Bai Mao’er turned her head, bit her red lips, and entered the passageway.
At the end of the passageway was the mortal realm.
On this end of the passageway was the primal chaos.
Lin Jiufeng stood in the primal chaos and looked into the distance, smiling at her.
Under such circumstances, the passageway closed.
…
In the Cold Palace, only Lin Jiufeng was left. His remnant soul appeared and disappeared under the illumination of the Light of the Homes. It was very unstable.
“This time, I’m afraid I will have to go back on my words.” Lin Jiufeng’s expression was lonely as he sighed slightly.
He felt that this wisp of his soul would dissipate at any moment.
Even with the Light of the Homes, he couldn’t last for long.
That was why he was in such a hurry to marry Bai Mao’er. It could be considered as putting a full stop to their companionship which had lasted more than a hundred years.
“Light of the Homes, in the final moments, it’s still you that’s remaining by my side.” Lin Jiufeng looked at the swaying Light of the Homes and smiled weakly.
“Land of Extremely Negative Energy!” The Light of the Homes spoke for the first time. It sounded very young and weak.
“The Land of Extremely Negative Energy won’t be able to save me.” Lin Jiufeng shook his head. Had he not thought of it? But he had gone to the Land of Extremely Negative Energy countless times, and he was already familiar with it.
The Land of Extremely Negative Energy was magical. Even though the Primal Chaos Array Formation destroyed the imperial capital and killed hundreds of Immortal Kings, it couldn’t destroy the Land of Extremely Negative Energy.
But the Land of Extremely Negative Energy didn’t have the ability to revive people.
The Light of the Homes continued to say, “If you die, the mortal realm will be destroyed.”
“I’ve already done my best to save this mortal realm and this world, but I have too little time.” Lin Jiufeng sighed.
In the past hundred-plus years of his life, he had encountered too many things.
Relying on his sign-in, he walked all the way to this day. With his cultivation base at the Ancestral Immortal Realm, he forcefully fought against the Immortal Kings and risked his life to kill three Immortal Kings.
Those were Immortal Kings, something that this world didn’t have many of.
Lin Jiufeng often lamented. If he was given another hundred years…
No, 50 years was enough.
He was confident that he would definitely become an Immortal King 50 years later!
But the appearance of the Seven Races of the Ancient Age was too rushed.
He wasn’t completely powerful, yet he had no choice but to fight.
Relying on the Life-Reversing Great Dao Array Formation, he frantically activated it. Ignoring the backlash, he threw his life into it. In the end, he even let his corpse become the array core of the Primal Chaos Array Formation.
Lin Jiufeng had given his all. He felt that he deserved the title of Great Emperor Jiufeng.
But now, he was already powerless to change the situation.
“There must be a way!” The Light of the Homes tried its best to emit energy to nourish Lin Jiufeng’s remnant soul.
But it was useless.
The remnant soul became fainter and fainter as if a gust of wind would blow past and it would disappear.
“In the future, you have to protect this world well too.” Lin Jiufeng looked at the Light of the Homes as if he was looking at a friend.
“I can’t. Without you, I’m just a magic treasure,” the Light of the Homes said.
“You have developed your own intelligence and your own thoughts. You can even speak and can make yourself stronger. You have already transformed. You have walked a path that no other magic treasure has walked.” Lin Jiufeng shook his head. No one could predict the path of the Light of the Homes anymore. It had already transformed from a magic treasure to a living creature.
The Light of the Homes fell silent.
It was increasingly unable to protect Lin Jiufeng’s remnant soul.
A gust of wind blew, and Lin Jiufeng’s remnant soul disappeared with the wind.
He disappeared from the Cold Palace.
In the distance, the General Appointing Platform that had been floating and sinking in the Primal Chaos Array Formation had also lost its last bit of vitality. It directly fell into the primal chaos.
The Sword of the Holy Church directly fell and was inserted into the primal chaos, losing its luster.
The Life-Reversing Great Dao Array Formation in Lin Jiufeng’s corpse also collapsed at this moment.
