Feng Hao's finger hovered over the map, golden threads extending like veins into the newly claimed territories. Beyond the glowing borders, the map pulsed again, reacting to residual spiritual signatures. Not all the lands were unclaimed. Hidden within valleys, across rivers, and behind mountain passes, other forces lingered—some dormant, some merely cautious.
Feng Hao's eyes narrowed, golden light reflecting off the map's surface. He zoomed in, tracing the faintest residual qi signatures. The map illuminated:
[Tier 8–9 Forces Detected]
• Iron Fang Dominion (Tier 8) – Territory: 1,200,000 km². Headquarters located in the Stone Fang Mountains. Units: 85,000 (Half-Step Divine Bridge & Above). Spirit veins partially tapped. Defensive formations stabilized.
• Azure Sky Sect (Tier 9) – Territory: 2,100,000 km². Peak cultivation: Half Step Divine Transformation Multiple minor fortresses along the Mistfall Hills. Spirit veins abundant but unaligned.
• Crimson Hawk Alliance (Tier 8) – Territory: 950,000 km². Cultivation: Late Divine Bridge To Peak Nascent Soul Cavalry-heavy, quick-response force. Strong scouting network, but weak territorial control.
• Verdant Wind Tribe (Tier 9) – Territory: 1,800,000 km². Cultivation: Mid Tao Pagoda to Peak Unity Realm Spread across Eastern Highlands and Twin River Valleys. Spirit veins partially harnessed.
Golden markers hovered over each location. Feng Hao's aura flared as he extended his consciousness across the map, assessing each force's strength, territory stability, and potential for rapid conquest.
The skies above the mountain range darkened unnaturally.
Golden clouds parted as a single Dragon Guard descended before Iron Fang's main fortress. The sect's defensive formations screamed in alarm, elder bells ringing across the mountains.
The Dragon Guard did not draw a weapon.
He spoke.
"By decree of the Nine God Dynasty's Great Emperor, Feng Hao."
His voice echoed through the peaks, carrying suppression that forced even Half-Step Divine Bridge experts to bow unconsciously.
"Submit within three days."
"Dismantle independent authority. Open spirit veins. Deliver your high-level combatants for registration."
A pause.
"Refusal equals extinction."
The mountains fell silent.
"What?."
A ripple of laughter answered him.
From atop the fortress wall, a massive figure stepped forward—Iron Fang Patriarch, Duan He, his body armored in mountain-forged plates, cultivation aura blazing at Late Stage Nascent Soul.
"An offer?" Duan He sneered. "From a single envoy?"
Behind him, elders gathered—thirty high-level experts, each one having slaughtered dynasties in their youth. Their gazes were sharp, assessing.
Mocking.
"Tell your emperor," Duan He continued, voice thick with disdain, "that the Iron Fang Dominion does not bend to newborn powers."
The Dragon Guard met his eyes.
No anger.
No pride.
Only calm.
"Then listen carefully," he said.
The Offer
"Submit within three days."
"Retain your bloodlines, titles, and internal governance."
"Your disciples will gain access to Nine God cultivation domains."
"Your elders will be registered—not restrained."
"Your spirit veins will be refined, not stripped."
Golden light rippled subtly beneath his feet, spreading through the mountain stone itself.
"The Iron Fang Dominion will rise—not fall."
A pause.
Then—
Duan He laughed.
Not alone.
The fortress erupted in open mockery.
"Did you hear that?" one elder barked. "Rise?"
Another spat. "We were ancient when his emperor was still mortal dust."
Duan He leaned forward, resting both arms on the battlement.
"Boy," he said lazily, "do you know how many 'supreme emperors' have offered us the same words?"
The Dragon Guard answered immediately.
"Eighty-seven."
That wiped the smile from several faces.
But Duan He recovered quickly.
"And how many survived long enough to regret it?"
The Dragon Guard's gaze lifted—toward the mountains themselves.
"None."
The silence that followed lasted half a breath.
Then Duan He laughed again, louder this time.
"Threats from a courier?" he roared. "You dare stand here alone and speak extinction?"
