With a furrowed brow, Zong Shou pondered for a long moment before taking out two Communication Talismans. He input a passage of text with his intent, sending it out sequentially. The talismans transformed into two balls of red light that shot towards the sky.

While Red Messenger Birds could track people by scent, a Communication Talisman required a drop of the recipient's vital blood for accurate transmission back to the sender.

However, to accomplish such a feat, one's cultivation needed to be at least at the Seventh Tier.

This time, Zong Shou was not seeking a person; he was sending the message directly to Qiantian Mountain City, to the City Lord's Residence within Hong City by the Sea of Clouds. Knowing the fixed location was sufficient.

The speed was several times faster than that of the Red Messenger Birds, and interception was much more difficult.

Yet, the worry in his eyes did not dissipate. The Dragon-Horned Winged Horses did not require his personal attention; the Fleet Commander-in-Chief, Gu Liekong, could take men to seek them out.

For the short term, the strength of Qiantian Mountain City's fleet in the west of the East Lin Cloud Continent, perhaps even the entire Cloud Continent, should be unrivaled.

Even Xihai Taoyun City, famous for its naval warfare, could only barely contend with Qiantian Mountain before recovering its vitality, having more defensive capability than offensive.

A mere hundred warships and four hundred thousand men would be enough to capture those Dragon-Horned Winged Horses. The domestication period would take about half a year.

As for the Blood Cloud Cavalry's core technique, the Blood Cloud Art, he possessed it in his mind. The current most pressing issue was the lack of a commander worthy of his notice.

Originally, Zong Yuan was the most suitable, but since he intended to fuse with that Eighth Tier Dragon Soul and already possessed unparalleled generalship, confining him to leading just one cavalry contingent would be a waste.

The second candidate was Yin Yang. If this Uncle Yin were still around, he might have already reached the Martial Ancestor realm, possibly even the Fifth or Sixth Meridian!

More than ten years of arduous training, more than ten years of foundation building, followed by an explosive surge of growth—this was no joke.

But this Uncle Yin had disappeared after bidding farewell a few months ago, saying he needed to return to his sect to retrieve something that belonged to him. No one knew where he had gone or where he was now.

As for Yin Yang's sect, even Ruoshui, the secret guard commander under Zong Weiran, was unaware.

The second problem was the lack of sufficient Martial Ancestor experts, which was the hardest to remedy. Qiantian Mountain's Martial Ancestor-level figures, without impacting the combat strength of other divisions, could barely scrape together two hundred, but their loyalty was highly questionable.

However, regarding the Innate Realm, ever since Ren Bo began implementing those few benevolent policies he devised in Qiantian Mountain, the number of Innate experts and Out-of-Body Spirit Masters had begun to grow exponentially. Many people settled in Qiantian Mountain, attracted by Qiantian Mountain's loans or Zong Weiran's vast collection of classics. Some even directly joined the army, seeking better benefits.

And since Qiantian Mountain returned laden with riches from beneath the Sea of Clouds, and subsequently defeated the three cities of Taoyun in battle, this trend became even more pronounced. The number of Fourth Tier experts had now increased to nineteen thousand. Based on the ten-to-one ratio between Fourth and Fifth Tiers, next year there should be at least fifty people capable of breaking through to the Martial Ancestor realm.

—While the future was undoubtedly bright, the current situation was like distant water unable to quench immediate thirst; it was of no use right now.

—If he could have three thousand Blood Cloud Cavalry at his disposal, he would dare to instantly annihilate every single disciple of the Shangxiao Sect, unafraid of any post-mortem censure from the other sects!

Even with only six hundred riders, on the battlefield, at least within the East Lin Cloud Continent at this stage, they would be practically invincible!

Do not be fooled by the current millions of Qiantian's elite troops. During that period of one hundred and twenty years when the Spirit Tide surged violently, troop types below the Fourth Tier were utterly useless, serving only as cannon fodder.

Only powerful elites like the Blood Cloud Cavalry could contend for dominance over the continent.

And before this Spirit Tide, six hundred Blood Cloud Cavalry in his hands could indeed be equivalent to Qiantian Mountain's nearly one million strong army!

Sighing inwardly, Zong Shou also used a Fire Talisman on the corpse, completely incinerating the unknown young expert from the Li family into ashes, which he then scattered.

After erasing all traces, Zong Shou collected the Seven Star Altar floating nearby. He changed into a set of Spirit Bones refined to the third layer of Thunder Evasion, and together with Zong Yuan, turned north.

That altar was excellent; when activated, it could connect to the spirit meridians of ten directions and gather them for his use. When floating, the consumption of soul power was almost negligible.

It was only that the speed of flight was too slow, which is why the Ant True Person managed to intercept him.

As for flying by sword, Zong Shou's current soul power could barely sustain him for a hundred miles; taking Zong Yuan along made it even more difficult.

Tracing their return path, Zong Shou was pleasantly surprised to find that the two Dragon-Horned Winged Horses they had brought were still alive.

Switching to the mounts, their speed increased slightly. As they exited the outer marsh, Zong Shou saw Chai Yuan anxiously waiting outside with dozens of military experts.

In the distance, military tents stretched out endlessly, numbering a massive four hundred thousand at a glance. Qiantian Mountain's direct forces occupied one-sixth of this total. The rest should have come from the various cities, mostly elites above the Martial Master level. Seeing Zong Shou emerge, Chai Yuan visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Shortly before, I received news that first the Xue Clan intended to gather forces to ambush Your Highness. Then I heard that the Ant True Person also harbored ill intentions toward Your Highness. These past few days, I’ve been as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. It is truly a blessing that Your Highness has returned safely!”

