“That destined fate is not what I desire.” Zhang Boqian raised his hand, and the jade seal on the table leaped into Lin Xitang’s arms. He then tilted his head back and drained the last of the wine from the flask before turning to leave with a flick of his sleeve.
“Boqian!”
“You’re too eager for power, as if you fear there isn’t enough time. Even a war of national fortune wouldn’t take a decade, so what are you truly planning?”
Lin Xitang was taken aback.
Zhang Boqian didn’t wait for an answer. “What you want to control is not the imperial military district but the Void Floating Land, isn’t it? But this time, I won’t let you have your way.” With that, he strode away without looking back.
Lin Xitang stood still, his expression finally changing slightly.
More than half an hour later, Zhang Boqian finished reading the latest battle report in his study and walked over to the map of the Void Floating Land hanging on the wall, lost in deep thought. Whether the intelligence came from the military or the Zhang faction, it all pointed to a dire situation for the Empire’s floating land battles.
After suffering several setbacks at the Giant Beast’s Rest, the Evernight Council reacted unusually quickly, pouring in a large number of troops within a short time. The Empire, however, would need to adjust its forces in the home territories before it could send significant reinforcements.
A personal guard knocked and entered, presenting a sealed metal box with a welded lid. “There’s news from the black market,” he reported.
Zhang Boqian nodded. After the guard left, he peeled away the thick metal layer, revealing a crystal ring inside. The crystal was a common medium used by the dark races, and most of the taboo life-extending techniques on the black market originated from the Evernight faction.
Zhang Boqian channeled a thread of void origin power, and a drop of blood slowly formed on the surface of the crystal, transforming into a cluster of black flame. It carried the aura of the current patriarch of the Sanguis family, the Bloodrace’s Speer. This was interesting; the inconspicuous bounty he had set up on the black market had elicited such a valuable response.
His brows twitched slightly as he recalled Harbous mentioning soul repair in the Eye of the Storm. It seemed there was more to it than met the eye. This Blood Prince wasn’t as low-key as he appeared, extending his reach far into human lands. So, what did he hope to achieve by revealing his strength?
The image on the crystal gradually faded, returning to its translucent state. Zhang Boqian held the crystal for a moment before infusing a bit of his Dawn Origin into it. With a soft “pop,” the crystal shattered into a bubble of rainbow colors, and a hidden message appeared.
It was from Harbous himself, saying, “Qian Ye is still alive.”
Meanwhile, Qian Ye, thousands of miles away on the Void Floating Land, was unaware of the attention he was drawing. He studied the map of the Void Floating Land, cross-referencing it with the latest battle reports, and sensed that the Imperial situation was becoming precarious.
The Dark Race now controlled both the Sunset Bay and the Rock Desert, having driven the Bai clan out of the latter. The two regions were now connected.
Both areas bordered the Mist Forest, but the situation there was unclear. Qian Ye was reluctant to venture too close to the Sunset Bay, fearing he might run into a powerful Evernight foe.
His gaze shifted to the region west of the Sunset Bay, where the vast Black Light Lake lay. The lake, hundreds of kilometers in diameter, was like an inland sea. It and its surrounding area formed the Black Light Warzone, a strategic point guarded by the Zhang faction. The closer one got to the Sunset Bay, the more perilous it became. As the foremost imperial clan, the Zhang faction had taken the Black Light Warzone, aiming to encroach on the Sunset Bay, the Evernight stronghold.
The Sunset Bay, though currently under Evernight control, was also part of the Imperial war zone, under the direct purview of the Imperial Household, signaling their determination to reclaim it.
Originally, the Empire’s early positioning, which forced the Dark Race into a single war zone, looked promising. However, the rapid fall of the Rock Desert made Qian Ye realize the war might be tougher than he’d anticipated.
In the following days, Qian Ye roamed the Mist Forest, eliminating three scouting parties of the Dark Race. But they only amounted to two barons, meager spoils indeed.
With nothing pressing, and realizing that nearly a month had passed since he joined the war, Qian Ye decided to return to the Li family base. He needed to report in and collect his monthly pay and supplies.
Upon his return, Qian Ye found the Li family base completely transformed. The entire camp was surrounded by ten-meter-high walls, with a tower every few hundred meters. At the rear, two towers nearly a hundred meters tall caught Qian Ye’s attention. The Li family had built two city-grade power towers, a significant investment, indicating their determination to hold this territory.
After verifying his identity at the gate, Qian Ye entered the base.
Designed to accommodate five main divisions, totaling seventy thousand troops, the base was like a small city. Many areas were still under construction, but the completed ones included ammunition factories, heavy cannon workshops, tank repair bays, and airship bases, all exuding a formidable presence.
Qian Ye stopped at a signpost on the main road, noting the orderly layout of the base, designed as a fortified military installation. He memorized the locations of several open facilities and headed for the Discussion Hall, located on the side of the base.
This was where the Li family released intelligence, missions, and rewards. The armory next door was piled high with supplies, allowing for immediate reward collection. However, the finest equipment was reserved, to be brought from the Li family’s mainland holdings.
The Discussion Hall had several rooms, each catering to different ranks of strongmen. Qian Ye bypassed the two halls open to mercenaries and hunters below the rank of warrior and entered the third room.
This hall was much smaller and more luxuriously decorated, with a small bar in one corner. Several beautiful maids moved about, their hips swaying rhythmically, capturing the attention of the men drinking. Occasionally, a man would slip a silver coin into a maid’s cleavage, accompanied by a firm squeeze of her buttocks.
Qian Ye glanced briefly at the bar before heading to the inner room. It was partitioned into private chambers, offering excellent confidentiality.
Entering an empty chamber, Qian Ye found a simple yet elegant setup. A young female officer sat behind the desk, her specially tailored uniform accentuating her figure.
Seeing Qian Ye enter, her eyes lit up, and she immediately stood to offer him a seat. “How may I assist you?”
Qian Ye placed his identity badge on the table. “I am Qian Ye, here to submit my military achievements and review the latest battle reports.”
Seeing the golden sword emblem on the badge, signifying a general, her eyes brightened further. She rose and retrieved a small booklet from a cabinet, placing it on the table and sliding it toward Qian Ye. “These are the latest battle reports, at the highest intelligence level. You may read them here, but they cannot be taken out.”
She spoke slowly, and from Qian Ye’s perspective, her cleavage was fully visible. Even with his experience, Qian Ye couldn’t help but admire her curves, second only to Nan Gong Xia.
Facing such a clear invitation, Qian Ye merely smiled and picked up the report. In the past, he might have been tempted, but now his thoughts were only of Nighteye, waiting quietly at home.
Undeterred, the female officer sat back, adopting a more composed demeanor, her eyes burning with determination. She planned to win Qian Ye over with an icy exterior masking a fiery interior.
Unaware of her resolve, Qian Ye began to read, his expression growing serious after just a few pages.
Recently, the Evernight Council had launched continuous fleets, making the battles in the void increasingly intense and brutal. From the reports, it was clear that the Imperial main fleet had lost its initial mobility, forced to gather and roam the void, seeking an opportunity for a decisive battle with the Evernight fleet.
In the past half-month, such engagements had erupted dozens of times, with both sides experiencing victories and losses. The Empire still held a slight advantage, but the staggering casualty numbers hinted at a Pyrrhic victory, with both sides suffering heavily.
At present, the Imperial main fleet was already struggling to counter the Evernight attack fleets, unable to intercept their landing fleets. This was likely why the two landing fleets in the Rock Desert had escaped unscathed.
Without control over the void, the ground battles became even more arduous.
The Bai clan bore the brunt, ousted by the overwhelming Dark Army before they could establish a foothold. Now, not only had the fortress where Qian Ye had fought fallen, but another forward base in the warzone had also succumbed. The Bai clan had entirely withdrawn from the Rock Desert.
The Zhang faction, holding the Black Light Lake, was also facing difficulties. Three landing fleets had recently landed, along with tens of thousands of troops from the Sunset Bay, amassing a total of 150,000 Dark Army troops in the Black Light Warzone!
Despite their strength, the Zhang faction was fighting hard, with over 10,000 casualties since the start. Their ability to withstand such a numerically superior enemy was a testament to their status as the Empire’s top clan.
However, the scale of the Evernight Council’s mobilization far exceeded expectations. If the current situation didn’t improve, even the Zhang faction might lose the Black Light Warzone, given enough time.
As Qian Ye flipped through more pages, his expression grew grimmer. Within less than a month, the Empire, which had initially dominated the entire floating land, now faced suppression in nearly half its territory. The Evernight forces showed no signs of slowing down, and their numbers were now almost equal to the Empire’s.
Qian Ye knew that any further large-scale reinforcement by the Empire would take at least a month, assuming there were enough troops available without compromising the home defenses.
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