The Cloud Mountain Empire was gripped by an atmosphere of extreme tension.
Bright Yang Mountain lay in the middle of the Cloud Mountain Empire. Before the world had ascended, it had been only a little over a thousand li from the imperial capital.
Now, of course, the distance was much greater—more than ten thousand li.
But if a great battle truly erupted at Bright Yang Mountain, the imperial capital would not escape unscathed.
And more than half of the entire Cloud Mountain Empire would be destroyed.
The best outcome was to prevent this from happening.
In the imperial court, Xu Bai, commander of the guards, hurried in and reported to the emperor with a grave expression, "Your Majesty, according to reports from the Flying Dragon Army, those powerful cultivators from the Upper Realm have already entered the Cloud Mountain Empire and are closing in on Bright Yang Mountain.
"Your servant personally went to Bright Yang Mountain to investigate and discovered many people whose realms even I could not see through.
"We must make preparations as soon as possible."
Xu Bai had been the commander of the Flying Dragon Army more than a century ago.
He still was.
Only, he had been in the Nascent Soul Realm then, while he had now reached the Dao Integration Realm.
If even he could not discern their cultivation, they were naturally above the Dao Integration Realm.
Emperor Li Yunrui asked with a grim face, "Can the Flying Dragon Army set up defenses?"
After being nurtured by the Cloud Mountain Empire for so many years, the Flying Dragon Army had grown into a cultivator army of more than thirty thousand, with its strongest members reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.
This force allowed the Cloud Mountain Empire to stand firm.
It also deterred cultivators from all