Shadowfell Prefecture Capital.
Broken walls and ruins could be seen everywhere.
Scorched earth stretched as far as the eye could see, with trees burned black and dark smoke filling the sky.
The Spirit Boats of the Azure Imperial Dynasty were slowly returning.
Some cultivators flew through the air, while on the ground, a long procession carried the remains of the dynasty's soldiers back home.
On the foremost Spirit Boat.
Crown Prince Fei Heng stood clad in armor, his face slightly pale.
He looked back at the dynasty's soldiers.
Once a simple farmer in the Azure Cloud Prefecture, he had since weathered the deception and intrigue of the court and undergone the baptism of war on the battlefield against the Wu Tribe.
Now, every gesture he made was filled with the air of a king.
"Back when I was hiding within the Li Clan in the Azure Cloud Prefecture, Royal Father surely knew of it, yet he turned a blind eye. Perhaps now I understand his intentions."
Fei Heng let out a long breath.
"If not for those three hundred years of tempering my character—learning to accept a destiny of obscurity, to study, and to comprehend the suffering of the common people—how could I possess the resolve and ability to shoulder the weight of the world?
How could I maintain a heart as still as an ancient well amidst such internal strife and external aggression?"
Beside him, a short-haired female general rubbed her eyes, pretending she had been listening.
A petite woman in a yellow dress pursed her lips and rolled her eyes repeatedly.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, that is not what you said two months ago when you lost that battle.
You said that if you hadn't wasted those three hundred years, you would have had a multitude of supporters by now; you would have summoned ten million cultivators and slaughtered your way into the Wu Tribe."
"Hmph, ridiculous!" Fei Heng gritted his teeth.
"This Crown Prince never said such a thing. You heard wrong!"
"I..."
Li Tianyue covered her niece's mouth. "Correct, Your Highness never said that."
She then cast a reproachful glare at her outspoken niece.
As the three were speaking, a soldier approached.
"Reporting to Your Highness, the Crown Prince.
Zhangsun Buhuo of the Sunreach Prefecture Zhangsun Clan and Jiang Tianjun of the Heavenly Monarch Dao Sanctuary request an audience.
They are currently waiting in the camp for Your Highness's return."
"They have arrived?" Fei Heng's face lit up with joy.
He was fully aware of the events regarding the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, the Grand Tower, and even the Peerless Hall.
In fact, his shadow could be found behind these events.
Just as Li Kuanghua had said, despite his many years in the court, there were actually very few partisans who were truly devoted to him alone.
He merely held the authority of the Crown Prince.
The loyalty of those in the royal court was directed at the position of "Crown Prince," not at him personally.
As for the title of Crown Prince—if he could hold it, so could others.
Was that not exactly the case with Crown Prince Sheng in the past?
As the reporting soldier departed...
Li Tianyue spoke up.
"Your Highness, the family instructed me to warn you: Min Tiange is by no means a benevolent soul; he harbors hidden malice.
Sixty thousand years ago, he took control of the Grand Tower.
Thirty thousand years ago, he obtained the Dao Seed.
In these thirty thousand years, no one in the world knows exactly how many people have fallen under the control of the Dao Seed."
Hearing this, the joy that had just appeared on Fei Heng's face vanished.
"In other words, anyone who pledges loyalty to me could potentially be one of Min Tiange's men?"
"Mn."
Worry filled Li Tianyue's eyes.
"With the matters regarding the Grand Tower and the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems fully exposed, there is absolutely no way he will let things rest.
My family elders say that what he truly fears is not you, Your Highness, but the mighty figures within the imperial court.
Now that the affair of the Peerless Hall has come to light, he will stop at nothing to divert attention away from himself."
As her voice fell.
All three people on the Spirit Boat frowned.
From the direction of the Wu Tribe behind the Spirit Boat, they saw a ghost flying toward them—a manifestation of the Wu Tribe Shamanic technique.
The ghost spoke in human language, instantly causing the expressions of the three to turn dark and gloomy.
At this moment.
In the Wu Tribe's encampment, Wu Tribe tribesmen from three Totem Tribes were resting and reorganizing at the edge of the Endless Forest.
Luo Xing, the Elder who had once invaded the Azure Cloud Prefecture, and Lei Dong, who had now become an Elder himself, were both staring at the Venerable's Command Token in their hands.
[Stall the Shadowfell Prefecture Army. Our forces have reached Sunreach Prefecture and are driving straight into the heartland of the Central Plains!]
[The Mandate of Heaven belongs to our Wu Tribe!]
"Lord Luo Xing, the letter to the Azure Cloud Li Clan has been delivered."
Lei Dong's expression was grim.
"Charging into the Azure Imperial Dynasty and driving straight into the heartland...
Unless we can take down the Azure Imperial Dynasty in one fell swoop, we will be attacked from both front and rear, falling into a passive position.
Just what are the clan Venerables doing?!!"
"It is a strategic error." Luo Xing remained expressionless.
"Ever since that battle in the Azure Cloud Prefecture, our race has been probing—probing to see if the Human Emperor is aging and frail.
For this, many clansmen have already lost their lives.
Now acting in this manner again... at first glance, it seems beneficial, but is penetrating deep into the heartland a trifling matter?"
The two exchanged a glance. They both felt as though there was an invisible hand manipulating everything—perhaps even manipulating the Venerables within their own clan.
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