Bai Yuantu hadn’t imagined that Qianye would be so stubborn. With a cold snort, he swung his arm to block the incoming blow. This made clear his intent on fighting Qianye head-on. Bai Yuantu flipped his wrist the moment they came into contact, hoping to grab the opponent and make this ungrateful little brat suffer.

Yet there was only utter silence as the punch landed and the peerless energy Bai Yuantu had gathered vanished like a clay ox in the ocean. The next moment, all of the power he had exerted was flushed back by a tremendous force, bearing down upon him with earth-shattering pressure!

Greatly surprised, Bai Yuantu could no longer bother with a follow-up attack. He erupted in a loud roar as his origin crystal lit up like a small sun.

Bai Yuantu took three steps backward following the massive clash. The granite floor below was specially treated and even harder than alloy steel, yet it sank in like tofu. The old man suppressed the surging qi and blood, forcibly stopping the bloody taste welling up from his chest. His sleeves ripped open in several areas just as he had stabilized his footing. What followed was pain and some bloody streaks on his arm.

Bai Yuantu looked down in alarm to see a number of faintly discernible black streaks drifting about in the air, which faded away only after some time. The old man was even more shocked because he knew these were spatial tears. The space in the area had been ripped open, unable to withstand the force of their clash.

How powerful was a blow from a divine champion! On the battlefield, experts at this level could only go all-out in the air in order to prevent friendly fire. So, it wasn’t a surprise that space would be torn in an all-out clash on the ground. Fortunately, Qianye had only used a melee attack and Bai Yuantu never had the time to unleash other powers; the surrounding Bai clan members remained largely unaffected.

Bai Yuantu’s relief was immediately followed by suspense. Only after confirming that Qianye had taken two steps more than he had, did the old man feel that his face was safe. It could be considered a draw since Qianye had taken a couple more steps back and the elder’s sleeves were torn.

Then again, Bai Yuantu had been in the divine champion realm for over twenty years while Qianye was only several months into it. He was also one rank higher than Qianye yet only managed to eke out a draw. It was the old man’s defeat if one were to compare the results seriously.

Qianye flexed his wrist saying, “I’ve learned much. Zining, let’s go.”

This time no one stopped them as they boarded the car. All they could do was watch as they drove out of the Bai clan’s gates and vanished into the distance.

Bai Yuantu stood there for a good while with his hands behind his back. “Wake them all up! A group of useless trash, you’ve lost the Bai clan’s face.”

In truth, some people had already tried giving them treatment, but they refused to wake up no matter what. Under the elder’s instructions, some men carried the injured away for gradual treatment.

An elder arrived nearby and whispered. “Are we going to let them go? Why don’t we finish them off in the void? Let’s see how long a new divine champion can hang on out there.”

Bai Yuantu glared at him. “He came on Empress Li’s airship, do you dare?”

“Empress Li’s airship!? There’s no helping it then.”

Sounds of regret and helplessness emerged from the crowd, almost as though they could detain Qianye if he weren’t riding the Empress’ vessel.

Back on the airship, Song Zining slapped Qianye’s shoulder and said, “You’re actually a divine champion now!”

“I became one after getting an upgraded cultivation art from Prince Greensun and a few battles.”

Song Zining asked him a bit more about it before saying, “But you’re not the fastest. Go check up on Jundu, he just broke through a while ago, even a bit earlier than you.”

The airship flew toward the edges of the Qin Continent after leaving the Bai clan. This area was full of tall mountain ranges and covered in snow. Add to that the common appearance of void tempests, the area used to be completely uninhabited. There weren’t any garrisoned soldiers, either.

Right now, however, a loud rumble echoed amidst the snowy land as hundreds of machines worked to shovel the ice and level the ground. A giant transport ship had just landed on the newly built airship port and the laborers were busy unloading construction materials and resources from it.

Not far from it was a construction site where numerous buildings had risen up from the ground, along with a kinetic tower. Moreover, a new fleet of transports was arriving from over the horizon.

A large stretch of army barracks had been constructed close by. It was just a temporary camp but it was so big that it could fit an army of a hundred thousand. The number of craftsmen working in the various construction sites corresponded to this number.

This was more or less the same scale as when the Empire constructed the city of Indomitable on the void continent.

As someone who had been in the field for a good while, he noticed something out of the ordinary with the construction work while still in the air. The construction work outside of bases and cities were mostly defensive structures—what they were building here was a self-sufficient stronghold city.

The Qin Continent was the Empire’s core territory, a place that had not seen battle for many years. How come they were investing so much into this barren place on the mainland? The importance seemed comparable to the void continent. This kind of high-speed construction was fairly expensive—it had to be either very important or very urgent.

Just as he was thinking, their airship landed slowly under the guidance of the patrol vessels. Several officers were waiting outside when the door opened. “Sire Qianye and Zining, please follow us. Sire Jundu is already waiting.”

Qianye and Song Zining boarded the vehicle, which sped toward the only tall building in the camp. They were led to the top floor and into a large conference room.

There was a large planning map spread out at the center of the room and over a dozen officers were looking at it with rapt attention.

Zhao Jundu was pointing at a certain area on the map and explaining a change in plans. Seeing Qianye and Song Zining enter, he said, “Proceed according to the changes. Dismissed.”