Previously, Chai Yuan always referred to himself as an 'old subordinate' in front of Zong Shou, but now he only dared to say 'subject.' While the familiarity of an elder remained, a degree of reverence had been added. His expression now was solemn and serious.

“As the saying goes, the son of a thousand pieces of gold does not sit in a precarious hall. Your Highness should avoid such adventures alone, traveling incognito like this, in the future. One must know that even Spirit Masters, provided they possess some standing, always have three to five protectors accompanying them—”

Zong Shou, feeling somewhat guilty, could only stammer in response. The situation this time had indeed been perilous.

Then, he became curious. The assembled army here was simply too vast. One encampment alone numbered four hundred thousand. If counting forces from all other directions, wouldn't the total reach a million?

Moreover, the surrounding cities seemed to be cooperating earnestly, sending only their elites.

When he inquired, Chai Yuan’s face flushed with pride: “This is all because of Your Highness! Over ten days ago, Your Highness defeated Long Ruo in front of the many cultivators of the Cloud Realm. It was tremendously inspiring. Now, who in the Cloud Realm does not know that Your Highness endured humiliation and bore heavy burdens during those three years at Linhai Academy? Who doesn’t know that Your Highness is the most gifted individual in the East Lin Cloud Continent in the past century, the foremost genius among the younger generation? Everyone says Your Highness will surely sweep across the Cloud Continent within a few years.”

He then glanced slightly disdainfully behind him: “Most of these people previously leaned toward Taoyun City. When I tried to mobilize troops or requisition supplies, they were always reluctant. But ever since the news spread that Your Highness slew Long Ruo’s physical body and the Lingyun Sect had no choice but to apologize, with just one deployment order from me, a million troops gathered. If not for the existing truce and Yue Guanyun’s systematic defenses, I would gladly march the army into Hanxi Province right now—”

Zong Shou was momentarily stunned. He looked around, noticing among the many experts, some were Sixth Tier. But when Zong Shou’s gaze swept over them, they all lowered their heads slightly, their expressions solemn and respectful.

A sudden realization dawned in his heart. He had not expected the halo of a Sword Dao genius and the successor of Dragon Shadow to have such an effect.

He had initially believed it would take him at least two to three years to completely assimilate the newly acquired territories.

But now that the hearts of the people had turned, Qiantian Mountain City could already control the majority of these seven newly acquired provinces.

Hearing Chai Yuan’s final remarks, Zong Shou was even more moved.

It now seemed that there was no need for rest, recuperation, or accumulation of strength; only consolidation was required before advancing and expanding again.

Yue Guanyun was a capable strategist, becoming even more cautious and seasoned after being defeated by him several times. But in Zong Shou's eyes, he was still not without exploitable flaws.

However, after careful thought, Zong Shou still decided to forgo it.

—He was not yet prepared to deal with the collective might of the Eastern Lin Sects.

The truly difficult part was not conquering the three cities of Taoyun and Lieyan, but what came after destroying them.

At that point, Qiantian Mountain would need to possess the undeniable power to confront a Spirit Prefecture Sect ranked in the top three!

Outside this marsh, Zong Shou stayed for a few more days. He met with the city lords from the nearby Tianfang and Xiping provinces, speaking kindly to soothe and win them over.

Only then did he feel a pang of regret. Although he had played the part convincingly, appearing as a wise ruler, these few days of leisure could have been used to conjure up several more True Seal Spiritual Restrictions.

When he arrived, it was just him and Zong Yuan. When leaving, that was impossible. Chai Yuan had arranged twenty Martial Ancestor-level experts to serve as his guards, along with two Black Tortoise Realm experts as commanders.

This clearly showed the rapid expansion of Qiantian Mountain’s influence. In the past, such an honor guard would have been unthinkable!

Twenty Martial Ancestor experts—even having four or five escorting Zong Shou on an outing would have been considered generous. A Black Tortoise expert was out of the question; the rest would have to be made up of Innate cultivators.

In just two more days, Zong Shou arrived again at Ghost Profound Mountain. He ordered the accompanying guards to wait at the foot of the mountain. Zong Shou still took only Zong Yuan, reaching the summit alone.

It was night, the time when the mist and toxins in the valley below were at their densest. Thus, as soon as Zong Shou reached the peak, he saw Hu Zhongyuan and the others sitting near the cliff edge, cultivating diligently.

He and Zong Yuan had benefited greatly within Dragon Gathering Mountain. These fellows had also made rapid advancements in their cultivation.

The fastest progressing was Lingxuan, a Returning Yang Spirit Master who had already condensed his seventh True Talisman, nearly catching up to Hu Zhongyuan. Next was Gu He, whose skin shimmered like jade in the darkness. It was unclear what peculiar technique he practiced, as Zong Shou couldn't quite gauge his depth.

Seeing the two arrive, the group expressed great joy and rose to salute them. These past few days, they had clearly been engrossed in isolated cultivation, detached from external affairs. Thus, upon meeting, they showed no surprise.

Only after Zong Shou inquired did he learn that during the several dozen days he was gone, they had worked together to nearly exterminate all six thousand-plus ferocious beasts in this valley.

The total amount of purified Spirit Newt essence blood collected was around thirty-two thousand drops. Hu Zhongyuan and the others had each only used about a hundred drops.