Chapter 193: The Heavenly King Stands Only at the Gate

Before the endless flowers of the Nether River, the dark tornado hesitated for a moment before retreating with reluctance, vanishing on the horizon. Facing the Mankusaka that had once heavily wounded the Songstress, he could not muster the resolve to challenge it.

As the Dark Duke retreated and the vanguard general was slain, the morale of the dark army finally crumbled, and they began to retreat. However, over ten thousand cannon fodder and low-level warriors, driven by their bloodlust, did not retreat but instead charged towards the Zhao army formation.

Without any high-ranking warriors or elites to support them, these cannon fodder and low-level warriors were simply massacred before the well-organized Zhao army. In mere moments, all who charged forward lay dead before the Zhao formation, unable even to breach it. Yet, this brief resistance allowed the vanguard of the dark army to reorganize and slowly retreat.

Zhao Jundu did not pursue, watching the dark army depart. To him, no matter how numerous the dark warriors, clearing them was merely a matter of time.

Song Zining, now free, gave Zhao Jundu a pointed look and said, “So, you had the Mankusaka as your ace in the hole all along. You were just trying to make a fool out of me, weren’t you?”

Zhao Jundu replied calmly, “Ruo Xi used the Mankusaka not long ago. She doesn’t have the ability to fire it again so soon.”

Song Zining was startled. So, Zhao Jundu had been bluffing all along. If that Dark Duke had disregarded everything and challenged, wouldn’t it have been disastrous?

Zhao Jundu ignored Song Zining and walked to the front of the formation, meeting Qian Ye as he returned. A sudden realization hit Qian Ye, as if his entire being was laid bare. Startled, he stopped and stood a few meters away from Zhao Jundu.

By all accounts, Qian Ye’s direct assault through the enemy lines and the slaying of their general should have earned him more glory than Zhao Jundu. Yet, as the overall commander, Zhao Jundu offered no praise, not even a word. His eyes flashed with a purple light for a moment, then he nodded at Qian Ye and turned back to the formation.

Qian Ye’s brows furrowed slightly, and he followed Zhao Jundu back to the main formation.

“Retreat, summon the warships.” After issuing this order, Zhao Jundu sat in the center, his eyes half-closed, as if in a trance, and said nothing more.

The soldiers of the Zhao family were bewildered, unsure why Zhao Jundu was acting this way. Was he displeased with Qian Ye’s less-than-clean kill of the enemy general? But Qian Ye had cleanly beheaded Count Gade with one sword strike—how much cleaner could it be? Even if Qian Ye could have cut two heads with one strike, there was only one Count Gade present. Yet, Zhao Jundu’s growing authority in the army made it so that no one dared to question him.

Song Zining pulled Qian Ye to the side, one hand opening a folding fan and fanning himself, while the other moved incessantly inside his sleeve, his aura strengthening with each motion.

Qian Ye frowned, his keen eyes seeing that Song Zining was using some secret method to boost his prime force, drastically increasing his combat power in a short time. But the battle was already won; what need was there to use such a costly method to raise his power?

Song Zining moved swiftly, completing the secret method before Qian Ye could stop him. Now, his prime force surged like a sea tide, at its peak.

On the distant horizon, the silhouette of a high-speed warship appeared, and within moments, it hovered above the Zhao army formation. Several warships slowly descended, picking up three thousand Zhao soldiers to board.

Song Zining followed Qian Ye aboard, chose a cabin, and immediately sat down, closing his eyes and remaining motionless. Qian Ye sat beside him, thoroughly puzzled by the need to activate so much prime force when the battle was already decided.

At this moment, Zhao Jundu inspected the ship, passing by the door. He glanced inside the cabin, seeming to know Qian Ye’s thoughts, and said calmly, “He fears I might seal him again.”

With that, Zhao Jundu drifted away, leaving Song Zining glaring at him.

After all the soldiers were loaded, the warships ascended one by one, returning to the base.

Ever since the Zhang fortress was breached, the dark army had pursued the remnants of the Zhang army for a thousand miles, engaging in countless battles, and broke through the three layers and nine fortresses carefully laid out by the Zhao clan, reaching the very gates of the Zhao defense zone, proving unstoppable.

Yet, their sharp advance was halted by Zhao Jundu, and the grand offensive came to an abrupt end. The thousand-mile pursuit reached its conclusion.

Following this battle, Zhao Jundu’s fame soared, advancing further in his already illustrious career. When Zhang Boqian, far away, heard the phrase “the Heavenly King is too far, but the enemy is near,” he merely said, “The Heavenly King is right outside the door.”

This evaluation caused a stir throughout the empire.

If Zhao Jundu became a Heavenly King and Fingerpoint King remained unscathed, the empire would have six Heavenly Kings simultaneously. Looking back a thousand years, such a situation had only occurred during the founding battles, when the seven Heavenly Kings, led by the Great Founder, opened a new dawn in the Evernight, laying the foundation for a millennium of imperial rule.

Would the empire see a second renaissance after the Martial Emperor?

In the final battle, while Zhao Jundu’s displayed strength was commendable, his breadth of mind left his peers far behind, incomparable.

Aside from Zhao Jundu, Zhao Ruo Xi, carrying the Mankusaka, arrived from the west. Without firing a single shot, she repelled the Dark Duke with an illusion of the Nether River, a feat no less stunning than Zhao Jundu’s. No one knew why Zhao Ruo Xi could wield the Mankusaka, attributing it to her innate talent. Thus, she had never been compared to other young talents of the empire, nor could she be.

