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He needed a justification. Something to sweep his own failures under the rug. A way to explain things to the emperor. The justification didn’t need to be perfect. After all, the emperor was the type of person who would be able to poke holes even into a perfect explanation. That wasn’t important. As one of the heavenly kings, much of his explanation would come in the form of his attitude. He needed to do something that made his attitude toward the emperor very clear.

Furthermore, what the emperor cared most about was winning the war. If he could recover from his losses and quell the chaos, then his ‘problem’ wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Most importantly...

Sea-Sealing County has Dawning Suns! They’re not quite as impressive as the real Dawning Suns, although that’s only what we know on the surface. They could have more assets that we don’t know about.

King Heaventide looked down at the jade slip, and his eyes grew colder.

Sea-Sealing County was lax in sending reinforcements, which is one of the main reasons I was defeated. And though I don’t know how they made their Dawning Suns, that’s an even greater crime. I have to go to Sea-Sealing County, confiscate their illicit Dawning Suns, then come back here and break the stalemate with the Nightshades. That’s my only option.

Having come to the conclusion that this was definitely the best course of action, King Heaventide immediately issued orders, and his army started the return trip to the Holytide Region, and within it, Sea-Sealing County.

It was a given that King Heaventide had already considered the possibility that Sea-Sealing County would detonate a Dawning Sun to kill him and end things in mutual destruction. That didn’t seem likely to him, as long as he didn’t push them too far and make them think they were going to be wiped out. He needed to put some pressure on them, offer to exempt them from punishment over the Dawning Suns issue, and recognize their autonomy.

If he did that, Sea-Sealing County would bend the knee. That was, unless they were planning to rebel against humankind. If that was the case, it wouldn’t have anything to do with him.

Just putting the right amount of pressure on them should do the trick.

Wrapped up in such thoughts, King Heaventide led his army toward Sea-Sealing County.

From a distance, it was an army millions strong, capable of destroying anything in their path. War banners snapped in the wind as they made their way along, organized into over a dozen legions. Each legion was different. Some were mounted on enormous birds. Some sat cross-legged atop mutant beasts. Some soared along in clouds and fog.... In the back was a legion of nonhumans, including giants fully 300 meters tall, clad in armor from head to toe, their every step shaking the lands.

Up front was a 30,000-meter black dragon that snaked through the clouds, pulsing with stupefying power. Seated cross-legged on the dragon’s head was King Heaventide, his eyes closed, his expression cold and somber.

Wherever the army passed, heaven and earth trembled. It crossed right through Grand Duke Holytide’s territory, then reached the ruins of the imperial capital in the old lands of the Kingdom of Heavengale. From his position atop the black dragon, King Heaventide surveyed the area thoughtfully. Then he closed his eyes, and the army moved on.

Eventually it reached the border of Sea-Sealing County, specifically, the three prefectures that Seventh Prince had originally taken, but been maneuvered into returning. The living beings in those three prefectures trembled in fear. That included mortals and cultivators alike. The grim army swept through with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force, kicking up wind and dust, and trampling the terrain.[1]

The three prefectures’ spell formations were crushed in an instant, and any species, organizations, or sects who found themselves in the way of the army were smashed. The Swordsage Divisions in those prefectures were no exception.

Tyrannical. Mighty. Invincible.

Words such as that described the advance of the army as they got closer and closer to the county capital of Sea-Sealing County. Almost overnight, Sea-Sealing County was thrown into a very unstable and dangerous situation.

Of course, Sea-Sealing County had long since received news of King Heaventide’s impending arrival. And no one was really surprised by what was happening. From the moment the High Commander’s army was captured, everyone in the county knew that this day would come. Therefore, war preparations hadn’t ceased.

Once the news came in about King Heaventide arriving, Sea-Sealing County’s taboo treasure was activated. The magical treasures from all the subsidiary sects were also turned on, causing a huge net to cover everything for 50 kilometers around the county capital. Cultivators from all three palaces put on their armor and made preparations to fight back. Spell formations were set up that glowed with the light of divine abilities. Magical devices designed for warfare were activated, and could be used at any moment. War puppets were activated.

Master Seventh’s dreadnaught glided in the air amongst a host of flying ships from a variety of sects. What was more, a huge palace floated in the sky, within which were Master Seventh, Marquis Yao, the three palace lords, and Void Returning experts from different sects. Xu Qing and the Captain were also there. They were all looking toward the horizon.

In contrast, the various organizations in the Holytide Region were looking in their direction. In the past, everyone would have assumed that Sea-Sealing County was about to be erased from existence. But then Sea-Sealing County went and used a Dawning Sun, and that shook everyone to the core.

Everyone wanted to see what happened when King Heaventide showed up, and what course of action Sea-Sealing County would take to weather the storm.

Grand Duke Holytide was the one who was taking the most open interest in the proceedings. He himself wouldn’t ever provoke King Heaventide, but he was actually very interested in Sea-Sealing County’s Dawning Suns. He actually didn’t care who came out on top of this clash. He was more interested in taking advantage of the situation to see who the superior force really was.

Sadly, Sea-Sealing County just isn’t strong enough. If they were a bit more daring, maybe they would detonate all of their Dawning Suns. That would be interesting.

Grand Duke Holytide smiled faintly. None of this had anything to do with him as far as he was concerned. Nor did he think it would affect him going forward. Unless... Sea-Sealing County got truly daring. However, that would be complete madness, and seemed incredibly unlikely. So in the end, he just sighed and waited.

