The voice echoed through heaven and earth, its resonance lingering.
As the final two words fell, heaven and earth shook.
From the glazed golden halls of Purple Dusk's royal capital to the little town of Blackwater on Chenliu's border, from high officials and nobles to the countless common folk, everyone stared at one another. Their lips moved, wanting to say something but not knowing what, the same words written across every face:
"Are you kidding? The Purple Dusk Empire is just... gone?"
The people of Blackwater Town had only just recovered from the shadow of the Flower Demon when this voice struck them dumb all over again.
In the distance, war drums thundered.
Countless riders of the Great Xia Dragon Cavalry held Crimson-Gold Command Banners, galloping in every direction from the edge of the sky.
Dragon Horses trod the air, their scales cold and forbidding.
The Great Xia Dragon Cavalry wore black-and-gold armor branded with the Great Xia Dragon Pattern. Command banners snapped in the wind behind them, each bearing a bold, powerful character: "Xia."
Hundreds upon thousands of command banners swept across the whole of Purple Dusk at once. Bolstered by the dragon riders' True Immortal Realm cultivation, their shouted commands instantly spread in every direction.
"From this day forth, the old laws shall remain for now, and new decrees shall follow!"
"All subjects within Purple Dusk's borders are now subjects of Great Xia."
"Those who harm the people shall be judged under Xia law!"
"Those who sow disorder shall be executed under military law!"
Wherever the dragon riders passed, Great Xia's draconic aura swiftly linked with Purple Dusk's mountains and rivers, reorganizing the dynasty's fortune. The old nation's borders were erased inch by inch, and a new map of its lands was redrawn amid golden light. From this