“Emperor, there is a matter we must bring your attention to!”

“Huh? Can’t it wait? Can’t you see that busy?”

Three elders were looking at a lazy Azure Emperor that was resting his head on his wife's thighs while she continued to feed him some grapes. To the side were two lovely-looking women just fanning them with large fans. It was a strange scene as it was all happening in the throne room where some people were already kneeling down.

“So you’re just going to stand there? Fine, what is it? Make it quick and then let me have my peace.”

“Thank you, Emperor.”

One of the elders clasped his hands while stepping forward. If Zhang Dong was here he would recognise the three as they were the most important elders from the Long Clan. Even though they had a dislike of how their leader conducted himself they couldn’t really call him out on it.

“This information concerns your younger brother, Long Dong.”

“Oh? What has my little brother done this time?”

The moment Zhang Dong’s name was mentioned, Long Qing perked up and turned his head towards to old man that was talking.

“We got word that he has been taking parts in the battles with the Otherworlder, he has been successful in reclaiming most of the western Empire.”

“My little brother has been busy, he used the ancestral relic well.”

Long Qing finally decided to sit up straight and move himself to his actual throne. Previously he had occupied a large bed that was behind it.

“So, is that it? Why are you panicking over nothing?”

“My Emperor, this isn't the issue…”

“It’s not? Explain then, and make it quick.”

Long Qing seemed bored and uninterested in what was happening in his own empire. The three elders had a hard time holding in their sighs. This wasn’t anything new to them, their leader had long since become bored of the issues in the court. The only thing that seemed to give him joy was his wife and now his brother which added a little bit of randomness to his life.

“We have been keeping a closer look at Long Dong ever since his… departure.”

The people here were all surprised that the golden palace that was kept a secret was able to vanish only a little while after finding an owner. Previously they had underestimated Zhang Dong’s capabilities and ignored what he was doing in the Empire. If he wanted to play the hero then it was fine with them.

“He has been growing his forces rapidly, even the strongest Otherworlder was not his match, if the legends speak true then this should not have happened…”

Now it was different, he could not be ignored anymore. Zhang Dong was now posing a direct threat to Long Qing, the Azure Emperor. Rumors were spreading, people liked to pit the two brothers against each other and naturally, sides would start to form.

“So my little brother isn’t weak, isn’t that a good thing? His fame will only increase our Long Clan’s legend!”

“If that only was true, Emperor…”

“What do you mean?”

“Long Dong, your brother has been performing all of his acts with his previous name of Zhang Dong… it doesn’t seem that he holds out Clan to a high standard.”

Long Qing started rubbing his chin while contemplating. This was something that even he knew wasn’t acceptable. When he reclaimed the lands it wasn’t in the name of the Azure Emperor or the Long Clan, it was in the name of the United Element Sect. It looked like he was trying to distance himself from the Long Clan and establish his own separate branch.

It wasn’t odd for large families to have branches from the main house but this was only tolerable if one side was superior. If the branch family became too strong it could cause a rift or war between them and the main family. This was what the elders here feared, Zhang Dong was becoming too powerful and influential for them to control him.

“The refugees that we had accepted are starting to return, we won’t have enough people to bolster our forces for the future attacks as we had planned, we must deal with this issue now before it gets out of hand, Emperor!”

This was not a simple matter, for the Long Clan they had now only replaced the demi-human invaders with the United Element Sect. For them, the danger was on a similar level now but Zhang Dong had an actual birthright to challenge the Azure Emperor for the throne. If that happened the Long Clan would become the branch family or perhaps eradicated in the process of changing leadership.

“Now this is a problem, I’ll have to talk with my dear little brother to see what his intentions are…”

“But Emperor … “

“Quiet!”

Long Qing’s oppressive aura washed over the entire throne room which even made the three prime elders twitch. This wasn’t a reaction they were used to, their leader had always remained a jokester while not taking anything too seriously. Yet now his disdain was plastered over his whole face.

“I will make the decision, do not act without my approval.”

