Chapter 1228: Sunrise on the Ocean

After expanding his vision to its fullest extent, he was gradually able to see the trajectory of the energy flow. Considering how big this underground flow was, it was only natural that the areas in the vicinity would be transformed over the millennia.

Apparently, the Whitebone Duke had picked that location for a reason. This was the extent of Qianye's geographical knowledge, and there was no specialist in this field around him. He might need to assemble relevant experts back in the Empire if he wanted to get to the bottom of this.

Back in Cerulean Wave City. Having gotten the answers to all those questions plaguing him, Qianye could finally get to executing the plans he had been mulling over.

First was to clear out an area outside and inside the city to serve as an airship port. There was one inside the city, reserved for the Whitebone Duke's personal use. However, it could barely fit the smallest corvette in Qianye's fleet, let alone the battlecruiser. This port and a wide area surrounding it would be dedicated to the project, and the relevant facilities constructed. The landing pad outside of the city was so big that it could accommodate a large transport fleet.

Although Cerulean Wave City was at the heart of the Jade Sea territory, there were no special weather conditions in the area. Using airships would shorten the transport and shipping times drastically. Qianye could use a large fleet of transports to move his forces in any direction without fear of retaliation from the werewolf tribes. It was important for him to wield great power as well as quick responses in order to rule the vast territory.

It was only after this trip—through which he confirmed the reason for the werewolves' fealty—that Qianye formally took the Jade Sea shamans and chiefs into his fold and laid out his plans before everyone.

The most important part of the next phase was to consolidate power.

From the great corridor to the Jade Sea, this human-werewolf coalition had grown too fast. In name, the area of land and population they had occupied was a shocking number. The entire Jade Sea had to be stabilized—they needed to reform the army, decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of prisoners, then survey and exploit resources in every area. None of these things could be accomplished in a short time.

Outward expansion lost meaning under such circumstances. Qianye only intended to flatten the area around the Jade Sea and send envoys to the smaller human nations in the meanwhile, demanding their surrender and loyalty. These countries added together boasted a population in the millions and troops in the hundreds of thousands. Be it by force or by negotiation, Qianye would have to spend time to integrate them into his country.

After making arrangements for everything, Qianye remained in the duke's manor and focused on consolidating his origin crystal.

Half a month went by in a flash. One early morning, a thread of sunlight had just emerged in the sky. Most of the werewolves were still in their dreams when a bright light erupted from the top floor of the duke's manor. A red sun rose into the sky and lit up Cerulean Wave City as though it was midday!

The radiance possessed great penetration powers, so much so that even the walls and roofs could not stop it. The insides of every house lit up brightly, and the soundly sleeping werewolves woke up from the rolling heat, unable to sleep again. They sat up, confused by the light, and unable to figure out whether they were dreaming or not.

In the blink of an eye, many werewolves rushed out onto the streets to gaze at the sun that shouldn't be there. All of them were stupefied.

Not to mention the werewolves, even experts like the mercenary generals and Xu Jingxuan rubbed their eyes. They simply couldn't believe that a second sun had appeared in the sky.

In the eyes of true experts, that sun was emitting heat and light so intense that it was almost as though it had come straight out of the daybreak origins. Yet, it didn't hurt the eyes—now that was inconceivable for a sun that could illuminate the entire city.

Some reckless chiefs who tried to stretch their perception toward the sun collapsed with painful expressions. The pain was so intense that they couldn't help but roll about, howling in anguish. Their perception was immediately destroyed upon contact. It happened so fast that they couldn't even react in time. What followed was unbearable agony, something akin to insects losing their antenna.

Fortunately, the sun faded into nothingness soon afterward. Everyone looked at one another under the newly recovered darkness. Those who had arrived earlier glanced toward the duke's manor, where it had risen from the main building.

A flash of thunder lit up the sky as Caroline arrived on a lightning dragon, landing on the main building of the duke's manor.

At the top floor where the Whitebone Duke's bedroom once was, Qianye slowly opened his eyes. "You came so quickly."

"You caused such a commotion that I could even sense it in the void. Of course, I had to come and take a look. Is your origin crystal stable now?"

"Yes, I never thought it would take that long. From what I remember, origin crystals should stabilize on their own after an ordinary divine champion breaks through, right?"

Caroline rolled her eyes at him. "They have it easy, but they have no more room for advancement!"

With that, she became curious. "By the way, what power did you obtain? Tell me!"

An expert's divine champion power was their core personal secret. They would usually keep it a secret for as long as possible, in hopes of gaining an advantage in battle.

Caroline felt highly curious because of all the ruckus, but she quickly realized that it wasn't quite appropriate. She shook her head, saying, "Nevermind, pretend that I never asked."

Qianye laughed. "It's fine, not a big deal."

Caroline almost felt her teeth itching. Qianye's willingness to divulge his powers showed that he trusted her, but his words made her want to beat him up.

Qianye didn't think it was a problem at all. "This time, I obtained roughly two powers. One of them is related to my domain and the other, my personal combat strength. I'll show you my domain first."

