The six-armed creature on the distant platform was furious after seeing that Qianye hadn’t retreated. His six arms clawed at the white clouds, forming a long spear which he then hurled at Qianye.
The might of this attack was difficult to describe. The spear arrived before Qianye almost immediately after it had left the assailant’s hands.
Fortunately, the invisible barrier was still there and the weapon exploded upon coming into contact with it. The beasts roaming around the barrier were all flung away by the magnificent shockwaves.
Such power caused Qianye’s expression to shift noticeably. Even through the barrier, he could see that the power of that spear was above that of the Shot of Inception, and he had no wish to have a taste of it.
A look of surprise came over his countenance while he was thinking about this. The intangible barrier gradually became visible, just like glass. A small crack suddenly appeared on its smooth surface and began spreading in all directions.
Qianye’s eyes widened as he watched the spider web of cracks expand to over ten meters. Then, with a loud bang, a defect large enough for a truck appeared in the barrier!
This hole was enough for most beasts to come through. For the smaller ones, several dozen of them could squeeze in.
“That works!?” A fair number of profanities welled up in his heart, but the other party couldn’t understand any of it.
At this moment, tens of thousands of gazes were upon this little hole!
The corner of Qianye’s eyes twitched ever so slightly, almost as though he had noticed something. He immediately picked up East Peak and left, diving into the misty wall. The countless beasts came to at this point, emitting earth-shattering roars as they swarmed into the hole. They pushed past one another to gush out of the hole like a geyser and charge after Qianye.
Qianye ran through the mist wall at full speed, passing through the misty region in the blink of an eye and returning to the blessed land.
Once out of the mist wall, Qianye stood solemnly with his sword in hand and waited for the bestial army to appear. Qianye could already see before his departure that the hole in the barrier was slowly closing up. No one could stop the power of its closure, not these beasts at least. Hence, the number of creatures that managed to get through was rather limited—Qianye had to deal sufficient damage to them in order to control the potential damage they would cause.
The first to charge out of the mist wall were the creatures he had first encountered. They specialized in speed and could fly, making them the best in chasing down enemies. Their only problem was their limited fighting power, and Qianye’s domain restricted their flying abilities. The moment Qianye’s daybreak vortex domain was unleashed, hundreds of flying creatures fell to the ground. They were simply throwing their lives away.
After killing the first wave of flying beasts, next up were the wild-horse types with great biting power. They were much more resistant to the daybreak vortex domain’s powers, but their speed was greatly reduced and were hence cut down one after the other.
In this manner, several batches of strange beasts were slaughtered. Their combat strength increased with each batch, but their numbers also dwindled accordingly.
By the time the last mammoth-shaped beast had fallen to Qianye’s blade, there were no more creatures coming out from the mist wall.
Qianye heaved a sigh of relief, only discovering now that his forehead was covered in sweat. Killing these unknown beasts was no easy job, and their numbers were simply too great. There were corpses strewn all across the ground, almost a thousand of them on careful calculation.
Qianye waited for a while to confirm that no more new creatures were coming out before feeling completely safe. It would seem the barrier had already closed up. The six-armed giant’s cloud spear was extremely powerful, and its consumption should be the same. Apparently, even someone as powerful as that entity could not hurl them randomly. Otherwise, these beasts would be all over the blessed land.
The door, represented by the white mist, was still in place at the moment, and according to the six-armed creature, it would take a few more days until the barrier was completely open. This time period was extremely valuable.
If sufficient preparation wasn’t made during this period, a calamity would ensue once the tens of thousands of creatures charged over.
Qianye emerged from the white mist with a flash and returned to the corvette. Once on the deck, he ordered, “Prepare for battle! Xu Jingxuan will take command. Eiseka will go back with me. Everyone else, remain vigilant. Pull back the airship and observe from a distance of five hundred meters. Kill anything that comes out of the mist!”
The generals affirmed their orders and the corvette lowered its altitude. Xu Jingxuan got off with the generals in tow and formed a defensive line dozens of meters ahead.
After the defensive line had been formed, Qianye asked, “Where is that werewolf?”
“He just got out of his berserk state and is now unconscious.”
“Bring him along, we’re heading back to Cerulean Wave City. Song Hui, follow us back.”
Song Hui replied, “Okay, but how?” They were leaving the corvette to act as the core of the defense line and Cerulean Wave City was a good distance away. Were they going to walk back?
Qianye paid her no heed. He picked her up by the waist with one hand and grabbed Eiseka with the other. The unconscious werewolf, in turn, was in Eiseka’s grasp. The four thus took to the sky and flew toward the city.
Song Hui cried out, “This won’t do! You can’t hold on for too long like this, we’ll die! Ahhhh!”
Qianye wasn’t about to pay her any attention. He exerted more strength from his arm, making it impossible for her to move as he shot toward Cerulean Wave like a cannonball.
