The situation in Anlan was gradually falling apart. And after thousands of years of history, many members of the Anlan Royal Family had learned only to indulge themselves and wield their authority, forgetting that its source was the royal family's strength.
Anlan Kingdom was in disarray. It had not only lost the protection of a Saint Realm expert; some had also lost themselves in the pursuit of power. Others believed that even if Anlan Kingdom fell, they could still pledge themselves to another kingdom and continue living as nobles.
For various reasons, the Anlan Royal Family had now lost two of its three provinces. The Duke of Slod, who had been preparing for this for years, had joined forces with several Level 9 experts in his province to form the Resistance Army. They had taken complete control of Landong Province and split the front into two, fighting Landong Province and Anlan Province at the same time. The course of the war was often determined by the number of Level 9 experts on each side.
Spark City stood on the frontier of Landong Province in Anlan Kingdom. Farther east lay the Yulan Continent's greatest mountain range, the Magic Beast Mountain Range. This major geographical advantage was precisely why many nobles and commoners in Landong Province who wanted no part in the war had joined Spark City.
After all, Anlan Kingdom had been founded by four Saint Realm experts. Even after thousands of years, many Level 9 Warriors still lived within its borders. Some were powerful lords who governed provinces and held the title of Duke; others were generals who could easily muster armies of over a million soldiers.
A typical province had at least a dozen Level 9 experts. Eight or nine of them served within the province itself, while the province also controlled several nearby cities. Level 8 Warriors governed the more remote, less important cities, while Level 9 experts guarded the key passes and strategic strongholds.
When Carl was stationed at Spark Town, there were quite a few cities in the surrounding area. But only two were strategic strongholds that required heavy garrisons. The closest to Carl's Spark Town was Thorn City, where Duke Slod was based.
Over the past few years, Duke Slod had sent envoys from time to time, hoping to bring Carl over to his side. At first, Carl had let people receive them. But after learning who was backing the Resistance Army, she had simply rejected them outright.
The Resistance Army appeared powerful. It had the troops to open two fronts. But in practice, this strategy had led Landong Province, which had already been inclined to break away, to gradually improve its relations with Anlan Province.
After all, Slod and his allies were backed by another kingdom and wanted to overthrow Anlan Kingdom's rule. Carl could see what Landong Province had been trying to do over the past few years: it wanted independence and hoped to become a Principality. By turning the province into a Principality, most of the taxes collected in its territory would no longer be sent to the royal capital as they had been before.
It might have seemed outrageous, but in reality, this approach was the most likely to succeed.
After all, Anlan Kingdom had lost its everlasting Saint Realm expert. That meant the five-hundred-year cycle of power was nearing its peak.
Most of the Dukes and generals in Landong Province were over three hundred years old. Those of the older generation had lived for more than four hundred years.
This meant that power in Landong Province was on the verge of changing hands. When the Anlan Royal Family was strong, even if these Level 9 Warriors nearing retirement were unwilling, they had no choice but to return to the royal capital or their own fiefs. Once they passed away, their descendants would often have to rely on themselves to secure their standing.
Many nobles on the Yulan Continent had gradually fallen into decline this way. Without a powerful expert to protect them, their family's standing diminished. A family that had once been among the province's most prominent might end up as the lord of a small town. This was especially common when a family had held such a position for centuries. Many of their descendants became spoiled, or simply weren't capable enough to carry on the family legacy. The family could only cling to a single town, and after a few decades of living off its wealth, it would gradually sink into the ranks of ordinary nobility.
Landong Province.
The Resistance Army's headquarters was a towering palace. Inside, some people sat drinking wine, while others stood around. A few were even flirting with the maids beside them.
Apart from the maids and servants, only seventeen people in the palace wore fine clothes. Each of them radiated a powerful aura.
These were the Resistance Army's seventeen Level 9 experts in Landong Province.
"How many forces in the province still haven't supported us?" The speaker was a burly man with blue eyes, seated at the head of the table. His aura was the most imposing of the seventeen. Anyone with a discerning eye would have gasped: he was actually a Level 9 Warrior at the peak.
Level 9 experts held high status on the Yulan Continent, but there were still distinctions within their ranks. A Warrior in the early stages of Level 9 might hold a high position, but most could only attain the rank of Earl and govern a city at a key pass. They were still far from the center of power.
Only experts who had reached the late stages of Level 9 were qualified to approach the kingdom's center of power. Those with this level of strength usually held the title of Duke and commanded hundreds of thousands of soldiers, or served as a province's governor.
As for those at the peak of Level 9, they were stronger than late-stage experts, though not by much. But they had already pushed their Battle Qi cultivation to the limits of Level 9. If they could grasp the Momentum of Heaven and Earth, they could take that opportunity to become Saint Realm experts.
In any faction, such experts were its public face beneath the Saint Realm. Even in the Faith Alliance and the Empire, a peak Level 9 expert could hold an exceptionally high position.
After all, Saint Realm experts disdained involving themselves in mortal wars.
"Lord Jiawen, there are currently nine forces in the province that haven't publicly declared their support for us."
The speaker was one of the few female Level 9 Warriors among the seventeen. She had previously been in charge of Landong Province's finances and now handled some of the Resistance Army's intelligence.
"Those nine old bastards are stubborn as hell. I feel like taking my axe to them one by one and cracking their skulls open to see if there's nothing inside but weeds!"
A burly man bellowed in a deep voice.
"Hahaha! Why don't you give it a try right now, Kevin? If you can take one of them out, it'll scare the others, too."
Some of the seventeen argued heatedly, while others stayed silent.
The Resistance Army looked powerful, with an army of over a million soldiers—enough to open two major fronts. But that didn't mean the seventeen people present were all of one mind.
Some wanted power, their minds clouded by the glory of overthrowing a kingdom. Others simply wanted the treasure they had been promised.
A Saint Realm technique.
Before you continue