News of the Profundity Monarch’s slip up shook the entire Empire.

This involved a heavenly monarch’s face, so the details were known to only a few. However, many people asked around and added their own take on the story, weaving countless new versions of it as time went by. Naturally, most of these stories wouldn’t reach the monarch’s ears.

Some said the Profundity Monarch was on the decline due to his age, some said it was due to carelessness, and others claimed he was ambushed by the dark races. Some even said that he was attracted to Nighteye. There were too many different rumors floating about.

The one certain thing was that Nighteye’s name had spread throughout the Empire.

The people from the lower strata exchanged gossip and legends, but those from the upper echelons were focused on a different matter. Ordinary experts were more interested in the Awakening Dream, one of the three holy weapons, as well as the might of the Tempest.

It was said that the Awakening Dream was so sharp that it could slash through the void. It was one of the Evernight Council’s three holy weapons, a status not inferior to the Grand Magnums.

Reportedly, this blade was designed after the spear of a space-tearing marlin in the depths of the void, and the material was extracted from the king of said species. The space-tearing marlin was already a legend that hadn’t appeared in centuries. When they did, they would usually appear in large schools, and each one of them possessed the strength of a marquis. After all, they were also a species of void colossi.

There was no longer any information on how that powerhouse had killed the king amidst thousands of space-tearing marlins, but Awakening Dream remained a weapon to pass down in the council’s treasury. Who would’ve thought it would shine so brilliantly in Nighteye’s hands?

The divine champions cared little for treasures at their stage; even the Awakening Dream was forgotten after a short discussion. What they focused on was why the Tempest was in Nighteye’s hands.

There was no reason for a race to lend their guardian weapon so easily. Did the werewolves compromise, or did the other three races invite them to join the pioneering efforts after realizing their importance? Or was there some unknown reason behind everything?

As they saw it, the Tempest was an important sign that the power balance in the Evernight was about to change. The mainlands descended into a strange calm as all eyes were on the new world, but neither side dared relax. It was similar to when the holy war had just stopped in the Evernight Faction; everyone's nerves had grown even tenser.

One level above, the heavenly monarchs and superior divine champions had their attention on Nighteye.

This matter was too important. Of course, the Profundity Monarch did nothing to hide the fact that he had wasted a rare opportunity to kill an important character. He explained everything in a detailed report and handed it to the Radiant Emperor, who then passed it to the other heavenly monarchs and superior divine champions.

The Profundity Monarch described her domain down to the smallest details. He felt that this domain had accumulated the strength of the entire Evernight army, allowing her to contend against a heavenly monarch for a short while.

Such a domain had never appeared before, and it possessed unimaginable potential. It was hard to say how powerful the domain would be with even more dark race experts. Who would be able to stop her if she were to become a great dark monarch and attack the Empire with a million-strong army?

Yet every heaven-defying secret art had to have its limitations. This domain possessed two likely shortcomings—whether its capacity would increase with Nighteye’s rank and how long it could last. Unfortunately, the battle was too short to draw a conclusion.

The heavenly monarchs and superior divine champions went through ancient records but found no records of this domain. At least, it had never appeared before in battles involving the Empire.

According to the Profundity Monarch’s description, the domain was filled with blood energy flying around in the shape of birds. The Empire thus gave it a temporary name—Flightbird.

In a single night, Nighteye became a great problem for the Empire.

Some people analyzed the situation and felt that Li Fengshui was right in doing what he had done back then. This problem should’ve been removed at the roots. It was just that Li Fengshui was limited in his foresight and wanted to extract as much value as he could from the prisoner. In the end, he fell headfirst in Qianye’s hands.

The mention of Nighteye would, of course, remind people of Qianye as well.

After a brief exchange of information, people were greatly surprised to find that Qianye had already accomplished so much on Fort Continent. He was already a dignified regional power and one of great strength no less! He had tens of millions of werewolf subjects as well as millions of human followers. The size of his army was roughly a million with close to a hundred thousand human soldiers and mercenaries.

In terms of experts, there was Caroline and the Storm Duke in addition to Qianye himself. These three were at the rank of dukes and divine champions. In addition, Qianye was no ordinary divine champion.

Caroline couldn’t be underestimated, either, since she had the Thunderfrost Temple as her backing. The temple master was her brother, a bona fide superior divine champion—a grand duke. There was no way this temple lord would stay out of it if his sister were angered.

In the end, only the Storm Duke seemed a bit easier to deal with. Then again, none of those crafty old dukes were easy to handle.

The Empire did have some vassal nations on the Fort Continent, like Zheng for instance, but all of them put together would not be Qianye’s match. Besides, Zheng was almost Qianye’s vassal nation at the moment. At least, he was the one who placed King Nan Ruohuai on the throne.

