“Open up the gates! The Emperor has made a verdict. The one called Long Dong has brought great shame to the Azure dynasty and needs to be punished for his actions. He is guilty of colluding with demonic cultivators that have sought to destroy peace in these lands!”

A loud voice echoed throughout all the lands as a man spoke out. Long Shen was his name and he was the oldest of the three children from the royal line. Behind him stood Long Fengge the youngest son and Long Yanyu the middle child. All of them had gathered for this announcement before the great shield behind which the United Element Sect forces were gathered.

“It is an undeniable fact that he worked together with the Demonic Cultivator known as Wang Long. The Emperor has deemed him guilty of treason but sees it fit to give his brother a way to defend himself! As long as he relinquishes his title of Golden Dragon and submits himself to the Empire’s forces, we shall guarantee the life of anyone that was bewitched by his techniques!”

The speech was quite long and painted Zhang Dong as a demonic cultivator without mercy. His name was associated with the likes of Wang Long who was known to have been responsible for destroying the Soaring Dragon Sect along with performing other atrocities while fleeing to the northwest demonic island.

“Do those idiots actually think that we believe any of that hogwash? The Patriarch isn’t a demonic cultivator at all. The fight against the Demon Emperor Wang Long was well documented!”

While the one-sided speech continued the people on the other side of the large barrier started complaining. Some of them had even been during the fight in the demon city, others were there when the Demi-Human Emperor and his forces attacked. The Long Clan wanted to pin all the deaths on their Patriarch and the people here weren’t taking it well. All they wanted to do was fire back but had to wait for their leaders to make a decision.

“That is why we urge you to stop this facade and open the gates! We will swiftly deal with the evil demonic cultivator referred to as the Golden Dragon and see to it that he doesn’t harm any more innocent people!”

The more the speech continued the more the people on the other side of the barrier got angrier. The man that was being discussed could hear everything that was being said. He along with a few others were looking at a holographic image in the middle of the table that represented the oldest son of the Azure Emperor. The man was wearing a very traditional-looking armor set composed of shiny blue scales.

“What are they trying to achieve with this statement?”

“Maybe they want to assess our troops? The Emperor’s name carries a lot of weight even to this day… It hasn’t been long since we grasped enough power to suppress them, some of our people might not be able to refute their claims…”

“Destroy their dantians if such people appear! How could we allow those kinds of individuals inside our sect!”

“Now calm down Liena, no one is breaking ranks yet.”

Zhang Dong calmed down his wife while Zhang Jin chuckled. The three along with a few other elders like Feng Maling were all gathered here. Huo Qianf and Zhang Zhi on the other hand were directly at the area where the speech was taking place. If an attack occurred they would be there to counter the armies with their own power.

“Dong’er is right, these are just standard tactics to lower the morale of the opposing troops. They probably hope for someone on the inside to revolt and perhaps disable the barrier for them. However, do you think our people are so weak or dumb to trust in them?”

Liena along with the others nodded and looked to the hologram. There they could see that the speech was ending but no one paid much attention to it. Instead, the troops that were stationed there started shouting profanities at the man in the armor.

“Go screw yourself and bring your daddy here!”

“Yeah, is the Emperor too scared to face us?”

“He isn’t our Emperor! Zhang Dong is the true leader, stop lying the demonic cultivators are you!”

“The great sect leader would never do such a vile act, It’s all lies and you shall pay for them!”

“Yeah! They must pay! Down with the tyrant!”

“The Azure Dynasty deserves to crumble!”

Everyone on the side of the Western region started shouting. They weren’t taking any of their rhetoric, not even one person paid attention to the sweet words and promises of treasures. The Long Clan tried to entice them with various boons if they decided to make way for their armies but at this point, no one could believe the Azure Dynasty anymore. Their movements had been erratic during the large crisis and the opinion of the people had shifted.

‘They won’t be able to get in through the front door… will they commence with their siege then?’

