The forces of Eternal Sect swept forward like a crushing tide, capturing city after city in the Starspirit Realm.

After another month passed, Great Sky Province and Great Hope Province fell in succession. The Corpse Attendants who had been treated as slaves all gained their freedom and, going with the flow of the tide, became avengers.

Relying solely on the forces of Eternal Sect could certainly bring trouble to Starspirit Realm, but it would take time. With large numbers of avengers joining in, the pace of conquest would only grow faster and faster.

Without a doubt, if no mighty hero descended from heaven, the fall of this realm would be irreversible. In terms of top-tier strength, they had Jun Changxiao and Jian Guixu. In terms of core pillars, they had Eternal Sect’s leadership and core disciples. In terms of numbers, their forces grew larger with each battle.

Many nobles realized this point. Whenever they learned the rebel army was about to arrive, they packed up early and fled.

When the masters fled, the soldiers guarding the cities naturally wouldn’t fight to the death.

Eternal Sect’s already unstoppable army captured even more cities with almost no effort, continuously extending and expanding their occupied territory.

Abandoning cities and fleeing generally happened in small and medium-sized cities. Large cities were more tenacious—they actively strengthened their defenses and chose to resist to the bitter end.

For such behavior, Jun Changxiao did his best to help them achieve their righteous end.

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

The provincial capital of Great Ridge Province endured countless bombardments. The protective city formation reinforced by tens of thousands of formation masters finally could no longer hold and ultimately shattered into countless fragments across the sky.

“Woo woo woo—”

The charging horn sounded. The vanguard regiment led by Zhong Yi spurred their mounts forward, brandishing their blades as they charged into the area.

Ten minutes later, all enemy soldiers were slain. The city walls, towers, and streets were covered in corpses, the air permeated with a pungent stench of blood.

“Why bother?”

Jun Changxiao sat atop the city tower, shaking his head.

In the face of absolute strength, they still wanted to resist—it was truly somewhat foolish.

“After all, it’s their homeland,” the System said.

“Their home, they defend with their lives. Others’ homes, they trample violently at will?” Jun Changxiao respected the enemy soldiers who sacrificed themselves for their homeland, but had no sympathy whatsoever. Defending one’s country was worthy of praise, but past acts of harming others were unforgivable.

……

In Starspirit Realm, there was such a city that was extremely developed with an extremely large population. The surrounding city walls were equipped with numerous advanced technologies, and warships floated outside, forming layer upon layer of defensive lines.

That’s right.

This was the main city, Starspirit City.

Some readers asked: Is the main city of Jianghu Realm called Jianghu City?

Congratulations, you got it right!

Inside the luxurious palace at the city’s center, the nobles who were usually high and aloof and unruffled were in complete chaos. Over this period, three of the ten provinces had been taken, and the situation was critically dangerous.

“Damn it!”

“Just who are these people!”

A high-ranking official roared in anger.

At this moment, based on intelligence from various sources, they had roughly understood that the rebels weren’t just Corpse Attendants—there was also a more powerful force, so powerful that any military regiment sent was just delivering food.

“Palace Master!”

An elder said sternly, “If this continues, Starspirit Realm will completely fall!”

Everyone looked toward the head seat, toward the man sitting on the throne who had kept his head lowered in silence.

This person was Starspirit Realm’s supreme commander.

Logically speaking, a realm’s ruler is usually called a Realm Lord. Why would he be called a commander?

Because Starspirit Realm hadn’t had a Realm Lord for a very long time. Even the head of the highest organization was only addressed as ‘Palace Master.’

“Activate the formation.”

After a moment, the Palace Master raised his head and said somewhat unwillingly, “Notify Our Emperor—send troops to provide aid!”

“This…”

“If we hesitate any longer, all of Starspirit Realm will be gone!”

The Palace Master roared in fury. He looked quite young, but anger had twisted his entire face to the extreme—at a glance, he looked like a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.

Seeing this, the high-ranking officials fell silent one after another.

Currently, that group of rebels was formidably strong and fighting on multiple fronts with comprehensive advances. If they didn’t call for reinforcements, Starspirit Realm would inevitably fall in a short time.

If the realm was lost, how would they explain it to Our Emperor!

……

“Buzz!”

