In the skies of Gong City;
Lan Ju was in a fierce battle against Jinlong. The latter was in the form of a gold dragon while the former was using a weapon that looks like the imperial Phoenix bow, also known as the Bow of the Shangs.
The Imperial Phoenix Bow is first used by the Shang Dynasty's founder to overthrow the Xia Dynasty and is passed to one emperor and then the next.
Emperor Shang lent it to Wu Weibao/Lan Ju to defeat the gold dragon but Mark has entirely different plans for the weapon.
It cannot be subdued and Mark doesn't want to subdue it or erase its will either. He intends to destroy the Shang Dynasty's pride.
But, for the weapon to fall into his hands for good, he would have to stage Lan Ju's death.
And it should happen in front of the soldiers of the empire so that he would have enough witnesses for the weapon getting looted by the dragon and their morale also gets reduced in the process.
Of course, Mark wouldn't take the risk of letting the divine-grade weapon escape to its master as soon as its current wielder falls down.
Hence, he placed it in the inventory and handed the divine throne to Lan Ju.
The divine throne was transformed into a bow resembling the imperial bow. Lan Ju, on the other hand, has five basic attributes.
Hence, he used fire energy arrows to make it seem like the bow was a real deal.
The fight between them went on for atleast seven hours.
During this time, the LARS systems operated by Rankk-3 robots were randomly firing missiles at the incoming freelance adventurers and volunteering sect disciples to keep them away. And those who escaped it and advanced forward were hunted down by the snipers (rank-5 robots).
The rank-5 robots might not be able to pour ether energy into their sniper rifles but they have a perfect aim. With just normal ammunition, they were able to target the eyes and other vulnerable parts of the enemies.
After a few losses, the elite adventurers and elite disciples of various sects managed to protect their eyes and other vulnerable parts with an energy shield but they still couldn't get near Feng Wu's army as the bandits turned soldiers were using grenades of various types and rocket launchers to defend their home.
Furthermore, the weapons in Feng Wu's hands have far higher than the traditional archers from Phoenix Empire. Hence, even the ranged attacks couldn't become successful.
Hence, everyone could only hope for 6-circle and 7-circle realm experts to arrive as fast as possible and make a way for them.
And seven hours after when the supreme realm experts broke through the enemy's frontline, Phoenix Imperial Army arrived and surrounded the enemies from three different directions. Sect leaders, clan heads, guild leaders, generals, and all invited powerful individuals were also in that bunch.
However, they weren't attacking and only set up camps around. They were waiting for the results from their three trump cards that were currently in the middle of the enemy's territory.
In the Emperor's camp, Shang Fu and the other important figures were waiting for the result.
The gold dragon and Lan Ju were seen in the skies but the other two were nowhere seen. Even Feng Wu, his nephew, and the others weren't sighted anywhere by the spies.
Obviously, Shang Fu was anxious.
And, about an hour later, around 3 p.m., when the temperature outside slowly cooled down because of the cloudy weather, the Emperor's fears had come true.
An elder of the Mt. Hua sect entered the tent with a panicked expression, "Your Majesty."
"What happened?" The Emperor turned more anxious as he rose from his seat. The others followed suit as they cannot sit when the Emperor is standing.
The elder replied with his voice shaking in worry, "Ven… Venerable Wu is no more."
"What? The gold dragon won?" Emperor Shang was naturally shocked to hear it. After all, the gold dragon and Wu Weibao should be of equal strength originally but with the divine grade item, the latter still should have won even if he couldn't use it to its full potential because of the lack of ownership over the weapon.
The elder nodded, "Everyone has witnessed Venerable Wu has fallen and was eaten by that monster."
Shang Fu quickly closed his eyes and raised his hand. He attempted to summon the Imperial Bow back to him but there was no answer. "My connection to the Imperial Bow has been severed?"
Shang Fu felt heavy pain in his chest. His legs lost their strength and his body collapsed on the seat.
"Your Majesty." Bai Xun attempted to grab him in concern. The Emperor waved his hands while taking heavy breaths, "I'm alright."
Meanwhile, some of the clan elders and the crown prince were rejoicing in their heads, thinking that the weapon seller has lost his greatest backing and he doesn't seem invincible anymore.
At the same time, Shang Zexi also thought that he got an opportunity to ascend to the throne.
As for the others who were genuinely worried about the welfare of the empire, their morale was hit.
Heaven Sect's representative, an 8-circle realm expert named Chen Hong, then tried to showcase his optimism by stating, "Your Majesty, there's nothing to be worried about. Venerable Huang and Venerable Song are a great threat to them. That is probably why they were dragged away from the city to someplace far away. I'm sure that they will return victorious."
"Do you really think so?" Shang Fu looked at him in hope.
Cheng Hong nodded with a smile, "Our Patriarch once said that Huang Ming is invincible under the demigod realm if he fights seriously. There's no way Feng Wu's demon will defeat him."
Shang Fu then thought of the untamed divine grade item he secretly gave to Song Tai on his son's advice. His mood became slightly better and replied, "Lu Zhen is a friend of our imperial family. Today, he lost a great asset but we will not let Venerable Wu's sacrifice to go waste. We will defeat the enemies and end this war before the sunset."
Before anyone else react to his bold announcement, everyone heard a voice in the surroundings.
"You are right. The war will end before the sunset but I'm afraid you won't be able to avenge him."
As everyone in the tent became extremely alert, Shang Fu shouted, "Who is it? Show yourself."
In response to his shout, a figure materialized out of nowhere with two unconscious bodies, each on a shoulder.
*Thud*
Bael threw them onto the ground, stupefying everyone before making an announcement in the form of a warning, "Consider this as our mercy. Within an hour, all of your forces must leave the borders, or else, you will see thousands of dead bodies."
The demon king disappeared without bothering to hear the other party's response.
But then again, no one is in a state to speak out. They were scared to death at the moment and their morale was at the bottom.
Even this optimistic Chen Hong had his legs shivering as he was staring at the two unconscious supreme realm experts, whose cultivations were destroyed. They were nothing more than two old men, now.
"Your Majesty?" Bai Xun looked at his brother-in-law who was staring at the two men for a while.
As there is no response, Bai Xun shook Shang Fu's shoulder and forcefully brought him to reality.
"What just happened, Bai Xun?" asked the Emperor as he came to his senses.
Bai Xun bitterly smiled as he replied, "We lost the war, Your Majesty."
