Over the next week, Yun Ming launched a lightning offensive. Guided by turncoats among his subordinates, he continued eastward at a pace of two days per nation, successively conquering the Saint Spirit, Liexue, and Spirit Snow kingdoms.
Faced with the overwhelming strength of Yun Ming, the three kingdoms had no power to resist.
With the corpses of the Blood Shadow King Yin Ming and Equality King Xie Xiong as grim warnings, the Saint Spirit Kingdom—the second strongest of the seven nations—saw its top expert, Saint Spirit Old Man, suffer a crushing defeat. After their king was killed, the royal family and Saint Spirit Old Man saw the reality of the situation and surrendered the entire nation to Yun Ming.
The Liexue Kingdom, ranked third in overall strength, was quite stubborn and put up the fiercest resistance. Consequently, they suffered the highest casualties; the Liexue royal family was wiped out, over half of the nation's high-level Soul Masters were killed, and the imperial court was purged of most of its officials before the kingdom was forcibly subdued. Since the higher-ups were so unyielding, the common people were no different. It was foreseeable that the Liexue territory would remain in chaos for some time to come.
Finally, the Spirit Snow Kingdom, which possessed the weakest experts among the seven but boasted a relatively developed economy, compared the fates of the previous three nations and chose to surrender decisively without even putting up a fight. It was a joke; they didn't even have a single Nine Rings expert and couldn't resist at all. What were a throne and a country, anyway? They could be yielded; everything could be yielded.
From this moment on, half of the map of the Dou Ling Continent fell under the command of Yun Ming.
Saint Spirit Kingdom, Royal Capital, inside the main hall of the Saint Spirit City Royal Palace.
Han Yang was reporting the latest movements on the continent to Yun Ming, who sat upon the throne idly toying with the Royal Seal.
"Lord, the Blood Spirit, Youming, and Blood Shadow kingdoms have now officially declared a ceasefire. Their three armies are marching together toward Zhennan Pass. They must have discovered our movements and have officially formed an alliance."
"Mm."
Yun Ming replied casually; he was not surprised by this at all.
Yun Ming had broken through four kingdoms in a row, killed two kings, fought three Title Douluo, and purged no fewer than a hundred high-ranking court officials. With such massive actions, if the north still hadn't reacted, they wouldn't have survived until today.
"Lord, how should we respond?"
Han Yang's expression remained equally calm. As long as Yun Ming wasn't panicked, he wouldn't be either. Even if the enemy still had four Title Douluo, including the Blood Spirit Emperor—the number one expert in the Dou Ling Continent whose cultivation level was unknown—he remained full of confidence in Yun Ming. After all, with Yun Ming's glorious battle record right before his eyes, it was hard for him to feel nervous!
"Give them time. Let all our enemies gather successfully. At the same time, show weakness to the enemy, pull back some of our defensive lines, and display a bit of fear to give them a false sense of security."
"I am too lazy to go find them one by one. The next battle will be the final one."
"As for our task during this time, it is to focus on consolidating our internal situation."
The seven kingdoms had now become two factions, and after a long-awaited pause in the flames of war, coupled with the fact that this was a unification by force, their internal stability was currently very precarious.
Below the throne, the high-ranking officials from the other four surrendered kingdoms began to whisper among themselves. A beauty with skin as white as snow, a delicate appearance, and a noble temperament stepped forward to offer advice.
"Lord, won't it be too risky if we just let them unite like this?"
This person was the former queen of the Spirit Snow Kingdom, Qing Shu, and the greatest contributor to the Spirit Snow Kingdom's bloodless surrender. Seeing that they were so sensible, Yun Ming naturally did not mistreat them, granting her status and power second only to his own, overseeing the finances of the four kingdoms and reporting directly to him. It was just that this woman seemed to have set her sights on him, which left Yun Ming feeling somewhat helpless.
Aside from her, a rigid-looking man in red robes with a dark complexion and a medium build also stepped forward to advise Yun Ming.
"Lord, I also believe this move is inappropriate. The unification of the continent is the most important matter concerning the entire continent and the common people of the world. I hope the Lord will retract his order and consider this carefully!"
