It wasn't just the Nameless Sword Mountain. Throughout the Eastern Continent, the Heart-Wrenching Cult's scattered agents got to work, fueling the animosity between cultivators and mortals and turning the regions they'd infiltrated upside down.
With the hostile and aggressive cultivators, the Heart-Wrenching Cult didn't have that much to do, simply leading them to the actions that their hearts already desired. But with those righteous recalcitrants that refused to oppress mortal lives, the Heart-Wrenching Cult pulled no punch, framing honorable cultivators of heinous crimes, ruining their reputation, and causing those that trusted them to turn against them.
"Bash the door! We have to leave this place!"
"Everyone, the cultivators have all gone insane! In what world are we living that Work and Reeducation Camps have become the norm?"
"They've stripped us of our liberties, regulate our daily schedules, select what our children learn, and punish the slightest show of dissatisfaction with 'mysterious disappearances!' If we don't abandon these lands, our future holds nothing but graves and tears!"
If before, the fleeing mortals didn't represent the majority, then once the Heart-Wrenching Cult got moving, the exodus that so many cultivators feared...became concrete reality. Fueled by desperation, mortals attempted to leave their camps and isolated quarters en mass. Alas, what could mortals do before the might of the cultivation world?
They might have the numbers on their side, but just like one million pebbles cannot resist a tidal wave, the cultivators only had to release the pressure of their cultivation bases to bring all fleeing mortals on their knees. The treatment got harsher, but as the daily doses of brutality that the mortals suffered increased at an alarming pace, the Myriad Beast Gang's agents spread the news of the mortals' predicament, giving the headquarters the righteous cause to dispatch troops.
It happened without delay. As if the 29 Hordes had been on standby, waiting for this moment to erupt, they lunged through teleportation formations, blitzing across the Eastern Continent to collide with the remaining free provinces.
As expected, the First Horde moved faster than the rest, outright bulldozing through an intermediate province on its way to the Imperial City.
Yes, this time around, the hordes also had the imperial capital in sight, ready to take the fight to the Shentu clan.
In fact, it wouldn't be long before the Zhenwu realized that the imperial city...was the main target of this offensive.
"Damnable beasts! We got tricked!"
Following the false retreat of the beast hordes, due to their scouts' reports, the Zhenwu clan's leadership anticipated a sneak attack on their secluded patriarch, and so pulled the True Martial Divine Army back to the Longxi Kingdom capital, leaving the Shentu clan to fend for itself.
But now, this move turned out to be a terrible mistake. From the start, the hordes never considered launching an offensive on the Longxi Kingdom. No, they wanted the imperial city and its unique channels that connected to all provinces.
Whenever the beast hordes took over a Province, they sealed but didn't destroy the imperial channels, meaning that as soon as they took over the imperial city, they could ship its lavish resources straight to the Myriad Beast Gang's headquarters.
At the same time, they could take the upper echelon of the Spiritual Aristocracy and the Imperial clan hostage, shipping them to the Myriad Beast Gang's capital as well.
Could the other provinces seal or destroy their imperial channels? In theory, yes, but not all provinces had access to the experts that had the skills to seal imperial channels. Only the superior provinces and the Longxi Kingdom possessed such experts — meaning that as soon as the imperial city fell, all lower and intermediate provinces would follow in its footsteps, falling to the Myriad Beast Gang.
Needless to say, the Zhenwu clan couldnt tolerate such an outcome, and stirred by the terrible news, dispatched the True Martial Divine Army in haste.
The imperials channels were a two-way street, but without the Imperial Wind Seal, none could activate them. So even though the Zhenwu had channels of their own, they couldn't send their troops straight to the imperial city.
Still, with the weakest of the True Martial Divine Army's soldiers being at Divine Transformation, and the help of profound formations plus mighty artifacts, the troops only needed a couple of minutes to catch up to the First Horde...or so it seemed, at least.
'Strange. Even with our formations and artifacts, we shouldn't have been able to catch up to them so...' confused by the First Horde's pace, a Zhenwu general spread his Spiritual Sense out. But before his brain could come to the only natural conclusion, a titanic shadow that stretched as far as a mountain manifested above the True Martial Divine Army — blotting out the sun.
The First Horde's troops halted their march. But as they turned to face the Zhenwu's elite force, they kneeled, not at the Zhenwu soldiers, but the mountainous figure now looking down at them. A warm gust of wind blew past the Zhenwu forces, and regardless of strength or rank, they all raised their eyes at the creature above.
A yellow-scaled dragon welcomed them, with burning green eyes that flashed with 10,000 years of festering resentment.
A slender figure stood on top of that mountainous dragon, her body entirely concealed by a swirl of colorful clouds.
Before that figure, all beasts stood in awe. The sparks of adoration lit up their eyes, and if before, they still had doubts, as they watched ancient beasts prostrating themselves in a show of veneration, the Zhenwu generals instantly recognized who they faced.
"The Yellow Dragon. You are...the Emperor of the Myriad Beast Dominion?!" They asked, knowing full well the answer.
"I only have one thing to say. All of you assembled here...have embarked on a trip straight to death."
Not bothering to acknowledge the Zhenwu generals' guess, Daji raised her right hand. A colorful pearl leaped out of her chest, shining with dazzling rays that connected the 100 million troops that made up the First Horde to Daji and her Yellow Dragon.
In that instant, the overlapping and multiplying energies of 100,000 million soldiers, the weakest of which was at the Ordained Beast rank, assembled in the Yellow Dragon — strongest beast in the history of the Eastern Continent.
The Yellow Dragon opened its gargantuan maw, conjuring a boulder-sized orb of blinding light that seemed to incorporate all the principles of the Mortal World's Dao.
"Barriers...barriers!" The Zhenwu commander-in-chief barked at his troops, prompting them to activate the True Martial Divine Army's defensive formation. A golden energy barrier formed around the Zhenwu troops, giving them enough shelter to resist the coordinated attack of several peak Supreme Clarity experts.
But alas, it didn't matter. The Yellow Dragon fired its energy beam, blasting through the True Martial Divine Army's defensive formation, and reducing the generals and officers to ashes while causing the troops severe casualties.
Millions of yellow lightning bolts followed this dazzling ray, illuminating the sky before frying the surviving Zhenwu soldiers to the last man.
"I'm not a divination master, but even I could have given you this spoiler. Actually...I did," passing one hand through her hair, Daji said, and tapped the Yellow Dragon's head — flying into the distance.
