The Stone Fang Mountains vanished from the Mountain and Seas Map—not erased, but reclassified.
— Iron Fang Dominion: Dissolved —
— Territory Status: Assimilated —
— High-Level Combatants: Under Dynasty Custody —
Golden borders expanded smoothly, swallowing 1.2 million square kilometers without resistance. Spirit veins stabilized. Suppression faded—replaced by order.
Feng Hao did not linger.
His finger slid across the map.
The next marker pulsed.
Azure Sky Sect.
Mistfall Hills.
Endless clouds coiled around layered peaks, floating islands tethered by spirit chains, sky bridges carved from azure crystal. Unlike Iron Fang's brutal solidity, Azure Sky was refined, ancient, and proud.
[Tier 9 Force Confirmed]
Peak Combatant: Half-Step Divine Transformation
Elders: 46 (Unity Realm & Above)
Territory Stability: High
Spirit Veins: Abundant — poorly unified
Feng Hao's gaze sharpened.
"Too loose," he murmured. "Too confident."
The Mountain and Seas Map reacted.
Golden light spread—not violently, but quietly, slipping into clouds, rivers of mist, drifting formations. Unlike Iron Fang, Azure Sky's defenses did not scream.
They hesitated.
"Send no ultimatum," Feng Hao said.
A pause.
"Send an invitation."
—
The skies above Mistfall Hills brightened.
Not with pressure.
With clarity.
Clouds parted as a procession descended—not one Dragon Guard this time, but nine, flying in perfect formation. Each wore dragon-marked armor, cultivation firmly in the Divine Bridge Realm—restrained, disciplined.
At their center walked an old man.
White hair.
Plain robes.
Bare feet on air.
Azure Sky's grand bell rang instantly, its tone sharp with alarm.
From the highest floating island, a woman stepped forward—Sect Master Lan Yao, her aura vast, refined, touching the threshold of transformation. Behind her, elders emerged one by one, expressions cautious rather than mocking.
The old man stopped midair and bowed slightly.
"Azure Sky Sect," he said warmly.
"By will of the Nine God Dynasty, an invitation is extended."
No suppression.
No threat.
Just words.
Lan Yao narrowed her eyes. "Invitation?"
"Yes," the old man replied. "To stand among the core powers of the coming era."
Murmurs rippled through the elders.
The old man continued calmly.
"No dismantling. No disbandment. No humiliation."
He raised one finger.
"One condition only."
The sky darkened slightly—not from power, but attention.
"Submit your peak combatants to a single verification battle."
Silence.
Lan Yao's expression hardened. "A test?"
"A confirmation," the old man corrected gently.
"That Azure Sky Sect is worthy of autonomy under heaven."
An elder scoffed. "And if we refuse?"
The old man smiled.
Behind him, the clouds froze.
Far away—very far—something vast shifted.
"Then," he said softly,
"you will receive the same courtesy Iron Fang did."
The name landed like a blade.
Several elders' faces changed.
Lan Yao's gaze flicked involuntarily to the horizon—where the Stone Fang Mountains should have been.
She saw only golden borders.
Her hand tightened inside her sleeve.
"…Who will fight?" she asked.
The old man lifted his eyes.
"Your strongest."
"And yours?"
The old man's smile widened just a fraction.
"No one."
A heartbeat passed.
Then the sky split.
A pressure descended—not crushing, not hostile—but absolute. A single presence looked down through the clouds, unseen yet undeniable.
Feng Hao.
Not manifesting.
Observing.
Lan Yao inhaled slowly.
"…Prepare the Sky Ascension Platform," she said.
The elders turned, shocked.
"Sect Master—!"
She raised her hand.
"This is not a challenge," she said quietly.
"It is a crossroad."
High above, unseen, Feng Hao nodded once.
On the Mountain and Seas Map, the Azure Sky Sect marker shifted color—
From Hostile
To Undecided.
And the second conquest began—not with annihilation…
…but with a battle that would decide whether Azure Sky would rise
or fall with the age.
High above Mistfall Hills, the sky split apart.
