Qianye said with a serious expression, “Your talents aren’t bad, it’s not easy to get to this level of cultivation. You were simply delayed by Liu Zhongyuan. If you correct things now, it’s not like you have no hope of becoming a divine champion.”

Xu Jingxuan was delightfully surprised, his voice trembling. “Do you speak the truth?” He then said dejectedly, “But the Royal Tutor once judged that I have no hope of breaking through in this lifetime.”

Qianye sneered. “The man himself barely broke through, and has not made any progress in several decades. He couldn’t even beat someone like me who’s not a divine champion yet. How good do you think his judgment is?”

Xu Jingxuan trembled faintly. “Sire, what must I do to break through?”

“There are definitely methods. I will naturally tell you once we drive the werewolves away and gain a foothold.”

Xu Jingxuan’s expression fluctuated. After a good while of deliberation, he fell onto one knee and said, “Sire, you are intent on fighting the dark races and you are willing to point me to the light as well. I, Xu Jingxuan, am willing to swear fealty to you. I will remain loyal even if I break through to the divine champion realm in the future!” It was the dream of every cultivator to cross this great threshold and become a divine champion. Whether or not this little bit of hope could be realized in the future, it was still hope nonetheless.

Qianye nodded. “Get up, the dark races are powerful, so our human race has always been the one struggling to seek survival. The werewolves on Fort Continent won’t be easy to deal with, even though they have been abandoned by the Evernight faction.”

“Sire, rest assured. I don’t dare say much about other things, but I’m quite confident about fighting werewolves.”

Qianye nodded. “That’s settled then. We must make haste, the Evernight Faction is planning their trip to the new world. It won’t be a good thing if they get the advantage.”

“New world?” Xu Jingxuan was puzzled. He simply had no idea what Qianye was referring to.

The new world was no longer a secret among the upper echelons of the Qin Empire. All the families and clans would be discussing this topic most of the time during meetings.

A world that was worth the dark races stopping their holy war, its allure was beyond words or description. What people were worried about was where this world was, what it was like, and what kind of benefits it would bring. In truth, there was no need to answer that final question because the benefits were likely beyond anyone’s imagination.

Information from the evernight side was strangely deficient. Those standing at the peak of Great Qin seemed to have sensed certain things, but they were keeping their silence. The peak divination experts brought forth fragmented pieces of information but couldn’t piece together a complete picture.

Some people thought of Lin Xitang. Did he not leave any word regarding such a big event? But those who investigated his whereabouts during that period were disappointed. The marshal had entered the Divination Pavilion before news of the new world began circulating, and he sped to the void continent after coming out. The Imperial Capital was filled with undercurrents during that period, so there was no way to hold a major sacrificial ceremony.

The new world’s existence greatly reduced the impact of the Empire’s absolute victory on the void continent. People were in no mood to discuss the stairway to heaven as their mood was eventually replaced by worry.

There were numerous intelligent minds in the Empire who managed to analyze some characteristics of the new world from small clues. The first conclusion was that this new world could accommodate a large number of ordinary life-forms, unlike the Great Maelstrom where only a handful of powerful experts could survive. Also, this new world was incomparably vast and would take a massive army to occupy.

These two characteristics could be concluded from how the Evernight faction had been mobilizing much more forces than before. Spies had revealed that the dark races were amassing over a million soldiers and counting. Additionally, they were recruiting more soldiers and expanding their forces. There were hundreds of giant military camps on every continent under the Evernight faction’s control. It would probably take over ten million soldiers to fill up all of them.

Mobilization on such a large scale was naturally not for the Empire. Both the Demon King and the Spider Queen had shown their faces during the Sanguine Funeral period. There was no need to wait if the two factions were going into an all-out war. With the passage of time, the Empire would stabilize internally and the price of invading it would rise.

Besides, the fact that there was no mad increase in transport construction proved that these soldiers had other purposes. They were not for invading other continents. Where else could they be used for but the new world?

The Empire fell into internal debates based on these judgments. One faction favored building a large number of airships to maintain air superiority. This would allow them to invade one of Evernight’s continents even if they failed to take the new world. The other faction stood by an all-out mobilization to fight the dark race army in the new world.

All of this held little meaning for Qianye because what he needed to solve now was the issue of Fort Continent.

While he was reorganizing in Pagoda City, a high-speed corvette arrived with Song Zining’s letter.

The correspondence’s first half spoke of the Empire and Evernight’s recent movements and important events, together with his own analysis. After that, the discussion went onto Fort Continent.

This segment opened with a question. “What do you think is the purpose of countries like Zheng?”

Qianye meditated on the matter without reading downward.

This problem sounded easy. Humans weren’t fast enough and strong enough, nor did they live long enough. Hence, they were at a natural disadvantage in a competition against the dark races.