Not to mention encircling and destroying him, they were already lucky that Qianye hadn’t taken over them.

Destroying Qianye’s force was no easy task.

Not counting the Zhao clan, at least four high-ranking aristocratic families and over a dozen mid to inferior families had deep ties with Qianye.

These families had all dispatched private soldiers to fight under Qianye’s flag. The influx of gold and resources from Fort Continent was enough to move these experienced elders, not to mention their combined share of territory on Fort Continent was already greater than a province.

They had only been there for such a short time! On top of all that, there were profits from the new-world expansion efforts.

There were also rumors of Qianye having close ties with the Li family and the Pointer Monarch’s residence.

Many people discovered that, unknowingly, Qianye had already become a powerhouse. It almost seemed like yesterday that he had killed his way out of Indomitable.

Back then, Qianye was nothing but a small character that no one paid attention to. A retired marshal intercepting him was already considered an overreaction. At present, though, the bigshots from back then could only gaze up at Qianye.

The world had changed, that was all.

Many people in the Empire formed a connection. Some suggested that Qianye was currently leaning close to the Empire, but killing Nighteye might push him to the other faction. Wouldn’t the Empire gain a powerful enemy then? Even if they did want to kill her, who could even do it when the Profundity Monarch had failed?

Qianye and Nighteye were both in the Empire at one point. Qianye was serving the army and Nighteye was living in seclusion—those were beautiful days. The former would’ve become a pillar of the Empire, while the latter would forever conceal her identity and live at his side.

Everyone only imagined this possibility and never said it out loud. The Empire’s core policy was still the same—those of a different race will always have different intentions.

This was especially true given the deep shadows the vampires had left on the human race; the hostility was almost in the bloodline. As long as Qianye was a vampire, as long as the laws of the vampire still existed, he could not be trusted. Who knew when the River of Blood would awaken him and turn him into a great calamity for the Empire, just like Nighteye.

Regarding this matter, the Radiant Emperor convened with the heavenly monarchs and ministers that very night. The ministers and monarchs broke out in an unstoppable quarrel regarding how Nighteye should be dealt with.

One faction wanted to kill her, while the other side was worried that it would push Qianye to Evernight, that the gains would not make up for the losses. Besides, how were they going to kill her? Nighteye possessed the Tempest and Awakening Dream. Who from the Empire could kill her and what weapon would he wield?

There seemed to be no end to the arguments. In the end, there was no choice but to request the Emperor’s opinion.

The Radiant Emperor had remained motionless all this time. At this point, he turned to Zhao Xuanji and said, “Duke You hasn’t spoken yet, what is your opinion?”

The duke replied, “Whatever the Empire decides, the Zhao clan will execute it with our full power.”

The Radiant Emperor nodded. “We all know Qianye’s relationship with the Zhao clan. I’m greatly satisfied with Duke You’s focus on the bigger picture. As for Nighteye…”

He remained silent for a good while, gazing at the wall behind the crowd of ministers. “Kill!”

...

Within the forward base in the new world, Song Zining was standing still before a large map. His hair was a mess, and his clothes were no longer as tidy as before. His eyes were also red and sunken.

An aide walked in, saying, “Sire, the latest battle reports have come in. Duke Yunyang has been defeated and General Duan Yong has fallen in battle. The routed army is on the way back…”

Without waiting for him to finish, Song Zining said, “Put it on the table.”

The aide carefully placed the document on the desk, stealing a peek at the stack of documents on the right as he did so.

The left stack belonged to battle reports, while the right stack involved reports about supplies and resources. The two stacks were both rather tall, but good news was few and far between.

The aide held his breath and withdrew quietly. The soldiers outside the office were all moving with hurried steps and worried expressions. Even the officers who usually worked at the rear were more or less injured.

The entire command center was dark, gloomy, and cold.

The staff officer remembered how things used to be different not so long ago. The days were busy—there were casualty lists to process every day and the hospitals were full of injured soldiers, but everyone was strong and smiling. Even those who were in pain could still laugh loudly.

That was because every battle was a victory despite the casualties, and the dark races would lose far more soldiers than the Empire would. The situation filled people with hope because the dark races would be the first to collapse.

Sacrifices were bearable as long as there was hope.

But now, the death toll was rising sharply as news of defeat rolled in one after another. The undefeatable marshals of the past were being routed, and the blood of many famed generals stained the battlefield. Some of them would sleep eternally on foreign soil.

The halo around Song Zining had faded away. He was no longer that strategist god who was always one step ahead of the enemy. He could make mistakes and sometimes fail to grasp the enemy’s movements. Some of the mobile forces he had set up outside also suffered miserable losses.

Comparatively, Wei Potian’s naked return was the most fortunate incident.