The Great Qian Empire's central army camp:
The marshal of the central army sat within, with a group of grand generals below him.
These generals were not combat generals like Grotto Heaven Cultivators who commanded a few troops, but marshals capable of holding command over a region, or even suppressing one.
Only because the Great Qian Empire's crown prince served as marshal had they settled for the lesser status of combat generals.
The crown prince of Great Qian gazed toward Black Dragon Mountain, where furnace flames soared into the sky, lava flowed, waterfalls cascaded out of thin air, and astral winds swept and raged.
He also saw billowing smoke, heard ghosts wailing and wolves howling, and saw all kinds of manifestations appearing repeatedly.
"When a nation is about to perish, monstrous evils are sure to appear."
"Everyone, where exactly did these monsters come from?"
"Why have we never heard of these monstrous methods of theirs before?"
The Great Qian Empire's many commanders had originally been commanders and aristocrats of Great Shang. They also knew that the former Great Shang had possessed no such strange methods, so they all shook their heads:
"We don't know!"
"These monsters suddenly appeared starting with the Battle of Purple Gold Pass ten years ago."
"We once captured some monsters and interrogated them, but no matter what methods we used, they refused to tell us where they came from."
"But a few monsters said they had descended here only to duel with magic."
"If we handed over someone named Liu Yong for them to kill, they would naturally disappear and leave."
The crown prince was taken aback. "Liu Yong? Where is he from? What position does he hold?"
The general gave an awkward smile. "I don't know!"
"Your subject has never heard of him."
The crown