Their advantage lay in their intelligence, quick cultivation-speed, and unity. From small and medium families to the aristocracy and major clans, all of them worked together for the race’s survival. Small countries like Zheng existed to give shelter to humans so that they would not have to worry about becoming the dark races’ food.

There was another theory among the upper echelons, stating that human cultivation arts were far superior to the dark races’. Otherwise, why would they grow stronger and stronger despite fighting against the dark races for a thousand years? Many arts left behind by the founding ancestors possessed unfathomable power. But just like the Combatant Formula, most of them were extremely demanding on the cultivator. Even throughout the entire human race, few could ever succeed.

Where had these arts come from? Or was the founding ancestor a genius rarely seen in an eternity? These questions had been a riddle since ancient times.

All in all, the existence of a nation served to protect the people below and uplift the experts above.

Everyone in the Empire understood this logic. At the very least, everyone was taught this way from the clans above to the landowning households below. Even ordinary civilians understood that the difficulties of living in human settlements far outweighed life in the wilderness. Qianye couldn’t think of any better reason, so he kept on reading the letter.

“The foundation of a country is its people and its leader. A country like Zheng that knows only infighting and ignores all outside battles, what use is it in our struggle against the dark races? What use is it for our human race?

“Prince Greensun talked to you about this before leaving Whitetown. I also went to see him after returning to the Empire. In truth, his intentions are clear. If you don’t like certain things, what’s the point of just complaining? Only by taking things into your own hands can you do things as you wish. If you’re truly thinking about the human race, appearances don’t matter at all. If Zheng cannot protect its people, what’s the point of leaving it there? Just destroy it. Who says Zheng must belong to the Nans and that can never change?

“If you become a heavenly monarch, who will dare criticize you? If you do not become one, people will criticize you no matter what you do. All you need to pursue is a clear conscience.”

At this point, Qianye suddenly understood and the questions clouding his mind disappeared. There were no more dark corners.

He had come to Fort Continent to fight for survival space and to utilize the human population on Fort Continent to build up his own forces. He would need a large army to join the fray in the new world.

An army, a power, and a nation, what was the difference? Asking oneself honestly, was Zheng better in Nan Ruohuai’s hands, or was it better in his hands?

Qianye gradually formed an idea and was just about to put down the letter when he read the last line.

“Qianye, when we become heavenly monarchs, we cannot just focus on ourselves.”

These words shook him. Thinking back, those who had impacted him the most were Lin Xitang and Zhang Boqian.

Lin Xitang wasn’t a heavenly monarch officially, but the stronger Qianye grew, the more he understood how unfathomable the marshal was. The more he paid attention to building up and operating a military power, the more he looked up to Lin Xitang’s character. In terms of power and contribution to the Empire, the marshal was not inferior to any of the heavenly monarchs.

There was even less of a need to discuss Zhang Boqian—this heavenly monarch was shouldering a great burden for home, for the country, and for the human race.

As for himself, Qianye’s vampire side was a glorious marquis, a divine champion level power through and through. His Daybreak side was somewhat lacking, but that was only an issue of accumulation. In terms of combat strength, Qianye was already above an ordinary divine champion. The way he had slaughtered Liu Zhongyuan was proof of this. Under such circumstances, he couldn’t feel relaxed at all. Instead, he felt the responsibilities on his shoulder growing heavier.

All of Dark Flame looked up to him as a leader. Even though they were almost wiped out at Whitetown, not only did the survivors not complain, but they became even more loyal to Qianye. Dark Flame’s subsequent recruitment was also fairly successful, with mercenaries pouring into the Eastern Sea from every corner of the neutral lands. Why was that? The only reason for that was a sense of belonging.

Mercenaries weren’t afraid of death, but they were afraid of dying without dignity. They were even more afraid of their family members losing their dignity after their passing. At least with Dark Flame, they were able to find hope. So, even in a bitter fight like Whitetown, no one would shrink back as long as Qianye remained steadfast.

The more things developed this way, the more Qianye felt his responsibilities growing. No matter what happened, he could not betray the trust of these people.

His burdens never lightened as his strength rose. On the contrary, they grew even heavier, and it seemed like that would still be the case in the future. In addition to love and brotherly loyalty, there were many things adding to his weight. Once he was a heavenly monarch, he would have to trudge forward with the entire human race on his back.

Qianye folded the letter in silence. Then, a small tornado of energy appeared in his hand once more, shredding the paper to pieces.

He walked over to the window and looked down at the busy Pagoda City. Many people were out on the streets, converging toward the recruitment points. A nearby plaza was packed full of armaments and ammunition. One after the other, the young men who passed the screening test would be provided with weapons and uniforms. Thereafter, they would head to their assigned squad and barracks to begin training.