The Star Luo Empire
Star Luo City
The Imperial Palace
Roar~!!!
Crash~!!!
A deafening tiger's roar rang out, and the jade slips on the desk before the throne clattered to the floor.
"Who can tell me!"
"Who can tell me where this Great Ming Kingdom came from!"
"And where did it get the nerve to invade my southern territories!"
Crash~!
At the Star Luo Empire's court, one minister after another stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, the Great Ming Kingdom was formerly the Starry Sky Kingdom. It is said that Xu Xingyun's legitimate son changed its name."
"When the Great Ming Kingdom was first established, the Gulei Kingdom had two hundred thousand troops at its gates. King Ming flooded them all by design..."
"Word is, King Ming is distantly related to the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family. Now all the Great Ming Kingdom's lands, including the Star Shine Duchy we supported, belong to the Heaven Dou Empire's sphere of influence."
Crack~ Crack~
As the ministers' reports rang out below him, Star Luo Emperor Dai Haochen clenched his fists tight, his eyes fixed on the two jade slips still on the desk.
The slips read:
[Southern Campaign, Galloping Wolf Kingdom:
At the founding of the Great Ming Kingdom, the Galloping Wolf Kingdom incited and manipulated the international war criminal Li Xingyao into establishing a duchy without permission, causing the Great Ming Kingdom heavy losses.
I now march with four hundred thousand troops to punish the Galloping Wolf Kingdom. I will not turn back until it is crushed. Signed: King Ming!]
It was a declaration of war, and Star Luo Emperor Dai Haochen ground his teeth as he read it.
The other slip held a secret report.
[Current situation: Turmoil in Spirit Hall. Rumors of the Pope's demise are spreading, and the Clear Sky Sect seems to have something to do with it.]
Relations between Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect had grown increasingly strained.
That was bad news for the Star Luo Empire.
After all, both empires had the support of one of the Upper Three Sects. Now the Heaven Dou Empire's kingdom, the Great Ming Kingdom, was moving against one of the Star Luo Empire's vassals.
And with the Clear Sky Sect's support gone, the Star Luo Empire would be at an innate disadvantage.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, which backed the Heaven Dou Empire, might not be as powerful as the Clear Sky Sect behind the Star Luo Empire, but it had money. It could pour funds into the war effort without end.
When the Galloping Wolf King received the Great Ming Kingdom's declaration of war, he was stunned.
The Great Ming Kingdom was bringing four hundred thousand troops. The Galloping Wolf Kingdom didn't even have two hundred thousand. How could it possibly win?
So he sent the declaration straight to his own overlord.
What he didn't know was that the Star Luo Empire was also in a difficult position over the declaration.
Of course it wanted to help, but on what grounds could it move against the Great Ming Kingdom?
If it started an imperial war without cause, the Heaven Dou Empire would obviously not stand by and watch.
The two empires had only recently ended their conflict, and now the Clear Sky Sect seemed to be on the verge of withdrawing. The Star Luo Empire couldn't start this war, nor could it afford to.
But with its own vassal under attack, the Star Luo Empire couldn't just sit by, either.
"Phew..."
Dai Haochen narrowed his eyes slightly. After pondering for a long while, he issued his final order.
"Have Tianxing Province send troops to aid the Galloping Wolf Kingdom. Prepare for a protracted war."
The Heaven Dou Empire
The Imperial Palace.
"Cough, cough..."
A fit of coughing came from the Grand Prince's Palace.
"Your Majesty, the Grand Prince caught a chill after returning."
"It would be terrible if you caught it too. Please take care of your health."
Inside the Grand Prince's Palace, Xiao Xue slowly put on the Grand Prince's clothes. Her eyes narrowed, and her appearance swiftly began to change.
"From today on, I'll live in your place."
On her way back to the Heaven Dou Empire from the Great Ming Kingdom, Qian Renxue had set her substitution plan in motion.
That night, the Heaven Dou Second Prince fell gravely ill and took to his bed.
