Chapter 828: Closure

Chapter 828: Closure

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The sixth prince's eyes lit up and beamed.

Zhuo Fan chuckled, turning to leave, "Well then, it's time for me to leave. Take care."

"You're just going to leave?" Lian'er cried out. The sixth prince was also taken aback, "Hold on, sir. After destroying the Beast Taming Sect, you'll have a hard time moving through western lands..."

"It's fine. Western lands has no way of restricting a dead man."

Zhuo Fan spoke, "Moreover, after paying them a visit, I will leave western lands for good."

"Y-you're even leaving the western lands? Where will you go?" Lian'er looked with deep longing hearing that he would be gone to who knows where.

Zhuo Fan shook his head, "Anywhere I can in this vast world, ha-ha-ha..."

Zhuo Fan jumped and flew away, out of sight.

Sixth prince jumped to his feet and shouted, "Sir Zhuo, I'm your fan! Won't you learn my name?"

"Say it." A faint voice came from the night sky.

"Zhuo Er!"

"Ha-ha-ha, you have my family name. I'll remember that."

"That's not it. My entire name is Hulalsharutiastti Zhuoer. You can't forget it!"

A pensive silence fell over the world, before an irate voice snapped, "The hell I will!"

The others smiled.

[Sir Zhuo is such a blunt guy.]

Only Lian'er sighed in desolation.

"Commander Touba!"

Tuoba Tieshan looked back to see the emperor looking at him with a stone-cold face, "Commander Touba, you are henceforth reinstated as the head of the Quanrong army, its commander. Gather all the city guards and sweep the imperial capital clean of anyone related to the Beast Taming Sect, including those concubines. The empress, the princess, all of them are to be put down. Don't let any of them escape. Even with Sir Zhuo destroying all of the Beast Taming Sect, there are still many of them waging war at the border with Tianyu. Do this without letting any of them catch wind of this and come back for revenge!"

Tuoba Tieshan shook and ventured, "Your Majesty, all of them? There's just too many people?"

"Every single one!"

The emperor spoke with an edge to his tone, "I've had enough of these bastards over the past years. It's time for their penance. No one shall steal Quanrong from me, ha-ha-ha..."

The Touba brothers glanced at the crazed emperor in fear.

He was meek before Beast Taming Sect, he was miserable before Zhuo Fan, but now, His Majesty got hold of his power and his actions were swift and cruel in getting rid of any vestige the Beast Taming Sect had on this earth.

By comparison, Zhuo Fan was blunt and determined, although seeing himself as the bad guy.

Lian'er looked at the sky with longing.

Tuoba Tieshan bowed and carried out his order.

Zhuo Fan was somewhat far from here but he still heard the man clearly having entered the Ethereal Stage.

[Humans, they need but a thought to become saints or demons. No one is better than the next. They all turn demonic once they grasp power.]

This was the way the world worked. The nobles oppressed the people, who had the emperors oppressing them, who had the sects breathing down their necks, with finally the very top experts coming down on the sects. As for those experts, they were at their turn at the whims of the world's laws, unable to break from them.

One must constantly improve, grow stronger and stronger if they hope to shed their shackles, even above the entire world.

Zhuo Fan had gleaned into the way the ten ancient Sovereigns were thinking. They did not want to be under anyone either!

Smirking, Zhuo Fan flashed out of there...

Three months later, in an open field of sand, military tents were arranged in perfect order, with no end in sight.

In their center lay the biggest tent, the one that also released the strongest aura.

"The war has been going for six months now without bearing any result. We've lost scores of good men and sent out a jade slip for aid but help is late to arrive. We can no longer fight!"

An old man with a twirled beard looked at his men with a sigh. The others sighed as well.

"In the previous wars as long as Quanrong's warriors fought, we'd still make some headway since the strongest in these wars would be in the Radiant Stage and the common people could still handle. But with Tianyu growing so fast, they just sent Ethereal Stage experts on the battlefield forcing us to send our own to withstand the pressure. But this is no war. It's now been reduced to showing off one's power. It's more apt to call it a war between sects than nations."