A gigantic phantom stepped out of distorted space. His robes fluttered without wind, eyes cold and ancient.
Azure Sky Sect — Ancestral Founder.
Cultivation: Half-Step Divine Transformation.
The moment he appeared, heaven and earth trembled. Mountains bowed. Rivers froze mid-flow. Spiritual energy within a million li radius stagnated.
"This junior dares invade my domain?"
His voice carried the weight of thousands of years.
Opposite him, golden light condensed.
A single figure emerged calmly.
Nine God Dynasty — Supreme Elder.
Cultivation: Half-Step Divine Transformation.
No grand entrance.
No roar of power.
Yet the moment he stabilized, the distorted space corrected itself.
The heavens calmed.
The earth ceased trembling.
The ancestor's eyes narrowed.
"…You are Nothing but a Arrogant fool."
The Supreme Elder clasped his hands lightly.
"By imperial decree," he said flatly.
"Submit, or be erased."
Silence.
Then the ancestor laughed.
"A mere subordinate?"
"You think you can stand against an ancestor who has refined Dao for seven thousand years?"
He raised his hand.
Domain — Azure Heaven Suppression.
The sky collapsed downward.
Space folded.
Pressure multiplied.
Half step Divine Transformation-level suppression descended like a mountain.
Within the domain, even Nascent Soul experts would shatter instantly.
The Supreme Elder did not retreat.
Golden threads surged from his body.
He stepped forward
Supreme Body art.
Golden light bloomed.
The collapsing sky stopped.
The ancestor's pupils shrank.
"What—?!"
The two domains collided.
No explosion.
No sound.
Only annihilation of pressure.
Mountains beneath them cracked silently. Entire peaks turned to dust without shockwaves. Spirit veins bent, forcibly realigned by imperial authority.
The ancestor's expression finally changed.
The Supreme Elder raised his palm.
A single sentence.
"Submit or die."
Heaven Covering Palm.
A single palm descended.
Not fast.
Not slow.
But unavoidable.
The ancestor roared, blood essence boiling.
Quasi Spirt level Technique— Azure Sky Severance!
A heaven-splitting slash tore forward, ripping space apart.
The palm met it.
The slash shattered.
The palm continued.
Boom—
The ancestor was blasted backward, crashing through three floating mountains. His body smashed into stone, blood spilling from his mouth.
Silence reigned.
The Supreme Elder advanced calmly.
"Experience," he said evenly,
"is meaningless before absolute power."
Golden light intensified.
The ancestor struggled to rise.
For the first time in millennia—
Fear surfaced.
The Supreme Elder Looked at the Eye.
"Feng'er how should we deal with him?"
A golden eye opened in the sky.
Cold.
Calm.
Absolute.
Feng Hao did not descend physically. He didn't need to.
His voice echoed like law itself.
"Azure Sky Sect," he said.
"You were given a chance."
The ancestor struggled, veins bulging.
"I am Half-Step Divine Transformation! You cannot erase—"
The Supreme Elder understood what he meant and His domain attacked The ancestor of Azure sect.
The ancestor's voice vanished.
His cultivation shook violently.
Golden threads pierced his Dao foundation, unraveling years of refinement in seconds. His Half-Step Divine Transformation cultivation collapsed, forcibly compressed.
Divine Transformation → Unity Realm → Nascent Soul → Golden Core.
It stopped.
The ancestor screamed.
"No—! My Cultivation —!"
Feng Hao's finger lowered.
"Preserved."
The Supreme Elder stood.
"By imperial will," he declared,
"Azure Sky Sect is demoted."
Golden light surged outward.
Formations shattered—not destroyed, but overwritten. Spirit veins rerouted, flowing toward Nine God Dynasty control nodes.
Elders across the sect felt their authority stripped instantly.
Sect Master seal—gone.
Elder tokens—invalidated.
Ancestral altars—rebound.
The ancestor fell to his knees mid-air, cultivation sealed at Golden Core.
Immortal humiliation.
Feng Hao's gaze shifted.
"Register all elders."
Golden marks branded themselves onto every high-level cultivator.
