With Chu Bai turning the clouds and overturning the rain, turning the enemy's scheme against them, the flames of war that had filled the skies along Great Zhou's Qingzhou border vanished overnight after the battle of Azure Cloud Gorge.
When the ten enormous dark-gold warships broke through the sunset clouds and slowly descended onto the newly built Heavenly Abyss City square, the entire city entered the wildest, most feverish moment since its founding.
There were simply too many spoils.
Three early Purple Abode Great Demon Kings, and hundreds of thousands of ancient demon beast carcasses.
These supreme resources, which could not be bought outside even with money and were enough to drive second-rate sects mad, now lay stacked across the square like an unbroken range of small mountains, radiating suffocating surges of demonic power and spiritual light of every hue.
"Rewards according to merit! Hear the Grand Protector's decree!"
Zhang Cheng, chief secretary of the Protectorate Prefecture, wore a brand-new black official robe of the Principal Fourth Rank. Holding a violet-gold scroll of merit, he strode onto the golden platform at the center of the square.
Amplified by a mighty formation, his voice reached every one of the million cultivators and mortals present:
"First defense sector, Heavenly Abyss Mystic Guard Vanguard Battalion!
"For slaying four great demons and meritorious service in defending the city, you are awarded third-class military merit! Your rewards are five hundred bottles of supreme-grade Qi-Replenishing Pills and thirty heavy crossbows of low-grade magical artifact quality. Every member shall receive fifty Protectorate Prefecture merit points!"
"Hu Hao and Pang Song, deputy generals of the Demon-Suppressing Army, led from the front and slew great demons in battle. They are awarded first-class military merit! Their rewards are three High-Purity Soul Crystals and ten supreme-grade Tribulation-Averting Talismans, with additional appointments