"Who said it isn't? Do any of you think Tianyu's three guardian sects didn't send anyone, that they're all Tianyu's men?" One elder spoke.

The others shook their heads.

"Ever since the Luo Alliance formed in Tianyu, its power grew close to that of a sect. They may as well be a tenth sect in western lands in the future!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Tianyu is just too strong for a mere empire..."

All the officials here nodded their heads as they discussed among themselves.

A shout came from beyond the tent, "Imperial capital's jade slip has arrived! "

"The imperial capital's response is here. Did reinforcements come?"

Perking up, the top elder laughed as he hurriedly said, "Give me the jade slip!"

"Yes, sir!"

A soldier bowed and walked in to give the jade slip. The elder snatched it in joy, but then froze.

The others were curious, "Old man, what's up? What does it say? Did the Sect Leader send curses for being useless and that no men are coming?"

"If only..."

The elder's shoulders shook, putting on the most heart-wrenching expression he could, "It's Quanrong emperor's jade slip. He said that three months ago, some power infiltrated the nation and wreaked havoc in the imperial capital. To make it worse, it destroyed the Beast Taming Sect. W-we're homeless!"

[What?]

Everyone looked stumped. While they were fighting here with their lives on the line, their home was getting pillaged.

[What the hell?]

"It must be Tianyu! They must've sent someone to attack our backs. I'm going to kill them!"

"Is it really them though? The sect is stronger than just the few we have here and it has a defensive array as well. Tianyu would've long since killed us if it could destroy our sect. What kind of an idiot would drag this useless war on instead?"

"Oh, right..."

"True, true..."

Everyone pondered but the same guy just wouldn't give up, "Then who else could destroy our sect?"

"Demon Scheming Sect!"

Another man shouted, "Think about it. Demon Scheming Sect is guarding Tianyu yet suddenly gives us a thousand sacred stones to attack it. This is clearly a trap. We never saw through their intentions but now we know. It's cutting off our escape!"

"Blast it! I'll kill them all!" Someone jumped to his feet, about to march to Demon Scheming Sect.

Another one cursed, "Cut the crap, with the sect gone, we alone are nothing. Are you suicidal to get revenge like this? "

"What else are we supposed to do?"

"Go to Double Dragon Manor. We'll have them take revenge for us. The Exalted will settle it!"

The others nodded, having met consensus. So, the Quanrong's army withdrew.

Across from Quanrong's camp, Luo Yunhai and Elder Li were discussing their plans when a report came, "Marshal, Quanrong is retreating! They're all leaving!"

"They're leaving?"

Luo Yunhai looked at him with a dumb look, "Why? Just yesterday they pushed hard at us with their spiritual beast army. We only managed to hold thanks to the sacred stone array. But that still didn't give us any advantage? Why the sudden withdrawal?"

Leng Wuchang spoke, "Maybe the cost was too much. Since nothing worked, they wasted too many resources and men. Or maybe something happened back home, to their leaders."

Leng Wuchang's eyes flashed, "Guard, scout Quanrong at once! Just what happened?"

"Yes, sir!" A man bowed and left swiftly.

Luo Yunhai sighed, much relaxed now, "This war took six months but it's finally over. Demon Scheming Sect wanted to wear down our will to fight but now that the enemy withdrew their troops, everything is ruined. It's like brother Zhuo is watching us from beyond."

"Clan Head, you shouldn't give Steward Zhuo's spirit all the credit." Leng Wuchang scratched his head.

Eying him, Luo Yunhai said, "Sister said that one should respect immortals. We also should respect the Luo clan's ancestor and brother Zhuo just the same."

"That's just superstition. If Steward Zhuo is up there somewhere, he should just get rid of the Demon Scheming Sect and do us a solid. Don't you agree, Clan Head?"

Leng Wuchang glanced at Leng Wuchang then shook his head, "Sir Leng, ha-ha-ha..."