The message was sent and the people here could only bow. However, some of the elders weren’t looking too happy about this decision. A lot of them were unwilling to wait for the worst possible outcome but would they go against their leader to achieve their goals?

…

“Hh… This looked different the last time I was here…”

Zhang Dong floated up in the sky, his gaze was on all the water that spread out into the distance. The land of the demonic cultivators was further ahead on a large separate island. There was a small problem, the layout of the land had changed.

“This ocean wasn’t this big, it must be the northern invaders spreading it…”

When glancing at his system map he could see the red dots in the north but the largest concentration was in the northeast. Where he was going was more to the west where the fish people's presence should be lowered. However this water was giving him a bad vibe, the concentration was low but he could feel some otherworldly energy mixed in.

After spreading his spiritual sense he could feel that this alien energy was affecting marine life. The fish were acting strange, their eyes had a faint glow to them. With some more prodding he figured out the problem, it was some form of mind control.

“I never did like the sea…”

He recalled a scene from his youth where he almost drowned when he was ten. While he had not developed a fear of swimming he was still not comfortable with wandering out too far away from the shore. The sea monsters that plagued the depths could be agitated with all of this strange energy affecting them. It was like slow-working poison and perhaps even the stronger ones would eventually be controlled.

“Patriarch!”

His contemplations were interrupted by a sect member, he just nodded before a report was given.

“As you have instructed we have begun the assembly of the new wall, if everything goes well we should have a barrier within three weeks.”

“Sounds about right, try to speed up the production if you can, the demi-humans could try launching a counter strike and we still have the remnants to worry about.”

“Yes, Patriarch!”

The large-scale battle was over and the casualties were lower than expected. They had lost more machines and relics than lives which was always a welcomed outcome. This was all thanks to the enemy forces going into a berserk state with their leader gone and all of the infighting.

This was one of the largest problems with people being led by only strength and terror. When that person on the top was removed the people below did not have anything holding them together. There was no cause that they were fighting for together, just their own selfish reasons. Only after a new Emperor was crowned would they be able to bounce back.

If this was even possible within the next hundred years was questionable so the threat was mostly within the stragglers that now roamed their lands. Zhang Dong already heard the rumors of the old sects and clans trying to reclaim their own lands. This could have catastrophic consequences as they were usually inferior to the demi-human warriors.

‘I will need to leave the bastion here as a safety measure, for now, Qiang and the other nascent soul masters will patrol the lands and that leaves me with some time to scout…’

This was a big problem, he did not want to wait anymore and go quickly push all of his forces to the demonic lands. Yet the demi-human remnants could decide to launch a counterattack to get back to their own side or to take back their old fortress. Without them worrying about the Emperor killing them, there was no way of knowing what they could do.

‘It would be nice if they just settled down and stopped fighting… but they are just a wounded beast and they will certainly try to bite when backed into a corner.’

While he didn’t need to go after the demi-humans he couldn’t have his forces move out yet. The lands needed to be reinforced and then a squad of potential demi-human hunters needed to be established. They would stay back to battle the leftover demi-humans while his main forces traveled to the north to take care of the Wang Long situation.

‘This might take another month…’

Zhang Dong pondered but he quickly decided to at least check how things were up north. Even though it was too soon for his forces to do an all-out attack, he could still perform a mission. Infiltrating the demonic lands would be quite difficult for anyone below the nascent soul level.

Even though everything was flooded, there were still various stopgaps like poison mist before the end was reached. There was a reason why the other sects stayed away from those lands. There was nothing to gain but death from going there and the resources of demonic sects didn’t translate into the orthodox martial arts practices.

Without monetary gainst no sect was willing to risk their life even if they could get rid of this bunch of murderers that plagued the lands. The regular sects and clans didn’t trust each other, some of them would be weakened during such an assault and then probably lose their standing. Thus the biggest shield for the demonic cultivators were the orthodox ones that could not trust each other.

‘I guess it's time for another little adventure…’

Before plunging himself into the unknown he decided to return to his golden palace. There he would stock up on all the necessities before venturing towards his next destination.