The nine provinces’ fall led to an unsettling blend of ups and downs. Spirits and human experts that didn’t get slaughtered in the fight fled their hometowns to reinforce other provinces. On the upside, these reinforcements strengthened the provinces’ defenses and reduced the speed of beast conquests. However, those destitute Spirit Nobles and Hegemons weren’t fighting just to protect the East from further conquests. Their services came at premium prices.
At first, most just wanted help to retake their lands. But when it became obvious that X or Y “reason” would always delay that help, they shifted tactics, outright attempting to carve out new realms for themselves, and adding to the Eastern Spirit Empire’s decentralization.
As for the Human Lords, many of those that had not already flocked to the Longxi Kingdom joined Zhenwu Shenquan’s True Martial Divine Army: the Zhenwu clan’s elite army.
Zhenwu Shenquan was nowhere to be seen, but his seven oldest sons and top three generals led these elites, shockingly repelling the second horde and fighting the first horde to a standstill.
Daji wasn’t surprised. A Divine Transformation cultivation base was the minimum requirement to join the True Martial Divine Army. That, or prospects had to defeat a sitting officer. War Merit, breakthroughs and duels determined all promotions. This led to a meritocratic environment where all, regardless of background, strove for excellence.
Also, officers of the True Martial Divine Army could exchange War Merit for fiefs, meaning that for them, the Warlord Seal System had no appeal.
The True Martial Divine Army’s strength terrified the warlord factions, reminding them that before the Zhenwu clan, the Spiritual Aristocracy was akin to a flock of ants. Some humans saw the Zhenwu clan’s dominance as proof that the future belonged to humanity. Others feared that the East under Zhenwu rule would end up being more oppressive than it ever was under the Shentu.
Regardless, in the vast expanse of the Eastern Continent, only three places still enjoyed peace: Imperial Wind City, the Longxi Kingdom capital and Green Leaf Village.
But as the Eastern Powers competed for profit, one of these places faced a tribulation.
In the shadows of a long winter night, a corps of cloaked men raced past paved roads, stepping into a deciduous forest whose leaves, branches and trees swayed on the tune of the chilling night wind. The sound of their armored footsteps didn’t disturb the night, muffled by the Cloaking Talismans that enabled them to safely run through the Dongli state.
A squad of 21 experts led these men, and underneath their cloaks, one could recognize the sky-blue Wind Spirit Stone Armors monopolized by the Shentu imperial clan.
’According to that person’s intel, it should be here. Prepare the sacrifices for the Void Shredding Gear and follow his coordinates. Even if there’s only a 1% chance of him telling the truth, we can’t miss the opportunity to capture 20 million acres of immortal-grade Spiritual Farmland,’ The man at the helm told his subordinates—13,000 elites handpicked from the imperial clan and Spiritual Aristocracy.
An extra 2,000 experts walked in the background of that elite force, all dressed in the black and red hooded robes of the Heart-Wrenching Cult. But as these troops approached, the targeted Green Leaf Village enjoyed its usual peace.
Millions of white-winged angelic figures flew across the sky, flanked by colorful rays that lit up the night. More stayed on the ground, walking down streets and markets carved in Spiritual Stones—or other precious spiritual minerals. Spiritual Qi overflowed from all corners, and at night, streets and buildings all shone in a cluster of radiant energies—turning Luminous Orbs into superfluous decorations.
By relying on his Inner Spiritual Cave’s daily spirit stone output, resources plundered from Burning Spear Supercity and the former Yaozhou Province, plus the income from mines, various new businesses and the tributes collected by the Bloodstone Cult, Xinzi turned Green Leaf Village into Colorful Wings Supercity—an idyllic landscape inhabited by Burning Spear Supercity’s eight million White-Winged Demons.
When the 12 Anointed Holy Beasts of the 29th Horde arrived to conquer Burning Spear Supercity, they found a neat and tidy metropolis with no sign of life. The millions that should have quaked at their arrival were nowhere to be seen, leaving behind a spotless desert.
Only one month after his subordinates started the renovation project of the massive, under-exploited Green Leaf Village, Xinzi had them build teleportation formations to shift Burning Spear Supercity’s White-Winged Demon population to the village, and make them contribute to the renovation efforts. Otherwise, the 29th Horde’s Anointed Holy Beasts would have likely found death instead of a deserted city.