A small part of space in his outstretched palm suddenly began to warp and twist, a phenomenon produced by extreme pressure. This was Qianye's Oceanic Vortex Domain on display within his palm. This proved that his control over it had reached near-perfection.

Next, a red sun rose upon the oceanic vortex! This sun-filled the hall with boundless light as the entire vortex began to burn, turning into a sea of pressurized flames.

If Qianye's original domain was considered a control type, this rising sun would turn it into a destructive machine. Few low-ranking dark race members would be able to survive within it.

Qianye closed his palm and put away the sun. "I have another power."

His joints creaked and groaned as his aura shot up wave after wave, reaching an unbelievable state in the blink of an eye.

Caroline was quite knowledgeable, to begin with, and she had been following Qianye for a while. Seeing the current situation, she gasped. "Excavator!"

"Ha!" As the power of Qianye's Excavator reached the greatest extent, he exhaled and threw an unassuming punch. Caroline flashed backward in alarm at the moment of his attack, her hair standing on end!

Qianye's punch was directed at an empty space. There was clearly nothing there, yet several black veins spread out from the point of contact, rending everything in its wake.

This was a spatial tear. This phenomenon appeared because Qianye's punch had almost shattered the space.

The black veins stretched out over a dozen meters before finally fading away.

Caroline watched Qianye in fright before finally saying, "What happened just now? Why is that punch so powerful? And I feel that your burst of origin power is much stronger than mine. A-Are you already a superior divine champion?"

Qianye shook his head. "Of course not. I just released the origin power I've been accumulating in one burst, allowing me to exert much greater power than the norm. This reduces my endurance, however. For now, let's call this Blazing Impact."

Caroline was greatly moved by Qianye's honesty. She still felt a bit scared thinking about that punch just now. She suddenly thought of something. "No, wait, even a burst of accumulated power shouldn't be that strong. Even my brother, a superior divine champion, can't produce such a punch."

"I guess I'm a bit stronger physically?"

"... What kind of reason is that!?"

Caroline thought Qianye wasn't clear about it himself, but she had no idea that Qianye was actually telling the truth. If it wasn't for his ancient vampire physique as a glorious marquis, he wouldn't have been able to throw such a punch. Any other person would've shattered their own bones from the recoil.

As the two chatted on, Qianye looked out of the window all of a sudden. "Someone's coming, it seems."

A corvette flew over at high speeds and hovered outside of the main building. A tall female mercenary general jumped out of the airship and arrived before Qianye. "Sire, there's urgent news. An airship fleet from the Empire has arrived on Eastern Sun Island, asking to see you."

"Me? Did they state their identity?"

"They didn't say anything concrete, except that their surname is Li and that you would know."

This mercenary general knew little about the Empire. The only Li family in the Empire was the Jingtang Li Clan, and seeing as how they were able to pinpoint him to Eastern Sun Island, they had to be related to the Empress.

"Surname Li..." Qianye stood up after some thought. "There's nothing to do anyway, I'll leave things here to Song Lun, Eiseka, and Xu Jingxuan. Let's head to Eastern Sun Island."

Caroline didn't mind and Qianye had nothing to pack, so the duo boarded the battlecruiser and headed out.

The warship was much faster, so it took them only half a day to reach Seclusion.

The guests had already been settled within the city lord's estate. Qianye asked to arrange a meeting as soon as he arrived. The one who walked into the guest room was a kind-looking elder with a constant smile. He was rather plump, and there was no semblance of facial hair on his fair countenance. There were a young boy and girl behind him, both of them beautiful but bearing a certain air of arrogance.

Qianye had never seen this old man, but he could tell that he was an inner attendant from the palace. The man's origin power was dark, incisive, and well-hidden inside his body. He might not have been able to gauge the man's power if he hadn't broken through.

Seeing Qianye, the old man said with a smile, "You must be Sire Qianye, our master has been talking about you fairly often. Xiaoqing, Panyu, come and greet the sire. He has already accomplished great things when he was your age."

The young boy and girl took a step forward, bowing in unison. "This junior is Li Panyu, I offer my greetings."

The girl said, "Li Wanqing greets you, Sire."

Li Panyu naturally hid his arrogance during the salutation, but the youngster's self-restraint was still lacking. There was a clear hint that he was unconvinced, even showing a bit of hostility. Li Wanqing's eyes, on the other hand, were sparkling. Her gaze flew all over Qianye, like an excited child who had stepped out of the household to see a bustling city.

The old man said, "My surname is Liu, and you probably know where we come from. These two are juniors from the main family. The Empress was happy to hear that you were pioneering new land on Fort Continent, so she sent them here to help you and learn about the world. The Empress has spoken, the children are used to an undisciplined life in the household and don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. You can punish them as you see fit if they cause trouble. There is no need to hold back."

"This..." Qianye hadn't imagined the Empress would put forth such a difficult problem. There was no telling when there would be danger in the process of pioneering new land. He didn't want to keep these troublesome brats at his side.