The Great Wu Empire’s fate was sealed the moment King Wu died.

Zhou Yuan spread news of King Wu’s death which shook the entire Great Wu Empire, causing the morale of many of the still stubbornly resisting troops in the city to crumble.

As such, the Great Zhou army swiftly invaded the Great Wu Empire in a span of several days, changing the flags that flew on every city when they passed.

On the fifth day, the elite troops led by Zhou Qing finally arrived outside Great Wu’s capital city.

Outside the city.

Zhou Qing dazedly stared at the opened gates of the grand city for a long time, an extremely complicated expression on his face.

Behind him, Wei Canglan and numerous of the old generals were so overwhelmed by emotion that their eyes had turned red. This was where their string of defeats had started back then till they were ultimately chased to the far north by King Wu.

At that time, they had fled like dogs that had lost their homes.

Although they had supported Zhou Qing all along, they were honestly not very hopeful about reinstating the Great Zhou Empire because the disparity in strength between the Great Wu and Great Zhou Empire was just far too great.

As such, their hearts were full of disbelief when they appeared outside the Great Wu capital once more.

Their counterattack had been so smooth that it felt as if they were dreaming.

“I’ve returned…”

As he gazed upon the extremely familiar city, even Zhou Qing’s eyes could not help but turn red as tears began to flow.

He too had once believed that he would never return to this city.

At this moment, thunderous cheers exploded from the army behind them.

The noise shook even the city itself, causing countless solemnly respectful gazes to look over. They knew that the king who had been chased away by King Wu over a dozen years ago had returned once more...

Zhou Yuan’s figure appeared on the city wall and drifted towards Zhou Qing amidst the countless fanatical and reverant gazes from the army.

“Father, King Wu is dead. From now onwards, the Great Wu Empire will no longer exist in the Cangmang Continent.” Zhou Yuan looked towards Zhou Qing and smiled.

Zhou Qing stared at his son. A long while later, he took in a deep breath before he suddenly jumped off his horse. His left hand slammed into his chest, a solemn expression on his face as he shouted in a booming voice, “Army, salute!”

Rumble!

Behind him, countless Great Zhou soldiers heavily slammed their fists into their chests as deafening cheers erupted.

Wei Canglan, Wei Qingqing and the numerous officers also respectfully saluted.

All of them clearly understood the meaning behind Zhou Qing’s actions. Zhou Yuan had essentially singlehandedly saved the Great Zhou Empire from its destruction.

If not for him, King Wu would have destroyed the Great Zhou Empire, and the subsequent bloodbath that followed would have dyed the land red.

When King Wu arrived at their city, everyone, including Zhou Qing, had fallen into the pits of despair. At that time, the only road they could see was to fight to their deaths.

No one had expected their prince to arrive in their darkest hour and become the final ray of hope for the countless citizens of the Great Zhou Empire.

No one could have imagined the surging emotions that would overwhelm their hearts when they saw Zhou Yuan appear on the raging river.

Zhou Yuan was stunned by the saluting army. Soon after, he helplessly said, “There’s no need to do this father, it is my duty to protect our citizens as the prince of Great Zhou.”

Zhou Qing’s eyes were filled with happiness and pride as he looked straight at Zhou Yuan and said, “As the saviour of our citizens, you deserve this salute.

“With your current standing amongst the people, you could even become the king of Great Zhou.”

Zhou Yuan forced a laugh.

Zhou Qing sighed and said, “I know that your standards have become higher and your ambition has grown far greater than a mere king of a tiny Great Zhou Empire.”

He understood that the Great Zhou Empire was far too small and the Cangmang Continent was far too tiny. Given Zhou Yuan’s current talent and strength, it was impossible for him to stay in Great Zhou and become its king.

“Father is still in his prime and should have no thoughts about abdicating the throne.” Zhou Yuan chuckled. Staying in the Great Zhou Empire was not the path he seeked.

After resolving the problem of the Great Wu Empire, he no longer had any worries. Besides the occasional visit home in the future, most of his time would likely be spent in the Cangxuan Sect.

Because only in a bigger place would he be able to continuously grow stronger.

Zhou Qing nodded. He was naturally supportive of his son’s aspirations.

Zhou Qing patted Zhou Yuan’s shoulders before turning towards the magnificent capital city. He took a deep breath and said, “Let’s enter the city. From today onwards, the entire Cangmang Continent will know that the Great Zhou Empire...has returned.”

...

As Zhou Qing entered the Great Wu capital, the Great Wu Empire finally faded from the world.

Over the next few days, Zhou Qing swiftly sent out several orders to begin cleaning up the final remnants of the Great Wu Empire. Although they tried to resist, it was futile because the Great Wu Empire had already lost.

The empires that bordered the Great Wu Empire were extremely silent.

Normally speaking, when an empire was destroyed, the bordering empires would begin to stir restlessly due to the temptation of expanding their borders through this golden opportunity. However, the neighbouring empires were strangely obedient this time.

Evidently, it was because they understood that the Great Zhou Empire had a prince that could defeat a mid Divine Dwelling stage expert...

Even King Wu had been defeated at his hands. Such strength was already invincible in the Cangmang Continent. What’s more, this prince of the Great Zhou Empire was also the leader of the Cangxuan Sect Chosen...

With such a titan backing him, there was no longer anyone who dared to offend the current Great Zhou Empire.

Zhou Yuan did not leave immediately because he understood that the Great Zhou Empire still needed his presence. Only after the empire gained its footing would he rush back to the Cangxuan Sect.

Zhou Qing received Qin Yu at the Great Wu capital and Zhou Yuan, who had left home for many years, naturally spent most of his time accompanying her.

...

While Zhou Yuan was enjoying some temporary peace, he was unaware of the great waves that were washing through the many peak factions in Cangxuan Heaven.

Numerous powerful existances that usually cultivated in seclusion entered the world once more.

Palace master Sheng Yuan's attempt to pry into the secrets of heaven had naturally been detected by these powerful existences.

Sheng Yuan was scheming to obtain the Cangxuan Saint Stamp!

This was undoubtedly a huge shock to the many great sects.

Patriarch Cangxuan had controlled the Cangxuan Saint Stamp back when he was the master of Cangxuan Heaven. After his death, the stamp had gone missing and was unable to be found no matter how everyone tried. It had evidently been hidden by patriarch Cang Xuan through special means.

Currently, palace master Sheng Yuan had managed to shake the secrets of heaven and sensed the location of the Cangxuan Saint Stamp. This undoubtedly declared his ambition; he intended to obtain the stamp and use it to elevate himself to the next level: to become the new master of Cangxuan Heaven.

Such ambition was akin to a sudden clap of thunder for the other overlord sects.

After all, they knew that once palace master Sheng Yuan became the new heaven master, the Sacred Palace would become the true ruler of Cangxuan Heaven. The other sects would have no choice but to submit.

And this was obviously something the other overlord sects would not be happy to see.

Hence, some of the more perceptive individuals could faintly sense a tense atmosphere slowly beginning to cover Cangxuan Heaven...

However, this tense atmosphere did not last for long before a certain piece of news exploded in Cangxuan Heaven.

“The Cangxuan Saint Stamp is hidden in a land bombarded by lightning…”