His Highness the Sword Emperor Takes a Slice from the Northern and Southern Domains

"Oh? Sister Beiming, you seem to be taking this in stride." Nangong Liuli smiled faintly. "Aren't you afraid that one day our two domains will become His Highness the Sword Emperor's vassals, too?"

Beiming Xue raised her icy eyes to Nangong Liuli. "Do you have a choice? The Demon Emperor is at our doorstep. The passage concerns Blue Star's survival and the future fortunes of the Sacred Martial Continent. Obstructing him means standing against the greater good of the Human Race—and cutting ourselves off from the future. Besides..." She paused. "We've both seen how fast he's growing. Rather than make an enemy of him, we should go with the tide and secure the greatest benefit for ourselves within the rules he sets. The terms he offered aren't unreasonable."

Nangong Liuli fell silent for a moment, then sighed softly. "That's true. We have no choice. I only hope this young emperor can truly lead the Human Race to carve out a way to survive." She gazed out the window in the direction Lin Hao had gone, her expression complicated. "But that path is destined to be strewn with thorns and blood. I'm afraid the next two months won't be peaceful."

By the time Lin Hao returned to Tian Shu City, the news had sprouted wings, spreading to every corner of this great core city of the Human Race before he himself could arrive. Unlike the uncertainty and gravity that had accompanied his departure, the reports now carried astonishing phrases like "every wraith on the Permafrost Ice Plain wiped out" and "the Demon Commander of the Li Fire Abyss executed." They were accompanied by all manner of embellished tales about the young Sword Emperor's thunderous methods and unfathomable strength. Amid the city's oppression and anxiety, a powerful tonic of "hope" and "awe"