While the others were looking at the holographic image of the enemy army, he was examining his own system map. Thanks to it he could see the entire border region along with the placement of the enemy armies. While Long Shen and the siblings were at the central stronghold other forces were moving to other locations as they spoke. It was clear that they were all waiting for a signal to attack.

It wasn’t that hard to figure out how this defensive formation worked. It operated on the same principle as any other similar formation. While it stretched through a large area with many strongholds generating power to keep it running, there were a few core regions. To destroy this the Long Clan wouldn’t need to destroy all the castles, they just needed to contend with a handful.

‘I guess they figured it out before even giving it a first try, this is disheartening.’

Zhang Dong frowned as he hoped to at least waste some of the Long Clan’s resources during a prolonged defense. This formation had five core locations that needed to be protected. If they all were captured and disabled by the enemy, the entire structure would collapse. A core location could be swapped out but would require some time to recalibrate the barrier.

Thus he expected his enemies to attempt to capture a few of the strongholds first before discovering this fact. As it stood now they had successfully identified the correct locations and were waiting. If they managed to weaken all five of them at the same time, then the wall would collapse.

“This is all just a distraction, their true aim is to get to the key locations. During the speech, their forces have been trying to approach us… I guess we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

He stood out from his seat which was somewhat more extravagant looking than the others. Even though he didn’t wish for it his wife forced him to distinguish himself from the other elders. Perhaps if it was in the past he would have disagreed with her but at a critical juncture where he was going against the Azure Emperor, his image also mattered. If he was to replace the old leader then he needed to also act one. After all of this was over and people settled down, then he could try introducing some slow changes.

“Where are you going?”

“Hm? I’m going to go join the others?”

“You can’t!’

“I can’t?”

“Listen to your wife, it’s too soon for the Patriarch to show himself. You could be walking right into their trap.”

Before he could take his leave to aid his soldiers he was stopped by his significant other. She wasn’t alone as his grandfather also stepped up to go against his decision. When looking at some of the other elders they averted their gazes but also seemed to agree with the two.

“You don’t want me to participate?”

“That would be the correct decision, you can’t risk your life at this stage of the conflict. The Azure Emperor hasn’t even appeared.”

“Dear, as the sect leader you must limit your actions, let the other warriors gain the glory while you prepare yourself for the real enemy, the Azure Emperor.”

“I see… and all of you agree with them?”

After hearing his wife also being against his involvement he turned to the other elders. All of them nodded and were in agreement. This was not the time to push their trump card onto the battlefield. Zhang Dong was the strongest weapon that they had. Someone as strong as him should not act unless it was truly necessary.

“Patriarch, it’s too dangerous. Our enemies know of your ways, this could all be an elaborate trap. We can’t ignore the Long Clan’s craftiness, they have existed for hundreds of thousands of years. The Golden Dong Palace that is now in our possession was once in theirs.”

“That is a good point…”

No one really knew what the enemy's true trump card was. The Azure Emperor was still a mystery and some caution was advised. Even though some of his forces were sacrificed to the war effort it was better than having him go down during the beginning phases of this war. There were many nascent soul masters willing to prove their might and letting them pave the way was something that he needed to contend with. It was impossible to save everyone and going off by himself would eventually get him killed.

“If everyone thinks so, then for now, I’ll return to my cultivation chamber, I’m sure my grandfather and my lovely wife will be enough to lead the attack.”

“I’m glad that you understand.”

Liena was happy and relieved that Zhang Dong decided to go with their advice. However, to their dismay, he was already thinking about potentially getting out there in his previously retired persona. The last time he went outside no one discovered his trick and thus had no reason to doubt in his words. As long as Zhang Dong the Golden Dragon didn’t appear on the battlefield, the Long Clan would have no reason to implement any potential grand traps. This would allow him to minimize the casualties while also helping him keep an eye on the enemy movement from a closer location.

‘I guess it was a good moment to revive Lei, there will be more work for the demon hunter…’