His name was Zhong Zhengzhi. From the fact that he spoke to Yun Ming so bluntly, one could tell that he had a very straightforward temper. Back in the Liexue Kingdom's officialdom, it was precisely because he was too upright that, despite his extraordinary ability and impressive political achievements, he never held a high position. Seeing that he was capable and lived up to his name as a loyal and upright official, Yun Ming had given him the position of inspector to monitor the officials and ministers.
Yun Ming made the final decision.
"No need to worry. They cannot stir up any trouble. Let it be! Also."
He glanced at the beauty Qing Shu, who harbored improper thoughts toward him, and continued.
"Official Qing, you must call me Lord. Do not make that mistake again in the future."
Everyone kept their eyes on their noses and their hearts on their own business, pretending to be very busy. They dared not openly gossip about such romantic news regarding their superior.
As for the other protagonist, Qing Shu, she felt a bit saddened by Yun Ming's 'rejection.'
She had failed again. In her twenty-eight years of life, she had hit more walls in these past few days than ever before, and the one who made her hit those walls was always the same person. Could it be that she was really destined to lose to Yun Ming forever? No way! Thinking of this, the former queen gathered her spirits and cheered herself on internally.
Qing Shu, you cannot admit defeat. You must win against him once. Besides, you are so beautiful and outstanding; you will definitely win in the end.
She had great confidence in her appearance, figure, temperament, and ability. She believed that as long as she was proactive enough, even a heaven-sent talent like Yun Ming would eventually fall into the gentle embrace of this big sister.
Qing Shu replied gently.
"Yes, Lord~"
Yun Ming: "."
This woman seemed to have changed, yet it felt like she hadn't changed at all. He didn't even know what to say, so he chose to change the subject.
"Are there any other questions? If not, then everyone go back to your duties!"
The group had no further questions and retreated one by one to attend to their affairs.
Five days later, the elite troops of the Blood Spirit, Youming, and Blood Shadow kingdoms arrived at Zhennan Pass.
Blood Spirit Kingdom, the primary southern military stronghold, inside the General's Mansion of Zhennan Pass.
"You two, it has been many years, yet you both still retain your old style!"
A majestic man wearing red-gold armor, with a tall and sturdy build, a clean and gentle face, and a red-gold dragon crown, looked at his two 'old friends' beside him. He was the current Blood Spirit Emperor and the initiator of this alliance.
Hearing the Blood Spirit Emperor speak, a figure shrouded in blood mist, revealing only a pair of green eyes, said coldly.
"I cannot accept the praise of Your Majesty the Blood Spirit Emperor. I have aged quite a bit over these years because of you Blood Spirit people."
He was the Blood Shadow King, who had just come down from the front lines against the Blood Spirit Kingdom and was currently filled with resentment.
The Blood Spirit Emperor sighed upon hearing this.
"Brother Blood, I did not want this either. The Illusory Spirit Forest is too important to the Heaven's Chosen of our nation. This was the will of the court officials; I had no choice!"
The Blood Shadow King let out a cold snort.
"Hypocrite!!"
The Netherworld King standing beside the two men didn't make a sound, simply watching the two of them shake their heads like dogs. His primary opponent had previously been the Blood Nether Kingdom, so the current situation was none of his business! He might as well just sit back and enjoy the show.
The Blood Spirit King watched these two fellows who completely disregarded him, feeling a surge of anger in his heart and cursing their ignorance. If it weren't for the fact that they still needed to join forces to deal with the south, he would have made them realize the gap between them right then and there. He suppressed his temper and returned to the matter at hand.
"The two of you, now is not the time to be assigning blame among ourselves. I'm sure everyone is clear on the situation in the south; now that the four kingdoms have surrendered, their next target will be us. We must unite to deal with them!"
Upon hearing about the south, the two kings stopped trying to mess with the Blood Spirit King's head. They were the ones truly bordering the south! They had no idea when the blades below would be pointed at them.
The two of them wanted to voice their opinions on this, but just then, a new turn of events occurred outside. The Blood Spirit King heard his grandfather's thunderous roar.
"Stop!!"
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader