Aurek continued reviewing the remaining intelligence.

Josephine stood quietly to the side, waiting.

After a long while, Aurek finished handling all pending matters and drafted several new imperial edicts.

First: Using Celestial Divine Gold as the primary material, gather all master smiths of the empire to forge a supreme divine artifact exclusively for him.

The weapon would incorporate the characteristics of the cursed sword obtained from the Oblivion Wastes, with the explicit goal of confronting the Council of the Dark Order in the future.

Second: Appoint Gloria as Chancellor of the Imperial Academy and order its immediate establishment.

The academy would guide the people of the Eura Continent onto the path of advancement, while reserving and cultivating administrative and military talent for governing the empire's future, vastly expanded territories.

Third: Instruct Suggwoth, Harry, Lucio, Philip, and others to plan accordingly—seek out contradictions and rifts among powerful factions such as the Gargoyle Race, the Tribunal Temple, the Bone King's Court, and the Council of the Dark Order, exploit them, and find ways to set these forces against one another in mutual restraint.

Fourth: From the more than twenty million newly nurtured attribute-based legions of the past few days, redeploy half into the Abyssal Demon Realm, stationing them in the Secondary Demon Realm to reinforce the front lines.

With a sweep of his hand, Aurek sent the edicts outward.

Manifestations of imperial destiny—sacred dragons and immortal phoenix phantoms—lifted the scrolls in their beaks and wings, flying beyond the Divine Sanctuary to deliver his will.

Only the edict concerning the forging of the sacred artifact he temporarily set aside, falling into careful deliberation.

Josephine stepped forward, saw the contents of the decree, and offered her advice.

"Your Majesty, if you wish to forge an artifact capable of contending with a world wonder, I fear we'll need the assistance of master smiths from the Abyssal Demon Realm."

"No matter how skilled the forgers of the Eura Continent are, at present it's difficult for them to reach such heights of law-and-rule integration."

"Perhaps… we could have Natasha discreetly search for suitable grandmasters in the demon realm?"

Aurek nodded and closed the edict.

Within the Abyssal Demon Realm, such master smiths undoubtedly existed.

Only by uniting their wisdom and craftsmanship could an unparalleled artifact be forged—one capable of standing against a world wonder.

Otherwise, not to mention a Sage Lord—even a quasi–Sage Lord wielding a world wonder might be enough to contend with a Sacred Lord.

If that were the case, even if Aurek personally led the campaign, achieving a swift and decisive victory would be unlikely. Once a war dragged on, the empire could instead be mired in a quagmire.

And if the empire's main forces were bogged down in the demon realm when Olympian God Mountain suddenly descended, creating a two-front encirclement, the empire would have no chance left to grow and expand.

Therefore—

Only by completely conquering the Abyssal Demon Realm could the empire both harvest massive quantities of Emperor Points and achieve its most critical strategic objectives.

Although summoning smiths of that caliber would inevitably demand an enormous price, Aurek had already prepared himself.

So long as the Council of the Dark Order and other factions did not proactively launch a full-scale conflict against the empire, the imperial legions in the demon realm would prioritize consolidating defenses—buying time to nurture attribute legions and elevate the ranks of Aurek himself and his core commanders.

…

With the strategic deployments finalized, Aurek once again devoted himself fully to advancement.

In terms of resources, the reserves of the Aetherian Sanctuary alone were sufficient for his consumption.

Although the extermination of the Giant Elephant demon race had yielded little accumulation, the fall of the Dawonru Empire had produced wealth on an almost unimaginable scale—enough to sustain an imperial power for tens of millions of years.

To support the current Crossbridge Empire, it was more than ample.

This was precisely the confidence that allowed Aurek to decide on establishing the empire's highest academy at this very moment!

Part of the resources would remain in the Abyssal Demon Realm for Suggwoth and other frontline commanders and legions to use for advancement.

The vast majority, however, would be transported back to the Eura Continent as the foundation for constructing the academy.

After handling these matters, Aurek began advancing once more.

Governance of the Eura Continent already operated under an increasingly完善 and mature legal system.

Ministers such as Winston, Heimerdinger, and Cole were fully capable of managing affairs properly, requiring little of his direct attention.

At the same time—

Outside the Supreme Sanctuary, on the twelfth layer of the Divine Sanctuary.

On the terrace of an auxiliary palace.

Gloria held the imperial edict appointing her as Chancellor, her expression complex as she looked at Josephine beside her.

Since entering this cloud-crowned Divine Sanctuary—especially after residing in the core imperial bedchamber district—the once-clear mentor–student relationship between them had grown subtle and ambiguous.

After all, to everyone's eyes, the palace complex encircling the imperial hall was nothing less than the emperor's inner court.

Countless palace attendants and maids had long since assumed that she, like Josephine and Sophia, was one of the mistresses of this place!

No explanation would be accepted by the outside world; she could not clear her name no matter how many mouths she had.

Yet as Josephine's teaching mentor, this situation left her deeply uncomfortable.

Her mentor–student ties with Josephine and Sophia, along with her sisterly bond with Lucy, were now all intertwined—forming a picture that struck her as faintly absurd.

She was also worried about Lucy.

After staying within the Divine Sanctuary for too long, it seemed that everyone was unconsciously assimilated by its atmosphere—

and drawn into a system centered entirely around that emperor.

At the thought, her cheeks grew faintly warm.

Josephine, ever perceptive, noticed her change.

"Mentor…"

Josephine hesitated for a moment before speaking softly. "Please allow this student to say something presumptuous."

Gloria looked at her. "Go on."

"The empire… will only go farther and farther, climbing to heights we once could not even imagine."

"If you choose to stop now, or turn away, the distance will only grow—until it becomes impossible to reach."

"And besides… everyone has their own private attachments and desires they cannot bear to let go."

Josephine's voice was gentle, yet perfectly clear.

Gloria fell silent.

On her usually composed and meticulous face appeared unmistakable struggle and hesitation.

"I… will go handle the preparations for the academy first."

She stiffly changed the subject.

Clutching the edict scroll more tightly, she turned and left the palace, heading straight toward the lower Sanctum World.

Josephine watched her retreating figure, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her lips.

Gloria passed through the Gold Giant Gate and returned to Eryndor City on the Eura Continent.

She selected the former site of the Hyrule War Academy as the base for constructing the empire's highest institution of learning.

Student recruitment required no concern.

The construction of the academy itself was also not difficult.

The real challenge lay in assembling a rich and complete system of combat techniques, secret arts, and advancement codices—

along with the massive resources required to sustain operations, and—most importantly—a cadre of sufficiently outstanding and powerful mentors.

The latter was the core of the core!

Moreover, Gloria's vision extended far beyond guiding advancement alone.

She planned to divide the academy into multiple faculties—administration, military, alchemy, forging, and more—pursuing diversified development to cultivate talent across all fields for the empire.

Josephine was right. The empire was destined to sail toward the sea of stars!

The administrative faculty could train capable governors to be dispatched across various territories to assist in rule.

The military and other faculties would strengthen the empire from different angles, supporting local order and stability.

Only through increasing refinement and diversification would this imperial academy truly realize its significance and value.

Therefore, the mentors to be invited could not be ordinary figures.

Gloria had no choice but to think deeply—and draft a list of masters worthy of matching the empire's future!

...…

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