Moments later, the group was back at the duke’s residence. Song Hui had collapsed on the nearby sofa, pale and dizzy like an ordinary person. Eiseka passed the dizzy werewolf to some shamans and instructed them to keep watch. They were to report immediately for any changes.
Qianye made straight for the command room and summoned all the chiefs, shamans, and the human leaders of various departments in the city. After everyone was gathered, Qianye asked about the situation regarding the new army and werewolf squads.
Eiseka stood up. “Initial phase training has been completed. Fifty thousand men have been assigned basic equipment and formed into a new army corps. The officers are all in place, and I will serve as the commander. Seventy thousand have completed training but haven’t been outfitted. Thirty thousand more are currently in training. About five hundred thousand soldiers remain on standby, ready to be reassigned. Potential troops that can be mobilized stand at one million.”
Due to the limited number of military instructors, only a hundred thousand soldiers can undergo training at any one time. Qianye knew this, but he still felt that the progress was a bit too slow.
He said after some thought, “Triple the number of basic trainees at each batch.”
Eiseka was surprised. “There won’t be any guarantee of effectiveness if we do that!”
Qianye said, “That… the time is nigh for the holy war! I need a large number of soldiers. Werewolves are born warriors, so all they need is to learn obedience, to understand and execute various orders.”
“Holy war? Who is our enemy?” Eiseka, as well as the crowd of chief and shamans, were surprised. In the records of the dark races, holy wars meant the participation of entire races, and everyone would fight to the death.
“This time, we’re facing enemies we have never seen before.”
Eiseka had personally experienced the strange beasts in the white mist. “Those beasts? Are their numbers great?”
Qianye nodded. “Much more than I had imagined. Also, they’re not beasts but an army with its own commander.”
The chiefs and shamans who didn’t have much combat experience didn’t feel anything, but Eiseka knew the difference between a mob and an army. He said solemnly, “Sire, please allow me to lead the newly formed army to the blessed land and bolster its defenses.”
Qianye shook his head, saying, “We can leave Xu Jingxuan there, he can lead the new army for defense. Your current mission is to build up the army as quickly as possible and give them basic training. This is a holy war. Whoever disobeys or causes trouble will be punished by military law!”
“Understood, Sire!”
“Go and prepare. I will give you powerful reinforcements in three days. Song Hui, stay back.”
After the werewolf chiefs and shamans were gone, Qianye said to Song Hui, “Find some way to wake up that werewolf and use every method at your disposal to find out what he was doing in the mist zone.”
“All means?”
“I want answers.”
“I understand. This matter… I’ll get to it.”
After Song Hui left, Qianye closed his eyes and beckoned into the distance.
Far away on the Northern Continent, the Earth Dragon was lying quietly like a mountain range. Countless technicians and craftsmen scuttled about, installing all kinds of equipment. The dragonship was no longer the same at this point—there were different cannons installed on its sides, covering for various firing ranges.
Half of its cannon ports were still empty because of its massive size, but one could easily see that its firepower was above an Imperial battleship, almost at the heels of a mothership.
Kinetic sails covered all of its spines and several more engines had been installed on its body. The outsides of its tail were now covered with spiked armored plates. The Earth Dragon’s tail was a powerful weapon, and now, the countless spikes had increased its might yet again.
A good number of these equipment, cannons, and sails came from the “sincerity” of those aristocratic families. Under the full support of the Imperial nobility, Qianye’s Martyr’s Palace had finally completed its initial outfitting.
The dragonship’s interior had turned into a giant construction yard, filled with piles upon piles of resources. The craftsmen had already divided the ship into basic compartments, but the functional, storage, and living quarters only made up half the space. Even with that space, the dragonship could hold fifty thousand people. If fully utilized, it could accommodate a hundred thousand passengers or more.
The Martyr’s Palace was starting to take shape at this point. At completion, she would far exceed a mothership and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with an aerial fortress.
Just as the construction-work was proceeding at its height, the quiet dragonship began to stir. The Earth Dragon raised its head and gazed into the distance.
This movement came as an earthquake to all the craftsmen. Everyone began to stagger and trip, with materials flying off in all directions. The Martyr’s Palace moved a bit and shook its tail, almost as though it was about to take off.
Bluemoon rushed over and stood atop the dragon’s head, crying out in an attempt to calm it down. She had been in charge of the palace’s upgrades and repairs all along, so she could perform a basic level of communication.
The Earth Dragon lowered its head and looked at her, then gradually calmed down.
A delighted Bluemoon wiped the sweat off her forehead. She was just about to head inside to check when a raspy voice echoed in her consciousness: “Three days.”
Bluemoon gazed at the dragonship. “Three days? I have only three days’ time? Very well, I’ll do my best!”
She ran over to the craftsmen, shouting, “Everyone, go back to your positions! Clear up the damage and continue working. No one gets any rest starting from now!”