"Absorb resources."
The land responded.
Mountains realigned. Rivers shifted course. Spirit qi density increased—but now bore the Nine God Dynasty's signature.
The Supreme Elder turned to the broken ancestor.
"You will live."
A pause.
"As proof."
Golden characters burned into the sky, visible across millions of li:
— Tier 9 Force: Azure Sky Sect — SUBJUGATED —
The golden eye closed.
The pressure vanished.
But the order remained.
The Supreme Elder waved his hand.
"Begin integration."
The war ended before it truly began.
And far away, on the back-mountain pavilion, Feng Hao opened his eyes.
"Next," he said calmly.
The Crimson Hawk Alliance did not see the sky crack.
They felt something worse.
A Crimson Hawk scout knelt inside a wind-cut stone hall, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as he slammed his forehead to the ground.
"Sect Master—urgent report!"
The hall fell silent.
Above him sat Hawk Lord Yan Zhi, Peak Nascent Soul, one step from Unity. Around him were thirteen elders, their auras sharp, restless, battle-hardened.
"Speak," Yan Zhi said coldly.
The scout swallowed.
"Azure Sky Sect… has fallen."
A ripple ran through the hall.
"Destroyed?" an elder asked.
The scout shook violently.
"No. Subjugated."
Silence.
Yan Zhi's fingers tightened.
"Explain."
The scout raised his head, eyes filled with terror.
"A Supreme Elder of the Nine God Dynasty descended. Azure Sky's ancestor—Half-Step Divine Transformation—was sealed in seconds. His cultivation was stripped to Golden Core. The entire sect… overwritten."
An elder stood up abruptly.
"Impossible."
The scout screamed.
"I SAW IT! Spirit veins rerouted. Formations rewritten. The sky itself bore Eyes!."
He slammed a jade slip onto the floor.
A projection appeared.
Golden characters burned in the air:
— Tier 9 Force: Azure Sky Sect — SUBJUGATED —
No distortion.
No illusion.
Real.
Yan Zhi rose slowly.
"Time."
The scout answered instantly.
"Less than one incense stick."
The hall turned ice-cold.
A cavalry elder clenched his fist.
"They didn't even fight…"
Yan Zhi exhaled.
"Report Iron Fang."
The scout hesitated.
"Stone Fang Mountains… are collapsing inward. No transmissions. No survivors confirmed."
That was the breaking point.
Yan Zhi closed his eyes.
A long silence followed.
Then—
"Prepare the submission ritual."
Every elder froze.
"Lord Yan—!"
He opened his eyes.
"There is no war here," he said flatly. "Only extinction or alignment."
He turned.
"Activate the Crimson Hawk Sky Banner. Full diplomatic escort. Highest protocol."
The elders swallowed.
A moment later—
The skies above Crimson Hawk Alliance split open gently.
Not violently.
A golden passage formed.
Ten Dragon Guards stood at its edge.
Not a single aura leaked.
Not a single weapon drawn.
The pressure alone forced every cultivator in the alliance to their knees.
Yan Zhi walked forward alone.
He knelt.
"I, Yan Zhi of the Crimson Hawk Alliance," he said hoarsely,
"request registration under the Nine God Dynasty."
A Dragon Guard stepped forward.
"Submission terms?"
Yan Zhi didn't hesitate.
"Territory integration. Elder registration. Military restructuring. Spirit vein alignment."
A pause.
"And?"
Yan Zhi lowered his head further.
"Absolute loyalty."
The Dragon Guard nodded.
"Accepted."
Golden marks descended.
Not chains.
Crests.
Elders gasped as their cultivation stabilized, refined—not suppressed.
Formations realigned smoothly.
Spirit veins brightened.
The land did not resist.
It welcomed the change.
Golden characters formed in the sky:
— Tier 8 Force: Crimson Hawk Alliance — VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION —
Far away, Feng Hao glanced at the Mountain and Seas Map.
A new region turned gold.
"Efficient," he said.
His finger moved again.
Only one remained.
Verdant Wind Tribe.
And they were not so wise.