Meanwhile, the Third Prince, a cultivation prodigy with great talent, began preparing for the annual Heaven Dou Hunting Tournament.
Meanwhile, in the Great Ming Kingdom
At Xu Nian'an's command, Xu Yi, stationed far away in the southern reaches of the Star Luo Empire, led the Dragon Guard, one hundred and thirty thousand militia, and seventy thousand elite troops across the Asturias Mountains and into the Galloping Wolf Kingdom.
With the Holy Spirit Cult's Level 9 Soul Engineer Ming Lei and two hundred thousand Dragon Guard troops leading the assault, the southern campaign against the Galloping Wolf Kingdom went smoothly. In just half a month, they had conquered most of its territory.
The Galloping Wolf Kingdom's front line.
"Bastards! Bastards! You beasts, you beasts!"
"My wolf cubs! My wolf cubs! The Wolf God in heaven will never forgive you!"
The Galloping Wolf King stared at what remained of his Galloping Wolf Army, his face stricken with grief.
They'd been cut down from one hundred and seventy thousand to fewer than fifty thousand. It was a massacre.
And the enemy's main force had barely suffered any losses. They had only lost some militia.
At the end of June,
Tianxing Province of the Star Luo Empire crossed into the Galloping Wolf Kingdom with one hundred and fifty thousand troops.
That night, a group of black-robed figures forced their way into the military camp and began slaughtering indiscriminately.
Then a man with black lightning flashing all over his body appeared. With a wave of his hand, a mass of metal objects materialized around him. A huge cannon barrel took aim at the Galloping Wolf Kingdom's capital.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—nine Soul Rings blazed wildly.
"Be destroyed, Light of Holy Thunder!"
Bang~ Boom!!!!
The earth trembled.
"AAAAAAAH!!!!"
One anguished scream after another rang across the land, beneath the light blazing from the Galloping Wolf Kingdom's capital.
Not far away, golden scales and bright armor flashed in the light. The Dragon Guard had been waiting for this moment.
"By royal decree, flatten the Galloping Wolf Kingdom!!!"
"By royal decree, flatten the Galloping Wolf Kingdom!!!"
"By royal decree, flatten the Galloping Wolf Kingdom!!!"
It was a flawless surprise attack.
By first light, the Galloping Wolf Kingdom's capital was flying a new flag, the Sun and Moon Flag.
The Holy Spirit Cult and its recently recruited followers had already cleared away the bodies littering the streets.
The next day, news that shocked the entire continent spread across the land.
The Great Ming Kingdom had crossed the borders of two empires to reclaim its lost lands and swallowed the Galloping Wolf Kingdom right under the Star Luo Empire's nose.
The Star Luo Empire's Imperial Palace
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Last night, the Great Ming Kingdom sent a force of high-ranking Soul Masters in black robes to raid the Galloping Wolf Kingdom's capital. They used a special weapon to break through the city gates. The army sent in from Tianxing Province and the Galloping Wolf Army have both been routed... The Galloping Wolf Kingdom has been riddled with holes and lost all its territory!!!"
Whoosh~
Just as the court session began, a bombshell suddenly exploded.
"What...!!!"
Star Luo Emperor Dai Haochen was stunned.
"No. We can't let the Great Ming Kingdom keep growing like this."
"General Tang..."
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
No one answered. Everyone looked bewildered.
"Your Majesty, General Tang doesn't seem to be here today."
Clatter, clatter~!!!
Just then, a flurry of hurried footsteps rang out.
"Report, Your Majesty! The Pope of Spirit Hall has fallen, likely at Tang Hao's hands. Spirit Hall has now launched an all-out war against the Clear Sky Sect!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~!!!
At the news, everyone immediately looked up.
A week later, when the Star Luo Emperor sent troops to the Clear Sky Sect's former headquarters, they found it had long since been reduced to ruins. Everyone from the Clear Sky Sect had vanished.
(PS: At the request of readers, Heavenly Emperor Sword has been renamed the Dragon Emperor Sword.)