The Broken Cliff Mountain Range directly turned into dust.
Only Lin Jiufeng’s corpse was still standing in the air, entangled by the countless energy of the primal chaos.
He was the core of the array. If his corpse wasn’t destroyed, the Primal Chaos Array Formation wouldn’t stop.
Originally, a corpse couldn’t have lasted for long as the array core.
But the sea of blood in Bai Mao’er’s body rushed out and integrated into Lin Jiufeng’s body, causing his corpse to be unscathed even though it was surrounded by the terrifying energy of the primal chaos.
This also made Lin Jiufeng’s last worry disappear.
At the very least, the Primal Chaos Array Formation could stop the Seven Races of the Ancient Age for many years.
Unless they completely destroyed the array formation set up by the King of Recovery.
Otherwise, if they wanted to enter the mortal realm, they could only use this passageway.
At the end of the passageway was the imperial capital and the Primal Chaos Array Formation.
Hundreds of Immortal Kings had been killed. The Seven Races of the Ancient Age wouldn’t have the guts to come down anytime soon.
Hence, the mortal realm was temporarily safe.
As for Lin Jiufeng, he also disappeared from this world.
The Cold Palace was still there.
The Land of Extremely Negative Energy was still around.
The Light of the Homes still existed.
It sighed and continued to hang in front of the Cold Palace.
It swayed slightly.
…
It was a misty world. It seemed to be a world filled with primal chaos, but it also didn’t seem to be that simple.
This was a forest.
Although the towering trees weren’t very dense, their crowns were lush. They were enough to cover the entire place, making the forest look eerie and dark.
In this forest, there were many bones. Some were human bones, and some were animal bones…
Occasionally, a skeleton would climb up. A cold and white flame flickered between its brows. It looked around in confusion and then advanced according to its instincts.
There were no living creatures here!
Even the animals were just like bones and acted according to their instincts.
The bone-like world looked very strange.
In this forest, under the large expanse of dead trees and rotten branches, a phantom slowly floated up.
It looked at the world in confusion.
“What… is this place?”
“Who… am I?”
The phantom asked itself.
It was also asking the surroundings.
No one answered.
Around it, bones stood up and walked, leaving this place.
The phantom didn’t leave.
Instead, it continued to stand where it was, floating and sinking in the air.
It was wondering who it was.
After a while, the phantom’s eyes gradually became clear. It said seriously, “I’m Lin Jiufeng.”
“I’m Great Emperor Jiufeng!”
“Wasn’t I already dead?”
Lin Jiufeng looked around in confusion.
Further away in the distance, the forest ended. Outside, sharp howls often appeared in the mountains. Occasionally, tall and huge shadows would flash past. Through the fog lingering in the forest, looking from afar, it made one feel incomparably horrified.
This was a new world!
Lin Jiufeng was certain of this.
He was certain that he was already dead. He forcefully activated the Life-Reversing Great Dao Array Formation, causing him to lose his life. In the end, he even turned his corpse into the array core of the Primal Chaos Array Formation.
Even the mysterious Light of the Homes, who had created a cultivation path for magic treasures, was unable to save him and preserve his remnant soul.
At the last moment, Lin Jiufeng clearly remembered that his consciousness had returned to the primal chaos. All his thoughts had been disintegrated and didn’t exist at all.
But even so, he still survived.
Moreover, he came to this world.
Although he was still a remnant soul, it was much better than before.
At the very least, this wisp of his remnant soul wouldn’t dissipate with the wind.
It was just that his combat strength wasn’t as powerful as when he was at his peak.
Previously, he was at the Ancestral Immortal Realm. With the help of the Life-Reversing Great Dao Array Formation, he could even kill an Immortal King.
But the current him was at most at the False Immortal Realm.
The gap between him and an Ancestral Immortal was still huge.
But Lin Jiufeng was already very satisfied.
At the very least, he was still alive.
Initially, he had resigned himself to his fate and thought that he would definitely die. He hid it from Bai Mao’er and let her leave with hope.
Now, Lin Jiufeng could fulfill his promise.
