We Love Peace!

The establishment of trade routes and commerce proceeded very smoothly. Emperor Wu advocated peace and was very willing to work hand in hand with other countries.

However, the mission members ate this meal with trepidation.

Although they outwardly flattered the Longwu Empire, they still harbored a deep contempt for it.

Because apart from the Dragonkin and the two dragons, the other party has nothing special about them, and their territory is not very large at present.

The other technical aspects are average, nothing particularly outstanding.

However, in keeping with the attitude of establishing friendly relations, they certainly wouldn't reveal these thoughts on the surface.

The previous praise was just a typical example of mutual flattery in business.

However, this Emperor Wu was no ordinary man; he immediately gave everyone a rude awakening.

He had previously said that there was a saying among the people that he couldn't recall, so he had his subordinates say it.

That statement was incredibly arrogant. "Wherever the sun and moon shine, that is dragon land." Doesn't that mean the whole world belongs to them?

However, this was not said by Long Chen himself; it was just a rumor circulating among the people.

This means that this statement was not made by Long Chen, and does not represent his stance or the stance of this country.

This was just a joke.

The implication is that this was meant to give everyone a hard time.

Fortunately, the caravan escaped unharmed and left the Dragon Kingdom safely.

Since then, the Longwu Empire has slowed its expansion and turned its attention to internal reforms.

First, in the barren lands, Long Chen ordered the construction of water canals, with waterways manually dug to bring water into the barren lands.

The people did not understand this. They had the protection of two dragons, White Dragon Kan Gong controlled the wind and rain. There was no need for them to carry out such a time-consuming, laborious, and thankless project.

This move is wasteful of manpower and resources; it would be better to continue expanding outwards, since the area where the irrigation canal is built won't immediately become vibrant.

And there are still great rivers and mountains outside. Wouldn't it be more time-saving and labor-saving to directly annex suitable land outside?

The ministers made several proposals, but Long Chen insisted on carrying out the plan.

Water canals were built throughout the country to bring water from the six lakes to the barren lands in all directions.

Thus, the expansion of the empire gradually slowed down.

Soon after, the caravan returned to the Desert Empire and brought the news back with it.

They initially said that Long Chen was extremely ambitious and might start a war.

However, several years passed, and Long Chen remained silent, focusing on internal affairs and refraining from large-scale external expansion.

This made the people of the Desert Empire re-examine the distant Dragon Country.

"This is a peace-loving nation. Although their productivity is not top-notch, it is still quite good. Trading with them is mutually beneficial for us."

"Moreover, food resources have become increasingly strained in recent years."

"The Goddess of Life blesses us with prosperity, but our population is expanding while the land is becoming barren and uncultivable."

"Our main food source is livestock, and the scarcity of freshwater and plants has also brought challenges to the reproduction of livestock."

"Fortunately, our neighbors have abundant food and fresh water resources..."

"Then why don't we just take their land and cultivate it ourselves?"

"Alas...that's not a good idea. Our neighboring country has two dragons protecting it. If we really fight, we won't gain much advantage. Seeing their friendly attitude, I think it would be better to further promote trade and work together."

"Hmm... that makes sense."

A local minister stood atop a giant building, looking down at the vast desert and wasteland below, barren and scorching under the blazing sun.

The desert is teeming with people who drag giant stones to build statues and massive ancient cities.

However, this still cannot change the fact that this land is barren.

"This place was originally called Angnas. It once possessed the most fertile land on the continent, but with the fall of the First Empire, it has become this barren place."

Later, the Desert Empire settled in Angnas, which further exacerbated the loss of energy from the soil, turning the area into a sea of sand.

The Old Tsar remained in Solon, and the lands of the Shattered Empire were always left to be managed and rebuilt by his subjects.

Because at least there are oases there.

The soil erosion here has reached such a point that it's beyond repair.

The soil here is unusable and can only be wasteland, so they can only continue the old path of the Shattered Empire and continue to expand outward endlessly.

However, there is one thing that must be avoided.

That is, to the west of the mainland, there is a country that should never be provoked.

It is said that the previous empire was destroyed because of this incident.

This message was relayed by Isis to the Insects and the Golden King.

She said that beyond the Mountain City to the west, there is a great rift valley, beyond which lies the boundary of the civilization ruled by 001.

However, 001's attitude has always been ambiguous; if you don't provoke it, it won't bother you either.

So there's no need to worry too much; as long as you keep your subordinates in check, there shouldn't be any major problems.

However, as the Desert Empire expanded further, the maps they drew became larger and larger, which gradually led the Golden King to discover a clue.

Because they never found the ocean.

This shows that they have not reached the end, no matter which direction they are in.

How big is this continent?

The Golden King fell into deep thought, and they drew out the border lines of the empire on the map.

They distinguished the various empires by using different colors and names.

This stage is all about occupying the squares; if you capture all the squares, you win.

The Desert Empire and the Kingdom of the Golden King have merged into one, forming a unified whole.

The main ethnic group is the Rare People Tribe of Isis.

The Golden King lowered his gaze, his finger gradually sliding towards the eastern point and the Longwu Empire.

Judging from the map, the Longwu Empire's land area is only one-quarter the size of the current Desert Empire.

"It might turn out to be a formidable opponent."

South of the Longwu Empire, in the southeastern part of the continent, a group of wild beasts and orcs fled in disarray to the southern wilderness.

It may be hard to believe, but the tribe that Long Chen defeated was actually a Three Gods Alliance.

It consists of Sequence 012 Beast of a Thousand Throats, Sequence 018 Centaur, and Sequence 033 Elf.

The God of Nature mentioned by those beastmen actually refers to centaurs.

Thousand Throat was called the Beast God, and the Elf was simply called the God of Elves.

The elves were born here, while the centaurs and Thousandthroat migrated from the south.

The three gods have formed an alliance.

The elves used ancient trees to create Elf Dependents, planted seeds in the wasteland, and hoped to bring life to this barren land and establish a home there.

But the centaurs and the thousand-throat didn't think so, so the two continued northward, nomadic for many years, until they finally found a fertile green land.

But this place has already been occupied.

That's right, it's the Dragon Country. In order to seize this land, they waged a ten-year war of aggression against the Dragon Country.

They were advancing triumphantly, and with their bodies a fusion of beasts and the protection of two gods, humans were no match for them.

However, two dragons appeared.

My mind was a bit foggy today, so I only wrote one chapter...