Now, based on material and spiritual quality alone, the new Colorful Wings Supercity made even the imperial capital look like provincial junk.
Perched on a hill, one dazzling temple overlooked this magnificent city. Immortal Qi leaked from the silver walls and marble pillars, with rows of multi-colored fire poles standing at the entrance, and burning with limitless fuel.
In the valley underneath, 30,000 beauties split into groups of six, dancing around colorful fire poles akin to the ones standing at the gargantuan temple’s entrance. Grace, power, agility and sensual flexibility filled their every move, conjuring a mesmerizing spectacle that would make more than one monk renounce their vows.
However, the twins supervising this army of mesmerizing dancers didn’t seem impressed by their performance. Their hands drew arcane sigils in the air, occasionally joining for a succession of fast mudras.
The 30,000 dancers’ moves seemed to follow the twins’ hand gestures, slowing down whenever the hand gestures stopped.
”Keep practicing. Abbot will soon be out of seclusion. The Divine Comedy must be ready for his return,” A’Zhi and A’Zhu said and slammed their palms together, conjuring a blast of colorful energies that made the 30,000 dancers sparkle like gemstones. They paused for a second but subsequently resumed their dancing effort with twice the intensity and thrice the swagger.
Nearby, a voluptuous purple-haired girl pouted in frustration, sass flashing in her lavender eyes as she drove her elongated whip sword in a riveting sword dance.
”This is unfair…so unfair! A’Xin deceived us all!” Dong Ling raged for all to hear. And who could blame her? Three months ago, Xinzi bestowed divine gifts on all the gals, added mysterious blessings, and distributed resources to various sectors of the village to start the development of the area with great pomp.
Initially, the girls believed that though of different nature, the gifts would lead them all to the same finish line. They weren’t incorrect. Tusha and Zi Feng aside, the girls all reached the mid-stage of Pulse Condensation, with Peerless Pulses and flabbergasting battle-prowess.
After testing her might on her beloved father, Dong Ling didn’t doubt that she could mop the floor with all under the mid Nascent Soul realm.
To go from the early stages of Foundation Building to the mid-stage of Pulse Condensation in three months was the type of accomplishment that’d merit praise from the Hengye clan’s retired elders. Moreover, the girls approached the late stage and could break through at any moment.
But while on the surface, they all stayed at the same level, bloodline, artifacts, techniques and co. established a new hierarchy. To distract the girls from finding flaws in his behavior, Xinzi used the excuse of secluded cultivation to reduce dual cultivation events and added a monthly competition to not only test the girls’ growth but also determine the strongest gal.
For obvious reasons, Zi Feng and Tusha didn’t participate—leaving Dong Ling, Chun Xu, Yan Le, the Zhi-Zhu twins and Li nuns, to duke it out.
But shockingly, A’Zhi and A’Zhu always came out on top! The third competition approached, and none believed that this time’s result would be any different. The reason was simple: puppets!
Battle-prowess wise, A’Zhi and A’Zhu were now the weakest of Xinzi’s gals. Due to the Millenium Revolution Code that they cultivated, a technique that provided little to no battle perks, in a one versus one fight, the Zhi-Zhu twins wouldn’t beat any one of the Li nuns.
But thanks to that same method and the treasures they got from Xinzi, they created an army of 15,000 divine puppets each, 30,000 in total, all able to unite in battle formations. To add insult to injury, the cultivation of these puppets was always two realms above A’Zhi and A’Zhu’s—meaning that they had a formation of 30,000 mid-stage Nascent Soul realm experts at their beck and call!
Faced with this lineup, to say nothing of Dong Ling, even Chun Xu despaired.
”This isn’t fair! It isn’t right! A’Xin, you deceived me! But I promise you, that regardless of all the barriers that you put in my way, I will still get that number one spot!” Initially, focused on her growth as a Spiritual Chef, Dong Ling couldn’t care less for strength rankings. But when an actual list appeared in the Liberation Temple, with Xinzi flirting with the idea of spending more time with the top-ranked gal, her competitive spirit kicked in, leading to hours of relentless training.
Fired up, Dong Ling dove back into her training. But at this time, mild tremors spread through the ground. Ringing bells and banging drums resounded throughout Colorful Wing Supercity, bringing its citizens on their toes.