The officers filed out of the room with a salute.

Zhao Jundu walked out from behind the meeting table and sized Qianye up from head to toe. He then said with great satisfaction, “Perfect and flawless! As expected of a Zhao clan descendant!”

Qianye stared at him in a daze, his voice trembling. “Y-You… how come?”

Zhao Jundu laughed. “I’m very well aren’t I?”

Zhao Jundu hadn’t hidden his aura intentionally, so Qianye could sense his brother’s cultivation and even the state of his origin crystal.

At this point, Zhao Jundu’s origin vortex had condensed into a crystalline solid. He had indeed stepped through the threshold to become a divine champion. However, his origin power was overflowing with violet and contained only a wisp of azure. It could be said that he was barely at the stage of Extreme Violet Yields Azure. This was the realm he had already achieved when he became a champion. With this talent and ability, his origin power should’ve turned entirely azure upon becoming a divine champion. That was the peak of the Zhao clan’s inherited cultivation art. He would then use it as a foundation to assail the heavenly monarch realm and finally reclaim the Zhao clan ancestors’ glory.

But now, the grade of his origin power had fallen instead of improving. Although there was still room for advancement, the heavenly monarch realm was no longer in reach. How could Qianye not feel shocked upon seeing Zhao Jundu in such a state?

Upon careful examination, there was a different origin crystal aura burning in Zhao Jundu’s chest. That was the top-grade origin crystal Qianye had left for him, one that could bestow the host a constitution similar to that of a vampire.

“Why the rush?” Qianye asked.

Zhao Jundu laughed in a carefree manner. “What’s the point of dragging it out? Makes no difference really.”

“Maybe there’s some way to repair your foundations.”

“Even our Zhao clan has no such cultivation art, do you think other clans will have it? Instead of holding onto such ephemeral hopes, it’s more practical to just be a divine champion.”

Seeing Qianye’s frown, Zhao Jundu patted his shoulder. “That crystal you left for me is really useful. With it, I can now train in many arts that I was never able to. There might still be a path beyond the divine champion realm.”

Qianye’s sadness lessened somewhat. He sighed inwardly and started asking about his recent situation.

Zhao Jundu’s injuries back then were extremely serious. Princess Haimi had brought him back in time and treated him with a large amount of rare medicines, but his foundation was still affected in the end. The damage lingered even after his return to the Western Continent and never healed completely. He could still move about—he spent several days researching ancient texts in the depository before emerging with the shocking decision to assail the heavenly monarch realm.

It was madness to attempt a breakthrough when his foundation was unstable, but Zhao Jundu wasn’t one to change a decision he had made. Hence, the Zhao clan had no choice but to cooperate. Zhao Jundu merged with the origin crystal Qianye had left for him and used the surging energy—along with all kinds of supplementary medicines—to commence the advancement. In the end, he managed to barely cross through the threshold and condense his vortices into an origin crystal, becoming a divine champion.

The breakthrough was so sudden that the entire Empire was surprised. He had accumulated an impressive number of accomplishments, enough to apply for title and territory. Yet a nominal title wasn’t going to cut it for the son of a princess—this had great implications. Zhao Jundu’s advancement also happened to coincide with the death of the Longevity Monarch and the Empire’s redistribution of internal power. This threw the entire imperial court and the Zhao clan itself into a busy mess.

The Unending Palace’s subsequent reaction was unexpectedly fast. Before long, a decree arrived at the Zhao clan, ordering Zhao Jundu to lead the defense and construction of the Snowland military base.

This mission was beyond anyone’s expectations. Everyone thought this was insignificant labor at first, something the court was using to placate Zhao Jundu for the time being. This wasn’t quite reasonable after careful thought. Not to mention Zhao Jundu’s identity was special, even an ordinary divine champion of humble background wouldn’t be neglected like so. Each and every one of them was a pillar of the Empire.

A commotion broke out when the actual details were revealed. This time it wasn’t because the Empire was slighting him but because the authority was too great. In order to construct this base, the Empire had mobilized close to a hundred thousand craftsmen and placed two complete army corps under Zhao Jundu’s command. Just the scale of his subordinate forces was double that of Lin Xitang’s Northern Legion, and there was a guard fleet allocated to him as well. This was an organized sub fleet we’re talking about!

Hence, apart from having no fixed war zone of his own, the resources and troops granted to Zhao Jundu had exceeded most marshals. This was comparable to Zhang Boqian back in the day.

Naturally, there were some people who claimed the Zhao clan was becoming the number one clan. As for the effects of such words, there was no way to find out.

In Qianye’s eyes, though, this wasn’t a good assignment no matter how much power was granted to him. From his many years of experience in pioneering wild lands, he knew that the work involved in constructing a new base until its stable operation was more complicated than defending an old warzone. How could Zhao Jundu find time to cultivate if he had to make all decisions big and small?

Was he to just give up and never attempt the heavenly monarch realm? Qianye wasn’t willing to give up hoping despite knowing of his brother’s physical condition.

Seeing Qianye’s expression, Zhao Jundu said with a smile, “Why worry for me? Even if there’s really no path ahead, you can’t say for sure that I won’t hack one out on my own.”