“But where exactly is this place?” Lin Jiufeng looked around curiously.
Every once in a while, under the dry branches of the rotten trees, a skeleton would stand up and walk out.
They were very weak. Their souls were all cold white flames, and their auras were even inferior to Lin Jiufeng’s Martial Sage Level back then.
But they seemed to be produced continuously.
Lin Jiufeng didn’t see any other remnant soul like him.
As he watched, Lin Jiufeng couldn’t help but ask, “What exactly is this place?”
There wasn’t a single living creature here. They were all dead creatures, and they were all bone creatures.
It made Lin Jiufeng think that he had come to Hell.
But thinking about it carefully, Hell wasn’t like this either.
In this world, the sky flowed with death energy. The forest was also filled with the smell of decay. The flowers, plants, and trees would wither and decay at any moment, then become reborn again.
But that was all.
Lin Jiufeng floated casually and wandered around the forest. He discovered that these newly born bone creatures were all very pure. They had no thoughts at all and wandered along with their instincts.
“Can I still sign in?” Lin Jiufeng suddenly realized a terrifying thing.
If he couldn’t sign in anymore, it would definitely take a long time for him to revive. Would the little white cat despair?
[Do you wish to Sign in at the Death Realm?]
Right at this moment, a line of words appeared before Lin Jiufeng’s eyes.
A sign-in notification.
Lin Jiufeng heaved a sigh of relief. It was good that he could still sign in. This way, he could rely on signing in and revive quickly.
“Is this the Death Realm?” Lin Jiufeng discovered the words from the sign-in.
This world was called the Death Realm.
Lin Jiufeng had never heard of the Death Realm.
Whether it was from the books of the God Race or other books, there was no concept of the Death Realm.
“The Death Realm? Is it a world that people go to after they die?” Lin Jiufeng immediately thought of why he came here.
Wasn’t it just that he was already dead and only had a remnant soul? His remnant soul couldn’t last for long either. Was his soul considered to have been destroyed in the main world then?
Then, he came here.
Death Realm, a magical and strange world.
So, there was a vast Death Realm outside the main world?
Thoughts flew in Lin Jiufeng’s mind.
“Sign in!” Lin Jiufeng stopped his wild thoughts. No matter how he thought, he couldn’t get an answer. He might as well sign in immediately.
At least, this was the most practical now.
Signing in would bring him new information.
[Sign-In successful. Received a portion of the Death Realm’s substance!]
Lin Jiufeng looked at this notification, puzzled.
What was the Death Realm’s substance?
In his illusory palm, bits of substance appeared. There wasn’t much of it, it was like holding a handful of sand. It was very mysterious.
Lin Jiufeng had no idea of its uses!
He decisively checked the information.
[The substance of the Death Realm can make you stronger in the Death Realm and integrate with it.]
This explanation made Lin Jiufeng fall into deep thought.
“Other people who enter the Death Realm are all skeletons, only I am a remnant soul. Moreover, after others appeared, they were all very ignorant and forgot their memories from when they were alive. But I remembered my memories after a short while. This is enough to prove that I’m different from those skeletons.”
“The biggest difference is that they can absorb the energy of the Death Realm and continue to become stronger, but I can’t. I can’t absorb the energy here.” Lin Jiufeng’s remnant soul continuously tried to absorb it, but it was useless.
If this continued, he would gradually become weak. In the end, when his remaining energy dissipated, his remnant soul would become unstable too.
If he died in the Death Realm, Lin Jiufeng didn’t believe that a second Death Realm would appear.
At that time, he would probably be truly dead.
Hence, with the Death Realm’s substance now, Lin Jiufeng could integrate it into his remnant soul and continue cultivating in the Death Realm to return to his peak.
He might even reach a higher level of cultivation here.
Then, he could repair his incomplete divine soul and return to the mortal realm, find his body, and revive. There was still hope of this.
After integrating with the Death Realm’s substance, Lin Jiufeng’s illusory body became more substantial. He no longer had to keep floating and could now stand on solid ground.
To Lin Jiufeng, this tangible feeling wasn’t easy to come by.
