Xiqi Mountain.

This is the location of the Shen Family's ancestral home.

It is said that during the grand migration, they took the tablets and ashes of their ancestors to New Star and reburied them on the magnificent Xiqi Mountain, erecting steles and building temples, worshiping day and night.

Look, even at the end of the world, ship tickets that ordinary people yearn for in their dreams could be casually given to their own dogs...

As well as to those deceased relatives.

In the past, the Shen Family used the saying "The Phoenix lands on Xiqi Mountain" to bind the CP between the Phoenix and Shen Xinglan and to deepen the relationship between the Shen Family and the Royal Family.

Now, Xiqi Mountain has a new definition, revered by countless people as the "Dragon Ascending Land."

Yes, everyone is clear, no matter who stands in the foreground, the Shen Family is the master of this country.

Zhong Tianque...

Merely a puppet!

If it weren't for the support of Great Grandmaster Zhong Daoling and the Phoenix Army, whether he could even live would be an unknown.

But Zhong Daoling will die, and the leaders of the Phoenix Army will rebel...

No one is optimistic about the future of the Zhong Royal Family.

Let alone the Phoenix Palace being razed to the ground, the former King Zhong Daolong and countless members of the Zhong Royal Family are buried within.

The symbolic landmark of imperial power and the tangible incarnation of royal authority... The King is gone.

Does this country still bear the name Zhong?

Xiqi military fortress.

This is a military stronghold of the Phoenix Empire, to the east it defends Phoenix City and to the north it can resist the invasion of the Aus Empire.

To the west lies Shattered Star Abyss, the Empire's largest aerial port leading to the vast star river, and to the south is the endless Sunset Sea...

When Shen Wuxiang originally proposed to station a large army here, many questioned whether he intended to defend the Empire or to protect his own ancestral graveyard...

Those who protested and questioned later all disappeared.

Shen Wuxiang always prided himself on being a Warrior of simple origin, not well-read, and without much culture...

So his way of dealing with problems was rather simple and crude:

If I can't solve the problem, then I'll solve the person causing the problem.

Straight to the source, exterminate the roots.

Thus, numerous people began to dread and fear this Warrior.

To cater to him, to follow him, to toil like cattle and horses, but no one dared to resist.

An uneducated person pretending to be cultured is a paper tiger, not frightening at all.

Limited intelligence, how much harm can be done?

The most cultured people, using the most uncultured methods to conquer the world...

That's dimensionality reduction in attack.

That's what really makes one's skin crawl and hairs stand on end.

Shen Wuxiang recently has been stationed at Xiqi military fortress, with the various chores of Phoenix City being handled by Zhong Tianque and other clan members of the Shen Family.

Furthermore, with Shen Boyu sitting in Luojia Mountain, no one can stir up any trouble.

Even if there are some conflicts or disturbances, they are but a bit of dust.

Not enough to trouble the matter.

Because he is clearer than anyone else that within the range of the artillery, his word is the truth.

Thus, he personally controls the artillery at Xiqi military fortress.

Shen Wuxiang and his staff have been extremely busy lately, the aftereffects of "reckless hard work."

The Lu Family has evacuated from Lu Ban Mountain, destroying the research institutions and all military facilities inside.

However, the core of the Lu Family is scientific talent and the technological achievements already researched...

That is something money can hardly measure.

Where did they go?

Entirely absorbed and digested by the Qin Family?

If so, the Qin Family got a huge bargain.

The Qin Family also left Phoenix City and headed to their military headquarters, Zhao Ling.

This is the northwest's major city of the Empire, bordering the Aus Empire to the north, connecting with the Kaman Federation to the south, beside the never-ending Himalayas...

This place was originally an important military base for the Flame-Bathed Legion and subsequently operated for decades by Qin Wuxin, the Qin Family's ancestor, almost serving as the army of the Qin Family.

There used to be leaders from other factions competing, but after Shen Wuxiang bombarded the Phoenix Palace, a series of bloody purges took place inside.

Either you were one of ours, or you were a dead man.

It's not like you weren't given a choice, right?

Of course, the same bloody purges are happening in major military regions across the Empire.

War is about to begin, first clear out the 'internal traitors.'

Those who are not our people are enemies.

But for those ordinary soldiers and junior officers, they never belonged to anyone to begin with; they were just individuals...

Who told you to follow the wrong leader?

One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand soldiers.

The withered bones are not all killed by enemies, some die at the hands of their own.

"Strike, we must strike; we need a grand victory to shut up those with loose lips... and to bury the little schemes in those ambitious people's hearts..."

"Strike? How? If we lose, we suffer heavy losses, and public sentiment worsens... If we win, they hide in the Himalayas... or directly ally with the Aus Empire... border chaos, ultimately aren't we the ones who suffer?"

"If we don't strike, do we let them recruit soldiers and buy horses in Zhao Ling to grow stronger? By the time they become huge, it's not we who want to fight them; it's them planning to attack us..."

"Zhao Ling is remote, scarce in resources, without military industry and energy... what do they rely on to grow?"

"Besides, a cornered dog will jump over a wall; a cornered rabbit will even bite... If we drive them into a corner and they see no way out, won't they fight us with all they've got?"

"Let's fight to the end, I'm not afraid they won't be manly enough... What, are you scared?"

"I'm not afraid; I want to achieve the greatest victory with the smallest sacrifice."

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