‘It’s really strange that they don’t seem to be interested in any of my recent moves…’

Zhang Dong looked at the huge army and flying ships that were almost through the protective shielding. He could see one of the pointy towers generating it starting to crack. At the moment he wasn’t thinking about the Emerald Phoenix Emperor that had probably arrived but his counterpart the Azure Emperor. Ever since his encounter with his wife, there had been radio silence.

Even when he continued to push to the north and then to the south no one from the Long Clan came to complain. It was as if they checked out of this war between nations or that they were busy with something else.

‘Could they be preparing to swoop in and take out the victor? That’s not a bad strategy but would they attack my sect with no warning?’

The Long Clan and their leader could not be just ignored. Zhang Dong was pushing hard into the eastern front because he wanted to finish everything before more people were hurt. It would have been quite easy to just rest his forces and bunker up in the western region.

The demi-human scourge had been defeated and without a new Emperor, they would be busy with their own politics now. Unless a strong leader appeared he didn’t feel like they would muster enough forces to attempt a crossing through the bridge. Going against someone that managed to defeat their undefeated leader was not the smartest idea.

Hundred years was a lot for someone that spent his life in the modern world. Even though Zhang Dong had achieved a lifespan of a thousand years he had not really partaken in this longevity. His time in this world didn’t even go over ten years. To him waiting for so long was quite a bit and the number of people that would die if he didn’t act kept him up at night.

It was the right thing to do but maybe not the best thing if he considered his own people that had already gone through a lot of hardship. As he was looking at the bursts of spiritual energy colliding with the shield he kept thinking about it all. Was it right to endanger the people that believed in him? Why should they be forced by him to partake in this fight that they could avoid?

As it stood he believed that even if the Emerald Phoenix Emperor continued he would probably not be well-equipped to take on the western lands. While the Heavenly Crane Sect would probably fall they would take some time to dominate their lands before probably pushing toward the center where the Long Clan was.

Perhaps the Azure Emperor would not be able to defend himself alone but at that moment he could lend him some help. Apparently, they had some kind of super weapon that the two dragons could operate together. It might be enough to defeat their forces and clear everything up without the western region even getting involved.

If he considered himself as the Western Emperor then perhaps he would be inclined to do that but the Empire was much larger. As it stood now, some people actually liked him more than the previous Emperor that had done nothing to aid anyone. It was not the Azure Dragon that was liberating the lands but the Golden Dragon. Some even started whispering of a new Golden Emperor arising if the war in the east was won by him.

He was not deaf to these rumors and they somewhat made sense. If Zhang Dong managed to help the Heavenly Crane Sect win this war, then from people looking from the outside, they would be considered sworn allies. The scale would be tipped in favor of the United Element’s Sect as it was already part of the big three.

The Soaring Dragon Sect that had previously been in that position could never find common ground with the Heavenly Crane Sect to go against the Azure Emperor. People believed that if two factions decided to work together with each other, then even the Azure Emperor would not be able to stop them. Thus it would be strange if the Long Clan was part of that side and didn’t try to somehow intervene, that is if the overseer didn’t exist.

It was possible that the Empress was somehow keeping everyone from acting. If she was there to keep the scenario running it made somewhat sense. The Long Clan felt like they were allies meant for anyone with the system. They safeguarded the Golden Dong Palace for him and perhaps were never meant to be a roadblock for him. They were very passive in keeping to themselves in the center of the empire and had some sort of way of preserving themselves even if the whole palace was overrun.

‘There is one way of lasting out without people being able to reach you…’

Zhang Dong looked up into the sky where the large barrier was flickering. It was close to breaking and he needed to push his thoughts back and get ready. The map that he acquired from the Long Clan continued to give him a strategic advantage. They already knew that the Emerald Phoenix Emperor remained stationary due to the large red dot remaining close to the bridge.

“The defensive barrier is wavering, concentrate on the large monoliths and take them under our control”

He could hear leader Zhong Shouting at his people as it was time to battle once more. The barrier was quite powerful due to one reason, it didn’t allow the defenders to go through it either. Usually, the Qi signature was aligned with the cannons on the side of the defenders. This weakened the barrier structure slightly and made it less powerful. This one on the other hand had just one purpose and that was to be a defensive stopping point.

Finally, after it was about to flicker out of existence the enemy troops started firing back. Many cultivators were gathered at the giant spires in hopes of repairing them. It would be a fight for time, could they destroy the barrier mechanism or would they be pushed back by the other army?

“They really have the manpower on their side, didn’t expect them to have this many soldiers and masters left behind… if they gathered all of them at the start…”

It was strange to see this many enemy soldiers still left. They just kept coming like there was no end to them. He had seen a red fog moving from their main base on the map to bolster the defenses. They had been on standby and now after the field of spiritual energy was broken, they started fighting back.

“They must have not expected us to drive them back this fast, it seems natural considering the lower regions not having the best defenses.”

“Mhm.”

Sun Shen was with him and the two were floating in the air close to some of the battleships that were moving in. It seemed that these forces were part of the Prince's entourage. It would make sense that when the Emperor arrived with the true army they would have been discarded to act as a wedge to keep Zhang Dong busy.

“I’ll join with the troop, I can sense some strong masters among them.”

“Strong masters? Could that cowardly prince be among them?”

“I don’t think so, he might have retreated to his fathers side.”

“For a future emperor, that man is quite gutless.”

“Perhaps he is but I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t planning something, his sister wasn’t weak, it would be better if we didn’t underestimate him when the time comes.”

“As always the honorable golden dragon gives wise advice.”

Sun Shen clasped his hands and the two parted ways. Zhang Dong joined his army of angelic puppets that acted as the main attacking force and the faction leader from the Heavenly Crane Sect ordered his forces to push after them. The lifeless automatons were perfect at taking the initial hits and even if they were damaged after gathering all the scrap metal from the surroundings, it was easy to repair them.

Thus their push continued, and the large defensive structures were quickly swarmed by the metallic angels. The soldiers stationed there did their utmost at defending but without the help of their powerful masters that were being kept busy by Zhang Dong, they were not able to defend their position.

After one of the monoliths fell under their control it was finally safe to have their flying armies push in. Soon enough the second one was also secured and the path was clear. Their troops received some minor damage here and there but their progress could not be stopped, certainly not while Zhang Dong was there to tower over everyone.

With his aura spread in all directions and their strongest masters incapable of beating him, victory was assured from the start. It was a truth in this world led by the minority of powerful cultivators, one person could decide the faith of many.

‘They really don’t have any intention of surrendering, their fear of the Emperor must be tremendous…’

A common sight was before him, even when he shouted out that they could be spared no one reacted. The mangled troops that were being showered in spiritual energy were unwilling to back off. It was as if they had a sword at their throat that would slide their necks open if they dared to back off.

After spending some time out on the battlefield and comparing it to the way his own sect members looked, he knew that this was different. His people had a sort of passion in their looks, even when he wasn’t there they were fighting not with desperation but with hope in their eyes. There was no hope in these people's gazes though, it was just desperation.

‘The interrogations confirmed this already but seeing this so close… I need to end this fast and not only for my people's safety but also for theirs…’

This desperation could only arise due to bad leadership. He already knew that these people were terrified of the Emperor and what he would do to them and their families. In one way or another the soldiers were coerced into abiding, they would either lose their life if they failed or their families would be in jeopardy. To end this cycle of carnage he would need to push forth towards his confrontation with the Emperor.