Of all the people watching to see how things would play out, there was one person who was more excited than anyone else, and that was Seventh Prince. He knew that Sea-Sealing County shouldn’t be underestimated. However, he had faith in his uncle, who was, after all... a Smoldering God. He was very much looking forward to seeing how it all turned out.

What will you choose to do this time, Xu Qing?

And thus, everyone in the Holytide Region looked on with various attitudes as King Heaventide’s army arrived outside the county capital. Their arrival caused Sea-Sealing County’s sky to dim and its lands to tremble violently. The seemingly innumerable soldiers exuded a pressure that shook the hearts of all the cultivators observing the situation.

Most shocking of all was the cross-legged figure seated atop the head of the black dragon. On the Sea-Sealing County side, everyone was silent. No one spoke. Everyone focused on the imposing, middle-aged man atop the dragon. As all gazes focused on King Heaventide, he opened his eyes. They were like two furnaces that caused everything in the area to shake.

A cry of alarm echoed out from the sky as Qingqin backed up rapidly, not daring to be subjected to that gaze.

A majestic major world appeared over the county capital, becoming its sky, blocking out all light and casting the city into shadow. But then fire started to burn within that major world, and it was accompanied by never-ending screams as if from devils and monsters. All living beings who heard it were shaken.

Instantly, Sea-Sealing County was illuminated by the fire from King Heaventide’s major world.

The city’s taboo treasure emitted piercing sounds as it started to crumble, then struggled to rebuild itself. The cultivators in the city were in a similar situation. Every single one could feel the terrifying power of a Smoldering God, and stimulated their energy to resist.

Unfortunately, that did no good in the face of a Smoldering God. If King Heaventide wanted to, he could exercise a single thought to wipe out everything in front of him. That said, it was obvious he hadn’t come for purposes of destruction and extermination. Nor did he want to push Sea-Sealing County into unleashing their Dawning Suns, and end things in mutual destruction.

Though he was emitting immense pressure, he wasn’t actually using it to crush Sea-Sealing County. It was only a warning.

Behind King Heaventide, a general in a suit of black armor emerged from the army. His mount was a flood dragon, and he had a fourth-stage Void Returning cultivation base, which caused an illusory world to appear overhead.

He flew out until he was between the two armies. There, he looked up at the forces of Sea-Sealing County, a complicated expression on his face.

Sounding very calm, he said, “Governor Yao Tianyan of Sea-Sealing County. Lieutenant Governor Zheng Kaiyi. You are hereby ordered to accept the punishment of a heavenly king. You have committed five crimes.

“The first is that of disrespecting the imperial clan.

“The second is failure to comply with conscription orders.

“The third is your suspected involvement in ambushing the conscription army of the high commander.

“The fourth is ordering your troops to flee on the eve of battle.

“The fifth is, by means of the above actions, delaying the war and affecting the war effort in a major way, and thus aiding and abetting our enemies!”

With that, the general looked up at the figures in the floating palace. “Do you admit to your crimes?”

Behind him, the cultivators in King Heaventide’s army shouted, “Admit your guilt!”

Their voices crashed like thunder, shaking everything, and even stirring the garments of the Sea-Sealing County forces.

Everyone was shaken. However, nobody said a word. Xu Qing’s expression remained the same as ever as he stared at the army.

The silence caused King Heaventide’s eyes to turn even more cold and grim. It was the same with the gaze of the general.

“Because the heavenly king recognizes you as humans,” the general continued, “and does not wish humans to kill each other, he is issuing four orders that you must comply with. If you do, you can turn your crimes into deeds of merit.

“One. Transfer all deserters into our custody for later trial and judgment.

“Two. Immediately release the high commander’s army.

“Three. Yao Tianyan and Zheng Kaiyi will join the army forthwith, conscript 1,000,000 troops, and go to the front lines.

“Four. Deliver all of your Dawning Suns to us.”

With that, the general backed up into his original position in the army. Meanwhile, the forces of Sea-Sealing County remained as silent as before. Seeing that, King Heaventide rose to his feet on the head of the black dragon. Looking down at the county capital, he spoke in a voice that boomed like thunder.

“If we win the war with the Nightshades, I will personally exempt Sea-Sealing County from all punishment. Furthermore, Sea-Sealing County can remain autonomous as part of the Sea-Sealing County fiefdom. But if you refuse to cooperate....”

King Heaventide’s eyes turned colder, and his Smoldering God cultivation base caused the sky to shake. With a single thought, he could devastate the county capital and put all the people there in a terrible situation.

In the floating palace, Master Seventh turned to Xu Qing. Marquis Yao did the same. Everyone did. The Captain, of course, looked more proud of himself than ever.

King Heaventide noticed that and he frowned slightly. He had sensed earlier that something unusual was going on in Sea-Sealing County, and that feeling was now stronger than ever. He let loose a cold harrumph.

“Apparently you have additional assets you feel confident in relying on. Fine. Bring them out. I’m curious to see what they are.”

Xu Qing’s expression remained the same as ever as he looked, not at the imposing King Heaventide, but rather, at the sky. Clasping hands, he bowed.

“He’s calling you out, Grandpa Ninth.”

1. The incident of maneuvering Seventh Prince into returning the provinces was in chapter 548.2. ☜