"Fled?"
Inside Spirit City, the Spirit Lord still sat languidly upon his jade chair, gazing at the kin below.
The Flame Sage Elder said to the Spirit Lord,
"Yes, Spirit Lord! Xuanyuan Liqun of Clearpeak Prefecture is an old stubborn mule. I don't know how, but he actually abandoned Clearpeak Prefecture. It is truly bizarre!"
He gnashed his teeth.
The cultivators of the Southern Frontier were truly repulsive. Over a decade had passed, yet the Seven Ironclads were still harassing him!
Not only that, but the cultivators of the entire Southern Frontier had even adopted the tactic of sustaining war with war, specifically capturing immortals in their Grandhaven Prefecture, causing the entire lineage of the Spirit Lord to live in constant fear.
They could only wait for the Blood Moon to expand; only within the Blood Moon did these half-immortals truly rule.
They knew the people outside the Blood Moon perfectly well.
Humans placed immense importance on their territory, inheritance, and ancestral legacies—valuing them even more than their own lives.
They had originally intended to exploit this, utilizing the gradually expanding ambitions of Clearpeak Prefecture and the Southern Frontier cultivators to devour the entirety of Clearpeak Prefecture.
Who would have expected that they wouldn't even attempt to defend it!
"Then they are preparing for a decisive battle. This war is no longer something we can handle."
The Spirit Lord waved his hand. "Go to Deston Prefecture and tell Min Tiange that it is time for him to come."
...
[Year 1080]
[With the great war imminent, your family is preparing to use Grandhaven Prefecture as a buffer zone to battle the Blood Moon.]
"Changsheng, there is no need to ask for help anymore. If the people of the world wanted to deal with the Blood Moon, they would have made their move long ago."
The Imperial Capital.
Li Changsheng and Li Changyao faced the Old Ancestor's spirit tablet, their expressions dark.
Many years had passed, and they had traveled to many places.
Murong Xiaoyao of the Auric Empire was a half-immortal.
The Cultivation Alliance Nations consisted of many immortal cultivation sects, but these sects did not take the immortals seriously.
Instead, they treated this as an opportunity, claiming that the emergence of immortals heralded an era of great contention!
They were preparing for a massive war, believing that when the time came, there would be no more nations or empires.
Any one of them could potentially become like the ancestors of the primordial era, achieving the status of a Great Emperor amidst this great contention and becoming immortal and imperishable.
Li Changsheng had even visited the Wu Tribe.
The remaining nine great totems were too busy fending for themselves.
The previous ambush on Great Emperor Qizhu by the Human Race had instilled fear in them, and internal disputes had erupted among their ranks.
However, Li Changsheng felt they were more than willing to simply wait for Ancestor Lan to perish and his Dao to dissipate.
It seemed the entire world treated the immortals within the Blood Moon and the Southern Frontier as meat on a chopping block.
At this moment.
He was in the Imperial Capital. In the past, his father, Li Kuangren, had cursed furiously within this very city, securing an independent status for Azure Cloud Prefecture.
And now, he finally understood his father's anger and despair at that time.
This Imperial Dynasty... or rather, this world, was beyond saving.
Not long after.
Li Changsheng arrived at the Immortal Suppression Department and requested an audience with Commander Wu Neng.
Here, he encountered many of the family's old acquaintances: Old Ancestor Heavenly Light of the Heavenly Light Sect, the seniors of the Sword Pavilion, Jiang Tianjun of the Heavenly Monarch Dao Sanctuary, and the reclusive members of the Min family...
Seeing Li Changsheng's arrival, these powerful experts within the Immortal Suppression Department all wore peculiar expressions.
Wu Neng said, "Li Changsheng, why be so stubborn? The destruction of the Southern Frontier is already a foregone conclusion.
The Azure Cloud Li Clan should obey the Empress's orders and evacuate the Southern Frontier.
In this era of great contention, we will not sit idly by and watch the immortals run amok. Right now, we are merely giving them a taste of sweetness.
In the future, when we cooperate, we will suppress even the immortals; this is the duty of our Immortal Suppression Department."
Old Ancestor Heavenly Light shook his head, remaining silent.
Jiang Tianjun took a deep breath.
"As long as the green mountains remain, one need not worry about lacking firewood. The Li Clan should heed our advice. We share a past with the Li Clan; why would we harm you?"
Looking at the eyes of these people, Li Changsheng remained expressionless.
He offered a slight bow, not provoking them, and had Li Changyao push his wheelchair away. He said faintly, "Let's go back. Seeking anyone out is useless."
"We still have time," Li Changyao said anxiously. "There is still Duskwild Prefecture; we can go beg Fourth Prince Yu."
"Go back!" Li Changsheng growled through gritted teeth.
Seeing Li Changyao lower her head with reddened eyes, he realized he had lost control of his anger.
His voice softened, but his hands tightly gripped his armrests. "Changyao, we should see things clearly by now."
"Our Southern Frontier lives for itself. These people outside are all waiting to reap the spoils without lifting a finger."
"Every single one of their factions has been accumulating foundation over the years for their descendants.
The Dao realms they once had to struggle immensely to break through now only require a single catalyst—and that is Ancestor Lan's death!"
Li Changsheng wished he could gouge out his own Human Emperor's Eye.
How laughable that he would actually feel pity for the suffering of the mortal realm, but who would care about the suffering of Azure Cloud Prefecture?
"They will only wait to expand their own strength. Just like the people of the Cultivation Alliance Nations, they are dreaming of suppressing the immortals.
In truth, they are dying for Wenren Xianyi to take control of the Imperial Dynasty because they will no longer be suppressed by the Human Emperor.
Every single one of them believes that this catastrophe will make their factions even more glorious!"
"No matter how loudly we beg, or how bitter our tears are, they will never feel it. Profit and greed emit the most captivating light, more than enough to conceal everything else!"
"We have always... only had ourselves."
Li Changyao stood petrified in place.
Having always been sheltered by her older brother and the elders, everything now appeared so naked and raw, leaving her unable to adapt, with nothing to adapt to.
From behind, the sounds of those people discussing could even be heard.
They were planning to go to the sea regions to hunt immortals, to seize the spiritual entities left behind after the immortals' revival, all while claiming loyalty to the Imperial Dynasty and the Human Race.
Li Changyao could even imagine them marching out tomorrow under the admiring gazes of the Imperial Capital's commoners, bringing back spoils of war amidst roaring cheers.
"Let's go, Changyao. We're going home."
"I understand them, and I will remember today. From today onward, I will no longer treat them as human beings."
Li Changyao looked back at the crowd that had begun to laugh loudly.
She seemed to see the elites of the entire Imperial Dynasty, and the major factions of the world, all laughing.
"Mhm."
Li Changyao also smiled. "Brother, just how stupid were we to actually ask them for help?"
"Hahaha!"
Li Changsheng also laughed unbridledly.