“Buzz!”

That day, on the massive altar behind the luxurious palace, formation masters one by one sketched out formation cores. After several days of effort, they drew an extremely complex formation.

“Thud!”

“Thud!”

Bound Corpse Attendants knelt one by one at specific positions within the formation, then lowered their heads. Fear showed in their eyes as they said hoarsely, “No… no…”

“Soul sacrifice, summon Our Emperor!”

An elder resembling a priest knelt in the central area of the formation, slowly raising the staff in his hands.

“Swish!”

“Swish!”

Sword lights flashed, and the Corpse Attendants’ heads fell to the ground. Their souls escaping from their bodies were firmly restricted to fixed formation cores, then used as energy sources to begin powering the grand formation.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Instantly, dozens of streams of light shot up from the altar.

Carrying brilliant colors, they merged into the firmament, as if to pierce through heaven and earth.

“Hm?”

Jun Changxiao, who was observing the battle outside the fourth province’s capital, looked up toward the strange phenomenon rising in the distance, quite puzzled. “What is that?”

“Don’t know,” Demon Ancestor said.

The streams of light that suddenly rose in Starspirit Realm and pierced heaven and earth—aside from core leadership, no one knew what was happening.

“Hurry up and breach the city!”

Jun Changxiao didn’t take it seriously and continued commanding the army to attack the city.

“Yes!”

The disciples and avengers, as if injected with adrenaline, continuously attacked the major cities. After another half month passed, seven of the ten great provinces had been taken—basically locking in victory ahead of time.

Of course, after fighting for so long, Jun Changxiao also had losses.

First, the army expedition required not only provisions but also resources—practically burning through them every moment.

Fortunately, they had the Heavenly Vein Secret Realm. Never mind conquering one realm—even conquering the entire upper cosmos should have enough to squander.

There were casualties too.

However, it was the disciples who were injured, and the avengers or mechs with outdated facilities who died.

Eternal Sect attacking the upper-tier Starspirit Realm was completely one-sided crushing, pressing the opponents so they couldn’t catch their breath, pressing them until they could only watch helplessly as cities fell.

……

Several days later, the eighth province fell.

Several days later, the ninth province fell.

On the sand table placed in Eternal Sect’s great hall, the entire Starspirit Realm was covered with chess pieces. Only the remaining Central Province was surrounded inside and out.

“Swish!”

The next day, Jun Changxiao walked out and declared, “Take the last province and announce that Starspirit Realm has become historical dust!”

“Yes!”

The disciples were in high spirits.

However, when they gathered at the provincial capital, preparing to launch an attack on Starspirit Realm’s main province and announce the demise of this upper-tier realm, they suddenly discovered the firmament seemed to be torn apart by some force, as massive warships slowly flew in.

“Not good!”

Jian Guixu exclaimed in alarm, “It’s Heavenly Demon Emperor’s army!”

“……”

Jun Changxiao’s brows furrowed.

He’d always had a question—whether Starspirit Realm had any connection to Heavenly Demon Emperor. Now it seemed to be confirmed.

“Reinforcements are here, reinforcements are here!”

In Starspirit City, the nobles who had been filled with despair saw the gradually appearing warships, felt that sinister cold aura, and all burst into tears of joy, cheering.

“Starspirit Realm is one of the realms under Our Emperor’s control. Anyone who dares cause trouble here will be subjected to extreme punishment.” A deep voice rang out from the main warship.

Jun Changxiao sat in his chair, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly, his expression then becoming wildly arrogant as he laughed strangely, “Since you’ve come, then welcome death together with Starspirit Realm!”

“Whoosh!”

“Whoosh!”

Eternal Sect’s leadership and disciples released their full cultivation, excitement appearing on their faces. They knew—the Sect Master was no longer being sneaky and underhanded, but was formally declaring war on Heavenly Demon Emperor!

“This day,” the System sighed with emotion, “has finally come.”

“Thinking back to when the host first activated the system, thinking back to the newly developing Ironbone Faction, thinking of disciples joining the sect one by one and integrating into this loving family—it seems like it all happened yesterday.”

“All good things must come to an end.”

“Once matters here are concluded, if fate allows, we’ll meet again in the jianghu.”

—