Perhaps due to the overwhelming brilliance of Zhao Jundu and Zhao Ruo Xi, little was said about Qian Ye. Yet, those who witnessed Qian Ye’s charge through the enemy lines found, upon reflection, that they could not understand how he had slain the enemy general.

The three rotations around the body and the instant kill were simply unfathomable, beyond the understanding of any known combat techniques. There was no way to praise it.

In a flash, it was noticed that the three key figures in this reversal—Zhao Ruo Xi, Zhao Jundu, and Qian Ye—were all from the Zhao Clan’s Chong’en Duke’s household, all young, and Zhao Junhong had already shown the makings of a great general. Unconsciously, the young generation of the Chong’en Duke’s lineage had become capable of holding their own, and in a major conflict like the Floating Land War, they had delivered a decisive blow. This was far beyond what mere youth could achieve.

If not for the Zhang Clan’s Qingyang King, Zhang Boqian, in his prime, the Chong’en Duke’s household would be the most prominent in the empire. With time, perhaps another four-duke legacy could be forged.

The Zhao Clan had always produced heroes and geniuses, but this generation was truly extraordinary.

Some could no longer sit still.

The machinations of the imperial upper echelons were irrelevant to the soldiers returning from the expedition. Yet, despite the great victory, the atmosphere aboard the victorious warships was strange.

Zhao Jundu remained in his cabin, eyes closed, neither practicing nor speaking, lost in thought. Song Zining also sat motionless, his prime force surging, always in a state of full alert. One thing they shared was their silence; neither spoke to Qian Ye.

In the past, Qian Ye would have focused on cultivation, but his breakthrough to Viscount and his renewed connection with the Crimson Rivers meant that whenever he was still, his mind was filled with ancient vampire knowledge, making cultivation impossible.

From experience, it would take a few days to store and digest the inherited knowledge. The short journey suddenly felt long.

Half a day later, the fleet returned to the base, replenished supplies, and took off again, heading for the Zhao Clan’s stronghold on the Floating Land, the Unfallen City.

The Unfallen City’s airship landing field was vast, capable of handling multiple airships simultaneously. It took only two rounds for the sizable fleet to land.

As Qian Ye stepped out of the warship, he saw several war carriages and a hundred fully armed soldiers waiting, ready for action. Such a scene was not present at the other warships. These war carriages and soldiers were clearly there to protect someone. But on this ship, whether Qian Ye, Zhao Jundu, or Song Zining, none needed protection.

An officer stepped down from one of the carriages, his Li family emblem standing out among the many Zhao Clan marks. Carrying a metallic case with a silver sheen, he quickly approached Qian Ye, saluted, and said, “General Qian Ye!”

The officer was a Brigadier General, but standing before Qian Ye, he seemed both nervous and excited. He held the case with both hands, presenting it to Qian Ye, and announced, “General, your Heavenly Cloud Smoke Pearl!”

Qian Ye was taken aback. Although it hadn’t been long, the intense battles and rapid changes had made him forget about the Heavenly Cloud Smoke Pearl.

Though Qian Ye didn’t remember the pearl, it held significant meaning for the Jing Tang Li family. The pearl’s possessor was crucial to the safety of the Li family’s base. Especially, Qian Ye, a commoner, had single-handedly fought through the Foggy Forest, crushing all aristocratic families’ teams, and topped the list of military achievements, a veritable miracle.

The Li family had many outsiders and humble warriors, originally the lowest rung, but in Qian Ye, they saw hope. It proved that humble origins could achieve greatness, even surpassing the aristocrats.

The Brigadier General, also from humble origins, had worked his way up from a foot soldier to a general, thus feeling especially moved in Qian Ye’s presence.

Accepting the case, Qian Ye awkwardly asked, “What is the purpose of this Heavenly Cloud Smoke Pearl?”

The Brigadier General couldn’t answer, only saying, “When the time comes, you will be informed. I only know it is nearly here.”

While the Brigadier General respected Qian Ye, this was Zhao territory, and the Zhao generals often looked down on the Lis, given that the Li Empress had risen by stepping on the Zhao Empress. A knowledgeable general sneered, “Is this pearl real? No one has ever seen a Heavenly Cloud Smoke Pearl. Maybe the Lis swapped it, and no one would know.”

Another general laughed, “Even if it was swapped, at least they sent a pearl. Better than keeping it entirely.”

The first general retorted, “What are you talking about! The Li family is influential; they don’t care about a single pearl. If they kept it, the whole world would know. Only a barbarian like you would do something so disgraceful.”

“I’m just a simple man, what of it!”

The Li Brigadier General was embarrassed, wanting to argue but not knowing how. He knew many advocated keeping the pearl, believing they could control the military achievements. Either way, it was better than it falling into Zhao hands.

Most supported this, backed by powerful families. Some teams were close to Qian Ye’s achievements, and a tweak could shift the pearl to them. But in this sensitive time, the Li family head decreed that the achievement list must remain unchanged, ending the debate.

Knowing this, the Brigadier General had no argument.

Suddenly, Song Zining sneered, “With Zhao the Fourth’s word, who would dare to take his things?”

Zhao Jundu stiffened, turning to Song Zining, gritting his teeth, “Still so talkative, seems you need another lesson!”