“I want to go out and explore this Death Realm. What exactly is this place? Will all people enter this place after they die?” Lin Jiufeng had many questions in his heart. He needed to walk out of the forest and investigate carefully.
“After people die, will they all come in, or will they come in with conditions?”
“If everyone can enter, then this Death Realm is equivalent to giving everyone a second life. Isn’t this too heaven-defying?”
Lin Jiufeng was more inclined to believe that conditions were needed to enter the Death Realm.
There were a lot of questions here, so Lin Jiufeng needed to investigate the information and clues.
Instead of letting his imagination run wild and guessing the story with his own thoughts, Lin Jiufeng did as he said and walked out of the forest.
The outside world was beyond Lin Jiufeng’s expectations.
It was morning.
After exiting the forest, what greeted his eyes was the plains.
And on the empty plains in front, the air was lifeless, with a faint death energy lingering.
Looking forward, the plains were covered in bones, like pure white snow, decorating the ground into a white world.
Lin Jiufeng saw all sorts of bones. Among them were the bones of ferocious beasts, ranging from one to two meters to more than ten meters in size.
What surprised Lin Jiufeng even more was that he also saw many huge corpses that were hundreds of meters tall or even thousands of meters tall.
Moreover, there were many blades and swords hidden by these headless endless corpses. The armor that had almost been wiped out long ago had been corroded quite severely, only a portion of it was left.
This used to be an ancient battlefield.
Lin Jiufeng walked closer and picked up a sword by his feet.
The sword had long rotted and was covered in rust. His index finger flicked lightly on it. With a ding, the rust and the sword directly fell off and dropped down
This sword was completely useless.
“The material of this sword and the inscriptions inside the sword are both very powerful. This is at least an immortal artifact, and it’s an immortal artifact used by people of the Ancestral Immortal Realm and above.” Lin Jiufeng observed carefully and gave his judgment.
An immortal artifact used by Ancestral Immortals and above actually rotted to this extent.
This ancient battlefield needed to be counted with 10,000 years as the unit.
Or even tens of thousands of years.
Lin Jiufeng continued to look at the weapons and magic treasures.
They were all the same. They were extremely corroded and were completely useless now.
“What exactly happened here?” Lin Jiufeng frowned. A shocking battle must have happened on this ancient battlefield.
Although he didn’t know any other details, Lin Jiufeng was still very happy.
Because he could determine that there were powerhouses in the Death Realm.
If there were powerhouses, there would also exist many secrets.
Perhaps they knew how to let Lin Jiufeng return to the mortal realm.
This was very important to Lin Jiufeng.
The morning sun rose and gradually dispelled the death energy, but it was difficult to change this lifeless world.
The rising sun scattered among the bones. This area that seemed to be an ancient battlefield was silent.
Lin Jiufeng observed as he walked, absorbing the death energy to recover his strength.
Although it was called recovery, in essence, it was still to repair his damaged soul. To Lin Jiufeng, this was a process that was relatively difficult.
Suddenly, with a cracking sound, Lin Jiufeng’s foot shattered the skull of a skeleton.
The skull shattered, and a ball of flames fell from it.
Red flames!
Unlike the white flames of ordinary skeletons, the flames of this skeleton were red.
As soon as Lin Jiufeng saw the red flames, his body heated up. He felt a desire as if he had been starving for more than ten days and was seeing a feast now.
Hunger!
Lin Jiufeng picked up the red skeleton soul flame and a vast devouring energy was emitted from his body.
At this moment, the red soul energy was devoured by Lin Jiufeng.
In a while, the red soul energy disappeared.
As for Lin Jiufeng’s own soul body, it had also stabilized a little.
“I can absorb the remnant souls in this ancient battlefield to replenish my damaged soul and recover my cultivation base,” Lin Jiufeng said in surprise. He had found hope.
Other than signing in, he also had this method to repair his injuries.
Then, Lin Jiufeng continuously crushed some bone heads to obtain the remnant souls inside and then absorbed them.
