At the sight of this scene.
Every person in Huaxia trembled uncontrollably.
Just a few days earlier, they had not even known what the Nine Provinces Cauldron was.
Even after Su Chen summoned Dayu's phantom, many had regarded the Nine Provinces Cauldron as nothing more than a vessel housing an ancestor's remnant soul.
But now.
They watched the immense, majestic cauldron tower over the sea!
They watched the once-arrogant Haidong Fleet vanish in an instant!
All 1.4 billion people of Huaxia felt their blood surge, their hearts filled with nothing but awe.
So this was Huaxia's supreme divine artifact!
So this was the divine treasure forged with the strength of the entire Nine Provinces to safeguard the nation!
As long as the Nine Cauldrons stood, Huaxia was safe!
Even after thousands of years.
The Nine Provinces Cauldron could still protect Huaxia!
It could still shelter generations of Huaxia's descendants!
Li Shuhua stood before the screen, overwhelmed with excitement, hot tears filling his eyes.
Earlier, when Su Chen asked him to arrange for the Nine Provinces Cauldron to be delivered, he had not quite understood.
As director of Huaxia's History Research Institute, he knew all too well what the Nine Provinces Cauldron meant.
Even without Dayu's remnant soul inside it, this great cauldron represented Huaxia's history from four thousand years ago. It represented the Great Xia Civilization.
Any damage to it on the battlefield would have been an unbearable loss.
Only now did Li Shuhua realize that his worries had been needless.
The Nine Provinces Cauldron was the symbol of Huaxia.
Within Huaxia, who could damage this divine artifact?
As for why other countries could not use their symbols, the answer seemed perfectly simple to Li Shuhua.
What Su Chen had received was absolute inheritance.
What did that mean?
It meant complete recognition!
It meant absolute trust!
At this point, Su Chen was Dayu, and Dayu was Su Chen.
And the Nine Provinces Cauldron had been forged by Dayu.
What was strange about Su Chen being able to command it?
Li Shuhua watched the screen, his eyes flickering.
Even without being there in person, he could clearly feel the Nine Provinces Cauldron's mighty, majestic presence.
For every person in Huaxia.
That presence carried no sense of oppression. Instead, it made them feel utterly safe.
Because this was the legacy of Huaxia's forebears!
Because this was the treasure the ancestors of the Nine Provinces had left for their descendants!
Li Shuhua reached out with a trembling hand and gently stroked the screen.
He could no longer hold back his hot tears. They spilled endlessly from the corners of his aged eyes and streamed down his cheeks.
The Nine Provinces Cauldron's display of power naturally filled Huaxia's people with astonishment and joy.
But the other nations erupted in panic at the sight.
"What the fuck! What the hell is that thing? How did it suddenly get so big?"
"An ancestor symbol can do that? How is that possible?"
"Why can Huaxia use its symbolic artifact when we can't?"
"Oh God! The Haidong Fleet disappeared in an instant! That's insane!"
"No wonder Huaxia's inheritor dared to face them. He was prepared all along!"
"Huaxia is despicable! They made Haidong Country suffer such a massive setback!"
"Wait! Look at the sea! That's Haidong's inheritor!"
"Yes! Haidong's inheritor is fine! Most of the Awakened are still there too!"
"..."
Everyone's attention had been drawn to the Nine Provinces Cauldron.
Only now did someone notice the countless people thrashing like ants in the sea around it, desperately swimming toward shore.
Ahead of them, a man enveloped in blue-green light strode directly across the waves.
No matter how fiercely the waves surged, they could not penetrate that light or wet so much as the hem of his clothes.
It was Jin Dachang.
But not a trace of pride remained on the Haidong inheritor's face. In its place was boundless fury.
He had arrived with great fanfare to establish his might before the entire world.
Yet before he could even reach shore, his whole fleet was gone.
It was nothing short of a resounding slap across Jin Dachang's face in front of every nation.
He simply could not understand.
Why could Su Chen use an ancestor symbol, and with such outrageous power?
He had never seen anything like it before-he had never even heard of it!
At that moment.
Jin Dachang suddenly felt a twinge of regret.
He regretted acting so impulsively.
Why had he not been more cautious?
But what good was regret now?
The fleet was already gone.
He could hardly lead Haidong's Awakened on a swim back home, could he?
He had reached the point of no return.
Whether he wanted to fight or not, he had to.
Fortunately...
Though the Nine Provinces Cauldron's might was unmatched, neither he nor the Awakened were ordinary people.
Before the Nine Provinces Cauldron's phantom descended, most of them had jumped overboard, desperately unleashing their awakening power to escape disaster.
Although the entire fleet and its ordinary crew had been swallowed by the sea.
Of the 130,000 Awakened, only a little over twenty thousand had been lost. It was hardly a crippling blow.
They still held an overwhelming advantage over Huaxia!
But Jin Dachang believed Su Chen would certainly not sit idle.
If he used the Nine Provinces Cauldron again now, Haidong's Awakened would inevitably suffer even greater casualties.
Their only option was to get ashore as quickly as possible!
Jin Dachang knew that many people from Huaxia were hiding in the woods.
With the Nine Provinces Cauldron's power, if it came down on the shore.
Whether he and his forces would die was uncertain, but those people from Huaxia would certainly be doomed!
However ruthless Su Chen was, surely he would not descend to such madness!
Without the symbolic artifact's help, how long could Huaxia's inheritor last?
Even if Jin Dachang did nothing himself, the remaining 110,000 Awakened could overwhelm Su Chen through sheer numbers!
With that thought, Jin Dachang immediately roared at the Awakened, urging them to hurry and get ashore.
In truth, even without his urging, Haidong's Awakened did not dare delay.
They kicked furiously, swimming toward shore with every ounce of strength they had.
A distance of one or two nautical miles was nothing to the Awakened.
Within just a few minutes, Haidong's Awakened began stepping onto the beach.
They were soaked through and looked utterly bedraggled.
But when they looked back at the unmoving Nine Provinces Cauldron, their faces were filled with relief.
As Jin Dachang stepped onto the beach, he too could not help looking back, confusion written across his face.
He had expected Su Chen to use their swim to shore to kill as many of Haidong's Awakened as possible and weaken their forces.
Yet after the Nine Provinces Cauldron sank the fleet, it had not moved again.
Could Huaxia's symbol only be used once?
Otherwise, how could Su Chen possibly let us come ashore?
That had to be it!
It had to!
Although he did not understand why Su Chen could use the symbolic artifact.
Jin Dachang was certain that it was Su Chen's strongest trump card.
He had most likely unleashed it at the outset to scare Jin Dachang into retreating.
But Su Chen probably had not expected the ancestor symbol to be so powerful.
It had actually wiped out the entire Haidong Fleet, ultimately leaving Jin Dachang no choice but to come ashore.
Had a few ships survived, he might really have been frightened into retreating.
That was close!
I almost fell for it!
The more Jin Dachang thought about it, the more certain he became, and the fear in his heart gradually faded.
The imposing dignity of King Taejong's inheritor returned to him.
Though he had suffered an initial blow, Su Chen now had nothing left to rely on. Only death awaited him!
Once he eliminated Su Chen, Huaxia would be his for the taking!
But when Jin Dachang turned his gaze toward Su Chen nearby, he froze again.
Su Chen was looking at him too, his expression calm.
There was no fear in his eyes, no anger, no panic.
Only... a hint of pity.
And at some point, the people who had been hiding in the woods had all emerged.
A million people of Huaxia stood arrayed behind Su Chen, filling the entire beach!
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