He straightened, aura flaring violently.
"If your Nine God Dynasty wants Stone Fang—"
He slammed his fist into the battlement, cracking divine stone.
"—come take it."
The Dragon Guard's Promise
The Dragon Guard nodded slowly.
"As you wish."
He raised one hand—not in attack, but in record.
Golden characters burned into the sky above the fortress:
— Iron Fang Dominion: Refusal Logged —
Several elders frowned.
"What is that?" one asked.
The Dragon Guard lowered his hand.
"A promise."
He turned away, already stepping back into the golden裂空裂隙.
"Three days," his voice echoed calmly.
"After that, only elders will remain to answer."
He vanished.
The sky sealed shut.
The pressure disappeared.
And laughter returned—louder than before.
"Ridiculous," Duan He scoffed. "One guard. Empty threats."
But deep beneath the mountain—
A sealed spirit vein shuddered.
A dormant formation misaligned by a fraction.
And somewhere far away, on the back-mountain pavilion…
Feng Hao opened his eyes.
"Good," he murmured.
Deep underground, seventeen sealed formations activated on their own.
Not hostile.
Reassigned.
Spirit veins twisted violently, their qi flow reversing direction. Mountains groaned as ancient rock strata shifted. Entire peaks tilted, not collapsing—but kneeling.
"What—?" an elder shouted.
Then the sky darkened.
A rumbling sound Came.
Then a Single Palm Blotting Out the sky.
From the void above, a single figure stepped forward.
High above the Stone Fang Mountains, the sky folded inward like silk being pressed flat. Space warped. Light bent. Wind ceased to exist.
Then—
A palm descended.
Lines of golden law ran across it like ancient scripture, each one heavier than a mountain range. The air screamed as reality struggled to bear the pressure.
From the void above, a single figure stepped forward.
Robes of dull gold.
Eyes like still suns.
Aura restrained to the point of terror.
A Supreme Elder of the Nine God Dynasty.
Half-Step Divine Transformation Realm.
He did not look at the Iron Fang disciples.
He did not look at the fortress.
His gaze locked onto Duan He.
"Kneel," he said softly.
Duan He roared, unleashing everything—Nascent Soul blazing, blood essence burning, ancient mountain laws erupting around his body.
For a fraction of a second—
He resisted.
Then the palm touched the sky.
The Stone Fang Mountains screamed.
Formations shattered like glass. Peaks flattened—not destroyed, but pressed into obedience. Spirit veins ruptured and realigned, flooding outward in golden streams that no longer answered Iron Fang commands.
Duan He's roar became a Dull cough.
His Nascent Soul Shattered.
He was driven to his knees by nothing visible—just law.
Around him, thirty high-level elders fared no better.
Nascent Souls were pinned to the ground, bones fracturing. Unity Realm experts vomited blood as their Dao paths froze mid-circulation. Divine Bridge elites collapsed unconscious in waves, their cultivations sealed instantly.
The Heaven-Covering Palm halted inches above the fortress.
Not striking.
Judging.
The Supreme Elder finally spoke again.
"Three days were given," he said.
"You chose mockery."
His palm lowered a fraction.
Several elders' cultivations snapped, falling entire realms in an instant.
Duan He screamed.
"WAIT—!"
The palm stopped.
Silence fell so hard it felt louder than thunder.
A second figure appeared beside the first.
Then a third.
Then many.
Supreme Elders—eighteen in total—manifested across the mountains, each one anchoring a corner of space. The Iron Fang Dominion was no longer a territory.
It was a sealed domain.
High above it all, golden characters burned into the sky:
— Iron Fang Dominion: Punitive Phase Initiated —
— High-Level Combatants: Subject to Elder Judgment —
The Supreme Elder looked down once more.
"This is not extinction," he said calmly.
"This is mercy—after refusal."
His palm finally descended.
Not to annihilate.
But to erase Iron Fang's right to stand.
Far away, on the back-mountain pavilion, Feng Hao watched through the Mountain and Seas Map, expression unchanged.
"Proceed," he said.
And the mountains obeyed.