Although there wasn’t much energy in the remnant souls, the advantage was that there were a lot of them. This was very important to Lin Jiufeng.
On this day, he constantly absorbed the remnant souls.
Early in the next morning, Lin Jiufeng had already recovered to the Immortal Realm.
His soul body became even more solid.
This wasn’t an easy thing to accomplish had it not been for these remnant souls here. Lin Jiufeng wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Instead, he continued to absorb the remnant souls in the ancient battlefield.
“I wonder how dangerous this world is. Since I have hope of recovering now, I should recover to my peak before exploring the other regions.” Lin Jiufeng set a goal for himself.
He displayed his calm character.
When the next day arrived, Lin Jiufeng could sign in again.
[Do you want to Sign-In at the Ancient Battlefield?]
Lin Jiufeng nodded and said, “Sign in!”
He also wanted to know what good things he could sign in at this ancient battlefield.
[Sign-In successful. Received the Sword of the Ancient Battlefield!]
A longsword made of bones appeared in Lin Jiufeng’s hand.
It was huge, long, and domineering.
“Is this an immortal artifact?” Lin Jiufeng held this ancient battlefield sword and waved it. It was extremely sharp, capable of shattering the void a little.
He checked the information of this sword.
[This is a bone sword used by an immortal. I hope you can display its might!]
Lin Jiufeng held the sword tightly and said in satisfaction, “I’m currently bare-handed. My magic treasures have been abandoned in the mortal realm and in the Primal Chaos Array Formation. It’s not bad to have such a sword in this Death Realm.”
Lin Jiufeng began to use the sword to pry open the skulls, obtaining the remnant soul energy inside to repair his injuries.
It was the same for four days in a row.
He had already toured the entire ancient battlefield.
Countless remnant souls were absorbed.
To the current Lin Jiufeng, he had already recovered to the Mystic Immortal Realm.
At the Mystic Immortal Realm, his divine soul had mostly recovered and was already very solid. He wasn’t much different from a normal human now.
More importantly, his strength was only one realm away from his peak.
As long as he found some more remnant souls to absorb, he would be able to recover to his peak.
Then, he could work towards the next realm.
The Sovereign Immortal Realm!
If an immortal could reach the Sovereign Immortal Realm, it meant that the immortal path he walked was very stable and powerful.
Then, he could aim for the next realm.
The Immortal King Realm!
This was a great encouragement for Lin Jiufeng.
“It’s a pity that the ancient battlefield is no longer of use. It’s time for me to leave.” Lin Jiufeng looked at the ground of bones and sighed.
In the past few days on the ancient battlefield, he didn’t trigger any more sign-in. This made Lin Jiufeng feel very helpless.
He knew that it was time for him to leave this place.
On the morning of the fifth day, a vibration came from afar.
Bone creatures were fighting in the distance. It was extremely intense, fighting until the void was trembling.
Lin Jiufeng could feel it clearly from at least a thousand miles away.
Roar…
A thousand miles away, a terrifying roar came. It shocked the bone creatures that were very weak and had no ability to think on their own for thousands of miles.
Lin Jiufeng sharply sensed the abnormality.
His divine soul spread. He listened attentively and discovered that it was two bone creatures fighting.
It was very intense.
They were planning to determine their life and death in this fight.
Moreover, just like Lin Jiufeng, they were both at the Mystic Immortal Realm.
Not long after, roars sounded again. The battle ahead was about life and death.
Lin Jiufeng heard them shouting that they were fighting for the divine soul and the flames.
Lin Jiufeng felt that they were the same as him, both wanting to obtain the soul flames of other bone skeletons.
It wasn’t just Lin Jiufeng. They could also absorb the soul flames of others and become stronger.
This was a cruel and realistic path of growth.
But in the Death Realm, this was the norm.
After Lin Jiufeng listened carefully for a while, he rushed over decisively. He wanted to see if he could take advantage of the situation.
Even if he couldn’t take advantage of their weakness or something, he could still sneak upon them.
As Lin Jiufeng traveled, the roars became increasingly mournful. The battle was very intense.
It had reached the climax.
