“The sect warriors, they have returned!”

“Are they really back?”

“Yes, we must quickly depart, maybe we can witness the Patriarch!”

“Is the Patriarch going to appear!?”

A group of kids was screaming through the streets while charging forward. Not so long they heard that their army had been victorious. The pride in the sect that resided in this grand city was at the zenith. It was victory after another victory without them ever having to back down.

It started with the strange demi-human monsters that plagued the borders. The United Element Sect was the only large force that fully defended their lands. Everyone else had fled back into the central regions of the empire where the Azure Emperor resided. To their surprise he was not the one they should have relied on, the one to save them was his brother the Golden Dragon.

This was the start of his legend which continued to this very day. People were quickly turning away from the previous Emperor that didn’t do anything to help them. Even to this day, there was no word from the capital city. During the whole evacuation not much had been done as the people were left stranded in front of the large walls leading into the Lands of the Long Clan.

It became painfully obvious that the citizens of this empire didn’t matter to the Azure Emperor at all. Some even speculated that they would do nothing unless they were directly attacked themselves. Others claimed that the Golden Dragon had been sent by his elder brother to take care of the situation. These rumors could not be confirmed as the Emperor never spoke out nor did his brother. Thus most assumed that Zhang Dong was acting on his own accord.

Spirit Spring City was quickly becoming the hottest new tourist attraction in this empire. Some even decided to create new settlements inside this region after what had transpired. It was clear to many that it was better to seek shelter with the Golden Dragon that actually defended his lands and the others instead of begging the Azure Dragon for some mercy.

This wasn’t all good, a lot of the cultivators in which direction this was all heading. Now after another victory, Zhang Dong had proven yet again that he was one of the strongest within the Empire. No one really knew how he could stack up against his brother but they were convinced that a day might arise when the two would clash swords against each other.

Two Emperors could not exist at the same time and it was clear that the United Element Sect had full control of the whole western region of the empire. Even the West was rumored to have fallen to his power. The Heavenly Crane Sect had taken aid from Zhang Dong who participated in their counterattack against the Emerald Phoenix Empire. The tide quickly shifted after he joined up and the rest was history.

“It’s grand elder Huo Qiang!”

“I can see some other elders but it’s hard to see…”

“Idiots, just look at the spirit screen it shows a much better image!”

Some of the onlookers tried to sneak a peek at the large golden palace in the sky. It was tremendous in size and radiated an aura of power. Within it, their Patriarch could possibly be inside. He rarely showed himself out in the open and was rumored to reside mostly inside his own home in secluded cultivation. Only when the time to battle other powerful masters was right, did he show himself to the public.

Instead, most people could see some other prominent figures. One of the was the elder that was famous for controlling flames or the Patriarch’s grandfather that enjoyed the company of many ladies. Both of them were flying through the air while people waved. Soon a line of flying masters filled the entire area as they arrived.

…

“They sure are jolly.”

“Why wouldn’t they be? They are able to witness the creation of a new legend.”

“A new Legend huh?”

“Is everything okay? You don’t seem too happy, is there a new battle awaiting us?”

“I’m not sure, probably if I don’t seek it out, we’ll be content for many years… maybe even for a thousand.”

“My dear husband, I think you have earned a break, If you’re afraid of that Azure Dragon then don’t, we have grown too much for him and the Long Clan to be an issue. If they try anything, we will just crush them!”

“Haha, my dear wife, you sure can be ferocious.”

Zhang Liena smiled while clenching her fist. Zhang Dong looked at her and knew that after all that they went through her power had skyrocketed. It was the same for everyone else that had participated in the battles down in the north. With time they would get even more powerful and perhaps it would have even been possible to get some people up to Emperor levels of power within a couple of hundred years.

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning any wars for now, we do have to keep an eye out for my dear brother but I don’t think he will try anything.”

“It does seem so, he had the perfect opportunity to raid our sect while we were all gone.”

Zhang Dong nodded as this was the case. Their spies never sent any signs that the Long Clan was attacking. He had a few theories about why this was the case, one of them involved the scenario that was taking place. It was possible that the Azure Emperor was never meant to be an obstacle. Instead, he had given him the tools to fight against the other leaders. Only thanks to the Golden Palace was he able to take care of three emperors within a year's time.

“It is so, this is a time to rejoice we have earned this peace.”

Zhang Dong nodded again while he and Liena were sitting in the secret chamber away from the others. His wife liked this spot as no one besides them could enter it to bother them. They had spent a lot of the trip back in here just relaxing. Even though they could have used a teleport back home there was no reason. Their children were cared for and it was better to conserve the spirit points.

Even though he didn’t know if he could relax, there wasn’t really much else that was left to be done. The main enemies that plagued these lands were gone and only Argus with Lucius remained here. Unless they were hellbent on getting into the lands of the Long Clan then he could relax. Their search for the armor pieces would probably take a while as the Azure Empire was a huge place. Considering that he had grabbed their secret sword from the Azure Palace, the other items were probably scattered elsewhere.

The Demi-Human Emperor had been defeated and his forces were driven back to the West. There were still two active bridges there that connected him to their lands but he had no intention of letting anyone cross them. Instead, his people continued to build up massive walls and defensive structures for any potential invaders. If for some reason another Demi-Human Emperor was created within a hundred years, his forces would be ready to drive him back even without his help.

To the East, things were looking similar. With the help of the Heavenly Crane Sect and his angel automatons, he built up a defensive fortress near the bridge that existed there. There was only a single bridge there so it would be easier to defend and whoever decided to wander in would be pelted by spirit canons of huge sizes.

Then last was the underwater empire that had just vanished along with their bridge. Right after the collapse of the dimensional abnormality there, the connection vanished from the map. It was as if it never existed, to begin with, and any red areas vanished along with it. The undersea creatures that remained in the sea were cut from the connection they had with their Empress and were now not even seen as part of that Empire.

When Zhang Dong looked at his minimap there wasn’t really much left for him to do. It was easy to keep Argus and Lucius in check thanks to this map he lifted from his older brother. He needed to make a decision now, would he try to absorb the Dao of water and wood that he received from the Empress or was it better to wait?

‘I might be able to ascend now but it might not be enough…’

He wasn’t sure how the other system holders did it but perhaps he needed to take out all four enemies before it was all over. However, there was a small problem with that plan as the King from the magical kingdom Argus came from wasn’t here. It was possible for him to enter these lands but this didn’t mean that it would come to blows.

‘If that’s the case I might have to spend some time preparing by myself. Bob, I need you to calculate the probability of me reaching a new realm after absorbing that seashell. I don’t care how long it takes, we have some wiggle room.’

‘Affirmative, beginning calculations…’

“Shall we depart?”

“Sure, I bet those two are waiting for us.”

Zhang Dong smiled at Liena who gently grasped his hand. When looking at his lovely wife he could feel some of that stress moving away. He didn’t need to make a decision right away, this day was one to celebrate. His quest of minimizing casualties was close to ending and he had earned a small break. Perhaps if he put more thought into it he would arrive at the proper answer to his next task.

When he arrived outside he was greeted by many cheers from millions of people. He did not expect this many eyes to be on him as he was floating through the air. There were just so many living humans down there and all of them were ecstatic to see him. Considering that just a few years ago he had been nothing more than a regular person living in a small apartment, this felt a bit surreal.

However, even when they cheered he didn’t really care that much. This was not really why he was doing this, the real reason was in the distance. He could see the large floating structure that housed his children within. They were waiting for his return and together with his wife, he would finally have some time to relax.